Effects of Educating Local Government Officers and Healthcare and Welfare Professionals in Suicide Prevention

Suicide is a major public health issue. In Japan, local governments are responsible for suicide prevention, and local government officers are therefore expected to act as gatekeepers for suicide prevention. In this study, through a questionnaire survey, the authors examined the current knowledge and attitudes concerning suicide prevention among local government officers and healthcare and welfare professionals, and the effects of providing suicide prevention education on their knowledge of and attitudes toward suicide and its prevention. One hundred eighty-three local government officers and 432 healthcare/welfare professionals completed the survey before and after a single education session. Before the session, the local government officers and healthcare/welfare professionals showed mainly positive attitudes toward suicide prevention efforts, with little difference between the two groups. After the training, knowledge and attitudes were further improved for most questionnaire items. Respondents with one or more experiences of suicide prevention training showed significantly more knowledge and positive attitudes before the training than those with no such experience. Moreover, knowledge of depression and having a sympathetic attitude were found to be especially associated with the overall attitude that “suicide can be prevented”. Training in suicide prevention was shown to be effective in promoting appropriate knowledge and attitudes among local government officers and healthcare/welfare professionals who are gatekeepers for preventing suicide. Our findings confirm the importance of suicide prevention education, and will contribute to creating a standard educational program on suicide prevention in Japan

Impact of noncontrast PCI for ACS

Purpose : Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is one of the common serious complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study aimed to assess the significance of noncontrast strategy in the setting of ACS. Methods : CI-AKI was defined as an increase in serum creatinine of ≥ 0.5 mg / dL or ≥ 1.25 times from the baseline. One-year worsening renal function (WRF) was defined as an increase of ≥ 0.3 mg / dL in serum creatinine from the baseline after PCI. Results : Of 250 ACS patients, 81 were treated with noncontrast PCI. The average doses of contrast medium in the noncontrast and conventional groups were 17 (9–22) ml and 150 (120–200) ml, respectively. CI-AKI was observed in 4 patients (5%) in the noncontrast group and 29 patients (17%) in the conventional group. Noncontrast PCI was associated with a lower incidence of CI-AKI (adjusted odds ratio, 0.26 ; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.08–0.82). The bootstrap method and inverse probability weighting led to similar results. CI-AKI was associated with a higher incidence of 1-year WRF (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.30 ; 95% CI, 1.12–4.69), while noncontrast PCI was not. Conclusions : Noncontrast PCI was associated with the lower incidence of CI-AKI in ACS patients

Simultaneous ion and neutral evaporation in aqueous nanodrops: Experiment, theory, and molecular dynamics simulations

We use a combination of tandem ion mobility spectrometry (IMS-IMS, with differential mobility analyzers), molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and analytical models to examine both neutral solvent (H2O) and ion (solvated Na+) evaporation from aqueous sodium chloride nanodrops. For experiments, nanodrops were produced via electrospray ionization (ESI) of an aqueous sodium chloride solution. Two nanodrops were examined in MD simulations: a 2500 water molecule nanodrop with 68 Na+ and 60 Cl- ions (an initial net charge of z = +8), and (2) a 1000 water molecule nanodrop with 65 Na+ and 60 Cl- ions (an initial net charge of z = +5). Specifically, we used MD simulations to examine the validity of a model for the neutral evaporation rate incorporating both the Kelvin (surface curvature) and Thomson (electrostatic) influences, while both MD simulations and experimental measurements were compared to predictions of the ion evaporation rate equation of Labowsky et al. [Anal. Chim. Acta, 2000, 406, 105-118]. Within a single fit parameter, we find excellent agreement between simulated and modeled neutral evaporation rates for nanodrops with solute volume fractions below 0.30. Similarly, MD simulation inferred ion evaporation rates are in excellent agreement with predictions based on the Labowsky et al. equation. Measurements of the sizes and charge states of ESI generated NaCl clusters suggest that the charge states of these clusters are governed by ion evaporation, however, ion evaporation appears to have occurred with lower activation energies in experiments than was anticipated based on analytical calculations as well as MD simulations. Several possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. © the Owner Societies 2015.Embargo Period 12 month

Two genetic variants of CD38 in subjects with autism spectrum disorder and controls

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系The neurobiological basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains poorly understood. Given the role of CD38 in social recognition through oxytocin (OT) release, we hypothesized that CD38 may play a role in the etiology of ASD. Here, we first examined the immunohistochemical expression of CD38 in the hypothalamus of post-mortem brains of non-ASD subjects and found that CD38 was colocalized with OT in secretory neurons. In studies of the association between CD38 and autism, we analyzed 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mutations of CD38 by re-sequencing DNAs mainly from a case-control study in Japan, and Caucasian cases mainly recruited to the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE). The SNPs of CD38, rs6449197 (p 70; designated as high-functioning autism (HFA)) in the U.S. 104 AGRE family trios, but not with Japanese 188 HFA subjects. A mutation that caused tryptophan to replace arginine at amino acid residue 140 (R140W; (rs1800561, 4693C>T)) was found in 0.6-4.6% of the Japanese population and was associated with ASD in the smaller case-control study. The SNP was clustered in pedigrees in which the fathers and brothers of T-allele-carrier probands had ASD or ASD traits. In this cohort OT plasma levels were lower in subjects with the T allele than in those without. One proband with the T allele who was taking nasal OT spray showed relief of symptoms. The two variant CD38 poloymorphysms tested may be of interest with regard of the pathophysiology of ASD. © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society