An exploratory analysis of the impact of a university campus smoking ban on staff and student smoking habits in Japan.

Background: Smoking bans in public places have been shown to have an impact on smoking habits, however the potential influence of a university smoking ban on faculty and staff smoking habits remains elusive.

Methods: This cross sectional study was implemented in Nayoro City, Japan in 2011, among the faculty and students of the Nayoro City University. Five years after the declaration of a total ban on smoking on a university campus, the smoking characteristics of all students, teachers and office workers, and the policy's impact on smokers were investigated.

Factors associated with risk for colorectal cancer recurrence after endoscopic resection of T1 tumors.

Background & Aims: More information is needed on the long-term outcomes of patients who undergo endoscopic resection of colorectal tumors. We evaluated recurrence of colorectal cancer (CRC) after endoscopic resection or a combination of endoscopic research and surgery for T1 colorectal tumors.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 389 patients with T1 CRC treated by endoscopic resection from January 1989 to December 2008 in Sapporo, Japan.

Early infantile growth and cardiovascular risks in adolescent Japanese women.

Objective: Early life events connected with the risk of later disease can occur not only in utero, but also in infancy. In study of the developmental origins of health and disease, the relationship between infantile growth patterns and adolescent body mass index and blood pressure is one of the most important issues to verify.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed the correlation of current body mass index and systolic blood pressure of 168 female college students with their growth patterns in utero and in infancy.

Raw Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita) promotes cecal fermentation and reduces plasma non-HDL cholesterol concentration in rats.

We examined the effects of raw Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita), containing resistant starch (RS), on lipid metabolism and cecal fermentation in rats. Raw yam (RY) and boiled yam (BY) contained 33.9% and 6.

Pectin and high-amylose maize starch increase caecal hydrogen production and relieve hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

We investigated whether the feeding of high H2-generating dietary fibre and resistant starch (RS) could suppress hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, which results from oxidative stress, in rats fed a pectin (Pec) or high-amylose maize starch (HAS) diet. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a control (C) diet, with or without Pec (0-5 % Pec) or HAS (0-30 % HAS) supplementation for 7 d. Portal H2 concentration showed a significant dose-dependent increase with the amount of Pec or HAS supplementation.

Taurine feeding inhibits bile acid absorption from the ileum in rats fed a high cholesterol and high fat diet.

We have previously reported that taurine-mediated reductions in plasma cholesterol in cholesterol-fed rats were caused by increased excretion of bile acids into feces. In the present study, we examined the effect of taurine on bile acid secretion into bile and the absorption of bile acids from the ileum. Male Wistar rats were divided into 2 groups, one group that was fed a diet containing 1% cholesterol (HC diet) and the other group fed a HC diet supplemented with 1% taurine for 2 weeks.