Antioxidant activity, total polyphenol, anthocyanin and benzyl-glucosinolate contents in different phenotypes and portion of Japanese Maca (Lepidium meyenii).

Maca (Lepidium meyenii), mainly grown in Peru, is a traditional herbal medicine that is mostly used to improve sperm motility and serum hormone levels. Maca phenotypes are represented by purple, black, yellow, white, and mixed colors. Recently, a method for Maca cultivation has been established in Japan. Therefore, we determined the effects of different phenotypes and portions on the antioxidant activities and total polyphenols, anthocyanins, and benzyl-glucosinolate contents in Japanese Maca. Purple Maca skin possessed the highest contents of both total polyphenols, antioxidant activity and anthocyanin content in all Macas. Regarding the benzyl-glucosinolate content, white maca had the highest content and was not correlated with antioxidant activity. In the present study, we revealed that purple Maca skin is recommended for high polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, and anthocyanin content. The results of this study will be useful for selecting phenotypes for the improvement of antioxidant activity or hormone balance.

Intrahousehold Food Intake Inequality by Family Roles and Age Groups.

Food intake inequality at the individual level is rarely analyzed in intrahousehold settings. We examine dietary diversity scores of household members with a focus on their family roles (fathers, mothers, sons, daughters and grandparents) and age groups (children, adults and elderly). Whereas theory suggests that members in a household should have equal dietary diversity by receiving a certain share of available foods, this research hypothesizes that they do not do so by their roles and/or age groups. We conduct questionnaire surveys, collecting sociodemographic information and dietary data by using a 24 h recall method of 3248 subjects in 811 households from 1 urban and 2 rural areas in Bangladesh. The statistical analysis demonstrates three findings. First, poor and rural people have lower dietary diversity than nonpoor and urban people, respectively. Second, grandparents (children) have lower dietary diversity than do fathers (adults), confirming the existence of intrahousehold food intake inequality by the roles and/or age groups, irrespective of poverty level and areas of residence. Third, father and mother educations are crucial determinants that raise the dietary diversity of household members; however, they do not resolve the inequality. Overall, it is suggested that awareness programs of dietary diversity shall be necessary with a target group of fathers and mothers for the betterment of intrahousehold inequality and health at the household level, contributing to sustainable development goals.

COVID-19-associated income loss and job loss: Evidence from Indonesia.

COVID-19 pandemic has substantially altered socioeconomic conditions around the world. While numerous existing studies analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among developed states, little is known about its effects on people's lives and social discrepancies in emerging economies. To this end, we empirically analyze the 2020 Indonesian Labor Force Survey data, hypothesizing that COVID-19 has given idiosyncratic risks and impacts on people by gender, age, education, occupation and regions. We find that income loss and job loss are prominent among males, younger and less educated people as well as among self-employed and part-time non-agricultural workers. These tendencies are not pronounced for people enjoying high income and mobility, but tend to be evident for urban residents and those having dependents. Notably, self-employed people have the highest risk of losing income, while part-time urban workers face the highest probability of losing their jobs. The propensity score matching method also demonstrates that these losses are most evident for the regions susceptible to COVID-19. Overall, we suggest that socioeconomically disadvantaged groups require additional support to strengthen their resilience in the face of exogenous shocks, such as the one caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

How does inquisitiveness matter for generativity and happiness?

Inquisitiveness (curiosity & acceptance to something and someone different) is the main engine for one person to initiate some relation, and the literature has established that maintaining nice relationships with friends, family and general others contributes to generativity and happiness. However, little is known about how generativity and happiness are characterized by inquisitiveness. We hypothesize that inquisitiveness is a fundamental determinant for generativity and happiness, empirically examining the relationships along with cognitive, noncognitive and sociodemographic factors. We conduct questionnaire surveys with 400 Japanese subjects, applying quantile regression and structural equation modeling to the data. First, the analysis identifies the importance of inquisitiveness in characterizing generativity in that people with high inquisitiveness tend to be generative. Second, people are identified to be happy as they have high generativity and inquisitiveness, demonstrating two influential roles of inquisitiveness as direct and indirect determinants through a mediator of generativity. Overall, the results suggest that inquisitiveness shall be a key element of people's happiness through intergenerational and intragenerational communications or relations.

Salinity and Water-Related Disease Risk in Coastal Bangladesh.

An increase in surface and ground-water salinity due to climate change is reported to have become a great threat to the health of coastal inhabitants in Bangladesh. However, little is known about how much such salinity affects the risk of water-related diseases and how such risk can be mitigated in the field. This research examines the association between water-related diseases and coastal salinity along with sociodemographic and anthropometric factors. We conduct questionnaire surveys with 527 households: 273 subjects from the non-salinity and 254 subjects from the salinity rural coastal areas of Bangladesh. The logistic regression analysis demonstrates that the probability of suffering from water-borne, water-washed and water-related diseases are 8%, 14% and 11% higher in the salinity areas than in the non-salinity areas, respectively. However, it is also identified that people who consume rainwater as a drinking source even in the salinity areas have less chances and people who belong to "underweight body mass index" have more chances of being affected by water-related diseases. Overall, the results suggest that the long-term reservation of rainwater and addressing community-based food security & nutrition programs shall be effective countermeasures to reduce the risk of health problems in the coastal population and to sustain their lives even under the threat of land salinity.

Intergenerational sustainability is enhanced by taking the perspective of future generations.

The intergenerational sustainability dilemma (ISD) is a situation of whether or not a person sacrifices herself for future sustainability. To examine the individual behaviors, one-person ISD game (ISDG) is instituted with strategy method where a queue of individuals is organized as a generational sequence. In ISDG, each individual chooses unsustainable (or sustainable) option with her payoff of [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) and an irreversible cost of [Formula: see text] (zero cost) to future generations in [Formula: see text] situations. Future ahead and back (FAB) mechanism is suggested as resolution for ISD by taking the perspective of future generation whereby each individual is first asked to take the next generation's standpoint and request what she wants the current generation to choose, and, second, to make the actual decision from the original position. Results show that individuals choose unsustainable option as previous generations do so or [Formula: see text] is low (i.e., sustainability is endangered). However, FAB prevents individuals from choosing unsustainable option in such endangered situations. Overall, the results suggest that some new institutions, such as FAB mechanisms, which induce people to take the perspective of future generations, may be necessary to avoid intergenerational unsustainability, especially when intergenerational sustainability is highly endangered.

An overseas business paradox: Are Japanese general contractors risk takers?

Japanese industries have struggled with stagnation after the collapse of bubble economy in the 1990s. Such a financial crisis has led to overseas business expansion of Japanese industries. This study empirically examines Japanese general contractors' overseas operations over the post-bubble period in relation to their financial status. The result shows that general contractors facing financial distress expand overseas business aggressively, when the domestic market shrinks. This result is opposite to conventional wisdom that stronger entities expand their territories of operations, thus "overseas business paradox." However, it can be considered a new scenario of industries' evolution when a country's economy matures.

Carbon emissions and carbon trade balances: International evidence from panel ARDL analysis.

International trade plays crucial roles in the evolution of carbon emissions given the prevalence of complex global supply chains. Production reallocation across countries promotes the cross-border trade of emission-embodied products and is closely related to emission transfer or carbon trade balance, which is defined as the difference between territorial and consumption emissions. One important issue addressed in this study is how carbon trade balances relate to carbon emissions under a globalized world with fragmented production. By applying a panel-pooled mean group-autoregressive distributive lag (PMG-ARDL) model, we evaluate the long-run relevance between carbon emissions and carbon trade balances while considering the short-run dynamics over 58 countries during the period of 1990-2014. The main results reveal a positive relationship between carbon trade balances and carbon emissions for high-income countries but no clear evidence for low-income countries. Our analysis argues that a high-income country may achieve emission reduction not only by displacing production units to trading partners but also by transferring high emission-intensive production units to trading partners and by keeping low emission-intensive domestic production units. Our results provide some important implications about emissions embodied in trade and emission transfers via international trade. First, high-income countries, particularly emission importers, should have the greater responsibility for global emission issues and should continue to develop and improve energy-saving and less emission-intensive technology. Second and more importantly, high-income countries should promote spillovers of advanced green technology to trading partners when they outsource emission-intensive production units to low-income countries.

Sustainability of common pool resources.

Sustainability has become a key issue in managing natural resources together with growing concerns for capitalism, environmental and resource problems. We hypothesize that the ongoing modernization of competitive societies, which we refer to as "capitalism," affects human nature for utilizing common pool resources, thus compromising sustainability. To test this hypothesis, we design and implement a set of dynamic common pool resource games and experiments in the following two types of Nepalese areas: (i) rural (non-capitalistic) and (ii) urban (capitalistic) areas. We find that a proportion of prosocial individuals in urban areas is lower than that in rural areas, and urban residents deplete resources more quickly than rural residents. The composition of proself and prosocial individuals in a group and the degree of capitalism are crucial in that an increase in prosocial members in a group and the rural dummy positively affect resource sustainability by 65% and 63%, respectively. Overall, this paper shows that when societies move toward more capitalistic environments, the sustainability of common pool resources tends to decrease with the changes in individual preferences, social norms, customs and views to others through human interactions. This result implies that individuals may be losing their coordination abilities for social dilemmas of resource sustainability in capitalistic societies.

Social Value Orientation and Capitalism in Societies.

Cooperation and competition are core issues in various fields, since they are claimed to affect the evolution of human societies and ecological organizations. A long-standing debate has existed on how social behaviors and preferences are shaped with culture. Considering the economic environment as part of culture, this study examines whether the ongoing modernization of competitive societies, called "capitalism," affects the evolution of people's social preferences and behaviors. To test this argument, we implemented field experiments of social value orientation and surveys with 1002 respondents for three different areas of Bangladesh: (i) rural, (ii) transitional and (iii) capitalistic societies. The main result reveals that with the evolution from rural to capitalistic societies, people are likely to be less prosocial and more likely to be competitive. In a transitional society, there is a considerable proportion of "unidentified" people, neither proself nor prosocial, implying the potential existence of unstable states during a transformation period from rural to capitalistic societies. We also find that people become more proself with increasing age, education and number of children. These results suggest that important environmental, climate change or sustainability problems, which require cooperation rather than competition, will pose more danger as societies become capitalistic.

Enhancing voluntary participation in community collaborative forest management: a case of Central Java, Indonesia.

This paper examines voluntary participation in community forest management, and characterizes how more participation may be induced. We implemented a survey of 571 respondents and conducted a case study in Central Java, Indonesia. The study's novelty lies in categorizing the degrees of participation into three levels and in identifying how socio-economic factors affect people's participation at each level. The analysis finds that voluntary participation responds to key determinants, such as education and income, in a different direction, depending on each of the three levels. However, the publicly organized programs, such as information provision of benefit sharing, are effective, irrespective of the levels of participation. Overall, the results suggest a possibility of further success and corrective measures to enhance the participation in community forest management.

Optimal invasive species management under multiple uncertainties.

The management programs for invasive species have been proposed and implemented in many regions of the world. However, practitioners and scientists have not reached a consensus on how to control them yet. One reason is the presence of various uncertainties associated with the management. To give some guidance on this issue, we characterize the optimal strategy by developing a dynamic model of invasive species management under uncertainties. In particular, focusing on (i) growth uncertainty and (ii) measurement uncertainty, we identify how these uncertainties affect optimal strategies and value functions. Our results suggest that a rise in growth uncertainty causes the optimal strategy to involve more restrained removals and the corresponding value function to shift up. Furthermore, we also find that a rise in measurement uncertainty affects optimal policies in a highly complex manner, but their corresponding value functions generally shift down as measurement uncertainty rises. Overall, a rise in growth uncertainty can be beneficial, while a rise in measurement uncertainty brings about an adverse effect, which implies the potential gain of precisely identifying the current stock size of invasive species.

Optimal risk management of human alveolar echinococcosis with vermifuge.

In this study, we develop a bioeconomic model of human alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) and formulate the optimal strategies for managing the infection risks in humans by applying optimal control theory. The model has the following novel features: (i) the complex transmission cycle of HAE has been tractably incorporated into the framework of optimal control problems and (ii) the volume of vermifuge spreading to manage the risk is considered a control variable. With this model, we first obtain the stability conditions for the transmission dynamics under the condition of constant control. Second, we explicitly introduce a control variable of vermifuge spreading into the analysis by considering the associated control costs. In this optimal control problem, we have successfully derived a set of conditions for a bang-bang control and singular control, which are mainly characterized by the prevalence of infection in voles and foxes and the remaining time of control. The analytical results are demonstrated by numerical analysis and we discuss the effects of the parameter values on the optimal strategy and the transmission cycle. We find that when the prevalence of infection in foxes is low and the prevalence of infection in voles is sufficiently high, the optimal strategy is to expend no effort in vermifuge spreading.

DNA hypomethylation at the CpG island is involved in aberrant expression of the L1 cell adhesion molecule gene in colorectal cancer.

The L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) has been identified as a target gene of beta-catenin-TCF signaling in colorectal cancer (CRC) and associated with aggressive tumor behavior such as invasion and metastasis. We investigated the methylation status at the L1CAM gene promoter and/or L1CAM mRNA/protein expression in 4 CRC cell lines and 71 primary CRCs. Aberrant L1CAM expression was immuno histochemically observed in 31 (43.7%) of 71 cases, and correlated with advanced stage and presence of lymph node and distant metastases (P<0.05). Treatment with a demethylating agent induced L1CAM mRNA/protein expression in two cell lines lacking L1CAM expression. Bisulfite-modified genome sequencing suggested that DNA methylation status at core promoter and putative TCF-binding sites within the L1CAM promoter was correlated with L1CAM mRNA/protein expression in 4 CRC cell lines. Using the crypt isolation followed by bisulfite-modified genome sequencing and methylation-specific PCR methods, we confirmed that the DNA hypomethylation at core promoter and putative TCF-binding sites was well correlated with the aberrant L1CAM protein expression in primary CRC samples. These results suggest that DNA hypomethylation at the L1CAM CpG islands might induce L1CAM aberrant expression and contribute to the acquisition of aggressive tumor behavior in CRC.

Dynamic economic analysis on invasive species management: some policy implications of catchability.

The problem of controlling invasive species has emerged as a global issue. In response to invasive species threats, governments often propose eradication. This article challenges the eradication view by studying optimal strategies for controlling invasive species in a simple dynamic model. The analysis mainly focuses on deriving policy implications of catchability in a situation where a series of controlling actions incurs operational costs that derive from the fact that catchability depends on the current stock size of invasive species. We analytically demonstrate that the optimal policy changes drastically, depending on the sensitivity of catchability in response to a change in the stock size, as well as on the initial stock. If the sensitivity of catchability is sufficiently high, the constant escapement policy with some interior target level is optimal. In contrast, if the sensitivity of catchability is sufficiently low, there could exist a threshold of the initial stock which differentiates the optimal action between immediate eradication and giving-up without any control. In the intermediate range, immediate eradication, giving-up without any control, or more complex policies may be optimal. Numerical analysis is employed to present economic intuitions and insights in both analytically tractable and intractable cases.

Angiotensin II and epidermal growth factor receptor cross-talk mediated by a disintegrin and metalloprotease accelerates tumor cell proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.

AIM: The cross-talk pathway between angiotensin II (AngII) and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mediated by epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like ligands cleaved by a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM) has been elucidated in several cell types. Even though the liver is a representative angiotensinogen-producing organ, such cross-talk has never been elucidated in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). We investigated whether AngII exerted a mitogenic effect on HCC cell lines through the AngII-EGFR cross-talk pathway. METHODS: We determined the expression and/or phosphorylation status of AngII receptor type 1 (AGTR1), ADAM9, ADAM17, ERK1/2, STAT3, AKT and EGFR in five HCC cell lines using Western blotting. Proliferation and invasion activities were measured by ATP and Matrigel invasion assays, respectively. RESULTS: AGTR1 was expressed ubiquitously in HCC cell lines. EGFR expression in HepG2 was relatively weaker than that in the remaining HCC cell lines. The phosphorylation status of EGFR, ERK1/2, STAT3 and AKT was upregulated by AngII treatment in two EGFR-overexpressing cell lines (Huh7 and PLC/PRF/5), but not in HepG2 (showing weak EGFR expression). AngII stimulation significantly accelerated proliferation and invasion activities in Huh7 and PLC/PRF/5, and was inhibited by pretreatment with an ADAM inhibitor. A selective AGTR1 blocker significantly repressed proliferation activity in both cell lines, but did not significantly repress the invasion activity. Both chemical agents and neutralizing antibodies against ADAMs (ADAM9 and ADAM17) and EGF-like ligands suppressed EGFR transactivation and/or subsequent phosphorylation of ERK1/2, STAT3 and AKT. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that AngII-EGFR cross-talk signaling mediated by ADAMs is involved in the proliferation and invasion activities of several HCC cell lines.

Downregulation of miR-138 is associated with overexpression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase protein in human anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cell lines.

Alterations of several microRNA (miRNA) have been linked to cancer development and its biology. To search for unique miRNA that might play a role in the development of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), we examined the expression of multiple miRNA and their functional effects on target genes in human thyroid carcinoma cell lines. We quantitatively evaluated the expression of multiple miRNA in 10 ATC and five papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) cell lines, as well as primary tumors from 11 thyroid carcinoma patients (three ATC and eight PTC), using the stem-loop-mediated reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction method. We also examined the target gene specificity of unique miRNA that showed differences in expression between ATC and PTC cell lines. One miRNA, miR-138, was significantly downregulated in ATC cell lines in comparison with PTC (P < 0.01). Eleven miRNA (including miR-138) potentially targeting the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene were totally downregulated in both ATC and PTC cell lines in comparison with normal thyroid tissues. A tendency for an inverse correlation between miR-138 and hTERT protein expression was observed in the thyroid cancer cell lines, although this failed to reach significance (r = -0.392, P = 0.148). We demonstrated that overexpression of miR-138 induced a reduction in hTERT protein expression, and confirmed target specificity between miR-138 and the hTERT 3'-untranslated region by luciferase reporter assay. These results suggest that loss of miR-138 expression may partially contribute to the gain of hTERT protein expression in ATC, and that further multiple miRNA targeting hTERT mRNA might be involved in the development of thyroid carcinoma.

Methylation status of the SOCS3 gene in human malignant melanomas.

The suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) family inhibits not only Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) but also focal adhesion kinase (FAK) signaling pathways, and has tumor suppressor activity. Aberrant methylation in the promoter region of the SOCS3 gene frequently occurs in several types of human malignancy, and its transcriptional silencing is associated with malignant tumor behavior. In malignant melanomas, the expression and methylation status of the SOCS3 gene have not been elucidated. We therefore examined the methylation status and/or protein expression of the SOCS3 gene in 5 human malignant melanoma cell lines, 2 primary cultures of normal melanocytes, and surgically resected tumors (5 malignant melanomas and 2 melanocytic nevi). Four of the 5 melanoma cell lines and the 2 primary cultures of normal melanocytes expressed SOCS3 protein to various degrees, and only one melanoma cell line was negative. Expression of SOCS3 protein was inversely correlated with methylation status in the SOCS3 promoter region, and treatment with a demethylating agent (5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine) was able to induce expression of the protein in one melanoma cell line that was SOCS3-negative and another that was weakly positive. Three of the 5 primary malignant melanomas and one of the 2 melanocytic nevi showed aberrant methylation. These results suggest that inactivation of the SOCS3 gene by hypermethylation may be involved in the promotion of malignant behavior of melanomas.

Liver cirrhosis induced by long-term administration of a daily low dose of amiodarone: a case report.

The anti-arrhythmic agent amiodarone (AD) is associated with numerous adverse effects, but serious liver disease is rare. The improved safety of administration of daily low doses of AD has already been established and this regimen is used for long-term medication. Nevertheless, asymptomatic continuous liver injury by AD may increase the risk of step-wise progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. We present an autopsy case of AD-induced liver cirrhosis in a patient who had been treated with a low dose of AD (200 mg/d) daily for 84 mo. The patient was a 85-year-old male with a history of ischemic heart disease. Seven years after initiation of treatment with AD, he was admitted with cardiac congestion. The total dose of AD was 528 g. Mild elevation of serum aminotransferase and hepatomegaly were present. Liver biopsy specimens revealed cirrhosis, and under electron microscopy numerous lysosomes with electron-dense, whorled, lamellar inclusions characteristic of a secondary phospholipidosis were observed. Initially, withdrawal of AD led to a slight improvement of serum aminotransferase levels, but unfortunately his general condition deteriorated and he died from complications of pneumonia and renal failure. Long-term administration of daily low doses of AD carries the risk of progression to irreversible liver injury. Therefore, periodic examination of liver function and/or liver biopsy is required for the management of patients receiving long-term treatment with AD.