Initiation of breastfeeding within 120 minutes after birth is associated with breastfeeding at four months among Japanese women: A self-administered questionnaire survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The proportion of mothers in Japan who breastfeed exclusively has been low since the 1970s. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the time of first breastfeed after birth and the proportion of mothers fully breastfeeding up to four months postpartum.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire. The participants were 318 mothers who participated in a physical examination of their four month old infants in Nagasaki City, Japan in 2003.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The time of first breastfeeding up to 120 minutes was significantly associated with the proportion of mothers fully breastfeeding during their stay in the clinic/hospital (p = 0.006), at one month (p = 0.004) and at four months after birth (p = 0.003). There was no significant difference in the proportion of full breastfeeding in mothers who first breastfed between the period of less 30 minutes after birth and that of between 31 and 120 minutes after birth. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the proportion of mothers who continued full breastfeeding at four months was significantly higher in those who breastfed their baby within 120 minutes compared with more than 120 minutes (OR 2.5, p = 0.01), but was not significantly different in those who breastfed within 30 minutes compared with more than 30 minutes (OR 1.8, p = 0.06). Early breastfeeding was affected by caesarean section, premature delivery and severe bleeding during delivery.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Commencement of early breastfeeding was associated with the proportion of mothers who fully breastfed their infants up to four months. Early breastfeeding, especially within two hours, is recommended for child and maternal health.</p

Hepatitis C Treatment in Elderly Patients

The patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) are getting older and the demands for treatment to those patients are increasing due to the high risk of development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Elderly patients were previously defined as 60 years and over, however definition of the elderly patients shifted to be older year to year. Interferon (IFN) and ribavirin combination therapy was significantly improved efficacy of treatment, however ribavirin induces anemia, resulted in lower efficacy due to reduction of ribavirin for the elderly patients. And efficacy of over 60 years old was comparable to the patients under 60 years. In the CHC patients with genotype 1, the efficacy of elderly patient was significantly lower than that of younger patients, especially in female. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) therapy makes treatment efficacy improved to over 90% and side effect of treatment was dramatically reduced compared to IFN-based therapy. The efficacy of dual oral therapy by using asunaprevir (ASV) and daclatasvir (DCA) for elderly patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b has not been fully clarified. In this article we would like to show the efficacy of elderly patients with CHC, especially patients infected with genotype 1b, from the era of IFN monotherapy to the era of new DAAs

Western North Pacific Integrated Physical-Biogeochemical Ocean Observation Experiment (INBOX): Part 2. Biogeochemical responses to eddies and typhoons revealed from the S1 mooring and shipboard measurements

An interdisciplinary project called S1-INBOX (Western North Pacific Integrated PhysicalBiogeochemical Ocean Observation Experiment conducted around the S1 biogeochemical mooring site) was carried out during the summer of 2011 in the oligotrophic, subtropical North Pacific Ocean near biogeochemical mooring S1 (30° N, 145° E). Results from the S1 mooring during S1-INBOX revealed a large export flux at a depth of 200 m, a high chlorophyll a concentration in the deep chlorophyll maximum layer, and a high potential photochemical efficiency of photosystem II. These phenomena were associated with vertical uplift of isopycnal surfaces at the edge of a cyclonic eddy and a transition from the cyclonic eddy to an anticyclonic eddy. Shipboard biogeochemical surveys conducted during oligotrophic conditions in July 2011 revealed that the phytoplankton community in these waters was dominated by small species that are responsive to intermittent supplies of nutrients. Surface wind forcing because of Typhoons MA-ON and SONCA may have generated near-inertial oscillations. Diapycnal mixing associated with near-inertial waves was also related to high export fluxes, the indication being that propagation of near-inertial internal waves and subsequent mixing may have been important to biogeochemical phenomena during S1-INBOX

Nucleation of the Primary Al Phase on TiAl 3 during Solidification in Hot-Dip Zn-11%Al-3%Mg-0.2%Si-Coated Steel Sheet * 1

The solidification structure of a hot-dip Zn-11%Al-3%Mg-0.2%Si coated steel sheet with a slight Ti addition was investigated by EBSD. In every center of the primary Al phase of the alloy-coating layer, TiAl 3 was observed by a scanning electron microscope, which suggests that TiAl 3 acts as a heterogeneous nucleation site of the primary Al phase. The latter was revealed to have perfect lattice coherency with the nucleus TiAl 3 phase. The crystal orientation relationships between TiAl 3 and the primary Al are ð001Þ TiAl3 == ð001Þ Al and ½100 TiAl3 == ½100 Al , ð100Þ TiAl3 == ð001Þ Al and ½001 TiAl3 == ½100 Al , ð102Þ TiAl3 == ð110Þ Al and ½ 2 201 TiAl3 == ½ 1 110 Al , ð110Þ TiAl3 == ð110Þ Al and ½ 1 110 TiAl3 == ½ 1 110 Al , indicating that the primary Al phase grows in an epitaxial manner from the nucleus TiAl 3 phase. The planar disregistry between the two phases was calculated to be less than 5%, owing to this good lattice coherency. The TiAl 3 phase is considered to decrease the degree of undercooling necessary for the nucleation of the primary Al phase

Synthesis and crystal structure of (S)-5-isopropyl-5-methyl-2-thiohydantoin

(S)-5-Isopropyl-5-methyl-2-thiohydantoin was synthesized by one-pot reaction of α-methyl-L-valine and thiourea in the absence of solvent. The crystal structure of this compound has been determined from single crystal X-ray diffraction data. This is the first report on the crystal structure of a homochiral 5-substituted 2-thiohydantoin with the unsubstituted NH groups. This compound, C7H12N2OS crystallizes in the chiral orthorhombic space group P212121 with four molecules in the unit cell. The unit cell parameters are: a = 8.2798(12) Å, b = 8.6024(13) Å, c = 12.826(2) Å and V = 913.6(2) Å3. In the crystals, the thioamide and amide N-H of one molecule are hydrogen-bonded to the thioamide C=S group of neighboring molecules to form rings with the R22(8) graph-set motif, and these rings are linked into infinite one-dimensional tapes