Aeolian dust is emerging as a significant vehicle for long‐range transport of microorganisms. Nonetheless, many factors relating to this highly influential dispersal mechanisms remain unresolved, including the variation in dispersal bacterial communities during stochastic desert dust events, and the effect of aeolian transit over continental and oceanic surfaces to these communities. Here we report a temporal study that encompassed multiple dust events to elucidate 16S rRNA gene‐defined changes in airborne bacterial communities at a continental‐peninsula site (Yongin, central South Korea) and a downwind offshore island site (Yonago, Honshu Island, Japan) both lying along the trajectory for dust event transport. Aerosol collected on nondust days at both sites generally reflected local origin from freshwater, marine, plant, and animal sources. At both sites, the relative abundance of spore‐forming bacteria (Bacillaceae) and organic‐aggregating bacteria (Cytophagaceae) was positively correlated with the mineral particle. Actinobacteria increased in relative abundance at the continental‐peninsula site during dust events, while marine bacterial signatures (mainly Alphaproteobacteria) were more prevalent in island site after dust events dissipated upon Japanese Sea. Overall, dust events increased the richness of airborne bacteria communities originating from inland desert and other area during early spring and are associated with more variations in airborne bacteria in the island site than the continental‐peninsula site. Airborne desert dust is likely a significant transport vehicle for bacteria. The transit of air masses over continental and marine surfaces is selective for some taxa which can be transported to distant sinks with potential impacts toward ecosystems and public health.

Endometriosis, which occurs in approximately 10% of women of reproductive age, is defined as the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus. Women with endometriosis are more likely to have difficulty conceiving and tend to receive infertility treatment, including assisted reproductive technology (ART) therapy. There has not yet been a prospective cohort study examining the effects of endometriosis on pregnancy outcome in pregnant Japanese women. This was a prospective cohort study of the incidence of obstetrical complications in women with endometriosis using data of the Japan Environment & Children’s Study (JECS). Included in this study were 9,186 pregnant women in the JECS with or without a history of endometriosis who gave birth or stillbirth or whose pregnancy was terminated with abortion between February and December 2011. The effects of endometriosis on pregnancy outcome. Of the 9,186 pregnant women in the JECS, 4,119 (44.8%) had obstetrical complications; 330 participants reported a diagnosis of endometriosis before pregnancy, and these women were at higher risk for complications of pregnancy than those without a history of endometriosis (odds ratio (OR) = 1.50; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20 to 1.87). Logistic regression analyses showed that the adjusted OR for obstetrical complications of pregnant women who conceived naturally and had a history of endometriosis was 1.45 (CI 1.11 to 1.90). Among pregnant women with endometriosis, the ORs of preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) and placenta previa were significantly higher compared with women never diagnosed with endometriosis who conceived naturally or conceived after infertility treatment, except for ART therapy (OR 2.14, CI 1.03–4.45 and OR 3.37, CI 1.32–8.65). This study showed that endometriosis significantly increased the incidence of preterm PROM and placenta previa after adjusting for confounding of the data by ART therapy.

Asian dust events transport the airborne bacteria in Chinese desert regions as well as mineral particles and influence downwind area varying biological ecosystems and climate changes. However, the airborne bacterial dynamics were rarely investigated in the Gobi desert area, where dust events are highly frequent. In this study, air samplings were sequentially performed at a 2-m high above the ground at the sampling site located in desert area (Tsogt-Ovoo of Gobi desert; Mongolia 44.2304°N, 105.1700°E). During the dust event days, the bacterial cells and mineral particles increased to more than tenfold of concentrations. MiSeq sequencing targeting 16S ribosomal DNA revealed that the airborne bacteria in desert area mainly belonged to the classes Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Bacilli, Alpha-proteobacteria, Beta-proteobacteria, and Gamma-proteobacteria. The bacterial community structures were different between dust events and non-dust events. The air samples collected at the dust events indicated high abundance rates of Alpha-proteobacteria, which were reported to dominate on the leaf surfaces of plants or in the saline lake environments. After the dust events, the members of Firmicutes (Bacilli) and Bacteroidetes, which are known to form endospore and attach with coarse particles, respectively, increased their relative abundances in the air samples. Presumably, the bacterial compositions and diversities in atmosphere significantly vary during dust events, which carry some particles from grassland (phyllo-sphere), dry lake, and sand surfaces, as well as some bacterial populations such as Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes maintain in the atmosphere for longer time.

Emission inventories of anthropogenic transition metals, which contribute to aerosol oxidative potential (OP), in Asia (Δx = 0.25°, monthly, 2000–2008) and Japan (Δx = 2 km, hourly, mainly 2012) were developed, based on bottom‐up inventories of particulate matters and metal profiles in a speciation database for particulate matters. The new inventories are named Transition Metal Inventory (TMI)‐Asia v1.0 and TMI‐Japan v1.0, respectively. It includes 10 transition metals in PM_2.5 and PM₁₀, which contributed to OP based on reagent experiments, namely, Cu, Mn, Co, V, Ni, Pb, Fe, Zn, Cd, and Cr. The contributions of sectors in the transition metals emission in Japan were also investigated. Road brakes and iron‐steel industry are primary sources, followed by other metal industry, navigation, incineration, power plants, and railway. In order to validate the emission inventory, eight elements such as Cu, Mn, V, Ni, Pb, Fe, Zn, and Cr in anthropogenic dust and those in mineral dust were simulated over East Asia and Japan with Δx = 30 km and Δx = 5 km domains, respectively, and compared against the nation‐wide seasonal observations of PM_2.5 elements in Japan and the long‐term continuous observations of total suspended particles (TSPs) at Yonago, Japan in 2013. Most of the simulated elements generally agreed with the observations, while Cu and Pb were significantly overestimated. This is the first comprehensive study on the development and evaluation of emission inventory of OP active elements, but further improvement is needed.

Asian dust events are now considered an environmental problem rather than a natural seasonal phenomenon. In this study, we evaluated the associations between daily adverse health effects and Asian dust events in Yonago, Japan. Participants included 54 healthy volunteers, who were distributed survey sheets on nasal, ocular, respiratory, and skin effects in February 2009. Moreover, we collected meteorological and air pollutant (nitric oxide, sulfur dioxide, suspended particulate matter) data and determined pollen and metallic element concentrations in total suspended particulates. Both soil-derived metals (Fe, Ca, Al) and contaminating metals (Pb, Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn) were significantly increased on Asian dust days. Multiple regression analyses showed that the score of the skin effect was significantly associated with the levels of suspended particulate matter and Ni. The results show that increased air pollutants on Asian dust days may have skin effects.