Association of air purifier usage during pregnancy with adverse birth outcomes: the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Objective: Previous studies have reported that ambient air pollutants such as PM2.5 can increase the risk of adverse birth outcomes. The objective of this study was to ascertain whether air purifier usage during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of adverse birth outcomes in a large Japanese birth cohort.

Factors related to sedentary behavior of pregnant women during the second/third trimester: prospective results from the large-scale Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Background: Prolonged sedentary behavior in pregnant women is reported to be associated with worse health-related indices and pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify relevant factors that can be targeted in interventions to reduce sedentary behavior during pregnancy.

Methods: Of 103,057 pregnancies registered in the Japan Environment and Children's Study, 83,733 pregnant women were included for analysis after excluding multiple enrollments, nonresponses, and missing outcome data.

Intracellular dark spots are associated with endothelial cell loss after Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty.

Intracellular dark endothelial spots (IDESs) on specular microscopy developed in 78/122 patients (63.9%) after Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). Endothelial cell density (ECD) after DSAEK was significantly smaller in eyes with IDES when compared with those without at all time points (p<0.

Decision tree learning for predicting chronic postpartum depression in the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Background: Many studies have used machine learning techniques to construct predictive models of postpartum depression, but few such models are simple enough to use in community maternal health settings with pen and paper. Here, we use a decision tree to construct a prediction model for chronic postpartum depression.

Methods: Participants were 84,091 mothers.

Successful Maintenance Therapy with Intravenous Immunoglobulin to Reduce Relapse Attacks and Steroid Dose in a Patient with Refractory Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-positive Optic Neuritis.

A 25-year-old Japanese man developed visual disturbance with eye pain and was diagnosed with optic neuritis associated with anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies. His symptoms improved temporarily after steroid therapy but chronically relapsed many times after tapering the steroid dose. He became highly steroid-dependent and was referred to our department for reconsideration of the treatment strategy.

Anti-CX3CL1 (fractalkine) monoclonal antibody attenuates lung and skin fibrosis in sclerodermatous graft-versus-host disease mouse model.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by vascular injury and inflammation, followed by excessive fibrosis of the skin and other internal organs, including the lungs. CX3CL1 (fractalkine), a chemokine expressed on endothelial cells, supports the migration of macrophages and T cells that express its specific receptor CX3CR1 into targeted tissues. We previously reported that anti-CX3CL1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment significantly inhibited transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-induced expression of type I collagen and fibronectin 1 in human dermal fibroblasts.

GWAS for systemic sclerosis identifies six novel susceptibility loci including one in the Fcγ receptor region.

Here we report the largest Asian genome-wide association study (GWAS) for systemic sclerosis performed to date, based on data from Japanese subjects and comprising of 1428 cases and 112,599 controls. The lead SNP is in the FCGR/FCRL region, which shows a penetrating association in the Asian population, while a complete linkage disequilibrium SNP, rs10917688, is found in a cis-regulatory element for IRF8. IRF8 is also a significant locus in European GWAS for systemic sclerosis, but rs10917688 only shows an association in the presence of the risk allele of IRF8 in the Japanese population.

Incidence and Clinical Features of Immunologic Rejection After Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and clinical features of immunologic rejection after deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK).

Methods: This study included 411 patients (464 eyes, median age [interquartile range; IQR] 55.8 years [36.

A case of anti-SAE1/2 antibody-positive dermatomyositis with extensive panniculitis: A possible cutaneous manifestation of treatment resistance.

Dermatomyositis constitutes a heterogeneous group of autoimmune inflammatory conditions with a wide variety of clinical outcomes. The symptomatic heterogeneity carries skin, muscle, and joint manifestations; pulmonary and cardiac involvements; and concomitant malignancy. Any of these symptoms often appear at different combinations and time courses, thus posing difficulty in early diagnosis and appropriate treatment choice.

A cysteine proteinase inhibitor ALLN alleviates bleomycin-induced skin and lung fibrosis.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease that is characterized by fibrosis in the skin and internal organs, such as the lungs. Activated differentiation of progenitor cells, which are mainly resident fibroblasts, into myofibroblasts is considered a key mechanism underlying the overproduction of extracellular matrix and the resultant tissue fibrosis in SSc. Calpains are members of the Ca-dependent cysteine protease family, whose enzymatic activities participate in signal transduction and tissue remodeling, potentially contributing to fibrosis in various organs.

Three-Dimensional Assessment of Descemet Membrane Reflectivity by Optical Coherence Tomography in Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate Descemet membrane reflectivity using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) in eyes with Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD).

Methods: We retrospectively assessed 144 eyes of 88 consecutive participants (41 FECD, 15 pseudophakic bullous keratopathies [BKs], and 32 healthy controls, 63.5 ± 16.

Corneal higher-order aberrations in corneal endothelial decompensation secondary to obstetric forceps injury.

Forceps corneal injuries during infant delivery cause Descemet membrane (DM) breaks, that cause corneal astigmatism and corneal endothelial decompensation. The aim of this study is to characterise corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) and corneal topographic patterns in corneal endothelial decompensation due to obstetric forceps injury. This retrospective study included 23 eyes of 21 patients (54.

Dietary Intake of Vitamin D during Pregnancy and the Risk of Postpartum Depressive Symptoms: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Many recent clinical and epidemiological studies have demonstrated the effects of vitamin D on health, yet few studies have examined the association of dietary intake of vitamin D during pregnancy with postpartum depressive symptoms. This study examined this association in a large cohort of 74,840 pregnant women who are enrolled in the longitudinal Japan Environment and Children's Study. Dietary vitamin D intake during pregnancy (specifically after learning of the pregnancy to mid-late pregnancy) was determined using the Food Frequency Questionnaire.

Etiology-Specific Comparison of the Long-Term Clinical Outcome of Repeat Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty for Optical Indications.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the etiology-specific clinical outcomes and complications of repeat deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) after failed DALK.

Methods: This retrospective case study included 32 eyes of 27 patients who underwent repeat DALK of 450 cases of DALK performed for optical indications between 1997 and 2013. The patients were divided into 4 etiology-specific subgroups (the corneal dystrophy, ocular surface disease, stromal scar, and others) or those with or without limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).

Retrospective evaluation of the utility of two-step surgery for facial basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

In older patients with facial basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), surgery should be aimed to reduce treatment-related sequelae and burden with achieving local tumor care. Therefore, we adopted a two-step surgery (TSS) involving the application of a dermal regeneration template onto the skin defect after tumor resection and subsequent reconstruction by full-thickness skin grafting. We performed a detailed comparison of conventional one-step surgery (OSS) and TSS, including evaluation of local tumor curability, postoperative cosmetic and/or functional impairments, and patient burden.

Predictors of non-response to successive waves of surveys in the Japan Environment and Children's Study during the 3-year postpartum period: a longitudinal cohort study.

Objectives: We examined changes in factors related to non-response to successive waves of the nationwide birth cohort study, the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS), during the first 3 years after childbirth.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: As the baseline survey, mothers completed self-administered questionnaires distributed by hand during pregnancy or 1 month after delivery.

The compound LG283 inhibits bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis via antagonizing TGF-β signaling.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a collagen disease that exhibits intractable fibrosis and vascular injury of the skin and internal organs. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/Smad signaling plays a central role in extracellular matrix (ECM) production by α-SMA-positive myofibroblasts. Myofibroblasts may be partially derived from various precursor cells in addition to resident fibroblasts.

Causal model of the association of social support during pregnancy with a perinatal and postpartum depressive state: A nationwide birth cohort - the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Background: Despite many epidemiological studies on the relationship between social support during pregnancy and perinatal/postpartum depression, its impact remains unclear. Therefore, this study examined this association using a causal model of risk based on various levels of social support.

Methods: Participants were 88,711 mothers in an ongoing nationwide birth cohort study in Japan.

Change in cholesterol level during pregnancy and risk of postpartum depressive symptoms: the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS).

Objective: Women with postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) are at higher risk of postpartum depression (PPD) and require further assessment. Emerging evidence indicates a relationship between the total cholesterol (TC) level of blood and PPD but the results are inconsistent. In this study, we investigated the possible association of change in serum TC levels during pregnancy with the risk of PDS in a Japanese population.

Association between mothers' fish intake during pregnancy and infants' sleep duration: a nationwide longitudinal study-The Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS).

Purpose: N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), which are an important nutrient for humans, are particularly essential to the growth and development of the central nervous system (CNS) in fetuses and infants. Consequently, sufficient n-3 PUFA intake by mothers during pregnancy is considered to contribute to CNS development in their infants. CNS development is known to be associated with sleep, but no large epidemiological studies have yet confirmed that n-3 PUFA intake during pregnancy is associated with infants' sleep.

Rapid Metabolic Recovery of Donor Circulatory Death Liver Graft Using Whole Blood Perfusion: A Pig Study.

Unlabelled: Ex vivo perfusion technology has been actively developed to solve the problem of severe donor shortage. In this study, the ex vivo metabolic characteristics of porcine donation after circulatory death (DCD) liver in short-term perfusion using whole or diluted blood were compared with those of the in vivo transplanted state to evaluate their initial response to resuscitation.

Methods: The porcine DCD model was constructed by clamping the thoracic aorta.