Web-Based Content on Diet and Nutrition Written in Japanese: Infodemiology Study Based on Google Trends and Google Search

The increased availability of content of uncertain integrity obtained through the internet is a major concern. To date, however, there has been no comprehensive scrutiny of the fitness-for-purpose of web-based content on diet and nutrition. This cross-sectional study aims to describe diet- and nutrition-related web-based content written in Japanese, identified via a systematic extraction strategy using Google Trends and Google Search. We first identified keywords relevant for extracting web-based content (eg, blogs) on diet and nutrition written in Japanese using Google Trends. This process included identification of 638 seed terms, identification of approximately 1500 pairs of related queries (top) and search terms, the top 10% of which were extracted to identify 160 relevant pairs of related queries (top) and search terms, and identification of 107 keywords for search. We then extracted relevant web-based content using Google Search. The content (N=1703) examined here was extracted following a search based on 107 keywords. The most common themes included food and beverages (390/1703, 22.9%), weight management (366/1703, 21.49%), health benefits (261/1703, 15.33%), and healthy eating (235/1703, 13.8%). The main disseminators were information technology companies and mass media (474/1703, 27.83%), food manufacturers (246/1703, 14.45%), other (236/1703, 13.86%), and medical institutions (214/1703, 12.57%). Less than half of the content (790/1703, 46.39%) clearly indicated the involvement of editors or writers. More than half of the content (983/1703, 57.72%) was accompanied by one or more types of advertisement. The proportion of content with any type of citation reference was 40.05% (682/1703). The themes and disseminators of content were significantly associated with the involvement of editors or writers, accompaniment with advertisement, and citation of reference. In particular, content focusing on weight management was more likely to clearly indicate the involvement of editors or writers (212/366, 57.9%) and to be accompanied by advertisement (273/366, 74.6%), but less likely to have references cited (128/366, 35%). Content from medical institutions was less likely to have citation references (62/214, 29%). This study highlights concerns regarding the authorship, conflicts of interest (advertising), and the scientific credibility of web-based diet- and nutrition-related information written in Japanese. Nutrition professionals and experts should take these findings seriously because exposure to nutritional information that lacks context or seems contradictory can lead to confusion and backlash among consumers. However, more research is needed to draw firm conclusions about the accuracy and quality of web-based diet- and nutrition-related content and whether similar results can be obtained in other major mass media or social media outlets and even other languages. [Abstract copyright: ©Kentaro Murakami, Nana Shinozaki, Nana Kimoto, Hiroko Onodera, Fumi Oono, Tracy A McCaffrey, M Barbara E Livingstone, Tsuyoshi Okuhara, Mai Matsumoto, Ryoko Katagiri, Erika Ota, Tsuyoshi Chiba, Yuki Nishida, Satoshi Sasaki. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 16.11.2023.

Strain-induced creation and switching of anion vacancy layers in perovskite oxynitrides

Using strain to control oxynitride properties. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-12-01.原子空孔の配列を制御する新手法の発見. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-12-02.Perovskite oxides can host various anion-vacancy orders, which greatly change their properties, but the order pattern is still difficult to manipulate. Separately, lattice strain between thin film oxides and a substrate induces improved functions and novel states of matter, while little attention has been paid to changes in chemical composition. Here we combine these two aspects to achieve strain-induced creation and switching of anion-vacancy patterns in perovskite films. Epitaxial SrVO3 films are topochemically converted to anion-deficient oxynitrides by ammonia treatment, where the direction or periodicity of defect planes is altered depending on the substrate employed, unlike the known change in crystal orientation. First-principles calculations verified its biaxial strain effect. Like oxide heterostructures, the oxynitride has a superlattice of insulating and metallic blocks. Given the abundance of perovskite families, this study provides new opportunities to design superlattices by chemically modifying simple perovskite oxides with tunable anion-vacancy patterns through epitaxial lattice strain

Relative Validity of the Meal-Based Diet History Questionnaire for Estimating Nutrient Intake among Japanese Women and Men aged 30–76 Years

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative validity of the Meal-based Diet History Questionnaire (MDHQ) for estimating nutrient intake. Dietary data were obtained from 111 Japanese women and 111 Japanese men, using the online MDHQ and the 4-non-consecutive-day weighed dietary record (DR). The number of nutrients (total n = 46) showing no significant mean differences between estimates from the online MDHQ and DR (with energy adjustment by the density model) was 17 among women and 12 among men. The median value (25th and 75th percentiles) of the Pearson correlation coefficients between the online MDHQ and DR estimates was 0.54 (0.35–0.57) among women and 0.45 (0.25–0.53) among men. Bland–Altman plots for energy-providing nutrients indicated wide limits of agreement (and proportional bias for protein) with overall underestimation of protein and fat and overestimation of carbohydrate by the online MDHQ. Similar results were found when the paper version of the MDHQ (completed after the DR) was examined. For example, the median value of the Pearson correlation coefficients was 0.54 for women and 0.45 for men. This study suggests that the MDHQ has an acceptable ability to rank individuals according to intakes of a wide range of nutrients

Relative Validity of Food Intake in Each Meal Type and Overall Food Intake Derived Using the Meal-Based Diet History Questionnaire against the 4-Day Weighed Dietary Record in Japanese Adults

We examined the relative validity of food intake for each meal type (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) and overall food intake obtained through the Meal-based Diet History Questionnaire (MDHQ). In total, 222 Japanese adults (111 for each sex) aged 30–76 years completed the web version of the MDHQ and then the 4-non-consecutive-day weighed dietary record (DR). The number of major food groups (n = 24 in total) for which no statistically significant difference was observed between median intakes estimated using the DR and MDHQ ranged from 8 (snacks) to 12 (dinner) among women, and from 8 (breakfast) to 13 (lunch) among men. The median values of the Spearman’s correlation coefficients between the MDHQ and DR estimates ranged from 0.28 (dinner) to 0.54 (breakfast) among women, and from 0.24 (dinner) and 0.60 (breakfast) among men. Bland–Altman analyses generally showed wide limits of agreement and proportional bias. Similar results were obtained using the paper version of the MDHQ, which was completed after conducting the DR. In conclusion, the MDHQ has a satisfactory ability to estimate median intake and rank individuals according to consumption for many food groups, despite a limited ability to estimate food group intakes on an individual level

The Measles Virus V Protein Binding Site to STAT2 Overlaps That of IRF9

Measles virus (MeV) is a highly immunotropic and contagious pathogen that can even diminish preexisting antibodies and remains a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide despite the availability of effective vaccines. MeV is one of the most extensively studied viruses with respect to the mechanisms of JAK-STAT antagonism. Of the three proteins translated from the MeV P gene, P and V are essential for inactivation of this pathway. However, the lack of data from direct analyses of the underlying interactions means that the detailed molecular mechanism of antagonism remains unresolved. Here, we prepared recombinant MeV V protein, which is responsible for human JAK-STAT antagonism, and a panel of variants, enabling the biophysical characterization of V protein, including direct V/STAT1 and V/STAT2 interaction assays. Unambiguous direct interactions between the host and viral factors, in the absence of other factors such as Jak1 or Tyk2, were observed, and the dissociation constants were quantified for the first time. Our data indicate that interactions between the C-terminal region of V and STAT2 is 1 order of magnitude stronger than that of the N-terminal region of V and STAT1. We also clarified that these interactions are completely independent of each other. Moreover, results of size exclusion chromatography demonstrated that addition of MeV-V displaces STAT2-core, a rigid region of STAT2 lacking the N- and C-terminal domains, from preformed complexes of STAT2-core/IRF-associated domain (IRF9). These results provide a novel model whereby MeV-V can not only inhibit the STAT2/IRF9 interaction but also disrupt preassembled interferon-stimulated gene factor 3. IMPORTANCE To evade host immunity, many pathogenic viruses inactivate host Janus kinase signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling pathways using diverse strategies. Measles virus utilizes P and V proteins to counteract this signaling pathway. Data derived largely from cell-based assays have indicated several amino acid residues of P and V proteins as important. However, biophysical properties of V protein or its direct interaction with STAT molecules using purified proteins have not been studied. We have developed novel molecular tools enabling us to identify a novel molecular mechanism for immune evasion whereby V protein disrupts critical immune complexes, providing a clear strategy by which measles virus can suppress interferon-mediated antiviral gene expression