Surfactant-free solution synthesis of fluorescent platinum subnanoclusters

We have demonstrated the first surfactant-free synthesis of fluorescent Pt nanoclusters in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution. The Pt nanoclusters consist of 4 to 6 Pt atoms. They form highly stable dispersions in water, under both acidic (pH 2) and basic conditions (pH 12), and at ionic strengths of 1 M NaCl

介護技術講習会受講者の意識の変化について

The present study investigated the effects of a workshop on care techniques that has been held since 2005 at our university. We conducted a care awareness survey by administering questionnaires to 39 participants before and after the workshop.Even though the workshop was only 32 h in duration, we found that it implemented following three effects in addition to the acquisition of care techniques: (1) enabling participants to reflect on and evaluate their usual care, (2) enabling understanding of the importance of fundamentals and their practice in actual settings, and (3) promoting awareness of care expertise.The chronic shortage of care personnel is a major social problem. The vast majority of care personnel are certified care workers with work experience who have aspirations to become certified care workers. While the present workshop may only have been one step on the way to becoming certified care workers for the participants, they considered it a meaningful experience

潜在的介護福祉士の介護現場への復帰の可能性 : 介護系大学卒業生に対する調査から

The subjects of the present study were certified care workers who had once been working as care workers but had left their jobs since. A total of 10 university graduates who completed a four-year care worker training program were administered a questionnaire survey. The reasons for leaving the job and views on work were obtained for nine subjects returning the survey. In the present study, we qualitatively investigated the problems usually faced by care workers on the basis of views obtained by conducting phone interviews of six of the nine subjects. The following six factors were identified as causes of care workers leaving their jobs: (1) working conditions, (2) salary, (3) terms of employment, (4) work satisfaction, (5) interpersonal relationships, and (6) private matters. Notable findings were that"low salary"and"employment conditions"were serious factors determining a worker\u27s decision to continue care work. The present survey revealed that many certified care workers who graduated from the university continued to have a very high level of motivation toward care work even after leaving their job. It also revealed that building up a working environment to encourage a sense of purpose and to enable workers to take pride in their work is required

Clozapine and Antipsychotic Monotherapy

Background: Although clozapine is effective for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), the rate of clozapine prescription is still low. Whereas antipsychotic monotherapy is recommended in clinical practice guidelines, the rate of antipsychotic polypharmacy is still high. There is little evidence on whether a clozapine prescription influences changes in the rate of monotherapy and polypharmacy, including antipsychotics and other psychotropics. We therefore hypothesized that the rate of antipsychotic monotherapy in patients with TRS who were prescribed clozapine would be higher than that in patients with schizophrenia who were not prescribed clozapine. Methods: We assessed 8306 patients with schizophrenia nationwide from 178 institutions in Japan from 2016 to 2019. We analyzed the psychotropic prescription data at discharge in patients diagnosed with TRS and with no description of TRS (ND-TRS) based on the diagnosis listed in the discharge summary. Results: The rate of antipsychotic monotherapy in the TRS with clozapine group (91.3%) was significantly higher than that in the TRS without clozapine group (45.9%; P < 2.0 × 10−16) and the ND-TRS without clozapine group (54.7%; P < 2.0 × 10−16). The rate of antipsychotic monotherapy without any other concomitant psychotropics in the TRS with clozapine group (26.5%) was significantly higher than that in the TRS without clozapine group (12.6%; P = 1.1 × 10−6) and the ND-TRS without clozapine group (17.0%; P = 5.9 × 10−6). Conclusions: Clozapine prescription could be associated with a high rate of antipsychotic monotherapy. Patients will benefit from the correct diagnosis of TRS and thus from proper clozapine prescription

認知症高齢者の生活歴等の施設間連携の現状と課題

In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey targeting 576 facility staff in charge of hospitalsfocusing on admission cooperation between facilities regarding the life history of the elderly withdementia. We concluded that there was no cooperation between facilities for information only limited tolife history due mainly to “Not enough time.”, “Private contents.”, “Insufficient amount/contents ofinformation.”, and “inadequacy of the recording paper.”. As a result of these problems, the followingitems should be added to the assessment sheet: (1) preparation of the assessment sheet, (2) guidancemanual to enhance cooperation between facilities, and (3) a“ self-record notebook” written by an elderlyperson himself/herself

Malignant pleural mesothelioma forming a huge mediastinal mass and causing atrial fibrillation

A patient with malignant pleural mesothelioma was admitted with atrial fibrillation. Chest computed tomography showed a huge mediastinal tumor adjacent to the heart. Autopsy revealed a 12 × 9.5 -cm mediastinal mass involving the right lung, which distorted and stretched the myocardial sleeve surrounding the right inferior pulmonary vein. This case demonstrates that advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma can cause atrial fibrillation, possibly by stimulating myocardium around a pulmonary vein