Reverification of the functions of casework at child guidance centers through the examinations of official reports on deaths by child abuse

本研究は、国及び地方公共団体の検証結果の分析等を通じて、児童相談所のケースワーク機能に関する質的な検証の必要性について検討することを目的とする。国の検証結果に関する分析については、厚生労働省社会保障審議会児童部会・児童虐待等要保護事例の検証に関する専門委員会「子ども虐待による死亡事例等の検証報告書」（第1次報告から第12次報告）を、地方公共団体の検証結果に関する分析については「児童虐待による死亡事例等重大事例についての検証報告書」（平成20年度から平成28年度）を分析対象とした。その結果、児童相談所のケースワーク機能に関する調査項目は十分ではなく、「家族全体を捉えた援助指針及び援助計画の設定」や「定期的なアセスメントの実施と再アセスメントによる援助指針」など質的検証を深める必要性が示唆された。また、検証の視点としては、「援助の実行過程の的確性」についての検証が大きな論点になることが明らかにされた。The purpose of this study is to examine the necessity of the qualitative verification of the functions of casework at child guidance centers through the analyses of inspection results provided by the national and local governments. The objects of analyses of the national government inspection results were the first to the twelfth reports of Inspection Report on the Deaths by Child Abuse issued from the Special Committee on Child Abuse and Protection Cases in Social Security Council of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. As for the local governments, the objects of analyses were their Inspection Reports on Serious Cases including Deaths by Child Abuse issued from fiscal 2008 to 2016 years. As the result of the examination, it has been suggested that survey items enquiring the functions of casework in child guidance centers are insufficient and therefore the qualitative verification needs to be reinforced with perspectives such as “the establishment of aid guidelines and plans for the whole family” and “the execution of regular assessment and provision of aid guidelines based on reassessment” included. It has also become evident that as a verification aspect the verification of the “accuracy of the process of aid implementation” can be a point at issue

Speech organ contour extraction using real-time MRI and machine learning method

Chiba Institute of TechnologyChiba Institute of TechnologyChiba Institute of TechnologyChiba Institute of TechnologyKonan UniversityNational Institute for Japanese Language and LinguisticsNational Institute for Japanese Language and LinguisticsReal-time MRI can be used to obtain videos that describe articulatory movements during running speech. For detailed analysis based on a large number of video frames, it is necessary to extract the contours of speech organs, such as the tongue, semi-automatically. The present study attempted to extract the contours of speech organs from videos using a machine learning method. First, an expert operator manually extracted the contours from the frames of a video to build training data sets. The learning operators, or learners, then extracted the contours from each frame of the video. Finally, the errors representing the geometrical distance between the extracted contours and the ground truth, which were the contours excluded from the training data sets, were examined. The results showed that the contours extracted using machine learning were closer to the ground truth than the contours traced by other expert and non-expert operators. In addition, using the same learners, the contours were extracted from other naive videos obtained during different speech tasks of the same subject. As a result, the errors in those videos were similar to those in the video in which the learners were trained

A Clinical Trial Evaluating the Usefulness of Tailored Antimicrobial Prophylaxis Using Rectal-culture Screening Media Prior to Transrectal Prostate Biopsy: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial

The aim of this report is to introduce an on-going, multicenter, randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether tailored antimicrobial prophylaxis guided by rectal culture screening prevents acute bacterial prostatitis following transrectal prostate biopsy (TRPB). Patients will be randomized into an intervention or non-intervention group; tazobactam-piperacillin or levofloxacin will be prophylactically administered according to the results of rectal culture prior to TRPB in the intervention group whereas levofloxacin will be routinely given in the non-intervention group. The primary endpoint is the occurrence rate of acute bacterial prostatitis after TRPB. Recruitment begins in April, 2021 and the target total sample size is 5,100 participants

Membrane Protein Location-Dependent Regulation by PI3K (III) and Rabenosyn-5 in Drosophila Wing Cells

The class III phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K (III)) regulates intracellular vesicular transport at multiple steps through the production of phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PI(3)P). While the localization of proteins at distinct membrane domains are likely regulated in different ways, the roles of PI3K (III) and its effectors have not been extensively investigated in a polarized cell during tissue development. In this study, we examined in vivo functions of PI3K (III) and its effector candidate Rabenosyn-5 (Rbsn-5) in Drosophila wing primordial cells, which are polarized along the apical-basal axis. Knockdown of the PI3K (III) subunit Vps15 resulted in an accumulation of the apical junctional proteins DE-cadherin and Flamingo and also the basal membrane protein β-integrin in intracellular vesicles. By contrast, knockdown of PI3K (III) increased lateral membrane-localized Fasciclin III (Fas III). Importantly, loss-of-function mutation of Rbsn-5 recapitulated the aberrant localization phenotypes of β-integrin and Fas III, but not those of DE-cadherin and Flamingo. These results suggest that PI3K (III) differentially regulates localization of proteins at distinct membrane domains and that Rbsn-5 mediates only a part of the PI3K (III)-dependent processes

The Impact of Long-Term Exposure to Space Environment on Adult Mammalian Organisms: A Study on Mouse Thyroid and Testis

Hormonal changes in humans during spaceflight have been demonstrated but the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. To clarify this point thyroid and testis/epididymis, both regulated by anterior pituitary gland, have been analyzed on long-term space-exposed male C57BL/10 mice, either wild type or pleiotrophin transgenic, overexpressing osteoblast stimulating factor-1. Glands were submitted to morphological and functional analysis

Preparation of Liposomes from Soy Lecithin Using Liquefied Dimethyl Ether

We investigated a method to prepare liposomes; soy lecithin was dissolved in liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) at 0.56 MPa, which was then injected into warm water. Liposomes can be successfully prepared at warm water temperatures above 45 °C. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of the obtained liposomes, size distribution, ζ-potential measurements by dynamic light scattering and the amount of residual medium were compared by gas chromatography using the conventional medium, diethyl ether. The size of the obtained liposomes was approximately 60–300 nm and the ζ-potential was approximately −57 mV, which was almost the same as that of the conventional medium. Additionally, for the conventional media, a large amount remained in the liposome dispersion even after removal by depressurization and dialysis membrane treatment; however, liquefied DME, owing to its considerably low boiling point, was completely removed by depressurization. Liquefied DME is a very attractive medium for the preparation of liposomes because it does not have the toxicity and residue problems of conventional solvents or the hazards of ethanol addition and high pressure of supercritical carbon dioxide; it is also environmentally friendly

Changes in saliva interleukin-6 levels in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: To elucidate the changes in interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in whole saliva during the treatment phase in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Study design: Twenty-nine consecutive inpatients with OSCC were enrolled in this study. Stimulated saliva was collected three times (just after hospitalization)[period 1], just before main treatment (surgery: 26/29 cases)[period 2] and at the time of discharge [period 3]. The mean intervals were 11±8 days between periods 1 and 2 and 30±18 days between periods 2 and 3. As controls, 19 age-matched healthy volunteers were also recruited. IL-6 concentrations were measured by a highly sensitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay. Results: IL-6 was detected in 23/29 samples in the patient group in period 1. The concentration of IL-6 was significantly higher in the patient group (mean: 20.1±36.3 pg/mL) than in the controls (0.6±0.8 pg/mL)(P = 0.003). In the patient group, the mean concentration of IL-6 in period 2 was 43.6±95.6 pg/mL, significantly higher than in period 1 (P=0.002), and 17.1±27.6 pg/mL in period 3 (P=0.52: compared with period 2). Conclusions: IL-6 was up-regulated in saliva in the OSCC patients. IL-6 level tended to increase before treatment, and returned to baseline levels at discharge

Effect of loading type on fatigue property of specimens treated by cutting and rubbing process

Aiming for a result to improve fatigue strength, “cutting and rubbing process” which is a kind of surface treatment was used for forming a round-bar smooth-specimen, showing drastically enhanced rotating-bending fatigue strength. On the other hand, actual machine components and structures invariably contain geometrical irregularities, such as fillets, keyways, screw threads, and holes. Fatigue cracks initiated from such stress raisers, indicating that the validity of the cutting and rubbing process on fatigue strength of specimen with a stress raiser should be examined. In this study, fatigue tests of smooth and notched specimens finished by the cutting and rubbing process were conducted under some loading types including rotating-bending, tension-compression and torsion loading. Results showed that fatigue strength of notched specimens was significantly enhanced compared to that of smooth specimens under rotating-bending and tension-compression loads. In other words, the cutting and rubbing processing was more effective in stress raisers than the smooth surface. The physical background on the effect of loading type on the fatigue strength of the cutting and rubbing processed specimen was discussed based on the fracture origin, microstructure in the surface layer, stress gradient caused by both loading type and notch

A Peptidoglycan Amidase Mutant of Burkholderia insecticola Adapts an L-form-like Shape in the Gut Symbiotic Organ of the Bean Bug Riptortus pedestris

International audienceBacterial cell shapes may be altered by the cell cycle, nutrient availability, environmental stress, and interactions with other organisms. The bean bug Riptortus pedestris possesses a symbiotic bacterium, Burkholderia insecticola, in its midgut crypts. This symbiont is a typical rod-shaped bacterium under in vitro culture conditions, but changes to a spherical shape inside the gut symbiotic organ of the host insect, suggesting the induction of morphological alterations in B. insecticola by host factors. The present study revealed that a deletion mutant of a peptidoglycan amidase gene (amiC), showing a filamentous chain form in vitro, adapted a swollen L-form-like cell shape in midgut crypts. Spatiotemporal observations of the ΔamiC mutant in midgut crypts revealed the induction of swollen cells, particularly prior to the molting of insects. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying in vivo-specific morphological alterations, the symbiont was cultured under 13 different conditions and its cell shape was examined. Swollen cells, similar to symbiont cells in midgut crypts, were induced when the mutant was treated with fosfomycin, an inhibitor of peptidoglycan precursor biosynthesis. Collectively, these results strongly suggest that the Burkholderia symbiont in midgut crypts is under the control of the host insect via a cell wall-attacking agent