Japanese Fish Demand and Price Linkage with Foreign Markets

Japan has about 10% and 15% share for the consumption and trade of marine products respectively, and the trend has significant impacts on world markets. Thus the purpose of this article is to estimate the income elasticity of the demand, that includes all kinds of fish usage such as eating out and cooked foods as well as fresh materials for cooking in the household, and to analyze price linkages between domestic and foreign markets. As a result of estimating demand function by commodity, it was found that a) the income elasticity of demand for all usage is higher than that for household material, for many commodities, and b) tuna, bonito, salmon, left-eye flounder, sea bream, shrimp and crab show positive income elasticity. The analysis of price linkage for tuna, salmon, mackerel and shrimp showed that a) Japanese CIF price correlates with world average FOB price for salmon, implying that the prices are determined simultaneously, and b) there exist a time-lag for domestic price to be transmitted to foreign markets for tuna and frozen shrimp, though the lag is for some months. Therefore, Japanese recovery from economic recession will give rise to price hike in world markets for tuna and shrimp, for which supply potentials are worried due to the resources limitation and environmental contamination

Changing Pattern in the Comparative Advantage of Shrimp Culture in Asia and the Competitiveness in the Japanese Markets

Promoting shrimp culture industry is one of the effective ways to earn foreign currencies and reduce rural poverty for developing countries. However, there is a question if rising wage rates might be a constraint for further development. Thailand, for example, has established a firm position in the industry, but its export of frozen shrimp has been decreasing and newly emerging countries such as Vietnam are following its path. This paper tries to answer this question by applying the analysis based on the revealed comparative advantage (RCA). We compared the RCA index for major exporters of frozen shrimp, and found that the trend of RCA of Thailand has declined since 1990, while that of Indonesia has been stable and that of Vietnam has been outstanding for the same period. This observation is consistent with the hypothesis that the wage rate is a key deterministic factor of the comparative advantage. What is the competitiveness of shrimp exported from major countries in the Japanese markets? Indeed, Thailand is losing its market share for frozen shrimp, but is expanding the export of high value processed shrimp. Vietnam realizes relatively high prices in spite of the low cost of production and its quality control is also gaining high reputation. Therefore, wage rate is one of the important factors shaping the changes in comparative advantage and competitiveness of shrimp culture, but the strategy of shrimp firms toward high quality and safety products is important too

Involvement of Oxidative Stress in Increases in the Serum Levels of Various Enzymes and Components in Rats with Water-Immersion Restraint Stress

The plasma or serum levels of various enzymes and components are known to increase in rats with water-immersion restraint stress (WIRS). We examined whether oxidative stress is involved in increases in the serum levels of various enzymes and components in rats with WIRS. Rats were exposed to WIRS for 6 h after oral administration of vitamin E (VE) (50 or 250 mg/kg). Rats with WIRS had increased serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotranseferase, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, urea nitrogen, creatinine, glucose, corticosterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone and lipid peroxide (LPO) levels, increased kidney and heart VE levels, decreased skeletal muscle VE level, and increased LPO levels in all tissues studied. Pre-administered VE (50 or 250 mg/kg) attenuated the increased serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotranseferase, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, urea nitrogen, creatinine, and LPO levels, the decreased skeletal muscle VE level, and the increased LPO levels in all tissues studied more effectively at its higher dose than at its lower dose. However, either dose of the pre-administered VE did not affect the increased serum glucose, corticosterone, and adrenocorticotropic hormone levels. These results suggest that oxidative stress is involved in increases in the serum levels of various enzymes and components in rats with WIRS

D-Tagatose Effectively Reduces the Number of Streptococcus mutans and Oral Bacteria in Healthy Adult Subjects: A Chewing Gum Pilot Study and Randomized Clinical Trial

We examined the effect of D-Tagatose on the growth of oral bacteria including Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). Saliva collected from 10 healthy volunteers was plated on BHI medium (to culture total oral bacteria) and MBS medium (to culture S. mutans, specifically). Agar plates of BHI or MBS containing xylitol or D-Tagatose were cultured under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. We then counted the number of colonies. In BHI plates containing D-Tagatose, a complete and significant reduction of bacteria occurred under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. In MSB medium, significant reduction of S. mutans was also observed. We then performed a doubleblind parallel randomized trial with 19 healthy volunteers. They chewed gum containing xylitol, D-Tagatose, or both for 4 weeks, and their saliva was collected weekly and plated on BHI and MSB media. These plates were cultured under anaerobic conditions. Total bacteria and S. mutans were not effectively reduced in either the D-Tagatose or xylitol gum group. However, S. mutans was significantly reduced in volunteers chewing gum containing both D-Tagatose and xylitol. Thus, D-Tagatose inhibited the growth of S. mutans and many types of oral bacteria, indicating that D-Tagatose intake may help prevent dental caries, periodontitis, and many oral diseases

Availability of Japanese Government's supplemental texts on radiation reflecting the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident for elementary and secondary education from dental students' understanding

Following the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident, the Japanese government created two supplemental texts about radiation reflecting the accident for elementary, middle school, and high school students. These texts were made to explain radiation and consequently to obtain public consent for the continuation of the nuclear program. The present study aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of the content of the texts and to collect the basic data on the level of understanding necessary to improve radiation education. Lectures on radiology including nuclear energy and the Fukushima accident were given to 44 fourth-year dental students in 2013. The questionnaire was administered in 2014 when these students were in their sixth-year. The survey was also administered to 40 first-year students and 41 fourth-year students who hadn't any radiology lectures. Students rated their level of understanding of 50 phrases used in the texts on a four-point scale (understanding = 3, a little knowledge = 2, having heard = 1, no knowledge = 0). Questions on taking an advanced physics course in high school and means of learning about radiation in daily life were also asked. The level of understanding of phrases in the supplemental text for middle and high school students was significantly higher among sixth-year students (mean = 1.43) than among first-year (mean = 1.12) or fourth-year (mean = 0.93) students (p < 0.05). Overall, the level of understanding was low, with scores indicating that most students knew only a little. First-year students learning about radiation from television but four-year and six-year students learning about radiation from newspaper scored significantly higher (p < 0.05). It was concluded that radiation education should be improved by using visual material and preparing educators to teach the material for improving the public's understanding of radiation use—especially nuclear power generation because the phrases used in the supplementary texts are very difficult for students to understand

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

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target