Publications by authors named "Masuo Nakano"

This dataset is a time series of tropical cyclones simulated using the high-resolution Nonhydrostatic Icosahedral Atmospheric Model (NICAM). By tracking tropical cyclones from 30 years of simulation data, 2,463 tracks that include the life stages of precursors (pre-TCs), tropical cyclones (TCs), and post-tropical cyclones (post-TCs), if any, were extracted. Each track data includes the time, latitude, longitude, maximum wind speed, minimum pressure, elapsed time since onset, and life-stage label of the tropical cyclone.

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Pregnancy anemia and pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) are common and potentially dangerous disorder in human pregnancy, and nutritional status of pregnant women is one of the leading causes. Chlorella contains large quantities of folate, vitamin B-12 and iron, and can help improve anemia and hypertensive disorder. Our objective was to investigate the preventive effects of Chlorella supplement on pregnancy anemia and PIH in Japanese pregnant women.

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In addition to meeting nutritional requirements, breast milk plays important roles in biodefense for nursing infants. Dioxins have been detected at high concentrations in breast milk, raising concerns about disorders in nursing infants caused by breast milk containing dioxins in Japan. We analyzed dioxin levels in breast milk and maternal blood samples from 35 pregnant women in Japan.

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To assess levels of dioxin background contamination and transfer of dioxins from mothers to unborn children and infants, concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and coplanar-polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs) were measured in human samples from expectant and nursing mothers living in Nara, Japan. The average toxic equivalency quantities (TEQs) of PCDDs/PCDFs and Co-PCBs from circulating maternal blood, cord blood, placenta, milk taken 3-10 d after delivery, milk taken one month after delivery, and adipose tissue were 26 and 9.3, 15 and 2.

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The modifying effects of dietary administration of dried Chlorella pyrenoidosa powder (C. pyrenoidosa) on the development of glutathione S-transferase placental form-positive foci (GST-P-positive foci), which are putative preneoplastic lesions, in male F344 rats were investigated using a medium-term liver bioassay system. In rats given 10% C.

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Dioxins can be transferred from mother to fetus via the placenta, or to nursing infants via breast milk, potentially causing developmental health problems in children. To assess pediatric health risks from dioxins, exposure of mothers and children to dioxins must be clarified. Methods of reducing maternal transfer of dioxins should also be investigated.

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We examined the hepatoprotective effect of water-extract from adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) hulls on acetaminophen (AAP)-induced damage in rat liver. F344/DuCrj rats of 8 weeks of age were fed diets without and with 0.5% AAP or besides it 5% adzuki extract (lyophilized) on a daily basis over a period of 4 wk.

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The effect of Chlorella pyrenoidosa on fecal excretion and liver accumulation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin in C57BL/6N mice administered dioxin was examined. Mice were administered 2.2 microg of 1,2,3,4,7,8-hexachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (H6CDD) dissolved in corn oil once after a period of acclimatization, after which they were fed either a basal diet, a 10% C.

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The effects of protocatechuic acid on serum cholesterol and gene expression related to cholesterol metabolism in rats were investigated. Rats were fed a cholesterol-free diet with or without 5 g protocatechuic acid/kg diet for 4 wk. There were no significant differences in body weight and food intake among groups through the experimental period.

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Ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mainly from Jomon Period Sus scrofa bone specimens (6,100-1,700 years old) was examined to clarify the genetic relationships between prehistoric and contemporary S. scrofa on Hokkaido, Honshu, Sado, and Izu islands of the Japanese Archipelago. Phylogenetic analysis of the mtDNA control region (574 bp) and analysis of pairwise nucleotide differences between prehistoric and contemporary S.

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Phylogeographic characteristics and population structure of Japanese wild boar (Sus scrofa leucomystax) were investigated using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data. Sixteen Japanese wild boar haplotypes detected from partial sequences of the mtDNA control region (574-bp) from 180 Japanese wild boar specimens from 10 local populations on Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu islands and 41 haplotypes from other S. scrofa were analyzed using the neighbor-joining method.

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We examined the effects of the resistant starches of adzuki (Vigna angularis), kintoki (Phaseolus vulgaris, variety), and tebou (P. vulgaris, variety) beans on the lipid metabolism in rats. Rats were fed a cholesterol-free diet with 25 g of cornstarch (CS)/100 g diet, 25 g of adzuki starch (AS)/100 g diet, 25 g of kintoki starch (KS)/100 g diet, or 25 g of tebou starch (TS)/100 g diet for 4 wk.

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Feeding rats beans with resistant starch reduces their serum cholesterol concentration; however, the mechanism by which this occurs is not fully understood. We examined the effects of enzyme-resistant fractions of adzuki (Vigna angularis) and tebou (Phaseolus vulgaris, var.) beans on serum cholesterol and hepatic mRNA in rats.

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The differences are reported in the triacylglycerol (TG) structures of oils containing gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) from Oenothera biennis Linn seed oil (OBLO) from the wild plant, evening primrose seed oil (EPO) from a cultured plant, and bio-GLA oil (BIO) from a mold, the physiological functions of which were ascertained by animal testing. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation detected 12 TG peaks each for OBLO and EPO, and 28 TG peaks for BIO. TG-containing GLA were composed of five molecular species each in OBLO and EPO, and ten molecular species in BIO.

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Ancient DNAs of Sus scrofa specimens excavated from archaeological sites on the Okinawa islands were examined to clarify the genetic relationships among prehistoric Sus scrofa, modern wild boars and domestic pigs inhabiting the Ryukyu archipelago, the Japanese islands, and the Asian continent. We extracted remain DNA from 161 bone specimens excavated from 12 archaeological sites on the Okinawa islands and successfully amplified mitochondrial DNA control region fragments from 33 of 161 specimens. Pairwise difference between prehistoric and modern S.

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