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To achieve 'Sustainable Healthy Diets', it is critical to address the observed gender discrepancy in meal preparation time allocation. Japanese fathers spend significantly less time on food-related housework (foodwork) than mothers. This study aimed to investigate the association between fathers' childhood meal preparation experiences and their current cooking skills in preparing healthy meals for their children, as well as their involvement in foodwork in Japan. An online cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2022 with 500 Japanese fathers living in dual-earner households with children aged 3-6 years. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine the above-mentioned associations, with fathers' age and education as control variables. This study examined 463 fathers who did not live with their children's grandparents. We evaluated the fathers' cooking skills on a scale and obtained an average score of 6.9, ranging from 3 to 15; foodwork involvement was assessed similarly, resulting in an average score of 4.1, ranging from 0 to 8. ANCOVA results showed that fathers with experience in meal preparation from childhood were more likely to have higher cooking skills scores (adjusted mean (SEM) = 7.8 (0.35)) than fathers with no experience (adjusted mean (SEM) = 6.5 (0.24), adjusted p  < 0.05). They were also more likely to have higher foodwork involvement scores (adjusted mean (SEM) = 4.9 (0.26)) than fathers with no experience (adjusted mean (SEM) = 3.8 (0.18)) or experiences from adulthood (adjusted mean (SEM) = 4.0 (0.28), adjusted p  < 0.05). Therefore, fathers' childhood meal preparation experience may impact their current cooking skills and foodwork involvement. Hence, age-appropriate programs are required that continually encourage children to prepare meals at home., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Female Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus grow more rapidly than the male. The goal of all-female commercial production requires an efficient method of genetic sex identification. We conducted genome-wide association analysis of female and male farmed Japanese flounder (n = 24 per phenotypic sex) and found all regions of chromosome 24 to be significantly associated with phenotypic sex, suggesting it as the sex chromosome. Genetic sex was identified based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) on chromosome 24 (n = 3568) using multidimensional scaling analysis, and individuals were clearly separated according to sex by the first dimension. The 61 SNPs most highly associated with sex were selected, and an amplicon-based SNP panel was developed. This was used to determine genetic sex of 39 females and 40 males. Eleven phenotypic males were assigned as female with XX genotype, suggesting sex reversal. Genetic sex was also assessed based on the indel of the amh gene promoter, which is the major candidate sex gene of Japanese flounder. We found four SNPs perfectly associated with genotypic sex in the sex-associated SNP panel, one of which was located in exon 2 of the amh gene. Along with the indel of the amh gene promoter, the sex-associated SNP panel will be of value in identifying genetic sex of farmed Japanese flounder. Molecular sexing will facilitate all-female production by breeding sex-reversed males., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Although the multidisciplinary-collaborated team approach in cancer treatment has recently become popular, prospectively evaluated evidence is limited. We started a multidisciplinary-collaborated cancer support team (MCST) to facilitate cooperation across multidisciplinary medical staff in our hospital and established clinical evidence of supportive care. This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the clinical activity and effect of MCST in patients with gastrointestinal cancer receiving chemotherapy., Methods: This is a single-center, single-arm, observational study. Patients with gastrointestinal cancer scheduled to receive chemotherapy are enrolled and supported by the MCST. The primary endpoints are the number of interventions by medical staff and the number of patients who showed improvement in side effects. The secondary endpoints are the severity of side effects, medical expenses, number of consultations, the acceptance rate of prescription recommendations, adjuvant chemotherapy completion rates, dose intensity, and time required for co-medical intervention. In addition, medical staff and attending physicians evaluate all adverse events., Discussion: This study is expected to contribute to establishing new cancer-supportive care teams for patients with gastrointestinal cancer receiving chemotherapy and those with cancer receiving chemotherapy., Trial Registration: This trial was registered in the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials (jRCT) as jRCT1030220495. The date of first registration, 29/11/2022, https://jrct.niph.go.jp/search., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The consumers' Sustainable and Healthy Dietary Behaviors (SHDBs) links sustainable behaviors related to eating (e.g., choosing, cooking, eating, and disposing of foods) with the level of "dietary behavior." It was hypothesized that SHDBs will vary depending on consumers' meal preparation habits, such as food selection, cooking frequency, and skill. This study examined (1) some of the behavioral patterns of SHDBs and (2) independent predictors of each pattern. In total, 508 Japanese adults who completed cross-sectional self-administered questionnaire surveys in December 2021 were included in the study. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the behavioral patterns of the 30-item SHDBs developed previously by the authors. Additionally, independent predictors of each component score were analyzed using multiple linear regression models, which included demographics, psychological factors concerning SHDBs (pros and cons for the decisional balance of SHDBs and number of environmental issues of interest), and meal preparation habits. Participants' median age was 41 (18-59) years (women: n = 259, 51.0%). Five SHDB patterns with several independent predictors were identified: amalgamation of all SHDBs, healthy food choices but unsustainable cooking, sustainable disposal, avoiding plastic products, and sustainable behaviors regarding expiry date. The multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated the independent predictors of the amalgamation of all SHDBs, such as being a man (β = -0.105), greater pros (β = 0.134), higher cooking frequency (β = 0.443) and skill (β = 0.244). Greater pros and/or smaller cons were associated with four of the five SHDB patterns, including an amalgamation of all SHDBs, healthy food choice and unsustainable cooking, avoiding disposal, and avoiding plastic products. Sustainable and healthy diet education must be implemented to ensure the adoption of all SHDBs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Yui Kawasaki reports financial support was provided by the Asahi group foundation., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Problem: Immune responses were reported to be associated with the pathogenesis of endometriosis. However, previous studies of an association between allergic or autoimmune diseases and endometriosis have reported inconsistent results. We investigated the association between allergic or autoimmune diseases and the incidence of endometriosis., Method of Study: Using a large-scale health insurance claims database in Japan, we identified patients with endometriosis diagnosed between April 2011 and August 2018. For each case, we identified up to four controls with the same age and registration month. Conditional logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of endometriosis in women with allergic diseases (asthma, allergic rhinitis, urticaria, atopic dermatitis, allergic conjunctivitis, and type 1 allergies combined), systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis compared with women without these diseases., Results: We identified 30 516 cases with endometriosis and 120 976 control participants. Mean age at registration was 30 years. There were significant positive associations between type 1 allergy and endometriosis (IRR, 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.13) and between rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis (IRR, 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.64). Diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus was not associated with increased incidence of endometriosis. Among the different allergic diseases, allergic rhinitis, urticaria, and allergic conjunctivitis were associated with the increased incidence., Conclusion: Several allergic diseases were associated with an increased incidence of endometriosis. A higher incidence was also observed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the influence of immune responses on the development of endometriosis., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This study examined the effects of maternal healthy eating literacy (HEL) on healthy meal provision in Japanese families. We conducted an online cross-sectional survey with 1899 mothers of pre-school children. Participants were divided into two groups based on their median score of eating out and consuming convenience foods, and demographic variables were compared between these groups. We assessed associations between HEL and healthy meal provision using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) and multiple linear regression with healthy meal provision as the dependent variable and HEL as the independent variable, adjusting for age, education, work styles, household income, number of children and whether participants lived with a partner. Mothers exhibiting high scores on eating out/consuming convenience foods were more likely to be employed (p = 0.004), have only one child (p = 0.034), have lower education (p=0.011) and exhibit lower healthy meal provision (p < 0.001) and HEL scores (p < 0.001). In addition, HEL was associated with healthy meal provision (β = 0.34, p < 0.001). Among mothers with higher scores on eating out/consuming convenience foods, HEL was associated with healthy meal provision (β = 0.32, p < 0.001). This study suggests that maternal HEL is associated with healthy meal provision regardless of the degree of eating out/consuming convenience food. Thus, interventions to improve maternal HEL can help mothers to provide healthy meals when they eat out or consume convenience foods as family meals., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The southern district of N city (U area), Yamagata Prefecture, is highly endemic for hepatitic C virus (HCV) infection. Around 20% of the general population are positive for antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV). Community-acquired, acute non-A, non-B hepatitis was epidemic from 1967 to 1972 in this area. Our previous study revealed that these people are actually infected with HCV, but a relationship between this outbreak and the high positivity rate of anti-HCV in the U area has not been shown. We followed up 15 anti-HCV-positive individuals who developed hepatitis during the epidemic and used the serum collected to conduct molecular evolutional analysis to reveal the characteristics of the HCV epidemic in the U area. HCV genotypes in the U area were also analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis of the HCV core gene sequences showed that the subjects' HCV sequences were closely related and derived from the same cluster. All subjects were infected with HCV genotype 1b, which was frequently detected with a high positivity of over 80% of HCV-infected individuals in the U area. These results confirm that the community-acquired hepatitis C epidemic occurred around three decades ago through an unidentified route, and suggest that this episode may result in a continuing increase in the number of HCV-1b positive patients in this small area.

We studied the age- and sex-specific prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and aminotransferase abnormalities as well as histological changes in the liver associated with HCV infection. Of the eligible 3,707 inhabitants aged 6 years and older in an HCV infection epidemic area 2,382 (64.3%) were examined. The anti-HCV positivity rate was 20.7% on average and increased according to age. Age was the most potential risk indicator for anti-HCV positivity by multiple stepwise regression analysis. The HCV RNA positivity rate in females with anti-HCV was significantly lower than that in males. However, as the age of females increased, the HCV RNA positivity rate became higher. The proportion of subjects with aminotransferase abnormalities among HCV RNA-positive subjects was significantly lower in females than males. Aminotransferase abnormalities significantly increased with age in females. In subjects with abnormal aminotransferase levels, nearly half of the HCV RNA-positive females were aged 50 or older and also nearly half of the male subjects showed CAH2B or liver cirrhosis, while most of the HCV RNA-positive females younger than 50 exhibited histological findings consistent with CPH. In conclusion, age was the principal risk indicator for HCV infection in this area. Females, especially those younger than 50, both biochemically and histologically showed less severity of HCV infection than males. Gender and age might have effects on the outcome of HCV related liver disease.

Removal efficiency of chloroform from tap water by rice bran was investigated. The adsorption rate by rice bran was similar to activated carbon. The amount of chloroform adsorbed was plotted against the equilibrium concentration of chloroform in solution on a logarithmic scale. A linear relationship was obtained, indicating that the adsorption reaction was a Freundlich type. The adsorption of chloroform by rice bran was observed in the range of pH 1-11. Chloroform was successfully removed from tap water with average removal efficiency of 70% after 60 min when rice bran was applied to tap water that contained 0.0064 mg/L chloroform.

Unlabelled: The hepatitis C virus 5' untranslated region (HCV 5'UTR) contains secondary structures typical of internal ribosome entry site elements leading to translation. Variations of this secondary structure in relation to the efficacy of interferon (IFN) therapy were investigated., Methods: Natural IFN-alpha was administered to 22 patients with chronic hepatitis C due to HCV subtype 1b and their serum HCV-RNA levels were examined using the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The HCV 5'UTR sequence was determined by direct sequencing, and variations of the putative secondary structure were detected by analyzing single-strand confirmation polymorphisms (SSCP) in the patient's sera., Results: Five of the 22 patients (22%) were complete responders to IFN and eradicated HCV-RNA from their sera and 17/22 (78%) were nonresponders in whom HCV-RNA persisted. The SSCP electrophoretic results predicted the efficacy of IFN therapy: the complete responders showed greater pattern diversity than the nonresponders. The serum HCV-RNA level correlated with the SSCP electrophoretic pattern: patients with the IFN-resistant SSCP electrophoretic pattern had higher levels than the others (10.1+/-2.4 vs 1.2+/-0.4 Meq/ml; p<0.001). Sequencing analysis suggested three one-point mutations influence alteration of the secondary structure., Conclusions: Analysis of the secondary structure of the HCV 5'UTR contributes to predicting viremia severity and the efficacy of IFN therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Thirty-nine acrylates and methacrylates that had been used in dental resin materials were evaluated by a cytotoxicity test, and the relationships between their structures and cytotoxicity were studied to predict cytotoxic levels of dental resin materials in order to develop new low-toxic resin materials. All the acrylates evaluated were more toxic than corresponding methacrylates. In both the acrylates and methacrylates, a hydroxyl group seemed to enhance cytotoxicity. Dimethacrylates with 14 or fewer oxyethylene chains showed similar cytotoxicity while dimethacrylates with 23 oxyethylene chains showed lower cytotoxicity. The cytotoxicity ranking of monomers widely used in dental resin materials was bisphenol A bis 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (bisGMA) > urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) > triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (3G) > 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) > methyl methacrylate (MMA). In acrylates, methacrylates, and ethylmethacrylates with either substituents, the lipophilicity of substituents affected their cytotoxicity, and an inverse correlation between IC50 and logP was observed. These results will be useful in developing new resin materials with low toxic monomer compositions.

Achievements in the synthestic study on cardiotonic steroids, pyranonaphthoquinone antibiotics, and tetronic acid ionophore antibiotics from author's laboratory are reviewed.

We prepared new root canal cements for trial. These cements were comprized of calcium aluminate and calcium hydroxyde for setting in a root canal and a bioabsorbable property. The biocompatibility of these cements were then evaluated with kinds of cytotoxicity tests and were compared with three kinds of root canal cements on the market such as Calvital (CV), Canals (CA) and Neodyne (ND). As a result of the millipore filter test using HeLa cells, three kinds of trial cements and CV showed moderate cytotoxicity at every stage. The toxicity of CA and ND were related to the period of administration and the two products showed severe cytotoxicity 24 hours after the administration. The cell growth inhibition test using L-929 cells revealed that the inhibition of the three kinds of trial cements was based on a strong alkalinity caused by calcium hydroxyde and the inhibition on the cell growth was related to the calcium hydroxyde content in these cements. However, the inhibition of these cements was smaller than that of CV and they showed no inhibition in the last stage of the cell culture, while CA and ND caused the mild inhibition. Therefore, we have concluded that these trial cements are useful for root canal filling because they have better affinity to the cultured cells than CV, CA and ND.