Fertility knowledge and the timing of first childbearing: a cross-sectional study in Japan

Although fertility educational initiatives have increased in developed countries to prevent infertility and to broaden fertility choices, the relationship between knowledge and behaviour is still poorly understood. In order to investigate the association between fertility knowledge and timing of childbearing, we investigated male and female participants between 35 and 44 years of age who had children (n = 640) from an online survey conducted in Japan in 2013. The age at which participants actually gave birth to or fathered their first child was compared between those who were aware for at least a decade of age-related decline in female fertility (hereinafter, those with past fertility knowledge) and those without. Age at first birth was significantly younger and more narrowly distributed among women with past fertility knowledge than among those without: 28.2 ± 3.4 vs. 29.8 ± 4.6 (mean ± SD). A multivariate linear regression analysis showed that women with past fertility knowledge gave birth to their first child 2.34 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09–3.59] years earlier compared to those without such knowledge. No significant relation existed among men. Being informed in young adulthood about the facts of fertility might be related to starting a family at an earlier age, although further longitudinal evaluation will be necessary

Purification and Characterization of Thermostable Amidase from Thermus sp.O-3-1

The gene encoding a thermostable amidase (EC 3.5.1.4) from thermophilic bacterium Thermus sp.O-3-1, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli JM109. The cloned amidase gene (ami) is 930 bp and encodes a protein composed of 310 amino acids. The protein is predicted to have a molecular mass of 33,089 Da. The amidase from Thermus sp.O-3-1 was purified by heat treatment and DEAE Toyopearl 650M column chromatography. The molecular mass of the native enzyme was estimated to be about 70 kDa by gel filtration chromatography, indicating that the enzyme has a homodimeric structure. The purified enzyme was stable up to 80°C and within a pH range from 7.0 to 10.0. The optimum temperature and pH for enzyme activity were 90°C, and 9.0, respectively. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by the metal-chelating compound EDTA. The activity of the EDTA-treated enzyme was reactivated by the addition of Co(2+), Ni(2+) and Mn(2+) ions. Therefore the enzyme was predicted to be metalloenzyme. Finally, as a result of investigation into substrate specificity, the purified enzyme was suggested to be D-amino acid specific amidase, as it showed higher activity toward D-Leu-pNA than L-Leu-pNA.好熱性細菌Thermus sp.O-3-1 由来の耐熱性アミダーゼ遺伝子を大腸菌中にクローニングし，その塩基配列を決定した．ami 遺伝子は930 bp からなり，310アミノ酸をコードしていた．本酵素の分子量は33，089 Daであると予想された．Thermus sp.O-3-1 由来アミダーゼを大腸菌で生産させ，熱処理とDEAE-トヨパール650M陰イオン交換カラム等により精製した．ゲル濾過クロマトグラフィーとSDS-PAGE の結果から本酵素は分子質量33 kDa のサブユニット2分子からなるダイマー構造を有していることが明らかとなった．精製酵素の熱安定性は80℃まで，pH 安定性は7.0～10.0であり，安定性の 高い酵素であった．最適温度は90℃，最適 pH は9.0であ った．EDTA により活性が著しく阻害され，Co(2+)やNi(2+)，Mn(2+)によって活性の回復，向上が見られたため，本酵素は金属酵素であることが示唆された．基質特異性の検討 の結果，L-Leu-pNA よりもD-Leu-pNA に対して高い活性を示したため，本酵素がＤ-アミノ酸基質に特異性を持つアミダーゼであることが判明した．本酵素は耐熱性を有するユニークなＤ-アミノ酸アミダーゼであり，今後産業利用が期待される

Supplementation of protein-free diet with whey protein hydrolysates prevents skeletal muscle mass loss in rats

AbstractMuscle mass loss is induced by aging, several catabolic diseases, and malnutrition. It is well known that ingestion of whey protein and its hydrolysates (WPH) is effective in stimulating muscle protein synthesis. However, these studies focused on the acute up-regulation of muscle protein synthesis, and few studies have investigated the effect of whey protein and WPH on muscle mass during chronic malnutrition. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of 7 days supplementation of whey protein and WPH on muscle reduction in Wistar rats fed a protein-free (PF) diet. Wistar rats were fed either a standard diet (containing 20% protein) or a PF diet during the experimental period. Those fed a PF diet received a dietary supplement containing an amino acid mixture, whey protein, or WPH for 7 days. The weight of the extensor digitorum longus decreased in rats fed a PF diet supplemented with the amino acid mixture or the whey protein. However, this decrease was partially but significantly suppressed in the group fed the WPH supplement. Additionally, administration of WPH induced a postprandial increase in plasma essential amino acids, branched-chain amino acids, and leucine concentration compared with animals fed the amino acid mixture or the whey protein. These results suggest that 7 days supplementation of the diet with WPH suppressed muscle weight loss in rats fed a PF diet

A New Constraint on the Lyα\alpha Fraction of UV Very Bright Galaxies at Redshift 7

We study the extent to which very bright (-23.0 < MUV < -21.75) Lyman-break selected galaxies at redshifts z~7 display detectable Lya emission. To explore this issue, we have obtained follow-up optical spectroscopy of 9 z~7 galaxies from a parent sample of 24 z~7 galaxy candidates selected from the 1.65 sq.deg COSMOS-UltraVISTA and SXDS-UDS survey fields using the latest near-infrared public survey data, and new ultra-deep Subaru z'-band imaging (which we also present and describe in this paper). Our spectroscopy has yielded only one possible detection of Lya at z=7.168 with a rest-frame equivalent width EW_0 = 3.7 (+1.7/-1.1) Angstrom. The relative weakness of this line, combined with our failure to detect Lya emission from the other spectroscopic targets allows us to place a new upper limit on the prevalence of strong Lya emission at these redshifts. For conservative calculation and to facilitate comparison with previous studies at lower redshifts, we derive a 1-sigma upper limit on the fraction of UV bright galaxies at z~7 that display EW_0 > 50 Angstrom, which we estimate to be < 0.23. This result may indicate a weak trend where the fraction of strong Lya emitters ceases to rise, and possibly falls between z~6 and z~7. Our results also leave open the possibility that strong Lya may still be more prevalent in the brightest galaxies in the reionization era than their fainter counterparts. A larger spectroscopic sample of galaxies is required to derive a more reliable constraint on the neutral hydrogen fraction at z~7 based on the Lya fraction in the bright galaxies.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The Function of β2-glycoprotein I in Angiogenesis and Its in Vivo Distribution in Tumor Xenografts

Intact β2-glycoprotein I (iβ2GPI) is a glycoprotein that regulates coagulation and fibrinolysis. Nicked β2GPI (nβ2GPI) possesses an angiogenic property at a relatively low concentration, and an antiangiogenic property at a high concentration. Here we investigated the functions of βi 2GPI and nβ2GPI in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A-induced endothelial cell proliferation and tube formation. We used noninvasive PET imaging to analyze the in vivo distribution of intravenously injected β2GPI variants in tumor lesions in mice. iβ2GPI was incubated with plasmin to obtain nβ2GPI, and its N-terminal sequence was analyzed. nβ2GPI had at least one other cleavage site upstream of the β2GPIʼs domain V, whereas the former plasmin-cleavage site locates between K317 and T318. Both of intact and nicked β2GPI significantly inhibited the VEGF-A-induced cell proliferation and the tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). PET imaging visualized considerably distributed intensities of all tested β2GPI variants in tumor lesions of pancreatic tumor cell-xenografts. These results indicate that β2GPI may be physiologically and pathophysiologically important in the regulation of not only coagulation and fibrinolysis, but also angiogenesis