Seasonal Effects of <i>UCP1</i> Gene Polymorphism on Visceral Fat Accumulation in Japanese Adults

<div><p>Uncoupling protein 1 (<i>UCP1</i>) and β3 adrenergic receptor (<i>ADRB3</i>) genes play central roles in the thermogenesis of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans. However, the importance of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in both genes during the development of obesity is controversial. Although active BAT in adult humans is frequently observed in the winter season, the effects of sampling season have not been taken into consideration in previous association studies. Here, we tested the associations of <i>UCP1</i> -3826A/G and <i>ADRB3</i> Trp64Arg with body mass index (BMI) and visceral fat area (VFA) in 3013 Japanese adults sampled during different seasons. Association between SNPs and the obesity-related traits were assessed using multiple linear regression models, including sex, age, physical activity, and genotypes. Both SNPs did not show significant associations in the models based on the entire cohort. However, in subsets comprising individuals mainly sampled from winter to spring, <i>UCP1</i> showed significant associations with VFA (<i>P</i> = 0.0098) and VFA adjusted for BMI (<i>P</i> = 0.0128). Moreover, the effects of <i>UCP1</i> on VFA were strongly negatively correlated with outdoor temperature (<i>P = </i>0.00011), but not with night length (<i>P</i> = 0.039). <i>ADRB3</i> did not show these associations, but an additive effect with <i>UCP1</i> was observed for VFA adjusted for BMI (<i>P</i> = 0.0067). Subsets sampled in the hot season did not show significant associations for both SNPs. The season-specific effects of <i>UCP1</i> on VFA were consistent with a previous finding that active BAT was more frequently found in winter than in summer, and supported the importance of cold stress in BAT activation and the significance of BAT in the development of obesity in adult humans.</p></div

Intergenotype differences in VFA for <i>UCP1</i> -3826A/G.

<p>For each 3-month window, the means and standard errors of the VFA in the 3 genotype groups are shown. Average outdoor temperatures in the second month of each 3-month window are shown with a gray broken line. Asterisks indicate 3-month windows in which the <i>UCP1</i> genotype showed significant associations with VFA.</p

少子社会における親の子育て環境に関する研究(第1報) : 大学内保育施設の設置に着目して

本稿は，近年漸増傾向にある少子社会における大学内保育施設の設置の現状について，データに基づき考察することを目的とした。その結果，（１）2010年４月現在，国公私立大学が設置する大学内保育施設は，52大学に72施設あった。設置年度については，「男女共同参画社会基本法」が施行された1999年以降，2003年制定の「次世代育成支援対策推進法」や2006年度の「女性研究者支援モデル育成事業」の開始とともに，この10年間で50施設増えていることがわかった。（２）設置年度では，大学内保育施設の先駆的役割を果した「パイオニア型」が，保育対象では「病児対応型」が，利用対象では「地域開放型」が，それぞれに特徴を有していた。（３）子育て支援を目に見える形で示すことができる大学内保育施設の存在は，大学のあらたな付加価値となるばかりか，大学の役割は「ゼロ歳からの教育の場」という発想の転換をもたらすことが示唆された。This paper uses data to empirically show the current situation of on-campus child-care facilities, which have been gradually increasing in recent years, in the development of a childrearing environment in a society with a declining birthrate. The results were as follows. (１) As of April, 2010, 52 national, public, and private universities had opened 72 on-campus child-care facilities. In the ten years since the Basic Act for Gender-Equal Society came into force in 1999, together with the establishment of the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children 2003 and the commencement of the Model Project to Support Childrearing by Female Researchers in fiscal year 2006, an additional 50 facilities have been opened. (２) During the fiscal years in which they were opened, the facilities were of the “pioneering” type, the users of child-care facilities were “sick children” and the target use was “regional opening-up.” (３) The presence of on-campus child-care facilities can visibly illustrate the advantages of childrearing support, resulting in the provision of new added-value by universities, but it will probably also bring about a change in thinking to where the university is perceived as “a place for education from age zero onwards.”6KJ0000852319