Nationwide Increase in Complex Congenital Heart Diseases After the Fukushima Nuclear Accident.

Background After the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, an increase in the incidence of congenital heart disease ( CHD s) in the neighboring countries was reported. In 2011, Japan experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accidents at Fukushima. However, a nationwide study of their effects has not been conducted yet.

Nationwide Increase in Cryptorchidism After the Fukushima Nuclear Accident.

Objective: To estimate the change of discharge rate after cryptorchidism surgery between pre- and postdisaster in Japan. Cryptorchidism cannot be diagnosed before birth and is not a factor that would influence a woman's decision to seek an abortion. Therefore, this disease is considered suitable for assessing how the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident (2011) influenced congenital diseases.

The importance of early investigation and publishing in an emergent health and environment crisis.

To minimize the damage resulting from a long-term environmental disaster such as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, early disclosure of research data by scientists and prompt decision making by government authorities are required in place of careful, time-consuming research and deliberation about the consequences and cause of the accident. A Bayesian approach with flexible statistical modeling helps scientists and encourages government authorities to make decisions based on environmental data available in the early stages of a disaster. It is evident from Fukushima and similar accidents that classical research methods involving statistical methodologies that require rigorous experimental design and complex data sets are too cumbersome and delay important actions that may be critical in the early stages of an environmental disaster.

Effects of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident on goshawk reproduction.

Although the influence of nuclear accidents on the reproduction of top predators has not been investigated, it is important that we identify the effects of such accidents because humans are also top predators. We conducted field observation for 22 years and analysed the reproductive performance of the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis fujiyamae), a top avian predator in the North Kanto area of Japan, before and after the accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that occurred in 2011. The reproductive performance declined markedly compared with the pre-accident years and progressively decreased for the three post-accident study years.

Radiocesium leaching from contaminated litter in forest streams.

In Japanese forests suffering from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, litter fall provides a large amount of radiocesium from forests to streams. Submerged litter is processed to become a vital food resource for various stream organisms through initial leaching and subsequent decomposition. Although leaching from litter can detach radiocesium similarly to potassium, radiocesium leaching and its migration are poorly understood.

An ancient tripartite symbiosis of plants, ants and scale insects.

In the Asian tropics, a conspicuous radiation of Macaranga plants is inhabited by obligately associated Crematogaster ants tending Coccus (Coccidae) scale insects, forming a tripartite symbiosis. Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that the plants and the ants have been codiversifying over the past 16-20 million years (Myr). The prevalence of coccoids in ant-plant mutualisms suggest that they play an important role in the evolution of ant-plant symbioses.