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Background: With the constant need for technique improvement for ensuring correct diagnoses and precise treatment, imaging examinations that use contrast media have become unavoidable and indispensable. However, the long-term effects of contrast media on renal function remain unclear in populations with advanced renal failure. This study aimed to examine the relationship between contrast media exposure and long-term trends in renal function in patients with renal failure. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients with a definitive diagnosis of chronic kidney disease who visited medical institutions in Japan between April 2012 and December 2020. The cohort was divided into contrast agent therapy and non-contrast agent therapy groups. The assessment indices were the number of contrast exposures and renal function decline. Renal function decline was calculated based on observed chronic kidney disease stage trends and glomerular filtration rate correspondence tables sourced from various guidelines. A stratified analysis focusing on changes in renal function while accounting for the acceleration of chronic kidney disease progression was also performed. Results: After adjusting for patient background with propensity score matching, 333 patients each were included in both groups. The observation period was 5.3 ± 2.1 and 4.9 ± 2.2 years per case in the contrast-enhanced and non-contrast-enhanced groups, respectively. The baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate at the beginning of the observation period was 55.2 ± 17.8 mL/min/1.73 m2 in the contrast-enhanced groups (P = 0.65). Although only slightly different in both groups, the glomerular filtration rate change was 1.1 ± 3.3 mL/min/1.73 m2/year in the contrast agent therapy group and tended to be higher with contrast media exposure. Stratified analysis showed that the annual glomerular filtration rate changes in patients with more contrast media exposures and altered renal function were 7.9 ± 7.1 mL/min/1.73 m2/year and 4.7 ± 3.6 mL/min/1.73 m2/year in the contrast agent therapy and non-contrast agent therapy groups, respectively (1.69 times, P < 0.05). Conclusion: We were able to identify a clinical trend of successful measures for preventing adverse renal outcomes associated with contrast media exposure. However, increased frequency of contrast media exposure has a long-term effect on renal function in patients with altered it. Appropriate treatment choices related to contrast media may control chronic kidney disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, Liquefied Stabilized Soil (LSS) is widely used as one of the effective utilization of excavated soil. LSS is a cement-treated soil classified as a slurry pre-mixed soil, which is easy to occur brittle failure and the addition of fiber content might improve the brittle behavior. Recently, various investigations into the strength and deformation properties of LSS with fiber were conducted. However, there is no comprehensive investigation of LSS with fiber under various combination conditions performed. Therefore, this study conducted a series of Consolidated-Undrained triaxial compression tests by a constant axial strain rate, with small unloading and reloading during the monotonic loading to investigate the effect of various densities and curing times on the mechanical properties of LSS. Also, the comparison of LSS mixed with the pulverized newspaper in the amounts of 0 and 10 kg/cm3 cured laboratory and in-situ is discussed. Based on the test results, the effect of slurry density on the strength of LSS was found to be greater than the effect of curing time. The pre-peak behavior of the q~ e a curve became more non-linear under the effect of changing slurry density, in contrast to the effect of curing time. Moreover, the damage degree of LSS with shearing becomes small with curing time, while it seems to be rather independent of slurry density. With in-situ LSS, the influence of curing time on the initial Young's modulus, E0, is lower than the effect of slurry density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Condoliase has been used in Japan to treat patients with lumbar disc herniation by its injection into the nucleus pulposus. The injection of condoliase together with contrast media is prohibited; because there are no data whether contrast media have any effect on condoliase activity. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of contrast media on condoliase activity. Methods: Condoliase with chondroitin sulfate (CS) and without CS were mixed with various contrast media (nonionic [iohexol or iotrolan]; ionic [amidotrizoic acid]). (i) The mixtures with CS were incubated at 37°C; (ii) the mixtures without CS were stored at 24°C for 60 min, followed by addition of CS to assess condoliase activity by measuring the amount of N‐acetylhexosamines enzymatically cleaved from CS using Morgan–Elson method. Results: (i) In the presence of CS, the ionic contrast media reduced condoliase activity within 10 min in a dose‐dependent manner, and the nonionic contrast media had no effect on condoliase activity for at least 120 min. (ii) In the absence of CS, the ionic contrast media almost completely inactivated condoliase within 15 min, and the nonionic contrast media also reduced condoliase activity; the residual activity was 65% with iotrolan and 35% with iohexol at 60 min. Conclusions: The ionic contrast media significantly reduced condoliase activity regardless of presence or absence of CS. Although the nonionic contrast media did not affect condoliase activity in the presence of CS, it reduced activity in the absence of CS. Mixing condoliase with contrast media, especially ionic type contrast media, should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Many studies have examined large‐scale distributions of various taxa and their drivers, emphasizing the importance of climate, topography, and land use. Most studies have dealt with distributions over a single season or annually without considering seasonality. However, animal distributions and their drivers can differ among seasons because many animals migrate to suitable climates and areas with abundant prey resources. We aim to clarify seasonality in bird distributions and their drivers. Location: Japan. Methods: We examined the effects of climate (annual mean temperature, snow depth), topography (elevation), and land use (extent of surrounding habitat) on bird species richness, in the breeding and wintering seasons separately, using nationwide data (254 forest and 43 grassland sites, respectively). We separately analyzed the species richness of all species, residents, short‐, and long‐distance migrants in forests and grasslands. Results: In the breeding season, the annual mean temperature negatively affected all groups (except for forest and grassland residents), and the extent of surrounding habitat positively affected many groups. By contrast, in the wintering season, temperature positively affected all groups (except for forest residents), and the extent of surrounding habitat positively affected only grassland long‐distance migrants. In both seasons, the species richness of forest and grassland residents was high in regions of moderate and high temperature, respectively. Moreover, snow depth negatively affected all forest groups in the wintering season. Mapping expected species richness suggested that regions with different climates served as habitats for different groups during different seasons. Main conclusions: All regions were important bird habitats depending on the season, reflecting the contrasting effects of temperature across seasons. In the breeding season, surrounding land use was also an important driver. To understand the seasonal role that each region and environment plays in maintaining species/communities, a large‐scale study considering both environmental seasonality and species distribution is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China and the United States have a great impact on Japan, Japanese attitudes toward China and the United States have been the focus of debate. This study uses nationally representative longitudinal data from Japan to investigate how the economic and political threats are relevant to Japanese attitudes toward China and the United States. Empirical analyses find that: first, socioeconomic status (SES) is significantly associated with individuals' attitudes toward the United States but not China. Second, individuals' perceptions of Japan's economic situation influence their attitudes toward China and the United States; that is, an optimistic assessment of Japan's economy increases the Japanese people's positive attitudes toward both China and the United States. Finally, the political threats have contrasting effects on Japanese attitudes toward China and the United States. Concerns over political threats increase Japan's favorable attitudes toward the United States while deteriorating the positive attitudes toward China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dam construction affects the distribution and abundance of freshwater fishes, particularly for diadromous species. Amphidromous fishes spawn in rivers, and hatched larvae descend to the sea (or standing water body such as lakes) immediately after hatching, grow there typically for a few months, and then ascend rivers as small juveniles. Landlocked populations of amphidromous fishes above dams and their migration between dam reservoirs and inlet streams (landlocked migration) have often been reported. In these cases, population density in the inlet streams may be increased by dam reservoirs, owing to reduced migration distance, which results in higher return rates. On the other hand, dams without reservoirs do not promote landlocked migration and merely act as a barrier to their upstream migration, resulting in decreased population density. In this study, we examined such contrasting effects of dams with and without reservoirs on the population density of an amphidromous goby, Rhinogobius fluviatilis, in two river systems (the Shigenobu and Yoshino Rivers) of Shikoku Island, Japan. In the Shigenobu River, where more than 300 sediment-control dams and weirs (barriers without reservoirs) have been installed, our analysis showed that the goby density decreased sharply with increasing the number of barriers higher than or equal to 2 m. On the other hand, in the Yoshino River, where we investigated both landlocked populations above water storage dams (with reservoirs) and non-landlocked populations in tributaries without water storage dams, the analysis showed that the goby density increased with decreasing the distance from standing water body (i.e. the sea or dam reservoirs). Furthermore, monthly surveys at sites above and below a water storage dam showed that the recruitment of ascending juveniles above the dam was more abundant and seasonally earlier than that below the dam, probably owing to reduced migration distance and increased return rates. Our results have implications for understanding how dams alter natural distribution patterns of amphidromous fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of attention by a third party to a comparison target on self-evaluation in social comparison. University students (N=114, 42 males and 72 females) were randomly assigned to comparison-target (superior, inferior) and perspective-taking (perspective taking of a third party, non-perspective taking) conditions. First, participants completed a linguistic performance test and were given feedback on their results. Next, participants were asked to look at another's score (either high or low) from the viewpoint of a friend, or from their own viewpoint. Finally, participants rated their own test performance. In social comparison research, a contrast effect is said to occur when self-evaluation is displaced away from the evaluation of the comparison target. The results indicated that undergraduate females who saw the other's score from the viewpoint of a friend had a contrast effect in their self-ratings. Conversely, undergraduate males who saw the other's score from their own viewpoint showed a contrast effect in their sell-ratings. The results suggest that social comparison depends on the attention of a third party and that there are gender differences in the direction of this influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although greater on- and off-the-job embeddedness are both predominately assumed to constrain voluntary turnover, we theorize how greater off-the-job embeddedness could lead employees facing high interrole conflict to be more likely to quit, though greater on-the-job embeddedness would reduce turnover likelihood in the face of conflict. Accordingly, we hypothesized that higher off-the-job embeddedness would strengthen the positive relationship between interrole conflict and turnover, whereas we expected higher on-the-job embeddedness would weaken the positive relationship between interrole conflict and turnover. To ground these diverging perspectives, we adopted the conservation of resources theory approach to job embeddedness (Kiazad, Holtom, Hom, & Newman, 2015), arguing that when employees report significant interrole conflict between work and home domains, they focus personal resources into those domains in which they are highly embedded (i.e., on- or off-the-job). We further hypothesized that the strength of on- and off-the-job embeddedness moderation effects would differ depending on the direction in which conflict is experienced (i.e., from work-to-home or from home-to-work). Data from 717 working mothers in Japan, with responses collected at three time points over 14 months, largely supported these hypotheses along with some interesting nuance. • Job embeddedness moderated work-home and home-work conflict-turnover effects. • Higher on-the-job embeddedness weakened the effect of conflict on turnover. • Higher off-the-job embeddedness strengthened the effect of conflict on turnover. • Off-the-job embeddedness more strongly moderated work-home conflict-turnover. • On-the-job embeddedness more strongly moderated home-work conflict-turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]