Stress coping pattern among pre-operative patients and relations to their background

術前訪問のストレス状態を軽減するための一手段として，手術室の看護者により術前訪問が行われている。患者自身のストレスの状態とその対処法が異なっていることは従来の研究より明らかであるが，このような個々の術前患者の対処状況に応じた術前訪問については，充分に行えていないのが現状である。患者のストレス状態は患者背景と関係しており，さらにはその対処行為をパターン化できるものと考え，この対処行為のパターンと，背景因子との関わりを明らかにし，それらを考慮した術前訪問のあり方を考えることを目的として本研究を行った。対象は1週間以内に手術予定の患者20名とした。データは面接による半構成的な質問に対する対象者の自由な回答を記録して収集した。質問内容は，1．対象者の背景要因としての「経験」「自己認知」「環境要因」2．対象者の心理状態・ストレス認知・対処について，「病気を発見した時」、「入院の必要性の説明を受けた時」「手術の必要性の説明を受けた時」「現在」の4つの時点についての心理状態，ストレスの認知，対処法について回想法によるものとした。対象者は男性11名，女性9名で，平均年齢は57.7±15.9歳であった。各事例における4時点での対処行為をパターン化したところ，A ：「積極的対処」B：「回避」C：「おまかせ」D：「積極的対処」→「おまかせ」E：「回避」→「積極的対処」F：「回避」→「積極的対処」→「おまかせ」G：「回避」→「おまかせ」の7パターンに分類された。患者背景要因と対処法の関係については，次の2点が明らかとなった。1）ストレス対処に「問題状況の再認知」または「おまかせ」を用いていた患者は，癌告知を受けており，ストレス状態の軽減傾向が特徴的であった。それに対して，「回避」を主に用いていた患者は，未告知事例や疾患について曖昧な解釈の事例が集中しており，ストレス状態が特徴的であった。2）性格を「神経質」「辛抱強い」と自己評価した患者の対処行為として，「積極的対処」が共通して用いられていた。Operating room nurses visit the pre-operating patients before the operation. This visit is designed to inform the patients and reduce their stress. But the stress level of each patient and their ability for dealing with stress may vary. The purpose of this study is to investigate stress-coping patterns of pre-operative patients. Twenty patients at the University Hospital of Chugoku Region in Japan volunteered for this study. Subjects consisted of 11 males and 9 females with average of 57.7 years old. An interviewer obtained data using an original semi-structured questionnaire after getting informed consent. Items of questionnaire were patient's background, his/her psychological status, stress recognition. The patients' coping mechanisms were evaluated using the recollection method at 4 different time points: a) when the patient's disease was diagnosed, b) when the patient was informed of the need for hospitalization, c) when the patient was informed of the need for operation, and d) at the time of the operation. We found common patterns of coping among them, which were classified into 7 categories: A) positive action at any situations, B) evasion, C) leaving, D) positive action and leaving, E) evasion and positive action, F) evasion, positive action and leaving, G) evasion and leaving. The following 2 points were noted between the patients' background and coping mechanisms: 1) Patients using "re-acknowledgment or leaving" pattern were informed well about their disease and did not feel stress from their situation. 2) Patients taking positive actions recognized their character as "nervous about their situation" or "patient"

Mechanism of cigarette smoke condensate-induced acute inflammatory response in human bronchial epithelial cells

BACKGROUND: To demonstrate the involvement of tobacco smoking in the pathophysiology of lung disease, the responses of pulmonary epithelial cells to cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) — the particulate fraction of tobacco smoke — were examined. METHODS: The human alveolar epithelial cell line A549 and normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBEs) were exposed to 0.4 μg/ml CSC, a concentration that resulted in >90% cell survival and <5% apoptosis. Changes in gene expression and signaling responses were determined by RT-PCR, western blotting and immunocytofluorescence. RESULTS: NHBEs exposed to CSC showed increased expression of the inflammatory mediators sICAM-1, IL-1β, IL-8 and GM-CSF, as determined by RT-PCR. CSC-induced IL-1β expression was reduced by PD98059, a blocker of mitogen-actived protein kinase (MAPK) kinase (MEK), and by PDTC, a NFκB inhibitor. Analysis of intracellular signaling pathways, using antibodies specific for phosphorylated MAPKs (extracellular signal-regulated kinase [ERK]-1/2), demonstrated an increased level of phosphorylated ERK1/2 with increasing CSC concentration. Nuclear localization of phosphorylated ERK1/2 was seen within 30 min of CSC exposure and was inhibited by PD98059. Increased phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of IκB was also seen after CSC exposure. A549 cells transfected with a luciferase reporter plasmid containing a NFκB-inducible promoter sequence and exposed to CSC (0.4 μg/ml) or TNF-α (50 ng/ml) had an increased reporter activity of approximately 2-fold for CSC and 3.5-fold for TNF-α relative to untreated controls. CONCLUSION: The acute phase response of NHBEs to cigarette smoke involves activation of both MAPK and NFκB

The Plant Organelles Database 2 (PODB2): An Updated Resource Containing Movie Data of Plant Organelle Dynamics

The Plant Organelles Database (PODB) was launched in 2006 and provides imaging data of plant organelles, protocols for plant organelle research and external links to relevant websites. To provide comprehensive information on plant organelle dynamics and accommodate movie files that contain time-lapse images and 3D structure rotations, PODB was updated to the next version, PODB2 (http://podb.nibb.ac.jp/Organellome). PODB2 contains movie data submitted directly by plant researchers and can be freely downloaded. Through this organelle movie database, users can examine the dynamics of organelles of interest, including their movement, division, subcellular positioning and behavior, in response to external stimuli. In addition, the user interface for access and submission has been enhanced. PODB2 contains all of the information included in PODB, and the volume of data and protocols deposited in the PODB2 continues to grow steadily. Moreover, a new website, Plant Organelles World (http://podb.nibb.ac.jp/Organellome/PODBworld/en/index.html), which is based on PODB2, was recently launched as an educational tool to engage members of the non-scientific community such as students and school teachers. Plant Organelles World is written in layman's terms, and technical terms were avoided where possible. We would appreciate contributions of data from all plant researchers to enhance the usefulness of PODB2 and Plant Organelles World

Frequency control by wide-area dispatching of short-term supply-demand imbalance in multi-area power system with a large penetration of renewable energy

Recently, a lot of distributed generations such as WT (Wind Power Generation) have been installed into power systems. However, the output of these generations is so unstable that the frequency fluctuation will increase. This paper aims at solving the short-term supply-demand imbalance in an area where a large amount of renewable energy has been introduced and proposes a new method of dispatching the fluctuations of renewable energy based power to another area through a tie line. For the frequency analysis, we use the two-area interconnected power system model with a large amount of WT. It was made clear that without the proposed control, the unexpected power flow deviation through the tie line is very large, however, the proposed control method can suppress such deviation effectively. It was also shown in this paper that the proposed method is effective in the frequency control with a large integration of renewable energy into grid