Childcare and Child Development in Japan

For decades, the notion has persisted in developed countries that exclusive care by the mothers is best for the development of children up to 3 years of age. To examine the veracity of this “myth of the first three years” in Japan, we examined the effects of childcare facility use for children younger than 3 years on their development using the cohorts of the Longitudinal Survey of Newborns in the 21st Century conducted in Japan. Of the 47,015 respondents to the survey, we studied the children of 5,508 mothers with university/professional education to evaluate the relationships between primary early (< 2.5 years) childcare providers during weekday daytime hours and specific development indices for the ages of 2.5, 5.5, and 8 years. At the age of 2.5 and 5.5 years, children attending childcare facilities were judged as having more advanced developmental behaviors by their parents, such as being able to compose a two-word sentence (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.22) or to express emotions (aOR: 0.81), compared with those cared for by mothers. However, at the age of 8 years, children who attended childcare facilities as infants < 2.5 years showed more aggressive behavior in interrupting people (aOR: 1.20) and causing disturbances in public (aOR: 1.26) than those cared for by mothers (after adjustment for numerous child and parental factors). Although these results are generally consistent with previous studies, issues potentially involved with problem behavior such as quality of childcare require further investigation, as does the case of children of mothers with more modest educational attainment

Review of a Series of Surveys on Adverse Reactions to the COVID-19 mRNA-1273 Vaccine at Okayama University

This paper presents the results of a series of surveys conducted from July 2021 to March 2023 to investigate the post-vaccination adverse reactions to the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine among faculty, staff, and students at Okayama University. These studies complement the official surveys conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and provide a more representative picture of adverse reactions in the general population including large numbers of healthy young people. Pain, swelling, redness at the injection site, fever, headache, and malaise were the main adverse reactions reported. The proportion of adverse reactions was generally higher after the second vaccination and decreased with each additional vaccination. No statistically significant differences in the adverse reactions were found for males and females and those with/without a history of allergy, but a lower proportion of fever was observed in older participants and those with underlying medical conditions. We also evaluated the association between adverse reactions and antibody titers after the third vaccination and found no significant differences in antibody levels one month after vaccination. This series of studies highlights the importance of conducting surveys in diverse populations to provide a more representative picture of post-vaccination adverse reactions during a pandemic

Does Participation in the Setouchi Triennale Foster Social Capital? : A Cross-Sectional Study

This study examined whether participation in an art project was associated with higher social capital (SC). We conducted a questionnaire survey from November 2021 to March 2022 among residents aged 20 years or older of Naoshima, an island in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Before the survey, the Setouchi Triennale had been held on Naoshima four times, starting in 2010. We calculated propensity scores for Triennale participation and performed propensity score matching. We then compared cognitive and structural SC by Triennale participation and found significant differences, respectively. We adopted a conditional ordered logistic regression analysis with propensity score matching for cognitive or structural SC, and found adjusted odd ratios of 2.913 (95%CI, 1.846-4.596) for cognitive SC and 4.535 (95%CI, 2.839-7.244) for structural SC. Our findings suggest that Triennale participation enhanced the cognitive aspect of SC while also building structural SC

Participation in the Setouchi Triennale and the Health of Residents in Naoshima: A Cross-Sectional Study

Arts festivals have become increasingly popular in various parts of Japan in recent years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between arts festival activities participation at the Setouchi Triennale and the health of residents in the town of Naoshima. This was a cross-sectional study. Questionnaires were distributed to all residents of Naoshima who were 20 years old or older (n=2,588). We analyzed responses from 708 people. The associations between arts festival activities participation and health (measured by self-rated health) were analyzed using logistic regression analysis as the primary outcome. Kessler’s psychological distress scale scores were also analyzed in the same manner as the primary outcome. The participating group had an adjusted odds ratio of 1.86 (95% confidence interval: 1.03-3.33) for higher self-rated health compared with those who did not participate. Kessler’s psychological distress scale results showed that the participating group had an adjusted odds ratio of 3.23 (95% confidence interval: 1.19-8.81) for lower psychological distress compared with those who did not participate. In conclusion, arts festival activities participation was associated with higher self-rated health and lower psychological distress. However, caution must be taken in regard to generalizability and causality when interpreting these results

Breeding for Disease Resistance in Brassica Vegetables Using DNA Marker Selection

The Brassica genus comprises of agro-economically important vegetables. Disease causes great yield loss of Brassica vegetables worldwide. Different traditional methods such as crop rotation and chemical control have limited effect on different diseases of Brassica vegetables and cannot completely eradicate the pathogens by these methods. Development of disease resistant cultivars is one of the most effective, ecofriendly, and cheapest measure to control Brassica diseases. With the development of genomics, molecular biology techniques, and biological methods, it is possible to discover and introduce resistance (R) genes to efficiently control the plant diseases caused by pathogens. Some R genes of major diseases such as Fusarium wilt and clubroot in Brassica vegetables have been already identified. Therefore, we will focus to review the Fusarium wilt and clubroot resistance in Brassica vegetables and the methodologies for identification, mapping, and pyramiding of R genes/quantitative trait loci (QTLs) to develop disease resistant cultivars. These techniques will be helpful for sustainable crop production and to maintain global food security and contribute to ensure protection of food supply in the Asian country as well as throughout the world

Long noncoding RNAs in Brassica rapa L. following vernalization

© 2019, The Author(s). Brassica rapa L. is an important agricultural crop that requires a period of prolonged cold for flowering. This process is known as vernalization. Studies have shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in abiotic stress responses and several cold-responsive noncoding RNAs have been suggested to be involved in vernalization. We examined the transcriptome of the Chinese cabbage inbred line (B. rapa L. var. pekinensis) RJKB-T24, and identified 1,444 long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs), 551 natural antisense transcripts (NATs), and 93 intronic noncoding RNAs (incRNAs); 549 of the 2,088 lncRNAs significantly altered their expression in response to four weeks of cold treatment. Most differentially expressed lncRNAs did not lead to a change of expression levels in mRNAs covering or near lncRNAs, suggesting that the transcriptional responses to four weeks of cold treatment in lncRNA and mRNA are independent. However, some differentially expressed mRNAs had NATs with expression altered in the same direction. These genes were categorized as having an abiotic stress response, suggesting that the paired-expression may play a role in the transcriptional response to vernalization or cold treatment. We also identified short-term cold treatment induced NATs in BrFLC and BrMAF genes, which are involved in vernalization. The lncRNAs we identified differed from those reported in Arabidopsis thaliana, suggesting the role of lncRNAs in vernalization differ between these two species

Identification of DNA methylated regions by using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing in Brassica rapa

DNA methylation is an epigenetic gene regulatory mechanism that plays an essential role in gene expression, transposon silencing, genome imprinting and plant development. We investigated the influence of DNA methylation on gene expression in Brassica rapa L., to understand whether epigenetic differences exist between inbred lines. Genome-wide DNA methylation was analysed by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeDIP-seq) of 14-day-old first and second leaves from two inbred lines of Chinese cabbage, one susceptible and one resistant to fusarium yellows caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. conglutinans. MACS (model-based analysis for ChIP-seq) identified DNA methylation peaks in genic regions including 2 kb upstream, exon, intron and 2 kb downstream. More than 65% of genes showed similar patterns of DNA methylation in the genic regions in the two inbred lines. DNA methylation states of the two inbred lines were compared with their transcriptome. Genes having DNA methylation in the intron and in the 200 bp upstream and downstream regions were associated with a lower expression level in both lines. A small number of genes showed a negative correlation between differences in DNA methylation levels and differences in transcriptional levels in the two inbred lines, suggesting that DNA methylation in these genes results in transcriptional suppression

The histone modification H3 lysine 27 tri-methylation has conserved gene regulatory roles in the triplicated genome of Brassica rapa L

© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Kazusa DNA Research Institute. Brassica rapa L. is an important vegetable and oilseed crop. We investigated the distribution of the histone mark tri-methylation of H3K27 (H3K27me3) in B. rapa and its role in the control of gene expression at two stages of development (2-day cotyledons and 14-day leaves) and among paralogs in the triplicated genome. H3K27me3 has a similar distribution in two inbred lines, while there was variation of H3K27me3 sites between tissues. Sites that are specific to 2-day cotyledons have increased transcriptional activity, and low levels of H3K27me3 in the gene body region. In 14-day leaves, levels of H3K27me3 were associated with decreased gene expression. In the triplicated genome, H3K27me3 is associated with paralogs that have tissue-specific expression. Even though B. rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana are not closely related within the Brassicaceae, there is conservation of H3K27me3-marked sites in the two species. Both B. rapa and A. thaliana require vernalization for floral initiation with FLC being the major controlling locus. In all four BrFLC paralogs, low-temperature treatment increases H3K27me3 at the proximal nucleation site reducing BrFLC expression. Following return to normal temperature growth conditions, H3K27me3 spreads along all four BrFLC paralogs providing stable repression of the gene

The role of FRIGIDA and FLOWERING LOCUS C genes in flowering time of Brassica rapa leafy vegetables

© 2019, The Author(s). There is a wide variation of flowering time among lines of Brassica rapa L. Most B. rapa leafy (Chinese cabbage etc.) or root (turnip) vegetables require prolonged cold exposure for flowering, known as vernalization. Premature bolting caused by low temperature leads to a reduction in the yield/quality of these B. rapa vegetables. Therefore, high bolting resistance is an important breeding trait, and understanding the molecular mechanism of vernalization is necessary to achieve this goal. In this study, we demonstrated that BrFRIb functions as an activator of BrFLC in B. rapa. We showed a positive correlation between the steady state expression levels of the sum of the BrFLC paralogs and the days to flowering after four weeks of cold treatment, suggesting that this is an indicator of the vernalization requirement. We indicate that BrFLCs are repressed by the accumulation of H3K27me3 and that the spreading of H3K27me3 promotes stable FLC repression. However, there was no clear relationship between the level of H3K27me3 in the BrFLC and the vernalization requirement. We also showed that if there was a high vernalization requirement, the rate of repression of BrFLC1 expression following prolonged cold treatments was lower