Mammalian cells have been used in various research fields. More recently, cultured cells have been used as the cell source of “cultured meat.” Cell cultivation requires media containing nutrients, of ...which glucose and amino acids are the essential ones. These nutrients are generally derived from grains or heterotrophic microorganisms, which also require various nutrients derived from grains. Grain culture, in turn, requires many chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals, which can cause greenhouse gas emission and environmental contamination. Furthermore, grain production is greatly influenced by environmental changes. In contrast, microalgae efficiently synthesize various nutrients using solar energy, water, and inorganic substances, which are widely used in the energy sector. In this study, we aimed to apply nutrients extracted from microalgae in the culture media for mammalian cell cultivation. Glucose was efficiently extracted from Chlorococcum littorale or Arthrospira platensis using sulfuric acid, whereas 18 of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids were efficiently extracted from Chlorella vulgaris using hydrochloric acid. We further investigated whether nutrients present in the algal extracts could be used in mammalian cell cultivation. Although almost all C2C12 mouse myoblasts died during cultivation in a glucose‐ and amino acid‐free medium, the cell death was rescued by adding algal extract(s) into the nutrient‐deficient media. This indicates that nutrients present in algal extracts can be used for mammalian cell cultivation. This study is the first step toward the establishment of a new cell culture system that can reduce environmental loads and remain unaffected by the impact of environmental changes.
Nesidiocoris tenuis
(Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a zoophytophagous predator that feeds on plants as well as prey. Several non-crop host plant species have been used to maintain this mirid as a ...biological control agent in different crop systems. To evaluate the benefit of these non-crop host plants on biological control services, data on the life-history traits of
N. tenuis
on these plants are important as fundamental information. Herein, we studied the demographic growth parameters of
N. tenuis
reared on three alternative non-crop host plants (
Cleome hassleriana
Chod., Brassicales: Cleomaceae;
Verbena
×
hybrida
Voss, Lamiales: Verbenaceae; and
Sesamum indicum
L., Lamiales: Pedaliaceae) and one crop plant (tomato) in the absence of prey under laboratory conditions (25 ± 1 °C, 16:8 h L:D). The estimated intrinsic rate of increase in each plant was significantly greater in the following order:
S. indicum
(0.094) >
C. hassleriana
(0.074) > tomato (−0.002) >
Verbena
×
hybrida
(−0.060). The results indicated that
C. hassleriana
and
S. indicum
were able to fully support the development and reproduction of
N. tenuis
with nutrients derived from only its plant tissues, whereas
Verbena
×
hybrida
and tomato were not. Our findings revealed that
C. hassleriana
is a promising resource for the conservation or mass rearing of
N. tenuis
besides
S. indicum
.
The effects of pH changes and saccharin (SAC) addition on the nanostructure and mobility of the cationic aminoalkyl methacrylate copolymer Eudragit E PO (EUD-E) and its drug solubilization ability ...were investigated. Small-angle X-ray scattering performed using synchrotron radiation and atomic force microscopy showed that the EUD-E nanostructure, which has a size of approximately several nanometers, changed from a random coil structure at low pH (pH 4.0–5.0) to a partially folded structure at high pH (pH 5.5–6.5). The EUD-E also formed a partially folded structure in a wide pH range of 4.5–6.5 when SAC was present, and the coil-to-globule transition was moderate with pH increase, compared with that when SAC was absent. The equilibrium solubility of the neutral drug naringenin (NAR) was enhanced in the EUD-E solution and further increased as the pH increased. The enlargement of the hydrophobic region of EUD-E in association with the coil-to-globule transition led to efficient solubilization of NAR. The interaction with SAC enhanced the mobility of the EUD-E chains in the hydrophobic region of EUD-E, resulting in changes in the drug-solubilizing ability. 1H high-resolution magic-angle spinning NMR measurements revealed that the solubilized NAR in the partially folded structure of EUD-E showed higher molecular mobility in the presence of SAC than in the absence of SAC. This study highlighted that solution pH and the presence of SAC significantly changed the drug solubilization ability of EUD-E, followed by changes in the EUD-E nanostructure, including its hydrophobic region.
•Global warming has increased frequency of river flooding from extreme weather.•Disaster survivors can suffer mentally from depression and stress.•Social support can help post-disaster mental health, ...but effects are complex.•Support source, and providing or receiving support can have different effects.•Understanding support network complexity can help future disaster planning.
Social support networks are considered beneficial for post-disaster survivor mental health. However, there are family and non-family networks, and support can be received or provided. Therefore, their complex contribution to wellbeing requires analysis. Researching elderly residents of Jôsô City NE of Tokyo (N = 1182 female: n = 618, Age M = 69.76y, SD = 6.10y) who experienced severe flooding in September 2015 investigated data for mental health outcomes of depression (K6), trauma (IES-R), and existence of recent worry from evacuation and house damage. An original instrument tapped support source and direction, controlled to examine mental health symptom changes. House damage was a higher mental health predictor (ηp2 = .10–.16) than evacuation (ηp2 = .033–.093). Results indicated family social support may buffer mental health outcomes, but non-family social support may burden them. Overall support network size also indicated burdening compared to social support receiving-providing imbalance.
Although the domestication process has altered the feeding behavior of dogs, some breeds still demonstrate a remarkable ability to gorge, and will eat exceptionally large quantities of food whenever ...it is available. Lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamus increase appetite and lead to obesity, suggesting that the autonomic nervous system plays an important role in feeding. Focusing on the autonomic activities closely involved in food intake, we investigated sympathetic activities before and after feeding in dogs. The subjects were 56 healthy dogs of 21 different breeds (29 males and 27 females). Based on feeding habits, the 56 dogs were divided into three groups: Fast (n = 19), Slow (n = 24) and Leftover (n = 13). The feeding speed and the amount of food per mouthful of the Fast dogs were significantly greater than those of the Slow and the Leftover dogs. The plasma norepinephrine level in dogs of the Fast group was significantly increased after feeding, while those in the Slow and Leftover groups were significantly decreased after feeding, compared with the pre-feeding concentrations. The low frequency/high frequency ratio of heart rate variability is a good indicator of sympathetic activity and was also significantly higher in the Fast group than in the other groups. Delayed feeding using automatic feeding equipment decreased the plasma norepinephrine concentration and low frequency/high frequency ratio observed after feeding in dogs of the Fast group. In conclusion, dogs eating rapidly with less chewing, which indicates increased sympathetic activity during feeding, may benefit from delayed feeding. The slow eating may activate the parasympathetic nervous system after feeding, which could enhance the activity of the digestive system.
The functions of cell surface proteins, such as growth factor receptors and virus/bacteria-entry receptors, can be dynamically regulated by oligosaccharide modifications. In the present study, we ...investigated the involvement of glycosylation in hepatitis B virus (HBV) entry into hepatoma cells. Infection of oligosaccharide-remodeling hepatoma cells with a pseudo virus of HBV, bio-nanocapsule (BNC), was evaluated by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Among various experiments using several hepatoma cells, marked difference was observed between Huh6 cells and HB611 cells, which were established by HBV gene transfection into hepatoma cells. Comprehensive oligosaccharide analysis showed dramatic increases of core fucosylation in HB611 cells, compared with Huh6 cells. Knock down of fucosyltransferase 8 (FUT8) reduced BNC entry into HB611 cells. In contrast, overexpression of FUT8 in Huh6 cells increased BNC entry. Although expression of sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP), which is one of HBV receptors was very similar between Huh6 and HB611 cells, proteins coprecipitated with NTCP were dependent on levels of core-fucosylation, suggesting that core-fucosylation regulates BNC entry into hepatoma cells. Our findings demonstrate that core-fucosylation is an important glycosylation for HBV infection of hepatoma cells through HBV-receptor-mediated endocytosis. Down-regulation of core-fucosylation may be a novel target for HBV therapy.
Treatment of bipolar disorder is prone to prolongation despite various treatments, including medication. The efficacy of exercise treatment (i.e., interventions involving physical exercise and sports ...intervention) for major depressive disorders has been reported for depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and sleep disturbances. However, its efficacy for bipolar disorder has yet to be established. We designed a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial that includes 100 patients with bipolar disorder aged 20–65 years. This will be a cluster-randomized, two-group trial that will be conducted in ten psychiatric hospitals. The hospitals will be randomly assigned to an exercise intervention + treatment as usual (exercise) group or a placebo exercise intervention (stretching) + treatment as usual (control) group. Patients will be assessed using an extensive battery of clinical tests, physical parameters, sleep status, biological parameters (cytokines, neurotrophic factors), and genetic parameters (DNA and RNA) at baseline after a 6-week intervention period, at 10-week follow-up, and at 6-month follow-up. This innovative study may provide important evidence for the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of bipolar depression based on clinical, biological, genetic, and physiological markers.
For sustainable production of cultured meat, we propose a novel circular cell culture (CCC) system in which microalgae are used as nutrient supply for the mammalian cell culture and as a waste-medium ...recycler.
Chlorococcum littorale
, RL34 hepatocytes, and C2C12 myoblasts were used as cell sources for microalgae, growth factor-producing cells, and muscle cells, respectively. In the first cycle, C2C12 cells were amplified 4.0-fold after 48 h of culture in an RL34 cell-conditioned medium. In the second cycle, C2C12 cells were cultured in the
C. littorale
culture waste medium to which the
C. littorale
-derived nutrients were added. The proliferation rates of
C. littorale
and C2C12 and the nutrient extraction efficiency from
C. littorale
were the same in the first and second cycles. Therefore, this CCC system, which works without additional grain-derived nutrients and animal sera, will help drastically reduce environmental load, resource/energy consumption, and costs in future cultured meat production.
In this concept paper, a review on the history of mathematical handling of photosynthesis using kinetic equations and the repetition of classical experiments for renewing the discussion on the plant ...canopy photosynthesis are combined. In the upper half of this article, we reviewed the century-old history of the use of equations in photosynthetic analyses inspired by the mathematical models by A. V. Hill. Then we tried to challenge the 80-year-old mystery of Boysen-Jensen's plant canopy photosynthesis proposed by Boysen-Jensen in 1932, which induced a series of discussion if the nature of photosynthetic irradiation (PI) response in the plant canopy is largely differed from the one in a single leaf. Despite long-lasted belief, we concluded that there would be no mystery in the canopy photosynthesis. We assumed that the apparent lack of saturation in PI-curves in a stand of plant could be attributed to, neither the temporal movements of leaves nor the alteration of the sun's position, despite the earlier suggestion by Monsi and Saeki who assumed utilization of scattered sun light by plants, but it could be simply an artifact due to the lack of consideration on the positional effect of broad beam-angled artificial light source. Lastly, we revised the photosynthetic modes under layers of leaf canopies by proposing a set of practitioner-friendly mathematical model which could be applicable for estimating the total photosynthesis in the plant canopy structure consisted with layer of inclined leaves. Newly proposed equations can be used for simulation of the photosynthetic capacity in the plant canopy structure simply through measurements of (1) the PI-curve, (2) the state of respiration, and (3) transmittance in a single top-positioned leaf consisting the canopy structure.
PDF
