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Biomedical subjects

Ayako Tanaka

Publications and source records attributed to Ayako Tanaka.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Research on leachate recirculation from different types of landfills.

Landfills can produce a great amount of leachate containing highly concentrated organic matter. This is especially true for the initial leachate from landfilled municipal solid wastes (MSW) that generally has concentrations of COD(Cr) and BOD(5) up to 80,000 and 50,000mg/L, respectively. The leachate could be disposed by means of recirculating technique, which decomposes the organics through the action of proliferating microorganisms and thereby purifies the leachate, and simultaneously accelerates organic decomposition through water saturation control. Data from experimental results indicated that leachate recirculating could reduce the organic concentration considerably, with a maximum reduction rate of COD(Cr) over 95%; and, using a semi-aerobic process, NH(3)-N concentration of treated leachate could be under 10mg/L. In addition, the organic concentration in MSW decreased greatly.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed2005

Seasonal influence on testicular function of male raccoons, Procyon lotor.

In order to clarify the breeding capability of male raccoons in Japan, the testes of raccoons, a nuisance animal, collected in Kanagawa Prefecture and Hokkaido were histologically inspected. Furthermore, testosterone concentrations in their blood were measured. The testosterone concentrations increased in winter and the diameter of seminiferous tubules and the spermatogenetic score decreased in summer for the animals captured in Kanagawa Prefecture. For the animals captured in Hokkaido, the diameter of seminiferous tubules did not change and the decrease of the spermatogenetic score in summer was slight. As the above results show, there is a breeding season in male raccoons in Japan, and the reduction of testicular function in summer was greater in animals captured in Kanagawa Prefecture than in animals captured in Hokkaido.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Sequence characterized amplified region markers tightly linked to the mating factors of Lentinula edodes.

Detecting the mating types in shiitake, Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler, is important for making progress in the breeding of this mushroom and determining the compatibility of the pair to cross. Shiitake is a tetrapolar fungus with two unlinking mating factors, A factor and B factor. We screened molecular markers linked to the mating factors using the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method to develop the mating type identification procedure. Using 147 oligonucleotide primers, a total of 6 linkage markers for the shiitake mating factors, 4 markers for the A factor and 2 markers for the B factor, were discovered with a logarithm of the odds threshold of 3.0 for linkage. Two RAPDs that perfectly segregated with each mating factor among 72 basidiospore strains were detected. Both of these RAPDs were cloned and sequenced to convert them to the sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers. Four primers, two sets of primers, were designed according to the internal sequences of two RAPDs tightly linking to the A factor or B factor. Consequently, we determined the polymerase chain reaction condition for multiplex analyses of these SCAR markers.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2002

In vitro induction of the anticarcinogenic marker enzyme, quinone reductase, in human hepatoma cells by food extracts.

The effect of vegetable extracts on the activity of the anticarcinogenic phase II marker enzyme, quinone reductase (QR), was investigated by using human Hep G2 cells as the model system. Hep G2 cells were less sensitive than murine Hepa1c1c7 cells to QR-inducible compounds such as tert-butylhydroquinone which have been widely used to examine the QR-inducing activity of the compounds. However, among 45 different vegetable samples, an extract of ashitaba clearly induced QR activity in Hep G2 cells. Ashitaba is therefore considered to have contained certain substances that could induce QR activity, and such induction may play a role in the anticarcinogenic action of vegetables.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Elliptically polarized magnetic fields do not alter immediate early response genes expression levels in human glioblastoma cells.

Expression of immediate early response genes such as c-fos, c-jun, and c-myc in response to 1-500 microT resultant (r) 60 Hz elliptically polarized (EP) magnetic fields (MFs), typical of environmental MFs polarization under overhead power lines, was analyzed in both at transcriptional and translational levels using human glioblastoma (T98G) cells. Pseudo synchronized T98G cells at G1 phase were exposed to EP-MFs (1, 20, 100, and 500 microTr) for up to 3 h, but produced no statistical difference (P>0.05) in the levels of expression ratio at both the transcriptional and translational levels at 30 min for c-fos and c-jun and at 180 min for c-myc after serum stimulation. In addition, exposure of T98G cells to linearly (vertical and horizontal) and/or circularly polarized MFs (500 microTr) produced no significant change (P>0.05) in the expression ratio at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Thus, there was no evidence that linearly or rotating polarized MFs enhanced early response gene expression in these studies. These results suggest that environmental MFs at 1-500 microT flux density are unlikely to induce carcinogenesis through a mechanism involving altered expression of the immediate early response genes.

Blotting, Northern↗