Effects of species and sex on plasma hormone and metabolite concentrations in crossbred Brahman cattle and crossbred water buffalo     

T. Ban-Tokuda  E.A. Orden  A.N. Barrio  R.M. Lapitan  C. Delavaud  Y. Chilliard  T. Fujihara  L.C. Cruz  H. Homma  Y. Kanai 《Livestock Science》2007,107(2-3):244-252

Buffalo meat is tasty and indistinguishable from beef, and has been described as being lean and low in cholesterol in comparison with beef. However, little is known about the plasma hormone and metabolic profiles related to fat metabolism in buffalo, and how their levels are affected by species and sex. In this study levels of plasma hormones and metabolites were compared between species and sexes. Ten growing crossbred Brahman cattle and ten growing crossbred buffaloes (five males and five females in each), with an average age of 22 months were used. The animals were fed on an experimental diet composed of corn silage, brewer's spent grain and a concentrate mixture at a 50:30:20 ratio on a dry matter basis during a fattening period of 6 months. Blood samples were collected every month during the experiment, and were analysed for plasma leptin, insulin, glucose, triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) concentrations. Plasma leptin, insulin and TC concentrations increased during fattening and were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in cattle than in buffaloes. These concentrations in cattle showed a big difference between sexes in comparison with buffaloes, and were higher in females than in males. The plasma glucose and TG concentrations did not differ (P > 0.05) between cattle and buffaloes.

The crude fat content of longissimus muscle was significantly higher in cattle than in buffalo. Differences in body fat deposition seem to have an influence on plasma leptin, insulin and TC concentrations differently between cattle and buffaloes.  相似文献   

Criterion for estimating humidity control capacity of materials in a room     

Toshiro Morooka  Yoko Homma  Misato Norimoto 《Journal of Wood Science》2007,53(3):192-198

As a measure of estimating humidity control capacity of materials in an airtight room under sinusoidal temperature variation, we used the Cb value, which is the ratio of the range of variation in relative humidity in a steel box lined with the material of interest to the range in an empty steel box. In order to clarify the factors that affect the Cb value, we focused on both the temperature variation rate and the area that is lined in the box. It was found that changing the rate of temperature variation over one period strongly affected the Cb value, although the amplitude of temperature variation did not. We further noticed that the difference between the time when peak temperature was reached and the time when peak absolute humidity was reached (peak time difference), was found to be useful for estimating the humidity control capacity of materials. Knowing the difference between the phase when peak temperature was reached and the phase when peak absolute humidity was reached (phase angle difference) was also useful. Because the Cb value was affected by both the variation period and the lined area in the box, we can draw a contour diagram of the period and the lined area for materials to give an overview of the humidity control capacity of a material. The materials of primary interest in this study were Japanese cedar and porous ceramics.  相似文献   

Lignin-degrading activity of edible mushroom <Emphasis Type="Italic">Strobilurus ohshimae</Emphasis> that forms fruiting bodies on buried sugi (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptomeria japonica</Emphasis>) twigs     

Hiroto Homma  Hirofumi Shinoyama  Yukihiro Nobuta  Yoshie Terashima  Seigo Amachi  Takaaki Fujii 《Journal of Wood Science》2007,53(1):80-84

Strobilurus ohshimae is an edible mushroom, and it specifically forms its fruiting bodies on buried sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) twigs. In this research, we studied lignindegrading activity of S. ohshimae. We isolated 18 strains of S. ohshimae from various regions of Japan, and determined their lignin degradation rates on sugi wood meal medium. All the strains of S. ohshimae degraded approximately 6%–12% of sugi lignin in 30 days, and these lignin degradation rates were 1.5–3 times higher than those of Trametes versicolor, which is a typical lignin-degrading fungus. Among the three main lignin-degrading enzymes, activity of lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase was not observed, while 4340U/g of laccase was produced in 30 days. To investigate the effect of wood species on lignin degradation by S. ohshimae, the lignin degradation rate and laccase productivity on sugi wood meal medium were compared with those on beech (Fagus crenata). In T. versicolor, both lignin degradation rate and laccase productivity were higher on beech than on sugi. Conversely, in S. ohshimae, lignin degradation rate and laccase productivity were higher on sugi than on beech. Therefore, it was suggested that coniferous lignin is not always difficult to degrade for the fungi that inhabit softwood. Part of this article presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Sapporo, August 2004  相似文献   

Response of denitrifying communities to successive soil freeze–thaw cycles     

Yosuke Yanai  Koki Toyota  Masanori Okazaki 《Biology and Fertility of Soils》2007,44(1):113-119

The effect of soil freeze–thaw cycles on the denitrification potential was examined based on the C₂H₂ inhibition method. The gross N₂O production curve of the soil sample (incubation with C₂H₂) showed minor changes between the freeze–thaw treatment and the unfrozen control. However, kinetics analysis revealed that the initial production rate, an indicator of the population density of denitrifying communities, decreased (P = 0.043) and the specific growth rate constant, an indicator of the activity of denitrifying communities, increased (P = 0.039) as a result of the freeze–thaw cycles in five of six soil samples examined. The increase in the specific growth rate constant suggested the stimulation of the activity of denitrifying communities that survived after the freeze–thaw cycles and may explain the minor suppression on the gross N₂O production in spite of decreasing the population density of denitrifying communities that was suggested by the initial production rate. The net N₂O production curve of the soil sample (incubation without C₂H₂) showed a remarkable change in one out of six soil samples, and in that one soil sample, N₂O release to the atmosphere was largely stimulated (7.6 times) by the freeze–thaw cycles. However, the stimulation of the N₂O release by the freeze–thaw cycles was even observed in two other selected soil samples (4.6 and 1.8 times), suggesting that an imbalance in the N₂O-producing and N₂O-reducing activities of denitrifying communities might complementally explain the N₂O release stimulated by the freeze–thaw cycles.  相似文献   

Mutations in a human ROBO gene disrupt hindbrain axon pathway crossing and morphogenesis     

Jen JC  Chan WM  Bosley TM  Wan J  Carr JR  Rüb U  Shattuck D  Salamon G  Kudo LC  Ou J  Lin DD  Salih MA  Kansu T  Al Dhalaan H  Al Zayed Z  MacDonald DB  Stigsby B  Plaitakis A  Dretakis EK  Gottlob I  Pieh C  Traboulsi EI  Wang Q  Wang L  Andrews C  Yamada K  Demer JL  Karim S  Alger JR  Geschwind DH  Deller T  Sicotte NL  Nelson SF  Baloh RW  Engle EC 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2004,304(5676):1509-1513

The mechanisms controlling axon guidance are of fundamental importance in understanding brain development. Growing corticospinal and somatosensory axons cross the midline in the medulla to reach their targets and thus form the basis of contralateral motor control and sensory input. The motor and sensory projections appeared uncrossed in patients with horizontal gaze palsy with progressive scoliosis (HGPPS). In patients affected with HGPPS, we identified mutations in the ROBO3 gene, which shares homology with roundabout genes important in axon guidance in developing Drosophila, zebrafish, and mouse. Like its murine homolog Rig1/Robo3, but unlike other Robo proteins, ROBO3 is required for hindbrain axon midline crossing.  相似文献   

Eyes have a role in photoperiodic control of sexual activity of coturnix     

Homma K  Wilson WO  Siopes TD 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1972,178(4059):421-423

In blinded Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) encephalic photoreception of the stimulus from long photoperiods is sufficient to induce and maintain normal gonadal function in females (egg laying) and in males (enlargement of the cloacal gland). However, the termination of sexual activity by short days is dependent on these birds having experienced long days at the time of blinding.  相似文献   

Effects of charcoal addition on N₂O emissions from soil resulting from rewetting air-dried soil in short-term laboratory experiments     

Yosuke YANAI  Koki TOYOTA  Masanori OKAZAKI 《Soil Science and Plant Nutrition》2007,53(2):181-188

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Nitrogen balance in a paddy field planted with whole crop rice (Oryza sativa cv. Kusahonami) during two rice-growing seasons     

Khin Moe Kyaw  Koki Toyota  Masanori Okazaki  Takashi Motobayashi  Haruo Tanaka 《Biology and Fertility of Soils》2005,42(1):72-82

This paper focuses on N balance in a paddy field planted with whole crop rice (Oryza sativa cv. Kusahonami). The experiment was conducted with two treatments during two rice-growing seasons: one was fertilized with N (160 kg N ha^–1; 16N plot) and the other unfertilized (0N plot); both plots were fertilized with P and K. The N input from precipitation was 15 and 12 kg N ha^–1 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. The N input from irrigation water reached as much as 123 and 69 kg N ha^–1 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. This was because irrigation water contained higher NO₃^– concentrations ranging from 4 to 8 mg N l^–1. The N uptake by rice plants was the major output: 118 and 240 kg N ha^–1 in the 0N and 16N plots in 2002 and 103 and 238 kg N ha^–1 in 2003, respectively. N losses by leaching were 4.8–5.3 and 6.5–7.3 kg N ha^–1 in 2002 and in 2003, respectively. Laboratory experiments were carried out to estimate the amounts of N₂ fixation and denitrification. Amount of N₂ fixation was 43 and 0 kg N ha^–1 in the 0N and 16N plots, respectively. Denitrification potential was quite high in both the plots, and 90% of the N input through irrigation water was lost through denitrification. Collectively, the total N inputs were relatively large due to irrigation water contaminated with NO₃^–, but N outflow loading, expressed as leaching–(irrigation water + precipitation + fertilizer), showed large negative values, suggesting that the whole crop rice field might serve as a constructed wetland for decreasing N.  相似文献   

Phylogenetic distribution of bacteria isolated from the floodwater of a Japanese paddy field     

Natsuko NAKAYAMA  Akiko OKABE  Koki TOYOTA  Makoto KIMURA  Susumu ASAKAWA 《Soil Science and Plant Nutrition》2006,52(3):305-312

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Properties of electroretinogram in albino and wild-type Japanese quail with special regard to the C-wave     

H Konishi  K Homma 《Nippon juigaku zasshi. The Japanese journal of veterinary science》1979,41(6):647-654

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