High-sensitivity C-reactive protein, body size, and insulin resistance

Background Impacts of chronic systemic inflammation and body size and their interaction effect on insulin resistance in Asian populations, in whom obesity is less common, are not fully understood. This study evaluated combined relationships of systemic inflammation and body size with insulin resistance in a Japanese cohort. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional data from 1,074 eligible subjects (536 men and 538 women) aged 35-69 years who participated in the baseline survey of a cohort study in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Systemic inflammation level was assessed by serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and the degree of insulin resistance and beta-cell function were evaluated by the homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and beta-cell function (HOMA-β), respectively. Overweight and obesity were defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 23.0-24.9 kg/m2 and ≥25.0 kg/m2, respectively. Associations between serum hs-CRP (assessed as quartiles and additionally continuous values after log-transformation) and indices of glucose homeostasis were analysed adjusting for probable covariates, including BMI (quartiles). Combined associations of serum hs-CRP (≤median, >median) and body size (normal, overweight, obese) with insulin resistance as well as their interaction effect on insulin resistance were also evaluated. Results Serum hs-CRP was dose-dependently associated with HOMA-IR, but not HOMA-β, after adjustment for probable covariates, including BMI. Subjects with obesity and elevated serum hs-CRP (>median) showed a high multivariable-adjusted HOMA-IR value of 1.32 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23, 1.41) compared with subjects with normal BMI and low serum hs-CRP (≤median) whose multivariable-adjusted HOMA-IR value was 1.14 (95% CI 1.06, 1.21). The interaction effect between body size (normal, overweight, obese) and serum hs-CRP (≤median, >median) on HOMA-IR was significant (P for interaction <0.001). Conclusions Our study suggests that elevated systemic inflammation is dose-dependently associated with increased insulin resistance, independent of the known risk factors, in a Japanese population. Concomitant obesity and elevated systemic inflammation may synergistically contribute to increased insulin resistance

Metabolic syndrome and metabolically unhealthy obesity with cancer mortality

Purpose The association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the risk of death from cancer is still a controversial issue. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of MetS and metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUHO) with cancer mortality in a Japanese population. Methods We used data from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study. The study population consisted of 28,554 eligible subjects (14,103 men and 14,451 women) aged 35–69 years. MetS was diagnosed based on the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) and the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO), using the body mass index instead of waist circumference. The Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for total cancer mortality in relation to MetS and its components. Additionally, the associations of obesity and the metabolic health status with cancer mortality were examined. Results During an average 6.9-year follow-up, there were 192 deaths from cancer. The presence of MetS was significantly correlated with increased total cancer mortality when the JASSO criteria were used (HR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.04–2.21), but not when the NCEP-ATP III criteria were used (HR = 1.09, 95% CI 0.78–1.53). Metabolic risk factors, elevated fasting blood glucose, and MUHO were positively associated with cancer mortality (P <0.05). Conclusion MetS diagnosed using the JASSO criteria and MUHO were associated with an increased risk of total cancer mortality in the Japanese population

失業者に対する意識 : 失業者との関係性に着目したKJ法による分析

Unemployment is one of the big social problems and that can become a stressful experience for the individual. It is suggested that prejudice and stigmas for unemployed people may be related to the difficulties of the unemployed. The purpose of this study is to investigate what kind of image,impression and consciousness to the unemployed were hold in general. In addition, the references to the unemployed were analyzed, because it was supposed that the references might represent their consciousness. As a result of analysis by the KJ method, the consciousness for the unemployed consisted of 9 categories and that the general image of unemployed people influences evaluation to the unemployed person, correspondence and the feeling of the unemployed person. The results showed that self-evaluation of the unemployed influenced the psychological problem of the unemployed people than the evaluation by their family and the friend. A better support for unemployed people was discussed

Development of a Biogeochemical and Carbon Model Related to Ocean Acidification Indices with an Operational Ocean Model Product in the North Western Pacific

We developed a biogeochemical and carbon model (JCOPE_EC) coupled with an operational ocean model for the North Western Pacific. JCOPE_EC represents ocean acidification indices on the background of the risks due to ocean acidification and our model experiences. It is an off-line tracer model driven by a high-resolution regional ocean general circulation model (JCOPE2M). The results showed that the model adequately reproduced the general patterns in the observed data, including the seasonal variability of chlorophyll-a, dissolved inorganic nitrogen/phosphorus, dissolved inorganic carbon, and total alkalinity. We provide an overview of this system and the results of the model validation based on the available observed data. Sensitivity analysis using fixed values for temperature, salinity, dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity helped us identify which variables contributed most to seasonal variations in the ocean acidification indices, pH and &#937;arg. The seasonal variation in the pHinsitu was governed mainly by balances of the change in temperature and dissolved inorganic carbon. The seasonal increase in &#937;arg from winter to summer was governed mainly by dissolved inorganic carbon levels

The Kuroshio Regulates the Air-Sea Exchange of PCBs in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Calculating accurate air-sea fluxes for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is an essential condition for evaluating their transport in the atmosphere. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic-ecosystem-PCB coupled model was developed for the northwestern Pacific Ocean to assess the air-sea fluxes of four PCBs and examine the influences of ocean currents on the fluxes. The model revealed a fine structure in the air-sea flux that is sensitive to the Kuroshio, a western boundary current with a high surface speed. Intense downward and upward fluxes (-23.6 to 44.75 ng m(-2) d(-1) for Sigma(4)PCBs) can be found in the Kuroshio region south of Japan and the Kuroshio Extension east of Japan, respectively. In strong (weak) current regions, it takes similar to 4 and similar to 1 days (1-3 and 3-12 days) for dissolved PCBs to reach an equilibrium in scenarios where only air-sea exchange or only ocean advection is considered, respectively. In strong current regions, the ocean advection has a shorter response time than the air-sea exchange, indicating that dissolved PCBs from upstream carried by strong current can easily change the downstream concentration by disrupting the equilibrium with original air-sea exchange and induce new air-sea fluxes there. Therefore, strong western boundary currents should be correctly considered in future atmospheric transport models for PCBs.11Nsciescopu

Development and application of a climate emulator

Linear and nonlinear response functions (RF) are extracted for the climate system and the carbon cycle represented by the MPI-ESM and cGENIE models, respectively. Appropriately designed simulations are run for this purpose. Joining these RFs, we have a climate emulator with carbon emissions as the forcing and any desired observable quantity (provided the data is saved), such as the surface air temperature or precipitation, as the predictand. Like e.g. for atmospheric CO2 concentration, we also have RFs for the solar constant as a forcing — mimicking solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering. We consider two application cases. 1. One is based on the Paris 2015 agreement, determining the necessary least amount of SRM geoengineering needed to keep the global mean surface air temperature below a certain threshold, e.g. 1.5 or 2 [oC], given a certain amount of carbon emission abatement (ABA) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) geoengineering. 2. The other application considers the conservation of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Using a zero-dimensional simplification of a complex ice sheet model, we determine (a) if we need SRM given some ABA and CDR, and, if possible, (b) the required least amount of SRM to avoid the collapse of the GrIS. Keeping temperatures below 2 [oC] even is hardly possible without sustained SRM (1.); however, the collapse of the GrIS can be avoided applying SRM even for moderate levels of CDR and ABA, an overshoot being affordable (2.)

Relationships of serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and body size with insulin resistance in a Japanese cohort.

Impacts of chronic systemic inflammation and body size and their interaction effect on insulin resistance in Asian populations, in whom obesity is less common, are not fully understood. This study evaluated combined relationships of systemic inflammation and body size with insulin resistance in a Japanese cohort.We analyzed cross-sectional data from 1,074 eligible subjects (536 men and 538 women) aged 35-69 years who participated in the baseline survey of a cohort study in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Systemic inflammation level was assessed by serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and the degree of insulin resistance and beta-cell function were evaluated by the homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and beta-cell function (HOMA-β), respectively. Overweight and obesity were defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 23.0-24.9 kg/m2 and ≥25.0 kg/m2, respectively. Associations between serum hs-CRP (assessed as quartiles and additionally continuous values after log-transformation) and indices of glucose homeostasis were analysed adjusting for probable covariates, including BMI (quartiles). Combined associations of serum hs-CRP (≤median, >median) and body size (normal, overweight, obese) with insulin resistance as well as their interaction effect on insulin resistance were also evaluated.Serum hs-CRP was dose-dependently associated with HOMA-IR, but not HOMA-β, after adjustment for probable covariates, including BMI. Subjects with obesity and elevated serum hs-CRP (>median) showed a high multivariable-adjusted HOMA-IR value of 1.32 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23, 1.41) compared with subjects with normal BMI and low serum hs-CRP (≤median) whose multivariable-adjusted HOMA-IR value was 1.14 (95% CI 1.06, 1.21). The interaction effect between body size (normal, overweight, obese) and serum hs-CRP (≤median, >median) on HOMA-IR was significant (P for interaction <0.001).Our study suggests that elevated systemic inflammation is dose-dependently associated with increased insulin resistance, independent of the known risk factors, in a Japanese population. Concomitant obesity and elevated systemic inflammation may synergistically contribute to increased insulin resistance

The Influence of Collectivism and Sense of Community to Mental Health : Through an international comparison between Japan, China and Korea

The purpose of this paper is to examine three questions regarding collectivism and sense of community, each can be viewed as a social concept which could relate to individual mental health. The first question is whether Japanese people are actually collectivistic and if most of them have less sense of community. The second is whether each concept has some relationship to each other. The third is if being collectivistic and having a sense of community influences individual mental health. Through a review, and statistical analysis which was based on data gathered from Japan, China and Korea, these questions were discussed. The results showed that Japanese people were as collectivistic as Koreans, but not so much as Chinese. And they didn\u27t have as high a sense of community in comparison with the other two countries. The relationship between collectivism and sense of community was not confirmed in our data, but the results suggest that having a sense of community could be supportive for individual mental health