Persistent organic pollutants are still present in surface marine sediments from the Seto Inland Sea, Japan.

Although persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are currently banned or strictly controlled under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, POPs are still distributed worldwide due to their environmental persistence, atmospheric transport, and bioaccumulation. Herein we investigated the current concentrations of POPs in the sediments from Seto Inland Sea, Japan and sought to clarify the factors currently controlling the POPs concentration of the surface sediments from Seto Inland Sea. The concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs), and chlordane isomers (CHLs) in sediments from Seto Inland Sea were <0.

IL-23 from Langerhans cells is required for the development of imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis by induction of IL-17A-producing γδ T cells.

Psoriasis is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease that involves dysregulated interplay between immune cells and keratinocytes. Recently, it has been reported that IL-23 induces CCR6+ γδ T cells, which have the pivotal role in psoriasis-like skin inflammation in mice of producing IL-17A and IL-22. Langerhans cells (LCs) are a subset of dendritic cells that reside in the epidermis and regulate immune responses.

Combination of skin-directed therapy and oral etoposide for smoldering adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma with skin involvement.

Approximately 50% of patients with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) have skin involvement, and the smoldering, skin lesion-bearing cases are often treated with various skin-directed therapies, such as phototherapy and radiation therapy. Daily oral administration of etoposide plus prednisolone (EP) is also used for smoldering-type ATLL. However, it remains unclear whether these therapies improve patients' survival.