Rational design of metal-organic cages to increase the number of components via dihedral angle control.

The general principles of discrete, large self-assemblies composed of numerous components are not unveiled and the artificial formation of such entities is a challenging topic. In metal-organic cages, design strategies for tuning the coordination directions in multitopic ligands by the bend and twist angles were previously developed to solve this problem. In this study, the importance of remote geometric communications between components is emphasized, realizing several types of metal-organic assemblies based on dihedral angle control in multitopic ligands although they have the same coordination directions.

Assembly of Six Types of Heteroleptic PdL Cages under Kinetic Control.

Heteroleptic assemblies composed of several kinds of building blocks have been seen in nature. It is still unclear how natural systems design and create such complicated assemblies selectively. Past efforts on multicomponent self-assembly of artificial metal-organic cages have mainly focused on finding a suitable combination of building blocks to lead to a single multicomponent self-assembly as the thermodynamically most stable product.

Changing clinical and molecular characteristics of hepatitis E virus infection in Mie Prefecture, Japan: Disappearance of indigenous subtype 3e strains.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical and molecular characteristics of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Mie Prefecture, Japan, from 2004 through 2018.

Methods: The clinical information of hepatitis E cases was collected from 21 medical institutions in Mie Prefecture. The nucleotide sequences of infecting HEV strains were determined for cases with available serum samples.

Results of physician licence examination and scholarship contract compliance by the graduates of regional quotas in Japanese medical schools: a nationwide cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: Responding to the serious shortage of physicians in rural areas, the Japanese government has aggressively increased the number of entrants to medical schools since 2008, mostly as a , entrants filling a regional quota. The quota has spread to most medical schools, and these entrants occupied 16% of all medical school seats in 2016. Most of these entrants were admitted to medical school with a scholarship with the understanding that after graduation they will practise in designated areas of their home prefectures for several years.

The Vanguard of Community-based Integrated Care in Japan: The Effect of a Rural Town on National Policy.

Introduction: Japan has the largest percentage of elderly people in the world. In 2012 the government implemented a community-based integrated care system which provides seamless community healthcare resources for elderly people with chronic diseases and disabilities.

Methods: This paper describes the challenges of establishing a community-based integrated care system in 1974 in Mitsugi, a rural town of Japan.

Anatomical and Functional Estimations of Brachial Artery Diameter and Elasticity Using Oscillometric Measurements with a Quantitative Approach.

Noninvasive vascular function measurement plays an important role in detecting early stages of atherosclerosis and in evaluating therapeutic responses. In this regard, recently, new vascular function measurements have been developed. These new measurements have been used to evaluate vascular function in coronary arteries, large aortic arteries, or peripheral arteries.

Novel Therapeutic Role for Dipeptidyl Peptidase III in the Treatment of Hypertension.

Dipeptidyl peptidase III (DPP III) cleaves dipeptide residues from the N terminus of polypeptides ranging from 3 to 10 amino acids in length and is implicated in pathophysiological processes through the breakdown of certain oligopeptides or their fragments. In this study, we newly identified the biochemical properties of DPP III for angiotensin II (Ang II), which consists of 8 amino acids. DPP III quickly and effectively digested Ang II with Km = 3.

Follow-up study of the regional quota system of Japanese medical schools and prefecture scholarship programmes: a study protocol.

Introduction: Given the shortage of physicians, particularly in rural areas, the Japanese government has rapidly expanded the number of medical school students by adding chiikiwaku (regional quotas) since 2008. Quota entrants now account for 17% of all medical school entrants. Quota entrants are usually local high school graduates who receive a scholarship from the prefecture government.

Association Between Remoteness to a Health Care Facility and Incidence of Ambulance Calls in Rural Areas of Japan.

Objectives: Whether traffic remoteness from health care service in rural areas influences usage of ambulance service has not been well investigated. This study aimed to evaluate the relation between remoteness to health care facilities and incidence of ambulance calls in rural areas of Japan.

Methods: We analyzed 155 rural communities of Hiroshima.

Significance of serum Zn-α2-glycoprotein for the regulation of blood pressure.

Zn-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG) (molecular weight=41 kDa) is one component in the α2 fraction of human plasma, and is reported to be associated with several diseases, such as cancers and metabolic syndromes. ZAG is also considered to be an important modulator of lipid metabolism. However, little is known about the correlation of serum ZAG levels with indicators of metabolic syndrome.

[Case of lymphomatoid gastropathy detected during follow-up after chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer].

A man in his 70s underwent chemoradiotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus in 2009. A follow-up gastroendoscopy performed 3 years later revealed a reddish depressed lesion in the greater curvature of the middle stomach body. On the basis of histological and immunohistochemical findings and clinical features, including endoscopic findings, a diagnosis of lymphomatoid gastropathy was made.

Rurality and participation in mass preventive health services: a nationwide descriptive study.

People's engagement in community activities is reportedly stronger in rural areas than in urban areas. However, it is unknown whether this affects the health-seeking behaviour of residents in rural communities. We examined whether the rurality-related index of a community was associated with the participation rate of residents in community-based preventive health services.

Do rural and remote areas really have limited accessibility to health care? Geographic analysis of dialysis patients in Hiroshima, Japan.

Introduction: For an equitable distribution of health resources, resource-allocation policies focus on rural and also remote areas, assuming that these areas are underserved. However, definitions of 'rural' and 'remote' vary, and are not necessarily synonymous with 'underserved'. This Japanese study evaluated the association between the rurality/remoteness of the community in which a patient lives and his/her geographic accessibility to dialysis facilities.

Transcriptional regulation of the legumain gene by p53 in HCT116 cells.

Legumain (EC 3.4.22.

An Adaptor Molecule Afadin Regulates Lymphangiogenesis by Modulating RhoA Activity in the Developing Mouse Embryo.

Afadin is an intracellular binding partner of nectins, cell-cell adhesion molecules, and plays important roles in the formation of cell-cell junctions. Afadin-knockout mice show early embryonic lethality, therefore little is known about the function of afadin during organ development. In this study, we generated mice lacking afadin expression in endothelial cells, and found that the majority of these mice were embryonically lethal as a result of severe subcutaneous edema.

Knockdown of legumain inhibits cleavage of annexin A2 in the mouse kidney.

Legumain (EC 3.4.22.

[A case of duodenal epithelioid hemangioma causing gastrointestinal bleeding].

A case of epithelioid hemangioma of the duodenum causing bleeding was encountered. A 32-year-old man was admitted because of anemia. Endoscopic examination revealed a submucosal tumor with central depression in the 2nd portion of the duodenum.

The impact of travel time on geographic distribution of dialysis patients.

Backgrounds: The geographic disparity of prevalence rates among dialysis patients is unclear. We evaluate the association between travel time to dialysis facilities and prevalence rates of dialysis patients living in 1,867 census areas of Hiroshima, Japan. Furthermore, we study the effects of geographic features (mainland or island) on the prevalence rates and assess if these effects modify the association between travel time and prevalence.

Domain 5 of high molecular weight kininogen inhibits collagen-mediated cancer cell adhesion and invasion in association with α-actinin-4.

High molecular weight kininogen (HK) is a plasma glycoprotein with multiple functions, including the regulation of coagulation. We previously demonstrated that domain 5 (D5(H)), a functional domain of HK, and its derived peptides played an important role in the vitronectin-mediated suppression of cancer cell adhesion and invasion. However, the underlying mechanisms of the D5(H)-mediated suppressive effects remain to be elucidated.

The impact of rural hospital closures on equity of commuting time for haemodialysis patients: simulation analysis using the capacity-distance model.

Background: Frequent and long-term commuting is a requirement for dialysis patients. Accessibility thus affects their quality of lives. In this paper, a new model for accessibility measurement is proposed in which both geographic distance and facility capacity are taken into account.

Purification, molecular cloning and functional characterization of swine phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein 4 from seminal plasma.

Phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins (PEBPs) are found in various species and have multiple functions. In this study, we purified the swine homolog of human PEBP4 (sPEBP4) from swine seminal plasma, cloned the sPEBP4 cDNA and functionally characterized this protein. The molecular mass of the purified protein was calculated to be 25 kDa by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions.

Characteristics of physicians, their migration patterns and distance: a longitudinal study in Hiroshima, Japan.

Introduction: Although some characteristics of physicians are known to be associated with their recruitment in rural and remote areas, the factors that predict mobility of physicians, and in particular, their mobility to rural and distant areas are largely unknown.

Methods: Flows of all physicians (n=4268) among municipalities in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, between 2002 and 2008 were analysed. Physician data were obtained from the National Physician Census.

Retention of physicians in rural Japan: concerted efforts of the government, prefectures, municipalities and medical schools.

Context: In post-war Japan, a number of factors lead to a general shortage of physicians by the 1950s, which became acute in rural areas and has continued until recent times.

Issue: Teamwork among national, prefectural, municipal governments and public medical schools has addressed this shortage of physicians. The national government doubled the number of medical schools in the 1960s and 1970s; each of the country's 47 prefectures, whether rural or not, has at least one medical school.