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Haruhiko Nishida,1 Katsuko Onishi,1 Satoshi Kurose,1 Hiromi Tsutsumi,1 Takumi Miyauchi,2 Nana Takao,2 Sawako Yoshiuchi,2 Aya Fujii,2 Yutaka Kimura1,2 1Department of Health Science, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan; 2Health Science Center, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, JapanCorrespondence: Haruhiko NishidaDepartment of Health Science, Kansai Medical University, 2-5-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka 573-1010, JapanTel +81 72 804 2334Fax +81 72 804 2548Email nishidah@hirakata.kmu.ac.jpObjective: DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that regulates gene expression. The obesity-related (FTO) gene is the first gene found to be associated with fat mass and obesity. However, no studies have examined the relationship between weight-loss intervention effect and FTO methylation in obese individuals with whole blood DNA. The purpose of this study was to quantify FTO whole blood DNA methylation and investigate the relationship between body composition, exercise capacity, and blood parameters with a 6-month weight-loss program intervention.Participants and Methods: Eighteen female participants (mean age, 50.6 ± 12.1 years, body mass index (BMI), 33.5 ± 6.2 kg/m2) who completed a 6-month weight-loss program at the obesity outpatient department at the Health Science Center of Kansai Medical University Hospital from March 2017 to October 2018 were included in the analysis. Participants were randomized into a normal treatment group (NTG) and a group with additional resistance training (RTG). Body composition, exercise tolerance and metabolic index were measured in each participant. DNA methylation status in whole blood samples was determined using pyrosequencing. All measurements were taken during the first visit and at the 6-month post-intervention visit.Results: The methylation rate was significantly decreased in the NTG in CpG1 (p=0.011) and total value of CpG (p=0.011), whereas in the treatment group containing resistance training (RTG), CpG3 (p=0.038) was increased significantly. Furthermore, the independent factors that determine %CpG3 of RTG were visceral fat area change rate (%VFA) (β = − 0.568, P = 0.007, R2 = 0.527) and resistance training (β = 0.517, P = 0.012, R2 = 0.527), which have been extracted.Conclusion: A 6-month weight-loss program, including resistance training, may be associated with decreased visceral fat area changes and increased RTG CpG3 methylation changes. However, further replication studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to verify the findings of this study.Keywords: epigenetics, obesity, body composition, resistance training

The seasonal variation in biogenic fluxes of N[H.sub.4.sup.+], P[O.sub.4.sup.3-] and Si[O.sub.2] calculated from the nutrient excretion rates of dominant bivalves (Ruditapes philippinarum and Arcuatula [=Musculista] senhousia), and pore-water nutrient (N[H.sub.4.sup.+], P[O.sub.4.sup.3-], Si[O.sub.2] and N[O.sub.3.sup.-] + N[O.sub.2.sup.-]), sedimentary acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) and benthic chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations was assessed on an intertidal sand-flat in the Seto Inland Sea (Japan) from summer 1994 to autumn 1995. In spite of the large variability between sampling dates and stations, significant correlations between biogenic nutrient fluxes and pore-water nutrient concentrations were found, suggesting a seasonal linkage between bivalve-mediated biological processes and chemical features of sediments. This linkage was stronger in surface (0-0.5 cm) than subsurface (0.5-2 cm) sediments, consistent with the autoecological characteristics of R. philippinarum and A. senhousia inhabiting the uppermost sediment layer. Significant temporal variation in pore-water N[O.sub.3.sup.-] + N[O.sub.2.sup.-], sedimentary AVS and benthic Chl-a concentrations was also found, which was related to both occasional extreme events (e.g., dystrophy) and alternating periods of production and decomposition. This study may serve twofold in (1) contributing to unravel the ecological structure and functioning of natural tidal flats, and the scale of seasonal variability in biotic and sedimentary parameters and (2) providing useful information for assessing the effectiveness of the physico-chemical and biological structure of artificial tidal flats which are growing in number and extension worldwide., Introduction Tidal flats rich in benthic microalgae and macroinvertebrates (Guarini et al. 1998; Komorita et al. 2010; Donadi et al. 2013) are known to provide important ecosystem services, such as [...]

Fission track (FT), (U-Th)/He (He), and U-Pb data were used to identify the denudation history of the Akaishi Range, central Japan. The northern Akaishi Range is bounded on the east by the Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line Fault Zone (ISTL-FZ). The thermochronometric ages progressively decrease with the decreasing distance to the ISTL-FZ. Thermokinematic calculations suggest that the age pattern observed can be explained by 5-7.5 mm/yr reverse slip on the ISTL-FZ that dips 34-45° west and soles onto detachment at 20-22.5 km depth. By assuming the same geometry and slip rate of the fault, the bedrock uplift rates and denudation rates are estimated at ~4 mm/yr. Thus, the uplift and denudation style of the northern Akaishi Range is well explained as a simple tilted thrust block that has been exhumed along the listric ISTL-FZ. On the other hand, considering both the difference in apatite FT age and the active fault distribution, the southern Akaishi Range might be different in uplift origin and timing, although the difference in apatite FT ages between them may be attributable to the chlorine content variation in apatite. The inferred total denudation is larger than several kilometers and likely exceeds 10 km since the beginning of the northern Akaishi Range uplift, suggesting that the low-relief surfaces on the ridges and the relatively constant elevations of the summits reflect postuplift denudation rather than preexisting low-relief landforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic chemical vapour deposition was used to fabricate hydroxyapatite (HAp) and α-tricalcium phosphate coatings on the surface of representative biomedical titanium alloys: Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4·6Zr, commercially pure Ti, and Ti-6Al-4V ELI. The effect of the substrate surface roughness, alloy composition and precursor temperature was investigated in relation to the type of calcium phosphate formed and the morphology and thickness of the HAp coating. The surface roughness of substrates mechanically polished by SiC paper was found to vary depending on the type of alloy, whereas the roughness of substrates buff polished using a colloidal SiO2 suspension was comparable. The type of calcium phosphate formed could be controlled by the precursor temperature. A coarse, granular microstructure was observed on the surface of the thicker HAp coatings formed on the rough polished substrates, while the thinner HAp coatings formed on the smooth polished substrates had a relatively dense and fine grained microstructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of the skin tumor–promoting potential of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) after initiation with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) was conducted using rasH2 transgenic (Tg) mice and their nontransgenic (non-Tg) littermates. Mice were treated with DMBA (50 μg/100 μL acetone) on clipped back skin at the commencement of the study, and 1 week thereafter, TPA was applied at 8 μg/200 μL or 4 μg/200 μL acetone, once or twice weekly, for 7 weeks. Skin nodules were observed in the rasH2 Tg mice from week 4, and the incidence reached 100% at weeks 5 and 6. The number of skin nodules (multiplicity) in the 8-μg twice-weekly, 8-μg once-weekly, 4-μg twice-weekly, and 4-μg once-weekly groups was 62.4, 46.2, 62.6, and 36.9, respectively. The non-Tg mice also developed skin nodules, but the sensitivity to induction in the rasH2 Tg mice was higher. No nodules were observed in the acetone groups, but single nodules were apparent in the no-treatment rasH2 Tg and non-Tg groups. In conclusion, skin promotion effects could be detected within only 8 weeks in the rasH2 mice, and the concentration of 4 μg TPA once weekly was sufficient as a positive control. This short-term skin carcinogenesis bioassay using rasH2 mice could represent a useful tool for the assessment of drug and chemical safety with cutaneous treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The gigantic Mw 9.0 11 March 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake suddenly changed the overriding inland area to an extensional stress regime and triggered massive seismic swarms in the coastal region. The largest earthquake of Mw 6.6 struck southern Fukushima on 11 April 2011 and ruptured two previously mapped faults, the northwest (NW)-trending Yunodake fault and the north-northwest (NNW)-trending Itozawa fault. Clear 15-km-long and 14-km-long surface ruptures appeared along both faults, respectively, exhibiting a predominantly normal sense of slip, down to the west. The maximum vertical offset on the Yunodake fault is ~0.8 m, whereas that on the Itozawa fault is ~2.1 m. The Itozawa fault rupture is in part marked by uphill-facing scarps, which is discordant with the large-scale topography but consistent with saddled ridges and ponded alluvium. The Yunodake fault, which bounds a Neogene half-graben structure juxtaposing Mesozoic metamorphic rocks against Neogene sedimentary rocks, shows left-lateral deflections of streams. Seismological data and interviews of local residents revealed that the two subparallel faults ruptured simultaneously. Based on the location of its hypocenter, we, however, interpret that the Itozawa rupture was primary and then triggered normal faulting on the Yunodake fault under the heightened Coulomb stress caused by the preceding Tohoku-oki earthquake. Our paleoseismic trench across the Itozawa fault exposed evidence for a penultimate earthquake that occurred sometime between 12,620 and 17,410 cal yr B.P. There is no evidence that the Itozawa fault ruptured during or immediately after the A.D. 869 Jogan earthquake, which is believed to be the penultimate giant megathrust earthquake along the Japan trench. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]