Risk of autism spectrum disorder at 18 months of age is associated with prenatal level of polychlorinated biphenyls exposure in a Japanese birth cohort.

Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has a detrimental effect on early cognitive development. Based on these observations, some researchers suggested that prenatal exposure to PCB may be an environmental cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To investigate the potential link between prenatal exposure to PCB, we analyzed the link between the level of prenatal PCB exposure and ASD risk evaluated at 18 months of age and behavioral problems at 5 years old based on longitudinal birth cohort data collected in urban areas in Japan based on the data from 115 mother-infant pairs.

Olfactory dysfunction in Japanese children with moderate-to-severe allergic rhinitis.

Objective: Detailed quantitative studies on olfaction remain inadequate in patients with paediatric allergic rhinitis (AR). This study examined olfactory dysfunction in children with AR.

Methods: From July 2016 to November 2018, children aged 6-9 years were recruited and grouped as AR (n = 30) or without AR (control group, n = 10).

Successful sublingual immunotherapy for severe egg allergy in children: a case report.

Background: Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies in children. To date, oral immunotherapy (OIT) has been considered as a promising treatment option for egg allergy. However, safety issues remain concerning severe adverse events requiring epinephrine injection.

Pressure accelerates the circadian clock of cyanobacteria.

Although organisms are exposed to various pressure and temperature conditions, information remains limited on how pressure affects biological rhythms. This study investigated how hydrostatic pressure affects the circadian clock (KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC) of cyanobacteria. While the circadian rhythm is inherently robust to temperature change, KaiC phosphorylation cycles that were accelerated from 22 h at 1 bar to 14 h at 200 bars caused the circadian-period length to decline.

Periostin as a biomarker for the diagnosis of pediatric asthma.

Background: There are some biomarkers for asthma diagnosis but they are often difficult in clinical use, particularly in pediatric cases. Periostin is an extracellular matrix protein, upregulated in response to IL-4 or IL-13. Serum periostin is expected to be used as a non-invasive biomarker for asthma diagnosis and management.

Protective measures, personal experience, and the affective psychology of time.

We examined the role of time and affect in intentions to purchase a risk-protective measure (Studies 1 and 2) and explored participant abilities to factor time into the likelihood judgments that presumably underlie such intentions (Study 3). Participants worried more about losing their possessions and were more likely to purchase a protective measure given a longer term lease than a short-term lease, but only if their belongings were described in affect-poor terms. If described instead as being particularly special and affect-rich, participants neglected time and were about equally likely to purchase a risk-protective measure for shorter and longer term leases.

Suppression of choroidal neovascularization by N-acetyl-cysteine in mice.

Purpose: N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) is a potent antioxidant known to be a precursor of glutathione. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of NAC in the development of choroidal neovascularization (CNV).

Methods: CNV was induced in C57BL/6 mice by laser photocoagulation of the ocular fundus.

Photodynamic therapy alone versus combined with intravitreal bevacizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration without polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in Japanese patients.

Background: To compare 12-month results of two single initial treatments--photodynamic therapy with verteporfin alone (PDT group), and this therapy combined with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) (COMB group)--for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), not including patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) who were presumed to have AMD.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 23 eyes in the PDT group and 22 eyes in the COMB group. IVB (1.

Distributions of observed death tolls govern sensitivity to human fatalities.

How we react to humanitarian crises, epidemics, and other tragic events involving the loss of human lives depends largely on the extent to which we are moved by the size of their associated death tolls. Many studies have demonstrated that people generally exhibit a diminishing sensitivity to the number of human fatalities and, equivalently, a preference for risky (vs. sure) alternatives in decisions under risk involving human losses.

Macular hole formation after macular haemorrhage associated with rupture of retinal arterial macroaneurysm.

Aim: To investigate the frequency and risk factors of macular hole (MH) formation after rupture of a retinal arterial macroaneurysm.

Methods: Fifty-six eyes from 56 patients with rupture of a retinal arterial macroaneurysm with or without an MH (MH and non-MH groups, respectively) were reviewed. Frequency and risk factors related to MH formation were assessed, with risk factors including age; sex; distance from the macroaneurysm to the fovea; incidence of haemorrhages involving the macula such as preretinal, subinternal limiting membrane (sub-ILM), subretinal and vitreous; and vitreous surgery.

Rapid improvement of massive bloody pleural effusion after splenectomy for splenic marginal zone lymphoma.

Splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) is a rare malignant lymphoma involving marginal zone B cells, accounting for only 1% of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. No previous reports have documented SMZL accompanied by massive bloody pleural effusion. Herein, the case of a patient with SMZL that was only diagnosed after splenectomy and thoracoscopic pleural biopsy is presented.

Plasmin-assisted vitrectomy for management of proliferative membrane in proliferative diabetic retinopathy: a pilot study.

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of autologous plasmin for treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Methods: The study examined prospectively six patients with bilateral proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Comparisons of the surgical time and the incidence of retinal tears were made between the eyes treated with autologous plasmin and their respective opposite eyes, which were treated without plasmin.

Pitavastatin: protection against neuronal retinal damage induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

Purpose: To evaluate the neuroprotective effects of pitavastatin against neuronal retinal damage induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

Methods And Results: Ischemia-reperfusion injury was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats using ocular hypertension. Pitavastatin (0.

Trans-Tenon's retrobulbar triamcinolone acetonide injection for macular oedema related to branch retinal vein occlusion.

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of trans-Tenon's retrobulbar triamcinolone acetonide (TA) injection for macular oedema associated with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 50 consecutive patients with macular oedema associated with BRVO who were treated with trans-Tenon's retrobulbar TA injection (20 mg) as initial treatment for a follow-up period of at least 12 months. Foveal thickness determined by optical coherence tomography, visual acuity, intraocular pressure (IOP) and cataract progression were measured.

Effect of pitavastatin on experimental choroidal neovascularization in rats.

The association between the use of statins and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness, has been evaluated in many clinical studies; however, the results have been contradictory. We evaluated the effect of pitavastatin administration on laser-induced experimental choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in rats. Brown Norway rats received pitavastatin (1.

Posterior vitreous detachment induced by nattokinase (subtilisin NAT): a novel enzyme for pharmacologic vitreolysis.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of intravitreal injection of nattokinase (subtilisin NAT), a serine protease that is produced by Bacillus subtilis (natto), for induction of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD).

Methods: Different doses of nattokinase (1, 0.1, or 0.

Morphometric nerve fiber analysis and aging process of the human inferior alveolar nerve.

We studied morphometric nerve fiber analysis and the aging process of the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN). Human IANs were resected at the mandibular foramen. The preparation of sections involved fixation, washing, dehydration, embedding, sectioning and staining as described in our previous reports.

FZD4S, a splicing variant of frizzled-4, encodes a soluble-type positive regulator of the WNT signaling pathway.

Frizzled-1 (FZD1)-FZD10 are seven-transmembrane-type WNT receptors, and SFRP1-SFRP5 are soluble-type WNT antagonists. These molecules are encoded by mutually distinct genes. We have previously isolated and characterized the 7.

Isolation of Xenopus frizzled-10A and frizzled-10B genomic clones and their expression in adult tissues and embryos.

Frizzled genes, encoding WNT receptors, play key roles in cell fate determination. Here, we isolated two Xenopus frizzled genes (Xfz10A and Xfz10B), probably reflecting pseudotetraploidy in Xenopus. Xfz10A (586 amino acids) and Xfz10B (580 amino acids) both encoded by a single exon, consisted of the N-terminal cysteine-rich domain, seven transmembrane domains, and the C-terminal Ser/Thr-X-Val motif.

Mitomycin C resistance induced by TCF-3 overexpression in gastric cancer cell line MKN28 is associated with DT-diaphorase down-regulation.

TCF transcription factors are mediators of the WNT signaling pathway and are antagonized by the transforming growth factor beta signaling pathway. Here human TCF-3 has been cloned and characterized. Differential expression analyses of TCF genes in gastric cancer revealed that TCF-1 was expressed in most cases of primary gastric cancer at almost the same level as in normal gastric mucosa and that TCF-3 was occasionally up-regulated in primary gastric cancer.

Alternative splicing of the WNT-2B/WNT-13 gene.

Secreted glycoprotein WNTs play important roles in carcinogenesis and development. We have previously reported molecular cloning of WNT-2B/WNT-13. Here, we have isolated a novel WNT-2B isoform (WNT-2B2), in addition to the original WNT-2B isoform (WNT-2B1).

Molecular cloning and characterization of human FGF-20 on chromosome 8p21.3-p22.

The fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) play important roles in morphogenesis, angiogenesis, tissue remodeling, and carcinogenesis. Human FGF-20 has been cloned and characterized in this study. FGF-20 encodes a 211-amino-acid polypeptide with the FGF-core domain.

Molecular cloning and genomic structure of human frizzled-3 at chromosome 8p21.

WNT receptors encoded by the Frizzled genes are implicated in carcinogenesis as well as in embryonic development. Human Frizzled-3 (FZD3) gene, encoding seven-transmembrane receptor with the N-terminal cysteine-rich domain, has been cloned and characterized. Expression of the FZD3 mRNAs was investigated by using three FZD3 specific probes: HF3S1, corresponding to the 5'-UTR and a part of the coding region; HF3S2, corresponding to a part of the coding region; HF3S3, corresponding to the 3'-UTR.