The Influence of Different Washing Temperatures on the Quality and Taste of Bean Sprouts

　Bean sprouts are low-price and usable in variety of meals, being purchased in a largequantity in Japan. In this study, aiming at storage of bean sprouts as long as possible after opening of packaging film at home, we investigated the influence of the washing temperature on the quality and taste of bean sprouts to store them after washing. Standard plate counts,physical properties, light intensity and color were measured in bean sprouts washed at 25℃ and 50℃, and sensory evaluation was performed after heating. As a result, the difference in washing temperature of bean sprout did not affect the number of viable aerobic bacteria,physical properties, light intensity and color, but the bean sprouts washed at 50℃ was evaluated to have less bitterness in sensory evaluation. The standard plate counts increased regardless of the washing temperature even though bean sprouts were refrigerated at 4℃after washing and reached a level of the initial stage of decomposition within 24 hours after the washing. Therefore, it is desirable to use them immediately after washing

Changes in the Nutrient Values of Sardines and Pink Salmon after High-pressure-high-temperature Processing

　To promote daily fish and shellfish consumption in schools, hospitals, and care facilities, as well as ordinary households, we analyzed the nutritional components of sardines and pink salmon processed by the high-pressure-high-temperature (HPHT) method.　We performed the nutrition analysis, adopting the methods used to create the [Food Composition Tables (Seventh Revised Edition)]. On comparing the nutrient values of HPHTprocessed sardines and pink salmon with those of raw/water-boiled/water-boiled and cannedsardines1) and raw/water-boiled and canned pink salmons2) shown in the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan 2015 - (Seventh Revised Version), we obtained the following findings:　1) The amount of proteins did not decrease after HPHT processing in either case. With the protein content accounting for approximately 20%, these products may be useful as convenient sources of proteins.　2) Although HPHT-processed sardines and pink salmon are seasoned, they may contribute to salt reduction, as the amount of sodium was as low as about 0.2-0.5 g.　3) Both HPHT-processed sardines and pink salmon had markedly higher iron and calcium contents than raw and water-boiled controls. Therefore, they may also contribute to the intake of calcium and iron, the 2 nutrients Japanese people tend to lack

食品重量の目測と食事調査法（写真法）との関連

食に携わる管理栄養士にとって、食品の重量を把握することは、献立作成、栄養価計算、栄養教育などの場面において基本的な具備すべき能力である。近年、写真から重量の把握や栄養価の算定を行う食事調査（写真法）を行っている。食品重量の目測結果と写真法による食事調査結果の関連を検討し、管理栄養士養成教育の資料とすることを目的とした。その結果、食品重量の目測値は低く見積もり、写真法による食事調査の栄養価算定結果は炭水化物以外で高く算定することが明らかになった。食品重量の目測に関して、食品の種類別では、葉物野菜であるほうれん草のばらつきが大きく、目測誤差値のばらつきはトマトが最も大きかった。写真法による食事調査の栄養価の算定では、食塩当量にばらつきが大きく、調味料の見積もりに個人差のあることが推察された。一方、たんぱく質の算定値のばらつきが小さく、主菜の重量の把握が可能であることが明らかとなった

Liquorice-induced hypokalaemia in patients treated with Yokukansan preparations: identification of the risk factors in a retrospective cohort study

Objective To evaluate serum potassium levels and rates of hypokalaemia in patients treated with liquorice-containing Japanese traditional Kampo-medicines Yokukansan (YK) and Yokukansan-ka-chinpihange (YKCH).Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting Patients receiving YK preparations for dementia and other psychiatric disorders in the University of Tsukuba Hospital in Japan.Participants 389 patients (male/female: 174/215, 68.6±16.1 years) were treated with YK preparations for 231 days (range 6–2788 days). Patients whose potassium levels were <3.6 mEq/L before administration of YK preparations, and drug non-compliant patients, were excluded.Main outcome measure The occurrence rate of hypokalaemia and assessment of the risk factors for YK preparation-induced hypokalaemia.Results Of the 389 patients treated with YK preparations, 94 (24.2%) developed hypokalaemia (potassium levels <3.6 mEq/L) 34 days (range 1–1600 days) after administration of the preparations. 36 (38.3%) patients had co-administration with lower potassium-inducing drugs (LPIDs; diuretics, glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids and glycyrrhizin), which was more frequent in the patients without hypokalaemia (17.3%) (p<0.05). A Cox proportional hazard model identified four risk factors for hypokalaemia: YK administration (not YKCH) (HR 3.093, 95% CI 1.408 to 6.798), co-administration of LPIDs (HR 2.743, 95% CI 1.754 to 4.289), hypoalbuminaemia at baseline (HR 2.145, 95% 1.360 to 3.384), and full dosage administration (7.5 g/day) (HR 1.600, 95% CI 1.005 to 2.549).Conclusions Serum potassium monitoring should be done at least monthly in patients with the following risk factors: LPID co-administration, YK administration, hypoalbuminaemia, and full dosage administration

学校教育における献立作成に関する研究

日常生活において食事を選択することや調理することにつながる献立作成の課題を明らかにすることを目的として、高等学校の家庭科教科書である家庭総合における献立作成に関する内容の分析と、大学生が高等学校までに学んだ知識で作成した献立の分析を行った。教科書内容の分析の結果、献立作成の手順は教科書により異なっていた。大学生が作成した献立は、第四群の穀類を除いて食品構成を満たしていたが、第ニ群および第四群の砂糖は過剰傾向で、油脂、砂糖、調味料の分量は個人差が大きく、食品重量の記載が適切でない献立が多かった。以上の結果から、主食・主菜・副菜・汁物などの献立における役割を明確にしたうえで、それぞれの役割に基づいた基本的な献立作成の手順を指導すること、栄養に関する知識に加え基本的な調味方法を指導すること、イラストや写真を使った資料やフードモデルなどを活用し指導することの必要性が示唆された

ATF7IP2/MCAF2 directs H3K9 methylation and meiotic gene regulation in the male germline

H3K9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) plays emerging roles in gene regulation, beyond its accumulation on pericentric constitutive heterochromatin. It remains a mystery why and how H3K9me3 undergoes dynamic regulation in male meiosis. Here, we identify a novel, critical regulator of H3K9 methylation and spermatogenic heterochromatin organization: the germline-specific protein ATF7IP2 (MCAF2). We show that in male meiosis, ATF7IP2 amasses on autosomal and X-pericentric heterochromatin, spreads through the entirety of the sex chromosomes, and accumulates on thousands of autosomal promoters and retrotransposon loci. On the sex chromosomes, which undergo meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI), the DNA damage response pathway recruits ATF7IP2 to X-pericentric heterochromatin, where it facilitates the recruitment of SETDB1, a histone methyltransferase that catalyzes H3K9me3. In the absence of ATF7IP2, male germ cells are arrested in meiotic prophase I. Analyses of ATF7IP2-deficient meiosis reveal the protein's essential roles in the maintenance of MSCI, suppression of retrotransposons, and global up-regulation of autosomal genes. We propose that ATF7IP2 is a downstream effector of the DDR pathway in meiosis that coordinates the organization of heterochromatin and gene regulation through the spatial regulation of SETDB1-mediated H3K9me3 deposition

Upgrading of shielding for rare decay search in CANDLES

In the CANDLES experiment aiming to search for the very rare neutrino-less double beta decays (0νββ) using 48Ca, we introduced a new shielding system for high energy γ-rays from neutron captures in massive materials near the detector, in addition to the background reduction for 232Th decays in the 0νββ target of CaF2 crystals. The method of background reduction and the performance of newly installed shielding system are described

Hitomi (ASTRO-H) X-ray Astronomy Satellite

The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission is the sixth Japanese x-ray astronomy satellite developed by a large international collaboration, including Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe. The mission aimed to provide the highest energy resolution ever achieved at E  >  2  keV, using a microcalorimeter instrument, and to cover a wide energy range spanning four decades in energy from soft x-rays to gamma rays. After a successful launch on February 17, 2016, the spacecraft lost its function on March 26, 2016, but the commissioning phase for about a month provided valuable information on the onboard instruments and the spacecraft system, including astrophysical results obtained from first light observations. The paper describes the Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission, its capabilities, the initial operation, and the instruments/spacecraft performances confirmed during the commissioning operations for about a month

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection