This is a report of the 16th Annual Conference on Student Selection held on August 30, 1997 in Tokyo. The main topic of discussion was the subject whether bachelor's degree must be required to medical school applicants. Advantages, disadvantages and expected future problems concerning the proposal by the advisory committee of the Ministry of Education and Culture are widely discussed.

Since MR angiography (MR) can demonstrate the whole brain arterial system without introduction of contrast medium, it is very useful in screening for aneurysm, AVM and vascular occlusion in outpatients.
There are two methods in MRA-subtraction and non-subtraction methods (time of flight, TOF).
The magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) technique can demonstrate smaller vessels and slower blood flow than any conventional TOF-MRA.
Compared with the subtraction MRA, the MTC-TOF-MRA demonstrates smaller vessels clearly in a shorter time. By Gd-enhancement, the image of the arterial system can be also improved on the MTC method.

BACKGROUND: Studies on the adverse effects of Asian dust (AD) on respiratory function in children are scarce. The objective of this study was to examine the association between AD and respiratory function by measuring peak expiratory flow rates (PEFRs) in asthmatic children. METHODS: The study was carried out from March to May from 2014 through 2016. One hundred ten children with bronchial asthma were recruited from four hospitals in the Goto Islands and south Nagasaki area in Nagasaki prefecture. The parents were asked to record their children's PEFRs every morning/evening and clinical symptoms in an asthma diary. AD was assessed from light detection and ranging data, and a linear mixed-effects model was used to estimate the effects of AD on daily PEFR. Time-stratified case-crossover analyses were performed to examine the association between AD and asthma attacks defined by reduction levels in PEFR. RESULTS: AD was detected on 11 days in the Goto Islands, and on 23 days in the south Nagasaki area. After adjusting for age, sex, temperature, and daily oxidants, we found a consistent association between AD and a 1.1% to 1.7% decrease in PEFR in the mornings and a 0.7% to 1.3% decrease in the evenings at a lag of 0 to 5 days. AD was not associated with the number of asthma attacks, respiratory symptoms, or other symptoms at any lag days examined. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to AD was associated with reduced PEFR, although the effects were not large enough to induce clinically apparent symptoms, in clinically well-controlled asthmatic children.