The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Handbook was created in Japan about 76 years ago, when Japan was a poor country with high infant and maternal mortality, with the aim of promoting health and ...well-being for mothers, newborns, and children. Today, MCH Handbook programs have been introduced in more than 50 countries and regions in Asia, Africa, America, and Europe. The MCH Handbook is an indispensable tool in our efforts to crystallize the idea of leaving no one behind. Each country in Asia and Oceania has its own culture and customs of pregnancy, delivery, and child-rearing. Each culture should be respected as worthy, and good practices and lessons should be learned and shared. We hope that the MCH Handbook will promote health and well-being for mothers, newborns, children, and families, while celebrating many elements of their traditional culture.
Recent research suggests that Japanese inter-prefecture inequality in the risk of death before reaching 5 years old has increased since the 2000s. Despite this, there have been no studies examining ...recent trends in inequality in the infant mortality rate (IMR) with associated socioeconomic characteristics. This study specifically focused on household occupation, environment, and support systems for perinatal parents.
Using national vital statistics by household occupation aggregated in 47 prefectures from 1999 through 2017, we conducted multilevel negative binomial regression analysis to evaluate occupation/IMR associations and joinpoint analysis to observe temporal trends. We also created thematic maps to depict the geographical distribution of the IMR.
Compared to the most privileged occupations (ie, type II regular workers; including employees in companies with over 100 employees), IMR ratios were 1.26 for type I regular workers (including employees in companies with less than 100 employees), 1.41 for the self-employed, 1.96 for those engaged in farming, and 6.48 for unemployed workers. The IMR ratio among farming households was 1.75 in the prefectures with the highest population density (vs the lowest) and 1.41 in prefectures with the highest number of farming households per 100 households (vs the lowest). Joinpoint regression showed a yearly monotonic increase in the differences and ratios of IMRs among farming households compared to type II regular worker households. For unemployed workers, differences in IMRs increased sharply from 2009 while ratios increased from 2012.
Inter-occupational IMR inequality increased from 1999 through 2017 in Japan. Further studies using individual-level data are warranted to better understand the mechanisms that contributed to this increase.
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FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, UL, UM, UPUK
•The oldest radiolarian fossils were recovered.•Most of the radiolarians are related with the order Spumellaria.•Early morphology of radiolarians is multilayered spherical without ...spicule(s).•Molecular appearance of radiolarian was estimated deep in Neoproterozoic.•Advent of radiolarians brought biogenetic influence into silica cycle and sediment.
Radiolarian, as a group of siliceous skeleton-bearing heterotrophic protist, has a long history from modern ocean back to the Cambrian. The earliest stage in the evolution of radiolarians, although poorly understood, is important not only for itself but also with respect to the development of the global silica cycle and biogenetic siliceous sediments. It has been hypothesized that radiolarians evolved from an ancestral form constructed by spicules, although this is not without controversy since origin and their early morphology is still in dispute. However, the record of Cambrian radiolarians, especially the early Cambrian, is still sparse. Here we report a research in chert of the Liuchapo Formation from the latest Ediacaran to early Cambrian in South China that yielded the most probable oldest radiolarians from deep-water settings. Accompanied fossils and stratigraphic correlation indicate a Fortunian age. Judging by the prominent concentric multilayered shell and absence of spicules, the fossils were classified into the order Spumellaria according to the advance of radiolarian taxonomy and phylogeny. They can be compared with radiolarians from Series 2 to Furongian of the Cambrian. Molecular study conducted here also supports the existence of spumellarian during the Cambrian. Together with other reports of Cambrian radiolarians in recent years, the occurrence of non-spicule forms predates the ones constructed by spicules, which do not support the previous assumption about primitive radiolarian. The discovery not only added to the sparse fossils record of the Cambrian radiolarian, but also demonstrated their contribution to silica cycle and siliceous sediments. Evolution of early radiolarians still subjects to open discussion and awaits more evidence.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract Unique architectures of microbial skeletons are viewed as a model for the architectural design of artificial structural materials. In particular, the specific geometric arrangement of a ...spherical skeleton 0.5–1.5 mm in diameter of shell-bearing protists, Phaeodaria ( Aulosphaera sp.), is remarkably interesting because of its similarity to a geodesic polyhedron, which is a hollow framework with 6-branched nodes that requires minimal building material for maximal strength. A phaeodarian skeleton composed of silica rods 5–10 µm in diameter was characterized as a distorted dome that is based on an icosahedron sectioned with a 7-frequency subdivision. The major difference of the biogenic architecture from the ideal geodesic dome is the coexistence of 7- and 5-branched nodes with the distortion of the frames and the presence of radial spines. From a microscopic perspective, the frames and radial spines were revealed to be hollow tubes having inner fibers and lamellar walls consisting of silica nanoparticles 4–8 nm in diameter with interlayer organic matter. The high degradability of the silica skeleton in seawater after cell mortality is ascribed to the specific nanometric composite structure. The biological architectonics sheds light on the production of environmentally friendly, lightweight structural materials and microdevices.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
DNA metabarcoding (DNA-MB) targeting the whole plankton community is a promising approach in studies of sediment samples from water bodies, but its effectiveness in ancient material is not well ...demonstrated. We applied DNA-MB of plankton in a sediment core to reconstruct the paleo-environment of Lake Shinji, Japan, through a marine lagoon/freshwater lake transition during the past 2300 years. We interpreted core-sample plankton taxonomy and habitat by reference to the modern plankton community in water samples. OTUs (operational taxonomic units) belonging to Dictyochophyceae were 81.05% of the total reads in sediments. However, Ciliophora, Copepoda and Labyrinthulea formed the majority of plankton taxa in the water samples, suggesting that they are under-represented in sediment. A drastic change in plankton composition correlated with a large decrease in sediment sulfur concentration, implying the change of aquatic environment from marine lagoon to freshwater lake. This event took place ca. 1200 CE in Lake Shinji. A 250 year-long transitional period followed, during which the total DNA sequence reads were very low. This suggests that salinity fluctuations created a hostile environment for both marine and freshwater plankton species. Our results show that DNA-MB of the whole plankton community is effective in reconstructing paleo-environments.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study evaluated the effects of childhood experiences of parental corporal punishment (CP) and neglectful parenting (NP) on Japanese university students' endorsement of parental CP (EPP) to ...discipline children, in relation to subjective happiness (SH). A total of 536 undergraduate students who showed no physical symptoms completed anonymous paper-based questionnaires addressing demographic characteristics, undergraduate classes, and recent health conditions on SF-8 (PCS, MCS). It was found that the proportions of participants who experienced pervasive CP and NP were larger in men than in women (36.5% vs. 19.4% for CP; 22.1% vs. 9.7% for NP). Multiple regression analyses (n = 346) revealed that the CP score was associated with positive EPP (β = 0.310, p < 0.001). Further, students whose major was nursery education reported significantly lower level of EPP; however, neither SH nor good recent health conditions significantly reduced EPP. The NP score was inversely associated with the SH score (β = -0.253, p < 0.001) (n = 346). In conclusion, childhood experiences of parental CP may affect adolescents' views related to their own parenting. Further investigation using internationally comparable methodologies, especially in prospective cohort studies, is warranted, not only in Japan but also in other Asian countries.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Entactinaria, an order of Radiolaria, are defined by a specific skeletal structure called “initial spicular system (ISS)”. The oldest entactinarians appeared in the Ordovician period, and the extant ...species are thought to have survived until today. However, the morphological observation revealed that the ISSs of entactinarian families are highly variable, and the validity of this characteristic is questionable. This is supported by the results of 18S and 28S rRNA molecular phylogenetic analysis that suggested the polyphyly of the four families analyzed in this study. Orosphaeridae, Rhizosphaeridae, Hexalonchidae and Hexastylidae should be excluded from the order Entactinaria. Considering the present results and the diversity in the ISS, it is also possible that “living entactinarians” are polyphyletic.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
To assess the effectiveness of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) handbook in Mongolia to increase antenatal clinic attendance, and to enhance health-seeking behaviors and other health outcomes.
A ...cluster randomized trial was conducted using the translated MCH handbook in Bulgan, Mongolia to assess its effectiveness in promoting antenatal care attendance. Pregnant women were recruited from 18 randomly allocated districts using shuffled, sealed envelopes. The handbook was implemented immediately for women at their first antenatal visit in the intervention group, and nine months later in the control group. The primary outcome was the number of antenatal care visits of all women residing in the selected districts. Cluster effects were adjusted for using generalized estimation equation. Masking was not possible among care providers, pregnant women and assessors.
Nine districts were allocated to the intervention group and the remainder to the control group. The intervention group (253 women) attended antenatal clinics on average 6•9 times, while the control group (248 women) attended 6•2 times. Socioeconomic status affected the frequency of clinic attendance: women of higher socioeconomic status visited antenatal clinics more often. Pregnancy complications were more likely to be detected among women using the handbook.
The MCH handbook promotes continuous care and showed an increase in antenatal visits among the intervention group. The intervention will help to identify maternal morbidities during pregnancy and promote health-seeking behaviors.
UMIN Clinical Trial Registry UMIN000001748.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Two Pyrenopeziza species, P. protrusa and P. nervicola known to have similar morphology, were newly reported from Japan. This study clarified that P. protrusa morphologically differs from P. ...nervicola in (1) more protruded outermost cells in ectal excipulum, (2) smaller ascospores, and (3) longer and thinner asci. Pyrenopeziza protrusa produces chlamydospore-like brown cells under culture while P. nervicola forms more complex, brown bulbils. These species formed distinct clades based on ITS-5.8S rDNA in the phylogenetic analysis. The two species did not share the same host.
•Two Pyrenopeziza species were newly reported from Japan.•The two species produce characteristic structures in culture previously unreported.•The two species were well-defined by barcoding sequences.
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