Inositols affect the mating circadian rhythm of Drosophila melanogaster

Accumulating evidence indicates that the molecular circadian clock underlies the mating behavior of Drosophila melanogaster. However, information about which food components affect circadian mating behavior is scant. The ice plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum has recently become a popular functional food. Here, we showed that the close-proximity (CP) rhythm of D. melanogaster courtship behavior was damped under low-nutrient conditions, but significantly enhanced by feeding the flies with powdered ice plant. Among various components of ice plants, we found that myo-inositol increased the amplitude and slightly shortened the period of the CP rhythm. Real-time reporter assays showed that myo-inositol and D-pinitol shortened the period of the circadian reporter gene Per2-luc in NIH 3T3 cells. These data suggest that the ice plant is a useful functional food and that the ability of inositols to shorten rhythms is a general phenomenon in insects as well as mammals

Data_Sheet_1_COVID-19-related stigma and its relationship with mental wellbeing: A cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study in Japan.PDF

ObjectiveSocial stigma related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), i. e., COVID-19 stigma, forms a burden on people socially, economically, and mentally. This study assessed COVID-19 stigma using a scale to identify a population likely to exhibit higher prejudice against COVID-19 itself as well as those infected with COVID-19.MethodsWe adapted and modified the Cancer Stigma Scale to assess COVID-19 stigma and used it as the baseline survey of a cohort study in Japan. The questionnaire was disseminated to 1,573 participants (51.7% men) between December 2020 and March 2021. The questionnaire items included the infection status of individuals close to the respondent and their preventive behaviors related to COVID-19, quality of life (QOL; using the EuroQoL 5-Dimension 5-Level [EQ-5D-5L]), and psychological distress (using the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale [K6]). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to validate the COVID-19 stigma scale, and we further used the structural equation modeling (SEM) to assess the relationship with QOL and psychological distress.ResultsCOVID-19 stigma was calculated for the 257 (16.3%) participants who responded to the questionnaire. The mean age (standard deviation) was 54.5 (14.4) years, and 50.2% were men. Factor analysis revealed a five-factor model: Awkwardness (feeling uncomfortable being with a person infected before), Severity (fear of not being able to return to normal after infection), Avoidance (attitude of avoiding infected persons), Policy Opposition (expecting more public funding investment), and Personal Responsibility (believing that infected persons themselves are responsible for their infection). Participants > 70 years had the highest scores among other age groups considering all factors except for Policy Opposition. Standardized coefficients in SEM for COVID-19 stigma (latent variable) was highest for Severity (beta = 0.86). Regression coefficients of COVID-19 stigma on K6 and QOL were 0.21 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.074–0.342) and −0.159 (95% CI −0.295–0.022), respectively.ConclusionPeople aged ≥ 70 years are more likely to exhibit COVID-19 stigma. Additionally, the results indicate that COVID-19 stigma impacts QOL and psychological distress.</p