A key challenge to the application of continent-wide feather isoscapes for geographic assignment of migrant birds is the lack of ground-truthed samples. This is especially true for long-distance Palearctic-Afrotropical migrants. We used spatially-explicit information on the δ2H composition of archived feathers from Green-backed/Grey-backed Camaroptera, to create a feather δ2H isoscape for sub-S...

Continuous culture for the production of ethanol from wood hydrolysate was carried out in an internal membrane-filtration bioreactor. The hydrolysate medium was sterilized at a relatively low temperature of 60 degrees C with the intention of reducing the formation of inhibitory compounds during the sterilization. The maximum ethanol concentration and productivity obtained in this study were 76....

Homeoproteins are functionally involved in pattern formation. Recently, homeoproteins have been shown to be distributed in a graded fashion in developing limb buds. Here we examine the expression of homeoproteins in chicken feather development by immunocytochemical localization. We find that XlHbox 1 antigen is present in cell nuclei and is distributed in a gradient in the mesoderm of developin...

Non-iridescent structural plumage color is typically produced by coherent scattering of light within a matrix of keratin and air (a ;spongy layer') in feather barbs. It remains unclear what role, if any, the basal melanin layer underlying this spongy layer plays in the production of coloration. Amelanism in birds with structural color is a ;natural experiment' in which melanin pigmentation is l...

Xylitol was produced by Candida guilliermondii from charcoal-treated and untreated rice straw hemicellulosic hydrolysate with or without nutrients (ammonium sulphate, calcium chloride, rice bran extract). Both, xylitol yield and volumetric productivity decreased significantly when the nutrients were added to treated and untreated hydrolysates. In the treated hydrolysate, the efficiency of xylos...

Organogenesis involves a series of dynamic morphogenesis and remodeling processes. Since feathers exhibit complex forms, we have been using the feather as a model to analyze how molecular pathways and cellular events are used. While several major molecular pathways have been studied, the roles of matrix degrading proteases and inhibitors in feather morphogenesis are unknown. Here we addressed t...

Insulin resistance associated with visceral fat obesity has been suggested to be the pathological basis of metabolic syndrome. Many studies have demonstrated increased oxidant stress in diabetic patients and animal models of diabetes mellitus. In this study, the effect of liver hydrolysate administration on the blood glucose was examined in SHR/NDmcr-cp (SHR-cp) rats that show spontaneously occ...

Two hydrolysates were obtained from dried Mastocarpus stellatus using alcalase. The phenolic content was partially removed from one of them. The phenolic-partially-removed hydrolysate (H) was found to be a potent angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. However, the phenolic-containing hydrolysate (Hp) showed a higher Folin-reactive substance content and antioxidant capacity (reducing p...

Expression of Lunatic fringe mRNA was studied during feather morphogenesis and showed three stages of dynamic expression pattern. (1) Lunatic fringe was first expressed in the epithelium as a ring bordering the feather primordium when it was initially induced. (2) Shortly after, it showed a polarized pattern, first toward the lateral side of the feather primordium and then made a 90 degrees C s...

1. Feather pecking is one of the major problems facing the egg industry in non-cage systems and is set to become even more of an issue with the European Union ban on the keeping of laying hens in barren battery cages which comes into force in 2012 and the prospect of a ban on beak-trimming. Reducing feather pecking without resorting to beak treatment is an important goal for the poultry industr...