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Abstract Health intentions and behaviours are essential for improving the health of individuals and society. This study used cross-sectional data from 20,155 health checkup participants in the Yamagata study to identify factors associated with health intentions and behaviours. Information regarding the current level of health intentions and behaviours was collected using a baseline survey questionnaire. Participants were categorised into three groups: having no intention (no intention), having intentions to improve but not acting on them (intention), and already active (action). The associations between background factors and the presence/absence of health intentions and behaviours were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Of the participants, 35.4%, 37.7%, and 26.9% belonged to the no intention, intention, and action groups, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the factors associated with health intentions were being young, being female, longer duration of education, higher body mass index and abdominal circumference, diabetes, and dyslipidaemia. The factors associated with health behaviours were being older and male, not consuming alcohol, not smoking, performing daily exercise, and having diabetes. These results indicate that health guidance considering background factors, including age, gender, education, and comorbidities, may be useful for effectively promoting health intentions and health behaviours in the Japanese population.

Although biologically targeted therapies based on key oncogenic mutations have made significant progress in the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer, the challenges of drug resistance are urging us to explore other potentially effective targets. Herein, epigenetic modifications in thyroid cancer, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, non-coding RNAs, chromatin remodeling and RNA alterations, are reviewed and epigenetic therapeutic agents for the treatment of thyroid cancer, such as DNMT (DNA methyltransferase) inhibitors, HDAC (histone deacetylase) inhibitors, BRD4 (bromodomain-containing protein 4) inhibitors, KDM1A (lysine demethylase 1A) inhibitors and EZH2 (enhancer of zeste homolog 2) inhibitors, are updated. We conclude that epigenetics is promising as a therapeutic target in thyroid cancer and further clinical trials are warranted.

OBJECTIVE:Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) is one of the most commonly used mechanical circulatory assist devices for high-risk patients undergoing cardiac surgery. In an effort to validate previously reported clinical outcomes, we describe the preoperative characteristics and outcomes of patients who underwent prophylactic IABP in high-risk patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). DESIGN:A prospective observational study. METHODS:From 2005 to 2017, 471 patients underwent either isolated or combined CABG at our institution. Of those, 393 patients underwent isolated CABG and were included for the analysis. Eighty-five patients (22%) were considered high-risk and underwent prophylactic IABP, with subsequent review of surgical morbidity and mortality rates. RESULTS:The 30-day postoperative mortality (prophylactic IABP group vs non prophylactic IABP group: 0% vs 1.6%, p = 0.589) and major adverse cardiac or cerebrovascular events (5.9% vs 3.3%, p = 0.333) were not significantly different between the two groups. Prolonged mechanical ventilation (>72 hours) (12.5% vs 4.2%, p = 0.014) occurred more frequently in the prophylactic IABP group. CONCLUSIONS:No IABP-related complications were noted, emphasizing that the use of prophylactic IABP in high-risk patients undergoing CABG is an acceptable option.

Erythroid abnormalities including anemia and polycythemia are often observed in the general clinical setting. Because recent studies reported that adiponectin negatively affects hematopoiesis, we performed a prospective observational study to assess the relationship between anemia and adiponectin, as well as other parameters, in 1029 Japanese subjects (477 men and 552 women) 40 years of age and older. Body measurements, blood tests, and nutrition intake studies were performed at baseline, and 5 to 7 years later (follow-up). Hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) levels in men with high serum adiponectin levels were lower at follow-up than at baseline. Multiple regression analysis showed that age, body mass index, adiponectin, and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase were significantly associated with erythroid-related variables (red blood cells, Hb, and Hct) in both men and women (P

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been detected in various types of cancer and have been proposed as novel biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment. Until recently, however, no studies had comprehensively examined circulating miRNAs in oral cancer. The current study used an ultra-sensitive genome-wide miRNA array to investigate changes in circulating miRNAs in plasma from five patients with oral cancer and ten healthy individuals. Results indicated that there were only a few circulating miRNAs, including miR-223, miR-26a, miR-126, and miR-21, that were up-regulated in patients with oral cancer. A subsequent validation test indicated that circulating miR-223 levels were significantly higher (~2-fold, P< 0.05) in patients with oral cancer (n = 31) than in those without cancer (n = 31). Moreover, miR-223 was found to be up-regulated in tumor-adjacent normal tissue compared to tumor tissue from patients with oral cancer. A gain-of-function assay was performed to explore the potential roles of circulating miR-223 in the development of oral cancer. Results revealed that miR-223 functions as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. In conclusion, this study suggested that circulating miR-223 may serve as a potential biomarker for diagnosis and that it may represent a novel therapeutic target for treatment of oral cancer.

BackgroundCapra hircus is an important economic livestock animal, and therefore, it is necessary to discover transcriptome information about their reproductive performance. In this study, we performed de novo transcriptome sequencing to produce the first transcriptome dataset for the goat ovary using high-throughput sequencing technologies. The result will contribute to research on goat reproductive performance.Method and resultsRNA-seq analysis generated more than 38.8 million clean paired end (PE) reads, which were assembled into 80,069 unigenes (mean size = 619 bp). Based on sequence similarity searches, 64,824 (60.6%) genes were identified, among which 29,444 and 11,271 unigenes were assigned to Gene Ontology (GO) categories and Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), respectively. Searches in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway database (KEGG) showed that 27,766 (63.4%) unigenes were mapped to 258 KEGG pathways. Furthermore, we investigated the transcriptome differences of goat ovaries at two different ages using a tag-based digital gene expression system. We obtained a sequencing depth of over 5.6 million and 5.8 million tags for the two ages and identified a large number of genes associated with reproductive hormones, ovulatory cycle and follicle. Moreover, many antisense transcripts and novel transcripts were found; clusters with similar differential expression patterns, enriched GO terms and metabolic pathways were revealed for the first time with regard to the differentially expressed genes.ConclusionsThe transcriptome provides invaluable new data for a functional genomic resource and future biological research in Capra hircus, and it is essential for the in-depth study of candidate genes in breeding programs.

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a method of operations research that has not yet been applied in the field of obesity research. However, DEA might be used to evaluate individuals' susceptibility to obesity, which could help establish effective risk models for the onset of obesity. Therefore, we conducted this study to evaluate the feasibility of applying DEA to predict obesity, by calculating efficiency scores and evaluating the usefulness of risk models. In this study, we evaluated data from the Takahata study, which was a population-based cohort study (with a follow-up study) of Japanese people who are >40 years old. For our analysis, we used the input-oriented Charnes-Cooper-Rhodes model of DEA, and defined the decision-making units (DMUs) as individual subjects. The inputs were defined as (1) exercise (measured as calories expended) and (2) the inverse of food intake (measured as calories ingested). The output was defined as the inverse of body mass index (BMI). Using the β coefficients for the participants' single nucleotide polymorphisms, we then calculated their genetic predisposition score (GPS). Both efficiency scores and GPS were available for 1,620 participants from the baseline survey, and for 708 participants from the follow-up survey. To compare the strengths of the associations, we used models of multiple linear regressions. To evaluate the effects of genetic factors and efficiency score on body mass index (BMI), we used multiple linear regression analysis, with BMI as the dependent variable, GPS and efficiency scores as the explanatory variables, and several demographic controls, including age and sex. Our results indicated that all factors were statistically significant (p < 0.05), with an adjusted R2 value of 0.66. Therefore, it is possible to use DEA to predict environmentally driven obesity, and thus to establish a well-fitted model for risk of obesity.

The research aimed to determine the effects of Si application on photosynthetic characteristics of maize on saline-alkaline soil, including photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration rate (E), and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) of maize in the field with five levels (0, 45, 90, 150, and 225 kg·ha−1) of Si supplying. Experimental results showed that the values of Pn, gs, and Ci of maize were significantly enhanced while the values of E of maize were dramatically decreased by certain doses of silicon fertilizers, which meant that Si application with proper doses significantly increased photosynthetic efficiency of maize in different growth stages under stressing environment of saline-alkaline soil. The optimal dose of Si application in this experiment was 150 kg·ha−1 Si. It indicated that increase in maize photosynthesis under saline-alkaline stress took place by Si application with proper doses, which is helpful to improve growth and yield of maize.

The objectives of the study were to determine the effects of silicon on photosynthetic characteristics of maize on alluvial soil, including total chlorophyll contents, photosynthetic rate Pn, stomatal conductance gs, transpiration rate (E), and intercellular CO2 concentration Ci using the method of field experiment, in which there were five levels (0, 45, 90, 150, and 225 kg·ha−1) of silicon supplying. The results showed that certain doses of silicon fertilizers can be used successfully in increasing the values of total chlorophyll contents, Pn, and gs and decreasing the values of E and Ci of maize leaves, which meant that photosynthetic efficiency of maize was significantly increased in different growth stages by proper doses of Si application on alluvial soil, and the optimal dose of Si application was 150 kg·ha−1. Our results indicated that silicon in proper amounts can be beneficial in increasing the photosynthetic ability of maize, which would be helpful for the grain yield and growth of maize.