High levels of soluble C5b-9 complex in dialysis fluid may predict poor prognosis in peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients

Background We searched for indicators to predict the prognosis of infectious peritonitis by measuring levels of complement proteins and activation products in peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluid (PDF) of patients at early stages of peritonitis. We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between the levels of sC5b-9, C3 and C4 in PDF and the subsequent clinical prognosis. Methods We measured levels of sC5b-9, C3 and C4 in PDF on days 1, 2 and 5 post-onset of peritonitis in 104 episodes of infectious peritonitis in PD patients from 2008 and retrospectively compared levels with clinical outcomes. Further analysis for the presence of causative microorganisms or to demonstrate bacterial culture negative peritonitis was performed and correlated with change of levels of sC5b-9 in PDF. Results When PD patients with peritonitis were divided into groups that either failed to recover from peritonitis and were finally withdrawn from PD (group 1; n = 25) or recovered (group 2; n = 79), levels of sC5b-9, C3 and C4 in PDF were significantly higher in group 1 patients compared to those in group 2 on day5. Analysis of microorganisms showed significantly higher sC5b-9 levels in PDF of peritonitis cases caused by culture negative peritonitis in group 1 compared with group 2 when we analyzed for individual microorganisms. Of note, on day5, the sC5b-9 levels in PDF were similarly high in peritonitis caused by fungi or other organisms. Conclusion Our results suggested that levels of complement markers in PDF, especially sC5b-9, have potential as surrogate markers to predict prognosis of PD-related peritonitis

Development of Health Promotion Programs based on the Salute Genetics Model

健康社会学者のアーロン・アントノフスキー (Aaron Antonovsky) は、健康を積極的に創出する要因の研究を展開し、この成果を健康生成論 (salute genetics oriented theory) として公表した。この理論に基づくヘルス・プロモーションは、ストレス社会で生活する我々の、健康の維持・増進に寄与することが期待される。本稿では健康生成モデルに基づく、一般の人々を対象にした心理教育プログラムのあり方について論考する。健康生成志向的な認知を促すグループワークでは、①ストレスの発生、およびSOCと健康の関連についての理解を深める知識教育、② SOCの自己理解、③ SOCの改善や変容を目的にしたに取り組みなどから構成されるプログラムが考えられる。Aaron Antonovsky, who was a health sociologist, investigated factors that promoted health and then published these results as the salute genetics-oriented theory. This theory is useful for health promotion for Japanese living in stressful environments. At this article, we discussed health promotion programs based on the salute genetics-oriented model. It was concluded that the programs were constructed of three elements: education about the salute genetics-oriented and general stress models, self-understanding of “sense of coherence” (SOC), and improvement of SOC

Selective Detection of Acetone Vapor Using Hydrophobized Pillared Carbon Thin Films

Pillared carbon thin films were prepared from the thermal reduction of graphite oxide silylated with octyltrichlorosilane and then dimethyldichlorosilane. The interlayer spacing of the resulting pillared carbon thin film was 1.29 nm, and it contained hydrophobic Si–CH3 groups, excluding Si–OH ones. The resistance of it increased during the exposure to acetone vapor, while it was unchanged when it was exposed to the water vapor. Moreover, in the presence of water vapor, the resistance changed in a similar manner