日本における外国人介護労働者の現状と受け入れの課題

　外国人介護労働者の受け入れの働きが本格化している。高齢者数がほぼピークとなる2040年に向けて介護職員数の不足を補うため、この働きは一層加速すると予想される。本稿では、4つの在留資格の特徴を整理した上で、近年の外国人介護労働者に関する二つの調査から現状を把握しようと試みた。介護に関する在留資格の中で技能実習制度は賃金と家族の帯同の点で問題があるものの、高齢者福祉施設において受け入れは進んでいる。全体として介護事業所の多くが外国人介護労働者受け入れのために日本語能力や介護技術向上のための支援が必須であると考えているが、同時にそれが負担及び障害にもなっている。　利用者主体で考えれば、高齢者に質の高いケアを提供するために外国人介護労働者に対する十分な研修は不可欠である。今後は、労働の前提となる語学能力や介護技術向上のための研修等を国が基本的な仕組みを支援するような施策も必要となるだろう。介護サービス利用者である高齢者を中心として、外国人介護職員、協働する日本人職員、介護サービス事業者の権利や利益を保障する福祉政策や移民政策を検討する時期に来ている

The Working Environment and Inclusive Policy for Migrant Care Workers: A Study Using German Examples

介護に関する日本の在留資格は「特定活動 (経済連携協定 EPA) 」、「介護」、「技能実習」「特定技能」と4つになり、その他の永住者や留学生等も働いている。技能実習制度についてはさまざまな問題があり、見直しに向けての働きが起こっている。特定技能についても検討するべき課題は多く、本稿は、外国人介護労働者の労働環境を検討し包摂のための政策を考えることを目的としている。 　外国人介護労働者に関する統合政策を考えるため、まず2つの在留資格、技能実習と特定技能の特徴を整理する。次に、日本と同じく介護保険制度があり外国人労働者の受け入れの点で比較的条件の似ているドイツの事例を参考にするため、外国人介護労働者と管理者のインタビュー調査を実施した。利用者主体で考えれば、高齢者に質の高いケアを提供するために外国人介護労働者に対する十分な研修は不可欠である。その点で近年の法改正により介護看護労働者に手厚い教育を実施するドイツの政策は、日本の外国人介護労働者の定着と能力の向上に役立つと思われる。 　今後、日本でも高齢者に対するケア、特に認知症ケアの前提となる語学能力や介護技術向上のための研修等と共に、長期に居住する移住労働者を公的に支援し包摂するような施策が必要となるのではないだろうか。departmental bulletin pape

An RNA aptamer with potent affinity for a toxic dimer of amyloid β42 has potential utility for histochemical studies of Alzheimer's disease

Oligomers of β-amyloid 42 (Aβ42), rather than fibrils, drive the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In particular, toxic oligomeric species called protofibrils (PFs) have attracted significant attention. Herein, we report RNA aptamers with higher affinity toward PFs derived from a toxic Aβ42 dimer than toward fibrils produced from WT Aβ42 or from a toxic, conformationally constrained Aβ42 variant, E22P–Aβ42. We obtained these RNA aptamers by using the preincubated dimer model of E22P–Aβ42, which dimerized via a linker located at Val-40, as the target of in vitro selection. This dimer formed PFs during incubation. Several physicochemical characteristics of an identified aptamer, E22P–AbD43, suggested that preferential affinity of this aptamer toward PFs is due to its higher affinity for the toxic dimer unit (KD = 20 ± 6.0 nm) of Aβ42 than for less-toxic Aβ40 aggregates. Comparison of CD data from the full-length and random regions of E22P–AbD43 suggested that the preferential binding of E22P–AbD43 toward the dimer might be related to the formation of a G-quadruplex structure. E22P–AbD43 significantly inhibited the nucleation phase of the dimer and its associated neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. Of note, E22P–AbD43 also significantly protected against the neurotoxicity of WT Aβ42 and E22P–Aβ42. Furthermore, in an AD mouse model, E22P–AbD43 preferentially recognized diffuse aggregates, which likely originated from PFs or higher-order oligomers with curvilinear structures, compared with senile plaques formed from fibrils. We conclude that the E22P–AbD43 aptamer is a promising research and diagnostic tool for further studies of AD etiology

In Situ Enzyme Activity in the Dissolved and Particulate Fraction of the Fluid from Four Pitcher Plant Species of the Genus Nepenthes

The genus Nepenthes, a carnivorous plant, has a pitcher to trap insects and digest them in the contained fluid to gain nutrient. A distinctive character of the pitcher fluid is the digestive enzyme activity that may be derived from plants and dwelling microbes. However, little is known about in situ digestive enzymes in the fluid. Here we examined the pitcher fluid from four species of Nepenthes. High bacterial density was observed within the fluids, ranging from 7×106 to 2.2×108 cells ml−1. We measured the activity of three common enzymes in the fluid: acid phosphatases, β-d-glucosidases, and β-d-glucosaminidases. All the tested enzymes detected in the liquid of all the pitcher species showed activity that considerably exceeded that observed in aquatic environments such as freshwater, seawater, and sediment. Our results indicate that high enzyme activity within a pitcher could assist in the rapid decomposition of prey to maximize efficient nutrient use. In addition, we filtered the fluid to distinguish between dissolved enzyme activity and particle-bound activity. As a result, filtration treatment significantly decreased the activity in all enzymes, while pH value and Nepenthes species did not affect the enzyme activity. It suggested that enzymes bound to bacteria and other organic particles also would significantly contribute to the total enzyme activity of the fluid. Since organic particles are themselves usually colonized by attached and highly active bacteria, it is possible that microbe-derived enzymes also play an important role in nutrient recycling within the fluid and affect the metabolism of the Nepenthes pitcher plant

Integrative Annotation of 21,037 Human Genes Validated by Full-Length cDNA Clones

The human genome sequence defines our inherent biological potential; the realization of the biology encoded therein requires knowledge of the function of each gene. Currently, our knowledge in this area is still limited. Several lines of investigation have been used to elucidate the structure and function of the genes in the human genome. Even so, gene prediction remains a difficult task, as the varieties of transcripts of a gene may vary to a great extent. We thus performed an exhaustive integrative characterization of 41,118 full-length cDNAs that capture the gene transcripts as complete functional cassettes, providing an unequivocal report of structural and functional diversity at the gene level. Our international collaboration has validated 21,037 human gene candidates by analysis of high-quality full-length cDNA clones through curation using unified criteria. This led to the identification of 5,155 new gene candidates. It also manifested the most reliable way to control the quality of the cDNA clones. We have developed a human gene database, called the H-Invitational Database (H-InvDB; http://www.h-invitational.jp/). It provides the following: integrative annotation of human genes, description of gene structures, details of novel alternative splicing isoforms, non-protein-coding RNAs, functional domains, subcellular localizations, metabolic pathways, predictions of protein three-dimensional structure, mapping of known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identification of polymorphic microsatellite repeats within human genes, and comparative results with mouse full-length cDNAs. The H-InvDB analysis has shown that up to 4% of the human genome sequence (National Center for Biotechnology Information build 34 assembly) may contain misassembled or missing regions. We found that 6.5% of the human gene candidates (1,377 loci) did not have a good protein-coding open reading frame, of which 296 loci are strong candidates for non-protein-coding RNA genes. In addition, among 72,027 uniquely mapped SNPs and insertions/deletions localized within human genes, 13,215 nonsynonymous SNPs, 315 nonsense SNPs, and 452 indels occurred in coding regions. Together with 25 polymorphic microsatellite repeats present in coding regions, they may alter protein structure, causing phenotypic effects or resulting in disease. The H-InvDB platform represents a substantial contribution to resources needed for the exploration of human biology and pathology