Breastfeeding and Children's Cognitive Development up to the Age of 4 Years: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Breastfeeding, depending on its duration, has been suggested to benefit children's cognitive development. We aimed to examine this issue by using the Japan Environment and Children's Study, a nationwide prospective birth cohort study. We evaluated the relationship between feeding methods and cognitive development in 2- and 4-year-old children.

Combination of taking neuropsychiatric medications and psychological distress in pregnant women, with behavioral problems in children at 2 years of age: The Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study.

Aim: To examine the association of the combination of taking neuropsychiatric medications from the onset of pregnancy to mid-pregnancy and maternal psychological distress at mid-pregnancy, with children's behavioral problems.

Methods: Neuropsychiatric medication use from the onset of pregnancy to mid-pregnancy was defined by the self-reported name of the neuropsychiatric medication in the questionnaire in early and mid-pregnancy. Maternal psychological distress was defined by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) ≥13 on the questionnaire in mid-pregnancy.

Palliative care practices and their relationship to training: A cross-sectional study of community-oriented physicians.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the training methods family physicians (FPs) use to enhance their professional development in palliative care. We also determined the relationship between these methods and palliative care practice.

Methods: A questionnaire survey was administered to 557 FPs.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Among Offspring Exposed to Corticosteroid and B2-Adrenergic Agonists In Utero.

Importance: Corticosteroids and β2-adrenergic agonists are commonly used during pregnancy to treat asthma. However, offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes following in utero exposure to these medications remain unclear.

Objective: To investigate the association between timing of in utero exposure to corticosteroids and β2-adrenergic agonists and offspring neurodevelopmental milestones during the first 3 years of life.

Prenatal folic acid supplement/dietary folate and cognitive development in 4-year-old offspring from the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

We evaluated the association between maternal prenatal folic acid supplement use/dietary folate intake and cognitive development in 4-year-old offspring (N = 3445) using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study. Cognitive development was evaluated using the Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development 2001. Multiple regression analysis revealed that offspring of mothers who started using folic acid supplements pre-conception had a significantly higher language-social developmental quotient (DQ) (partial regression coefficient 1.

Factors associated with new onset of father-to-infant bonding failure from 1 to 6 months postpartum: an adjunct study of the Japan environment and children's study.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the factors associated with new onset father-to-infant (paternal) bonding failure from 1 to 6 months postpartum.

Methods: This was a prospective birth-cohort study. Paternal bonding failure was evaluated using the Japanese version of the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS-J) at 1 and 6 months postpartum.

Congenital Anomalies in Infants in Fukushima from 2011 to 2014: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Introduction: This study aimed to assess congenital anomalies among infants from 2011 to 2014 in Fukushima and compare the assessment with that from other geographical regions in Japan.

Methods: We used the dataset of the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS), which is a nationwide prospective birth cohort study. For the JECS, participants were recruited through 15 regional centers (RC), including Fukushima.

Maternal prenatal psychological distress and motor/cognitive development in two-year-old offspring: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Maternal prenatal psychological distress, including depression and anxiety, may affect offspring's motor/cognitive development. However, research findings have been inconsistent. We used a dataset from the Japan Environment and Children's Study to evaluate associations between maternal six-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) scores and motor/cognitive development among offspring at two years of age.

Association between maternal prenatal psychological distress and autism spectrum disorder among 3-year-old children: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Maternal prenatal psychological distress, which includes depression and anxiety, affects the onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is no consistent knowledge regarding at which term during pregnancy psychological distress affects the risk of ASD among children. We used a dataset obtained from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, which is a nationwide prospective birth cohort study, to evaluate the association between the six-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) and ASD among 3-year-old children.

Maternal folic acid supplement use/dietary folate intake from preconception to early pregnancy and neurodevelopment in 2-year-old offspring: the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

We evaluated the association between maternal prenatal folic acid supplementation/dietary folate intake and motor and cognitive development in 2-year-old offspring using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study database. Neurodevelopment of 2-year-old offspring were evaluated using the Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development 2001. In total, data of 3839 offspring were analysed.

Prenatal folic acid supplementation and autism spectrum disorder in 3-year-old offspring: the Japan environment and children's study.

Objective: We evaluated the relationship between prenatal folic acid supplementation and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 3-year-old offspring.

Methods: We used data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, a nationwide prospective birth cohort study. We analyzed the data to determine the association between folic acid supplement use and the incidence of ASD in offspring, and classified participants into three groups based on the time of initiation of folic acid supplementation, as follows: (1) preconception users of folic acid supplements and (2) post-conception users, and (3) non-users.

Implementation and Evaluation of Life-planning Lecture to Enhance Perspective-Taking among High School Students: A School-based Nonrandomized Waitlist Intervention Study in Japan.

Introduction: The Australian "empathy session," which is a parenting program aimed at alleviating postpartum depression by increasing empathy among expecting couples, was adapted to a life-planning education program for Japanese high school students. In this present study, we aimed to assess changes in high school students' empathy levels.

Methods: A nonrandomized, controlled, waitlist intervention was performed in 210 first-year students.

Anatomical Evidence for a Direct Projection from Purkinje Cells in the Mouse Cerebellar Vermis to Medial Parabrachial Nucleus.

Cerebellar malformations cause changes to the sleep-wake cycle, resulting in sleep disturbance. However, it is unclear how the cerebellum contributes to the sleep-wake cycle. To examine the neural connections between the cerebellum and the nuclei involved in the sleep-wake cycle, we investigated the axonal projections of Purkinje cells in the mouse posterior vermis by using an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector (serotype rh10) as an anterograde tracer.

Collaborative Processes of Developing A Health Literacy Toolkit: A Case from Fukushima after the Nuclear Accident.

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, the central government provided health and radiation-related information that was incomplete, difficult to understand and contradictory, leading to widespread distrust in the community. Thus, from 2013 to 2014, we developed and implemented a series of health literacy training workshops for local public health nurses, often the first health care professionals with whom members of the community interact. The results from our program evaluation revealed that the task of paraphrasing professional terms and skills related to relaying numeric information to the community were difficult for the nurses to acquire.

The contribution of neck dissection for residual neck disease after chemoradiotherapy in advanced oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Background: Planned neck dissection after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) has remained controversial in advanced oro- and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OHSCC) patients. We evaluated the survival contribution of neck dissection (ND) in OHSCC patients with residual nodal disease following CRT.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 84 OHSCC patients with N2-3 disease treated at Aichi Cancer Center Hospital between 1995 and 2006.

Role of IL-12B promoter polymorphism in Adamantiades-Behcet's disease susceptibility: An involvement of Th1 immunoreactivity against Streptococcus Sanguinis antigen.

Adamantiades-Behcet's disease (ABD) is a chronic inflammatory multisystem disorder. Although the precise etiology is unclear, high prevalence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B51 predisposition and predominantly involved T-helper type 1 cells (Th1)-type proinflammatory cytokines and extrinsic Streptococcal infection suggest a substantial association with an immunogenetic basis and strengthens the hypothesis that IL-12, a potent inducer of Th-1 immune reaction, is a putative candidate in its pathogenesis. These clinicopathological findings led us to examine interleukin 12 p40 (IL-12B) promoter polymorphism, for which the 4-base pair (bp) heterozygous insertion has been shown to affect the gene transcription and subsequent protein production.

c-kit Mutations in patients with childhood-onset mastocytosis and genotype-phenotype correlation.

Mastocytosis represents a clonal proliferation of mast cell hematopoietic progenitors caused by gain-of-function mutations of the c-kit gene. The heterogeneity of c-kit mutations may have contributed to difficulties in characterizing genotype-phenotype correlation of the disease. Our goal was to analyze a set of reported pathogenic c-kit mutations in patients with childhood-onset cutaneous mastocytosis, in comparison with those with adult-onset disease, and to correlate these with clinical presentation.