THE CURRENT SITUATION OF MASTICATORY BEHAVIOR OF FIRST GRADER AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MASTICATORY ABILITY AND STUDENTS’ LIKES AND DISLIKES

Twenty percent of first-graders of a public elementary school in Kanagawa Prefecture were unable to masticate school lunch properly. Teachers encouraged masticate training at school, but it showed no improvement. The purpose of this research was to investigate the characteristics of mastication to find possible methods and more specific mastication education. The subjects were 100 first graders(6～7years old) at public elementary school where school lunch was served with an individual tray. The survey was conducted during school lunchtime by recording the bread crust eating situation. Every student was provided with 8g of bread crust cut into three equal parts. Within one month, on the days when kibinago (herring-like forage fish), cabbage, potatoes, curry rice, bonito, and komatsuna (Japanese Spinach) were served, the subjects were asked about their “Likes or Dislikes” and the food was “Easy to Masticate or Hard to Masticate”.The average of masticatory time during eating bread crust was 76 seconds, the maximum was 151 seconds, and the minimum was 19 seconds. The average of masticatory frequency was 72 times, the maximum was 155 times and the minimum was 27 times. The average masticatory speed was 58 beats per minute (bpm), the fastest was 113 bpm and the slowest was 29 bpm. The most favorite dish was curry rice (99%) and the least favorite dishes were kibinago and bonito (13%, respectively). The highest percentage (27%) of the subjects answered bonito dish as “Hard to Masticate” and the lowest percentage (1%) was curry rice. “Dislike” was significantly associated with “Hard to Masticate” in cabbage (p<0.01) and bonito (p<0.01). The first graders had individual differences in masticatory behavior. It was suggested that “Likes and Dislikes” are related to masticatory ability. If the children practice the mastication of solid foods before entering school, the children might eat more smoothly

A simple and fast method to detect freebase cocaine in artificial saliva by square wave voltammetry (SWV) using carbon paste electrode

The consequences of consuming and commercializing illicit drugs including cocaine, con­stitute a serious problem for authorities and the whole society. Cocaine is usually identified in the laboratory conditions by chromatographic or spectroscopic methods. Electro­che­mical techniques have also gained prominence because they are fast and easy to use, have many applications, and provide reproducible and reliable results. Therefore, in the present study, a voltammetric method was developed to detect freebase cocaine using carbon paste electrode and methanol as the main cocaine solvent. The developed method was applied to detect cocaine in the artificial saliva by the square wave voltammetry (SWV). The current values increased linearly with the concentration of cocaine, which afforded construction of the analytical curve. The limit of detection (LoD) and the limit of quantify­cation (LoQ) were determined as 0.90 µg/mL and 2.41 µg/mL, respectively. For compa­rison purposes, HPLC-DAD chromatographic method was also applied to detect cocaine. The corresponding analytical curve gave LoD = 0.043 µg/mL and LoQ = 0.130 µg/mL. Although showing better analytical results, HPLC-DAD method could not detect cocaine in saliva samples without previous treatment, what makes the electrochemical method much more attractive for this type of detection.</p

Antigenic Diversity of Human Sapoviruses

Correspondence between virus antigenicity and capsid (VP1) genogrouping and genotyping is likely

Altered microRNA expression in frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology caused by progranulin mutations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that can be triggered through genetic or sporadic mechanisms. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have become a major therapeutic focus as their pervasive expression and powerful regulatory roles in disease pathogenesis become increasingly apparent. Here we examine the role of miRNAs in FTLD patients with TAR DNA-binding protein 43 pathology (FTLD-TDP) caused by genetic mutations in the progranulin (<it>PGRN</it>) gene.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using miRNA array profiling, we identified the 20 miRNAs that showed greatest evidence (unadjusted P < 0.05) of dysregulation in frontal cortex of eight FTLD-TDP patients carrying <it>PGRN </it>mutations when compared to 32 FTLD-TDP patients with no apparent genetic abnormalities. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses provided technical validation of the differential expression for 9 of the 20 miRNAs in frontal cortex. Additional qRT-PCR analyses showed that 5 out of 9 miRNAs (miR-922, miR-516a-3p, miR-571, miR-548b-5p, and miR-548c-5p) were also significantly dysregulated (unadjusted P < 0.05) in cerebellar tissue samples of <it>PGRN </it>mutation carriers, consistent with a systemic reduction in PGRN levels. We developed a list of gene targets for the 5 candidate miRNAs and found 18 genes dysregulated in a reported FTLD mRNA study to exhibit anti-correlated miRNA-mRNA patterns in affected cortex and cerebellar tissue. Among the targets is brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor 3, which was recently identified as an important player in synapse biology.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study suggests that miRNAs may contribute to the pathogenesis of FTLD-TDP caused by <it>PGRN </it>mutations and provides new insight into potential future therapeutic options.</p

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Effect of Muscle Loss but Not Fat Loss during Primary Debulking Surgery and Chemotherapy on Prognosis of Patients with Ovarian Cancer

Although the negative effect of muscle loss during invasive treatment has been widely reported in patients with cancer, its value in patients with ovarian cancer is not clear. Therefore, this study was conducted to clarify whether muscle loss during cytoreductive surgery and chemotherapy affects prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer. We retrospectively recruited 58 patients with ovarian cancer who underwent site reductive surgery and chemotherapy at Shimane University Hospital from March 2006 to November 2013 and for whom pre- and postoperative computed tomography were available. Skeletal muscle changes and fat mass volume during primary debulking surgery and chemotherapy were subsequently investigated at the level of the third lumbar vertebra. Muscle and fat mass loss occurred independently in half of the patients. Muscle loss, but not fat loss, was associated with disease-free survival (p = 0.041 and p = 0.794, respectively) and poor overall survival (p = 0.033 and p = 0.61, respectively). Cancer therapy is invasive and causes compositional changes in the body, such as muscle and fat loss. During cancer therapy, muscle loss, but not fat loss, may be associated with worse prognosis in ovarian cancer

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