Millennial editorial message.

The pioneers of neurology in Japan were professors Hiroshi Kawahara and Kinnosuke Miura. Kawahara published the first description of progressive bulbar palsy and wrote the first neurology textbook in Japan. Miura, on the other hand, published studies about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in addition to participating in the founding of the Japanese Society of Neurology. The influence of European neurology, particularly French and German, in the figures of Professor Jean-Martin Charcot and Professor Erwin Bälz, was fundamental in the consolidation of neurology in Japan.

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PubMed2001

Novel single nucleotide polymorphisms of the human nuclear factor kappa-B 2 gene identified by sequencing the entire gene.

The nuclear factor kappa-B 2 (NFKB2) gene is a member of the NFKB/Rel gene family, which is known to be a pivotal regulator of the acute phase of the inflammatory response and of immune responses. We identified three novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and determined their allelic frequencies, as determined by the sequencing of 48 alleles of the entire gene in a Japanese population sample. Two of the three polymorphisms were identified at nucleotide (nt) position 1837 (T/C) and nt position, 1867 (GG/G) in the upstream region of the gene. The other polymorphism was identified at nt position 2584 (G/T) within intron 1. These polymorphisms will be useful in genetic studies of the processes involved in inflammatory responses and in bone differentiation.

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PubMed2001

[Efforts to prevent adverse events in the United States--health care risk management and a fresh perspective on adverse events prevention].

Not causing adverse events is never-ceasing issue in the health care field. However, the advances and greater specialization of medical technologies and the increasing number of elderly people, are all factors in the occurrence of adverse events. At the same time, greater efficiency is now demanded in the health care field, and the problem of preventing adverse events has become tougher than ever before. Given the situation, a fresh perspective on attempts to prevent adverse events may be important. One hint for such a new perspective is the health care risk management that is widely practiced in the health care field in the United States. This was introduced in the mid-1970s to counter the disputes and lawsuits at the time, but over the years the focus has shifted to the importance of prevention, and is now recognized as a means to work toward the assurance of quality of health care. Hints are also found in the suggestions related to adverse events prevention. In "To Err Is Human," published in November 1999 in the United States, includes proposals to "respect human limits in process design" and "promote effective team functioning," which are just the approaches we should adopt for a new perspective. I would also like to draw attention to the idea that there should be investigations into "developing effective mechanisms for identifying and dealing with unsafe practitioners" and the importance of "protecting voluntary reporting systems" that is mentioned. Adopting American methods unchanged to the health care system in Japan may not be appropriate, but the way of thinking and know-how from health care risk management, as well as the suggestions for adverse events prevention will provide us new perspectives on adverse events prevention, from which we should work toward a system of more efficient, and high-quality adverse events prevention.

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