男子大学生アスリートの栄養摂取状況と食品群別摂取頻度による評価点との関連性

　運動部に所属する男子大学生アスリートの食事調査結果を用いて、栄養摂取状況の特徴を評価した。さらに、食品群別摂取頻度による評価点を算出して、エネルギー、栄養素摂取量や各栄養素摂取量による評価点との関連性を検討し、アスリートの食生活バランスの評価に用いることができる簡易な方法について考察することを目的とした。食事調査の結果、対象集団にはエネルギー、栄養素摂取量が身体活動量に見合わないものが複数いた。一方で、サプリメントやプロテインを利用している者が多数おり、食事に関して無関心ではないことが窺われた。食品群別摂取頻度による評価点を用いた簡易な食生活評価法については、たんぱく質、鉄、カルシウム、ビタミンB1など、アスリートにとって重要な栄養素摂取量との有意な関連性を認めた。さらに、食品群別摂取頻度の得点と8項目のエネルギーと栄養素摂取量を、食事摂取基準の推奨量ならびにアスリートの推奨量と比較して得点化した栄養素摂取量評価得点を算出し関連について分析を行ったところ、有意な関連性が認められた。10種の食品群別摂取頻度を把握することは、アスリートの食生活とそれに付随する栄養摂取状況の概要について評価することができると考えられ、栄養アセスメントの一次的なスクリーニング評価に活用できる可能性が示唆された

Print Materials to Promote Physical Activities in Japan: Content Analysis from a Goal Theory

Physical activity has significant health benefits for the heart, body, and mind. However, the percentage of people engaging in exercise routines is low in Japan. Goals are important components of motivation. Scholars suggest that appropriately setting both subordinate goals of what to do and superordinate goals of why to do it may motivate the audience and promote behavior. However, it is not known what goals are presented in print materials that promote physical activity. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the presented goals by performing content analysis of those materials in Japan. We collected print materials such as leaflets, brochures, and posters via website search. The presence of subordinate and superordinate goals and topics for each goal was analyzed. A total of 224 print materials were systematically collected and analyzed. The results showed that 14.3% of the print materials did not present any superordinate goals, whereas 100% of them presented subordinate goals. For superordinate goals, healthy aging was frequently presented. For subordinate goals, 67.4% presented only exercise. There is a difference in presenting goals between the private and government sectors. Since goals affect motivation and behavior change, it may be beneficial to incorporate the findings of the goal theory in future print materials

Sequence type and primary structure of the vru gene upstream region of Streptococcus uberis isolated from bovine clinical mastitis in Japan

In the present study, we investigated the variability of bovine clinical mastitis isolates of Streptococcus uberis in Japan by multilocus sequence typing. We also investigated the variations in the primary structure of the vru gene upstream region of the isolates to elucidate the association of this region with the occurrence of clinical mastitis. Eighty-two isolates were recovered from 62 dairy farms in Japan; these isolates were associated with 57 sequence types (STs), including 54 novel STs to which 78 isolates belonged. Thirty isolates with ST1003 (one of the novel STs) and related STs at the triple-locus variant level accounted for 37% of the isolates examined. A total 16 (20%) isolates were assigned to clonal complexes (CC143 and CC86) that are major in New Zealand and Australia. Seventy-one of the 82 isolates had 1, 3, 4 or 5 bp deletions in the vru gene upstream region in comparison with the corresponding region in the S. uberis virulent strain 0140J and the remaining 11 isolates had no deletions. These results suggest that S. uberis is a diverse mastitis-causing pathogen, and the integrity of the vru gene upstream region is not necessarily conclusive for the occurrence of bovine clinical mastitis

Smoking cessation interventions and implementations across multiple settings in Japan: a scoping review and supplemental survey

Abstract Background Smoking is the leading risk factor for death worldwide. In Japan, although several evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for smoking cessation have been disseminated or adopted, there is a gap between scientific evidence and the actual implementation. This scoping review aimed to describe the knowledge gaps in local-level smoking cessation interventions in Japan, their implementation outcomes, implementation barriers and facilitators, and the use of implementation strategies. Methods This study comprised two approaches: (1) a comprehensive scoping review of primary and grey literature, and (2) a supplemental survey of organizations in the grey literature. For the scoping review, we included original studies or reports on smoking cessation interventions targeting adults aged 18 years and older, or providers of cessation support at various settings (community, workplace, school, and clinical settings) in Japan. The extracted data included basic characteristics, intervention categories, implementation outcomes, factors influencing implementation, and implementation strategies for each intervention. Responses to the supplemental survey were extracted same used for the scoping review. To gain a deeper understanding, semi-structured interviews were conducted with some of the organizations in the survey. Results A total of 600 interventions with 691 intervention components, based on EBIs in the 2020 US Surgeon General Report, from 498 articles were included in the data extraction; 32 of the 88 organizations responded to the survey. Regarding the overall knowledge about smoking cessation intervention components, behavioral counseling, and cessation medication in clinical settings were mostly reported (34.7%). Implementation outcomes were measured in 18 articles (3.0%) and penetration was mostly reported. Regarding influential factors, “available resources,” and “knowledge and beliefs about the intervention” for barriers, and “relative priority” for facilitators were mostly reported. Implementation strategies were measured in 29 articles (4.8%), and “Train and educate stakeholders” was mostly reported. Conclusions Most EBIs reported in the Japanese literature included smoking cessation treatments in clinical settings. While a few articles focused on the implementation indicators in Japan, significant knowledge and experience were extracted from the grey literature, especially in the workplace and community settings. Future research should focus more on implementation to reduce the knowledge gap regarding smoking cessation interventions

Association of epicardial adipose tissue with serum level of cystatin C in type 2 diabetes.

Accumulation of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is considered to be a cardiovascular risk factor independent from visceral adiposity, obesity, hypertension and diabetes. We explored the parameters related to EAT accumulation, aiming to clarify the novel pathophysiological roles of EAT in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).We examined the laboratory values, including cystatinC, and surrogate markers used for evaluating atherosclerosis. EAT was measured as the sum of the adipose tissue area, obtained by plain computed tomography scans in 208 subjects with T2DM but no history of coronary artery disease.EAT correlated positively with age, body mass index (BMI), visceral fat area, leptin, cystatin C and C-peptide, while correlating negatively with adiponectin, estimated glomerular filteration rate (eGFR) and the liver-to-spleen ratio. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed serum cystatin C (β = 0.175), leptin (β = 0.536), BMI (β = 0.393) and age (β = 0.269) to be the only parameters showing independent statistically significant associations with EAT. When cystatin C was replaced with eGFR, eGFR showed no significant correlation with EAT. In reverse analysis, serum cystatin C was significantly associated with EAT after adjustment in multivariate analysis.EAT accumulation and elevated cystatin C have been independently regarded as risk factors influencing atherosclerosis. The strong association between EAT and cystatin C demonstrated herein indicates that EAT accumulation may play an important role in Cystatin C secretion, possibly contributing to cardiometabolic risk in T2DM patients