Experiences of romantic relationships and desires to marry and have children among youth in a low-fertility society.

Introduction: This study aims to explore experiences of romantic relationships and to examine determinants of desires to marry and have children in the future among Japanese university students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students of A University, located in the capital city of a Japanese prefecture, using an anonymous self-administered and structured questionnaire developed by an online survey software. Results: A total of 815 respondents with complete data were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Over 80% of males and females expressed the desire to marry and have children in the future. It was found that for both female and male respondents, the "desire to marry" was associated with currently being in a romantic relationship or having experience of sexual intercourse. On the contrary, the "desire to have children" was associated with currently being in a romantic relationship or having experience of sexual intercourse only among male respondents, and no significant association was observed among female respondents. Conclusion: "Currently being in a romantic relationship" and "having experience of sexual intercourse" were associated with wanting to marry and have children in the future among male university students. This suggests that these may be important factors in providing a positive perception regarding having children when they attain childbearing age

Cleavage of host cytokeratin-6 by lysine-specific gingipain induces gingival inflammation in periodontitis patients

Background/Purpose. Lysine-specific gingipain (Kgp) is a virulence factor secreted from Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), a major etiological bacterium of periodontal disease. Keratin intermediate filaments maintain the structural integrity of gingival epithelial cells, but are targeted by Kgp to produce a novel cytokeratin 6 fragment (K6F). We investigated the release of K6F and its induction of cytokine secretion. Methods. K6F present in the gingival crevicular fluid of periodontal disease patients and in gingipain-treated rat gingival epithelial cell culture supernatants was measured by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer-based rapid quantitative peptide analysis using BLOTCHIP. K6F in gingival tissues was immunostained, and cytokeratin 6 protein was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining and flow cytometry. Activation of MAPK in gingival epithelial cells was evaluated by immunoblotting. ELISA was used to measure K6F and the cytokines release induced by K6F. Human gingival fibroblast migration was assessed using a Matrigel invasion chamber assay. Results. We identified K6F, corresponding to the C-terminus region of human cytokeratin 6 (amino acids 359–378), in the gingival crevicular fluid of periodontal disease patients and in the supernatant from gingival epithelial cells cultured with Kgp. K6F antigen was distributed from the basal to the spinous epithelial layers in gingivae from periodontal disease patients. Cytokeratin 6 on gingival epithelial cells was degraded by Kgp, but not by Arg-gingipain, P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide or Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans lipopolysaccharide. K6F, but not a scrambled K6F peptide, induced human gingival fibroblast migration and secretion of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. These effects of K6F were mediated by activation of p38 MAPK and Jun N-terminal kinase, but not p42/44 MAPK or p-Akt. Conclusion. Kgp degrades gingival epithelial cell cytokeratin 6 to K6F that, on release, induces invasion and cytokine secretion by human gingival fibroblasts. Thus, Kgp may contribute to the development of periodontal disease

Masked Palm Civet Paguma larvata

We studied the summer (June-August) diet of the masked palm civet (Paguma larvata) in a suburban area of Ibaraki Prefecture, using the stomach contents from road-killed carcasses. Specifically, our aim was to examine (i) monthly changes and (ii) if food habits differed between sexes, based on frequency of occurrence (FO) of the main food classes consumed. From 2009 to 2014, 61 civet carcasses were col lected along the three major national highways in Ibaraki Prefecture. Civets consumed a wide range of foods such as insects, fruits, mammals, and earthworms. The FO of mammals and fruit taxa (cherries, strawberries, and persimmons) differed substantially among months, which likely reflected the peak availability of each food category/item. Females consumed amphibians, insects, and persimmons significantly more frequently than did males, likely relating to the higher food security demands of females while raising offspring. Overall, masked palm civets in Ibaraki Prefecture proved to be opportunistic and generalist feeders, eating primarily fruits and insects with a high frequency of occurrence in summer

Interstitial lung disease associated with adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early breast cancer

Abstract Background Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a rare adverse event in patients receiving adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for breast cancer. Few studies have reported the frequency of ILD in detail, and only small numbers of cases have been described in the literature. Given these previous findings concerning ILD, we retrospectively examined the clinicopathological characteristics of five cases of ILD who had received epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (EC) and compared their findings with non-ILD cases. Methods The present single-center retrospective study included breast cancer patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy or NAC at our hospital between January 2014 and January 2021. Results Thirty-nine patients who had received EC for operable breast cancer were enrolled in this study. ILD developed 5 out of 39 patients (12.8%). The incidence of ILD in patients with non-dose-dense (dd) or dd chemotherapy was statistically significantly different (p = 0.0149). ILD occurred in three patients during dd EC treatment and two during weekly paclitaxel (wPTX) after dd EC. ILD was detected in one patient with high Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) levels, in two patients with continuous pyrexia, and in two patients from computed tomography imaging, which was taken to estimate the efficacy of chemotherapy, in two patients. Three of the 5 ILD patients underwent bronchoalveolar lavage, and 2 of these patients were diagnosed with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP). There were no cases of serious ILD that required steroid pulse therapy. Conclusions Dd chemotherapy may be associated with an increased ILD frequency, which may reflect developing PCP. Careful monitoring and a timely diagnosis are useful for detecting early-stage ILD

High Resolution and High Precision Analysis of Barbiturates and a Metabolite in Human Body Fluids Using a Monolithic Spin Tip and UPLC-Q-ToF-MS

A high-throughput method was developed to analyze five barbiturates （phenobarbital, cyclobarbital, amobarbital, secobarbital, and thiopental） and a metabolite in human body samples using a new Monolithic C18 gel-packed Spin Tip and ultra-performance liquid chromatography （UPLC）-quadrupole-time-of-flight （Q-ToF） mass spectrometry （MS）. Plasma （20?l） or urine （100?l） samples spiked with the five barbiturates and 5-（4-methylphenyl）-5-phenylhydantoin （internal standard, IS） were mixed with distilled water. The mixture was extracted using the Monolithic C18 Spin Tip, and the analytes retained on the C18 phase were then eluted with methanol. The eluate was injected directly into an analytical column （Waters Acquity BEH C18, 50mm×2.1mm i.d., particle size 1.7?m）, and quantified by Q-ToF-MS with negative-ion electrospray ionization （ESI）. Good separation and clear peak shapes of the five drugs were achieved within an analysis time of 6min, including the extraction time. All drugs spiked in the plasma showed recoveries of 86-98％. The regression equations for the five drugs showed excellent linearities in the range of 5-500ng/20?l of plasma, with limits of detection and i-Fit of 1ng/20?l. The method was also successfully applied to determine the level of amobarbital and its metabolite in human plasma and urine, respectively, after oral administration to a volunteer. This new method could be applied widely in the clinical and forensic fields for the quantitative determination of drugs and metabolites