Dietary apigenin suppresses IgE and inflammatory cytokines production in C57BL/6N mice

Flavonoids ubiquitously exist in plants, vegetables, fruits, and teas. We evaluated the effect of dietary apigenin, one of the well-known flavonoids, on the immune system in C57BL/6N mice. Mice were fed experimental diets containing apigenin for 2 weeks. After the experimental period, there was no significant difference in body and organ weights between the control and the apigenin group. The total immunoglobulin (Ig) E levels in mice fed apigenin were significantly suppressed, whereas levels of IgG, IgM, and IgA were not affected. We also examined the effect of the apigenin diet on cytokine expression in mice sera using a cytokine array. The production of regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor I (sTNFRI) in mice sera was down-regulated by the apigenin diet. These results suggest that a diet containing apigenin can reduce serum IgE and inflammatory cytokines such as RANTES and sTNFRI in mice.     

Synthesis,insecticidal activity and pyrethroidal mode of action of new tin ether derivatives

A novel range of trimethylstanniomethyl ethers of well known pyrethroid alcohols were synthesised, and their insecticidal activities and modes of action as insecticides were investigated. Among them, ethers from three types of alcohol (3-phenoxybenzyl, 4-fluoro-3-phenoxybenzyl and 6-phenoxy-2-pyridylmethyl) showed remarkable insecticidal activities against rice stem borers, houseflies and German cockroaches. According to electrophysiological studies on the abdominal nerve cords of German cockroaches, trimethylstanniomethyl 6-phenoxy-2-pyridylmethyl ether induced a rapid decline in spontaneous firing similar to that from tetramethrin. However, insecticidal trimethyltin chloride caused an entirely different response. These observations suggest that the present tin ether derivatives resemble pyrethroids, rather than the insecticidal tin compounds known so far.     

Passive protection of dogs against clinical disease due to Canine parvovirus-2 by specific antibody from chicken egg yolk

The protective effect of immunoglobulins derived from chicken egg yolk (IgY) against infection by Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) was evaluated in 10 beagle dogs orally challenged with a strain of the virus. The 2-mo-old dogs were divided into 3 groups and treated with powders containing CPV-2 IgY or normal egg yolk for 7 d after the challenge. The 4 dogs receiving normal egg yolk (control group) demonstrated mild symptoms typical of CPV-2 infection, such as vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss. No symptoms were observed by 16 d after challenge in the 3 dogs receiving 2 g of IgY powder. Of the 3 dogs receiving 0.5 g of IgY powder, 2 had clinical CPV-2 disease; however, the manifestations were less severe than in the control group. Furthermore, the IgY-treated groups had significantly greater weight gain and shorter duration of virus shedding than the control group. These results indicate that IgY is useful in protecting dogs from CPV-2-induced clinical disease.     

The method for designing the profile of forest roads supported by genetic algorithm

This study examines a method for designing an optimum profile of a forest road in a short matter of time. In this method, a genetic algorithm (GA) searches for points where the gradient changes and dynamic programing (DP) designs the longitudinal slope. This method can be applied to the ground heights of an actual forest road. The evaluation function of the DP assesses the total expenditure. The inverse of this function is the fitness function. Crossover and mutation are operators of an evolution simulation of a GA. They are each repeated 20 times and 420 profiles are designed and assessed, all within about 10 min. A comparison of the profile designed by the GA with that of an actual forest road shows only one section where the formation level differed substantially. Overall, both profiles seem to show a high degree of correspondence. From this result, we believe that the profile designed by the GA is best, or the one of the best. A conventional method takes about 65 h to calculate all changing points of gradients. However, by using the GA, the calculation time was reduced to about 1/389 that of the coventional method, showing that the method which uses the GA through the profile design is very useful.     

The effect of pretreatment with different doses of GnRH to synchronize follicular wave on superstimulation of follicular growth in dairy cattle

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) and GnRH doses in synchronizing follicular wave emergence as a pretreatment for superovulation in cattle. Fourteen Holstein-Friesian cows 6 days from estrus were randomly assigned to receive 100 microg (n=4), 50 microg (n=5), or 25 microg (n=5) of GnRH. Superovulation was induced with injections of porcine FSH (pFSH) twice daily, decreasing the dose (total 42 AU) over 5 days beginning 2.5 days after receiving GnRH. On the 7th and 8th injections of pFSH, 750 microg of PGF(2alpha) was also given. With the exception of one cow that was given 50 microg of GnRH, ovulation was induced in all cows from the three groups and the new follicular wave emergence was observed. The total number of follicles for the 25 microg GnRH group was less than that observed for the 100 microg GnRH group (P<0.05), although there were no differences between the 100 microg, 50 microg and 25 microg GnRH groups with respect to the number of preovulatory follicles (>or=10 mm) and CL. The numbers of normal embryos were greater for the 25 microg GnRH group than the 100 or 50 microg GnRH groups (P<0.01); however, the numbers of ova/embryos did not differ significantly between the three groups. These results suggest that 25 microg of GnRH was sufficient to induce ovulation and follicular wave emergence. On day 6 of the estrous cycle, a reduction of the dose of GnRH to synchronize follicular wave emergence as a pretreatment for superstimulation promotes transferable embryos.     

Integrating remote sensing and GIS for prediction of rice protein contents

In this study, protein content (PC) of brown rice before harvest was established by remote sensing (RS) and analyzed to select the key management factors that cause variation of PC using a GIS database. The possibility of finding out the key management factors using GreenNDVI was tested by combining RS and a GIS database. The study site was located at Yagi basin (Japan) and PC for seven districts (85 fields) in 2006 and nine districts (73 fields) in 2007 was investigated by a rice grain taste analyzer. There was spatial variability between districts and temporal variability within the same fields. PC was predicted by the average of GreenNDVI at sampling points (Point GreenNDVI) and in the field (Field GreenNDVI). The accuracy of the Point GreenNDVI model (r ² > 0.424, RMSE < 0.256%) was better than for the Field GreenNDVI model (r ² > 0.250, RMSE < 0.298%). A general-purpose model (r ² = 0.392, RMSE = 0.255%) was established using 2 years data. In the GIS database, PC was separated into two parts to compare the difference in PC between the upper (mean + 0.5SD) and lower (mean − 0.5SD) parts. Differences in PC were significant depending on the effective cumulative temperature (ECT) from transplanting to harvest (Factor 4) in 2007 but not in 2006. Because of the difference in ECT depending on vegetation term (from transplanting to sampling), PC was separated into two groups based on the mean value of ECT as the upper (UMECT) and lower (LMECT) groups. In 2007, there were significant differences in PC at LMECT group between upper and lower parts depending on the ECT from transplanting to last top-dressing (Factor 2), the amount of nitrogen fertilizer at top-dressing (Factor 3) and Factor 4. When the farmers would have changed their field management, it would have been possible to decrease protein contents. Using the combination of RS and GIS in 2006, it was possible to select the key management factor by the difference in the Field GreenNDVI.     

Neuropharmacological studies of an insecticidal trihaloimidazole derivative in the crayfish neuromuscular preparation

A trihaloimidazole derivative (S-377; 1-(4-chlorobutoxymethyl)-2,4,5-trichloroimidazole) caused giant excitatory junctional potentials by a single electrical stimulus to the excitatory nerves. Repetitive discharges were simultaneously induced in the nerve fibres. S-377 also caused repetitive firing in the inhibitory nerve fibres. Permethrin showed quite similar actions on both the junction and nerve fibres. It was supposed that S-377 inhibited the inactivating system of the sodium channel, like pyrethroids. However, S-377 reduced the number of spikes of the permethrin-induced repetitive discharges on the excitatory nerve fibres. These observations suggest that binding sites of S-377 on sodium channels are different from those of pyrethroids.     

Weight loss effect of dietary diacylglycerol in obese dogs

Obesity in dogs and cats have been increasingly recognized in recent years. Because obesity underlies various diseases, pet owners and veterinarians have an important responsibility to help animals lose weight and maintain their health. Diet therapy, however, is typically based on limited calorie intake and animals may suffer stress from hunger and this is also a concern to animal owners. For this reason, many clients drop out of weight control programmes. In the present study, we focused on dietary diacylglycerol (DAG) as a potentially effective ingredient for canine weight control without caloric restriction. We replaced a portion of the fat in dog food with either DAG or triacylglycerol (TAG), referred to as DAG or TAG diets here, and fed overweight beagle dogs (body condition score of 4 or higher) with either the DAG or TAG diet for a 6-week period. Results indicated that, even though the food composition other than fat type were identical, dogs fed the DAG diet showed a statistically significant reduction in body weight averaging a 2.3% reduction within 6 weeks while the TAG-fed dogs maintained their obese body weights. In addition, the DAG group also showed a reduction in body fat content, serum triglyceride and total cholesterol concentrations. These results suggest the possibility of developing a pet food using DAG to control weight and serum lipid levels without compromising caloric intake.     

Production efficiency and telomere length of the cloned pigs following serial somatic cell nuclear transfer

The aim of the present study was to examine the production efficiency of cloned pigs by serial somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and to ascertain any changes in the telomere lengths of multiple generations of pigs. Using fetal fibroblasts as the starting nuclear donor cells, porcine salivary gland progenitor cells were collected from the resultant first-generation cloned pigs to successively produce second- and third-generation clones, with no significant differences in production efficiency, which ranged from 1.4% (2/140) to 3.3% (13/391) among the 3 generations. The average telomere lengths (terminal restriction fragment values) for the first, second and third generation clones were 16.3, 18.1 and 20.5 kb, respectively, and were comparable to those in age-matched controls. These findings suggest that third-generation cloned pigs can be produced by serial somatic cell cloning without compromising production efficiency and that the telomere lengths of cloned pigs from the first to third generations are normal.