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Airborne aerosols were collected in six size classes (PM <0.1 , PM 0.1-0.5 , PM 0.5-1 , PM 1-2.5 , PM 2.5-10 and PM >10 ) to investigate aerosol health risks in remote and industrial areas in Japan. We focused on heavy metals and their water-dispersed fractions. The average concentration of heavy metals was 18 ± 25-86 ± 48 ngm -3 for PM <0.1 , 46 ± 19-154 ± 80 for PM 0.5-1 ngm -3 , 98 ± 49-422 ± 186 ngm -3 for PM 1-2.5 , 321 ± 305-1288 ± 727 ngm -3 for PM 2.5-10 and 65 ± 52-914 ± 339 ngm -3 or PM >10 , and these concentrations were higher in industrial areas. Heavy metals emitted from domestic anthropogenic sources were added to the long-range transport component of the aerosols. The water-dispersed fraction of heavy metals contained 3.3-40.1% of the total heavy metals in each size class. The relative contribution of Zn and other species (As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Mn, V and Cu) increased in the water-dispersed fraction. Smaller particles contained greater proportions of the water-dispersed heavy metal fraction. Carcinogenic risk (CR) and the hazard index (HI) were estimated for each size class. The CR of carcinogens was at acceptable levels (<1 ×10 -6 ) for five particle size fractions. The HI values for carcinogens and noncarcinogens were also below acceptable levels (<1) for the same five size fractions. The estimated CR and HI values were dominated by contributions from the inhalation process., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a highly contagious disease that primarily affects children under five years of age. It is mainly caused by serotypes of Enterovirus A (EVA): EVA71, Coxsackievirus A types 6 (CVA6), 10 (CVA10), and 16 (CVA16). Despite being highly prevalent in Japan and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, few studies have investigated HFMD pathogens in wastewater. The present study aimed to develop a highly sensitive and broadly reactive quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay of dominant serotype CVA6, to revise previously developed CVA6, CVA10, and CVA16 assays, and to test these assays in wastewater samples from Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The new-CVA6 qPCR assay was developed with maximal nucleotide percent identity among CVA6 isolates from Japan. The new-CVA6 and revised assays were highly sensitive and had the ability to quantify respective positive controls at levels as low as 1 copy/μL. Among the 53 grab influent samples collected between March 2022 and March 2023, EVA71, CVA10, and CVA16 RNA were not detected in any samples, whereas the new-CVA6 assay could detect CVA6 RNA in 38 % (20/53) of samples. CVA6 RNA was detected at a significantly higher concentration in the summer season (3.3 ± 0.8 log 10  copies/L; 79 % (11/14)) than in autumn (2.7 ± 0.6 log 10  copies/L; 69 % (9/13)). The seasonal trend of CVA6 RNA detection in wastewater aligned with the trend of HFMD case reports in the catchment of the wastewater treatment plant. This is the first study to report the detection and seasonal trends of the EVA serotypes associated with HFMD in wastewater samples in Japan. It provides evidence that wastewater-based epidemiology is applicable even for diseases that are prevalent only in specific population groups., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We examined the changes in the concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorus (DIP) in the surface waters of the Yellow Sea (YS), the southern sea (SS) of Korea, and the East/Japan Sea (ES) from 1995 to 2021. These marginal seas neighboring the Korean Peninsula maintained nutrient concentrations approximately an order of magnitude higher than those in the Kuroshio waters, indicating extraordinarily large terrestrial source inputs. Generally, the DIN concentration in the YS increased gradually due to the accumulation of terrestrial inputs, while the nutrient concentrations in the ES declined gradually mainly due to enhanced water stratification. The SS showed the maximum DIN concentrations around 2005, associated with freshwater influence. In Korean coastal waters within ~10 km from the coastline, nutrient concentrations declined sharply during this period due to decreased terrestrial nutrient inputs. The rapid changes in the nutrient levels in these seas may significantly alter biological production., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

South Africa is classified as a low- and middle-income country, with a complex mixture of resource-rich and resource-limited settings. In the major referral hospitals, the necessary skill level exists for the management of complex challenges. However, this contrasts with the frequently-inadequate skill levels of anaesthesia practitioners in resource-limited environments. In Japan, obstetricians administer anaesthesia for 40% of caesarean deliveries and 80% of labour analgesia. Centralisation of delivery facilities is now occurring and it is expected that obstetric anaesthesiologists will be available 24 h a day in centralised facilities in the future. In China, improvements in women's reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health are critical government policies. Obstetric anaesthesia, especially labour analgesia, has received unprecedented attention. Chinese obstetric anaesthesiologists are passionate about clinical research, focusing on efficacy, safety, and topical issues. The Latin-American region has different landscapes, people, languages, and cultures, and is one of the world's regions with the most inequality. There are large gaps in research, knowledge, and health services, and the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists is committed to working with governmental and non-governmental organisations to improve patient care and access to safe anaesthesia. Anaesthesia workforce challenges, exacerbated by coronavirus disease 2019, beset North American healthcare. Pre-existing struggles by governments and decision-makers to improve health care access remain, partly due to unfamiliarity with the role of the anaesthesiologist. In addition to weaknesses in work environments and dated standards of work culture, the work-life balance demanded by new generations of anaesthesiologists must be acknowledged., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Long-term air pollution exposure has been linked to increased lung cancer mortality. However, little is known about whether day-to-day fluctuations in air pollution levels are in relation to lung cancer mortality, particularly in low-exposure settings. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term associations between air pollution and lung cancer mortality. Daily data on lung cancer mortality, fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and weather conditions were collected from Osaka Prefecture, Japan, from 2010 to 2014. Generalized linear models were combined with quasi-Poisson regression were applied to evaluate the associations between each air pollutant and lung cancer mortality after adjusting for potential confounders. Mean (standard deviation) concentrations of PM 2.5 , NO 2 , SO 2 , and CO were 16.7 (8.6) μg/m 3 , 36.8 (14.2) μg/m 3 , 11.1 (4.0) μg/m 3 , and 0.51 (0.16) mg/m 3 , respectively. Interquartile range increases in concentrations of PM 2.5 , NO 2 , SO 2 , and CO (2-d moving average) were associated with 2.65% (95% confidence intervals [CIs]: 0.96%-4.37%), 4.28% (95% CIs: 2.24%-6.36%), 3.35% (95% CIs: 1.03%-5.73%), and 4.60% (95% CIs: 2.19%-7.05%) increased risk of lung cancer mortality, respectively. Stratified analyses showed that the associations were strongest in the older population and men. Exposure‒response curves showed a continuously increasing mortality risk from lung cancer with elevation of air pollution levels, without discernible thresholds. In summary, we found evidence of increased lung cancer mortality in relation to short-term elevations in ambient air pollution. These findings may merit further research to better understand this issue., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

New psychoactive substances (NPS) are substances of abuse that easily evade existing controlled drug regulations. This study conducted a systematic review on controlled drug regulations and analyzed the numbers of new psychoactive substances (NPS) reported in six East and Southeast Asian countries in comparison to US and UK from 2009 to 2020. Generally, more NPS were reported in the US (551) and UK (400), compared to Japan (379), China (221), Singapore (142), South Korea (99), Malaysia (41), and Taiwan (35). Legislative mechanisms including the specific listing of individual substances, generic control of a family of substances, analogue control of similar substances, temporary bans of new substances were evaluated. In this review, countries that have adopted a combination of legislative mechanisms were able to identify higher numbers of NPS for regulatory control, such as the US, UK, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. These findings can provide references to countries like Malaysia and Taiwan, to strengthen NPS-related regulations nationally. Countries in the East and Southeast Asian region should be encouraged to collaborate more closely and to implement additional legislative approaches most relevant to the regional NPS trends to bridge the regulatory gap and to prevent the spread of emerging NPS., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs), including short-chain CPs (SCCPs) and medium-chain CPs (MCCPs), are hazardous chemical additives widely applied as plasticizers and flame retardants in polymers, mainly in polyvinyl chloride (PVC). In 2017, SCCPs were listed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). MCCPs were proposed for listing as POPs in 2021. SCCPs are also restricted under the Basel Convention, with two tentative low POP content (LPC) limits (100 and 10,000 mg kg -1 ) for SCCPs in waste. As a signatory Party of both conventions, Japan must ensure their implementation and manage SCCP wastes in environmentally sound ways. Therefore, we aimed to assess the occurrence of SCCPs and MCCPs in PVC consumer goods (n = 87) available in the Japanese market. CPs were detected in 48% of the samples. Regarding positive samples, children's products and toys (1.3-120,000 mg kg -1 ) were more impacted by SCCPs whereas electrical and electronic cables (1.2-59,000 mg kg -1 ) and house interior products (3.5-550 mg kg -1 ) were more impacted by MCCPs. Fourteen and four samples exceeded the LPC limit of 100 and 10,000 mg kg -1 for SCCPs, respectively. Most products were impacted by CP contents (<1 % w/w) considerably below those reported as intentional CP uses in PVC. However, 11 samples with total CP contents ranging from 1.3% to 15 % (w/w) might have been impacted by intentional CP use as secondary plasticizer in PVC. Most of the impacted consumer goods available in the Japanese market were manufactured overseas, highlighting that only restricting POPs nationally is not enough for thorough implementation of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions. Therefore, imported PVC consumer goods, PVC waste and PVC recycling streams need to be monitored as relevant potential sources of SCCPs worldwide, even where the national industry strictly follows the restriction of such chemicals., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the atmosphere, the photodegradation of neutral per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (n-PFASs) is a source of ionizable PFASs (i-PFASs). However, they are not frequently simultaneously analyzed to study their transport and sources. In this study, n-PFASs and i-PFASs were simultaneously analyzed in the atmosphere of China, Japan and Malaysia to investigate the occurrence, seasonal variations, sources and transport. Results showed that n-PFASs ranged from 4.8 to 1400 pg m -3 , with an average value of 170 pg m -3 , and 8:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (8:2 FTOH) was the most abundant compound. i-PFASs ranged from 3.7 to 330 pg m -3 , with an average value of 49 pg m -3 , and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) had the highest concentration. Generally, airborne PFASs had a decreasing gradient from cities with high population density toward less industrialized sites. i-PFASs exhibited significantly (P < 0.05) seasonal variations, which were higher in the summer. 8:2 FTOH and 10:2 FTOH had significant (P < 0.05) positive correlations with perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorodecanoic acid, suggesting that they had same sources, such as co-emission and photodegradation of FTOHs. Urumqi and Selangor were far away from industry, and high percentages (>95%) but low concentrations of PFBA were found in these cities, indicating the long-range atmospheric transport of PFBA due to its high volatility. The Summer Monsoon may promote the transport of high concentrations of PFAS from coastal cities to inland cities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Evidence on whether meteorological conditions affect hip fractures (HFs) is limited. This study aimed to clarify the associations between ambient temperature and sun exposure and HFs in Japan., Methods: Record of daily hospital admissions for HFs between 2015 and 2018 were extracted from a Japanese nationwide inpatient database. We conducted a time-series quasi-Poisson regression analysis using a distributed lag non-linear model with lag 0-39 days to estimate prefecture-specific relative risks (RRs) of HFs. We also estimated pooled RRs using random-effects meta-analysis., Results: We identified 355,563 HFs. For mean temperature, immediate RRs (lag 0-2 days) were 1.349 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.305, 1.395) and 0.754 (95% CI: 0.727, 0.782) for low (mean of the 2.5th percentile) and high (mean of the 97.5th percentile) mean temperature, respectively, relative to the reference (mean of medians). For sunshine duration, immediate RRs were 0.929 (95% CI: 0.913, 0.946) and 1.056 (95% CI: 1.029, 1.085) for short (mean of the 2.5th percentile) and long (mean of the 97.5th percentile) sunshine duration, respectively, and delayed RRs (lag 3-39 days) was 0.770 (95% CI: 0.696, 0.851) for long sunshine duration relative to the reference (mean of medians). Immediate RRs were larger for both exposures in patients admitted from home than in those from care facilities., Conclusions: Lower mean temperature and longer sunshine duration were associated with immediate higher HF risks. Higher mean temperature and shorter sunshine duration were associated with immediate lower HF risks. These associations were modified by admission routes. Longer sunshine duration was also associated with delayed lower HF risks., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The sampling campaign of PM 2.5 was carried out in Kitakyushu City on the western edge of Japan from 2013 to 2019, and 29 heavy metals loaded in PM 2.5 were measured in this study. During the whole sampling period, the PM 2.5 mass concentration ranged from 6.3 μg·m -3 to 57.5 μg·m -3 , with a median value of 21.3 μg·m -3 , and the sum concentration of heavy metals only accounted for 3%. According to the enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) analysis, it can be known that Se, Mo, Pb, As, Zn, W, Sb, Cu, V, Cr, Ni, and Cs were mainly from anthropogenic sources, which had EF values larger than 10 and Igeo values larger than 0. The comprehensive ecological risk index for these 12 anthropogenic metals was far greater than 600. This large index showed severe metal pollution and very high ecological risk in the urban area of Kitakyushu, Japan, which should be paid great attention. The human health assessment result further revealed that children living at the sampling site faced severe non-carcinogenic risk (HI = 7.8) and moderate carcinogenic risk (CR = 1.2 × 10 -4 ), and oral ingestion was basically the most important exposure pathway, followed by dermal contact and inhalation. The priority control metals included Mo, Se, As, Pb, Sb, and Cr; moreover, the concentration-weighted trajectory analysis (CWT) indicated that Mo, Sb, and Cr were from ship emissions because some shipping routes around the Kyushu area were identified as their potential pollution source regions, while Se, As, and Pb were carried by the air masses from the Asian landmass. Overall, although the PM 2.5 concentration in the urban area of Kitakyushu, Japan was not high, the heavy metal risk cannot be overlooked; it is necessary to strengthen the source control of high-risk metals and raise public protection awareness., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The recent outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to urgent needs for reliable diagnosis and management of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The current guideline is using RT-PCR for testing. As a complimentary tool with diagnostic imaging, chest Computed Tomography (CT) has been shown to be able to reveal visual patterns characteristic for COVID-19, which has definite value at several stages during the disease course. To facilitate CT analysis, recent efforts have focused on computer-aided characterization and diagnosis with chest CT scan, which has shown promising results. However, domain shift of data across clinical data centers poses a serious challenge when deploying learning-based models. A common way to alleviate this issue is to fine-tune the model locally with the target domains local data and annotations. Unfortunately, the availability and quality of local annotations usually varies due to heterogeneity in equipment and distribution of medical resources across the globe. This impact may be pronounced in the detection of COVID-19, since the relevant patterns vary in size, shape, and texture. In this work, we attempt to find a solution for this challenge via federated and semi-supervised learning. A multi-national database consisting of 1704 scans from three countries is adopted to study the performance gap, when training a model with one dataset and applying it to another. Expert radiologists manually delineated 945 scans for COVID-19 findings. In handling the variability in both the data and annotations, a novel federated semi-supervised learning technique is proposed to fully utilize all available data (with or without annotations). Federated learning avoids the need for sensitive data-sharing, which makes it favorable for institutions and nations with strict regulatory policy on data privacy. Moreover, semi-supervision potentially reduces the annotation burden under a distributed setting. The proposed framework is shown to be effective compared to fully supervised scenarios with conventional data sharing instead of model weight sharing., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To evaluate the transboundary pollution of organic aerosols from Northeast Asia, a highly time-resolved measurement of organic compounds was performed in March 2019 at Oki Island located in Japan, which is a remote site and less affected by local anthropogenic sources. PM 2.5 , water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) concentrations, and WSOC fraction in PM 2.5 showed high values on March 22-23 (high-WSOC period (HWSOC)) when the air mass passed through the area where many fire spots were detected in Northeast China. Biomass burning tracers showed higher concentration, especially levoglucosan exceeded 1 μg/m 3 during the HWSOC than the low-WSOC period (LWSOC). Notably, high time-resolved measurements of biomass burning tracers and back trajectory analysis during HWSOC revealed a difference in the variation of lignin pyrolyzed compounds and anhydrous sugars on 22 and 23 March. The air mass passed to different areas in Northeast China in which fire spots were detected, such as the eastern area on the 22nd and the western area on the 23rd. Almost-organic compounds also showed high concentration and strong correlations with levoglucosan and sulfate during HWSOC. Moreover, low-carbon dicarboxylic acids (e.g., adipic acid) and secondary products from anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (e.g., 2,3-dihydroxy-4-oxopentanoic, phthalic, 5-nitrosalicylic acids), also showed a strong correlation with sulfate ions during the HWSOC and LWSOC, respectively. These higher concentrations and strong correlations with levoglucosan and sulfate during the HWSOC propose that their generation could be enhanced by biomass burning. The ratios of organics (e.g., levoglucosan/mannnosan, pinic/3-methylbutane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acids) suggest that the high concentrations of PM 2.5 and WSOC observed during the HWSOC were caused by aged organic aerosols that originated from the combustion of herbaceous plants transported from Northeast China. Our findings indicate that biomass combustion in Northeast China could significantly affect the chemical compositions and the characterization of organic aerosols in downwind regions of Northeast China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

It is important that scales that evaluate body image and related attitudes and behaviors are both reliable and valid to evaluate these constructs in different countries. This paper introduces a series of five papers that examine the measurement invariance of multiple scales for men and women across eight countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the US). The papers examined measures of: sociocultural influences (i.e., appearance-related pressures) on strategies to lose weight/increase muscle; internalization of the thin/muscular ideal; body image; personality constructs; body change strategies to increase muscles and lose weight; and eating regulation. Measurement invariance was generally well-established across the eight countries. One or more items were removed in some scales for some countries to establish invariance. Factor loadings were equivalent across countries and refined scales demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability. The most frequent difference in the scales was in the item intercepts across groups, although most item intercepts were equivalent across groups. This series of papers makes an important contribution to the body image literature by demonstrating the validity of measures of body image, disordered eating, and sociocultural factors that can be used to better understand the relationship between these variables across different countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Environmental pollution in the era of sustained economic development is an inevitable occurrence. However, the rising levels of pollutant emissions hamper air quality, hence, affecting health outcomes. Previous studies have assessed the case-by-case effect of ambient air pollution on mortality and morbidity, however, the impact on disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and welfare cost have not been investigated entirely. Here, we conduct an empirical analysis of the 28-Year trend to analyze the nexus between ambient particulate matter and ozone, mortality, DALYs, and welfare cost across 195 countries and territories by employing novel dynamic panel estimation methods. We find that none of the 195 countries and territories studied between 1990 and 2017 meet WHO guideline for air quality, thus, mitigating ambient air pollution is at risk. However, Spain with an annual average of PM 2.5 not exceeding 15.12 μg/m 3 is closer to WHO guideline of 10 μg/m 3 /annum. Among the countries (China, the US, Russia, India, Germany and Japan) with the highest welfare cost of premature death associated with the exposure to outdoor PM 2.5 and ozone, China is the most vulnerable to economic burden - spending US$1.58 trillion (constant 2010) in 2017. This study demonstrates that ambient air pollution has a significant impact on economic development (welfare cost) and health outcomes (mortality, premature deaths, and DALYs)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Air pollution and atmospheric deposition have adverse effects on tree and forest health. We reviewed studies on tree and forest decline in Northeast and Southeast Asia, Siberia, and the Russian Far East (hereafter referred to as East Asia). This included studies published in domestic journals and languages. We identified information about the locations, causes, periods, and tree species exhibiting decline. Past air pollution was also reviewed. Most East Asian countries show declining trends in SO 2 concentration in recent years, although Mongolia and Russia show increasing trends. Ozone (O 3 ) concentrations are stable or gradually increasing in the East Asia region, with high maxima. Wet nitrogen (N) deposition was high in China and tropical countries, but low in Russia. The decline of trees and forests primarily occurred in the mid-latitudes of Japan, Korea, China, and Russia. Long-term large N deposition resulted in the N saturation phenomenon in Japan and China, but no clear forest health response was observed. Thereafter, forest decline symptoms, suspected to be caused by O 3 , were observed in Japan and China. In East Russia, tree decline occurred around industrial centers in Siberia. Haze events have been increasing in tropical and boreal forests, and particulate matter inhibits photosynthesis. In recent years, chronically high O 3 concentrations, in conjunction with climate change, are likely have adverse effects on tree physiology. The effects of air pollution and related factors on tree decline are summarized. Recently, the effects of air pollution on tree decline have not been apparent under the changing climate, however, monitoring air pollution is indispensable for identifying the cause of tree decline. Further economic growth is projected in Southeast Asia and therefore, the monitoring network should be expanded to tropical and boreal forest zones. Countermeasures such as restoring urban trees and rural forests are important for ensuring future ecosystem services., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society (PNIRS) created an official Chinese regional affiliate in 2012, designated PNIRS China . Now, just eight years later, the program has been so successful in advancing the science of psychoneuroimmunology that it has expanded to the whole of Asia-Oceania. In 2017, PNIRS China became PNIRS Asia-Pacific . Between 2012 and 2019, this outreach affiliate of PNIRS organized seven symposia at major scientific meetings in China as well as nine others in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. This paper summarizes the remarkable growth of PNIRS Asia-Pacific . Here, regional experts who have been instrumental in organizing these PNIRS Asia-Pacific symposia briefly review and share their views about the past, present and future state of psychoneuroimmunology research in China, Taiwan, Australia and Japan. The newest initiative of PNIRS Asia-Pacific is connecting Asia-Pacific laboratories with those in Western countries through a simple web-based registration system. These efforts not only contribute to the efforts of PNIRS to serve a truly global scientific society but also to answer the imperative call of increasing diversity in our science., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The construction of nuclear power plants in China has proceeded rapidly in recent years, and a nuclear power plant cluster is present in the coastal area of Fujian Province. Considering the lessons of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, we applied the Monte Carlo approach to calculate the correlation characteristics of earthquake impacts on the nuclear power plant cluster and to assess the seismic hazards at multiple sites. Based on the seismic source zone model, seismicity model and ground-motion prediction model of the Seismic Ground Motion Parameters Zonation Map of China, many earthquake scenarios were sampled, and the possibility of multiple sites experiencing ground motions that exceed critical values at the same time were obtained. The results show that the correlation between nuclear power plants Fuqing (C) and Putian (D) is the largest and that they have a slight probability of exceeding their respective design criteria at the same time. The correlation of earthquake impacts on nuclear power plants Ningde (A) and Xiapu (B) is also high, but the probability that they simultaneously exceed their respective design criteria is very low. This study can provide a reference for the site selection of nuclear power plants., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Genetic identification is a public health care concern for management of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) associated cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This study presents the spectrum and distribution of LDLR, APOB, PCSK9 gene mutations in Asia., Methods: Databases were searched for English papers from 1950 to 2019. The spectrum of the variants was investigated in 8994 FH families in 48 Asian countries. We determined the frequency of variants, zygosity, and clinical features., Results: Twenty countries have studied LDLR variants. A total of 629 mutations were reported and twenty variants were accounted as common variants in different populations. China, Japan, India and Taiwan constituted 68% of published articles. The most frequent mutation was reported in Japan but was not common in other countries. Other missense variants accounted for 50% of the mutations, frameshifts 19%, and nonsense 11%. The pooled frequency of variation was estimated in 1867 individuals. Approximately 67% of Iranian families were homozygous.,The common variant was p.Ser130Ter. p.Arg3527Trp in APOB was common among 184 heterozygous patients; the common variant of PCSK9 was p.Glu32Lys., Conclusions: This is the first systematic review of LDLR, APOB, PCSK9 mutations in FH patients in Asia. These findings underscore the need to fill in the gap of studies on different populations in Asia. It also underlies the importance of early detection and management to decrease atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk in different ethnicities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declared they do not have anything to disclose regarding conflict of interest with respect to this manuscript., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

China is the largest rice producer and consumer in the world. Accurate estimations of paddy rice planting area and rice grain production is important for feeding the increasing population in China. However, Southern China had substantial losses in paddy rice area over the last three decades in those regions where paddy rice has traditionally been produced. Several studies have shown increased paddy rice area in Northeast China. Here we document the annual dynamics of paddy rice area, gross primary production (GPP), and grain production in Northeast China (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces) during 2000-2017 using agricultural statistical data, satellite images, and model simulations. Annual maps derived from satellite images show that paddy rice area in Northeast China has increased by 3.68 million ha from 2000 to 2017, which is more than the total combined paddy rice area of North Korea, South Korea, and Japan. Approximately 82% of paddy rice pixels had an increase in annual GPP during 2000-2017. The expansion of paddy rice area slowed down substantially since 2015. Annual GPP from those paddy rice fields cultivated continuously over the 18 years were moderately higher than that from other paddy rice fields, which suggested that improved management practices could increase grain production in the region. There was a strong linear relationship between annual GPP and annual rice grain production in Northeast China by province and year, which illustrates the potential of using satellite-based data-driven model to track and assess grain production of paddy rice in the region. Northeast China is clearly an emerging rice production base and plays an increasing role in crop production and food security in China. However, many challenges for the further expansion and sustainable cultivation of paddy rice in Northeast China remain., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To understand the status of the radionuclides released during the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, the 134 Cs, 137 Cs and 90 Sr in the seawater in the public area of the northwest Pacific Ocean were analyzed in November-December 2012. The radioactivity of 134 Cs, 137 Cs and 90 Sr decreased sharply from June 2011 to November-December 2012. The highest average values of 134 Cs and 137 Cs were found at a depth of 500 m, suggesting that 134 Cs and 137 Cs had been transported to a depth of 500 m or deeper by the end of 2012. Total inventories of 0.80 ± 0.20 pBq for 137 Cs from the surface to a depth of 500 m and 0.07 ± 0.02 pBq for 90 Sr from the surface to a depth of 100 m were obtained in the waters southeast of Fukushima. 134 Cs was detectable in the Chinese exclusive economic zone, and the seawater quality was much lower than the target level for China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To provide an integrative review of literature on health communication in East Asia and detail culturally-specific influences., Methods: Using PRISMA model, search of PubMed, PsychInfo, Web of Knowledge, ERIC and CINAHL databases were conducted for studies between January 2000 and March 2017, using the terms 'clinician/health professional-patient', 'nurse/doctor-patient, 'communication' and 'Asia'., Results: 38 studies were included: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The existing body of research on clinician patient communication in East Asia can be classified: 1) understanding the roles and expectations of the nurse, clinician, patient, and family in clinician-patient consultations: a) nurse-patient communication; b) doctor-patient communication; c) the role of family member; and 2) factors affecting quality of care: d) cultural attitudes towards death and terminal illnesses; e) communication preferences affecting trust, decision-making and patient satisfaction; f) the extent to which patient centred care is being implemented in practice; and g) communication practices in multilingual/multi-disciplinary environments., Conclusion: The review detailed the complexity and heterogeneity of clinician-patient communication across East Asia. The studies reviewed indicate that research in East Asia is starting to move beyond a preference for Western-based communication practices., Practice Implications: There is a need to consider local culture in understanding and interpreting medical encounters in East Asia. The paper highlights the need for a specific culturally-appropriate model of health communication in East Asia which may significantly improve relationships between clinicians and patients., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The number of scientific papers is a conventional metric for the measurement of a country's research performance in a particular area., Objective: To evaluate the trend in Iranian publications of dental research results in peer-reviewed international scientific journals over the period 1999-2009, using national and international databases, and to compare the results with other countries., Methods: The search process was performed by two independent persons in PubMed and Iranian Medline (IranMedex). Data extraction included the year of publication, total number of dental papers in each year, total number of Iranian dental papers in each year and number of papers with a high level of evidence; these were compared with those in other Asian countries., Results: The total number of dental articles indexed in PubMed during the studied period was 207,689, with 671 being written by researchers who stated their affiliation as Iran. Although the proportion of Iranian dental articles to all published dental articles was 0.01% in 1990, this increased to 1.4% in 2009. Of all clinical trials indexed in PubMed from 1990 to 2009, only 0.62% had an author from Iran. The collaboration rate of authors ranged between 1 and 10. Turkey and Iran had a larger number of dental research publications compared with other Asian countries assessed in this study., Conclusion: During the last two decades, there has been a considerable increase in the number of dental papers by Iranian researchers indexed in the PubMed database., (© 2012 FDI World Dental Federation.)

The paper reviewed studies about total gaseous mercury, atmospheric particulate of mercury and average dry deposition fluxes of mercury in Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. This study compared sample collection and analytical methods for mercury in Asian countries. Analytical results indicated that the primary mercury sources are anthropogenic source (for example coal burning) and high temperature processes. This study also elucidates the sources, analytical tools, and the average concentrations for atmospheric mercury (Hg) for these Asian countries during 2000-2008. This study indicated that the total gaseous mercury concentrations were higher in urban area than that in suburban area in Asian countries (Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan). As for the seasonal variations, in general, the average total gaseous mercury concentrations were higher in winter than that in summer especially in China. In addition, the average total gaseous mercury concentrations were higher in mining areas than that in the rest of the other areas. And the total gaseous mercury concentrations were decreasing as this distance increasing. These phenomena revealed that the total gaseous mercury concentrations are reduced by long-distance transportation especially in the main land of China.

The present paper is a summary of studies conducted at the Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University, on temporal trends of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in coastal waters of Japan and South China. Archived marine mammal fat tissues and dated sediment cores were used to evaluate temporal trends of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) in relation to their usage in the region. The results indicate that environmental concentrations of these BFRs in Japan and South China increased significantly during the last several decades. Temporal trends in the contaminant concentrations were consistent with historical consumption of the corresponding BFRs. PBDE levels in marine mammals and sediments from Japan, after showing peak concentrations in the 1990s, appear to be leveling off in recent years, in accordance with the discontinued usage of Tetra- and Octa-BDEs in Japan from the 1990s. The change in concentration levels was also accompanied by changes in PBDE congener profiles, i.e. shift towards increased proportion of higher brominated BDEs. Furthermore, in recent years HBCD concentrations in marine mammals from Japan appear to exceed those of PBDEs, presumably reflecting increasing usage of HBCDs over PBDEs. In finless porpoises from the South China Sea, PBDE levels were much higher than HBCD concentrations both in the past and recent years, implying consumption of HBCDs was not as high as that of PBDEs in China. In dated sediment cores from Tokyo Bay, concentrations increased exponentially with doubling times of 4.6-7.9 years, 6.1-12 years and 7.1-12 years for BDE-209, SigmaPBDEs and HBCDs, respectively.