Primary care physicians working in rural areas provide a broader scope of practice: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Scope of practice (SoP) is an important factor for primary care physicians (PCPs). One of the strong determinants of SoP is rurality. Although Japan has several rural areas, the SoP in rural areas and the effect of rurality on SoP have not been investigated.

[Infective Endocarditis Caused by Abiotrophia defectiva Required Double-valve Replacement Using the Manouguian Procedure].

A 39-year-old man was presented with infective endocarditis caused by Abiotrophia defectiva. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed extensive vegetation and destruction extending from the aortic valve to the aortic-mitral curtain and mitral valve accompanied by severe regurgitation of the aortic and mitral valves. After removal of vegetation, double-valve replacement were performed with double patch and mechanical prosthesis using the manouguian procedure.

Identification and Validation of Combination Plasma Biomarker of Afamin, Fibronectin and Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin to Predict Pre-eclampsia.

The purpose of the present study was to identify a plasma protein biomarker able to predict pre-eclampsia (PE). Comprehensive quantitative proteomics using mass spectrometry with sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion spectra (SWATH-MS) was applied to plasma samples of 7 PE and 14 healthy pregnant women (for PE subjects, plasma samples were taken before onset of PE), and 11 proteins were selected as candidates potentially able to differentiate the two groups. Plasmas collected at gestational weeks 14-24 from 36 PE and 120 healthy pregnant women (for PE subjects, plasma samples were taken before onset of PE) were used to conduct selected reaction monitoring quantification analysis, optimize protein combinations and conduct internal validation, which consisted of 30 iterations of 10-fold cross-validation using multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Association between statin use and cancer: data mining of a spontaneous reporting database and a claims database.

Purpose: In recent years, the potential risk of cancer associated with statin use has been a focus of much interest. However, it remains uncertain whether statin therapy is associated with cancer risk. To examine the association between statin use and the risk of cancer, we conducted data mining using the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and a large organized database of claims constructed by a database vendor (The Japan Medical Data Center Co.

Association of statin use with storage lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS): data mining of prescription database.

Objective: The efficacy and safety of statins have been studied in a number of clinical trials and epidemiological studies. In recent years, the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has assessed the evidence available on the following adverse reactions associated with the use of statins: sleep disturbances, memory loss, micturition disorders (problems with urination), sexual disturbances, depression, and interstitial pneumopathy. However, the association between statin use and the risk of these adverse reactions remains unclear.

Autophagy in tobacco BY-2 cells cultured under sucrose starvation conditions: isolation of the autolysosome and its characterization.

Tobacco culture cells carry out a large-scale degradation of intracellular proteins in order to survive under sucrose starvation conditions. We have previously suggested that this bulk degradation of cellular proteins is performed by autophagy, where autolysosomes formed de novo act as the major lytic compartments. The digestion process in autolysosomes can be retarded by addition of the cysteine protease inhibitor E-64c to the culture medium, resulting in the accumulation of autolysosomes.

Comparative genomics approach to the expression of figalpha, one of the earliest marker genes of oocyte differentiation in medaka (Oryzias latipes).

We analyzed molecular cascades of sex differentiation in medaka gonads by examining the transcriptional regulation of the oocyte-expressed gene, figalpha. We first confirmed that figalpha is one of the earliest marker genes of oocyte differentiation by quantitative RT-PCR and in situ hybridization. Expression of putative figalpha target genes, zpc4 and zpb, followed that of figalpha.