Search

The iron sand around Mt. Aburayama (Fukuoka, Japan), where various ancient iron‐making sites are located, was investigated to establish a research infrastructure for identification of the raw material used in the archeological iron artifacts excavated from this area. Iron sand samples were magnetically collected from the rivers flowing in this area and nearby outcrop soil. The samples were qualitatively analyzed using Mössbauer spectroscopy and x‐ray diffractometry to identify the minerals present inside them. Additionally, the elemental concentrations in these samples were determined using x‐ray fluorescence spectrometry. The iron sand samples were characterized by comparing them with those from other Japanese regions using scatter diagrams developed based on the elemental concentrations in the samples. The scatter diagrams showed clear distinctions between the iron sand samples from the Mt. Aburayama area and other Japanese regions. These diagrams may enable us to clarify the relationship between the iron sand and archeological iron artifacts found in the vicinity of Mt. Aburayama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether uncinate duct dilatation (UDD) increases the risk of high-grade dysplasia or invasive carcinoma (HGD/IC) in Fukuoka-positive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs). Background: Though classified as a branch duct, the uncinate duct is the primary duct of the pancreatic ventral anlage. We hypothesized that UDD, like main duct dilatation, confers additional risk for HGD/IC. Methods: A total of 467 patients met inclusion criteria in a retrospective cohort study of surgically resected IPMNs at the Massachusetts General Hospital. We used multivariable logistic regression to analyze the association between UDD (defined as ≥4 mm) and HGD/IC, controlling for Fukuoka risk criteria. In a secondary analysis, the modeling was repeated in the 194 patients with dorsal branch duct IPMNs (BD-IPMNs) in the pancreatic neck, body, or tail. Results: Mean age at surgery was 70, and 229 (49%) patients were female. In total, 267 (57%) patients had only worrisome features and 200 (43%) had at least 1 high-risk feature. UDD was present in 164 (35%) patients, of whom 118 (73%) had HGD/IC. On multivariable analysis, UDD increased the odds of HGD/IC by 2.8-fold, even while controlling for Fukuoka risk factors (95% CI: 1.8–4.4, P <0.001). Prevalence of HGD/IC in all patients with UDD was 73%, compared with 74% in patients with high-risk stigmata and 73% in patients with main duct IPMNs. In the secondary analysis, UDD increased the odds of HGD/IC by 3.2-fold in patients with dorsal BD-IPMNs (95% CI: 1.3–7.7, P =0.010). Conclusions: UDD confers additional risk for HGD/IC unaccounted for by current Fukuoka criteria. Further research can extend this study to Fukuoka-negative patients, including unresected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the components of fine particulate matter, i.e., PM2.5, we have analyzed the factors that led to the high concentrations of each chemical component in PM2.5 during our observations in Fukuoka, Japan in spring 2020. The backward trajectory showed that air masses reached Fukuoka via the Yellow Sea and the southern part of South Korea when PM2.5 and each chemical component were high in concentrations. On the other hand, diurnal variations in ozone were also observed, suggesting that both transboundary and local air pollution are involved. Air masses reached the southern part of the Kyushu region when only sulfate concentrations were high. A volcano eruption led the high sulfate concentration. When only polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations were high, air masses often reached the northern part of Kyushu, indicating that there may be a specific local source for PAHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The ratio of organic farming in Japan stagnated in terms of area and involved farmers despite the richness in history symbolized in terms such as the Fukuoka methods or the more recent Teikei. This paper first reviews the historical development of Japan’s organic agriculture from the 1930s (first epoch), regarding Japanese ethnicity and its roots and relationships to nature. Based on this analysis, we critically evaluate policy development from the 1990s (second epoch). Here, we provide potential explanation for the low ratio of organic agriculture in Japan. By combing the conceptual analysis of ethnicity and organic movements, the underpinning factors that underlie the development of organic farming are analyzed both from historical and cultural contexts. Natural farming is a separate individual practice in Japan, with its own philosophical backgrounds. This initial 1930s terminology of “natural farming” or shizen nōhō (自然農法) was translated into yūki nōgyō (有機農業) in the 1970s. This review claims that the meaning of organic agriculture got too narrow to promote organic agriculture with the governmental intervention and standardization from the 1990s. The initial phase of yūki nōgyō also had such a problem as the concept became increasingly institutionalized through government standardization and policy from the 1990s. Currently, at the conceptual level, the linkage to nature, i.e., “shizen,” is confined into “non-use of chemical components” through formal institutionalization, and the ethnic elements or philosophical and historical roots are neglected. Similar phenomena of “commodification of organic farming” are widely known in matured markets in the USA and Europe, but the discrepancy of “nature” and “organic” agriculture is particularly also observed in contemporary Japan.

Focusing on the components of fine particulate matter, i.e., PM2.5, we have analyzed the factors that led to the high concentrations of each chemical component in PM2.5 during our observations in Fukuoka, Japan in spring 2020. The backward trajectory showed that air masses reached Fukuoka via the Yellow Sea and the southern part of South Korea when PM2.5 and each chemical component were high in concentrations. On the other hand, diurnal variations in ozone were also observed, suggesting that both transboundary and local air pollution are involved. Air masses reached the southern part of the Kyushu region when only sulfate concentrations were high. A volcano eruption led the high sulfate concentration. When only polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations were high, air masses often reached the northern part of Kyushu, indicating that there may be a specific local source for PAHs.

Pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) are diagnostically challenging and there are currently several different guidelines. The aim of this study was to compare diagnostic performance of the most widely utilized International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) guidelines and the recent evidence-based European guidelines and to report on postoperative outcomes following surgical treatment of PCLs. This is a retrospective single-center study of patients undergoing surgery due to a PCL between 2010 and 2019. Primary outcome was a comparison of diagnostic performance between IAP and European guidelines, measured in area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Other outcomes included diagnostic performance of different risk features, 30-day postoperative mortality and major morbidity, final diagnosis, and overall survival. We identified 137 patients, three of whom did not undergo curative surgery due to metastatic disease. Overall, there was no difference in the performance of the two guidelines with AUC values ranging from 0.572–0.610 and 0.607–0.621 for IAP and European guidelines respectively. Postoperative 30-day mortality and major morbidity were 0% (95% CI 0.0–2.7%) and 37.3% (95% CI 29.1–46.1%), respectively. More than half of the resected lesions (52.6%) were low-grade dysplastic or non-neoplastic. Overall, the IAP and the European guidelines performed equally, although European guidelines had a slightly higher mean specificity. Pancreatic surgery is associated with high major morbidity, and there is a need for new diagnostic tools and strategies in order to decrease the amount of overtreatment in patients with PCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, several guidelines have been introduced to guide management of mucinous pancreatic cystic neoplasms (mPCN). In this study, we aimed to evaluate and compare the clinically utility of the Sendai-06, Fukuoka-12, Fukuoka-17 and European-18 guidelines in predicting malignancy of mPCN. One hundred and eighty-eight patients with mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCN) or intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) who underwent surgery were retrospectively reviewed and classified under the 4 guidelines. Malignancy was defined as high grade dysplasia and invasive carcinoma. Raised CA19-9>37U/ml, enhancing mural nodule≥5 mm and main pancreatic duct≥10 mm were significantly associated with malignancy on multivariate analysis. Increasing number of high risk features, absolute indications (European-18), worrisome risk or relative indications (European-18) were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of malignancy. The positive predictive values (PPV) of high risk features for Sendai-06, Fukuoka-12, Fukuoka-17 and absolute indications (European-18) for malignancy were 53%, 76%, 78% and 78% respectively. The negative predictive values (NPV) of the Sendai-06, Fukuoka-12 and Fukuoka-17 were 100%, while that of the European-18 was 92%. Risk of malignancy for patients with ≥4 worrisome features (Fukuoka-17) and ≥3 relative indications (European-18) was 66.7% and 75.0% respectively. All 4 guidelines studied were useful in the initial triage of mPCN for the risk stratification of malignancy. The Fukuoka-17 had the highest PPV and NPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focuses on the formation process of the relief system for repatriates at Hakata port, located in Fukuoka prefecture during the first three months, after the unconditional surrender by the Japanese Imperial Government on August 14, 1945, until the establishment of the Interim Office for Repatriates in Fukuoka on November 15. It highlights the ethnic discrimination by Japanese officers displayed to Korean returnees. In comparison with Japanese repatriates, Korean returnees faced challenging health conditions with respect to transport, shelter, nutrition, inspection and other basic services. Before the arrival of the local occupation forces in the port, Korean repatriates had to bear systematic discrimination by the Japanese government, the Government General of Chosŏn, and the Fukuoka Prefectural government.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the inter-urban linkage between the non-capital cities in Korea and Japan, focusing on the relationships between Fukuoka and Busan, as part of an empirical research on the internationalization of non-capital cities in East Asia. We attempt to subdivide international trade activities of firms and analyze foreign destinations based on cities. The linkage between Busan and Fukuoka mainly sits at the apex of the international urban system, from the perspective of the gateway of 'Physical Distribution' and 'Business Trip'; however, links to Tokyo and Osaka mostly act as 'Transaction' and functional cores such as sales channels. Fukuoka airport and Shimonoseki port have been utilized as a gateway. Fukuoka Airport has a promising evaluation concerning accessibility and convenience. Shimonoseki port has certain advantages due to the short time required for customs formalities, brevity of the shipping time and convenient daily shipping schedules.

This paper profiles Fukuoka City in Kyushu, Japan. We focus on the city's local climate change adaptation policies, and in particular the role of urban and greenspace planning in facilitating adaptation actions within Fukuoka. Fukuoka is a humid subtropical city which is currently experiencing significant population and economic growth. It has also made comparatively rigorous advances in climate adaptation, in a country context where local governments have been criticised for focusing more on mitigation. Fukuoka hence may yield lessons for other rapidly urbanising subtropical Asian cities. We illustrate that Fukuoka has a long tradition of science-policy connection towards the creation of a liveable urban environment. This creates a favourable research and policy infrastructure for adaptation, in particular mitigation of heat risk. This is evidenced in consideration of climate issues within the city's greenspace plans since the 1990s, and in an extensive body of underpinning applied research from local institutions into urban thermal environments in particular. Fukuoka's green terraced ACROS building has come to symbolise adaptation via the built environment, and has been followed by the emergence of further green roofs and through citizen and private sector involvement in smaller-scale greening actions. We caution that challenges remain around connecting different sections of local governments, and in maintaining climate and environmental imperatives in the face of ongoing development and expansion pressures. • Fukuoka among early adopters of municipal climate change adaptation action in Japan • Fukuoka demonstrates adaptation responses for an expanding sub-tropical Asian city. • Understanding of wind corridors and cooling by greening informs Fukuoka city plans. • Adaptation via planning continues much longer trend of liveable urban environment. • Challenges remain in balancing economic development pressures with climate actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Assess role of techno-scientific expertise in governing urban environmental change. • Evaluate evidence-driven built environment and greenspace policy in Fukuoka. • Epistemic community shapes Fukuoka's built environment and greenspace policy. • Local history gives favourable context for environmental science in public interest. • Findings nuance understanding of how epistemic communities work at urban scale. This paper evaluates the role of epistemic communities in shaping local environmental policy, through the case of management of environmental change through planning and greenspace in Fukuoka City, Japan. Amidst increasing global interest in the role of evidence-based policy and urban science in responding to environmental issues in cities, Fukuoka is distinctive. Locally-situated scholars in Fukuoka have, for several decades, sought to shape local responses to environmental change by influencing policy for the built environment and greenspace. Through analysis of scholarly outputs produced by scholars working at universities and research institutes within Fukuoka and policy documentation produced by the city government, we characterise the development of Fukuoka's urban environmental change epistemic community. We suggest that built environment and greenspace policy to respond to environmental change in Fukuoka has been shaped by an epistemic community in three ways. These are: (a) a common belief in techno-scientific evidence derived from empirical observation; (b) a shared interest in urban planning and greenspace as a vehicle for realising change; and (c) a common normative concern with citizen wellbeing, rooted in negative historical experiences with pollution. We argue that policy formation driven by scholarly expertise in cities may have a greater chance of taking root if there is a favourable historical context of locally-led environmental science research, personal investment of the epistemic community members in the city, and regular dialogue between the epistemic community and wider society in the city. We conclude that a strong and reflexive epistemic community, working in collaboration with environmental and civil society actors, is important in understanding an appropriate response to current urban environmental challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic cystic neoplasms (PCNs) are no longer considered as rare entities because their prevalence in the general population ranges from 3–20%. They are usually asymptomatic, incidentally discovered, and diagnosed in the seventh decade of life. The main clinical concern with regard to PCNs is related to their risk of malignant progression, which is relevant for those PCNs that produce mucin. Since 2006, several sets of international guidelines have proposed algorithms for the management of PCNs, and these have been subsequently validated by several studies. Retrospective review of the literature shows that current treatment of PCNs remains unsatisfactory because the guidelines are based on a low level of evidence. However, the guidelines are able to correctly identify lesions that can be safely followed and, as occurs in vaccination campaigns, they are able to exercise a preventive effect in the general population.

The high time-resolution monitoring data are essential to estimate rapid changes in chemical compositions, concentrations, formation mechanisms, and likely sources of atmospheric particulate matter (PM). In this study, PM2.5 sulfate, PM2.5, PM10, and the number concentration of size-resolved PMs were monitored in Fukuoka, Japan by good time-resolved methods during the springtime. The highest monthly average PM2.5 sulfate was found in May (8.85 μg m-3), followed by April (8.36 μg m-3), March (8.13 μg m-3), and June (7.22 μg m-3). The cases exceed the Japanese central government’s safety standard for PM2.5 (35 μg m-3) reached 10.11% during four months campaign. The fraction of PM2.5 sulfate to PM2.5 varied from 12.05% to 68.11% with average value of 35.49% throughout the entire period of monitoring. This high proportion of sulfate in PM2.5 is an obvious characteristic of the ambient PM2.5 in Fukuoka during the springtime. However, the average fraction of PM2.5 sulfate to PM2.5 in three rain events occurred during our intensive campaign fell right down to 15.53%. Unusually high PM2.5 sulfate (>30 μg m-3) marked on three days were probably affected by the air parcels coming from the Chinese continent, the natural sulfur in the remote marine atmosphere, and a large number of ships sailing on the nearby sea. The theoretical number concentration of (NH4)2SO4 in PM0.5-0.3 was originally calculated and then compared to PM2.5 sulfate. A close resemblance between the diurnal variations of the theoretically calculated number concentration of (NH4)2SO4 in PM0.5-0.3 and PM2.5 sulfate concentration indicates that the secondary formed (NH4)2SO4 was the primary form of sulfate in PM2.5 during our monitoring period.

Due to the heightened ambient PM2.5 levels, the whole citizen of Japan, especially dwellers in Fukuoka Prefecture, start to make attention to the particulate matter (PM) of indoor environments. This study was aimed to thoroughly estimate the characteristics of indoor PM collected in five Japanese homes located in Fukuoka Prefecture. Simultaneous indoor measurements of PM were intensively made at five homes using filter-pack samplers, particle counters, and PM2.5 monitors for a day in springtime, 2012. Major ionic and carbonaceous components were also analyzed. The time series fluctuation of PM number concentration was gradually decreased by 6 AM and then it was rapidly increased by 8 AM in all indoor sites. The maximum level of PM2.5 was measured at the morning time (8 AM-9 AM) when the resident’s behavior was fast and strenuous. The Indoor/Outdoor (I/O) ratio for the giant PM larger than 5.0 μm was 1.16. It was possible to identify PM types and estimate the resident’s behavior through the comparison the theoretically calculated and the measured retention times for several types of PM in an indoor site. The theoretically reconstructed mass concentration of PM2.0-0.3 suggested that the portion of PM2.5 in indoor was quietly occupied by PM0.3 or the PM inherently originated from indoor environment.

The increasing threat of transportation energy insecurity, environmental issues and public health issues have led to a growing body of research that looks at the potential contribution of urban planning in reducing travel energy consumption. The sustainable planning strategies aimed at reducing travel energy consumption need to understand the relationships between urban form, travel behavior and energy consumption. This study provided additional insights into the relationships between urban form, travel mode choice and energy consumption via mode-wise (non-motorized, motorcycle, car, bus and rail) stratified models and travel energy consumption model by applying the multiple linear regression model based on 108 zones of Fukuoka city, Japan. This study suggests that urban form makes a major contribution towards conserving travel energy in cities. This study shows that the provision of bus stops and rail stations are essential alongside an increase in road connectivity, otherwise increasing only road connectivity encourages people to use private modes of transport, which is not good for travel energy conservation. The findings suggest that better transit accessibility promotes public mode use, and reduces private mode use and travel energy consumption even where travel distance is longer. Higher density with greater land use mix and better transit accessibility has a more profound influence on increasing use of the non-motorized mode.

In which the author, a historian of the modern West, goes to Japan to teach on a Fulbright and finds that his year abroad leads him to a historical topic so different from his past efforts and so close to his own experience that it takes him more than a decade to figure out an innovative way of writing the past that can express his, and he hopes that of others as well, contemporary literary sensibility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The high time-resolution monitoring data are essential to estimate rapid changes in chemical compositions, concentrations, formation mechanisms, and likely sources of atmospheric particulate matter (PM). In this study, PM2.5 sulfate, PM2.5, PM10, and the number concentration of size-resolved PMs were monitored in Fukuoka, Japan by good time-resolved methods during the springtime. The highest monthly average PM2.5 sulfate was found in May (8.85 µg m-3), followed by April (8.36 µg m-3), March (8.13 µg m-3), and June (7.22 µg m-3). The cases exceed the Japanese central government's safety standard for PM2.5 (35 µg m-3) reached 10.11% during four months campaign. The fraction of PM2.5 sulfate to PM2.5 varied from 12.05% to 68.11% with average value of 35.49% throughout the entire period of monitoring. This high proportion of sulfate in PM2.5 is an obvious characteristic of the ambient PM2.5 in Fukuoka during the springtime. However, the average fraction of PM2.5 sulfate to PM2.5 in three rain events occurred during our intensive campaign fell right down to 15.53%. Unusually high PM2.5 sulfate (>30 µg m-3) marked on three days were probably affected by the air parcels coming from the Chinese continent, the natural sulfur in the remote marine atmosphere, and a large number of ships sailing on the nearby sea. The theoretical number concentration of (NH4)2SO4 in PM0.5-0.3 was originally calculated and then compared to PM2.5 sulfate. A close resemblance between the diurnal variations of the theoretically calculated number concentration of (NH4)2SO4 in PM0.5-0.3 and PM2.5 sulfate concentration indicates that the secondary formed (NH4)2SO4 was the primary form of sulfate in PM2.5 during our monitoring period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The devolution of political power to local governments is taking new directions as cities begin to look beyond national borders to create economic synergies with city regions in other countries rather than continuing to look to linkages with their capital cities for economic benefits. In East Asia the search for transborder urban linkages comes at a time when secondary cities in higher income countries are confronting major social and economic transformations. These new trends include: the rise of China in the global economy, the turn toward neoliberal downsizing of government, demographic transitions toward declining, rapidly aging populations with a diminishing labour force compensated partly by the large-scale recruitment of foreign workers and foreign spouses. The combined result of the new dynamics is that just when political power is being devolved to the urban scale, the global trend of"shrinking cities" has reached them. The discussion focuses on recent initiatives of the local governments of Busan, South Korea, and Fukuoka, Japan, to build a "common living sphere" through transborder linkages to provide a culturally rich, people-centered alternative that contrasts with the high-technology industrial clusters being planned for them from their corporatized capital cities. In addition to economic issues, cities engaged in such transborder initiatives challenge the meaning of national borders and citizenship while also confronting new issues in accommodating the appearance of multicultural societies, which have all remained outside of mainstream discussions on decentralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Areas of Japan are known worldwide for the longevity of their residents. Okinawa has the highest longevity in Japan and a low rate of death due to cardiovascular disease. We investigated carotid atherosclerotic (CA) risk factors in islands of I city in Okinawa prefecture and compared them with K town, a suburban area of Fukuoka prefecture in Kyushu, to determine the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and carotid atherosclerosis. We investigated conventional cardiovascular risk factors in 1078 I city residents (375 men, mean age 63.7 and 703 women, mean age 60.0) in 2000 and 2364 K town residents (676 men, mean age 57.1 and 1688 women, mean age 53.0) in 1999. Carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by mean intima-media thickness (IMT) by B-mode ultrasound. The mean IMT was significantly lower in the residents of I city than in those of K town (P<0.05). Total cholesterol (TC) and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and smoking rate were also lower in I city than in K town. Body mass index (BMI) and triglyceride (TG) level were higher in I city than in K town. In I city, multiple regression analysis found independent relationships between carotid atherosclerosis and age, sex (male), hypertension, LDL cholesterol, high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and diabetes. The lower mean IMT is probably related to a lower lifetime burden of atherosclerotic risk factors, which may in turn be related to the longevity of Okinawa residents. BMI was not a cardiovascular risk factor, although LDL cholesterol was a common important risk factor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

New insights into the pathogenesis of lymphoid malignancies have been gained through novel genetic, molecular and immunological techniques. A new classification system for lymphoid malignancies, known as the new World Health Organization (WHO) classification, has been proposed recently based on these findings. The relative incidence of the subtypes of malignant lymphoma is known to differ according to geographic location. Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is a human malignancy associated with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), and the Kyushu islands are an HTLV-1 endemic area. To clarify the relationship between the histological classification and prognosis of lymphoid malignancies, we reclassified previous cases in our department and summarized our previous reports using the WHO classification. Of 933 cases of lymphoid malignancies, 471 (50%) were B-cell lymphoma, 396 (42%) T/natural killer (NK)-cell lymphoma and 41 (4%) Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Analysis of clinical outcome showed favorable prognosis for HL, intermediate for B-cell lymphoma and poor prognosis for T-cell lymphoma. Among B-cell lymphomas, the commonest type was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n = 281; 60%). Marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) was diagnosed in 82 cases (17%), follicular lymphoma in 52 (11%) and mantle cell lymphoma in 24 (5%). Other less common lymphomas were Burkitt lymphoma (n = 9; 2%) and lymphoblastic lymphoma (n = 5; 1%). Using overall survival rates, the various B-cell lymphoma types could be divided into three broad groups for prognostic purposes: (i) low-risk group comprising follicular lymphoma and MALT; (ii) intermediate-risk group comprising diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma; and (iii) high-risk group comprising mantle cell lymphoma and lymphoblastic lymphoma. Among the T/NK-cell lymphomas, the commonest type was ATLL (n = 191; 48%), followed by peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified (n = 83; 21%),... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetuses are a high-risk group for methylmercury (MeHg) exposure. The main objective of this study was to compare the characteristic profiles of total mercury (THg), inorganic mercury (IHg), MeHg, and selenium in plasma and red blood cells (RBCs) between maternal and cord blood at parturition collected from a group of Japanese women. Furthermore, correlations of THg in RBCs, which is a biomarker of MeHg, and THg in plasma, which is an IHg exposure biomarker, were examined in maternal and cord blood. Fifty-five pairs of maternal and cord blood samples obtained at parturition were collected from pregnant women in Fukuoka, Japan. THg in RBCs and plasma were significant correlated between maternal and cord blood. THg in RBCs was 13.9 ng/mL for cord and 9.16 ng/mL for maternal blood, with a cord:maternal RBCs ratio for THg of 1.58, suggesting that MeHg is actively transferred from the mother to the fetus via the placenta. THg in plasma showed a positive correlation with THg in RBCs for maternal and cord blood. This result suggests that measuring THg in plasma can overestimate the exposure level to IHg in fish-eating populations. The percentages of IHg in cord plasma and RBCs were 31% and 1.7%, respectively, and those in maternal plasma and RBCs were 46% and 5.9%, respectively. These results suggest that cord blood is rich in MeHg and can easily transfer to the fetal brain. Selenium in cord plasma was 67 ng/mL and that in maternal plasma was 97 ng/mL, with a cord:maternal plasma ratio for Se of 0.69, suggesting that the protective effects of Se against MeHg toxicity in fetuses may be weaker than those expected in adult mothers. • Total Hg in maternal and cord blood were positively correlated for plasma and RBCs. • Total Hg level in cord RBCs was 1.58 times higher than that in maternal RBCs. • Total Hg in plasma was positively correlated with that in RBCs for maternal and cord blood. • Methylmercury percentages in plasma and RBCs were higher in cord blood than those in maternal blood. • Se in cord plasma was 69% of that in maternal plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims The mural nodule is a key point of differential diagnosis of malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN). As the consensus guideline of IPMN was revised in 2017, the criteria for the worrisome feature and high risk stigmata of the mural nodule were changed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive rate of malignancy between 2012 and 2017 guideline. Methods We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent surgery caused of cystic neoplasm from March 2011 to August 2018. A total of 61 patients were included. Among these patients, MCN and main duct type IPMN were excluded. Finally, total of 25 patients were included. Results Fourteen patients were male and the median age was 68 years old. Four patients were diagnosed as malignant IPMN. The median serum CA 19-9 was 8.5 IU/mL; carcinoembryonic antigen was 2.5 IU/mL; and median largest cyst size was 35 mm. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were revealed CE mural nodules in three cases and non-CE mural nodule in four cases. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) was revealed mural nodule in seven cases. Total 11 patients have mural nodule that was proven by CT/MRI/EUS. Nine patients have a mural nodule 5 mm or more at EUS or CE mural nodule at CT/MRI. The sensitivity of malignant IPMN diagnosis was 100%; the specificity was 66.6%; and the positive predictive value was 36.4% in 2012 guideline. When we investigate the mural nodule based on the 2017 guideline; there were 100% of sensitivity; 76.2% of specificity and 44.4% of positive predictive value. Conclusions The 2017 revised guideline have slightly higher specificity and positive predictive value than those of the 2012 guideline for malignant IPMN diagnosis. The 2017 revised guideline was more accurate method to detect malignancy in terms of mural nodule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]