Evaluating environmental impacts of the Japanese beef cow–calf system by the life cycle assessment method     

Akifumi OGINO  Hideki ORITO  Kazuhiro SHIMADA  Hiroyuki HIROOKA 《Animal Science Journal》2007,78(4):424-432

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the environmental impacts of a beef cow–calf system using a life cycle assessment (LCA) method and to investigate the effects of scenarios to reduce environmental impacts on the LCA results. The functional unit was defined as one marketed beef calf, and the processes associated with the cow–calf life cycle, such as feed production, feed transport, animal management, the biological activity of the animal and the treatment of cattle waste were included in the system boundary. The present results showed that the total contributions of one beef calf throughout its life cycle to global warming, acidification, eutrophication and energy consumption were 4550 kg of CO₂ equivalents, 40.1 kg of SO₂ equivalents, 7.0 kg of phosphate (PO₄) equivalents and 16.1 GJ, respectively. The contribution of each process to the total environmental impact in each environmental impact category showed a similar tendency to the contribution of each process in each environmental category reported in the case of the beef fattening system as a whole. The results from this analysis showed that shortening calving intervals by 1 month reduced environmental impacts by 5.7–5.8% in all the environmental impact categories examined in the current study, and increasing the number of calves per cow also reduced environmental impacts in all the categories, although the effects were smaller.  相似文献   

Pea extracellular Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase responsive to signal molecules from a fungal pathogen     

Tomonari Kasai  Tomoko Suzuki  Kozue Ono  Ken'ichi Ogawa  Yoshishige Inagaki  Yuki Ichinose  Kazuhiro Toyoda  Tomonori Shiraishi 《Journal of General Plant Pathology》2006,72(5):265-272

We previously reported that the release of O₂ ⁻ from isolated pea cell walls was enhanced by a 70-kDa glycoprotein elicitor but was suppressed by mucin-type glycopeptide suppressors (supprescins A and B) prepared from pycnospore germination fluid of Mycosphaerella pinodes, causal agent of Mycosphaerella blight of pea. Here, we show that superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the apoplast fluid/cell wall of pea seedlings responds to the fungal elicitor and suppressor molecules. In a pharmacological study and with internal amino acid sequencing, the apoplastic SOD in a pea cultivar Midoriusui was found to be a Cu/Zn type SOD. We cloned a full-length cDNA of the Cu/Zn-SOD and designated it as PsCu/Zn-SOD1. An increase in PsCu/Zn-SOD1 mRNA and the PsCu/Zn-SOD1 protein was induced by treatment with the elicitor more intensively than by wounding. Such induction by the elicitor or wounding, however, was inhibited by the concomitant presence of supprescins. The SOD activity of recombinant PsCu/Zn-SOD1 was regulated directly by these signal molecules in a manner similar to their effect on the SOD activity in the apoplastic fluid and in the cell wall-bound proteins. Based on these findings, we discuss a role for PsCu/Zn-SOD1 in the pea defense response. The nucleotide sequence data of PsCu/Zn-SOD1 reported are available in the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession number AB189165.  相似文献   

N-terminal domain including conserved flg22 is required for flagellin-induced hypersensitive cell death in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis>     

Kana Naito  Yasuhiro Ishiga  Kazuhiro Toyoda  Tomonori Shiraishi  Yuki Ichinose 《Journal of General Plant Pathology》2007,73(4):281-285

Flagellin in Pseudomonas syringae is a potent elicitor of defense responses including hypersensitive cell death in dicot plants. The oligopeptides flg22 consisting of 22 conserved amino acids near the N-terminus of flagellins is reported to induce plant defense responses. Because glycosylation of the central domain of flagellin affects its elicitor activity, we investigated whether any peptide sequence in addition to flg22 is required for flagellin-induced hypersensitive reaction. A study of recombinant flagellin polypeptides indicated that the N-terminal domain including the conserved flg22 is required for flagellin-induced hypersensitive cell death in Arabidopsis thaliana.  相似文献   

Energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) balance of logging residues as alternative energy resources: system analysis based on the method of a life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Takuyuki Yoshioka  Kazuhiro Aruga  Toshio Nitami  Hiroshi Kobayashi  Hideo Sakai 《Journal of Forest Research》2005,10(2):125-134

Using the method of a life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis, the energy balance and the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission of logging residues from Japanese conventional forestry as alternative energy resources were analyzed over the entire life cycle of the residues. The fuel consumption for forestry machines was measured in field experiments for harvesting and transporting logging residues at forestry operating sites in Japan. In addition, a total audit of energy consumption was undertaken. It involved an assessment of materials, construction, and the repair and maintenance of forestry machines as well as the costs associated with an energy-conversion plant. As a result, the ratio of energy output to input was calculated to be 5.69, indicating that the system examined in this study could be feasible as an energy production system. The CO₂ emission per MWh_e (e: electricity) of the biomass-fired power generation plant was calculated to be 61.8kgCO₂/MWh_e, while that of coal-fired power generation plants in Japan is 960kgCO₂/MWh_e. Therefore, the reduction in the amount of CO₂ emission that would result from replacing coal with biomass for power generation by as much as 3.0 million dry-t/year of logging residues in Japan was estimated to be 1.66 million tCO₂/year, corresponding to 0.142% of the national CO₂ emission. This study provides evidence that Japan could reduce its domestic CO₂ emission by using logging residues as alternative energy resources.  相似文献   

Simple method for synthesizing phenolicβ-O-4 dilignols     

Shingo Kawai  Kyoko Okita  Kazuhiro Sugishita  Ai Tanaka  Hideo Ohash 《Journal of Wood Science》1999,45(5):440-443

A modified synthetic method for phenolic-O-4 lignin substructure model dimers was developed involving protection of the phenolic hydroxyl group of acetophenons with benzoyl chloride, bromination with 4-dimethylaminopyridiniumbromide perbromide, condensation with phenols in the presence of 18-crown-6-ether, condensation with paraformaldehyde, reduction with NaBH₄ and debenzoylation. This method results in shorter reaction times and increasing yields without the application of strict anhydrous and drastic conditions or chloric solvents. This alternative route could be applied to the-O-4 dilignol syntheses of four combinations of guaiacyl and syringyl derivatives.  相似文献   

Application of an airborne laser scanner to forest road design with accurate earthwork volumes   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Kazuhiro Aruga  John Sessions  Abdullah E. Akay 《Journal of Forest Research》2005,10(2):113-123

In this study we developed a forest road design program based on a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) from a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system. After a designer has located the intersection points on a horizontal plane, the model first generates the horizontal alignment and the ground profile. The model precisely generates cross-sections and accurately calculates earthwork volumes using a high-resolution DEM. The model then optimizes the vertical alignment based on construction and maintenance costs using a heuristic technique known as tabu search. As the distance between cross-sections affects the accuracy of earthwork volume calculations, the results were examined by comparing them with the exact earthwork volume calculated by the probabilistic Monte Carlo simulation method. The earthwork volumes calculated by the Pappus-based method were similar to those calculated by the Monte Carlo simulation when the distance between cross-sections was within 10m. The model was applied to a high-resolution DEM from the LIDAR of Capitol Forest in Washington State, USA. The model generated a horizontal alignment, length 827m, composed of five horizontal curves. We examined the number of grade change points. The results indicated that tabu search found the best solution ($61.42/m) with five grade change points. This was composed of two vertical curves that almost followed the ground profile. As the accuracy of a high-resolution DEM from LIDAR increases, the model would become a useful tool for a forest road designer because it eliminates or at least reduces the time-consuming process of road surveys.  相似文献   

Continuum contraction of tension wood fiber induced by repetitive hygrothermal treatment     

Sujan  KC  Yamamoto  Hiroyuki  Matsuo  Miyuki  Yoshida  Masato  Naito  Kazuhiro  Shirai  Tatsuya 《Wood Science and Technology》2015,49(6):1157-1169

Wood Science and Technology - Tension wood, when kiln-dried, is likely to deform hugely, which is probably caused by a gelatinous layer of the gelatinous fiber. To elucidate the mechanism behind...  相似文献   

Tooth brushing inhibits oral bacteria in dogs     

Kazuhiro WATANABE  Kotaro HAYASHI  Saku KIJIMA  Chie NONAKA  Kazuaki YAMAZOE 《The Journal of veterinary medical science / the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science》2015,77(10):1323-1325

In this study, scaling, polishing and daily tooth brushing were performed in 20 beagle dogs, and the number of oral bacteria was determined using a bacterial counter. The dogs were randomized into the scaling (S), scaling + polishing (SP), scaling + tooth daily brushing (SB) and scaling + polishing + tooth daily brushing (SPB) groups. Samples were collected from the buccal surface of the maxillary fourth premolars of the dogs immediately after scaling and every week thereafter from weeks 1 to 8. Throughout the study, the number of bacteria was significantly lower in the SB and SPB groups compared with the S group. The findings suggest that daily tooth brushing inhibited oral bacterial growth in the dogs.  相似文献   

Quantification of horse plasma proteins altered by xylazine using the fluorogenic derivatization-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry     

Miwako MORI  Tomoko ICHIBANGASE  Shozo YAMASHITA  Isao KIJIMA-SUDA  Masahiro KAWAHARA  Kazuhiro IMAI 《Journal of Equine Science》2015,26(4):141-146

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Estimating harvest costs and projecting quantities of logging residues for small-scale forestry in Nasushiobara,Tochigi Prefecture,Japan     

Chikara Nakahata  Ryo Uemura  Masashi Saito  Kanae Kanetsuki  Kazuhiro Aruga 《林业研究》2014,25(4):965-974

We used GIS on a regional scale to estimate and compare supply potentials and costs of small-scale logging systems, a mini-forwarder and a 4-ton truck operated by private logging contractors, and manual logging and a light truck operated by individual forest own- ers, with the mechanized operational system of the Forest Owners＇ Asso- ciation. Total potential yields of timber and logging residues were esti- mated as 418,895 m3 and 254,962 m3, respectively. The economic bal- ances were estimated and available amounts were projected as supply potentials from profitable sub-compartments. As a result, available amounts of timber and logging residues were estimated at 375,466 m3 （89.9%） and 203,850 m3 （80.0%）, respectively. Because their transport expenses were lower than for other systems the most profitable sub-compartments were operated by private logging contractors who sold logging residues at a plant. The profitable sub-compartments operated by individual forest owners were few because the extracting distances were usually greater than 20 m. Raising logging residue prices from 3,000 yen·m-3 to 4,080 yen·m-3 or 6,800 yen·m-3, and establishing forest roads, which reduced some extracting distances to less than 20 m, increased the number and area of profitable sub＊compartments, and increased available amounts of logging residues.  相似文献