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Gamma‐ray glows are observational evidence of relativistic electron acceleration due to the electric field in thunderclouds. However, it is yet to be understood whether such relativistic electrons contribute to the initiation of lightning discharges. To tackle this question, we started the citizen science "Thundercloud Project," where we map radiation measurements of glows from winter thunderclouds along Japan's sea coast area. We developed and deployed 58 compact gamma‐ray monitors at the end of 2021. On 30 December 2021, five monitors simultaneously detected a glow with its radiation distribution horizontally extending for 2 km. The glow terminated coinciding with a lightning flash at 04:08:34 JST, which was recorded by the two radio‐band lightning mapping systems, FALMA and DALMA. The initial discharges during the preliminary breakdown started above the glow, that is, in vicinity of the electron acceleration site. This result provides one example of possible connections between electron acceleration and lightning initiation. Plain Language Summary: Thunderstorms are natural particle accelerators. The strong electric field inside thunderclouds accelerates relativistic electrons, which emit gamma rays via interaction with the atmosphere. High‐energy photons generated in this process have been observed as radiation enhancements called gamma‐ray glows. Winter thunderclouds along the sea of Japan are an ideal target for monitoring glows because their altitudes are usually sufficiently low for the generated gamma‐ray photons to reach the ground. We started a new citizen science "Thundercloud Project" in this area, where we distributed radiation detectors to citizen supporters to observe glows and to reveal their relationship with the aerological condition and lightning discharges. On 30 December 2021, five of those sensors detected a glow from a single thundercloud. Two of them recorded a sudden termination of the glow coinciding with a lightning flash, which was monitored by our two radio mapping systems of FALMA and DALMA. The initial discharges of the flash started at a location about 1.6 km above the glow region with an unusually fast downward progression. This paper is the first report of our citizen science project. We discuss the possibility that accelerated electrons contribute to the initiation of lightning discharges. Key Points: We started the citizen science "Thundercloud Project," a multi‐point observation campaign of gamma‐ray glows from thunderstormsOn 30 December 2021, five radiation monitors detected a 2‐km‐long size gamma‐ray glow, which suddenly terminated with a lightning flashTwo radio mapping systems of lightning identified the initiation of the discharges, which started at a location above the glow region [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The associations of serum arginase I with serum L-arginine, serum 3-nitrotyrosine, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) were evaluated cross-sectionally in healthy Japanese workers. The serum median (minimum-maximum) levels of arginase I, 3-nitrotyrosine, and FENO in healthy people (n = 130) were 14.6 (0.94-108.1) ng/mL, 81.0 (0.27-298.6) pmol/mg protein, and 14.0 (5.0-110.0) parts per billion, respectively. Significant correlations of arginase I with FENO, L-arginine, 3-nitrotyrosine, and percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 (% predicted)) were observed, and correlations of FENO with immunoglobulin E (IgE), NOx, arginase I, and sex and allergy were also observed. By multiple regression analysis, arginase I showed positive associations with FENO and 3-nitrotyrosine, and a negative association with L-arginine; and FENO showed positive associations with IgE and NO2− + NO3− (NOx), and a negative association with L-arginine, as well as an association with sex. Moreover, logistic regression analysis showed linear inverse associations of arginase I and 3-nitrotyrosine with L-arginine, and showed linear positive associations of FENO with IgE and NOx. It was concluded that serum arginase I might regulate serum L-arginine and 3-nitrotyrosine via L-arginine, and that IgE or NOx might regulate FENO in a healthy Japanese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-two microsatellite DNA markers were developed for Japanese sea bass ( Laterolabrax japonicus), of which 19 were independent from each other and at Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium across the three populations of Japanese sea bass inhabiting Chinese coasts (defined as China group) and the five populations inhabiting Japanese coasts (defined as Japan group). These 19 markers were used to determine the number of alleles and the expected heterozygosity across the eight populations. The majority of individuals (93.8–98.8%) of the three populations of the pre-defined China group were assigned to an inferred cluster, and 90.9–94.6% of the individuals of the five populations of the pre-defined Japan group were assigned to the other. The average number of alleles across the 19 loci was significantly lower in the China group than in the Japan group (10.3 vs 15.4), however, the average expected heterozygosity across the 19 loci of the China group was similar to that of the Japan group (0.743 vs 0.750). An effective population size reduction (i.e. bottleneck effect) was detected in the China group (P = 0.00357), which may have resulted from either over-catching or glaciations or both. The pairwise FST among populations of the China group (0.019–0.029) and among populations of the Japan group (0.003–0.021) were lower than those between the populations of the China group and the populations of the Japan group (0.076–0.101). The average pair-wise FST between the populations of the China group and those of the Japan group reached 0.075, and the variation between the China group and the Japan group accounted for 7.16% of the total. Nei’s original measures of genetic distances among the populations of the China group and the Japan group ranged from 0.123 to 0.145 and from 0.055 to 0.123, respectively, while that between the populations of the China group and the populations of the Japan group ranged from 0.326 to 0.450. Japanese sea bass is able to disperse over a long distance; however, our observations demonstrated that it cannot migrate across a possible barrier existing between Chinese and Japanese coasts. Most individuals of the Zhoushan population of the China group were assigned to two inferred clusters, and most individuals of Ariake Sea, Tokyo Bay and Ishikawa populations of the Japan group were assigned to three inferred clusters, indicating that these locations were the gathering grounds of Japanese sea bass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measles remains a significant threat to children worldwide despite the availability of effective vaccines. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation by leading to the postponement of supplementary measles immunization activities. Along with this postponement, measles surveillance also deteriorated, with the lowest number of submitted specimens in over a decade. In this study, we focus on measles as a challenging case study due to its high vaccination coverage, which leads to smaller outbreaks and potentially weaker signals on Google Trends. Our research aimed to explore the feasibility of using Google Trends for real-time monitoring of infectious disease outbreaks. We evaluated the correlation between Google Trends searches and clinical case data using the Pearson correlation coefficient and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient across 30 European countries and Japan. The results revealed that Google Trends was most suitable for monitoring acute disease outbreaks at the regional level in high-income countries, even when there are only a few weekly cases. For example, from 2017 to 2019, the Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.86 (p-value< 0.05) at the prefecture level for Okinawa, Japan, versus 0.33 (p-value< 0.05) at the national level for Japan. Furthermore, we found that the Pearson correlation coefficient may be more suitable than Spearman's rank correlation coefficient for evaluating the correlations between Google Trends search data and clinical case data. This study highlighted the potential of utilizing Google Trends as a valuable tool for timely public health interventions to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, even in the context of diseases with high vaccine coverage., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Although the prevalence and burden of asthma are continuously increasing, there is a lack of evidence on the landscape of moderate-to-severe asthma in Japan. Here, we report the prevalence of moderate-to-severe asthma and describe patient's demographics and clinical characteristics from 2010 to 2019 using the JMDC claims database., Methods: Patients (≥12 years) from the JMDC database with ≥2 asthma diagnoses in 2 different months in each index year were stratified as moderate-to-severe asthma based on the definition of asthma prevention and management guideline (Japanese Guidelines for Asthma, JGL) or Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA)., Primary Objective: 10-year trend (2010-2019) in the prevalence of moderate-to-severe asthma., Secondary Objective: Demographics and clinical characteristics of patients from 2010 to 2019., Results: Of 7,493,027 patients from the JMDC database, 38,089 and 133,557 were included in JGL and GINA cohorts, respectively, by 2019. Both cohorts presented an increasing trend in the prevalence rate of moderate-to-severe asthma from 2010 to 2019, irrespective of age groups. Demographics and clinical characteristics were consistent across the cohorts in each calendar year. Majority of patients were in the age group of 18-60 years in both JGL (86.6%) and GINA (84.2%) cohorts. Allergic rhinitis was the most frequent comorbidity and anaphylaxis the least frequent comorbidity reported in both the cohorts., Conclusions: In Japan, the prevalence rate of patients with moderate-to-severe asthma, as per JGL or GINA in the JMDC database, increased from 2010 to 2019. The demographics and clinical characteristics were similar in both cohorts over the assessment duration., (© 2023 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: Accurate pathological diagnosis of gastric endoscopic biopsy could greatly improve the opportunity of early diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer. The Japanese "Group classification" of gastric biopsy corresponds well with the endoscopic diagnostic system and can guide clinical treatment. However, severe shortage of pathologists and their heavy workload limit the diagnostic accuracy. This study presents the first attempt to investigate the applicability and effectiveness of AI-aided system for automated Japanese "Group classification" of gastric endoscopic biopsy., Methods: In total, 260 whole-slide images of gastric endoscopic biopsy were collected from Dalian Municipal Central Hospital from January 2015 to January 2021. These images were annotated by experienced pathologists according to the Japanese "Group classification." Five popular convolutional neural networks, i.e., VGG16, VGG19, ResNet50, Xception, and InceptionV3 were trained and tested. The performance of the models was compared in terms of widely used metrics, namely, AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, i.e., ROC curve), accuracy, recall, precision, and F1 score., Results: Results showed that ResNet50 achieved the best performance with accuracy 93.16% and AUC 0.994., Conclusion: Our results demonstrated the applicability and effectiveness of DL-based system for automated Japanese "Group classification" of gastric endoscopic biopsy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Xiaoya Fan et al.)

Objective Evidence concerning the safety and efficacy of indacaterol maleate in a real-life setting is limited. The objective of this post-marketing surveillance was to evaluate the real-life safety and efficacy of indacaterol maleate in Japanese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods This was a 52-week post-marketing surveillance conducted between April 2012 and December 2018. The safety endpoints included the incidence of adverse events (AEs), serious adverse events (SAEs), and adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The efficacy endpoints included the physician-reported global evaluation of treatment effectiveness (GETE), change from baseline in the COPD assessment test (CAT) results, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ), and %FEV 1 following 4, 12, 26, and 52 weeks of indacaterol administration. Results Of the 1,846 enrolled patients, 1,726 were included in the safety and efficacy analyses. The mean age of the patients was 72.5 years old. Cough, pneumonia and COPD worsening were the most common AEs reported, while pneumonia (1.04%) was the most common SAE, and cough (1.68%) was the most common ADR. GETE showed that 69.70% of patients achieved an excellent/good/moderate response following indacaterol treatment. The CAT score decreased, and lung function parameters (FVC, FEV 1 and %FEV 1 ) improved across all the COPD stages following treatment with indacaterol. Conclusion Indacaterol showed a favorable safety and tolerability profile in Japanese patients with COPD without new safety signals observed in real-life settings. These findings demonstrated that indacaterol is an effective maintenance treatment in real-life practice for Japanese patients with COPD.

Objective: To investigate the effect of remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) on contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) in patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A total of 282 patients undergoing PCI at Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University between June 2017 and January 2019 were prospectively enrolled. The patients were randomly divided into RIPC group ( n =142) and control group ( n =140). CI-AKI was defined as an increase in level of cystatin C (CysC)≥10% above baseline at 24 h after contrast administration. Baseline characteristics and the incidence of CI-AKI were compared between the two groups. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was further used to analyze the independent risk factors of CI-AKI. Results: There were no significant differences in age, gender, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, stroke and old myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, previous PCI history and laboratory test indicators, target vessel and pathological characteristics of CTO lesions, contrast agent dosage, J-CTO (Multicenter CTO Registry in Japan) score, SYNTAX (Synergy between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery) score, PCI success rate and stent number between the two groups ( P >0.05). The incidence of CI-AKI was significantly lower (18.3% vs 29.3%, P =0.036) in RIPC group than that of control group. Multivariate logistic analysis found that creatinine [odds ratio ( OR )=1.018,95% CI : 1.006-1.030, P =0.003], CysC ( OR =5.200, 95% CI :2.714-9.963, P< 0.001),contrast agent dosage ( OR =1.013,95% CI : 1.007-1.019, P< 0.001) and J-CTO score ( OR =1.834, 95% CI : 1.145-2.939, P =0.012) were independent risk factors of CI-AKI. However, RIPC was an independent protective factor of CI-AKI ( OR =0.391, 95% CI : 0.199-0.765, P =0.006). Conclusion: RIPC before contrast agent administration prevents CI-AKI in CTO patients undergoing PCI.

Air pollution, especially that initiated by particulate matter (PM), has been implicated as a risk factor for several inflammatory diseases. Previously, it was reported that PM enhances immune responses. PM includes the tar fraction that contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which produce adverse health effects in exposed individuals. However, the influence of the tar fraction (as a component of PM) on splenocytes is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of the tar fraction extracted from PM collected from the atmosphere in Fukuoka, Japan, on mouse splenocytes. ICR mice were administered tar (1 or 5 μg/mouse) intratracheally 4 times at 2-week intervals, and splenocytes from the tar-treated mice were extracted and examined. The parameters determined were proliferation, cytokine concentrations and transcription factors activation. Following tar treatment, splenocyte proliferation increased relative to controls. Concanavalin A (ConA)-induced interleukin (IL)-2 formation and ConA- or lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced interferon-γ production were elevated in splenocytes from tar-exposed mice. However, the production of tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-6 induced by LPS was not markedly changed following tar treatment. Further, nuclear factor of activated T cells, but not nuclear factor-κB, was enhanced in splenocytes of tar-exposed mice. Data indicate that tar-activated splenocytes and PM-bound PAHs might contribute to T cell activation in the spleen.

Background: Epidemiological data on pulmonary embolism (PE) in China needs to be updated and reported. The China Pulmonary Thromboembolism Registry Study (CURES) is designed to provide the cross-sectional spectrum and chronological trends of PE in China, as well as to reveal the intrinsic etiology and pathogenesis of the disease., Methods and Design: The CURES is an ongoing large prospective multicenter registry, which was originally initiated in January 2009 via enrolling suspected or confirmed PE or PE with DVT (deep venous thrombosis) patients and assessed their in-hospital outcomes. As of July 2011, in order to determine the PE-relevant short-term outcomes, enrolled participants were followed-up for at least three months in a longitudinal manner. Since August 2016, with the launch and development of precision medicine research scheme in China, the main principle investigators of CURES decided to collect enrolled patients' blood samples with regular follow-ups every three or six months for at least two years (for long-term outcomes). Up to 31 December 2019, the CURES has enrolled 14,937 eligible patients and collected 1500 blood samples of patients from 100 medical centers in the China PE-DVT network. The study protocol has been approved by the China-Japan Friendship Hospital ethics committee, and all collaborating centers received approvals from their local ethics committee. All patients provided written or verbal informed consent to their participation., Conclusions: Findings of the CURES will be valuable for revealing the natural history of PE, and facilitating better disease management in China. Registration Number inClinicalTrials.gov:NCT02943343., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We declare that all authors meet the criteria for authorship and all authors have read and approved the manuscript to be published. There are no financial conflicts of interest in this work. Additionally, we state that the original work of this manuscript has not been previously published in any substantial part, also has not been under consideration of publication elsewhere., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The subgenotype B5 of EV-A71 is a widely circulating subgenotype that frequently spreads across the globe. Several outbreaks have occurred in nations, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. Appearing first in Taiwan, China, the subgenotype has been frequently reported in mainland of China even though no outbreaks have been reported so far. The current study reconstructed the migration of the B5 subgenotype of EV-A71 in China via phylogeographical analysis. Furthermore, we investigated its population dynamics in order to draw more credible inferences. Following a dataset cleanup of B5 subgenotype of EV-A71, we detected earlier B5 subgenotypes of EV-A71 sequences that had been circulating in Malaysia and Singapore since the year 2000, which was before the 2003 outbreak that occurred in Sarawak. The Bayesian inference indicated that the most recent common ancestor of B5 subgenotype EV-A71 appeared in September, 1994 (1994.75). With respect to the overall prevalence, geographical reconstruction revealed that the B5 subgenotype EV-A71 originated singly from single-source cluster and subsequently developed several active lineages. Based on a large amount of data that was accumulated, we conclude that the appearance of the B5 subgenotype of EV-A71 in mainland of China was mainly due to multiple migrations from different origins., (Copyright © 2020 Huang, Zhang, Han, Zhou, Song, Wang, Zhu, Yan, Xu and Xu.)

Objective: To investigate the clinical features and risk factors of hospital-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE). Methods: The study enrolled acute VTE patients admitted into China-Japan Friendship Hospital from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. The hospital-associated VTE (HA-VTE) group and the community-associated VTE (CA-VTE) group were classified according to whether the VTE occurred during hospitalization or within a 90-day period of admission to hospital (including inpatient with at least two days of hospital stay or a surgical procedure under general or regional anaesthesia). Differences in clinical features, risk factors, and mortality rate were compared between the two groups. Results: A total of 437 patients with acute VTE were analyzed in the study. Among them, 266 patients were HA-VTE, 171 patients were CA-VTE. Patients in the CA-VTE group were more likely to have varicose veins, sedentary, long-distance travel, and patients in the HA-VTE group were more complicated with recent surgery (<1 month), bed rest, active malignant tumor, acute infections, acute cerebral infarction, fracture, central venous catheter ( P< 0.05). The CA-VTE group had more clinical symptoms such as lower extremity pain, dyspnea, chest pain and chest tightness ( P< 0.05). HA-VTE patients had less clinical symptoms but were more severe than the CA-VTE patients, with more sudden deaths (0 vs 3.4%, P= 0.035). Among HA-VTE patients, 92.8% experienced VTE during hospitalization or within 1 month of the preceding hospital encounter, with a 13-day median time to VTE. The all-cause mortality rate was higher for HA-VTE group than CA-VTE group (8.3% vs 1.2%, P< 0.001), and the in-hospital VTE was more common compared to VTE diagnosed post-discharge (12.2% vs 3.4%, P< 0.001). Conclusions: More than half events of VTE are related to recent hospitalizations. HA-VTE has different risk factors from CA-VTE, combined with fewer clinical symptoms but higher all-cause mortality rate. More attention about VTE should be paid to hospitalized patients to reduce the incidence of HA-VTE events.

Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can be used as prognostic biomarkers in many types of cancer., Objective: We sought to establish an lncRNA signature to improve postoperative risk stratification for patients with localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)., Design, Setting, and Participants: Based on the RNA-seq data of 444 stage I-III ccRCC tumours from The Cancer Genome Atlas project, we built a four-lncRNA-based classifier using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operation (LASSO) Cox regression model in 222 randomly selected samples (training set) and validated the classifier in the remaining 222 samples (internal validation set). We confirmed this classifier in an external validation set of 88 patients with stage I-III ccRCC from a Japan cohort and using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in another three independent sets that included 1869 patients from China with stage I-III ccRCC., Outcome Measurements and Statistical Analysis: Univariable and multivariable Cox regression, Harrell's concordance index (c-index), and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the association of the classifier with overall survival, disease-specific survival, and disease-free survival., Results and Limitations: Using the LASSO Cox regression model, we built a classifier named RCClnc4 based on four lncRNAs: ENSG00000255774, ENSG00000248323, ENSG00000260911, and ENSG00000231666. In the RNA-seq and RT-PCR data sets, the RCClnc4 signature significantly stratified patients into high-risk versus low-risk groups in terms of clinical outcome across and within subpopulations and remained as an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analyses (hazard ratio range, 1.34 [95% confidence interval {CI}: 1.03-1.75; p=0.028] to 1.89 [95% CI, 1.55-2.31; p<0.001]) after adjusting for clinical and pathologic factors. The RCClnc4 signature achieved a higher accuracy (mean c-index, 0.72) than clinical staging systems such as TNM (mean c-index, 0.62) and the stage, size, grade, and necrosis (SSIGN) score (mean c-index, 0.64), currently reported prognostic signatures and biomarkers for the estimation of survival. When integrated with clinical characteristics, the composite clinical and lncRNA signature showed improved prognostic accuracy in all data sets (TNM + RCClnc4 mean c-index, 0.75; SSIGN + RCClnc4 score mean c-index, 0.75). The RCClnc4 classifier was able to identify a clinically significant number of both high-risk stage I and low-risk stage II-III patients., Conclusions: The RCClnc4 classifier is a promising and potential prognostic tool in predicting the survival of patients with stage I-III ccRCC. Combining the lncRNA classifier with clinical and pathological parameters allows for accurate risk assessment in guiding clinical management., Patient Summary: The RCClnc4 classifier could facilitate patient management and treatment decisions., (Copyright © 2018 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Microbial life inhabits deeply buried marine sediments, but the extent of this vast ecosystem remains poorly constrained. Here we provide evidence for the existence of microbial communities in ~40° to 60°C sediment associated with lignite coal beds at ~1.5 to 2.5 km below the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean off Japan. Microbial methanogenesis was indicated by the isotopic compositions of methane and carbon dioxide, biomarkers, cultivation data, and gas compositions. Concentrations of indigenous microbial cells below 1.5 km ranged from <10 to ~10(4) cells cm(-3). Peak concentrations occurred in lignite layers, where communities differed markedly from shallower subseafloor communities and instead resembled organotrophic communities in forest soils. This suggests that terrigenous sediments retain indigenous community members tens of millions of years after burial in the seabed., (Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

Four World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centres for Reference and Research on Influenza and one WHO Collaborating Centre for the Surveillance, Epidemiology and Control of Influenza (WHO CCs) tested 10,641 viruses collected by WHO-recognized National Influenza Centres between May 2013 and May 2014 to determine 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) data for neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) oseltamivir, zanamivir, peramivir and laninamivir. In addition, neuraminidase (NA) sequence data, available from the WHO CCs and from sequence databases (n=3206), were screened for amino acid substitutions associated with reduced NAI susceptibility. Ninety-five per cent of the viruses tested by the WHO CCs were from three WHO regions: Western Pacific, the Americas and Europe. Approximately 2% (n=172) showed highly reduced inhibition (HRI) against at least one of the four NAIs, commonly oseltamivir, while 0.3% (n=32) showed reduced inhibition (RI). Those showing HRI were A(H1N1)pdm09 with NA H275Y (n=169), A(H3N2) with NA E119V (n=1), B/Victoria-lineage with NA E117G (n=1) and B/Yamagata-lineage with NA H273Y (n=1); amino acid position numbering is A subtype and B type specific. Although approximately 98% of circulating viruses tested during the 2013-2014 period were sensitive to all four NAIs, a large community cluster of A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses with the NA H275Y substitution from patients with no previous exposure to antivirals was detected in Hokkaido, Japan. Significant numbers of A(H1N1)pdm09 NA H275Y viruses were also detected in China and the United States: phylogenetic analyses showed that the Chinese viruses were similar to those from Japan, while the United States viruses clustered separately from those of the Hokkaido outbreak, indicative of multiple resistance-emergence events. Consequently, global surveillance of influenza antiviral susceptibility should be continued from a public health perspective., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The usefulness of urinary hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) as an oxidative stress biomarker was evaluated in 766 healthy Japanese. The mean level of urinary concentrations of H(2)O(2) was 5.66 ± 8.27 μmol/g creatinine, and was significantly higher in females than in males. Significant correlations of H(2)O(2) were observed with age, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), insulin, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and exercise habit in females. In both sexes, H(2)O(2) showed a significant correlation with 8-OHdG. By a multiple logistic regression analysis, urinary H(2)O(2) was positively associated with urinary 8-OHdG and TC and was inversely associated with insulin. By stratification of sex and age, the association of urinary H(2)O(2) with TC was positive in both sexes under 50 years old and was inverse in males over 50 years old, and that with insulin was inverse in males over 50 years old and in females under 50 years old. Moreover, by stratification of sex and age, a positive association of H(2)O(2) with exercise and an inverse association of H(2)O(2) with alcohol consumption became clear in males under 50 years old, although there were no significant odds for H(2)O(2) after adjustment for covariates. In conclusion, the present results suggest that urinary H(2)O(2) is a useful biomarker for oxidative stress, showing an association with 8-OHdG, TC, and insulin independently.

Yangtze finless porpoises were surveyed by using simultaneous visual and acoustical methods from 6 November to 13 December 2006. Two research vessels towed stereo acoustic data loggers, which were used to store the intensity and sound source direction of the high frequency sonar signals produced by finless porpoises at detection ranges up to 300 m on each side of the vessel. Simple stereo beam forming allowed the separation of distinct biosonar sound source, which enabled us to count the number of vocalizing porpoises. Acoustically, 204 porpoises were detected from one vessel and 199 from the other vessel in the same section of the Yangtze River. Visually, 163 and 162 porpoises were detected from two vessels within 300 m of the vessel track. The calculated detection probability using acoustic method was approximately twice that for visual detection for each vessel. The difference in detection probabilities between the two methods was caused by the large number of single individuals that were missed by visual observers. However, the sizes of large groups were underestimated by using the acoustic methods. Acoustic and visual observations complemented each other in the accurate detection of porpoises. The use of simple, relatively inexpensive acoustic monitoring systems should enhance population surveys of free-ranging, echolocating odontocetes.

Recent epidemiological studies suggest that periodontitis is an important risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between periodontitis and CHD, particularly acute coronary syndrome (ACS), focusing on microbiological and immunological features. Twenty-eight CHD patients, 15 with ACS and 13 with chronic CHD, were included in this study. Coronary angiography, periodontal examination, and dental radiography were performed in all patients. Subgingival plaque, saliva, and blood samples were analyzed for the periodontopathogens Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythensis, Treponema denticola, and Prevotella intermedia using polymerase chain reaction. Specific serum antibody titers to the 5 periodontal pathogens were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. It was found that 33% of the ACS patients (5/15) harbored A. actinomycetemcomitans in oral samples, whereas no A. actinomycetemcomitans (0/13) was found in the chronic CHD patients (P < 0.05). Furthermore, ACS patients showed significantly higher serum IgG titers to A. actinomycetemcomitans (P < 0.05) compared with chronic CHD. More tooth loss and alveolar bone loss were noted in ACS patients than in chronic CHD patients, although the differences were not statistically significant. Periodontal pathogens, particularly A. actinomycetemcomitans, may play a role in the development of ACS.

The mitochondrial DNA 5178A/C (mt5178A/C) polymorphism is associated with longevity and adult onset diseases. We investigated an association of the mt5178A/C polymorphism with the occurrence and clinical features of type 2 diabetes. Two hundred and seventy Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes (181 men and 89 women) and 254 control subjects without diabetes were studied. Patients with mutations at position 3243 in the mitochondrial DNA were excluded. Genotype was determined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Various clinical features including age at disease onset were compared between the patients with the mt5178A and mt5178C alleles. Mt5178C was observed more frequently in patients with type 2 diabetes than in control subjects (65.9% vs 57.9%, P = 0.058). Clear information about the maternal history of diabetes was obtained from 233 diabetic patients. Patients with a maternal history of diabetes carried the mt5178C allele (58/75, 77.3%) more frequently than did patients without a maternal history of diabetes (100/158, 63.3%; P = 0.032) and control subjects (57.9%; P = 0.002). The mean age at onset of diabetes was significantly lower in patients with mt5178C (47.6 +/- 11.4 years) than in patients with mt5178A (51.5 +/- 10.0 years; P = 0.0073). The mt5178A/C polymorphism may be associated with maternal inheritance of type 2 diabetes and may influence the age at onset through deterioration of mitochondrial function.

The relationship between past and present lifestyle and urinary excretion of type I collagen cross-linked N-telopeptides (NTx) was studied in 61 Japanese females aged 34-59, with a view toward using NTx excretion rates as a predictor of future osteoporosis. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine, the speed of sound (SOS) and broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) of the os calcis, urinary NTx, serum osteocalcin (BGP) and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) were measured. Stiffness index (stiffness) was calculated from SOS and BUA. The subjects were asked whether they took regular exercise in their childhood and teen years (in elementary, junior-high, senior-high school and college), the past (20-40 years of age) and present adulthood. Regular calcium intake, smoking habits, alcohol and other beverage consumption and milk consumption were also covered in the questionnaire. The mean NTx values of premenopausal and postmenopausal group were 22.2 and 56.0 nM bone collagen equivalents (BCE)/mM urinary creatinine (Cr), respectively. The group which did not exercise regularly between the ages of 20 and 40 had a higher mean NTx value (40.9 nMBCE/mMCr) than the group which did exercise regularly (22.7 nMBCE/mMCr). In multiple regression analyses, age, stiffness and exercise in past adulthood could explain 43.5% of the NTx variance. For prevention of bone metabolic increases around menopause, habitual exercise in early adulthood seems to be effective.

The plasma levels of immunoglobulins IgA, IgG and IgM have been measured in 35 British, 44 Hawaiian-Japanese and 37 Japanese healthy adult women. Previous investigations showed that the mean levels of all three immunoglobulins were higher in Japanese than in British normal women. The present study finds that Hawaiian-Japanese women have "Japanese" levels of IgA, "British" levels of IgM and are intermediate for IgG. Thus, plasma IgM concentrations correlate with breast cancer incidence rates in the three racial groups and the reduced amounts of plasma IgM found in Japanese patients with breast cancer support this association.