Reducing nitrogen footprints of consumer-level food loss and protein overconsumption in Japan, considering gender and age differences

The agro-food system perturbs the nitrogen (N) cycle through its N loads to the environment. The present study focused on food-related consumer-level N loads in Japan from 1961–2015, with a particular focus on food loss and protein overconsumption. Gender and age differences were also analyzed. Consumer-level food loss was negligible until the 1970s, when it began to slowly increase, accounting for an average of 13.2% of the annual net supply during 2011–2015. Japanese people have consumed more protein than the World Health Organization’s recommended intake since 1961. Protein overconsumption increased until the mid-1990s, when it began to decrease, but it still accounted for an average of 32.3% of total annual protein consumption during 2011–2015. The national mean of food N footprints (total release of reactive N into the environment related to individual food consumption) in the same period was 18.3 kg N capita ^–1 yr ^–1 , of which food loss accounted for 4% and protein overconsumption for 37%. The food N footprint of each sex/age class varied from 16.0–21.6 kg N capita ^–1 yr ^–1 , males had a larger footprint in each age class. Seven scenarios to reduce the N footprints were evaluated; a scenario that included halving protein overconsumption, livestock meat consumption, and food loss was estimated to reduce the food N footprint by 31%. Thus, there is room for reducing consumer-induced N loads to the environment. Campaigns aimed at boosting healthy and environmentally friendly diets should consider the diverse consumption patterns of different sex and age classes

The use of uniaxial accelerometry for the assessment of physical-activity-related energy expenditure: a validation study against whole-body indirect calorimetry

Assessing the total energy expenditure (TEE) and the levels of physical activity in free-living conditions with non-invasive techniques remains a challenge. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the accuracy of a new uniaxial accelerometer for assessing TEE and physical-activity-related energy expenditure (PAEE) over a 24 h period in a respiratory chamber, and to establish activity levels based on the accelerometry ranges corresponding to the operationally defined metabolic equivalent (MET) categories. In study 1, measurement of the 24 h energy expenditure of seventy-nine Japanese subjects (40 (SD 12) years old) was performed in a large respiratory chamber. During the measurements, the subjects wore a uniaxial accelerometer (Lifecorder; Suzuken Co. Ltd, Nagoya, Japan) on their belt. Two moderate walking exercises of 30 min each were performed on a horizontal treadmill. In study 2, ten male subjects walked at six different speeds and ran at three different speeds on a treadmill for 4 min, with the same accelerometer. O2 consumption was measured during the last minute of each stage and was expressed in MET. The measured TEE was 8447 (SD 1337) kJ/d. The accelerometer significantly underestimated TEE and PAEE (91·9 (SD 5·4) and 92·7 (SD 17·8) % chamber value respectively); however, there was a significant correlation between the two values (r 0·928 and 0·564 respectively; P<0·001). There was a strong correlation between the activity levels and the measured MET while walking (r2 0·93; P<0·001). Although TEE and PAEE were systematically underestimated during the 24 h period, the accelerometer assessed energy expenditure well during both the exercise period and the non-structured activities. Individual calibration factors may help to improve the accuracy of TEE estimation, but the average calibration factor for the group is probably sufficient for epidemiological research. This method is also important for assessing the diurnal profile of physical activit

Anti-Tumor Effect against Human Cancer Xenografts by a Fully Human Monoclonal Antibody to a Variant 8-Epitope of CD44R1 Expressed on Cancer Stem Cells

BACKGROUND: CD44 is a major cellular receptor for hyaluronic acids. The stem structure of CD44 encoded by ten normal exons can be enlarged by ten variant exons (v1-v10) by alternative splicing. We have succeeded in preparing MV5 fully human IgM and its class-switched GV5 IgG monoclonal antibody (mAb) recognizing the extracellular domain of a CD44R1 isoform that contains the inserted region coded by variant (v8, v9 and v10) exons and is expressed on the surface of various human epithelial cancer cells. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We demonstrated the growth inhibition of human cancer xenografts by a GV5 IgG mAb reshaped from an MV5 IgM. The epitope recognized by MV5 and GV5 was identified to a v8-coding region by the analysis of mAb binding to various recombinant CD44 proteins by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. GV5 showed preferential reactivity against various malignant human cells versus normal human cells assessed by flow cytometry and immunohistological analysis. When ME180 human uterine cervix carcinoma cells were subcutaneously inoculated to athymic mice with GV5, significant inhibition of tumor formation was observed. Furthermore, intraperitoneal injections of GV5markedly inhibited the growth of visible established tumors from HSC-3 human larynx carcinoma cells that had been subcutaneously transplanted one week before the first treatment with GV5. From in vitro experiments, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and internalization of CD44R1 seemed to be possible mechanisms for in vivo anti-tumor activity by GV5. CONCLUSIONS: CD44R1 is an excellent molecular target for mAb therapy of cancer, possibly superior to molecules targeted by existing therapeutic mAb, such as Trastuzumab and Cetuximab recognizing human epidermal growth factor receptor family

Comparison of food supply system in China and Japan based on food nitrogen footprints estimated by a top-down method

Food nitrogen footprints (N-footprints) for China in 2013 and Japan in 2011 were estimated with a top-down method (the N-Input method). This method evaluates the new nitrogen input for food production in both the country of interest and the countries from which food is imported. The food N-footprints in China and Japan were 21.96 kg N capita(-1) yr(-1) and 18.44 kg N capita(-1) yr(-1), respectively, which were similar to published values estimated with the N-calculator method, which evaluates nitrogen loss to the environment during production and consumption. To compare the nitrogen use efficiency for different type of food supplied in both countries, we calculated the ratio (R-I/O) of new nitrogen input to nitrogen output to each type of food domestically produced and imported. R-I/O for crops tended to be larger in China than in Japan, whereas the opposite was observed for livestock products. The larger N-footprint in China was mainly attributable to the higher per capita protein intake in China compared with Japan; per capita nitrogen intake in China has been increasing and is 6.95 kg N yr(-1) in 2013, exceeding the intake in Japan (5.86 kg N yr(-1) in 2011). We also showed that R-I/O can be converted to the virtual nitrogen factors, which can be used for N-calculator method, in heavy food importing countries. Some methodological differences in food N-footprint estimation methods were discussed. For example, approximately 10% of the N-footprint in both countries by the N-Input method was attributable to supply of secondary products such as sugar, vegetable oil and alcoholic beverages, but these were not included in the N-calculator method