Leucine-rich repeats (LRRs) with 20-30 amino acids in unit length are present in many proteins from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. The LRR-containing proteins include a family of nine small proteoglycans, forming three distinct subfamilies: class I contains biglycan/PG-I and decorin/PG-II; class II: lumican, fibromodulin, PRELP, keratocan, and osteoadherin; and class III: epiphycan/PG-Lb and osteoglycin or osteoinductive factor. Comparative sequence analysis of the 34 available protein sequences reveals that these proteoglycans have two types of LRRs, which we call S and T. The type S LRR is 21 residues long and has the consensus sequence of xxaPzxLPxxLxxLxLxxNxI. The type T LRR has 26 residues; its consensus sequence is zzxxaxxxxFxxaxxLxxLxLxxNxL. In both "x" indicates variable residue; "z" is frequently a gap; "a" is Val, Leu, or Ile; and I is Ile or Leu. These type S and TLRRs are ordered into two super-motifs--STT with about 73 residues in classes I and II and ST with about 47 residues in class III. The 12 LRRs in the small proteoglycans of I and II are best represented as (STT)4; the seven LRRs of class III as (ST)T(ST)2. Our analyses indicate that classes I/II and III evolved along different paths after the establishment of the precursor ST, and classes I and II also diverged after the establishment of the precursor (STT)4.

T. Ohyanagi, ohyanagi@sapmed.ac.jpTiming accuracy in measuring reaction times (RTs) on computer systems has been studied by many researchers. It is known that monitor displays, devices for responding to stimuli, operating systems (OSs) of the computers used, and software for presenting stimuli were major technical factors influencing the timing accuracy. Krantz (2000) has discussed some issues with regard to the presentation of stimuli on monitor displays. Wiens et al. (2004) compared display technologies for presenting brief pictures and reported that LCD and TFT displays had poor accuracy. Plant, Hammond, and Whitehouse (2003) tested response devices, including a sample set of mice, a standard keyboard, and an E-Prime Deluxe response box, and showed that even changing the mouse could have an effect on RT measurement. Shimizu (2002) investigated the response characteristics of PC keyboards by comparing keyboards and joystick inputs. Forster and Forster (2003) developed DMDX software for solving timing errors in measuring RTs. Plant, Hammond, and Turner (2004) reported that there was a delay in displaying a stimulus on the screen even if the software was carefully developed to synchronize with the refresh rate. McKinney, MacCormac, and Welsh-Bohmer (1999) and De Clercq, Crombez, Buysse, and Roeyers (2003) solved the problem of timing errors by using external hardware and software capable of detecting the onset of the stimulus on the screen to measure RTs accurately. Forster and Forster pointed out that the cost-benefit ratio of the solution by McKinney et al. might be high, since the solution required the user to purchase additional expensive hardware. The solution by De Clercq et al. required an additional two PCs other than the PC under test. Recently, some commercial hardware and software products that measure RTs with millisecond accuracy have been developed. The Vienna Test System provides a self-calibration option to ensure the precision of RTs (Häusler, Sommer, & Chroust, 2007). The Black Box Toolkit is an external calibration system that can be used with other test systems, such as E-Prime and SuperLab, to correct measurements manually (Plant et al., 2004). These systems, however, were developed mainly for use in laboratory settings and would not be easy to use for health professionals working in clinical settings.This article presents our new solution for measuring accurate RT (SMART). The SMART was realized with a Cypress Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC) mixedsignal array microcontroller. We developed new firmware running on the PSoCs. We herein first explain the hardware and firmware of the SMART and then report three experiments using the SMART. The results indicate that the SMART is a simple and practical solution to accurately measure RTs in both laboratory and clinical set-A solution for measuring accurate reaction time to visual stimuli realized with a programmable microcontroller TOSHIO OHYANAGI AND YASUHITO SENGOKU Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, JapanThis article presents a new solution...

Almost all towns and villages in the rural areas of Hokkaido suffer shortages of health-care professionals, particularly therapists (e.g. physiotherapists, occupational and speech therapists). A therapist in a rural community must work as a general rehabilitation therapist. This adds to the stress of both the responsibility and the isolation and it seems to be the major reason why therapists do not generally stay in rural communities. A telehealth project to overcome this vicious circle in Hokkaido was started at Sapporo Medical University in 1997, and the town of Betsukai joined the project. This outlines the support given to an isolated physiotherapist working in Betsukai, as part of a larger rehabilitation project. Regular videoconferences helped the physiotherapist gain confidence in her work in the rural community.

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We have evaluated a course delivered by videoconferencing to rural health centre staff in Hokkaido. The course focused on the planning and evaluation of community health interventions. It included four 90 min sessions and two follow-up sessions. Fourteen professional staff members (public health nurses, nutritionists and dental assistants) attended each class. Knowledge of community health-care planning and evaluation was higher at post-education testing than pre-education testing. Ratings for 'using a computer', 'using some computer software', 'using the Internet' and 'interest in telehealth' increased significantly in post-education testing compared with pre-education testing. The course had an additional benefit in increasing the collaboration between community health workers and university staff.