ReportWire

Tag: Osaka Metropolitan University

  • Natto: A Stress-Busting Food

    Natto: A Stress-Busting Food

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Health is wealth as the saying goes and new research now shows that it is possible to have a healthy, less stressed society through familiar and inexpensive foods. One such food might be the Japanese natto which is made from softened soybeans that have been boiled or steamed and fermented with a bacteria called Bacillus subtilis var. natto. Bacillus subtilis var. natto is found in soil, plants, animals, and the human stomach and intestines. Most of the natto consumed in Japan is made from the Miyagino strain.

    A research group led by Professor Eriko Kage-Nakadai at the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology, Osaka Metropolitan University, examined the effects of Bacillus subtilis var. natto consumption on the lifespan of the host using Caenorhabditis elegans worms. The researchers found that Caenorhabditis elegans fed Bacillus subtilis var. natto had a significantly longer lifespan than those fed the standard diet, and further elucidated that the p38 MAPK pathway and insulin/IGF-1-like signaling pathway, which are known to be involved in innate immunity and lifespan, were involved in the lifespan-enhancing effects of Bacillus subtilis var. natto. They also examined stress tolerance, which has been shown to have a correlation with longevity, and found that resistance to UV light and oxidative stress is enhanced.

    Professor Nakadai concluded, “For the first time, we were able to demonstrate the possibility of lifespan-extending effects of Caenorhabditis elegans through the ingestion of Bacillus subtilis var. natto. We hope that future experiments on mammals and epidemiological studies will help to realize a healthy and longer-living society if we can apply this research to humans.”

    The research results were published online in the Journal of Applied Microbiology on April 20, 2023.

    [ad_2]

    Osaka Metropolitan University

    Source link

  • “It’s me!” fish recognizes itself in photographs

    “It’s me!” fish recognizes itself in photographs

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — A research team led by Specially Appointed Professor Masanori Kohda from the Graduate School of Science at the Osaka Metropolitan University has demonstrated that fish think “it’s me” when they see themselves in a picture, for the first time in animals. The researchers found that the determining factor was not seeing their own body but seeing their face. These findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    In this study, relevant experiments were conducted with Labroides dimidiatus, commonly known as a cleaner fish, which are known to be able to recognize themselves in mirrors and regularly attack other unfamiliar cleaner fish who intrude on their territory. Each cleaner fish was presented with four photographs: a photo of themselves; a photo of an unfamiliar cleaner; a photo of their own face on an unfamiliar cleaner’s body; and a photo of unfamiliar cleaner’s face on their own body. Interestingly, the cleaner fish did not attack photos with their own faces but did attack those with the faces of unfamiliar cleaner fish. Together these results indicate that the cleaner fish determined who was in the photograph based on the face in the photo but not the body in the similar way humans do.

    To negate the possibility that the fish considered photographs of themselves as very close companions, a photograph mark-test was conducted. Fish were presented with a photograph where a parasite-like mark was placed on their throat. Six of the eight individuals that saw the photograph of themselves with a parasite mark were observed to rub their throats to clean it off. While showing those same fish pictures of themselves without parasite marks or of a familiar cleaner fish with parasite marks did not cause them to rub their throats.

    “This study is the first to demonstrate that fish have an internal sense of self. Since the target animal is a fish, this finding suggests that nearly all social vertebrates also have this higher sense of self,” stated Professor Kohda.

    ###

    About OMU

    Osaka Metropolitan University is a new public university established by a merger between Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University in April 2022. For more science news, see https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/, and follow @OsakaMetUniv_en and #OMUScience.

    [ad_2]

    Osaka Metropolitan University

    Source link

  • Understanding the “eating just one potato chip is impossible” gene

    Understanding the “eating just one potato chip is impossible” gene

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — High-calorie foods—high in fat, oil, and sugar—can taste good but often cause overeating, leading to obesity and major health problems. But what stimulates the brain to cause overeating?

    Recently, it has become clear that a gene called CREB-Regulated Transcription Coactivator 1 (CRTC1) is associated with obesity in humans. When CRTC1 is deleted in mice, they become obese, indicating that functioning CRTC1 suppresses obesity. However, since CRTC1 is expressed in all neurons in the brain, the specific neurons responsible for suppressing obesity and the mechanism present in those neurons remained unknown.

    To elucidate the mechanism by which CRTC1 suppresses obesity, a research group led by Associate Professor Shigenobu Matsumura from the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology at Osaka Metropolitan University focused on neurons expressing the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R). They hypothesized that CRTC1 expression in MC4R-expressing neurons suppressed obesity because mutations in the MC4R gene are known to cause obesity. Consequently, they created a strain of mice that expresses CRTC1 normally except in MC4R-expressing neurons where it is blocked to examine the effect that losing CRTC1 in those neurons had on obesity and diabetes.

    When fed a standard diet, the mice without CRTC1 in MC4R-expressing neurons showed no changes in body weight compared to control mice. However, when the CRTC1-deficient mice were raised on a high-fat diet, they overate, then became significantly more obese than the control mice and developed diabetes.

    “This study has revealed the role that the CRTC1 gene plays in the brain, and part of the mechanism that stops us from overeating high-calorie, fatty, and sugary foods,” said Professor Matsumura. “We hope this will lead to a better understanding of what causes people to overeat.”

    The research results were published in the FASEB Journal on November 9, 2022.

    ###

    Osaka Metropolitan University is a new public university established by a merger between Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University in April 2022. For more science news, see https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/info/research-news/, and follow @OsakaMetUniv_en, or search #OMUScience. 

    [ad_2]

    Osaka Metropolitan University

    Source link

  • New quantum phase discovered for developing hybrid materials

    New quantum phase discovered for developing hybrid materials

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Osaka, Japan – If you have ever watched water freeze to ice, you have witnessed what physicists call a “phase transition.” Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have discovered an unprecedented phase transition during which crystals achieve amorphous characteristics while retaining their crystalline properties. Their findings contribute to developing hybrid materials for use in harsh environments, such as outer space. The results were published in Physical Review B.

    A typical phase transition exhibited by crystalline solids involves a change in the crystal structure. Such structural phase transitions usually occur at finite temperatures. However, controlling the chemical composition of the crystal can lower the transition temperature to absolute zero (−273°C). The transition point at absolute zero is called the structural quantum critical point.

    In the dielectric compound Ba1-xSrxAl2O4, the structural phase transition is driven by an acoustic soft mode, the atomic vibration pattern of which is similar to that of sound waves. The compound comprises an AlO4 tetrahedral network and Ba/Sr atoms. The research team led by Associate Professor Yui Ishii from the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka Metropolitan University has discovered that a highly disordered atomic arrangement is formed in the AlO4 network at chemical compositions near the structural quantum critical point, resulting in both characteristics of crystalline and amorphous materials.

    Ba1-xSrxAl2O4 is a crystalline solid. However, the researchers found that at higher Sr concentrations than the structural quantum critical point, Ba1-xSrxAl2O4 exhibits the thermal characteristic of amorphous materials, i.e., low thermal conductivity comparable to that of glass materials (e.g., silica glass). They observed that a part of the atomic structure loses periodicity because of the incoherently stopped acoustic soft mode. As a result, a combination of a glassy Al-O network and a periodic Ba arrangement is realized.

    This hybrid state, which the research team was the first to discover, can be created simply by mixing raw materials uniformly and heating them.

    Professor Ishii concluded, “In principle, the phenomenon revealed in this research can occur in materials exhibiting acoustic soft modes. Applying this technique to various materials will possibly help us create hybrid materials that combine the physical properties of crystals, such as optical properties and electrical conductivity, with the low thermal conductivity of amorphous materials. In addition, the high heat resistance of crystals can be utilized to develop insulation materials that can be used in harsh environments, such as outer space.”

     

    ###

    About OMU

    Osaka Metropolitan University is a new public university established in April 2022, formed by merger between Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University. For more research news, visit https://www.upc-osaka.ac.jp/new-univ/en-research/research/ or follow @OsakaMetUniv_en and #OMUScience.

    [ad_2]

    Osaka Metropolitan University

    Source link

  • El NiñO Increases Seedling Mortality Even in Drought-Tolerant Forests

    El NiñO Increases Seedling Mortality Even in Drought-Tolerant Forests

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Global climate change may lead to more extreme weather events such as droughts. To predict the impact of climate change on tropical forests, it is necessary to understand more accurately the effects of drought. El Niño often reduces rainfall and causes drier forests in the tropical regions of Southeast Asia. Since tropical rainforests there usually experience rainfall year-round with no dry season, El Niño-induced drought increases tree mortality. Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs), on the other hand, are considered more adaptive to drought given that they experience both wet and dry seasons. However, there remains limited understanding about the effects of El Niño on SDTFs.

    Addressing this knowledge gap, a research team led by graduate student Prapawadee Nutiprapun, from the Graduate School of Science at Osaka City University, Professor Akira Itoh, from the Graduate School of Science at Osaka Metropolitan University, and Professor Dokrak Marod, from the Faculty of Forestry at Kasetsart University, monitored seedling recruitment and mortality at an SDTF in a national park in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, at monthly intervals for 7 years.

    During the study period, an extremely strong El Niño event occurred between 2014 and 2016, resulting in reduced rainfall. In 2016, the dry season was approximately 3 months longer than normal. The collected data show that severe and prolonged drought increased seedling mortality even in the SDTF. In addition, drought-caused mortality was greater in evergreen forests at higher elevations, where drought is usually less severe, than in deciduous forests at lower elevations, where severe drought is more frequently observed.

    Only in deciduous forests did the number of seedlings increase significantly during the El Niño period. This was mainly due to a large number of acorns produced by the deciduous oak Quercus brandisiana (Fagaceae). El Niño has been known to stimulate mass flowering and fruiting, leading to an increase in seedlings in tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia.

    “This study takes us one step closer to understanding the impact of El Niño on seasonally dry tropical forests in Southeast Asia,” said Ms. Nutiprapun.

    “A decline in the number of seedlings that carry the next generation will affect the entire forest in the long run,” concluded Professor Itoh. “We believe that we have obtained useful basic knowledge to develop measures to conserve tropical forest ecosystems in consideration of future climate change.”

     

    ###

    About OMU

    Osaka Metropolitan University is a new public university established by a merger between Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University in April 2022. For more science news, see https://www.upc-osaka.ac.jp/new-univ/en-research/, and follow @OsakaMetUniv_en, or search #OMUScience.

    [ad_2]

    Osaka Metropolitan University

    Source link