Association between the Combination of Speed-Eating and Eating until Full and Overweight/Obesity in Part-Time High School Students.

INTRODUCTION: This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the association between overweight/obesity and the combined behavior of speed-eating and eating until full among part-time high school students. METHODS: In 2015, 2,507 male and female part-time high school students from Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, who completed a self-reported questionnaire on lifestyle, were included in the analysis. Overweight/obesity was defined as a body mass index of 25 kg/m2 or more. Responses regarding speed-eating and eating until full were obtained by self-reporting. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for overweight/obesity. RESULTS: Among the participants, 340 (13.6%) were overweight/obese and 468 (18.7%) reported both speed-eating and eating until full. Compared to neither speed-eating nor eating until full group, after adjustment for sex, age, work pattern, physical activity level, sleep duration, frequency of picky eating, frequency of snack intake, fast food intake frequency, frequency of adding salty condiments, frequency of eating less food to save money, and survey schools, the OR (95% CI) for overweight/obesity in speed-eating and not eating until full, eating until full and not speed-eating, and speed-eating and eating until full was 2.11 (1.38-3.22), 1.54 (1.12-2.10), and 2.94 (2.08-4.16), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of speed-eating and eating until full was associated with overweight/obesity among part-time high school students independent of other lifestyle factors.

Natto Intake is Inversely Associated with Osteoporotic Fracture Risk in Postmenopausal Japanese Women.

BACKGROUND: The direct association between intake of Japanese fermented soybeans, namely natto, and bone mineral density (BMD) is known. However, the association with osteoporotic fractures has not been studied. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether habitual natto intake is associated with a risk of osteoporotic fractures. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included 1417 postmenopausal Japanese women who were enrolled in the Japanese Population-Based Osteoporosis cohort study in 1996, 1999, 2002, and 2006 and were aged ≥45 y at baseline. The intake of natto, tofu, and other soybean products was surveyed with use of a FFQ at baseline. Fractures were ascertained in follow-up surveys conducted in 1999, 2002, 2006, and 2011/2012. Osteoporotic fracture was the primary outcome and was defined as a clinical fracture occurring without strong external force, diagnosed with radiographs by a medical doctor. HRs with 95% CIs were estimated with Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: During the 17,699 person-years of follow-up (median, 15.2 y), 172 women experienced osteoporotic fractures. After adjustment for age and BMD at the total hip, the HRs compared with those of < 1 pack (approximately 40 g)/wk natto intake were 0.72 (95% CI: 0.52, 0.98) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.30, 0.87) for 1-6 and ≥7 packs/wk, respectively. After further adjustment for BMI, history of osteoporotic fractures, history of myocardial infarction or stroke, diabetes mellitus, current smoking, alcohol intake, frequency of tofu and other soybean product intakes, and dietary calcium intake, the HRs were 0.79 (95% CI: 0.56, 1.10) and 0.56 (95% CI: 0.32, 0.99) for 1-6 and ≥7 packs/wk, respectively. Frequency of tofu or other soybean product intakes had no association with the risk of osteoporotic fractures. CONCLUSIONS: Habitual natto intake may be associated with a reduced risk of osteoporotic fractures independent of confounding factors, including BMD, in Japanese postmenopausal women. This trial was registered at umin.ac.jp as UMIN 000032869.

Blue-light regulation of ZmPHOT1 and ZmPHOT2 gene expression and the possible involvement of Zmphot1 in phototropism in maize coleoptiles.

MAIN CONCLUSION: ZmPHOT1 and ZmPHOT2 are expressed differentially in maize coleoptiles and leaves, with Zmphot1 possibly involved in first-positive phototropic curvature of red-light-adapted maize coleoptiles exposed to pulsed low-fluence blue light. Unilateral blue-light perception by phototropin(s) is the first event of phototropism, with the subsequent signal causing lateral transport of auxin at the coleoptile tip region of monocots. In this study, we analyzed the behavior of two maize phototropin genes: ZmPHOT1 and ZmPHOT2, the latter identified from the maize genome database and newly characterized. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis demonstrated that ZmPHOT1 was abundantly expressed in etiolated coleoptiles, while lower expressions of both ZmPHOT1 and ZmPHOT2 were observed in young leaves. Interestingly, these genes were not specifically expressed in the coleoptile tip region, a key position for photoperception in phototropism. Exposure to pulsed low-fluence blue light (LBL) (0.33 µmol m(-2) s(-1) × 8 s) and continuous high-fluence blue light (HBL) (10 µmol m(-2) s(-1)) rapidly decreased ZmPHOT1 gene expression in coleoptiles, with levels of ZmPHOT2 not significantly altered in that tissue. In young leaves, no drastic expression changes were induced in either ZmPHOT1 or ZmPHOT2 by LBL or HBL irradiation. The Zmphot1 protein was investigated by Western blot analysis with anti-Osphot1 antibodies. Zmphot1 was detected in microsomal fractions, with higher levels in coleoptiles than in leaves. HBL caused rapid phosphorylation of the protein, whereas no phot1 phosphorylation was induced by LBL. The involvement of Zmphot1 in LBL-induced phototropic curvature of maize coleoptiles is discussed.

Redox potentials of primary electron acceptor quinone molecule (QA)- and conserved energetics of photosystem II in cyanobacteria with chlorophyll a and chlorophyll d.

In a previous study, we measured the redox potential of the primary electron acceptor pheophytin (Phe) a of photosystem (PS) II in the chlorophyll d-dominated cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina and a chlorophyll a-containing cyanobacterium, Synechocystis. We obtained the midpoint redox potential (E(m)) values of -478 mV for A. marina and -536 mV for Synechocystis. In this study, we measured the redox potentials of the primary electron acceptor quinone molecule (Q(A)), i.e., E(m)(Q(A)/Q(A)(-)), of PS II and the energy difference between [P680·Phe a(-)·Q(A)] and [P680·Phe a·Q(A)(-)], i.e., ΔG(PhQ). The E(m)(Q(A)/Q(A)(-)) of A. marina was determined to be +64 mV without the Mn cluster and was estimated to be -66 to -86 mV with a Mn-depletion shift (130-150 mV), as observed with other organisms. The E(m)(Phe a/Phe a(-)) in Synechocystis was measured to be -525 mV with the Mn cluster, which is consistent with our previous report. The Mn-depleted downshift of the potential was measured to be approximately -77 mV in Synechocystis, and this value was applied to A. marina (-478 mV); the E(m)(Phe a/Phe a(-)) was estimated to be approximately -401 mV. These values gave rise to a ΔG(PhQ) of -325 mV for A. marina and -383 mV for Synechocystis. In the two cyanobacteria, the energetics in PS II were conserved, even though the potentials of Q(A)(-) and Phe a(-) were relatively shifted depending on the special pair, indicating a common strategy for electron transfer in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms.