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ObjectiveSize at birth is a key indicator of in utero growth. Our objective was to generate sex-specific percentiles for birth weight and head circumference in neonates born between 22 and 29 weeks gestation from pregnancies without hypertension or diabetes and assess differences between vaginal and caesarean births and between singletons and twins.MethodsWe used data from 12 countries participating in the International Network for Evaluating Outcomes in Neonates database from 2007 to 2021. We excluded data that were influenced by truncation with 1500g birth weight cut-offs in databases and neonates with major congenital anomalies or born to mothers with hypertension or diabetes.ResultsAfter exclusions, 132 727 neonates contributed to birth weight and 65 406 contributed to head circumference. The percentiles of birth weight were similar between countries at the 50th and 90th percentiles, though variability was noted in the lower percentiles from countries with smaller sample sizes. Head circumference percentiles were comparable between countries. Caesarean births had birth weights similar to vaginal births until 26 weeks after which the weight at 10th percentile diverged by approximately 239 g at 29 weeks. Vaginal births had birth weights very similar to Hadlock’s intrauterine estimated fetal weights. There were no differences in head circumference between vaginal and caesarean births and between singletons and twins.ConclusionsWe present updated information on weight and head circumference at birth for preterm neonates of 22–29 weeks gestation born to mothers without hypertension or diabetes derived from a large multicountry cohort. Research is needed to explore the predictive value of these birth size data for health and developmental outcomes.

Infants born in Japan are reported to have a low incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) among countries, and these differences remained significant after adjusting for common clinical factors. To investigate the impact of ethnic background, we compared the incidence of NEC between infants born in Japan and those born to mothers of Japanese ethnicity in California. Preterm infants born between 2008 and 2019 at 22–29 weeks of gestational age were analyzed retrospectively. Four groups were analyzed: infants born in Japan (JP), infants born in California to mothers born in Japan (JP-J), infants born in California to mothers with Japanese ethnicity but born in the United States or another country (JP-CA), and a comparison group of infants born in California to non-Hispanic White mothers (NHW-CA). Each cohort consisted of 52,049, 115, 226, and 12,275 infants, respectively. Unadjusted NEC incidences were significantly lower in JP compared to the other three cohorts (1.7% JP, 4.5% JP-J, 4.6% JP-CA, and 3.3% NHW-CA, respectively; p < 0.01). After adjusting for confounding factors, odds ratios for NEC in JP vs. JP-J, JP-CA, and NHW-CA were 3.04 (1.18–7.80), 2.89 (1.45–5.75), and 1.96 (1.56–2.47), respectively. This study suggests that differences in NEC incidence in Japan are not explained by ethnicity. Clinical trial regstration number : Registration numbers is UMIN000006961 ( https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000008217 ) for the Neonatal Research Network of Japan. However, the the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative (CPQCC) aims only to assess neonatal outcomes for the purpose of quality assessment and improvement. So, no clinical trial number is available. Please refer to the web site https://www.cpqcc.org/ .

IntroductionReducing neonatal deaths in premature infants in low- and middle-income countries is key to reducing global neonatal mortality. International neonatal networks, along with patient registries of premature infants, have contributed to improving the quality of neonatal care; however, the involvement of low-to-middle-income countries was limited. This project aims to form an international collaboration among neonatal networks in Asia (AsianNeo), including low-, middle- and high-income countries (or regions). Specifically, it aims to determine outcomes in sick newborn infants, especially very low birth weight (VLBW) infants or very preterm infants, with a view to improving the quality of care for such infants.Methods and analysisCurrently, AsianNeo comprises nine neonatal networks from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. AsianNeo will undertake the following four studies: (1) institutional questionnaire surveys investigating neonatal intensive care unit resources and the clinical management of sick newborn infants, with a focus on VLBW infants (nine countries/regions); (2) a retrospective cohort study to describe and compare the outcomes of VLBW infants among Asian countries and regions (four countries/regions); (3) a prospective cohort study to develop the AsianNeo registry of VLBW infants (six countries/regions); and (4) implementation and evaluation of educational and quality improvement projects in AsianNeo countries and regions (nine countries/regions).Ethics and disseminationThe study protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan (reference number 2020–244, 2022–156). The study findings will be disseminated through educational programmes, quality improvement activities, conference presentations and medical journal publications.

A large number of Chinese colloquial novels were imported into Japan during the Edo period (1603–1867)and they had much influence upon the literature of the age, because before the Edo period the only foreign literature known to Japanese was Chinese literature (with one exception: a missionary translated Aesop's Fables into Japanese in the latter half of the sixteenth century).Of course, during the Meiji period (1868–1912)and after, Chinese colloquial novels were still introduced and translated, in quantity and quality not inferior to those of the Edo period. But by that time European literature had become more influential than Chinese literature in Japan, so we will deal here with the colloquial novel during the Edo period, when its influence was especially important.1. Conditions under which Books Were Imported and the Problem of Language BarrierChinese colloquial novels began to enter Japan in the middle of the eighteenth century although their heyday in China was the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries. In the Edo period, the Japanese practised a policy of national isolation. Trade with Spain and Portugal was banned in order to prohibit Christianity. Only the Chinese and the Dutch, who were not engaged in missionary work, were permitted to trade, and then only in the port of Nagasaki.The Tokugawa government, however, tolerated the importation of books, except for books dealing with Christianity. So the people eagerly sought for books from China and Holland which were their only links with the outside world. While most books from Holland dealt with technology, those from China covered a wide range, including literature and even colloquial novels which were thought little of in China, but had great influence on Japanese literature. We may get an idea of the various kinds of books imported during the Edo period by checking the catalogues of imported books. We can also make a survey of the Chinese novels imported during the same period by using the Shôsetsu jii, a dictionary of colloquial Chinese published in 1784.The Japanese people formed their culture under Chinese influence, through books and artifacts, not through Chinese people.

Furthermore, in premodern Chinese books the name of the publisher and the date of publication sometimes were put on the verso of the title page. Because the covers of Chinese books (most commonly bound by the xianzhuang ... method) were quite flimsy, the crucial information contained on the title page was easily lost. [...]Sibao was not a place previous scholars knew about nor were necessarily interested in - put another way, Chia's and Brokaw's studies together form a remarkable composite of the history of publishing in Fujian. [...]almost all the books published by Sibao bookstores were basic. [...]the difference between the late Ming and the Qing is the increased specialization of scholarly and basic bookstores. [...]I would like to celebrate again the publication of her wonderful research.

In recent decades, historians of European history have produced many studies on the history of emotions. Based on the hypothesis that emotions are neither a biological essence nor a universal fixed attribute, they have sought to trace constructions of human emotionality as reflected in literary and other works in a particular society over time. This new sub-discipline, the study of what is often termed sentimental culture, has illuminated the interaction between the articulation of an emotional sensibility and significant social trends of the age, including the rise of humanitarian discourse, radical Protestantism, and a destabilizing of sexual norms. From the new perspective of the cultural history of emotion, the modern idea that emotions express individual inwardness and autonomy now appears to be contingent and culture bound. In the case of China, while there has been an abundance of studies of the cult of qing (passion, desire) in the late Ming, there are few works dealing specifically with the historical construction of emotion in pre-modern China, particularly from a linguistic point of view.