, , , and Polymorphisms Are Associated with Increased Serum Coenzyme Q after Long-Term Supplementation in Women.

Coenzyme Q (CoQ), an essential component for energy production that exhibits antioxidant activity, is considered a health-supporting and antiaging supplement. However, intervention-controlled studies have provided variable results on CoQ supplementation benefits, which may be attributed to individual CoQ bioavailability differences. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between genetic polymorphisms and CoQ serum levels after long-term supplementation.

Factors that facilitate multigenerational exchanges in regional locations: a cross-sectional study in Niigata City, Japan.

Background: In the process of community building, it is important to create a place for multigenerational exchanges. To promote multigenerational exchanges in regional locations, it is essential to clarify whether such exchanges are related to government infrastructure, regional characteristics, and social capital, and how these exchanges contribute to community building.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted with representatives from 455 Chiiki no Cha-no-Ma (literal translation "community living room," and hereafter "Cha-no-Ma") in Niigata City, Japan.

Protective Effects of Voluntary Exercise on Hepatic Fat Accumulation Induced by Dietary Restriction in Zucker Fatty Rats.

Weight control based on dietary restriction (DR) alone can cause lipid metabolic failure and progression to fatty liver. This study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise on preventing DR-induced hepatic fat accumulation in Zucker fatty (ZF) rats by focusing on the relationship between adipose tissue lipolysis and hepatic fat uptake. Six-week-old male ZF rats were randomly assigned to obese, DR, or DR with exercise (DR + Ex) groups.

Seeing motion of controlled object improves grip timing in adults with autism spectrum condition: evidence for use of inverse dynamics in motor control.

Previous studies (Haswell et al. in Nat Neurosci 12:970-972, 2009; Marko et al. in Brain J Neurol 138:784-797, 2015) reported that people with autism rely less on vision for learning to reach in a force field.

Guidelines for the management of dermatomycosis (2019).

The "Guidelines for the management of dermatomycosis" of the Japanese Dermatological Association were first published in Japanese in 2009 and the Guidelines Committee of the Japanese Dermatological Association revised it in 2019. The first guidelines was prepared according to the opinions of the Guidelines Committee members and it was of educational value. The revised version is composed of introductory descriptions of the disease concepts, diagnosis, medical mycology and recent advances in treatment, along with clinical questions (CQ), which is intended to help in general practice for dermatologists.

Effects of Depressive Symptoms, Feelings, and Interoception on Reward-Based Decision-Making: Investigation Using Reinforcement Learning Model.

Background: In this study, we examined the relationships between reward-based decision-making in terms of learning rate, memory rate, exploration rate, and depression-related subjective emotional experience, in terms of interoception and feelings, to understand how reward-based decision-making is impaired in depression.

Methods: In all, 52 university students were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. To manipulate interoception, the participants in the experimental group were instructed to tune their internal somatic sense to the skin-conductance-response waveform presented on a display.

[Elements that cancer peer supporters working in Japanese hospitals consider to be important in helping them perform their role].

Objectives　The purpose of this study was to identify elements that cancer peer supporters working in Japanese hospitals consider to be important in helping them perform their role.Methods　A qualitative inductive research was conducted. Introductions to potential participants were obtained from a patient association that agreed to help with the study.

Attributing Human Foodborne Diseases to Food Sources and Water in Japan Using Analysis of Outbreak Surveillance Data.

Abstract: In Japan, strategies for ensuring food safety have been developed without reliable scientific evidence on the relationship between foodborne diseases and food sources. This study aimed to provide information on the proportions of foodborne diseases caused by seven major causative pathogens (Campylobacter spp., Salmonella, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli [EHEC], Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, and norovirus) attributed to foods and to explore factors affecting changes in these source attribution proportions over time using analysis of outbreak surveillance data.

Distance from the nearest grocery stores and frequency of store-specific shopping are associated with dietary intake frequency among the community-dwelling independent elderly population.

Background: Low accessibility to grocery stores may change dietary habits and increase health problems for elderly people living in communities.

Aim: This study investigated whether the distance from the nearest grocery stores, including supermarkets, convenience stores, and drugstores, and the frequency of store-specific shopping were associated with dietary intake frequency among elderly people.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two towns of suburban cities.

Impact of sleep problems on daytime function in school life: a cross-sectional study involving Japanese university students.

Background: The aims of this study were 1) to clarify the prevalence of sleep problems (insomnia, insufficient sleep, and delayed sleep-wake phase) among Japanese university students; 2) to examine sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, and sleep-related symptoms in each sleep problem; and 3) to evaluate the association between the above-mentioned sleep problems and daytime dysfunction in school life.

Methods: Self-report questionnaire surveys were conducted at eight universities in Japan, and we received 1034 valid answers (78% female). The questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic characteristics, information on lifestyle, sleep pattern, sleep-related symptoms, and daytime dysfunction in school life.

Lack of implicit visual perspective taking in adult males with autism spectrum disorders.

Background: Some theorists have suggested that the ability of visual perspective-taking (VPT) constitutes a rudimentary process of social cognition, and as such, the ability of VPT in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been the focus of intensive research.

Aim: The present study investigated whether adult males with ASD show signs of implicit VPT in first-level VPT tasks, in which participants were required to judge whether a target object can be seen from another's perspective, even when they are not explicitly required to take another's perspective.

Methods And Procedures: We examined whether the information from another's visual perspective interferes with visual processing from the participant's own perspective ("altercentric interference") using the reaction time as the main performance indicator in adult males with or without ASD.

Miso Soup Consumption Enhances the Bioavailability of the Reduced Form of Supplemental Coenzyme Q.

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is an essential compound that is involved in energy production and is a lipid-soluble antioxidant. Although it has been proposed as an antiaging and a health-supporting supplement, its low bioavailability remains a significant issue. Concurrent food intake enhances the absorption of orally administered CoQ, but it has not been fully established whether specific food substances affect intestinal CoQ absorption.

Preferences Regarding Transfer of Patients With Congenital Heart Disease Who Attend Children's Hospital.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine preferences regarding transfer of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) attending a children's hospital in Japan and related factors.

Methods and results: We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey with CHD patients >15 years of age treated at the pediatric cardiology outpatient clinic of a children's hospital. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors related to patient preferences regarding the transfer.

Impact of anti-doping education and doping control experience on anti-doping knowledge in Japanese university athletes: a cross-sectional study.

Background: This study was conducted to elucidate the anti-doping (AD) education, doping control experience, and AD knowledge according to the World Anti-doping Code (Code) of Japanese university athletes.

Methods: We collected data from 514 male athletes (M = 19.53 years, SD = 1.

[Support that cancer peer supporters working at medical institutions currently receive and the support they actually need].

Objectives　This research aims to ascertain the kinds of support cancer peer supporters at medical institutions currently receive and the support they actually need.Methods　Participants in the study were ten cancer peer supporters who were recommended by a patient association and who agreed to participate in the study. Using a qualitative descriptive method, interviews were conducted using an interview guide from July to October 2014.

Characterization of fat metabolism in the fatty liver caused by a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet: A study under equal energy conditions.

The pathology of fatty liver due to increased percentage of calories derived from fat without increased overall caloric intake is largely unclear. In this study, we aimed to characterize fat metabolism in rats with fatty liver resulting from consumption of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate (HFLC) diet without increased caloric intake. Four-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the control (Con) and HFLC groups, and rats were fed the corresponding diets ad libitum.

A Patient with Cystic Granuloma Trichophyticum who Required Surgical Resection.

A 62-year-old male with numerous subcutaneous nodules in the lower extremities was referred to The University of Tokyo Hospital. The patient suffered from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), diabetes mellitus, and persisting hepatic dysfunction, and had been treated for SLE with oral prednisolone 20 mg/day and oral cyclosporine 3 mg/kg/day. The culture of scales collected from the patient's skin surface on Sabouraud's dextrose agar medium showed features of Trichophyton rubrum.

Social independence of adult congenital heart disease patients in Japan.

Background: As treatment outcomes for congenital heart disease (CHD) have improved, the social independence of adult CHD patients has become a key goal. The aims of this study were therefore to (i) determine the relationship between social independence and psychological profile, and (ii) identify patient anxieties, difficulties, and demands related to life in society.

Methods: A total of 143 patients aged ≥15 years with physical disability certificates were selected using a questionnaire distributed by a patients' association.

Inhibitory effect of 13 taxane diterpenoids from Chinese yew (Taxus chinensis var. mairei) on the proliferation of HeLa cervical cancer cells.

The inhibitory effect of 13 taxanes isolated from the Chinese yew (Taxus chinensis var. mairei) on the proliferation of human cervical cancer HeLa cells were examined using an MTT assay. Four compounds having a hydrophobic cinnamate side chain showed antiproliferative activity, which may be due to increased cell permeability.

Complete NMR assignment of a bisecting hybrid-type oligosaccharide transferred by Mucor hiemalis endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase.

This study describes the complete nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral assignment of a bisecting hybrid-type oligosaccharide 1, transferred by Mucor hiemalis endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Endo-M). Through (1)H- and (13)C-NMR, DQF-COSY, HSQC, HMBC, TOCSY, and NOESY experiments, we determine the structure of the glycoside linkage formed by the Endo-M transglycosylation, i.e.

Immobilization induces nuclear accumulation of HDAC4 in rat skeletal muscle.

The study described herein aimed to examine changes in HDAC4 and its downstream targets in immobilization-induced rat skeletal muscle atrophy. Eleven male Wistar rats were used, and one hindlimb was immobilized in the plantar flexion position using a plaster cast. The contralateral, non-immobilized leg served as an internal control.

Synthesis, structure, and evaluation of a β-cyclodextrin-artificial carbohydrate conjugate for use as a doxorubicin-carrying molecule.

This paper describes the synthesis of a β-cyclodextrin (β-CyD) derivative conjugated with a C,C-glucopyranoside containing a benzene unit. Its doxorubicin-inclusion ability and structure are also discussed. SPR analysis revealed that the β-CyD conjugate had a high inclusion association value of 3.

Dietary quality and its structural relationships among equivalent income, emotional well-being, and a five-year subjective health in Japanese middle-aged urban dwellers.

Background: Although dietary quality in middle-age and the prime age of a person's work career might be determined by positive emotional well-being based on socioeconomic status (SES), causation among determinants of dietary quality still remains unclear. Our purpose was to elucidate the structural relationships among five-year prior dietary quality, equivalent income, emotional well-being, and a five-year subjective health by sex and age group separately.

Methods: In 2003, 10,000 middle-aged urban dwellers aged 40-64 years, who lived in ward A in the Tokyo metropolitan area, were randomly selected and a questionnaire survey was conducted by mail.

Effects of habitual exercise and dietary restriction on intrahepatic and periepididymal fat accumulation in Zucker fatty rats.

Background: Habitual exercise and dietary restriction are commonly recommended to prevent or ameliorate obesity and lifestyle-related diseases, including fatty liver. This study investigated the effects of habitual exercise and dietary restriction on hepatic triglyceride (TG) levels, serum leptin levels, and histological adipocyte size in periepididymal adipose tissue from Zucker fatty (ZF) rats.

Methods: Six-week-old male ZF rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups: sedentary (Sed), sedentary and dietary restriction (Sed + DR), and training and dietary restriction (Tr + DR).