Effect of Extraction Variables on the Biodegradable Chelant-Assisted Removal of Toxic Metals from Artificially Contaminated European Reference Soils

Development of aminopolycarboxylate chelants (APCs) having enhanced biodegradability is gaining increasing focus to replace the EDTA and its homologs with those used widely for the ex situ treatment of contaminated soils and are potential eco-threats. The paper reports the chelant-assisted extraction of the toxic metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) from the metal-spiked European reference soils (Eurosoil 1 and Eurosoil 4) using biodegradable APCs, namely EDDS, GLDA, and HIDS. The effects of chelant-to-metal molar ratio, solution pH, and metal/chelant stability constants were evaluated, and compared with that of EDTA. The selectivity aptitude of the biodegradable chelants towards the toxic metals was assumed from the speciation calculations, and a proportionate correlation was observed at neutral pH. Pre- and post-extractive solid phase distributions of the target metals were defined using the sequential extraction procedure and dissolution of metals from the theoretically immobilized fraction was witnessed. The effect of competing species (Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, and Mn) concentrations was proven to be minimized with an excess of chelant in solution. The highlight of the outcomes is the superior decontamination ability of GLDA, a biodegradable APC, at minimum chelant concentration in solution and applicability at a wide range of pH environments.     

Perceptual learning incepted by decoded fMRI neurofeedback without stimulus presentation

It is controversial whether the adult primate early visual cortex is sufficiently plastic to cause visual perceptual learning (VPL). The controversy occurs partially because most VPL studies have examined correlations between behavioral and neural activity changes rather than cause-and-effect relationships. With an online-feedback method that uses decoded functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals, we induced activity patterns only in early visual cortex corresponding to an orientation without stimulus presentation or participants' awareness of what was to be learned. The induced activation caused VPL specific to the orientation. These results suggest that early visual areas are so plastic that mere inductions of activity patterns are sufficient to cause VPL. This technique can induce plasticity in a highly selective manner, potentially leading to powerful training and rehabilitative protocols.     

Influence of light intensity on feeding, growth, and early survival of leopard coral grouper (Plectropomus leopardus) larvae under mass-scale rearing conditions

This study investigated the effect of different light intensities on feeding, growth and survival of early stage leopard coral grouper Plectropomus leopardus larvae. Four different light intensities (0, 500, 1000 and 3000 lx) were used and larvae were kept under constant light conditions from 0 day after hatching (DAH) to 5 DAH. The larvae were fed a small S-type of Thai strain rotifers at a density of 20 individuals/mL from 2 DAH. The number of rotifers in larval digestive organ and total length of larvae were examined at 3 h intervals between 04:00 and 22:00 h on 3 DAH, and thereafter at 6 h intervals until the end of the experiment (5 DAH). Four experimental trials of the larval rearing were repeated using by 60 kL mass-scale rearing tanks. The results indicate that coral grouper larvae are visual feeders and their food intake increases with increasing light intensity. Food intake of larvae reared at 3000 lx was significantly higher than those reared at 0–1000 lx on 3 DAH despite being the first-feeding day (P < 0.01). On 4 DAH, total length of larvae reared at 3000 lx was significantly larger than those reared at the lower light intensities (0, 500 and 1000 lx), and thereafter light intensity significantly influenced larval feeding and growth until the end of the experiment. Survival on 5 DAH did not show a significant difference between light intensities, but survival rate at 3000 lx and 1000 lx had a tendency to be higher than those reared at the lower light intensities (0 and 500 lx). In contrast, larvae reared at 0 lx exhibited stagnant and/or negative growth. These results indicate that light intensity is significantly the factor affecting larval feeding, growth, and survival in coral grouper larvae under the rearing conditions.     

Changes in organosulfur compounds in garlic cloves during storage

We determined the changes in the contents of three gamma-glutamyl peptides and four sulfoxides in garlic cloves during storage at -3, 4, and 23 degrees C for 150 days using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography method that we reported recently. When garlic was stored at 4 degrees C for 150 days, marked conversion of the gamma-glutamyl peptides, gamma-L-glutamyl-S-allyl-L-cysteine and gamma-L-glutamyl-S-(trans-1-propenyl)-L-cysteine (GSPC), to sulfoxides, alliin and isoalliin, was observed. Interestingly, however, when garlic was stored at 23 degrees C, a decrease in GSPC and a marked increase in cycloalliin, rather than isoalliin, occurred. To elucidate in detail the mechanism involved, the conversion of isoalliin to cycloalliin in both buffer solutions (pH 4.6, 5.5, and 6.5) and garlic cloves at 25 and 35 degrees C was examined. Decreases in the concentration of isoalliin in both the solutions and the garlic cloves during storage followed first-order kinetics and coincided with the conversion of cycloalliin. Our data indicated that isoalliin produced enzymatically from GSPC is chemically converted to cycloalliin and that the cycloalliin content of garlic cloves increases during storage at higher temperature. These data may be useful for controlling the quality and biological activities of garlic and its preparations.     

Normal calves produced after transfer of embryos cultured in a chemically defined medium supplemented with epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor I following ovum pick up and in vitro fertilization in Japanese black cows

The objective of this study was to examine whether high concentrations of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and/or insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) would have a beneficial effect on bovine embryo development in vitro and to obtain normal calves by using an ovum pick up method and embryo culture in a chemically defined medium. When compared with controls, EGF (100 or 200 ng/ml) or IGF-I (50 or 100 ng/ml) significantly increased the rate of embryos that developed into blastocysts during an 8-day culture after the in vitro fertilization of oocytes obtained from ovaries from a slaughterhouse. IGF-I induced a dose-dependent increase in cell number in both the inner cell mass and the trophectoderm, whereas EGF stimulated proliferation only in the inner cell mass. A combination of EGF (100 ng/ml) and IGF-I (50 ng/ml) produced an additive effect, and embryos developed into blastocysts at a comparatively high rate (27.9%) compared with controls (12.0%). A similar rate of development was achieved using a combination of EGF and IGF-I in the culture of embryos following ovum pick up by ultrasound-guided transvaginal follicular aspiration and in vitro fertilization, and 5 blastocysts that developed after the culture were transferred into uteri; two embryos implanted, and normal calves were born. These results suggest that the combined use of EGF and IGF-I makes bovine embryo culture in a chemically defined medium a practical and useful procedure for producing blastocysts, and its application to embryo culture following ovum pick up and in vitro fertilization could be useful for producing normal calves.     

Structural effects of dinotefuran and analogues in insecticidal and neural activities

The insecticidal potencies of dinotefuran and analogues against the adult male American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L) were measured by injection with or without metabolic inhibitors. The potency of dinotefuran was close to those of clothianidin and imidacloprid under the conditions used. The nerve-excitatory and nerve-blocking activities were measured with central nerve cords of P americana. The nerve-excitatory activity of dinotefuran was lower than that of imidacloprid, but was comparable with that of clothianidin. The nerve-blocking activity of dinotefuran was comparable with that of imidacloprid and slightly higher than that of clothianidin. Quantitative analyses showed that variations in the insecticidal activity were better correlated with variations in the nerve-blocking activity than with those in the nerve-excitatory activity when the contribution of the hydrophobic factor was allowed for.     

Estimation of the carcass composition from a cross-section of the rib-loin from crossbred Japanese Black × Limousin F2 cattle by computer image analysis

The carcass composition of crossbred Japanese Black × Limousin F2 cattle was examined in order to find an accurate carcass composition equation. The test animals included 17 steers and 17 heifers. The 28 image measurements from the area encircling the vertical line to the thoracic vertebra and the line from the thoracic vertebra between the sixth and seventh rib‐bones were measured by computer image analysis. The relationships between the 29 parameters that added the carcass left side weight of the animal and the carcass composition were suggested. The carcass composition included muscle weight, muscle ratio, fat weight and fat ratio. The carcass composition from steers was estimated by an equation composed of these three or four parameters (R² = 90.80%, 79.30%, 90.75% and 73.70%, respectively). The selected parameters were measured without cutting the thoracic vertebra. The carcass composition from heifers was estimated by an equation composed of two to four parameters (R² = 96.15%, 90.98%, 93.60% and 88.22%, respectively). The parameters for the estimation of the muscle and fat weight, and muscle and fat ratio are very similar. Furthermore, the equations using the parameters could estimate the carcass composition from the Japanese Black × Limousin cattle resource population.     

Pharmacokinetics of metoclopramide in calves with renal dysfunction

To clarify the effect of renal dysfunction on pharmacokinetics of the prokinetic agent metoclopramide (MCP), we administered intravenously 0.4 mg/kg MCP to healthy calves and calves subjected to right kidney vessel ligation (ligation) without or with a subsequent left nephrectomy (ligation plus removal). Plasma MCP concentration, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and plasma prolactin level were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, simplified equation using iodixanol and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Only in calves with ligation plus removal, plasma MCP concentrations were increased significantly 6, 8 and 12 hr after injection, showing that a negative correlation was observed between the plasma MCP concentrations and GFR value. A tendency to increase in plasma PRL concentration was noted also in these calves. In conclusions, plasma MCP concentrations depend on the GFR mode in calves, and its critical GFR value was estimated.