Suchergebnisse

It has long been believed that local autonomy is virtually nonexistent in Japan, but few empirical studies have tested for the impact of central controls over local financing on local spending priorities. In an analysis of budgetary data for Japan's 46 prefectures it is found that national aid has a weaker direct stimulation effect in Japan than in the United States, and that national aid has been used by local Japanese governments to release revenues, derived from internal sources, from ongoing programs in favor of new local priorities. Moreover, the high-income/low-dependency prefectures are shown to have shifted their spending priorities to innovative new programs in advance of national policy directives, particularly during periods of high economic growth. In addition, the overall strength of the progressive parties in a prefecture is associated with a shift in local priorities from public works to welfare spending. Both income and party have independent effects and in the late 1960s and early 1970s furnished several urban, high-income, progressive prefectures with the capacity and motivation to implement innovative, welfare-oriented policies. These findings suggest a need to revise our model of the central/local linkages in the Japanese policy-making process from a unitary, highly centralized depiction to a more two-way interaction.

ABSTRACTThis study evaluated the caries risk profile of patients with severe intellectual disabilities (IDs) who received dental treatment under general anesthesia. One hundred and two patients with ID [ID group, mean age (SD); 23.8(9.3)] and 100 healthy patients without ID [NID group, mean age (SD); 23.19(3.3)] were included. Medication, disability type, oral hygiene maintenance, and cooperation of the patients were investigated. Dietary habits, plaque index, mutans streptococci counts, fluoride availability, and salivary buffering were scored and analyzed using the Cariogram. The mean chance of avoiding caries (SD) was 28.1(20.4) in the ID group and 54.7(18.4) in the NID group. The ID group had significantly higher numbers of decayed and missing teeth, but fewer filled teeth than the NID group (p < .05). Significant disparities existed in the distributions of all caries‐related factors except for mutans streptococci counts between the two groups (p < .05). The low chance to avoid future caries in ID patients was closely associated with insufficient oral hygiene maintenance (p < .05). Fluoride availability was strongly associated with the chance of avoiding caries in the ID group. Dental patients with severe ID exhibited a higher risk of developing caries than normal patients. Among several caries‐related factors, insufficient oral hygiene maintenance and low fluoride availability most contributed to the high risk.

Purpose of Work: We have developed a strategy of designing multi-functional extracellular matrix proteins for functionalizing bone tissue engineering scaffolds and other biomedical surfaces to achieve improvements in bone grafting, bone repair and bone regeneration. We developed a novel extracellular matrix protein designed to have a cell adhesive RGD sequence derived from fibronectin and active functional unit of osteocalcin (OC) containing Ca2+-binding sites for immobilization to mineral component of bone, hydroxyapatite (HA). The fusion protein, designated FNRGD/OC, was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified with affinity chromatography using a His-tag. The resultant FNRGD/OC fusion protein preferentially bound to HA, promoted cell adhesive activity, and stimulated differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cell. ; This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government(MOEHRD) (KRF-2007-314-E00183), the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MOST) (R01-2007-000-20183), the Grants (#2009-0093829: priority research centers program, and #M10755080002-07N5508-00212) through the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Purpose of Work We have developed a strategy of designing multi-functional extracellular matrix proteins for functionalizing bone tissue engineering scaffolds and other biomedical surfaces to achieve improvements in bone grafting, bone repair and bone regeneration. We developed a novel extracellular matrix protein designed to have a cell adhesive RGD sequence derived from fibronectin and active functional unit of osteocalcin (OC) containing Ca2(+)-binding sites for immobilization to mineral component of bone, hydroxyapatite (HA). The fusion protein, designated FN(RGD)/OC, was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified with affinity chromatography using a His-tag. The resultant FN(RGD)/OC fusion protein preferentially bound to HA, promoted cell adhesive activity, and stimulated differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cell. ; This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean government (MOEHRD) (KRF-2007-314-E00183), the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MOST) (R01-2007-000-20183), the Grants (#2009-0093829: priority research centers program, and #M10755080002-07N5508-00212) through the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. ; 0

Purpose of Work: We have developed a strategy of designing multi-functional extracellular matrix proteins for functionalizing bone tissue engineering scaffolds and other biomedical surfaces to achieve improvements in bone grafting, bone repair and bone regeneration. We developed a novel extracellular matrix protein designed to have a cell adhesive RGD sequence derived from fibronectin and active functional unit of osteocalcin (OC) containing Ca2+-binding sites for immobilization to mineral component of bone, hydroxyapatite (HA). The fusion protein, designated FNRGD/OC, was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified with affinity chromatography using a His-tag. The resultant FNRGD/OC fusion protein preferentially bound to HA, promoted cell adhesive activity, and stimulated differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cell. (C) 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. ; This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD) (KRF-2007-314-E00183), the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MOST) (R01-2007-000-20183), the Grants (#2009-0093829: priority research centers program, and #M10755080002-07N5508-00212) through the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.com ; Objective: This study aims to examine associations between missing teeth with unmet needs (MTUN) and socioeconomic status, represented by income and place of residence. Methods: The National Health Insurance Corporation dataset of 822,325 dentate Korean government employees` dental examinations results, questionnaire responses in the year 2000, and basic information collected for administrative purposes was used for this analysis. The main outcome variable was the number of MTUN, categorized into three groups: none, 1-2, and >= 3. Explanatory variables were assessed and a multinomial logistic regression was employed. Results: Seventy percent were men, with a mean age of 39.1 years (range 18 to 74). The mean number of MTUN was 0.34, and 19.1 percent had >= 1 MTUN. After adjusting for other variables, age and income were the most salient independent predictors. Rural residents, men, older adults, persons having smoking experience, and persons visiting a dental clinic in the past year were more likely to have >= 1 MTUN than their counterparts. People performing frequent toothbrushing or having received professional scaling in the past year were less likely to have >= 1 MTUN than their counterparts. Conclusion: Among South Korean government employees with a general dental care insurance benefit, exclusive of prosthetic services, having normative unmet prosthetic need was significantly associated with older age, lower income, and rural residence, taking into account other demographic factors, personal health practices, and dental service utilization. ; 5

Objective: This study aims to examine associations between missing teeth with unmet needs (MTUN) and socioeconomic status, represented by income and place of residence. Methods: The National Health Insurance Corporation dataset of 822,325 dentate Korean government employees' dental examinations results, questionnaire responses in the year 2000, and basic information collected for administrative purposes was used for this analysis. The main outcome variable was the number of MTUN, categorized into three groups: none, 1-2, and ≥3. Explanatory variables were assessed and a multinomial logistic regression was employed. Results: Seventy percent were men, with a mean age of 39.1 years (range 18 to 74). The mean number of MTUN was 0.34, and 19.1 percent had ≥1 MTUN. After adjusting for other variables, age and income were the most salient independent predictors. Rural residents, men, older adults, persons having smoking experience, and persons visiting a dental clinic in the past year were more likely to have ≥1 MTUN than their counterparts. People performing frequent toothbrushing or having received professional scaling in the past year were less likely to have ≥1 MTUN than their counterparts. Conclusion: Among South Korean government employees with a general dental care insurance benefit, exclusive of prosthetic services, having normative unmet prosthetic need was significantly associated with older age, lower income, and rural residence, taking into account other demographic factors, personal health practices, and dental service utilization. ; The authors would like to thank the NHIC in Korea for providing a well-arranged dataset and for practical assistance at many instances.