Hypertensive patients' perceptions of their physicians' knowledge about them: a cross-sectional study in Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In order to evaluate the difference in quality of primary care provided by physicians between the types of medical institutions in Japan, we examined whether the physicians' comprehensive knowledge of their patients is perceived differently by the patients seen at clinics and hospitals.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients with prescriptions for hypertensive drugs were approached sequentially at 13 pharmacies, and were administered a questionnaire on their perception of their physician's knowledge about them. Data were obtained for 687 patients (362 from clinics and 325 from hospitals). A physician's knowledge of his or her patients was assessed according to six aspects: their medical history, their current medications, history of allergy, what worries patients most about their health, patients' values and beliefs on their health, and patients' roles and responsibilities at work, home, or school. Responses were scored from 1 through 6 (1: knows very well; 6: doesn't know at all).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients treated in clinics were seen more frequently, for a longer period, and had fewer complications than the patients who were treated in hospitals. Among the six aspects of physicians' knowledge assessed, 79.3% of the patients reported that their physicians knew their complete list of medications "very well or well," while 28.3% reported the same about their roles and responsibilities at work, home, or school. Physicians in clinics were considered to know their patients' worries about their health (p = 0.004) and the roles and responsibilities of the patients at work, home, or school (p = 0.028) well. Multiple regression analysis showed that the type of medical institutions remained as a significant variable only for the aspect of patients' worries about their health. The factor that consistently affected the patients' perception of physicians' knowledge about them was the patients' age.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Hypertensive patients' perceptions of their physicians' knowledge about them did not differ significantly between clinics and hospitals in Japan for most of the aspects. In order to differentiate the roles of physicians in hospitals and clinics better and ensure the quality of primary care, the establishment of a standardized educational system to train primary care physicians better is recommended.</p

DNA barcoding and a precise morphological comparison revealed a cryptic species in the Nippolachnus piri complex (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Lachninae)

Nippolachnus is a small Palaearctic-Oriental genus of very characteristic aphids that live on the leaves of woody Rosaceae. One species, N. piri, has hitherto been regarded to be widely distributed and relatively polyphagous. Members of this genus are considered to be easy to recognize due to the absence of the ocular tubercle and triommatidia on the head. We conducted research on the morphology and generic characters of Nippolachnus piri complex using scanning electron microscopy (for the first time) and DNA barcoding. We analyzed N. piri populations on Pyrus and other plants (Eriobotrya, Rhaphiolepis and Sorbus) in Japan and the Republic of Korea. Specifically, a high genetic divergence value was found between the N. piri populations associated with different host plants. SEM investigation of the head capsule revealed that a triommatidium is present under the compound eye, despite their lack of an ocular tubercle. We propose Nippolachnus micromeli Shinji, 1924 stat. nov. as a cryptic species in the N. piri complex based on a morphological comparison, DNA barcoding and different host-plant associations. Illustrations and descriptions of studied species are given. Morphological keys to the apterae and alatae of all known species of the genus Nippolachnus are also provided

A Dwarfing Gene Sd1-d (Dee-geo-woo-gen Dwarf) on Lodging Resistance and Related Traits in Rice

A dwarfing allele at the sd1 locus on chromosome 1 in rice, sd1-d, has been playing important role for developing lodging-resistant and high-yielding indica varieties IR8 and IR36. The dominant allele SD1 for long culm at the locus is differentiated into SD1-in and SD1-ja that are harbored in indica and japonica subspecies, respectively. The sd1-d of IR36 was substituted with SD1-in or SD1-ja by 17 backcrosses with IR36, and two isogenic tall lines were developed by using an indica variety IR5867 and a japonica one ‘Koshihikari' as donors, which were denoted by “5867-36” and “Koshi-36'', respectively. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of dwarfing gene sd1-d on lodging resistance and related traits, compared with SD1-in and SD1-ja. Two isogenic lines and IR36 were cultivated in the field of the Faculty of Agriculture and Marine Science, Kochi University, Japan during 2017. Regarding index of lodging (g·cm/g × 100), genotypes were in the order: 5867-36 (97.4) &gt; Koshi-36 (74.1) &gt; IR36 (46.0) on the 21st-day after 80%-heading, and they were in the same order on 10th-day after 80%-heading. The 4th-panicle length (cm) was in the order: 5867-36 (118.7) &gt; Koshi-36 (97.6) &gt; IR36 (78.6). Similarly, the 4th-top weight (g) was in the order: 5867-36 (12.2) &gt; Koshi-36 (10.2) &gt; IR36 (9.6). The highest breaking strength (g) was recorded in IR36 (1649) followed by 5867-36 (1493) whereas the lowest breaking strength (g) was recorded in Koshi-36 (1360). Consequently, it is inferred that sd1-d enhances lodging resistance due to the decreases in the length and weight above the 4th-internode as well as the increase of breaking strength. The effect of SD1-in on lodging resistance is lower than that of SD1-ja