Idobata-Nagaya: a community housing solution for socially isolated older adults following the great East Japan earthquake

IntroductionFollowing the Great East Japan Earthquake, the living environment of socially isolated older adults has become a pressing concern. In response, Nagaya, a collective housing program, was established in Soma City, Fukushima, Japan to address social isolation among older adults and support their long-term health. This study aimed to identify characteristics of individuals in Nagaya and examine the sustainability of this initiative.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of residents who were relocated to Nagaya, emphasizing their characteristics, the continuity of their stay in Nagaya, and their care certification levels, using data up to December 31, 2022. We employed Kaplan–Meier curves to analyze the duration for which residents continued to reside in Nagaya and the time leading up to the requiring care-level certification.ResultsOf 65 people who moved to Nagaya after the disaster, 30 people (46.2%) continued to live there, 21 (32.3%) died during their stay, and 14 (21.5%) moved out. The overall duration of occupancy averaged 6.39 years (SD 3.83 years). The proportion of requiring care-level certification occurrences per person-year was 0.0577 for those without care certification and 0.3358 for those with requiring support level at the time of moving in.ConclusionIn summary, Nagaya-style communal housing may offer suitable living environments for older adults with diverse needs during disasters and serve as a valuable tool for developing public policies in aging societies

Double photon emission coincidence imaging with GAGG-SiPM Compton camera

Compton imaging is a promising gamma-ray imaging method based on the Compton scattering kinematics due to high Compton scattering probability for sub-MeV to MeV gamma-rays. A conventional Compton camera has a disadvantage of low signal-to-background ratio (SBR), which is caused by drawing of multiple Compton cones. A method to solve this fundamental problem is the double-photon emission computed tomography (DPECT), which uses the coincidence detection for cascade gamma-rays and significantly increases the SBR using intersections of two Compton cones. In this study, we demonstrated the DPECT method by using 134Cs radio isotope, which is one of important radioisotopes for the imaging of fuel debris, with two Ce:Gd(Al,Ga)O12 (GAGG) scintillator Compton cameras

Genetic cholesteryl ester transfer protein deficiency caused by two prevalent mutations as a major determinant of increased levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol

金沢大学大学院医学系研究科病態検査学Genetic determinants of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in the general population are poorly understood. We previously described plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) deficiency due to an intron 14 G(+1)-to-A mutation(Int14 A) in several families with very high HDL-C levels in Japan. Subjects with HDL-C ≥ 100 mg/dl (n = 130) were screened by PCR single strand conformational polymorphism analysis of the CETP gene. Two other mutations were identified by DNA sequencing or primer-mediated restriction map modification of PCR products: a novel intron 14 splice donor site mutation caused by a T insertion at position +3 from the exon14/intron14 boundary (Int14 T) and a missense mutation (Asp442 to Gly) within exon 15 (D442G). The Int14 T mutation was only found in one family. However, the D442G and Int14 A mutations were highly prevalent in subjects with HDL-C ≥ 60 mg/dl, with combined allele frequencies of 9%, 12%, 21%, and 43% for HDL-C 60-79, 80-99, 100-119, and ≥ 120 mg/dl, respectively. Furthermore, prevalences of the D442G and Int14 A mutations were extremely high in a general sample of Japanese men (n = 236), with heterozygote frequencies of 7% and 2%, respectively. These two mutations accounted for about 10% of the total variance of HDL-C in this population. The phenotype in a genetic compound heterozygote (Int14 T and Int14 A) was similar to that of Int14 A homozygotes (no detectable CETP and markedly increased HDL-C), indicating that the Int14 T produces a null allele. In four D442G homozygotes, mean HDL-C levels (86±26 mg/dl) were lower than in Int14 A homozygotes (158±35 mg/dl), reflecting residual CETP activity in plasma. In 47 D442G heterozygotes, mean HDL-C levels were 91±23 mg/dl, similar to the level in D442G homozygotes, and significantly greater than mean HDL-C levels in Int14 A heterozygotes (69±15 mg/dl). Thus, the D442G mutation acts differently to the null mutations with weaker effects on HDL in the homozygous state and stronger effects in the heterozygotes, suggesting dominant expression of a partially defective allele. CETP deficiency, reflecting two prevalent mutations (D442G and Int14 A), is the first example of a genetic deficiency state which is sufficiently common to explain a significant fraction of the variation in HDL-C in the general population

Dysconnectivity of the Agency Network in Schizophrenia: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Background: Self-disturbances in schizophrenia have recently been explained by an abnormality in the sense of agency (SoA). The cerebral structures of SoA in healthy people are considered to mainly include the insula and inferior parietal lobule. In contrast, the functional lesion of aberrant SoA in schizophrenia is not yet fully understood. Considering the recent explanation of establishing SoA from the standpoint of associative learning, the “agency network” may include not only the insula and inferior parietal lobule but also the striatum. We hypothesized that aberrant SoA in schizophrenia is based on a deficit in the “agency network.”Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while patients with schizophrenia (n = 15) and matched controls (n = 15) performed our adaptation method of agency attribution task on a trial-by-trial basis to assess participants' explicit experience of the temporal causal relationship between an action and an external event with temporal biases. Analysis of functional connectivity was done using the right supramarginal gyrus and the right middle frontal gyrus as seed regions.Results: In healthy controls, analyses revealed increased activation of the right inferior parietal lobule (mainly the supramarginal gyrus), right insula, and right middle frontal gyrus as an activation of the agency condition. We defined activated Brodmann areas shown in the agency condition of healthy controls as the seed region for connectivity analysis. The connectivity analysis revealed lower connectivity between the head of the left caudate nucleus and right supramarginal gyrus in the patients compared to healthy controls.Conclusions: This dysconnectivity of the agency network in schizophrenia may lead to self-disturbance through deficits in associative learning of SoA. These findings may explain why pathological function of the striatum in schizophrenia leads to self-disturbance

The production of the concept of death instinct: an institutional analysis of discourse

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo se inserir nas discussões que se propõem pensar como se dão as relações entre teoria e clínica, partindo de pesquisas orientadas pela estratégia de pensamento da Análise Institucional do Discurso (AID). Para isto, o caminho desenhado para esta dissertação colocou o lugar da metapsicologia como uma questão, uma vez que pesquisas recentes apontaram uma hipótese de que a clínica psicanalítica se faz como o desvelamento de uma verdade sobre o paciente. Verdade produzida na escuta do psicanalista, na instância da teoria, da metapsicologia. A partir destas afirmações, elencamos um conceito da teoria, um dos mais abstratos da rede conceitual da psicanálise, para levantar nossa pergunta de pesquisa: como Freud produz o conceito de pulsão de morte? Para respondê-la, realizamos uma análise institucional do discurso do texto de sua invenção. Os resultados configurados por nossa análise apontaram, como uma característica especial que atravessa todo o texto, para um modo de produção não-linear, argumentativo e cauteloso, que pudemos relacionar à uma tensão, um perigo. Nesta tensão, temos produções impactantes para a instituição da teoria psicanalítica. Pudemos configurar também uma certa vontade de saber/verdade que seria equivalente a fazer ciência onde a teoria psicanalítica aparece, em momentos distintos do texto, ou (i) naturalizada, ou (ii) como algo produzido e relativizado no campo da especulação. Este último modo de enunciação pôde mostrar e demonstrar como o texto, acima de tudo, se configura como um discurso aberto. Também foi possível configurar os diferentes lugares que a clínica ocupa em relação à teoria: (i) a clínica como a reprodução da teoria; (ii) a clínica como lugar de investigação, como mote de produção para novos conceitos, novos sentidos; (iii) ou ainda, como um lugar que legitimaria as hipóteses, encarnando as produções teóricas. Em nossa discussão, pudemos configurar o perigo como uma ameaça para o próprio dispositivo teórico-clínico da psicanálise, gerado pela própria enunciação do conceito de pulsão de morte. Perigo este resolvido pela mescla das pulsões, desde o começo da vida, a partir das interlocuções com o discurso científico da biologia, pelo ponto de ataque dos instintos. Freud, na tensão argumentativa que ele mesmo cria, é exemplarmente produtivoThe present work has as objective to insert it in the discussions that propose to think how the relations between theory and clinic is made, starting from researches oriented by the thought strategy of the Institutional Analysis of the Discourse (IAD). For this, the path designed for this dissertation has placed the metapsychology as an issue, since recent research has pointed to a hypothesis that the psychoanalytic clinic is done as the unveiling of a truth about the patient. Truth produced in the listening of the psychoanalyst, in the instance of theory, of metapsychology. From these statements, we chose a concept of the theory, one of the most abstract of the conceptual network of psychoanalysis, to raise our research question: how does Freud produce the concept of the death instinct? To answer it, we perform an institutional analysis of the discourse of the text of its invention. The results of our analysis, as a special feature that crosses the whole text, pointed to a non-linear, argumentative and \"cautious\" mode of production that we could relate to a tension, a danger. In this tension, we have impacting productions for the institution of psychoanalytic theory. We could also configure a certain will to know/truth which would be equivalent as doing science where psychoanalytic theory appears at different moments in the text, or (i) naturalized, or (ii) something produced and relativized in the field of speculation. This last mode of enunciation could show and demonstrate how the text, above all, is configured as an open discourse. It was also possible to configure the different places that the clinic occupies in relation to the theory: (i) the clinic as the reproduction of the theory; (ii) the clinic as a place of investigation, as a motto of production for new concepts, new meanings; (iii) or, as a place that would legitimize the hypotheses, embodying the theoretical productions. In our discussion, we were able to configure the danger as a threat to the very theoretical and clinical device of psychoanalysis, generated by the very enunciation of the concept of the death instinct. This danger is solved by the mixture of instincts from the beginning of life, from the interlocutions with the scientific discourse of biology, by the point of attack of the instincts. Freud, in the argumentative tension he creates, is exemplarily productiv

The production of the concept of death instinct: an institutional analysis of discourse

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo se inserir nas discussões que se propõem pensar como se dão as relações entre teoria e clínica, partindo de pesquisas orientadas pela estratégia de pensamento da Análise Institucional do Discurso (AID). Para isto, o caminho desenhado para esta dissertação colocou o lugar da metapsicologia como uma questão, uma vez que pesquisas recentes apontaram uma hipótese de que a clínica psicanalítica se faz como o desvelamento de uma verdade sobre o paciente. Verdade produzida na escuta do psicanalista, na instância da teoria, da metapsicologia. A partir destas afirmações, elencamos um conceito da teoria, um dos mais abstratos da rede conceitual da psicanálise, para levantar nossa pergunta de pesquisa: como Freud produz o conceito de pulsão de morte? Para respondê-la, realizamos uma análise institucional do discurso do texto de sua invenção. Os resultados configurados por nossa análise apontaram, como uma característica especial que atravessa todo o texto, para um modo de produção não-linear, argumentativo e cauteloso, que pudemos relacionar à uma tensão, um perigo. Nesta tensão, temos produções impactantes para a instituição da teoria psicanalítica. Pudemos configurar também uma certa vontade de saber/verdade que seria equivalente a fazer ciência onde a teoria psicanalítica aparece, em momentos distintos do texto, ou (i) naturalizada, ou (ii) como algo produzido e relativizado no campo da especulação. Este último modo de enunciação pôde mostrar e demonstrar como o texto, acima de tudo, se configura como um discurso aberto. Também foi possível configurar os diferentes lugares que a clínica ocupa em relação à teoria: (i) a clínica como a reprodução da teoria; (ii) a clínica como lugar de investigação, como mote de produção para novos conceitos, novos sentidos; (iii) ou ainda, como um lugar que legitimaria as hipóteses, encarnando as produções teóricas. Em nossa discussão, pudemos configurar o perigo como uma ameaça para o próprio dispositivo teórico-clínico da psicanálise, gerado pela própria enunciação do conceito de pulsão de morte. Perigo este resolvido pela mescla das pulsões, desde o começo da vida, a partir das interlocuções com o discurso científico da biologia, pelo ponto de ataque dos instintos. Freud, na tensão argumentativa que ele mesmo cria, é exemplarmente produtivoThe present work has as objective to insert it in the discussions that propose to think how the relations between theory and clinic is made, starting from researches oriented by the thought strategy of the Institutional Analysis of the Discourse (IAD). For this, the path designed for this dissertation has placed the metapsychology as an issue, since recent research has pointed to a hypothesis that the psychoanalytic clinic is done as the unveiling of a truth about the patient. Truth produced in the listening of the psychoanalyst, in the instance of theory, of metapsychology. From these statements, we chose a concept of the theory, one of the most abstract of the conceptual network of psychoanalysis, to raise our research question: how does Freud produce the concept of the death instinct? To answer it, we perform an institutional analysis of the discourse of the text of its invention. The results of our analysis, as a special feature that crosses the whole text, pointed to a non-linear, argumentative and \"cautious\" mode of production that we could relate to a tension, a danger. In this tension, we have impacting productions for the institution of psychoanalytic theory. We could also configure a certain will to know/truth which would be equivalent as doing science where psychoanalytic theory appears at different moments in the text, or (i) naturalized, or (ii) something produced and relativized in the field of speculation. This last mode of enunciation could show and demonstrate how the text, above all, is configured as an open discourse. It was also possible to configure the different places that the clinic occupies in relation to the theory: (i) the clinic as the reproduction of the theory; (ii) the clinic as a place of investigation, as a motto of production for new concepts, new meanings; (iii) or, as a place that would legitimize the hypotheses, embodying the theoretical productions. In our discussion, we were able to configure the danger as a threat to the very theoretical and clinical device of psychoanalysis, generated by the very enunciation of the concept of the death instinct. This danger is solved by the mixture of instincts from the beginning of life, from the interlocutions with the scientific discourse of biology, by the point of attack of the instincts. Freud, in the argumentative tension he creates, is exemplarily productiv

Subjective Wellbeing and Related Factors of Older Adults Nine and a Half Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Coastal Area of Soma City

This study examined older adults’ subjective wellbeing and related factors in the coastal area of Soma City nine and a half years after the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). Data were collected from 65- to 84-year-old residents and 1297 participants via a questionnaire from October to November 2020. The participants were divided into two groups: housing complexes and non-housing complexes. The dependent variable was subjective wellbeing assessed via Lawton’s Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (PGCMS). Using multivariate regression analysis, the factors most strongly related to a low PGCMS score for both groups were poor health conditions, difficulties resting while asleep, poor financial wellbeing, inability to chew certain foods, and fear of solitary death. The GEJE experience was further distinguished in the housing complex group by the loss of an important non-family individual; for the other group, important factors were female gender, junior high school education level or lower, limited social networks, and deterioration of a family member’s health. Older adults’ subjective wellbeing in Soma City was low after nine and a half years following the GEJE. For disaster victims and their families in both groups, it is crucial to implement measures such as long-term, continuous physical and mental health support

Heat Resistant Characteristics of Major Royal Jelly Protein 1 (MRJP1) Oligomer

<div><p>Soluble royal jelly protein is a candidate factor responsible for mammiferous cell proliferation. Major royal jelly protein 1 (MRJP1), which consists of oligomeric and monomeric forms, is an abundant proliferative protein in royal jelly. We previously reported that MRJP1 oligomer has biochemical heat resistance. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the effects of several heat treatments (56, 65 and 96°C) on the proliferative activity of MRJP1 oligomer. Heat resistance studies showed that the oligomer molecular forms were slightly maintained until 56℃, but the molecular forms were converted to macromolecular heat-aggregated MRJP1 oligomer at 65℃ and 96℃. But, the growth activity of MRJP1 oligomer treated with 96°C was slightly attenuated when compared to unheated MRJP1 oligomer. On the other hand, the cell proliferation activity was preserved until 96℃ by the cell culture analysis of Jurkat cells. In contrast, those of IEC-6 cells were not preserved even at 56°C. The present observations suggest that the bioactive heat-resistance properties were different by the origin of the cells. The cell proliferation analysis showed that MRJP1 oligomer, but not MRJP2 and MRJP3, significantly increased cell numbers, suggesting that MRJP1 oligomer is the predominant proliferation factor for mammiferous cells.</p></div