Associations between meal and snack frequency and diet quality and adiposity measures in British adults: findings from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

Objective: To examine how different definitions of meals and snacks can affect the associations of meal frequency (MF) and snack frequency (SF) with dietary intake and adiposity measures.

Design: Based on 7 d weighed dietary record data, all eating occasions providing ≥210 kJ of energy were divided into meals or snacks based on contribution to energy intake (≥15 % or <15 %) or time (06.00-10.

Eating Frequency Is Positively Associated with Overweight and Central Obesity in U.S. Adults.

Background: Evidence of the association between eating frequency (EF) and adiposity is inconsistent.

Objective: With the use of data from the NHANES 2003-2012, this cross-sectional study examined the associations between EF, meal frequency (MF), and snack frequency (SF) and overweight/obesity and central obesity.

Methods: Dietary intake was assessed with the use of two 24-h dietary recalls in 18,696 US adults ≥20 y of age.

Enhanced generation of a second-harmonic wave in a composite of metamaterial and microwave plasma with various permittivities.

The generation of a second-harmonic wave, which is one typical nonlinear feature, is enhanced in a composite of plasma and metamaterial. When we generate plasma by an injection of microwaves, whose frequencies are fundamental, we observe intensified second-harmonic waves in the cases of negative-refractive-index states in which both metamaterial permeability and plasma permittivity are negative for the fundamental waves. We performed the measurements at multiple levels of microwave input power up to 300 W to regulate permittivity in the negative polarity for the fundamental wave and in the transient region, including the positive-zero-negative values, for the second-harmonic wave.

Isolation and characterization of (15Z)-lycopene thermally generated from a natural source.

(15Z)-Lycopene was prepared by thermal isomerization of (all-E)-lycopene derived from tomatoes, and isolated by using a series of chromatographies. The fine red crystalline powder of (15Z)-lycopene was obtained from 556 mg of (all-E)-lycopene with a yield of 0.6 mg (purity: reversed-phase HPLC, 97.

Differences in histone modifications between slow- and fast-twitch muscle of adult rats and following overload, denervation, or valproic acid administration.

Numerous studies have reported alterations in skeletal muscle properties and phenotypes in response to various stimuli such as exercise, unloading, and gene mutation. However, a shift in muscle fiber phenotype from fast twitch to slow twitch is not completely induced by stimuli. This limitation is hypothesized to result from the epigenetic differences between muscle types.

Flower color polymorphism maintained by overdominant selection in Sisyrinchium sp.

Negative frequency-dependent selection derived from positive frequency-dependent foraging is the best-known selection force maintaining genetic polymorphism within a population. However, in flowering plants, positive frequency-dependent foraging by pollinators is expected to accelerate the loss of low-frequency morphs by conferring a fitness advantage to the common morph, leading to monomorphism. In Japan, a non-native species, Sisyrinchium sp.

Characteristics of Perceived Stress and Salivary Levels of Secretory Immunoglobulin A and Cortisol in Japanese Women With Premenstrual Syndrome.

Background: Several studies have demonstrated the associations between Premenstrual Syndrome and perceived stress, and no studies quantifying stress based on biochemical parameters have been conducted.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the changes in biochemical parameters of stress and measured perceived stress during the menstrual cycle of women with premenstrual syndrome.

Patients And Methods: A longitudinal observational study was conducted in 2010 in the Kansai region of Japan.

Maternal and fetal tryptophan metabolism in gestating rats: effects of intrauterine growth restriction.

L-Tryptophan (L-Trp) is a precursor for serotonin (5-HT) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) synthesis. Both 5-HT and NAD may impact energy metabolism during gestation given that recent studies have demonstrated that increased 5-HT production is crucial for increasing maternal insulin secretion, and that sirtuin, an NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylase, regulates endocrine signaling. Infants born with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are at a higher risk of metabolic disease once they reach adulthood.

Sexual shape dimorphism accelerated by male-male competition, but not prevented by sex-indiscriminate parental care in dung beetles (Scarabaeidae).

Dimorphic sexual differences in shape and body size are called sexual dimorphism and sexual size dimorphism, respectively. The degrees of both dimorphisms are considered to increase with sexual selection, represented by male-male competition. However, the degrees of the two dimorphisms often differ within a species.

Prevalence and characteristics of misreporting of energy intake in US adults: NHANES 2003-2012.

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2012, we investigated the prevalence and characteristics of under-reporting and over-reporting of energy intake (EI) among 19 693 US adults ≥20 years of age. For the assessment of EI, two 24-h dietary recalls were conducted using the US Department of Agriculture Automated Multiple-Pass Method. Under-reporters, acceptable reporters and over-reporters of EI were identified by two methods based on the 95 % confidence limits: (1) for agreement between the ratio of EI to BMR and a physical activity level for sedentary lifestyle (1·55) and (2) of the expected ratio of EI to estimated energy requirement (EER) of 1·0.

Crystal structure of 1,4-dieth-oxy-9,10-anthra-quinone.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C18H16O4, contains two crystallographically independent mol-ecules. The anthra-quinone ring systems are slightly bent with dihedral angles of 2.33 (8) and 13.

Differences in trunk control between early and late pregnancy during gait.

The aim of this study was to compare gait characteristics, including the functional ability of the trunk, between women before and during the third trimester of pregnancy. Gait measurements were performed on 27 pregnant women, who were divided into two groups using the threshold of 28 gestational weeks. The subjects were instructed to walk at their preferred speed.

Unionid Freshwater Mussels in Irrigation Ditches are Affected by Physical Environmental Factors and Proximity to Paddy Fields.

Irrigation ditches are the major habitat of lotic unionid mussels in Japan. To conserve and rebuild irrigation ditches facilitating mussel conservation, suitable physical environments must be clarified. The effect on mussels of paddy fields connected to ditches also needs to be determined.

Adherence to the food-based Japanese dietary guidelines in relation to metabolic risk factors in young Japanese women.

While Japanese diets have attracted considerable attention because of, for example, the long-life expectancy in Japan, their health benefits have not been examined. In the present study, we cross-sectionally examined whether adherence to the food-based Japanese dietary guidelines is associated with metabolic risk factors in 1083 Japanese women aged 18-22 years. Based on the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top, adherence to the food-based Japanese dietary guidelines was assessed using dietary information on consumed servings of grain dishes, vegetable dishes, fish and meat dishes, milk and fruits and energy from snacks and alcoholic beverages during the preceding month, which was derived from a comprehensive diet history questionnaire.

Designing optimal food intake patterns to achieve nutritional goals for Japanese adults through the use of linear programming optimization models.

Background: Simultaneous dietary achievement of a full set of nutritional recommendations is difficult. Diet optimization model using linear programming is a useful mathematical means of translating nutrient-based recommendations into realistic nutritionally-optimal food combinations incorporating local and culture-specific foods. We used this approach to explore optimal food intake patterns that meet the nutrient recommendations of the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) while incorporating typical Japanese food selections.

Application of overall dynamic body acceleration as a proxy for estimating the energy expenditure of grazing farm animals: relationship with heart rate.

Estimating the energy expenditure of farm animals at pasture is important for efficient animal management. In recent years, an alternative technique for estimating energy expenditure by measuring body acceleration has been widely performed in wildlife and human studies, but the availability of the technique in farm animals has not yet been examined. In the present study, we tested the potential use of an acceleration index, overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), as a new proxy for estimating the energy expenditure of grazing farm animals (cattle, goats and sheep) at pasture with the simultaneous evaluation of a conventional proxy, heart rate.

Identification of Giant Mott Phase Transition of Single Electric Nanodomain in Manganite Nanowall Wire.

In the scaling down of electronic devices, functional oxides with strongly correlated electron system provide advantages to conventional semiconductors, namely, huge switching owing to their phase transition and high carrier density, which guarantee their rich functionalities even at the 10 nm scale. However, understanding how their functionalities behave at a scale of 10 nm order is still a challenging issue. Here, we report the construction of the well-defined (La,Pr,Ca)MnO3 epitaxial oxide nanowall wire by combination of nanolithography and subsequent thin-film growth, which allows the direct investigation of its insulator-metal transition (IMT) at the single domain scale.

Formation of Pt decorated Ni-Pt nanocubes through low temperature atomic diffusion--time-resolved elemental analysis of nanoparticle formation.

The formation process of Pt decorated Ni-Pt nanocubes was investigated by analysing the elemental distribution of Ni and Pt in the particles obtained from time-resolved in situ sampling during the synthesis in the oleylamine-1-heptanol system. The analysis confirmed the formation of Pt(core)-Ni(shell) nanoparticles at the initial stages of the reaction. However, as the reaction time progressed, the Pt atoms at the centre diffused outward and reached the corners and edges of the particle, whose shape changed from nearly spherical at the initial stages of the reaction to a perfect cube at the end of the reaction, forming a Ni rich cube (core)-Pt(cage).

Depressive symptoms and changes in physiological and social factors 1 week to 4 months postpartum in Japan.

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common condition and may be exacerbated unless treated. There is, however, a lack of longitudinal studies about the relationship between PPD and changes in physiological status and social role postpartum.

Methods: We enrolled longitudinally 65 Japanese mothers (36 primiparas) and measured their psychological responses at 1 week, 1 month, and 4 months postpartum.

Conversion Percentage of Tryptophan to Nicotinamide is Higher in Rice Protein Diet than in Wheat Protein Diet in Rats.

We reported previously that the pellagragenic property of corn protein is not only low l-tryptophan concentration but also the lower conversion percentage of l-tryptophan to nicotinamide; the amino acid composition greatly affected the conversion percentage. The amino acid value of wheat protein is lower than that of rice protein. In the present study, we compare the conversion percentages of l-tryptophan to nicotinamide between wheat protein and rice protein diets in growing rats.

Ability of self-reported estimates of dietary sodium, potassium and protein to detect an association with general and abdominal obesity: comparison with the estimates derived from 24 h urinary excretion.

As under-reporting of dietary intake, particularly by overweight and obese subjects, is common in dietary surveys, biases inherent in the use of self-reported dietary information may distort true diet-obesity relationships or even create spurious ones. However, empirical evidence of this possibility is limited. The present cross-sectional study compared the relationships of 24 h urine-derived and self-reported intakes of Na, K and protein with obesity.

Nonequilibrium magnetic response of anisotropic superparamagnetic nanoparticles and possible artifacts in magnetic particle imaging.

Magnetic responses of superparamagnetic nanoparticles to high-frequency AC magnetic fields with sufficiently large amplitudes are numerically simulated to exactly clarify the phenomena occurring in magnetic particle imaging. When the magnetic anisotropy energy inevitable in actual nanoparticles is taken into account in considering the magnetic potential, larger nanoparticles exhibit a delayed response to alternations of the magnetic fields. This kind of delay is rather remarkable in the lower-amplitude range of the field, where the assistance by the Zeeman energy to thermally activated magnetization reversal is insufficient.

Bioprocess of Kosa bioaerosols: effect of ultraviolet radiation on airborne bacteria within Kosa (Asian dust).

Kosa (Asian dust) is a well-known weather phenomenon in which aerosols are carried by the westerly winds from inland China to East Asia. Recently, the frequency of this phenomenon and the extent of damage caused have been increasing. The airborne bacteria within Kosa are called Kosa bioaerosols.

Amino acids inhibit kynurenic acid formation via suppression of kynurenine uptake or kynurenic acid synthesis in rat brain in vitro.

The tryptophan metabolite, kynurenic acid (KYNA), is a preferential antagonist of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor at endogenous brain concentrations. Recent studies have suggested that increase of brain KYNA levels is involved in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression. KYNA-producing enzymes have broad substrate specificity for amino acids, and brain uptake of kynurenine (KYN), the immediate precursor of KYNA, is via large neutral amino acid transporters (LAT).

Variability in eating frequency in relation to adiposity measures and blood lipid profiles in British children and adolescents: findings from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

Background: A very limited number of intervention trials and observational studies in adults have suggested that irregular eating frequency is associated with adverse profiles of metabolic risk factors, but evidence in younger populations is lacking.

Objective: This cross-sectional study examined the association of variability in eating frequency with adiposity measures (n=1636) and blood lipid profiles (n=843) in British children aged 4-10 years (n=818 for adiposity measures and 324 for blood lipids) and adolescents aged 11-18 years (n=818 for adiposity measures and 519 for blood lipids).

Design: Data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey were analyzed.