[Implementation and Evaluation of Risk Communication Regarding Residual Pesticides].

In this study, a public seminar on risk communication methods was conducted to raise awareness and disseminate accurate knowledge about residual pesticides to consumers. Additionally, surveys on consumer awareness were conducted on the attendees before and after the seminar to evaluate its effectiveness. Responses were obtained from 84 participants. The paired t-test was used to analyze the changes in awareness before and after the seminar. The results showed significant improvements in "trust in the government" and "understanding of residual pesticides." Furthermore, step-wise multiple regression analysis was performed to explore the factors influencing satisfaction with the risk communication seminar, and the item "understanding of the safety of residual pesticides in food" was extracted. Understanding food safety is a crucial concern in daily life for consumers. To enable consumers to have an accurate understanding of food risks and make appropriate judgments, it is essential to continue implementing risk communication and conveying information about food safety and security in the future.

[Communication between pregnant women and maternal and child health professionals and trust in professionals and awareness of source of help in the postpartum period: Evaluation using JACSIS Pregnant-Postpartum Women's Data 2020-2021].

Objective　This study aims to estimate the impact of maternal and child health professional consultation and development of support plans during pregnancy on trust in community health professionals (trust) and awareness of sources of public/private institutional support (awareness) in the postpartum period.Methods　A web-based panel survey was conducted in July-August 2021 and January-February 2022, targeting women who were pregnant during the 2021 survey and 0-5 months postpartum in 2022. We collected information about consultation opportunities and development of a support plan during pregnancy, trust and recognition, demographic characteristics, employment status, and pregnancy- and childbirth-related variables. First, logistic regression analysis was conducted by setting trust and recognition during postpartum as outcomes. Exposure variables were the consultation opportunities and development of a support plan during the pregnancy period. Second, we added the presence of a comprehensive support center for raising children, the financial index of the municipality of residence, the per capita child welfare expenditure, and the number of nurses at the comprehensive support center for maternal and child health to the analytical model as overall level of municipal support in order to check the robustness of our results.Results　Responses were obtained from pregnant women across Japan. Of the 616 respondents included in the analysis, 74.0% had opportunities for consultation, 23.7% made support plans, 69.8% trusted local maternal and child health professionals, and 63.6% recognized public/private institutional support as places for help-seeking. Logistic regression analysis showed that trust and recognition were higher among those who had opportunities to consult and had created a support plan compared to those who did not. With regard to trust, for those who had opportunities to consult, the odds ratio (OR) was 2.05 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.37-3.07), and for those who developed a support plan, the OR was 2.25 (95% CI 1.41-3.60). As for recognition, the OR was 1.46 (95% CI 0.98-2.16) if given the opportunity for consultation. For development of a support plan, the OR was 3.05 (95% CI 1.94-4.80). These results did not change even after adjusting for municipal finances and the level of support for pregnant women in general.Conclusions　Consultation opportunities and developing support plans during pregnancy increased trust and recognition in the postpartum period while municipal finances or overall support for child rearing were not associated with these outcomes, thus suggesting the importance of engagement with professionals during pregnancy.

[Evaluation of a Risk Communication Program for Pesticide Residues].

To promote and raise the awareness of accurate knowledge on pesticide residues, the symposium program on risk communication on pesticide residues was held by the broadcasted online style. The risk communication program was statistically evaluated using a pre- and post-program online questionnaire survey. We had the questionnaire answers of the 105 valid participants. The analysis of post-program questionnaires shows that the risk communication program was effective in terms of levels of understanding and interest. Pre-program risk perception or awareness of safety assessments was significantly and positively correlated with awareness for establishing standard values of pesticide residues by the analysis of pre-program questionnaires. Risk perception after the program was significantly higher than before the program, suggesting that risk perception increased due to the program by analysis the same question between pre- and post-program questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis suggests that the participants with higher pre-program awareness of safety assessments or pre-program awareness for establishing standard values appeared to have higher levels of understanding and post-program risk perception.

The elongation and contraction of actin bundles are induced by double-headed myosins in a motor concentration-dependent manner.

Many types of myosin have been found and characterized to date, and already nearly 20 classes have been identified. However, these myosin motors can be classified more simply into two groups according to their head-structure, i.e. double- or single-headed myosins. Why do some myosin motors possess a double-headed structure? One obvious possible reason would be that the two heads improve the motor's processivity and sliding performance. Previously, to investigate the possibility that the double-headed myosins simultaneously interact with parallel arrayed two actin filaments in the presence of Mg-ATP, we developed an in vitro assay system using actin bundles formed by inert polymers. Using that system, we show here that skeletal muscle heavy meromyosin (HMM), a double-headed myosin derivative, but not subfragment-1 (S-1), a single-headed one, was able to contract or elongate actin bundles in a concentration-dependent manner. Similar elongation or contraction of actin bundles can also be induced by other double-headed myosin species isolated in the native state from Dictyostelium, from green algae Chara or from chicken brain. The results of this study confirm that double-headed myosin motors can induce sliding movements among neighboring actin filaments. The double-headed structure of myosins may also be important for generating tension or elongation in actin bundles or gels, and for organizing polarity-sorted actin networks, not just for improving their motor processivity or activity.