A Preliminary Study of How the Viscosity of Dietary Fluids and Videofluoroscopy Fluids can be Matched.

This study examined the method by which the viscosity of mealtime and videofluoroscopy fluid can be matched through adjustment of the amount of xanthan gum-based thickener added to them. Viscosity measurement was made with a cone-plate viscometer. Samples were tested at 5, 25, 45, and 65 ± 0.

Proteasome activity correlates with male BMI and contributes to the differentiation of adipocyte in hADSC.

We have previously reported that 26S proteasome subunit mRNA expressions correlate with male body mass index (BMI). In this study, to investigate whether proteasome activities are correlated with BMI, we recruited 61 healthy young Japanese male subjects, measured proteasome activities in their plasma, and correlated them with their BMI and various metabolic factors. We found that among three different proteasome activities, chymotrypsin-like activity in plasma was positively correlated with BMI in healthy Japanese male subjects.

Prediction of Japanese children at risk for complications of childhood obesity: gender differences for intervention approaches.

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health problems in Japan, especially in Tokushima compared with other prefectures. This study was designed to clarify the life habits which predispose to development of obesity and can be modified through an appropriate intervention program to combat childhood obesity and its lifestyle-related diseases. A total of 216 school children from Itano Town, a municipality of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, who are attending the fourth grade (9-10 years) of elementary schools, participated in the study from 2004 to 2007.

The male-determining gene SRY is a hybrid of DGCR8 and SOX3, and is regulated by the transcription factor CP2.

In mammals, sex is determined by the presence or absence of the Y chromosome that bears a male-dominant sex-determining gene SRY, which switches the differentiation of gonads into male testes. The molecular signaling mechanism turning on the switch, however, has remained unclear for 18 years since the identification of the gene. Here, we describe how this gene emerged and started to work.

Proteomics and transcriptome approaches to investigate the mechanism of human sex determination.

The SRY gene (sex-determining region on the Y chromosome) was isolated in 1990 and is known as the testis-determining factor on the Y chromosome. The SRY has been considered as a transcription factor since it contains an HMG box, which functions as a DNA-binding domain. However, a direct target for SRY remains to be identified.

Proteasome subunits are regulated and expressed in comparable concentrations as a functional cluster.

The proteasome is the main proteolytic enzyme that functions in the ubiquitin-proteasome system. The 26S proteasome has multi-subunit protease complexes consisting of 20S subunits composed of four seven-numbered rings with two outer rings containing alpha subunits and two central rings composed of beta subunits, and 19S caps of 6 ATPase and 11 non-ATPase subunits; however, it is unclear how these subunits are regulated and the 26S proteasomes assembled. To verify whether each subunit's mRNA expression is associated with the mRNA expression of other proteasome subunits, we carried out expression analysis of 34 proteasome subunits mRNA on peripheral blood from 75 subjects.

Overexpression of SOX15 inhibits proliferation of NT2/D1 cells derived from a testicular embryonal cell carcinoma.

SOX (Sry-related HMG box) family proteins, which have an evolutionarily conserved DNA binding domain, have crucial roles in cell differentiation. However, their target genes remain enigmatic. Some members of the SOX family may have roles in regulation of cell proliferation.

A/G heterozygote of the A-3826G polymorphism in the UCP-1 gene has higher BMI than A/A and G/G homozygote in young Japanese males.

UCP-1 is suggested to have important roles for thermogenesis and energy expenditure. To elucidate whether the A-3826G polymorphism that is located in the 5' flanking region of the UCP-1 gene has roles in healthy young people, the polymorphism was genotyped among 251 young Japanese men whose mean age is 22.7 years old.