A new behavioral training approach has been found significantly to improve visual function; the results further attest to the high degree of plasticity in sensory systems.

Memory systems select from environmental stimuli those to encode permanently. Repeated stimuli separated by timed spaces without stimuli can initiate Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) and long-term memory (LTM) encoding. These processes occur in time scales of minutes, and have been demonstrated in many species. This study reports on using a specific timed pattern of three repeated stimuli separated...

BACKGROUND The age-related deterioration of physiological capacities such as muscle strength and balance is associated with increased dependence. Understanding the contribution of physical fitness components to functional performance facilitates the development of adequate exercise interventions aiming at preservation of function and independence of older people. The aim of the study was to inv...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to identify the effects of community-based home healthcare projects that influence service performances with regard to Korean national long-term care insurance services in older adults. METHODS The project's applicants were 18 operational agencies in national long-term care institutions in Korea, and participants were care recipients (n = 2263) registered ...

One of the critical issues that Japan, well known for the world's highest proportion of older adults, a super-aged society, is currently confronting is how to prevent physical disability in old age. This issue is particularly important not only from a medical perspective such as functional prognoses but also from a socio-economic angle in view of reducing the rapid rise in the cost of medical a...

INTRODUCTION In 2000, Japan implemented a mandatory long-term care insurance system. With the rapid growth of the system, problems became apparent. Several critical alterations were made to long-term care insurance system, particularly with respect to integrated care. METHODS This paper elucidates the policy trends that led to the reforms of the long-term care insurance system, which included...

This paper reviews a decade of implementation of the public long-term care insurance (LTCI) program in Japan, which is now experiencing unprecedented pressure from its rapidly aging population. This overview of the program’s features focuses on the incentive mechanisms and diversity, and examines official future projections of LTCI costs and their accompanying assumptions. It also includes the ...

The textbook approach to insurance markets emphasizes the role of private information about risk in determining who purchases insurance. In the classic adverse selection model of Michael Rothschild and Joseph Stiglitz (1976), individuals with higher expected claims buy more insurance than those with lower expected claims, who may be out of the market entirely. This basic prediction of asymmetri...

It is challenging to change physicians' antimicrobial prescribing behaviour. Although antimicrobial prescribing is determined by contextual (e.g. a lack of guidelines), cultural (e.g. peer practice) and behavioural (e.g. perceived decision making autonomy) factors, most antimicrobial stewardship programmes fail to consider these factors in their approach. This may lead to suboptimal interventio...