ケンキュウ ノート スウジ デ ミル インド カラノ ホウニチ ガイコクジン リョコウシャ ト ソノ ハイケイ ニツイテ

2014 年にわが国を訪れた外客数は,前年比29.4%増の1,341 万4 千人となり, 2013年の1,036 万4 千人を300 万人余り, 上回った。日本政府観光局(JNTO)が1964 年に統計を開始して以来, 2 年連続で1,000 万人を突破した。 本稿は, 好調な経済状況により中間層や富裕層が増加しつつあるBRICS(ブラジル、ロシア, インド, 中国, 南アフリカの5 ヵ国)のうち, 特に, インドからの訪日旅行の将来の傾向を考察する。 日本語学習者が増加し, 日本への関心がますます高まり, 2014 年7 月より短期滞在者向けに数次ビザの発給が開始された。このような背景からインドは近い将来, 有望な訪日旅行市場として期待される。 本稿は, GDP 成長率推移, 可処分所得, 宗教別人口, 日本語学習者, 日本在留者, 日本への留学生, 日本企業への留学生の就職状況, 外国旅行, 訪日旅行, 日本における旅行の実態等の入手可能なデータを集め, 今後のインドからの訪日旅行の動向を取りまとめたものである。In 2014, Japan welcomed 13,414 thousand foreign visitors, representing an increase of 3 million visitors (+29.4%), compared with the figure of 2013, i.e. 10, 364 thousand visitors, thus achieved the goal of 10 million foreign visitors for two successive years since Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) started collecting statistics on foreign visitor arrivals in 1964. This paper examines future trends of foreign visitors to Japan, especially those from India, a member of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries, showing an increase in number of upper-middle group and rich group by achieving good economic outcomes. Learners of the Japanese language continue to increase in India and the people are interested more and more in Japan. Since July, 2014, multiple entry visas for short-term stay are issued for nationals of India. Under such circumstances, India seems to be a promising tourist-generating market for Japan in the near future. This paper monitors trends of Indian tourists to Japan, in summarizing changes ofGDP growth rates, disposable incomes, populations by religion, learners of the Japanese language, number of Indian residents in Japan, number of Indian students, number of those employed in Japanese companies, overseas travels, travels to Japan, a fact-finding survey on travels in Japan

ケンキュウ ノート スウジ デ ミル アセアン ショコク カラノ ホウニチ ガイコクジン リョコウシャ ト ソノ ハイケイ ニツイテ

最近、わが国を訪れる外客者数は、2011 年の東日本大震災による影響によって大幅に落ち込んだが、大幅に回復し、2013 年には1,000 万人目の外客を迎え、政府の目標を達成した。本稿は、特に伸び率が大きいASEAN 主要国からの訪日旅行者について検証したものである。 ASEAN 主要国は、日本から距離的にも比較的近く、アニメ等のサブカルチャーや和食に対し強い関心を持つなど、訪日旅行市場としての有望性が高いことから、GDP 成長率推移、可処分所得、宗教別人口、日本語学習者、日本在留者、日本への留学生、日本企業への留学生の就職状況、外国旅行、訪日旅行、日本における旅行の実態等の入手可能なデータを集め、今後のASEAN 主要国からの訪日旅行の動向を取りまとめたものである。Recently, visitors to Japan have recovered considerably in spite of a deep drop due to the effects caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and in 2013, Japan welcomed its 10 millionth foreign visitor, achieving the the goal set by the government. This paper examines future trend of foreign visitors to Japan, especially those from major ASEAN countries showing a great increase in number. Major ASEAN countries are situated relatively near to Japan, and there are many of those interested deeply in Japanese subcultures such as animation or Japanese food. Therefore,they seem to be a promising tourist-generating market for Japan. This is why this pape rsummarizes changes of GDP growth rates, disposable incomes, populations by religion, number of Japanese learners, number of foreign residents in Japan, number of students from ASEAN countries, number of those employed in Japanese companies, overseas travels, travels to Japan, a fact-finding survey on travels in Japan by major ASEAN countries

Local relapse of nasopharyngeal cancer and Voxel-based analysis of FMISO uptake using PET with semiconductor detectors

Background: Hypoxic cancer cells are thought to be radioresistant and could impact local recurrence after radiotherapy (RT). One of the major hypoxic imaging modalities is [18F]fluoromisonidazole positron emission tomography (FMISO-PET). High FMISO uptake before RT could indicate radioresistant sites and might be associated with future local recurrence. The predictive value of FMISO-PET for intra-tumoral recurrence regions was evaluated using high-resolution semiconductor detectors in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods: Nine patients with local recurrence and 12 patients without local recurrence for more than 3 years were included in this study. These patients received homogeneous and standard doses of radiation to the primary tumor irrespective of FMISO uptake. The FMISO-PET image before RT was examined via a voxel-based analysis, which focused on the relationship between the degree of FMISO uptake and recurrence region. Results: In the pretreatment FMISO-PET images, the tumor-to-muscle ratio (TMR) of FMISO in the voxels of the tumor recurrence region was significantly higher than that of the non-recurrence region (p < 0.0001). In the recurrent patient group, a TMR value of 1.37 (95% CI: 1.36-1.39) corresponded to a recurrence rate of 30%, the odds ratio was 5.18 (4.87-5.51), and the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.613. In all 21 patients, a TMR value of 2.42 (2.36-2.49) corresponded to an estimated recurrence rate of 30%, and the AUC was only 0.591. Conclusions: The uptake of FMISO in the recurrent region was significantly higher than that in the non-recurrent region. However, the predictive value of FMISO-PET before IMRT is not sufficient for up-front dose escalation for the intra-tumoral high-uptake region of FMISO. Because of the higher mean TMR of the recurrence region, a new hypoxic imaging method is needed to improve the sensitivity and specificity for hypoxia

Control of seed dormancy and germination by DOG1-AHG1 PP2C phosphatase complex via binding to heme

Abscisic acid (ABA) regulates abiotic stress and developmental responses including regulation of seed dormancy to prevent seeds from germinating under unfavorable environmental conditions. ABA HYPERSENSITIVE GERMINATION1 (AHG1) encoding a type 2C protein phosphatase (PP2C) is a central negative regulator of ABA response in germination; however, the molecular function and regulation of AHG1 remain elusive. Here we report that AHG1 interacts with DELAY OF GERMINATION1 (DOG1), which is a pivotal positive regulator in seed dormancy. DOG1 acts upstream of AHG1 and impairs the PP2C activity of AHG1 in vitro. Furthermore, DOG1 has the ability to bind heme. Binding of DOG1 to AHG1 and heme are independent processes, but both are essential for DOG1 function in vivo. Our study demonstrates that AHG1 and DOG1 constitute an important regulatory system for seed dormancy and germination by integrating multiple environmental signals, in parallel with the PYL/RCAR ABA receptor-mediated regulatory system

Outcomes of axitinib versus sunitinib as first-line therapy to patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the immune-oncology era

Although combination immune checkpoint inhibitor (immuno-oncology [IO]) therapy is the first-line treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), it mostly causes resistance and tumor regrowth. Therefore, an optimal second-line therapy is necessary. Such therapy typically comprises vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (VEGFR-TKIs). This study was aimed at comparing the efficacy of two TKIs-axitinib and sunitinib-in mRCC patients. From January 2008 to October 2018, we registered 703 mRCC patients from 8 Japanese institutes. Of these, 408 patients received axitinib or sunitinib as the first-line treatment. Thereafter, efficacy and survival rate were compared between the axitinib and sunitinib groups. To reduce the effects of selection bias and potential confounders, propensity score matching analysis was performed. Axitinib and sunitinib were administered in 274 and 134 patients, respectively. More than 25% of the patients received nivolumab sequence therapy. To calculate the propensity scores for each patient, we performed multivariate logistic regression analysis. The objective response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), cause-specific survival, and overall survival (OS) were significantly better in the axitinib group than in the sunitinib group. Furthermore, the OS was better in the nivolumab-treated patients in the axitinib group. Axitinib showed higher efficacy and afforded greater survival benefits than did sunitinib when administered as first-line therapy in mRCC patients. Thus, from among VEGFR-TKIs, axitinib might be a possible option for application in the middle of IO drug-based treatment sequences

Diminished Medial Prefrontal Activity behind Autistic Social Judgments of Incongruent Information

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to make inadequate social judgments, particularly when the nonverbal and verbal emotional expressions of other people are incongruent. Although previous behavioral studies have suggested that ASD individuals have difficulty in using nonverbal cues when presented with incongruent verbal-nonverbal information, the neural mechanisms underlying this symptom of ASD remain unclear. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we compared brain activity in 15 non-medicated adult males with high-functioning ASD to that of 17 age-, parental-background-, socioeconomic-, and intelligence-quotient-matched typically-developed (TD) male participants. Brain activity was measured while each participant made friend or foe judgments of realistic movies in which professional actors spoke with conflicting nonverbal facial expressions and voice prosody. We found that the ASD group made significantly less judgments primarily based on the nonverbal information than the TD group, and they exhibited significantly less brain activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex/ventral medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/vmPFC), and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) than the TD group. Among these five regions, the ACC/vmPFC and dmPFC were most involved in nonverbal-information-biased judgments in the TD group. Furthermore, the degree of decrease of the brain activity in these two brain regions predicted the severity of autistic communication deficits. The findings indicate that diminished activity in the ACC/vmPFC and dmPFC underlies the impaired abilities of individuals with ASD to use nonverbal content when making judgments regarding other people based on incongruent social information

Obvious advantage of vaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery hysterectomy against total laparoscopic hysterectomy in small uterus patients and the future prospects at a regional core institution: A retrospective study

Objective: Owing to the combination of benefits, including permanent visual guidance and no abdominal skin incision, vaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery hysterectomy (vNOTES-H) is currently widely used. However, the introduction of vNOTES-H has been delayed in many Japanese regional core hospitals because of its specific device and skill requirements. Therefore, the characteristics and advantages should be explained for the widespread use of this technique. Study design: We reviewed the medical records of 17 patients with vNOTES-H and 94 patients with total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2022. In this analysis, to compare the results of vNOTES-H to TLH, we excluded certain patients with a relatively heavy uterus (>255 g) and the presence of abdominal adhesions. In this report, first, the characteristics of the vNOTES-H procedures using a transvaginal access platform are explained by referring to one representative patient. Second, the patient characteristics of the vNOTES-H and TLH groups, including operation time and blood loss amount, were compared. Then, to detect the influence of vNOTES-H on the difficulty of operation among all 111 patients, we performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis to assess the influence of each of 9 factors, including “vNOTES-H”, “Advanced age”, “High BMI”, “3 parity”, “Gynaecological operation history”, “Adenomyoma”, “Large leiomyoma”, “Heavy uterus” and “Large uterus”, on the two indexes, including “Short time operation” and “Massive blood loss”. Results: In the simple comparison between the groups with vNOTES-H and TLH, the operation time in the former group was significantly shorter than in the latter group, although other factors did not show significant differences, including blood loss amount. Moreover, in the multivariate logistic regression analysis of all 111 patients, the “vNOTES-H” factor showed a significantly high possibility of “short time operation”, although no factor, including “vNOTES-H”, showed a significant influence on “massive blood loss”. Conclusions: vNOTES-H showed advantages in terms of operation time without increasing blood loss for patients with a relatively small uterus. However, to expand the selection for vNOTES-H, we should accumulate further patients and perform more analyses