Physiological effects of wood on humans: a review

It is empirically known that wood can cause a comfort enhancement effect in humans. On the other hand, not enough scientific knowledge based on evidence-based research is available on this subject. However, data using physiological indices have increasingly accumulated in recent years. This review provides an overview of the current situation for peer-reviewed reports related to the physiological effects of wood. We reviewed reports that elucidated the effects of wood-derived stimulations on the olfactory, visual, auditory, and tactile sensations using physiological indices such as brain activity (e.g., near-infrared spectroscopy) and autonomic nervous activity (e.g., heart rate variability and blood pressure). It became clear that many studies were limited by (1) a small number of participants, mostly aged in their 20s; (2) use of only a single stimulus (e.g., only olfactory or only visual), or (3) an incomplete experimental design. In addition, this review examined the field of forest therapy, for which there is abundant research. Further study is needed to elucidate the physiological effects of wood on humans.     

Evaluation of drag coefficients of poplar-tree crowns by a field test method

To estimate the wind force that causes windthrow damage to a tree, the drag coefficients of actual-sized trees were evaluated by a field test method. In this method, wind velocity and stem deflection were monitored simultaneously. The wind force acting on a tree crown was calculated from stem deflection; stem stiffness was evaluated by conducting tree-bending tests. The results of tests conducted on three poplar trees showed that drag coefficient decreased with an increase in wind velocity. Although the variation in the drag coefficient was large at low wind velocity because of the vibrating behavior of the stem subjected to variable wind force, the variation at wind velocities above 10 m/s was small. The average drag coefficient at a wind velocity of 30 m/s was estimated by the curve-fitting of a power function to the wind velocity-drag coefficient relationship to be 0.102, which was smaller than that of actual-sized conifers studied in previous wind tunnel experiments. The drag coefficients of these crown areas in the defoliation season were smaller than those measured in the leafy season.     

A 90-day Feeding Toxicity Study of l-Serine in Male and Female Fischer 344 Rats

A subchronic feeding study of l-serine (l-Ser) was conducted with groups of 10 male and 10 female Fischer 344 rats fed a powder diet containing 0, 0.06, 0.5, 1.5 or 5.0% concentrations of l-Ser for 90 days. There were no toxicologically significant, treatment-related changes with regards to body weight, food intake, water intake or urinalysis data. In several of the hematology, serum biochemistry and organ weight parameters, significant changes were observed between some of the treated groups and the controls. All these changes, however, were subtle and lacked any corresponding pathological findings. In addition, the increased or decreased values remained within the range of the historical control values. In fact, histopathological assessment revealed only sporadic and/or spontaneous lesions. In conclusion, the no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) for l-Ser was, therefore, determined to be at least a dietary dose of 5.0% (2765.0 mg/kg body weight/day for males and 2905.1 mg/kg body weight/day for females) under the present experimental conditions.     

Induction of apoptotic lesions in liver and lymphoid tissues and modulation of cytokine mRNA expression by acute exposure to deoxynivalenol in piglets

Six 1-month-old piglets were intravenously injected with deoxynivalenol (DON) at the concentration of 1 mg/kg body weight, with three pigs each necropsied at 6 and 24 h post-injection (PI) for investigation of hepatotoxicity and immunotoxicity with special attention to apoptotic changes and cytokine mRNA expression. Histopathological examination of the DON-injected pigs revealed systemic apoptosis of lymphocytes in lymphoid tissues and hepatocytes. Apoptosis of lymphocytes and hepatocytes was confirmed by the TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method and immunohistochemical staining against single-stranded DNA and cleaved caspase-3. The number of TUNEL-positive cells in the thymus and Peyer''s patches of the ileum was increased at 24 h PI compared to 6 h PI, but the peak was at 6 h PI in the liver. The mRNA expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in the spleen, thymus and mesenteric lymph nodes were determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and elevated expression of IL-1β mRNA at 6 h PI and a decrease of IL-18 mRNA at 24 h PI were observed in the spleen. IL-1β and IL-6 mRNA expressions increased significantly at 6 h PI in the thymus, but TNF-α decreased at 6 h PI in the mesenteric lymph nodes. These results show the apoptosis of hepatocytes suggesting the hepatotoxic potential of DON, in addition to an immunotoxic effect on the modulation of proinflammatory cytokine genes in lymphoid organs with extensive apoptosis of lymphocytes induced by acute exposure to DON in pigs.     

Effects of exogenous ethylene on ethylene production in discs of mume fruits

Summary

Endogenous ethylene production in intact ripening fruits of mume (Prunus mume Sieb, et Zucc.) proceeded according to the usual pathway in ethylene biosynthesis (methionine → S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) → 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylic acid (ACC) → ethylene). When discs prepared from immature mume fruits were treated with ethylene at 0.1 μl l^?1 or higher for 12 h at 20°C, the rate of ethylene production declined markedly. The inhibition of the ACC synthase activity by exogenous ethylene was accompanied by a decrease in ACC content. There was no significant difference in SAM content between ethylene-treated and the untreated discs.     

The Farmland and Rural Improvement Project budget under the Agriculture Basic Law in Japan

The Farmland and Rural Improvement Project (FRIP) system met socioeconomic needs during the time the Agriculture Basic Law (ABL) was in effect. Four hundred and forty publications and revisions of project execution guidelines between fiscal years (FY) 1960 and 1995 addressed the need to modify the FRIP systems. From the viewpoint of budgets, the budget share of the Farmland Improvement Project (FIP) in annual national public works budgets decreased in close correlation with percentages of gross agricultural product in gross domestic product (GDP). The Rural Improvement Project (RIP) share, however, increased during the same time period, in close correlation with percentages of non-farmers living in rural villages. Consequently, there was little change in the FRIP budget share. These changes in FRIP budget structure brought a certain level of FIP investment per hectare, with no increase since FY 1980. In addition, the RIP investment played a role in narrowing the gap in the living infrastructure investment per capita between urban and rural areas.     

Evaluation of a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay for molecular epidemiological study of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli

In this study, we have evaluated our recently developed polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay for the molecular subtyping of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). A total of 200 STEC strains including O157 (n=100), O26 (n=50), O111 (n=10), and non-O26/O111/O157 (n=40) serogroups isolated during 2005-2006 in Japan, which were identified to be clonally different by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were further analyzed by the PCR-RFLP assay in comparison to PFGE. Ninety-five of O157, 48 of O26, five of O111 and 19 of non-O26/O111/O157 STEC strains yielded one to three amplicons ranging from 6.0 to 15.5 kb in size by the specific primer set targeting region V which is located in the upstream of stx genes. These strains were classified into 41 (O157), 8 (O26), 4 (O111) and 17 (non-O26/O111/O157) groups based on the RFLP patterns obtained by subsequent restriction digestion, respectively. Although the discriminatory power of PCR-RFLP assay was somewhat less than that of PFGE, it is more convenient for molecular subtyping of STEC strains especially for O157, the most important serogroup implicated in human diseases, as well as to identify the outbreak-associated isolates because of its simplicity, rapidity, ease and good reproducibility.     

Basal levels and GnRH-induced responses of peripheral testosterone and estrogen in Holstein bulls with poor semen quality

The present study investigated the basal levels and GnRH-induced responses of peripheral testosterone and estrogen in Holstein bulls with poor semen quality. On the basis of semen parameters, bulls (n=5) having poor semen quality were selected as experimental bulls, and good semen quality bulls (n=4) were used as control bulls. Both groups were treated intramuscularly once with GnRH (250 μg of fertirelin acetate). Blood samples were collected at -1 day (d), -30 min and 0 h (treatment) followed by every 30 min for 5 h and 1, 3 and 5 d post-GnRH treatment (PGT), and LH, testosterone and estradiol-17β (E(2)) concentrations were measured. The pretreatment concentrations were used as basal levels. The percentage increments based on the 0-h levels were calculated per bull for each sampling time until 5 h PGT, and differences were compared between the experimental and control groups. The PGT concentrations of testosterone and basal and PGT concentrations of E(2) were significantly lower in the experimental group. The testosterone increment in the experimental group was delayed and significantly lower from 1 to 5 h PGT than those in the control group. It can be suggested that bulls with poor semen quality have delayed and lower GnRH-induced testosterone response and may also have lower estrogen levels.     

In vitro development and postvitrification survival of cloned feline embryos derived from preadipocytes

The aim of the present study was to optimize the conditions for in vitro development and postvitrification survival of somatic cell cloned feline embryos. To determine the effects of cell cycle synchronization of the nuclear donor cells, we cultured preadipocytes under serum starvation or conventional conditions. After two days in serum starvation culture, the proportion of synchronized donor cells at the G0/G1 phase was 91.6%. This was significantly higher than the proportion of non-synchronized cells in the proliferative phase (72.6%, P<0.05). The in vitro development of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos reconstructed using donor cells treated under serum starvation conditions (normal cleavage rate of 65.7%, 46/70, and blastocyst formation rate of 20.0%, 14/70) was comparable to that of the serum supplemented group (52.5%, 31/59, and 20.3%, 12/59). Use of in vitro or in vivo matured oocytes as recipient cytoplasts equally supported development of the SCNT embryos to the blastocyst stage (11.9%, 5/42, vs. 9.5%, 2/21). SCNT-derived blastocysts were vitrified using the original minimum volume cooling (MVC) or the modified (stepwise) MVC method. Although none (n=10) of the SCNT blastocysts survived following vitrification by the original MVC method, the stepwise MVC method resulted in 100% survival after rewarming (n=11). In conclusion, we demonstrated that feline somatic cell cloned embryos with a high developmental ability can be produced irrespective of cell cycle synchronization of donor cells using either in vivo or in vitro matured oocytes. Furthermore, by utilizing a stepwise vitrification method, we showed that it is possible to cryopreserve cloned feline blastocysts.