Mythimna separata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an omnivorous pest that poses a great threat to food security. Insect antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small peptides that are important effector molecules of innate immunity. Here, we investigated the role of the AMP cecropin B in the growth, development, and immunity of M. separata. The gene encoding M. separata cecropin B (MscecropinB) was cloned. The expression of MscecropinB was determined in different developmental stages and tissues of M. separata. It was highest in the prepupal stage, followed by the pupal stage. Among larval stages, the highest expression was observed in the fourth instar. Tissue expression analysis of fourth instar larvae showed that MscecropinB was highly expressed in the fat body and haemolymph. An increase in population density led to upregulation of MscecropinB expression. MscecropinB expression was also upregulated by the infection of third and fourth instar M. separata with Beauveria bassiana or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). RNA interference (RNAi) targeting MscecropinB inhibited the emergence rate and fecundity of M. separata, and resulted in an increased sensitivity to B. bassiana and Bt. The mortality of M. separata larvae was significantly higher in pathogen plus RNAi-treated M. separata than in controls treated with pathogens only. Our findings indicate that MscecropinB functions in the eclosion and fecundity of M. separata and plays an important role in resistance to infection by B. bassiana and Bt.

Athetis lepigone Möschler (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) is a common maize pest in Europe and Asia. However, there is no long-term effective management strategy is available yet to suppress its population. Adults rely heavily on olfactory cues to locate their optimal host plants and oviposition sites. Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are believed to be responsible for recognizing and transporting different odorant molecules to interact with receptor membrane proteins. In this study, the ligand-binding specificities of two AlepPBPs (AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3) for sex pheromone components and host plant (maize) volatiles were measured by fluorescence ligand-binding assay. The results demonstrated that AlepPBP2 had a high affinity with two pheromones [(Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.11 ± 0.1 μM, (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.32 ± 0.15 μM] and ten plant volatiles, including (-)-limonene, α-pinene, myrcene, linalool, benzaldehyde, nonanal, 2-hexanone, 3-hexanone, 2-heptanone and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one. In contrast, we found that none of these chemicals could bind to AlepPBP3. Our results clearly show no significant differences in the functional characterization of the binding properties between AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3 to sex pheromones and host plant volatiles. Furthermore, molecular docking was employed for further detail on some crucial amino acid residues involved in the ligand-binding of AlepPBP2. These findings will provide valuable information about the potential protein binding sites necessary for protein-ligand interactions which appear as attractive targets for the development of novel technologies and management strategies for insect pests.

Dairy product intake was suggested to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal cancers. This study investigated the association between dairy product intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer (PAC) using a prospective cohort study and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. First, we included 59 774 people aged 40–79 years from the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study (JACC Study). The Cox regression was used to compute the hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI of incident PAC for individuals who reported the highest intakes of milk, cheese and yogurt compared with not consuming the corresponding dairy products. Then, we combined our results with those from other four prospective cohort studies that were eligible after searching several databases, in a meta-analysis, using the fixed-effects model before evaluating publication bias and heterogeneity across studies. In the JACC Study, the highest v. no intakes of milk, cheese and yogurt were not associated with the reduced risk of PAC after a median follow-up of 13·4 years: HR (95 % CI) = 0·93 (0·64, 1·33), 0·91 (0·51, 1·62) and 0·68 (0·38, 1·21), respectively. The results did not significantly change in the meta-analysis: 0·95 (0·82, 1·11) for milk, 1·16 (0·87, 1·55) for cheese and 0·91 (0·79, 1·05) for yogurt. The meta-analysis showed no signs of publication bias or heterogeneity across studies. To conclude, consumption of milk, cheese and yogurt was not associated with the risk of PAC either in the JACC Study or the meta-analysis.

Dietary habits play an important role in the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, evidence on association between diet frequency and type 2 diabetes was limited and inconclusive. We aimed to examine the association between meal frequency and risk of type 2 diabetes. The cohort study used data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study of 8874 community-dwelling people aged over 45 years. Participants were classified as eating two meals per day, three meals per day and four meals per day. Multiple Poisson regression models were used to examine risk of 4-year incident type 2 diabetes among people who ate more or less than three meals per day compared with people who ate three meals per day. We documented 706 type 2 diabetes cases during follow-up. After adjustment for known risk factors for type 2 diabetes, except for BMI, participants who ate four meals per day were at a lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who ate three meals per day (relative risk(RR) = 0·73 (0·58, 0·92)). After further adjustment for baseline BMI, the association was slightly attenuated but remained statistically significant (RR = 0·76 (0·60, 0·97)). Subgroup analysis showed that the fully adjusted RR of type 2 diabetes for people eating four meals per day were 0·66 (0·48, 0·91) and 0·93 (0·65, 1·34) among those had a BMI < 25 and ≥ 25 kg/m2, respectively. Eating four meals per day, compared with eating three meals per day was associated with lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a Chinese population, particularly in those with a BMI < 25 kg/m2.

We sought to examine the prospective associations of specific fruit consumption, in particular flavonoid-rich fruit (FRF) consumption, with the risk of stroke and subtypes of stroke in a Japanese population. A study followed a total of 39 843 men and 47 334 women aged 44–76 years, and free of CVD, diabetes and cancer at baseline since 1995 and 1998 to the end of 2009 and 2012, respectively. Data on total and specific FRF consumption for each participant were obtained using a self-administrated FFQ. The hazard ratios (HR) of stroke in relation to total and specific FRF consumption were estimated through Cox proportional hazards regression models. During a median follow-up of 13·1 years, 4091 incident stroke cases (2557 cerebral infarctions and 1516 haemorrhagic strokes) were documented. After adjustment for age, BMI, study area, lifestyles, dietary factors and other risk factors, it was found that total FRF consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of stroke in women (HR = 0·70; 95 % CI 0·58, 0·84), while the association in men was not significant (HR = 0·93; 95 % CI 0·79, 1·09). As for specific FRF, consumptions of citrus fruits, strawberries and grapes were found associated with a lower stroke risk in women. Higher consumptions of FRF, in particular citrus fruits, strawberries and grapes, were associated with a lower risk of developing stroke in Japanese women.

Although the association between fruit consumption and CHD risk has been well studied, few studies have focused on flavonoid-rich fruits (FRF), in particular strawberries and grapes. We aimed to verify the association of total and specific FRF consumption with risk of CHD by a large prospective cohort study. A total of 87 177 men and women aged 44–75 years who were free of CVD and cancer at study baseline were eligible for the present analysis. FRF consumption was assessed using a FFQ. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) of CHD in relation to FRF consumption with adjustment for potential risk factors and confounders. During a mean follow-up of 13·2 years, we identified 1156 incident CHD cases. After full adjustment for covariates including demographics, lifestyles and dietary factors, the HR were 0·93 (95 % CI 0·77, 1·11), 0·91 (95 % CI 0·75, 1·11), 0·84 (95 % CI 0·67, 1·04) and 0·78 (95 % CI 0·62, 0·99) for the second, third, fourth and fifth quintiles compared with the lowest quintile of FRF consumption. Regarding specific fruits, we observed a significant inverse association for citrus fruit consumption and a borderline inverse association for strawberry consumption, while no association was observed for apple/pear or grape consumption. Although the associations appeared to be stronger in women, they were not significantly modified by sex. Higher consumption of FRF, in particular, citrus fruits, may be associated with a lower risk of developing CHD.

We conducted a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCT) to examine the effects of strawberry interventions on cardiovascular risk factors. We searched multiple databases including PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus to identify eligible studies published before 19 May 2019. The endpoints were blood pressure, total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, TAG, fasting blood glucose, endothelial function and inflammatory factors. Pooled analyses were performed using random- or fixed-effects models according to a heterogeneity test. We also conducted sub-group analyses by baseline endpoint levels. We included eleven RCT in this meta-analysis (six for blood pressure, seven for lipid profile, seven for fasting blood glucose and six for C-reactive protein (CRP)). Overall, the strawberry interventions significantly reduced CRP levels by 0·63 (95 % CI −1·04, −0·22) mg/l but did not affect blood pressure, lipid profile or fasting blood glucose in the main analyses. Our analysis stratified by baseline endpoint levels showed the strawberry interventions significantly reduced TC among people with baseline levels >5 mmol/l (−0·52 (95 % CI −0·88, −0·15) mmol/l) and reduced LDL-cholesterol among people with baseline levels >3 mmol/l (−0·31 (95 % CI −0·60, −0·02) mmol/l). There was little evidence of heterogeneity in the analysis and no evidence of publication bias. In summary, strawberry interventions significantly reduced CRP levels and may improve TC and LDL-cholesterol in individuals with high baseline levels.

The association of chocolate consumption with risk of gestational diabetes has not been examined. We aimed to investigate the prospective association between chocolate consumption and risk of gestational diabetes in a large birth cohort in Japan. A total of 97 454 pregnant women with a median gestational age of 12 weeks were recruited from January 2011 to March 2014. Data on demographic information, disease history, socio-economic status, lifestyle and dietary habits were obtained at the study enrolment. Dietary intake during the past 12 months before study enrolment was assessed through a semi-quantitative FFQ. The logistic regression was used to obtain the OR of gestational diabetes in relation to chocolate consumption. Among 84 948 women eligible for the analysis, 1904 cases of gestational diabetes (2·2 %) were identified during the period of pregnancy. After controlling for potential confounding factors including age, smoking status, drinking status, education level, occupation, pre-pregnant BMI, depression, previous history of macrosomia babies, parity, physical activity and dietary factors, women in the highest quartile of chocolate consumption, compared with those in the lowest quartile, had a significantly lower risk of developing gestational diabetes (OR 0·78, 95 % CI 0·67, 0·90; P for trend = 0·002). Stratified analyses suggested that the association was not significantly modified by pre-pregnancy BMI, age, parity, smoking status or drinking status. The present prospective cohort study provided evidence that chocolate consumption was associated with a significant lower risk of gestational diabetes in Japanese women.

High-protein diets are popular for weight management, but the health effects of such diets in diabetic persons are inconclusive. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to examine the effects of high-protein diets on body weight and metabolic risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes. We searched the PubMed and Cochrane Library databases for relevant randomised trials up to August 2012. Either a fixed- or a random-effects model was used to combine the net changes in each outcome from baseline to the end of the intervention. Overall, nine trials including a total of 418 diabetic patients met our inclusion criteria. The study duration ranged from 4 to 24 weeks. The actual intake of dietary protein ranged from 25 to 32 % of total energy in the intervention groups and from 15 to 20 % in the control groups. Compared with the control diets, high-protein diets resulted in more weight loss (pooled mean difference: − 2·08, 95 % CI − 3·25, − 0·90 kg). High-protein diets significantly decreased glycated Hb A1C (HbA1C) levels by 0·52 (95 % CI − 0·90, − 0·14) %, but did not affect the fasting blood glucose levels. There were no differences in lipid profiles. The pooled net changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure were − 3·13 (95 % CI − 6·58, 0·32) mmHg and − 1·86 (95 % CI − 4·26, 0·56) mmHg, respectively. However, two studies reported a large influence on weight loss and HbA1C levels, respectively. In summary, high-protein diets (within 6 months) may have some beneficial effects on weight loss, HbA1C levels and blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, further investigations are still required to draw a conclusion.

Previous studies have suggested that probiotic fermented milk may possess blood pressure (BP)-lowering properties. In the present study, we aimed to systematically examine the effect of probiotic fermented milk on BP by conducting a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. PubMed, Cochrane library and the ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched up to March 2012 to identify eligible studies. The reference lists of the obtained articles were also reviewed. Either a fixed-effects or a random-effects model was used to calculate the combined treatment effect. Meta-analysis of fourteen randomised placebo-controlled trials involving 702 participants showed that probiotic fermented milk, compared with placebo, produced a significant reduction of 3·10 mmHg (95 % CI − 4·64, − 1·56) in systolic BP and 1·09 mmHg (95 % CI − 2·11, − 0·06) in diastolic BP. Subgroup analyses suggested a slightly greater effect on systolic BP in hypertensive participants than in normotensive ones ( − 3·98 v. − 2·09 mmHg). Analysis of trials conducted in Japan showed a greater reduction than those conducted in European countries for both systolic BP ( − 6·12 v. − 2·08 mmHg) and diastolic BP ( − 3·45 v. − 0·52 mmHg). Some evidence of publication bias was present, but sensitivity analysis excluding small trials that reported extreme results only affected the pooled effect size minimally. In summary, the present meta-analysis suggested that probiotic fermented milk has BP-lowering effects in pre-hypertensive and hypertensive subjects.

Preclinical studies have suggested an anti-colorectal cancer effect of n-3 fatty acids, yet epidemiological studies have reported mixed results. The goal of the present meta-analysis was to examine the association between the dietary intake of n-3 fatty acids and colorectal cancer risk by conducting a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. We searched the PubMed database up to February 2012 to identify eligible studies. Either a fixed- or random-effects model was used to obtain a pooled relative risk (RR) comparing the highest intake of n-3 fatty acids with the lowest. We conducted subgroup analyses according to sex, geographic region, length of follow-up, cancer site and type of n-3 fatty acids. We included seven prospective studies in the meta-analysis, comprising 489 465 participants and 4656 incident cases. The pooled RR of colorectal cancer in relation to n-3 fatty acids was 0·98 (95 % CI 0·88, 1·09). The results from subgroup analysis indicated a significant reduced risk of colorectal cancer in relation to n-3 fatty acids among men (RR 0·87, 95 % CI 0·75, 1·00; n 4). No significant association was observed in other subgroups. There was no evidence of publication bias as suggested by Begg's test (P = 0·76) and Egger's test (P = 0·66). The present meta-analysis showed insufficient evidence of a protective effect of n-3 fatty acids on colorectal cancer risk. However, a reduced risk observed in men warrants further investigation.

Epidemiological studies of dietary glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) in relation to diabetes risk have yielded inconsistent results. We aimed to examine the associations between dietary GI and GL and the risk of type 2 diabetes by conducting a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Relevant studies were identified by a PubMed database search up to February 2011. Reference lists from retrieved articles were also reviewed. We included prospective cohort studies that reported risk estimates with 95 % CI for the associations between dietary GI and GL and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Either a fixed- or random-effects model was used to compute the summary relative risk (RR). We identified thirteen prospective cohort studies of dietary GI or GL related to diabetes risk. The summary RR of type 2 diabetes for the highest category of the GI compared with the lowest was 1·16 (95 % CI 1·06, 1·26; n 12), with moderate evidence of heterogeneity (P = 0·02, I2 = 50·8 %). For the GL, the summary RR was 1·20 (95 % CI 1·11, 1·30; n 12), with little evidence of heterogeneity (P = 0·10, I2 = 34·8 %). No evidence of publication bias was observed. In addition, the associations persisted and remained statistically significant in the sensitivity analyses. In conclusion, the present meta-analysis provides further evidence in support of significantly positive associations between dietary GI and GL and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Reducing the intake of high-GI foods may bring benefits in diabetes prevention.

Observational studies have indicated that soya food consumption is inversely associated with blood pressure (BP). Evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCT) on the BP-lowering effects of soya protein intake is inconclusive. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of soya protein intake in lowering BP. The PubMed database was searched for published RCT in the English language through to April 2010, which compared a soya protein diet with a control diet. We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis to examine the effects of soya protein on BP. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were performed to explore possible explanations for heterogeneity among trials. Meta-analyses of twenty-seven RCT showed a mean decrease of 2·21 mmHg (95 % CI − 4·10, − 0·33; P = 0·021) for systolic BP (SBP) and 1·44 mmHg (95 % CI − 2·56, − 0·31; P = 0·012) for diastolic BP (DBP), comparing the participants in the soya protein group with those in the control group. Soya protein consumption significantly reduced SBP and DBP in both hypertensive and normotensive subjects, and the reductions were markedly greater in hypertensive subjects. Significant and greater BP reductions were also observed in trials using carbohydrate, but not milk products, as the control diet. Meta-regression analyses further revealed a significantly inverse association between pre-treatment BP and the level of BP reductions. In conclusion, soya protein intake, compared with a control diet, significantly reduces both SBP and DBP, but the BP reductions are related to pre-treatment BP levels of subjects and the type of control diet used as comparison.

Description Logic Programs (dl-programs) proposed by Eiter et al. constitute an elegant yet powerful formalism for the integration of answer set programming with description logics, for the Semantic Web. In this paper, we generalize the notions of completion and loop formulas of logic programs to description logic programs and show that the answer sets of a dl-program can be precisely captured by the models of its completion and loop formulas. Furthermore, we propose a new, alternative semantics for dl-programs, called the canonical answer set semantics, which is defined by the models of completion that satisfy what are called canonical loop formulas. A desirable property of canonical answer sets is that they are free of circular justifications. Some properties of canonical answer sets are also explored.

This paper studies the stable model semantics of logic programs with (abstract) constraint atoms and their properties. We introduce a succinct abstract representation of these constraint atoms in which a constraint atom is represented compactly. We show two applications. First, under this representation of constraint atoms, we generalize the Gelfond–Lifschitz transformation and apply it to define stable models (also called answer sets) for logic programs with arbitrary constraint atoms. The resulting semantics turns out to coincide with the one defined by Son et al. (2007), which is based on a fixpoint approach. One advantage of our approach is that it can be applied, in a natural way, to define stable models for disjunctive logic programs with constraint atoms, which may appear in the disjunctive head as well as in the body of a rule. As a result, our approach to the stable model semantics for logic programs with constraint atoms generalizes a number of previous approaches. Second, we show that our abstract representation of constraint atoms provides a means to characterize dependencies of atoms in a program with constraint atoms, so that some standard characterizations and properties relying on these dependencies in the past for logic programs with ordinary atoms can be extended to logic programs with constraint atoms.

Infinite loops and redundant computations are long recognized open problems in Prolog. Two methods have been explored to resolve these problems: loop checking and tabling. Loop checking can cut infinite loops, but it cannot be both sound and complete even for function-free logic programs. Tabling seems to be an effective way to resolve infinite loops and redundant computations. However, existing tabulated resolutions, such as OLDT-resolution, SLG-resolution and Tabulated SLS-resolution, are non-linear because they rely on the solution-lookup mode in formulating tabling. The principal disadvantage of non-linear resolutions is that they cannot be implemented using a simple stack-based memory structure like that in Prolog. Moreover, some strictly sequential operators such as cuts may not be handled as easily as in Prolog. In this paper, we propose a hybrid method to resolve infinite loops and redundant computations. We combine the ideas of loop checking and tabling to establish a linear tabulated resolution called TP-resolution. TP-resolution has two distinctive features: (1) it makes linear tabulated derivations in the same way as Prolog except that infinite loops are broken and redundant computations are reduced. It handles cuts as effectively as Prolog; and (2) it is sound and complete for positive logic programs with the bounded-term-size property. The underlying algorithm can be implemented by an extension to any existing Prolog abstract machines such as WAM or ATOAM.