Impact of effluents from a closed mine on the surrounding water resources: Groundwater contamination of the historical abandoned mine site in Japan.

The extraction of mineral deposits is often associated with the occurrence of acid mine drainage (AMD), which can persist even after mine closure due to remaining sulfide minerals. This study investigates a 200-year-old abandoned mine and its impacts on nearby water resources. The study area is well known for Kuroko ore deposits located upstream of spring and river water resources.

Bruxism associated with short sleep duration in children with autism spectrum disorder: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Bruxism, the involuntary activity of masticatory muscles, is common among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although bruxism is bidirectionally associated with sleep issues, whether an infant's sleep duration contributes to the development of bruxism remains unknown. In this study, a dataset (n = 83,720) obtained from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, a nationwide birth cohort study, was subjected to multiple imputations using logistic regression analysis with adjustments for several maternal and child-related variables.

Epigenetic dynamics of partially methylated domains in human placenta and trophoblast stem cells.

Background: The placenta is essential for nutrient exchange and hormone production between the mother and the developing fetus and serves as an invaluable model for epigenetic research. Most epigenetic studies of the human placenta have used whole placentas from term pregnancies and have identified the presence of partially methylated domains (PMDs). However, the origin of these domains, which are typically absent in most somatic cells, remains unclear in the placental context.

Prefrontal synaptic regulation of homeostatic sleep pressure revealed through synaptic chemogenetics.

Sleep is regulated by homeostatic processes, yet the biological basis of sleep pressure that accumulates during wakefulness, triggers sleep, and dissipates during sleep remains elusive. We explored a causal relationship between cellular synaptic strength and electroencephalography delta power indicating macro-level sleep pressure by developing a theoretical framework and a molecular tool to manipulate synaptic strength. The mathematical model predicted that increased synaptic strength promotes the neuronal "down state" and raises the delta power.

NOTUM-mediated WNT silencing drives extravillous trophoblast cell lineage development.

Trophoblast stem (TS) cells have the unique capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types, including extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells. EVT cells invade into and transform the uterus where they act to remodel the vasculature facilitating the redirection of maternal nutrients to the developing fetus. Disruptions in EVT cell development and function are at the core of pregnancy-related disease.

EFFECTS OF ARYL HYDROCARBON RECEPTOR LIGAND TCDD ON HUMAN TROPHOBLAST CELL DEVELOPMENT.

Background: The primary interface between mother and fetus, the placenta, serves two critical functions: extraction of nutrients from the maternal compartment and facilitation of nutrient delivery to the developing fetus. This delivery system also serves as a barrier to environmental exposures. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor () is an important component of the barrier.

Association of maternal blood and umbilical cord blood plasma fatty acid levels with the body size at birth of Japanese infants.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), mainly obtained from fish, have been implicated in fetal development. Because few studies have examined maternal and umbilical cord blood fatty acid levels and infant body size in Japan with a fish-eating culture, we examined differences in plasma fatty acid levels in pregnant women and infant size at birth. This study is a large birth cohort study of 1476 pairs of Japanese pregnant women and their infants.

Leveraging chorionic villus biopsies for the derivation of patient-specific trophoblast stem cells.

Human trophoblast stem () cells are an informative in vitro model for the generation and testing of biologically meaningful hypotheses. The goal of this project was to derive patient-specific TS cell lines from clinically available chorionic villus sampling biopsies. Cell outgrowths were captured from human chorionic villus tissue specimens cultured in modified human TS cell medium.

Long-term performance of the adsorption layer system for the recycling and repurposing of arsenic-bearing mudstone as road embankment.

The adsorption layer system has shown great potential as a cost-effective and practical strategy for the recycling and management of excavated rocks containing potentially toxic elements (PTEs). Although this system has been employed in various civil engineering projects throughout Japan, its long-term performance to immobilize PTEs has rarely been investigated. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the adsorption layer system applied in an actual road embankment approximately 11 years after construction.

Impact of the Coexisting Coronary Artery Disease on Five-Year Outcomes in Lower Extremity Artery Disease Patients Without Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is often noted in patients with lower-extremity artery disease (LEAD). However, the effects of CAD on patients with LEAD have not been clearly investigated. In this study, to investigate the effect of CAD on patients with LEAD without chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), we compared the five-year clinical outcomes of patients with and without CAD.

Association between maternal physical activity from pre-pregnancy to child-rearing and their children's physical activity in early childhood among Japanese.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the association between cumulative maternal physical activity level and their children's physical activity in early childhood. We also compared the influence of each maternal physical activity on children's physical activity in early childhood.

Methods: We analyzed the data from 1,067 Japanese mother-child pairs.

Phonon excitations in EuIrOprobed by inelastic x-ray scattering.

The study of phonon dynamics and its interplay with magnetic ordering is crucial for understanding the unique quantum phases in the pyrochlore iridates. Here, through inelastic x-ray scattering on a single crystal sample of the pyrochlore iridate EuIrO, we map out the phonon excitation spectra in EuIrOand compare them with the theoretical phonon spectra calculated using the density functional theory. Possible phonon renormalization across the magnetic long-range order transition is observed in our experiments, which is consistent with the results of the previous Raman scattering experiments.

Microscopic evaluation of spin and orbital moment in ferromagnetic resonance.

Time-resolved X-ray magnetic circular dichroism under the effects of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), known as X-ray ferromagnetic resonance (XFMR) measurements, enables direct detection of precession dynamics of magnetic moment. Here we demonstrated XFMR measurements and Bayesian analyses as a quantitative probe for the precession of spin and orbital magnetic moments under the FMR effect. Magnetization precessions in two different Pt/Ni-Fe thin film samples were directly detected.

Trimebutine prevents corneal inflammation in a rat alkali burn model.

Alkaline burns to the cornea lead to loss of corneal transparency, which is essential for normal vision. We used a rat corneal alkaline burn model to investigate the effect of ophthalmic trimebutine solution on healing wounds caused by alkaline burns. Trimebutine, an inhibitor of the high-mobility group box 1-receptor for advanced glycation end products, when topically applied to the burned cornea, suppressed macrophage infiltration in the early phase and neutrophil infiltration in the late phase at the wound site.

Maternal birth weight is an indicator of preterm delivery: the Japan environment and children's study.

This study aimed to investigate the association between maternal birth weight (MBW) with preterm delivery (PTD) in the Japanese population. To this end, a total of 78,972 Japanese pregnant women were included in a prospective birth cohort study. Multiple logistic regression and multinominal logistic regression models were applied to investigate the associations of MBW with PTD (delivery from 22 to < 37 weeks of gestation), early PTD (delivery from 22 to < 34 weeks), and late PTD (delivery from 34 to < 37 weeks).

Optimizing multi-spectral ore sorting incorporating wavelength selection utilizing neighborhood component analysis for effective arsenic mineral detection.

Arsenic contamination not only complicates mineral processing but also poses environmental and health risks. To address these challenges, this research investigates the feasibility of utilizing Hyperspectral imaging combined with machine learning techniques for the identification of arsenic-containing minerals in copper ore samples, with a focus on practical application in sorting and processing operations. Through experimentation with various copper sulfide ores, Neighborhood Component Analysis (NCA) was employed to select essential wavelength bands from Hyperspectral data, subsequently used as inputs for machine learning algorithms to identify arsenic concentrations.

Non-coplanar helimagnetism in the layered van-der-Waals metal DyTe.

Van-der-Waals magnetic materials can be exfoliated to realize ultrathin sheets or interfaces with highly controllable optical or spintronics responses. In majority, these are collinear ferro-, ferri-, or antiferromagnets, with a particular scarcity of lattice-incommensurate helimagnets of defined left- or right-handed rotation sense, or helicity. Here, we report polarized neutron scattering experiments on DyTe, whose layered structure has highly metallic tellurium layers separated by double-slabs of dysprosium square nets.

Quantum critical fluctuations in a transverse-field Ising magnet.

CoNbOis a model system for a spin-1/2 one-dimensional (1D) transverse-field Ising magnet (TFIM) with a rather low three-dimensional (3D) Néel ordering temperature atTN=2.95K. We studied CoNbOusing ultrasound measurements down to 0.

Fluoride leaching from tuff breccia and its removal by natural and commercial adsorbents.

In Japan, the concentration of fluoride (F) leached from rocks, such as tuff breccia, excavated in tunnel construction projects often exceeds the Japanese environmental standard of 0.8 mg/L. Because of this, proper disposal methods are necessary for managing F-bearing excavated rocks.

NOTUM-MEDIATED WNT SILENCING DRIVES EXTRAVILLOUS TROPHOBLAST CELL LINEAGE DEVELOPMENT.

Trophoblast stem () cells have the unique capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types, including extravillous trophoblast () cells. EVT cells invade into and transform the uterus where they act to remodel the vasculature facilitating the redirection of maternal nutrients to the developing fetus. Disruptions in EVT cell development and function are at the core of pregnancy-related disease.

Association between Maternal Birth Weight and Prevalence of Congenital Malformations in Offspring: The Japanese Environment and Children's Study.

Congenital malformations are functional and structural alterations in embryonic or foetal development resulting from a variety of factors including maternal health status. This study aimed to investigate the association between maternal birth weight (MBW) and the prevalence of congenital malformations in offspring using data from a nationwide birth cohort study in Japan including 103,060 pregnancies. A binary logistic regression model with adjustment for various covariates revealed that an MBW of <2500 g (low MBW) was associated with an increased risk of congenital heart disease (adjusted odds ratio: 1.