Recent Topics of Animal Health and Management

Our recent work regarding pathogenic parasites of domestic and wild animals and microbial communities in the composting processes has been summarized. Cryptosporidiosis is one of the important protozoan zoonotic diseases that causes diarrhea and occasionally death of humans, domestic animals, and wild vertebrates. We isolated a novel type of C. andersoni from cattle that grazed on the Kawatabi farm in Tohoku University, and we refer to this strain as the C. andersoni Kawatabi strain. We also isolated cryptosporidian oocysts from a dog and large Japanese field mice, Apodemus speciosus. Gene analysis suggested possibilities to be a novel type of C. canis (C. parvum dog genotype) and a new species of Cryptosporidium, respectively. A commercial microbiological additive (MA) was effective in the composting process, e.g., quicker elevation of temperature, lower emission of ammonia gas, and lower production of nitrate. Functional microbes obtained by the cultivation method with the MA did not coincide with the dominant species in the microbial community detected by DNA analyses. Various species of microbes in the MA grew at 55 and 72℃ incubation ; however, they did not coincide with the dominant species detected in chicken manure composting processes. It was clarified that the MA contained a variety of microbes, including thermophilic microbes and that these microbes did not become dominant during the composting processes. However, microbes in the MA that are smaller in number than the dominant species may act functionally in the composting process

リズム統制した連続リバウンドジャンプを用いたSSC運動能力の評価

This research aimed to develop a new index showing the effect of rebound jumping with rhythm control on the stretch-shortening cycle（ SSC）. Rebound jumping with maximum effort or rhythm control was performed by 115 healthy female subjects. The rhythm control rate was set for 6 conditions, ranging from 60 to 110 beats per minute（ bpm）, at intervals of 10 bpm. Under each condition, subjects performed about 12 consecutive rebound jumps, and five sets of stable and continuous data were used for analysis. The contact time（ CT）, air time（ AIR）, and rebound height were measured with a multi-jump tester. Jump time（ CT and AIR） became shorter as the rhythm control rate increased, and longer if the rhythm slowed. However, an increase in jump time did not necessarily permit a higher jump, and it became clear that the highest jump was associated with an optimal rhythm. As the rhythm slowed, the CT was longer than the AIR for each jump. The estimated rhythm at which the ratio of CT to AIR approached 50% was lower for those with higher jumping ability. This estimated rhythm can be used to determine whether it is possible to achieve shorter CT with rhythm control. It has been suggested that rhythm control can be used for training and that training can effectively improve exercise efficiency. These results showed the effect of continuous rebound jumping with rhythm control on SSC

Screening dataset of food components that enhance transcriptional activity of PGC1-beta

PGC-1β is a transcriptional co-activator of nuclear receptors, which acts to increase energy expenditure. PGC-1β fused to GAL4 DNA-binding domain transfected in HEK293T cells showed a reporter luciferase activity. We screened food-derived and natural compounds using a reporter assay system to measure the transcriptional activity of PGC-1β.We found that soy-derived isoflavones, genistein and daidzein, and several resveratrols activated PGC-1β, see “Genistein, daidzein, and resveratrols stimulate PGC-1β-mediated gene expression” [1]. The list of 166 compounds and their reporter activity is shown here. Keywords: Screening, Reporter assay, Transcriptional activit