Effect of temperature and photoperiod on the reproductive condition and performance of a tropical damselfish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chrysiptera cyanea</Emphasis> during different phases of the reproductive season     

Mohammad Abu Jafor Bapary  Akihiro Takemura 《Fisheries Science》2010,76(5):769-776

Effects of temperature and photoperiod on the reproductive activity of a reef associated tropical damselfish Chrysiptera cyanea were evaluated under three phases with different environmental patterns, phase I (April–May; increasing water temperature and photoperiod), phase II (June–July; increasing water temperature and peak/decreasing photoperiod), and phase III (August–September; peak/decreasing water temperature and decreasing photoperiod). When the fish were reared at 20, 25, or 30°C under natural photoperiod, the reproductive conditions differed within and among the phases depending on experimental temperature and environmental patterns. From phases I through III, ovaries with vitellogenic oocytes were notable only at 25°C, whereas regressing and immature oocytes were noticed at 20 and 30°C. The fish underwent active spawning at 25°C, whereas no or few spawnings were observed at other temperatures. In phase III, there was a resultant prevention of decrease in the gonadosomatic index and disappearance of vitellogenic oocytes in the ovaries of fish under a long photoperiod (LD14:10) compared to those under a short photoperiod (LD10:14). These results indicate that a long photoperiod with a suitable range of water temperature is a principal determinant in continuity of reproductive activity and performance, and that a high temperature has a negative impact on their ovarian development.  相似文献   

Assessing sexual maturity of feminized Japanese eel Anguilla japonica by measuring eye size     

Akihiro Okamura  Hideo P. Oka  Noriyuki Horie  Tomoko Utoh  Yoshiaki Yamada  Naomi Mikawa  Satoru Tanaka  Katsumi Tsukamoto 《Aquaculture International》2009,17(1):91-99

For efficient production of Japanese eel Anguilla japonica eggs, knowledge of the status of the sexual maturity of potential broodstock females is important because this status directly influences the time required to produce mature eggs by successive hormone doses. Here we apply an eye index (relative eye size) to evaluate the gonadal status of feminized A. japonica, which were induced by administration of estradiol-17β. Examination of gonad somatic and eye indexes of 267 feminized eels, cultivated for 12–56 months, revealed a significant correlation between these two indexes. Artificial maturation of 35 feminized eels showed that the number of hormone injections administered before ovulation was significantly lower as the eye index score increased, indicating availability of this noninvasive method of predicting sexual maturity of feminized eel. There was no correlation between eye index and fertilization rate, hatching rate, or larval survival rate, suggesting that sexual maturity before hormonal treatment does not affect egg quality.  相似文献   

Simultaneous steroids measurement in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism using a column-switching liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method     

Noboru SASAKI  Thandar OO  Yoshikazu YASUDA  Takahiro ICHISE  Noriyuki NAGATA  Nozomu YOKOYAMA  Kazuyoshi SASAOKA  Keitaro MORISHITA  Shouta MM NAKAYAMA  Mayumi ISHIZUKA  Kensuke NAKAMURA  Mitsuyoshi TAKIGUCHI  Yoshinori IKENAKA 《The Journal of veterinary medical science / the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science》2021,83(11):1634

We developed an analytical method using an on-line column-switching liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) for quantifying multiple steroids in serum. Using the developed method, we evaluated the serum concentration of nine steroids (cortisol, corticosterone, cortisone, 11-deoxycortisol, 21-deoxycortisol, deoxycorticosterone, progesterone, 17α-OH-progesterone and aldosterone) in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism (HAC). Serum was mixed with stable isotope internal standards and thereafter purified by the automated column-switching system. The limit of detection ranged 2–16 pg/ml for nine steroids. In the baseline samples, five steroids (cortisol, corticosterone, cortisone, 11-deoxycortisol, and 17α-OH-progesterone) were detected in all dogs. The concentrations of cortisone, 11-deoxycortisol, and 17α-OH-progesterone in dogs with HAC (n=19) were significantly higher those in dogs without HAC (n=15, P<0.02). After the adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation test, six steroids (cortisol, corticosterone, cortisone, 11-deoxycortisol, 17α-OH-progesterone, and deoxycorticosterone) were above the limit of quantification in all dogs. Cortisol, corticosterone, cortisone, and deoxycorticosterone concentrations of dogs with HAC were significantly higher than those of dogs without HAC (P<0.02). In addition, 11-deoxycortisol and 17α-OH-progesterone concentration was higher in dogs with HAC than in dogs without HAC (P=0.044 and P=0.048, respectively). The on-line column-switching LC/MS/MS would be feasible for measuring multiple steroids in dog serum. The results suggest that cortisone, 11-deoxycortisol, and 17α-OH-progesterone would be related to HAC. Further studies are warranted to assess the clinical feasibility of steroid profile in dogs with HAC.  相似文献   

Effect of salinity on occurrence of notochord deformities in Japanese eel <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anguilla japonica</Emphasis> larvae     

Akihiro Okamura  Yoshiaki Yamada  Naomi Mikawa  Noriyuki Horie  Katsumi Tsukamoto 《Aquaculture International》2016,24(2):549-555

One of the difficulties to rear Anguilla japonica larvae is the frequent occurrence of notochord deformities. We tested the effect of salinity on the occurrence of the deformities, because we have been using 50 % diluted seawater (50 % SW) for glass eel production, on the basis of the fact that intermediate salinity saves energy due to lower cost for osmoregulation and contributes higher survival and growth rates. We reared 6-day-old larvae in 50 and 100 % SW for 85 days and observed their morphology. The occurrence rate of deformed larvae, including kyphosis and scoliosis, was significantly higher in 50 % SW (35.8 %) than in 100 % SW (25.4 %), while survival rate was significantly higher in 50 % SW (69.8 %) than in 100 % SW (32.3 %) and growth in 50 % SW (mean body depth: 7.9 ± 5.3 mm) was better than in 100 % SW (6.8 ± 4.6 mm). We speculate that the most of severely deformed larvae could not survive in the tougher condition of 100 % SW, showing the lower occurrence of deformed larvae. Eventually, the yield of normal larvae after 85 days rearing was 1.9-fold higher in 50 % SW than in 100 % SW, implying that the advantage of 50 % SW for rearing eel larvae outweighs the risk of deformities.  相似文献   

Structure-Activity Relationship Study of the Neuritogenic Potential of the Glycan of Starfish Ganglioside LLG-3     

Megumi Yamagishi  Ritsuko Hosoda-Yabe  Hideki Tamai  Miku Konishi  Akihiro Imamura  Hideharu Ishida  Tomio Yabe  Hiromune Ando  Makoto Kiso 《Marine drugs》2015,13(12):7250-7274

LLG-3 is a ganglioside isolated from the starfish Linchia laevigata. To clarify the structure-activity relationship of the glycan of LLG-3 toward rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells in the presence of nerve growth factor, a series of mono- to tetrasaccharide glycan derivatives were chemically synthesized and evaluated in vitro. The methyl group at C8 of the terminal sialic acid residue was crucial for neuritogenic activity, and the terminal trisaccharide moiety was the minimum active motif. Furthermore, the trisaccharide also stimulated neuritogenesis in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 was rapidly induced by adding 1 or 10 nM of the trisaccharide. The ratio of phosphorylated ERK to ERK reached a maximum 5 min after stimulation, and then decreased gradually. However, the trisaccharide did not induce significant Akt phosphorylation. These effects were abolished by pretreatment with the MAPK inhibitor U0126, which inhibits enzymes MEK1 and MEK2. In addition, U0126 inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 in response to the trisaccharide dose-dependently. Therefore, we concluded that the trisaccharide promotes neurite extension in SH-SY5Y cells via MAPK/ERK signaling, not Akt signaling.  相似文献   

Body measurement of riding horses with a versatile tablet-type 3D scanning device     

Akihiro MATSUURA  Maiko DAN  Aiko HIRANO  Yoshio KIKU  Suzuka TORII  Shigeru MORITA 《Journal of Equine Science》2021,32(3):73

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Several possible spawning sites of the Japanese eel determined from collections of their eggs and preleptocephali     

Takeuchi  Aya  Higuchi  Takatoshi  Watanabe  Shun  Miller  Michael J.  Yama  Ritsuno  Fukuba  Tatsuhiro  Okamura  Akihiro  Okino  Tatsufumi  Miwa  Tetsuya  Tsukamoto  Katsumi 《Fisheries Science》2021,87(3):339-352

The spawning area of the Japanese eel is located at the southern part of the West Mariana Ridge in the western North Pacific, but their spawning events have not been observed. To further understand Japanese eel spawning ecology, an interdisciplinary research survey by the R/V NATSUSHIMA (NT14-09, 14 May–4 June 2014) was conducted to detect spawning sites based on the seamount, salinity front, new moon and third quadrant (spawning south of front, west of ridge) hypotheses. Attempts were made to film spawning events with underwater camera systems and to consider if eels might be detected in hydroacoustic observations. Although no Japanese eels or spawning events were video-recorded and no eel aggregations could be clearly identified acoustically, three eggs were collected at two stations in the third quadrant region at or just south of 13° N on 26 and 27 May. Three or four days later, newly hatched preleptocephali were collected at two stations far to the south, including 224 at a station > 160 km southwest of the egg catches, and a few preleptocephali were caught at two stations closer to the egg stations. The eggs and southern preleptocephali were from discrete spawning events, which indicated that at least two spawning sites occurred in May 2014.

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The beneficial effects of horse trekking on autonomic nervous activity in experienced rider with no disability          下载免费PDF全文

Akihiro Matsuura  Haruhiro Maruta  Tomohiko Iwatake  Takashi Kumagai  Toshihiko Nakanowatari  Koichi Hodate 《Animal Science Journal》2017,88(1):173-179

The aim of this study was to determine whether autonomic nervous activity of a rider with no disability was altered by one practical and applicable horse trekking (HT) exercise. Changes in autonomic nervous activity were analyzed by heart rate variability (HRV). Twenty‐three participants with no disability rode horses along a predetermined HT course at trotting and walking for 60 min. HRV was sampled at 60 min before and immediately, following 60 min, and 120 min after HT. As a control, the same measurements were performed for 22 age‐matched participants during their rest. Only in the HT group, the value of normalized unit in high frequency component (HF nu), an index of parasympathetic nervous activity, was higher at 120 min after treatment than before HT (P < 0.05). The low / high frequency ratio (LF / HF), believed to reflect sympathetic nervous activity, was lower in the HT group than those in the control group at 60 min (P < 0.05) and 120 min after treatment (P < 0.01). These findings suggest that a single HT shifted the autonomic nervous balance of a rider toward parasympathetic dominance. The results obtained by the present study could accelerate the use of horses for human health.  相似文献   

Oligoarray analysis of gene expression in ripening Japanese pear fruit     

Chikako Nishitani  Tokurou Shimizu  Hiroshi Fujii  Fumiko Hosaka  Shingo Terakami  Yuri Nakamura  Akihiro Itai  Ayako Yamaguchi-Nakamura  Toshiya Yamamoto 《Scientia Horticulturae》2010

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Concordance between Results of Medium-term Liver Carcinogenesis Bioassays and Long-term Findings for Carcinogenic 2-Nitropropane and Non-carcinogenic1-Nitropropane in F344 Rats     

Doi Y  Tamano S  Kawabe M  Sano M  Imai N  Nakashima H  Furukawa F  Hagiwara A  Otsuka M  Shirai T 《Journal of toxicologic pathology》2011,24(4):207-213

This study was conducted to determine the concordance of results for a pair of structural isomers, 2-nitropropane (2-NP) and 1-nitropropane (1-NP), using the rat medium-term liver carcinogenesis bioassay (Ito test) and previously published long-term carcinogenicity tests. Male F344 rats were given a single intraperitoneal injection of DEN (200 mg/kg b.w.) to initiate hepatocarcinogenesis. After 2 weeks, they received per os 0, 0.8, 4 or 20 mg/kg/day of 2-NP or 1-NP six times a week and were subjected to two-thirds partial hepatectomy at week 3. Non-initiated groups receiving 0 or 20 mg/kg/day were also included. The animals were sacrificed for quantitative analysis of GST-P-positive foci at week 8. With the highest dose of 2-NP, significantly increased numbers and areas of GST-P-positive foci were demonstrated as compared with the respective control but were not noted with 1-NP. In the non-DEN-initiated groups, many small GST-P-positive foci of less than 0.2 mm in diameter were also induced in the rats treated with 2-NP at 20 mg/kg/day but were lacking with 1-NP. These results strongly support that 2-NP is a complete hepatocarcinogen with a potent initiation activity, whereas 1-NP is not.  相似文献