Sea cucumbers are recognized as food and drug resources with many nutritional benefits, and Apostichopus japonicus is a kind of sea cucumber with good quality. Processing methods have some effect on its quality. This study aimed to explore the effects of Apostichopus japonicus with three different processing methods (dried, instant, and enzymatic sea cucummbers) on intestinal microflora dysregu...

We describe methodology used for the laboratory colonization of Aedes japonicus japonicus, an exotic mosquito species native to eastern Asia and first collected in New Jersey as larvae in 1999. We created a free mating colony in 2000 that readily bloodfed on restrained bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). A larval diet of finely ground Purina Lab DietE dissolved in dechlorinated water has prov...

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is a commonly used method for plant genetic engineering. However, the limitations of Agrobacterium host-plant interactions and the complexity of plant tissue culture often make the production of transgenic plants difficult. Transformation efficiency in many legume species, including soybean and the common bean, has been reported to be quite low. To improve ...

Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Ae. japonicus (Theobald) are important container-inhabiting mosquitoes that transmit disease agents, outcompete native species, and continue to expand their range in the United States. Both species deposit eggs in natural and artificial containers and thrive in peridomestic environments. The goal of our study was to examine the types and characteristics of container...

A convenient and high yielding procedure for the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of unprotected bromo- and chlorotryptophans in water provides fluorescent aryltryptophans.

A number of fragmentary reports suggest that the endangered diving beetle Cybister japonicus larvae feed on tadpoles, fish, and aquatic insects. However, no quantitative study on the feeding habits of C. japonicus larvae has been reported. In this study, field observations and rearing experiments were carried out to show the feeding ecology of C. japonicus larvae. Unlike previous commentaries, ...

Panax vietnamensis was discovered recently in Vietnam. Its bamboo-like rhizomes, called Vietnamese Ginseng, have attracted considerable attention because of their specific pharmacological activities. In order to define the taxonomic position of this new species and include it in the molecular authentication of Ginseng drugs, the 18S ribosomal RNA gene and matK gene sequences of P. vietnamensis ...

Orostachys japonicus is traditionally used as an inflammatory agent. In this report, we investigated the effects of O. japonicus extract on the expression of genes encoding pathogen-recognition receptors (TLR2, TLR4, NOD1, and NOD2) and proinflammatory factors (iNOS, COX-2, and cytokines) in LPS-stimulated PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells and the NF-κB and MAPK pathways. O. japonicus induced toxi...

Changes in the distribution of microtubules and F-actin through the cell division cycle of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus var. versatilis were investigated by fluorescence microscopy. The fluorescence images obtained with S. japonicus were markedly superior to those previously reported for S. pombe and revealed new details of cytoskeletal organization in this important genus. A...