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Objective: This study aims to compare the epidemiology of notifications of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among Japan-born and foreign-born children in Japan between 2010 and 2020, and to assess the language used during LTBI case interviews with parents or caregivers of foreign-born children with LTBI during 2019. Methods: Our study consisted of two parts: (1) an analysis of national data from the Japan Tuberculosis Surveillance (JTBS) system on the epidemiology of LTBI among Japan-born and foreign-born children in Japan, and (2) a survey of staff at public health centres that had registered at least one foreign-born child aged ≤14 years with LTBI. Data were extracted from the JTBS system for all children aged ≤14 years who were newly notified as having LTBI between 2010 and 2020, and analysed to determine trends, characteristics and treatment outcomes. Staff at relevant public health centres completed a self-administered survey. Results: A total of 7160 Japan-born and 320 foreign-born children were notified as having LTBI between 2010 and 2020. Compared with Japan-born children, foreign-born children notified as having LTBI were more likely to be older, have their mother or sibling as their source of infection and have LTBI detected via a routine school health check. At case interviews, the use of language interpretation services was limited, even when both parents were non-Japanese. No interview was directly conducted with children themselves, not even with school-aged children. Discussion: Foreign-born children and their parents may be unfamiliar with the system of testing for TB infection and the diagnosis of LTBI in Japan in school settings. Public health centres are required to provide education to patients and their families and care that takes into account cultural and linguistic differences. However, the provision of language support during case interviews may need strengthening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) in HIV-infected patients after initiating antiretroviral therapy usually involves worsening manifestations of overt infectious disease. Here, we describe a sporadic case of a late-diagnosed HIV-positive man who developed Graves' disease as the first noninfectious IRIS followed by immune thrombocytopenic purpura as the second noninfectious IRIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For determination of the conformation of irregular sequences in glycine-rich region of the Nephila clavipes spider dragline silk, the combination of 13 C selectively labeled model peptides for the typical primary structure and their 13 C solid-state NMR observations is very useful (T. Asakura et al. Macromolecules. 51 (2018) 3608-3619). However, spiders produce the fiber through the stretching process in nature and therefore, it is difficult to study conformational change by stretching as mimic using the model peptides because these are generally in the powder form. In this paper, 13 C selectively labeled three model peptides, (Glu) 4 (Ala) 6 GlyGly 12 Ala 13 Gly 14 GlnGlyGlyTyrGlyGlyLeuGlySerGlnGly 25 Ala 26 Gly 27 ArgGly-GlyLeuGlyGlyGlnGly 35 Ala 36 Gly 37 (Ala) 6 (Glu) 4 with three underlined 13 C labeled blocks and their poly(vinyl alcohol) blend films were prepared and the conformational changes of these peptides were monitored by stretching of the films using 13 C solid-state NMR. In addition, the molecular dynamics simulation was done to evaluate change in the conformation of the sequence by stretching theoretically. The fractions of β-sheet of Ala 36 and Gly 37 residues in glycine-rich region adjacent to the C-terminal (Ala) 6 sequence increased significantly by stretching compared with those of other 13 C labeled Ala and Gly residues., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The conformational analysis of spider dragline silks is difficult because of the amorphous character of the silks. In this article, the fractions of several conformations were determined for three 47-mer peptides, (Glu) 4 (Ala) 6 GlyGly 12 Ala 13 Gly 14 GlnGlyGlyTyrGlyGlyLeuGlySerGlnGly 25 Ala 26 Gly 27 -ArgGlyGlyLeuGlyGlyGlnGly 35 Ala 36 Gly 37 (Ala) 6 (Glu) 4 , with three underlined 13 C-labeled blocks using a 13 C CP/MAS NMR method. The conformations of the 13 C-labeled sites change significantly depending on the location of the labeled blocks when treated with trifluoroacetic acid, low pH, and freeze-drying. The conformations of Ala 36 and Gly 37 residues are strongly influenced by the specific conformation of the (Ala) 6 sequence at the C-terminal side, but those of other residues, Ala 13 and Gly 14 , and Ala 26 and Gly 27 , are basically not influenced by the conformations of (Ala) 6 . Through hydration of the β-sheet peptide, sharp peaks with random coil could be observed depending on the position of the residue, and this result could be interpreted via the change in the Ramachandran map obtained from the molecular dynamics simulation.