From 1 January 2022 to 4 September 2022, a total of 53 996 mpox cases were confirmed globally. Cases are predominantly concentrated in Europe and the Americas, while other regions are also continuously observing imported cases. This study aimed to estimate the potential global risk of mpox importation and consider hypothetical scenarios of travel restrictions by varying passenger volumes (PVs) via airline travel network. PV data for the airline network, and the time of first confirmed mpox case for a total of 1680 airports in 176 countries (and territories) were extracted from publicly available data sources. A survival analysis technique in which the hazard function was a function of effective distance was utilised to estimate the importation risk. The arrival time ranged from 9 to 48 days since the first case was identified in the UK on 6 May 2022. The estimated risk of importation showed that regardless of the geographic region, most locations will have an intensified importation risk by 31 December 2022. Travel restrictions scenarios had a minor impact on the global airline importation risk against mpox, highlighting the importance to enhance local capacities for the identification of mpox and to be prepared to carry out contact tracing and isolation.

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on the dietary habits of the Japanese population have shown that an effect rs671 allele was inversely associated with fish consumption, whereas it was directly associated with coffee consumption. Although meat is a major source of protein and fat in the diet, whether genetic factors that influence meat-eating habits in healthy populations are unknown. This study aimed to conduct a GWAS to find genetic variations that affect meat consumption in a Japanese population. We analysed GWAS data using 14 076 participants from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) study. We used a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to estimate food intake that was validated previously. Association of the imputed variants with total meat consumption per 1000 kcal energy was performed by linear regression analysis with adjustments for age, sex, and principal component analysis components 1–10. We found that no genetic variant, including rs671, was associated with meat consumption. The previously reported single nucleotide polymorphisms that were associated with meat consumption in samples of European ancestry could not be replicated in our J-MICC data. In conclusion, significant genetic factors that affect meat consumption were not observed in a Japanese population.

The properties of the first generation of stars and their supernova (SN) explosions remain unknown due to the lack of their actual observations. Pop III stars may have been very massive and predicted to be exploded as pair-instability SNe, but the observed metal-poor stars show the abundance patterns which are more consistent with yields of core-collapse SNe. We study the multicolor light curves for a metal-free core-collapse SN models (massive stars of 25-100 solar mass range) to determine the indicators for the detection and identification of first generation SNe. We use mixing-fallback supernova explosion models which explain the observed abundance patterns of metal poor stars. Numerical calculations of the multicolor light curves are performed using the multigroup radiation hydrodynamic code STELLA. The calculated light curves of metal-free SNe are compared with our calculations of non-zero metallicity models and observed SNe.

The effects of oral administration of a lactococcal strain on physiological changes associated with ageing were investigated using senescence-accelerated mice (SAM). SAM develop normally, but then show an early onset and irreversible advancement of senescence. SAMP6 is a SAM strain that develops osteoporosis with ageing. Oral administration of heat-killed Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris H61 (strain H61) to aged SAMP6 mice was associated with reduced bone density loss, a suppression of incidence of skin ulcers and reduced hair loss, compared with controls. Spleen cells from mice fed strain H61 produced more interferon-γ and IL-12 than those from control mice, suggesting that administration of strain H61 altered immune responses. The numbers of viable cells of Bifidobacterium sp., Bacteroides sp. and Enterococcus sp. in faeces were similar for mice fed the strain H61 and control diets, but counts for Staphylococcus sp. were significantly lower (P < 0·05) in mice fed strain H61. Mice fed strain H61 had similar serum concentrations of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances as in controls, indicating a lack of effect on lipid peroxidation status. Administration of living cells of strain H61 or fermented milk containing strain H61 was also associated with a suppression of incidence of skin ulcers and reduced hair loss. These results indicate that oral administration of strain H61 has the potential to suppress some of the manifestations associated with ageing.