Roles and systems of day centres: Elderly-case study of a moderately mountainous area in Japan

The provision of housing for the elderly remains a key issue in every ageing society. In contrast, day centres for the elderly have not been given the same level of attention. However, day centres for the elderly are expected to play a more important role in global ageing populations, since keeping the care-needing elderly living in their own homes with proper care services has become part of the mainstream social care vision. Particularly in the kinds of under-populated and ageing areas that are increasing in ageing countries, the lack of day service provision causes direct inconvenience to elderly residents. Focusing on the case of a moderately mountainous area in Japan, where a care system centred on the public hospital has been established, in this paper the discussion focuses on systems of elderly care and the roles they play, by examining the overall picture of the elderly who use such centres. Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Continuity of relations between local living environments and the elderly moved to a group living

金沢大学理工研究域環境デザイン学系"Ageing in place" is becoming a key issue in the ageing society. As such, the location of nursing homes is an important factor in designing suitable facilities for the elderly. It is important for the elderly to maintain their own daily living environments, even if they have to move to group care facilities or nursing homes. However, many facilities for the care-requiring elderly were traditionally built in serene countryside locations. Therefore, to claim that there was significant continuity in the relationships of those facilities’ residents to their environments would have been difficult. In this chapter, we examine the continuity of relationships experienced by residents in a group care facility with the physical and human aspects of their daily living environments. As a case study, we selected a group care facility for the elderly with dementia located in a city in which a majority of residents moved in from surrounding communities in Japan. Then, we conducted on-site observations of the behaviors and remarks of residents when they went out. Observations indicated that some form of continuity of relationships with daily living environments was experienced by some residents. We suggest that there is a correlation between one’s living-hub history and the status of the continuity of one’s relationship with the daily living environment after moving into a group care facility. We then discuss the conditions and significance of this continuity. Our study shows the significance of moving into a facility close to one’s former daily living environment in order to maintain a relationship with it. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013.Book Chapte

The role of histidine-114 of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase in chain-length determination

AbstractSulfolobus acidocaldarius geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase yields (all-E)-C20 prenyl diphosphate as a final product. The three-dimensional model of the enzyme suggested that removing two bulky residues at 77 and 114 would allow additional prenyl-chain elongation. To test this, we examined several mutants with substitutions at 77 and/or 114. As a result, the mutants, F77G, F77G and H114A, F77G and H114G, H114A, and H114G gave C30, C45, C50, C30 and C40 as the main long product, respectively. These observations indicate that histidine-114 plays a crucial role in chain-length determination along with phenylalanine-77

(Study on Agricultural Management for Sustainable Agriculture in Zhangye Oasis, Middle Reaches of Heihe River Basin)

Photovoltaic (PV) installation potential on residential building envelope in equatorial region was analysed by 3D insolation colour rendering employing BIM Revit solar analysis tool. Monthly global solar radiation calculation was employed to investigate solar potential in study case area. Actual energy consumption of residential sector was used as a base to predict energy demand for next 10 years. Predicted energy demand was then used to calculate the area needed for photovoltaic installation to balance future energy demand. The energy consumption by residential building was divided into five different installed electrical power capacities namely 450 Watt, 900 Watt, 1300 Watt, 2200 Watt and 3500-6600 Watt. Study results suggest that the potential location of photovoltaic panel installation on detached houses is on the roof, East, and West walls. Abundant solar energy in equatorial region was proved by high potential of PV energy generation 7 – 9 kW/m² for amorphous silicon, 17 – 18 kW/m² for polycrystalline silicon, and 19 – 23 kW/m² for monocrystalline silicon. The roof element alone can provide sufficient electrical energy generated by installed photovoltaic panels for the next 10 years. The area needed to supply 450W – 6600W installed power capacity were 13 – 75 m² for monocrystalline silicon, 23 – 120 m² for polycrystalline silicon, and 50 – 259 m² for amorphous silicon. To conclude, implementation of photovoltaic installations on residential buildings have a huge potential to secure not only recent energy consumption, but also future energy demand

2040年の全国47都道府県別の在宅看取り需要数の推計

Looking ahead to the coming "high death-rate society, " this study develops a theoretical formula of the demand for in-home end-oflife care. Using this formula, it estimates the demand for end-of-life care in Japan by prefecture in 2040. The data used are the population of Japan\u27s 47 prefectures from 2006 to 2012, the total number of deaths, breakdown of deaths in hospitals, homes, and other places, bed utilization rate, number of beds per 100, 000 persons, average stay in hospitals (days), and number of discharged patients. These data were gathered from sources including the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare\u27s population surveys and hospital reports. Next, demand for end-of-life care was estimated based on four future scenario patterns. Furthermore, the shortage of in-home care support clinics and hospitals was calculated.Embargo Period 12 month

A proximity biotinylation-based approach to identify protein-E3 ligase interactions induced by PROTACs and molecular glues

Proteolysis-targeting chimaeras (PROTACs) as well as molecular glues such as immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) and indisulam are drugs that induce interactions between substrate proteins and an E3 ubiquitin ligases for targeted protein degradation. Here, we develop a workflow based on proximity-dependent biotinylation by AirID to identify drug-induced neo-substrates of the E3 ligase cereblon (CRBN). Using AirID-CRBN, we detect IMiD-dependent biotinylation of CRBN neo-substrates in vitro and identify biotinylated peptides of well-known neo-substrates by mass spectrometry with high specificity and selectivity. Additional analyses reveal ZMYM2 and ZMYM2-FGFR1 fusion protein—responsible for the 8p11 syndrome involved in acute myeloid leukaemia—as CRBN neo-substrates. Furthermore, AirID-DCAF15 and AirID-CRBN biotinylate neo-substrates targeted by indisulam and PROTACs, respectively, suggesting that this approach has the potential to serve as a general strategy for characterizing drug-inducible protein–protein interactions in cells

Assessing the allocation of special elderly nursing homes in Tokyo, Japan

金沢大学理工研究域環境デザイン学系Social welfare and public health departments require reliable assessments to enhance the rationality of phased construction of special elderly nursing homes (SENHs). This paper aims to assess the allocation of SENHs based on a beds-needed index for SENHs (BNIS). This may help departments determine the priority for approving locations of SENHs more accurately with a limited budget. Traditional assessments in Tokyo use the sphere of welfare, ward, and sphere of daily life as spatial units for estimating beds-to-elderly population ratios. We calculate the BNIS by introducing a parameter-improved floating catchment area method (PI-FCA) at a smaller spatial unit, the Chome. In the PI-FCA, the catchment area is generated according to the standard of average population served by SENHs and capacity, the population demand is the population of the elderly requiring care levels 3-5 and is further modified by a coefficient of potential demand via building a multivariate linear model. Improved results were obtained using the PI-FCA. Finally, this study maps the distribution of the degree of BNIS, to provide a basis for the allocation assessment of SENHs. This caters to the needs of departments and is easily applicable in other public healthcare facilities. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Identification of a secretory protein c19orf10 activated in hepatocellular carcinoma

The identification of genes involved in tumor growth is crucial for the development of inventive anticancer treatments. Here, we have cloned a 17-kDa secretory protein encoded by c19orf10 from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) serial analysis of gene expression libraries. Gene expression analysis indicated that c19orf10 was overexpressed in approximately two-thirds of HCC tissues compared to the adjacent noncancerous liver tissues, and its expression was significantly positively correlated with that of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Overexpression of c19orf10 enhanced cell proliferation of AFP-negative HLE cells, whereas knockdown of c19orf10 inhibited cell proliferation of AFP-positive Hep3B and HuH7 cells along with G1 cell cycle arrest. Supplementation of recombinant c19orf10 protein in culture media enhanced cell proliferation in HLE cells, and this effect was abolished by the addition of antibodies developed against c19orf10. Intriguingly, c19orf10 could regulate cell proliferation through the activation of Akt/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. Taken together, these data suggest that c19orf10 might be one of the growth factors and potential molecular targets activated in HCC. Copyright © 2010 UICC

Spindle microtubules generate tension-dependent changes in the distribution of inner kinetochore proteins

The N and C termini of CENP-T undergo tension-dependent separation, suggesting that CENP-T elongation is responsible for changes in the shape of the inner kinetochore