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Background Many developed countries including Japan are experiencing declining birth rates, particularly in urban areas. There is a gap between the planned number of children and the actual number of children, which has been attributed to various factors.

We aimed to develop a platform to rapidly investigate the responses of agonists and antagonists to G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) using native mass spectrometry (MS). We successfully observed the ligand-bound human β2 adrenergic receptor (hβ2AR); however, it was challenging to quantitatively discuss drug efficacy from MS data alone.

Abstract Objectives Rural–urban healthcare disparities exist globally. Various countries have used a rurality index for evaluating the disparities. Although Japan has many remote islands and rural areas, no rurality index exists. This study aimed to develop and validate a Rurality Index for Japan (RIJ) for healthcare research.

Sheri Madigan and colleagues'1 systematic review evaluates whether the COVID-19 pandemic has affected paediatric emergency department visits for attempted suicide, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. They report that the combined rate of emergency department visits for attempted suicide and suicidal ideation increased among girls (rate ratio 1·39, 90% CI 1·04–1·88), whereas there was no significant change among boys (1·06, 0·92–1·24).1 We were interested in this difference between the sexes because the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have had a greater impact on the behaviour of girls than boys in Japan. Therefore, we decided to analyse cases of death by suicide among adolescents and young adults in Japan.