Components of particulate matter as potential risk factors for acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 µm (PM) is a heterogeneous mixture, and specific substances that affect cardiovascular events remain unknown. We aimed to examine the association of short-term exposure to PM and its components with hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Intra-day and inter-day variations of methylmercury and inorganic mercury concentrations in breast milk.

Background: There is little information regarding the concentrations and variability of methylmercury (MeHg) in breast milk. This study examines the variations in the concentrations of total mercury (THg), MeHg, and inorganic mercury (IHg) in breast milk and suggests a method for collecting breast milk samples for MeHg research.

Methods: Breast milk samples were obtained from 11 lactating women, 3-5 months after birth.

Oral exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics induces anxiety-like behavior and cognitive deficit accompanied with alteration of neuroimmune markers in rats.

Microplastic (MP) pollution has become a global environmental issue, but its potential health effect remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the effect of oral administration of polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs) on brain functions and behaviors. Five-week-old Sprague Dawley male rats were given 50 nm PSNPs orally at doses of 10 or 50 mg/kg thrice per week for four weeks.

Impacts of biochar addition on anaerobic digestion of food waste with hydrogen.

Anaerobic digestion is a promising waste-to-energy method for treating organic solid waste. However, the unavoidable generation of CO decreased its calorific value and potential application. This study presented a novel method to enhance the methane yield and decrease CO production of digestion by coupling biochar and hydrogen.

Short-term association between hot nights and mortality: a multicountry analysis in 178 locations considering hourly ambient temperature.

Background: The rise in hot nights over recent decades and projections of further increases due to climate change underscores the critical need to understand their impact. This knowledge is essential for shaping public health strategies and guiding adaptation efforts. Despite their significance, research on the implications of hot nights remains limited.

Peripubertal lung growth pattern in Japanese school children.

The peripubertal growth pattern of lung function remains underexplored in relation to height growth. This study aimed to first clarify the relationship between the age at peak growth velocity in lung function variables and the age at peak height velocity (APHV) and second identify sex differences in lung function growth patterns. Lung function and height were measured annually in children aged 9-15 years (elementary schools, N = 1307; junior high schools, N = 792) from 2011 to 2018.

Prenatal exposure to organophosphorus flame retardants and birth outcomes: A cross-sectional study in an e-waste area in China.

Organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs), widely adopted as substitutes for restricted brominated flame retardants (BFRs), have emerged as significant environmental contaminants in regions burdened by electronic waste (e-waste) recycling activities. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between prenatal exposure to OPFRs and infant birth outcomes in an e-waste area. We used programmed-temperature vaporizer gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PTV-GC/MS) to measure the concentrations of thirteen OPFRs in umbilical cord blood samples from 131 mother-infant pairs in Taizhou.

Common garden experiments suggest terpene-mediated associations between phyllosphere microbes and Japanese cedar.

Plant-microbe interactions in the phyllosphere provide invaluable information on plant ecology, with implications for ecosystem functioning and plant-atmosphere feedbacks. The composition of phyllosphere microbes varies significantly depending on host lineages, geographic regions, and climatic conditions. However, the factors driving these variations in interactions with plants remain poorly understood.

Recent Advances in the Observation and Modeling of Aerosol-Cloud Interactions, Cloud Feedbacks, and Earth's Energy Imbalance: A Review.

Purpose Of Review: This review focuses on improving the understanding of the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud processes, precipitation, radiation, climate, associated feedback mechanisms, and Earth's energy imbalance (EEI), with a particular emphasis on literature published after the IPCC AR6.

Recent Findings: EarthCARE, an epoch-making satellite mission, has just been launched in 2024. Global climate models (GCMs) have become sophisticated, particularly with respect to the treatment of precipitation, and novel GCMs have been developed for the upcoming Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP).

Warming of northern peatlands increases the global temperature overshoot challenge.

Meeting the Paris Agreement's temperature goals requires limiting future carbon emissions, yet current policies make temporarily overshooting the 1.5°C target likely. The potential climate feedback from destabilizing peatlands, storing large amounts of carbon, remains poorly quantified.

Dietary diversity and the risk of metabolic syndrome in a Japanese population: an analysis of baseline cross-sectional data from the J-MICC study.

Background: With the increasing burden of metabolic syndrome, it is crucial to focus on lifestyle factors to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.

Objectives: This study aims to quantify the associations between dietary diversity and the risk of metabolic syndrome among the Japanese population.

Methods: This study was conducted using baseline data from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) study.

Unveiling the Impact of Climatic Factors on the Distribution Patterns of spp. in China's Three Northern Regions.

Understanding the impacts of climate change on species' geographic distributions is fundamental for biodiversity conservation and resource management. As a key plant group for ecological restoration and windbreak and sand fixation in arid and semi-arid ares in China's Three Northern Regions (Northeast, North, and Northwest China), spp. exhibit distribution patterns whose regulatory mechanisms by environmental factors remain unclear, with a long-term lack of climatic explanations influencing their spatial distribution.

Silver-spoon effect in agricultural crop consumers: crop consumption enhances skeletal growth in sika deer.

Owing to agricultural expansion worldwide, agricultural crops can have major effects on the life history traits of wildlife. However, the functional role of crop consumption on the life history traits of long-lived mammals is seldom evaluated quantitatively. Body size is an important life history trait because it is directly related to fitness.

Autumn leaf color brightness of Japanese alpine vegetation is projected to decrease under future climate change.

Autumn leaf coloring is an essential cultural ecosystem service, but mechanisms of color brightness have scarcely been focused on, even though the autumn color crisis (leaf fall without coloring) has been reported in Japanese alpine shrubs. To approach the mechanisms, we analyzed the relationship between brightness and environmental conditions and projected possible future changes. Autumn color brightness was measured by repeated camera observations at three Japanese alpine sites.

Consumer preferences regarding product acquisition, repair, and discharge towards a circular economy: A segment-specific market simulation based on conjoint analysis.

Consumer preferences for a circular economy are known to be heterogeneous; however, most existing studies focus exclusively on the product acquisition phase and assume homogeneous utilities. This study aims to understand consumer segments for circular business models in terms of consumer preferences and market shares, and to investigate the commonalities across the three phases of consumer engagement in the circular economy: acquisition, repair, and discharge. We combined choice-based conjoint analysis, ensemble clustering, and market simulation, and applied them to three typical products (refrigerators, laptops, and children's goods) in the Japanese market.

Release of potentially harmful elements from excavated rocks with surface alteration under dry-wet cycles.

In construction projects, rocks containing potentially harmful elements (PHEs) may be excavated and treated for reuse. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of PHE release from excavated rocks that are to be reused is crucial. Embankments constructed using excavated rocks are primarily affected by exposure to dry-wet cycles.

Associations between antenatal organophosphate pesticide exposure and pregnancy outcomes: The Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS).

To examine the association between antenatal exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides, measured using urinary dialkyl phosphate (DAP) metabolite concentrations, and pregnancy outcomes in Japan's large nationwide birth cohort. We included 4444 pregnant women from the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). Urinary concentrations of six DAP metabolites during the first trimester were measured.

Exposure assessment of ochratoxin a using paired serum and 24-hour pooled urine samples from Japanese adults.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by and species, contaminating various food products. This study aimed to characterise OTA exposure in Japanese adults by analysing serum and urinary concentrations, evaluating demographic differences, and comparing these findings with international biomonitoring data. Serum and 24-h pooled urine samples were collected from 69 individuals, including 34 males and 35 females.

Human neurons are susceptible to the internalization of small-sized nanoplastics.

Environmental pollution caused by small plastics has become a social concern due to growing awareness of their adverse impacts on organisms, including humans. While the brain has been identified as a major site of small plastic accumulation, fundamental information about their impacts at the cellular level remains limited. In this study, we investigated the neuronal uptake and toxicity of nanoplastics using the human neurons (LUHMES).

Both maternal and paternal genotypes modulate Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility in graham bean beetles.

Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is a phenomenon where embryonic development is disrupted-often leading to complete failure-when the female parent lacks the symbiont strain carried by the male parent. This mechanism, employed by maternally transmitted symbionts such as Wolbachia, facilitates their rapid spread within a host population. CI has significant potential as a tool for achieving population replacement or suppression, particularly targeting disease vectors and agricultural pests.

Assessing the Population Demographic History of the Tsushima Leopard Cat and Its Genetic Divergence Time from Continental Populations.

The Tsushima leopard cat (), an endangered feline endemic to Tsushima Island, Japan, faces critical threats due to its small and isolated population. Understanding its demographic history and genetic differentiation from continental populations is essential for conservation planning. In this study, we performed whole-genome sequencing of four Tsushima individuals and applied demographic inference methods, including pairwise sequentially Markovian coalescent (PSMC) and Sequentially Markovian Coalescent (SMC++), to reconstruct the historical effective population size () and estimate divergence times.

Distribution and accumulation patterns of tire-derived particles in coastal and lake sediments.

Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) are the largest source of microplastics. These particles are generated through friction between tires and road surfaces during use, enter aquatic environments, and may affect aquatic organisms. In this study, TRWP in sediments from 11 different water bodies in Japan were analyzed using pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Online trade of wild game meat: Implications for public health and conservation.

Trade in wild game meat (WGM) is increasing in online markets. However, the distribution of WGM in online trade remains unclear, and our limited knowledge has prevented sustainable WGM consumption that reduces the risks to human health and overcomes the challenges in wildlife management and biodiversity conservation. To explore the trends and challenges of online transactions of WGM, we analyzed the sales data from the online consumer-to-consumer market in Japan.

Polyethylene Microbead Distribution in Sediment Toxicity Test System with Estuarine Amphipod Grandidierella japonica.

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the environment and may pose risks to aquatic ecosystems. Although sediment toxicity tests are crucial for the risk assessment of MPs, exposure concentrations of MPs in sediment toxicity tests have not been quantified well yet. In this study, we developed and demonstrated a practical method to quantify MP number across all compartments of a typical sediment toxicity test system.