Current Situation & Programs of Japan ART

Osamu Okitsu 한국동물생명공학회(구 한국동물번식학회) 2017 발생공학 국제심포지엄 및 학술대회 Vol.2017 No.10

All of ART treatments in Japan are under control of Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG). JSOG covers all fields of obstetrics and gynecology in Japan. ART can be performed only in JSOG-certified centers to which at least one ART specialist (M.D.) must belong. ART specialist is certified by Japan Society of Reproductive Medicine (JSRM) which cover the field of reproductive medicine together with JSOG. Each ART center must submit the reports of all of ART treatment cycles every year and the accumulated data is open to public. From the latest data, number of ART treatment cycles in Japan is the largest in the countries registration system is functioned. (Actually, the largest and the second largest countries are China and India, respectively.) However, delivery rate per treatment cycles in Japan is the worst because percentage of cycles with aged women over 40 years old is increasing in recent years. In addition, neither egg donation nor preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) of embryos is permitted from ethical point of view. All of clinical research must be registered to JSOG and get permission in advance. At the end of the research, the report must be submitted. The major characteristics of Japan ART are minimum stimulation and “all freeze”, though these are not working range of embryologist. Needless to describe, minimum stimulation is performed in order to avoid ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome (OHSS). “All freeze” is the strategy to get higher implantation rate by complete synchronization of endometrium cycle and embryo development. In relation to ART laboratory works, very expensive machines (Time-lapse cinematography- equipped dry incubators, automatic vitrification machine, etc.) are developed in recent years. TLC-equipped dry incubator is gradually introduced in many ART centers. Accordingly, single step blastocyst culture medium is also going to be popular in order to reduce laboratory work. As the result of author’s investigation, osmolality of blastocyst medium is significantly increased during 5 days culture in dry incubator when compared with humidified condition (p<0.05) in spite that culture medium is covered by mineral oil. No significant difference in blastulation rate though slightly decreased in dry condition. Rescue ICSI (rICSI), double insemination (rescue conventional insemination: rcIVF), rescue artificial oocyte activation (rAOA) are widely performed in many centers in order to improve fertilization rate. The major unsolved problems in the field of ART are thin endometrial layer cases, aged women and azoospermia. In vitro proliferation of endometrial-derived stem cells, being performed by Prof. S. Kato’s group in Kyushu University, and in vitro germ cells production from iPS cells by two groups, M. Saito in Kyoto University and K. Hayashi in Kyushu University, may be able to solve these problems in the future.

Effects of Outdoor Housing of Piglets on Behavior, Stress Reaction and Meat Characteristics

Yonezawa, Tomohiro,Takahashi, Asahi,Imai, Satomi,Okitsu, Aya,Komiyama, Sonomi,Irimajiri, Mami,Matsuura, Akihiro,Yamazaki, Atusi,Hodate, Koich Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2012 Animal Bioscience Vol.25 No.6

Well-designed housing systems are important from the viewpoint of animal welfare and improvement of meat production. In this study, we investigated the effects of outdoor housing of pigs on their behavior, cortisol levels, and meat characteristics. Two groups that were born and raised in a spacious outdoor pen ($4{\times}10$ m for every two sows) or a minimum-sized standard pen in a piggery ($1.9{\times}2.2$ m for every sow) were studied. When their behaviors at the age of 2 to 3 wk were observed, the number of rooting episodes tended to be larger (p = 0.0509) and the total time of rooting tended to be longer (p = 0.0640) in the outdoor-housed piglets although the difference was not significant. Basal salivary cortisol levels of the outdoor piglets at the age of 4 wk were significantly lower than those of the indoor piglets ($5.0{\pm}0.59$ ng/ml vs. $11.6{\pm}0.91$ ng/ml, 30 min after treatment), although their plasma cortisol levels were similar ($53.3{\pm}3.54$ ng/ml vs. $59.9{\pm}4.84$ ng/ml, 30 min after treatment). When the ears were pierced at weaning, plasma and salivary cortisol levels were increased in both groups, even at 15 min after piercing. However, the increase in the outdoor-housed group was significantly less than that in the indoor-housed group. Throughout their lives, body weight and daily gain of the pigs were not significantly different between the two groups. In a meat taste preference test taken by 20 panelists, saltiness, flavor, and color of the outdoor-housed pork were found to be more acceptable. Moreover, when an electronic taste-sensing device was utilized, the C00 and CPA-C00 outputs ($3.78{\pm}0.07$ and $-0.20{\pm}0.023$), which correspond to compounds of bitterness and smells, respectively, were significantly lower in the outdoor-housed pork ($5.03{\pm}0.16$ and $-0.13{\pm}0.009$). Our results demonstrate that the outdoor housing system for piglets induces natural behaviors such as rooting and suppresses the strongest stress reaction of piglets, which could be important for animal welfare. Moreover, the outdoor housing system might change muscle characteristics and improve pork bitterness, flavor, and color. These changes may be preferred by consumers, increasing the sale of these meats.

Facile fabrication of SnO2 modified hierarchical BiOI S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst with efficient activity for carbon dioxide reduction

Yunxue Xiao,Abulikemu Abulizi,Kenji Okitsu,Tiezhen Ren 한국공업화학회 2023 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.125 No.-

The use of photocatalysts on semiconductor substrates is a promising strategy for multiple use of solarenergy and environmental improvement to convert CO2 to CH3OH. In this paper, a series of SnO2-modified BiOI (SnO2/BiOI) novel s-scheme heterojunction microsphere catalysts were synthesized, andthe effect of temperature on the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reactivity of SnO2 grown on pure BiOI surfacewas systematically investigated by adjusting the calcination reaction temperature. Among all SnO2/BiOI composite photocatalytic systems, the highest CH3OH yield (1183 lmol/gcat, 4 h) was achieved whenSnO2/BiOI was synthesized at 400 C, which was 2.7 times higher than that of BiOI alone (437 lmol/gcat,4 h). The SnO2/BiOI microspheres with s-scheme heterojunction exhibited surprising photocatalytic performancefor CH3OH formation due to the formation of an internal eletricfield between SnO2 and BiOI alsofacilitated the separation of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs.

In-situ fabrication of hollow BiOIxCly n-n type heterojunction microspheres with enhanced visible-light-driven performance for rhodamine B degradation and CO2 reduction

Hongyu Fu,Tao Zhang,Abulikemu Abulizi,Kenji Okitsu,Yalkunjan Tursun 한국공업화학회 2023 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.117 No.-

It is pressing to explore highly efficient and broad-spectrum photocatalysts to address environmentalissues. In this work, in situ self-assembled hollow BiOIxCly n-n type heterojunction microspheres weresimply synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method, and the microstructure, morphology, optical,photoelectrochemical, and photocatalytic properties of the samples were researched. The photocatalyticactivity of materials was investigated for Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation and CO2 reduction. The characterizationresults illustrated that the introduction of moderate amounts of Cl in BiOI could promotethe conversion of RhB and CO2, and it improved separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons andholes in BiOI. Specially, when the doping ratio of I and Cl was 2:1, BiOIxCly exhibited the most outstandingphotocatalytic activity for RhB degradation (99.42 %, 20 min) and reduction of CO2 to methanol(1042.12 lmol/gcat, 8 h) and ethanol (264.53 lmol/gcat, 8 h), which were approximately 3.40 and 3.91-times larger than that of BiOI, respectively. This study could describe a potential strategy for assistingwith environmental purification and energy transformation.

Radiation-induced synthesis of Au/Fe oxide nanocomposite particles for magnetic separation of biomolecules

Satoshi Seino,Takuya Kinoshita,Yohei Otome,Takashi Nakagawa,Kenji Okitsu,Tadachika Nakayama,Tohru Sekino,KoichiNiihara,Takao A. Yamamoto 한양대학교 세라믹연구소 2004 Journal of Ceramic Processing Research Vol.5 No.2

Nanocomposite particles composed of gold and iron oxide were synthesized with various ratios of gold and iron oxide in an aqueous phase using γ-rays. Iron oxide nanoparticles of γ-Fe2O3 or Fe3O4 were used as a magnetic phase on which gold nanoparticles with average diameters of 5-10 nm were supported. The efficiency of magnetic separation of biomolecules by the present nanocomposite particles was investigated using glutathione as a model compound. The amount of glutathione magnetically separated was significantly enhanced by the supported gold nanoparticles.

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy structure determination of a lipid-embedded heptahelical membrane protein

Wang, Shenlin,Munro, Rachel A,Shi, Lichi,Kawamura, Izuru,Okitsu, Takashi,Wada, Akimori,Kim, So-Young,Jung, Kwang-Hwan,Brown, Leonid S,Ladizhansky, Vladimir Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan P 2013 Nature methods Vol.10 No.10

Determination of structure of integral membrane proteins, especially in their native environment, is a formidable challenge in structural biology. Here we demonstrate that magic angle spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy can be used to determine structures of membrane proteins reconstituted in synthetic lipids, an environment similar to the natural membrane. We combined a large number of experimentally determined interatomic distances and local torsional restraints to solve the structure of an oligomeric membrane protein of common seven-helical fold, Anabaena sensory rhodopsin (ASR). We determined the atomic resolution detail of the oligomerization interface of the ASR trimer, and the arrangement of helices, side chains and the retinal cofactor in the monomer.