Correlation Between the Great East Japan Earthquake and Postpartum Depression: A Study in Miyako, Iwate, Japan.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the correlation between the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and postpartum depression among perinatal subjects in the Miyako region of Iwate, an area damaged by earthquakes and tsunamis. METHODS: We retrospectively compared the percentages of women with scores ≥9 on the Japanese version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) among 3 groups of women who gave birth prior to the disaster (before-disaster group: n=141), within 3 months after the disaster (within-3-months group: n=70), and 4-6 months after the disaster (4-6-months group: n=89) at the Iwate Prefectural Miyako Hospital. The risk factors for EPDS scores ≥9 were estimated with multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Compared with the before-disaster group, a significantly greater number of women in the within-3-months group had EPDS scores ≥9 at hospital discharge (31.4% versus 9.9%, P<.0001), whereas women in the 4-6-months group did not (10.1% versus 9.9%, P=.96). In both the after-disaster groups, the destruction of their home (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 3.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46-9.26) and dissatisfaction with their living conditions (AOR, 3.02; 95% CI, 1.20-7.59) were significantly associated with EPDS scores ≥9. CONCLUSIONS: An increase in postpartum depression was observed after the Great East Japan Earthquake among perinatal women.

Survey of early preterm singleton live births in Iwate Prefecture as a provincial model of the medical situation in Japan.

AIM: The aim of this study was to survey early preterm (prior to 32 weeks' gestation) singleton live births in Iwate Prefecture as a provincial model of the medical situation in Japan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from 177 early preterm singleton live births, and 31,445 total live births (January 2005-December 2007) in Iwate Prefecture Japan were used to analyze the incidence of early preterm singleton live birth in each medical service area. RESULTS: The incidence of spontaneous early preterm singleton live birth did not differ between the coastal and inland medical service areas (3.35 vs 3.57 per 1000 live births). In the Morioka medical service area (radius about 40 km), the incidence of spontaneous early preterm singleton live birth in municipalities without obstetric care facilities was significantly higher than that in municipalities with obstetric care facilities (6.62 vs 2.65 per 1000 live births, P < 0.005). The incidence of early preterm singleton live birth due to pregnancy-induced hypertension in the coastal medical service areas was higher than that in the inland areas (1.67 vs 0.71 per 1000 live births, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In Iwate Prefecture, Japan, the incidence of singleton preterm live birth before 32 weeks of pregnancy varies among its constituent medical service areas according to geographic factors as well as the availability of obstetric care facilities.

THE OPTIMAL CONDITION OF THE STAINING PROCEDURE USING MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY TO BROMODEOXYURIDINE (BRDURD) / 解剖学报

The staining procedure using the monoclonal antibody to BrdUrd involved the following important steps: the duration of BrdUrd labeling time, the concentration of HC1, the duration of HCI treatment for cellular DNA partial denaturation and so on. The ratio of mean intensities between BrdUrd positive cells and BrdUrd negative cells, the proportion of cell aggregation occuring during HCI treatment, the relative fluorescence intensity and coefficient of variation (CV) of G_1 peak were considered as the criteria of optimal conditions of the whole staining procedure. The optimal results of this staining procedure were obtained under the conditions of 30 rain BrdUrd labeling time, 2.4 mol/L HC1, 30 min HC1 treatment, 1 hour incubation of the monoclonal antibody to BrdUrd and without RNase treatment. With this staining procedure, the optimal staining results were obtained for KF-1, KFr, HeLa and IK-90 cell lines.