Knowledge of Criteria for Brain Death and Attitudes towards Organ Donation and Transplantation of Nursing Professionals in Tottori Prefecture, Japan

The nursing professional population in Tottori Prefecture, Japan, was studied for their knowledge of criteria towards brain death and their attitudes towards organ donation and organ transplantation. An attempt was also made to clarify factors involved in issues concerning organ donation and organ transplantation. We distributed 2200 questionnaires to 9 hospitals, and obtained 1879 responses, of which 1683 were valid. The rate of nursing professionals holding donor cards to all respondents was 384/1683 (22.8%). The length of nursing service showed no difference in improvement of awareness of brain death. Longer length of service tended to produce a negative attitude in nurses towards donating their own organs in both brain death and cardiac death. Subjects who were willing to donate organs to others in cardiac death were also willing to do so in brain death. We provided some general suggestions for improving education about organ transplantation in Japan, such as commencing provisions for education regarding organ donation and organ transplantation in junior high school due to ethical issues. To more clearly identify the barriers against the improvement of the situation surrounding organ transplantation, research needs to be cumulated for nursing professionals

Physicochemical characteristics of rapidly dried onion powder and its anti-atherogenic effect on rats fed high-fat diet

Rapidly dried onion (Milan cepa L. cv. Momiji No. 3) powder (OP) prepared from the outer layers (from second to fourth scale leaves from the surface) of onion bulbs was analysed for its quercetin and polyuronide contents, the effects of enzymatic treatment and the anti-atherogenic effect on rats fed a high-fat diet. Quercetin 4'-glucoside (50%), free quercetin (30%) and quercetin 3,4'-diglucoside (20%) were identified as quercetin derivatives, and boiling-water extraction was effective in extracting these compounds. OP contained 12.9% of polyuronides, the basic skeleton of pectin. Enzymatic degradation (cellulase and pectinase, 50 degrees C for 12 h, pH 6.0) of OP was effective in obtaining a slurry of smaller particle sizes. The free quercetin increased and the glucosides decreased with enzyme treatment. In Wistar rats fed an OP-added high-fat diet, the total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations were not significantly different from the rats fed a high-fat diet without OP. However, the atherogenic index (AI) of Wistar rats fed an OP-added high-fat diet was lower (AI = 3.3) than rats fed the diet without OP (AI = 4.1). The incremental elastic modulus (IEM) of the aorta from rats fed the OP-added diet was also significantly lower than that of the rats fed the diet without OP. The AI and IEM values of the rats fed the OP-added diet were quite similar to the values of rats fed the diet without OP but were allowed spontaneous exercise. These results suggest that OP intake is effective for decreasing the risk of arteriosclerosis.ArticleFOOD CHEMISTRY. 129(3):810-815 (2011)journal articl

A vision of English education in Japanese universities in the 21st century

東京水産大学共通講座英語・非常勤講師東京水産大学共通講

本学における総合実習の取り組み

2011～2012年度の総合実習の取り組みについて報告する。2011年度総合実習目標の中で、「看護上の問題と必要なケアを速やかに判断できる」が課題となった。患者理解とアセスメントの必要性から、2012年度の総合実習より「受持患者記録（看護問題とその根拠）」を加えるなど、実習記録用紙の改訂を行った。根拠やアセスメントの記録により、学生の患者理解が促進されたと考えられる。指導側は学生の思考過程が可視化され、指導の方向性が明確となった。臨床で求められる看護実践能力を育成するために、総合実習において教員や実習指導者は、学生が一人一人の患者に対して、根拠やアセスメントを重視した看護の提供ができるように指導していく必要がある

がんピアサポーター養成研修前後における受講生のピアサポーター像の変化

がんピアサポーター養成研修前後の受講生が描くピアサポーター像を明らかにし、研修の成果と課題を検討することを目的に質的に分析した。研修前後とも【コミュニケーション技術】【ピアサポーターとしての心構え】【ピアサポーターとしての存在意義】【期待される社会的役割】の4カテゴリーに分類された。研修後はがんピアサポーターに関する内容の多様化、および表現の具現化が見られた。がんピアサポーターに求められる知識や技術、対等な立場で共に考える姿勢、ピアサポーターの自覚と責務が醸成され、研修成果を得たと考えられる。今後は最新のがん知識を取り入れたカリキュラムの更新、受講生への心理的支援の必要性が示唆された

SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 Delta variant replication and immune evasion

Abstract: The B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in the state of Maharashtra in late 2020 and spread throughout India, outcompeting pre-existing lineages including B.1.617.1 (Kappa) and B.1.1.7 (Alpha)1. In vitro, B.1.617.2 is sixfold less sensitive to serum neutralizing antibodies from recovered individuals, and eightfold less sensitive to vaccine-elicited antibodies, compared with wild-type Wuhan-1 bearing D614G. Serum neutralizing titres against B.1.617.2 were lower in ChAdOx1 vaccinees than in BNT162b2 vaccinees. B.1.617.2 spike pseudotyped viruses exhibited compromised sensitivity to monoclonal antibodies to the receptor-binding domain and the amino-terminal domain. B.1.617.2 demonstrated higher replication efficiency than B.1.1.7 in both airway organoid and human airway epithelial systems, associated with B.1.617.2 spike being in a predominantly cleaved state compared with B.1.1.7 spike. The B.1.617.2 spike protein was able to mediate highly efficient syncytium formation that was less sensitive to inhibition by neutralizing antibody, compared with that of wild-type spike. We also observed that B.1.617.2 had higher replication and spike-mediated entry than B.1.617.1, potentially explaining the B.1.617.2 dominance. In an analysis of more than 130 SARS-CoV-2-infected health care workers across three centres in India during a period of mixed lineage circulation, we observed reduced ChAdOx1 vaccine effectiveness against B.1.617.2 relative to non-B.1.617.2, with the caveat of possible residual confounding. Compromised vaccine efficacy against the highly fit and immune-evasive B.1.617.2 Delta variant warrants continued infection control measures in the post-vaccination era