Substitution and omission improved relatively early after tongue-tie division and progressed to distortion, which is a less-impaired form of articulation disorder. Thus, distortion required more time for improvement and remained a defective speaking habit in some patients.
A lot of Japanese people are generally known for having a healthy diet, and consume a variety of mushrooms daily. Many studies have reported anti-obesity effects of mushrooms, but few have investigated the effects of consuming a variety of edible mushroom types together in realistic quantities. In this study, we investigated whether supplementation with a variety of mushroom types affects visceral fat accumulation and gut microbiota in mice. The most popular mushroom varieties in Japan were lyophilized and mixed according to their local production ratios. C57BL/6J mice were fed a normal diet, high-fat (HF) diet, HF with 0.5% mushroom mixture (equivalent to 100 g mushrooms/day in humans) or HF with 3% mushroom mixture (equivalent to 600 g mushrooms/day in humans) for 4 weeks. The mice were then sacrificed, and blood samples, tissue samples and feces were collected. Our results show that mushroom intake suppressed visceral fat accumulation and increased the relative abundance of some short chain fatty acid- and lactic acid-producing gut bacteria. These findings suggest that mushroom intake is an effective strategy for obesity prevention.
Decline in the apparent quality of rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain due to high temperatures during ripening recently became a major concern in many areas in Japan. The occurrence of white-back kernels (WBK) is one of the main problems of heat-induced quality decline. We identified QTLs associated with the occurrence of WBK using recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and verified their effects using near-isogenic lines (NILs). The QTL analysis used F7 and F8 RILs derived from ‘Hana-echizen’ (HE), which is tolerant to high temperature, × ‘Niigata-wase’ (NW), which is sensitive to high temperature. Four QTLs were identified on chromosomes 3, 4, 6, and 9 (qWB3, qWB4, qWB6 and qWB9). To verify the effects of qWB6 and qWB9, we developed two NILs in which qWB6 or both were introduced from HE into the NW background. The HE allele at qWB6 significantly decreased WBK under multiple environments. The combination of qWB6 and qWB9 in an F2 population derived from a cross between a NIL and NW showed that the NW allele at qWB9 significantly decreased WBK if the qWB6 allele was HE. These results will be of value in marker-assisted selection for the breeding of rice with tolerance to heat-induced quality decline.
Studies were made on the number of sperms required for fertilization of ova ovulated from the bilateral ovaries in bitches. The experiment was carried out with 44 female beagles, which were divided into four groups of seven to eleven bitches each. The four groups were inseminated with 40 X 10(6) sperms/0.2 ml, 20 X 10(6) sperms/0.1 ml, 10 X 10(6) sperms/0.1 ml, and 3-5 X 10(6) sperms/0.1 ml, respectively. All the bitches were laparotomized at an optimum time for mating and inseminated at the tip of the horn of an unilateral uterus. In the four groups conception took place at a rate of 7/7, 8/8, 10/11, and 2/7, respectively. The number of puppies exceeded the number of ova ovulated on the inseminated side at a rate of 5/7, 6/8, 0/10, and 0/2 in the four groups, respectively. Therefore, it was clarified that when more than 20 X 10(6) sperms/0.1 ml were inseminated in the ipsilateral uterine horn, ova ovulated on the contralateral side were fertilized also. Then a unilateral ovary was ovariectomized in 11 bitches, which were inseminated with 10 X 10(6) sperms/0.1 ml in the ipsilateral uterine horn. As a result, only one bitch became conceptive and gave birth to only one puppy. From these results, it was considered that 10 X 10(6) sperms/0.1 ml may be most adequate for the ova on the side of insemination alone to be fertilized.
Agaricus blazei (A. blazei) is a mushroom with many biological effects and active ingredients. We purified a tumoricidal substance from A. blazei, an ergosterol derivative, and named it 'Agarol'. Cytotoxic effects of Agarol were determined by the MTT assay using A549, MKN45, HSC-3, and HSC-4 human carcinoma cell lines treated with Agarol. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry analysis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and mitochondria membrane potential (∆ψm) were also determined by flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was used to quantify the expression of apoptosis-related proteins. Agarol predominantly induced apoptosis in two p53-wild cell lines (A549 and MKN45) compared to the other p53-mutant cell lines (HSC-3 and HSC-4). Further mechanistic studies revealed that induction of apoptosis is associated with increased generation of ROS, reduced ∆ψm, release of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from the mitochondria to the cytosol, upregulation of Bax, and downregulation of Bcl-2. Caspase-3 activities did not increase, and z-VAD-fmk, a caspase inhibitor, did not inhibit the Agarol-induced apoptosis. These findings indicate that Agarol induces caspase-independent apoptosis in human carcinoma cells through a mitochondrial pathway. The in vivo anticancer activity of Agarol was confirmed in a xenograft murine model. This study suggests a molecular mechanism by which Agarol induces apoptosis in human carcinoma cells and indicates the potential use of Agarol as an anticancer agent.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.