遺伝子組み換え食品に関する日本の消費者意識に関する国際比較

BACKGROUND: Reports of food-related incidents, such as cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (2001) and the Fukushima nuclear accident (2011), engendered significant fear among Japanese consumers and led to multiple farmer suicides, even when no actual health damage occurred. The growing availability of genetically modified (GM) food is occurring against this backdrop of concern about food safety. Consumers need information to assess risk and make informed purchasing decisions. However, we lack a clear picture of Japanese consumer perceptions of GM food. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand Japanese consumer perceptions of GM food for risk communication. Consumer perceptions of GM food were compared among 4 nations. METHODS: A Web-based survey was conducted in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Participants were asked about demographics, fear of health hazards, resistance to GM and breeding-improved products, perception of GM technology and products, and willingness to pay. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted, as were t tests on dichotomous variables, and 1-way analysis of variance and post hoc tests. RESULTS: Of 1812 individuals who agreed to participate, 1705 (94%) responded: 457 from Japan and 416 each from France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The male/female and age group ratios were all about even. Some resistance to GM food was seen in all countries in this study. France showed the strongest resistance (P<.001), followed by Japan, which had stronger resistance than the United States and the United Kingdom (P<.001). Overall, females, people in their 60s and older, and those without higher education showed the greatest resistance to GM food. Japan showed stronger fear of food hazards than other nations (P<.001, odds ratio=2.408, CI: 1.614-3.594); Japanese and French respondents showed the strongest fear of hazards from GM food (P<.001). Regarding perceptions of GM technology and products, consumers in nations other than Japan would accept GM food if it were appropriately explained, they were provided with scientific data supporting its safety, and they understood that all food carries some risk. However, Japanese consumers tended to accept GM technology but rejected its application to food (P<.001). Of those willing to purchase GM food, consumers in Japan required a discount of 30% compared with about 20% in other nations. CONCLUSION: All consumers in our study showed resistance to GM food. Although no health hazards are known, respondents in Japan and France strongly recognized GM food as a health risk. Price discounts of 30% and GM technology may be communication cues to start discussions about GM food among Japanese consumers. Although education-only risk communication generally is not effective, such an approach may work in Japan to help consumers better understand GM technology and, eventually, GM food. The gap between accepting GM technology and rejecting its application to food should be explored further.博士（医学）・乙第1390号・平成29年3月15日Copyright © Keiko Komoto, Sawako Okamoto, Miki Hamada, Naoya Obana, Mami Samori, Tomoaki Imamura. Originally published in the Interactive Journal of Medical Research (http://www.i-jmr.org/), 29.08.2016. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Interactive Journal of Medical Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.i-jmr.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included

訪問介護員の自己効力感についての探索的研究 : 尺度構造の検討

This study focused on self-efficacy of home-visit caregivers for their jobs and elucidated the structure of self-efficacy. Firstly, three hundred institutions for long-term care in Japan were selected by using random sampling, and a total of six hundred home-visit caregivers working in the institutions participated in the survey with a free-description questionnaire. Sixty-nine question items in nine domains were carefully extracted with the classification of sentences having the same meaning and the repetition of the contents in the examination. To review the internal validity, experts in aged care and administrators of home visiting care service institutions were asked to examine the validity and plans of expressions, and a draft for scale was prepared. Secondly, using the draft for the measuring scale, a survey was conducted where eighty-three institutions for long-term care in A Prefecture were randomly selected and a total of five hundred homevisit caregivers working in the institutions participated. Prior to beginning the item data analysis, we referred to the data provided by opinions written on the free description of the questionnaires, eliminated question items showing a ceiling effect and a floor effect, and performed factor analysis of forty-nine items by the unweighted least square method. Basic attitude toward users, feelings toward users, improving their skills and basic attitude toward their jobs were postulated as a tentative theory. Considering the possibilities of interpretations, the four-factor structure was regarded as valid and factor analyses was performed repeatedly. Therefore, the results clarified configuration factors of self-efficacy of homevisit caregivers. As a result, as a component factor of the self-efficacy of the visiting caregiver, the first factor is tightening, the second factor efforts to maintain and improve life, the third factor self-study, and the fourth factor is responsibility fulfillment Was suggested

A model-free method for extracting interaction potential between protein molecules using small-angle X-ray

A small-angle X-ray scattering has been used to probe protein–protein interaction in solution. Conventional methods need to input modeled potentials with variable/invariable parameters to reproduce the experimental structure factor. In the present study, a model-free method for extracting the excess part of effective interaction potential between protein molecules in solutions over an introduced hard-sphere potential by using experimental data of small-angle X-ray scattering is presented on the basis of liquid-state integral equation theory. The reliability of the model-free method is tested by the application to experimentally derived structure factors for dense lysozyme solutions with different solution conditions [Javid et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 028101 (2007), Schroer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 178102 (2011)]. The structure factors calculated from the model-free method agree well with the experimental ones. The model-free method provides the following picture of the lysozyme solution: these are the stabilization of contact-pair configurations, large activation barrier against their formations, and screened Coulomb repulsion between the charged proteins. In addition, the model-free method will be useful to verify whether or not a model for colloidal system is acceptable to describing protein–protein interaction

介護職員の自己効力感尺度の開発に関する研究 : 訪問介護員の自己効力感の評価測定

鹿児島国際大

Nutrient intake, serum lipids and iron status of colligiate rugby players

BACKGROUND: There are two main playing positions in rugby (backs and forwards), which demonstrate different exercise patterns, roles, and physical characteristics. The purpose of this study was: 1) to collect baseline data on nutrient intake in order to advise the athletes about nutrition practices that might enhance performance, and 2) to compare serum lipids, lipoproteins, apolipoproteins (apo), lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity, and iron status of forwards and backs. METHODS: The sporting group was divided into 18 forwards and 16 backs and were compared with 26 sedentary controls. Dietary information was obtained with a food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: There were significant differences among the three groups. The forwards had the highest body weight, body mass index, percentage of body fat (calculated by sum of four skinfold thicknesses), as well as the highest lean body mass, followed by the backs and the control group. The mean carbohydrate intake was marginal and protein intake was lower than the respective recommended targets in all three groups. The mean intakes of calcium, magnesium, and vitamins A, B(1), B(2), and C were lower than the respective Japanese recommended dietary allowances or adequate dietary intakes for the rugby players. The forwards had significantly lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and HDL(2)-C than the backs and had significantly higher apo B and LCAT activity than the controls. The backs showed significantly higher HDL-C, HDL(3)-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apo A-I, and LCAT activity than the controls. Four forwards (22%), five backs (31%), and three controls (12%) had hemolysis. None of the rugby players had anemia or iron depletion. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study indicate that as the athletes increased their carbohydrate and protein intake, their performance and lean body mass increased. Further, to increase mineral and vitamin intakes, we recommended athletes increase their consumption of green and other vegetables, milk and dairy products, and fruits. The forwards showed more atherogenic lipid profiles than the backs, whereas the backs showed not only anti-atherogenic lipid profile, but also showed more atherogenic lipid profile relative to the control group. Additionally, our study showed none of the rugby players experienced anemia and/or iron depletion

高校男子サッカー部員の栄養素等摂取状況および身体的特徴

高校男子サッカー部員４６名を対象として、栄養素等摂取状況および身体的特徴を調査した。対象者４６名のヘモグロビン値を暫定基準値と比較した結果、「要注意（１２．０～１２．９g／dl）」「要受診（１１．９g／dl以下）」と判定される対象者がそれぞれ５名（約１０．９％）、６名（約１３．０％）いた。また、脂質以外の栄養素等摂取量は日本人の食事摂取基準２００５年版を参考に設定した摂取目標量以下であった。食品群別摂取量をみると、肉類以外の摂取量は目標量以下であった。本研究の結果より、バランスのとれた摂取を促し、全ての栄養素を最適な量で供給するため、対象者とその保護者への栄養教育の重要性が示唆された。Nutrient intakes and body characteristics of 46 male high school soccer players were examined. In comparison with the conditional standard values in hemoglobin (Hb), 5 (about10.9%) and 6 (about13.0%) subjects were judged “warning (Hb12.0～12.9g/dl)" and “need to be diagnosed (Hb<11.9g/dl)", respectively. Nutrient intakes were below the dietary goals according to the dietary reference intakes for Japanese 2005, except fat. Similarly, the foodstuff intakes were below the goals of foodstuff intakes, except meat. The results of the present study suggest the importance of nutritional education in both subjects and their guardians to promote a balanced intake and to provide all nutrients in optimal amounts

Model-potential-free analysis of small angle scattering of proteins in solution: insights into solvent effects on protein-protein interaction

To extract protein-protein interaction from experimental small-angle scattering of proteins in solutions using liquid state theory, a model potential consisting of a hard-sphere repulsive potential and the excess interaction potential has been introduced. In the present study, we propose a model-potential-free integral equation method that extracts the excess interaction potential by using the experimental small-angle scattering data without specific model potential such as the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO)-type model. Our analysis of experimental small-angle X-ray scattering data for lysozyme solution shows both the stabilization of contact configurations of protein molecules and a large activation barrier against the formation of the contact configurations in addition to the screened Coulomb repulsion. These characteristic features, which are not well-described by the DLVO-type model, are interpreted as solvent effects

Human induced pluripotent stem cells generated from a patient with idiopathic basal ganglia calcification

Idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (IBGC) is a rare neurodegenerative disease, characterized by abnormal calcium deposits in basal ganglia of the brain. The affected individuals exhibit movement disorders, and progressive deterioration of cognitive and psychiatric ability. The genetic cause of the disease is mutation in one of several different genes, SLC20A2, PDGFB, PDGFRB, XPR1 or MYORG, which inheritably or sporadically occurs. Here we generated an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line from an IBGC patient, which is likely be a powerful tool for revealing the pathomechanisms and exploring potential therapeutic candidates of IBGC