Development of liquid scintillator containing 8-quinolinolate indium complex for measurement of low energy solar neutrinos

An organic liquid scintillator containing indium complex was studied for a measurement of low energy solar neutrinos. The energy of the emitted electrons from those processes could be transferred to the molecular of complex via the organic solvent molecules, and the luminescence from the indium complex would be detected by the photo-multiplier. Here we report some results obtained by photo-luminescence and the γ\u27s inducedenergy spectra of tris (8-quinolinolate) indium (InQ3) complex. Benzonitrile was chosen as a solvent because of good solubility for the quinolinolate complexes (2wt%) and of good light yield for the scintillation induced by γ\u27s irradiation. The photo-luminescence emission spectra of InQ3 of 30 M solution in benzonitrile was measured. The emission maxima for InQ3 is found at 559 nm as excitation wavelength: 397 nm. We prepared InQ3 (50 mg ～ 200mg) of benzonitrile solutions (20mL). Two secondary scintillators, 100 mg of 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) and 10mg of 1,4- bis[2-(5-phenyloxazolyl)]benzene (POPOP), are also dissolved in above solutions and they play a role of wavelength shifter from the UV region emitted by excited benzonitrile molecules to the visible region emitted by InQ3 complex. The energy spectra of electrons emitted by Compton scattering of incident γ\u27s using 60 Co radio isotope was obtained. These results are the first observation of the γ\u27s energy spectra using luminescent metal complexes

急性期病院における看護学生への実習指導に対する看護師の思い

　本研究は，看護学生への実習指導に対して看護師が抱いている思いを明らかにし，学生および指導する看護師にとってもよい環境を作るための示唆を得ることを目的とした．2つの急性期病院に勤務する看護師18名を対象に半構成面接を行い，グランデット・セオリー・アプローチで分析した．　結果，『「学生の置かれた状況の気づき」と対応改善の過程』『「満足のいく指導ができない不全感」と課題』の2つのコアカテゴリーを見出した．看護師は，看護学生の実習指導について，「知識不足による自信のなさ」や「多忙な業務の中での学生指導の負担」を感じ，同時に「学生への高い期待」を持ち，それが実際の学生の状況と解離があることで「学生の実習姿勢への不満と危惧」となる．その状況が「学生に対するきつい態度」となる．しかし，自分が学生の時の思いの想起や自分が学生だったらと学生の立場にたつことで「学生の置かれた状況の気づき」となる．その結果，学生の実習環境としての「病棟の雰囲気づくり」と学生一人一人を尊重した「指導方法の改善」をした．それは就職の希望などの「優しい対応の良い評価」になった．同時に「厳しさも必要という思い」もあり，優しさと厳しさという葛藤が生じている．　「学生の実習姿勢への不満と危惧」や教育機関の「教育方針・指導体制への不満」，「スタッフ間の意識の差」がある状況が「多忙な業務の中での学生指導の負担感」とも結びつき，「満足のいく指導ができない不全感」になっている．その解決として「指導者とスタッフの連携の必要性」「教員との連携の必要性」を感じており，それらが課題となっている．「厳しさも必要という思い」が「指導方法の改善」に向かい，「満足のいく指導ができない不全感」が解決できるよう臨床及び教育側で取り組んでいくことが課題といえる．　The aim of the present study was to elucidate nurses’opinions regarding practice instruction for trainee nursing students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on 18 nurses, and interview data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach.　The following two core categories of nurses’ opinions were identified: “\u27attention to the situation students are in\u27 and the process of improving support” and “\u27feeling of insufficiency at not being able to provide the best guidance possible\u27 and related issues”. The first core category was constructed as follows. Nurses felt a “lack of confidence caused by a lack of knowledge” and “the burden of guiding students amid all the other demands of work”, but had“ high expectations for the students”. These feelings led to“ dissatisfaction and misgivings regarding students’attitudes during practice”. This situation in turn led to“ a strict attitude vis-à-vis students”. However, recalling their own thoughts when they were students led to paying “attention to the situation students are in”. Consequently, they “created a ward environment” and “improved guidance methods”. While this fulfilled the need for“ positive evaluation through kind interaction”, there was also“ the idea that it is necessary to be strict”.　The second core category was constructed as follows. The situation of “dissatisfaction and misgivings regarding students’ attitudes during practice”, “dissatisfaction with the educational policies and guidance systems” and “gaps in understanding between staff” was linked to “the burden of guiding students amid all the other demands of work”, and led to a “feeling of insufficiency at not being able to provide the best guidance possible”. Nurses felt that the solution to this issue lies in “the need for coordination between supervisors and staff ” and “the need for coordination with faculty members”

Application of thermoresponsive HPLC to forensic toxicology: determination of barbiturates in human urine

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the assays of five barbiturates in human urine using a new thermoresponsive polymer separation column, which is composed of N-isopropylacrylamide polymer. According to elevating the column temperature from 10 ℃ to 50 ℃, five barbiturates, such as metharbital, primidone, phenobarbital, mephobarbital and pentobarbital, became well separated by this method. Five barbiturates showed good linearity in the range of 0.2-10 mg/ml. Good accuracy, precision and recoveries for these drugs were obtained at 1 and 5 μg/ml urine. The method with the new-type column seems to have high potential to be extensively used in forensic toxicology for analysis of many drugs and poisons by HPLC and HPLC-mass spectrometry (MS) (-MS)

理科教育に科学古典を利用する一つの新らしい試み

When teaching science, teachers often present the subject matter in a sort of authoritative way according to the textbook without being able to give much stimulus to students. Students have to follow the book and passively learn what is written there. It is partly in relation to this point that student-experiments and the use of audio-visual aids are of great importance. However, these methods are not always enough to produce satisfactory results. This difficulty, the present authors presume, may be solved to some extent by making proper use of classics in science. At the time when the classical treatises were written, their authors, as scientists, were facing new problems or trying to see familiar problems from an entirely new point of view. In other words, they were still groping their way towards a grasp of unknown scientific knowledge or laws which seem quite evident nowadays. This freshness of thought and attitude revealed in their writings is very valuable and may be effectively utilized in science teaching as a source of incentive and challenge to the students\u27 attitude toward the subject matter. The present authors carefully studied Galileo\u27s Dialogue on the Great World Systems and tried to use the material to introduce the concept of "inertia" to two second-year classes of a girls\u27 junior high school. Nine questions were prepared, derived from the original discussions of the Dialogue, and the students were asked to write their answers to these questions on a sheet of paper in forty minutes. When the time was over, all of the students were very much interested in the subject and began actively to raise questions to the teacher or to discuss the matter among themselves. Thus, the result seems to have been very satisfactory. Although this is only a first trial, the present authors should like to report this result, as they think that the method described here may have some significance to the further development of science teaching

看護大学生への夫婦間の共感性を高める育児支援プログラムの模擬体験実施とその効果

思春期は次世代を育成する世代として重要な時期である．本研究は，妊娠期よりも前段階にある結婚前の看護大学生を対象にした共感性を高める育児支援プログラムの効果を検討することを目的とした．Ａ年度，Ｂ年度の１年生171名とＡ年度２年生82名に対して，本プログラムを講義に組み込む形式で１回実施し，実施前後のアンケートを用いて効果を比較検討した．その結果，１，２年生共にプログラム終了後に共感性尺度の下位尺度に上昇がみられた．また，共感性プログラムを中心に行った１年生では共感性尺度平均点が有意に上昇し，生と性の健康教室の一貫でプログラムが実施された２年生では，出産の自信と妊娠計画への自信の上昇がみられた．リプロダクティブヘルスに関心の高い時期である大学生に対してライフプランを考えるきっかけとなる本プログラムには効果があり，事前に親になるための準備教育を行うことは重要である．Adolescents and young adults undergo important developmental transition. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of delivering a parenting support program aimed at enhancing empathy among nursing university students. We conducted the single-session program for 171 first-year students in FY A and FY B, as well as for 82 second-year students in FY A. The session was integrated into regular classes. Questionnaires were administered before and after the program to compare its effect. Both first- and second-year students showed an increase in the subscales of the Perspective Taking component in the Multidimensional Empathy Scale after the program. Mean empathy subscale scores increased significantly in all first-year students. The second-year students showed increased confidence in childbirth care and family planning. This program was effective in providing nursing students with an opportunity to consider their future life plans within the context of learning about reproductive health

Basic assessment on adding platelet measurement to legal health checkup in Japan: A cross-sectional and 20-year longitudinal study

BackgroundIn Japan, health checkups for workers are legally compulsory. Considering legal health checkup items are important for Japanese workers' health problems. To date, the legal health checkup items for blood cell counts include only red blood cell counts and hemoglobin but not platelet counts. This study aimed to investigate the significance of measuring platelets in workers by showing the association between the FIB-4 index (FIB-4), which can be easily calculated from factors including platelet counts and viral hepatitis infection.MethodBoth cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted on the comprehensive medical examinations of male workers. In fiscal year (FY) 2019, a logistic regression model was applied to 12,918 examinees. For 13,459 examinees (mean age = 47.5 ± 9.3 SD), FY2000 was set to be followed until FY2019. A total of 149,956 records between FY2000 and FY2019 were analyzed cross-sectionally, and 8,038 men who were consecutively examined to FY2019 at the longest were analyzed longitudinally. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve–area under the ROC curve (ROC–AUC) and Cox proportional methods were used to examine the association between platelet-related indices and viral hepatitis infection.ResultsLogistic regression showed that the risk of FIB-4 ≥ 2.67 was mostly associated with hepatitis C virus antibody (HCVAb) positivity [odds ratio (OR) = 2.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08–5.86], while negatively associated with body mass index (BMI) (OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.30–0.97), and not associated with the presence of fatty liver. To detect HVC Ab positivity, ROC–AUC showed more effectiveness in FIB-4 than in the AST/ALT ratio (0.776, 95% CI = 0.747–0.773 vs. 0.552; 95% CI = 0.543–0.561). The Cox analysis showed that the risk of FIB-4 ≥ 2.67 was closely associated with hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) [hazard ratio (HR) = 3.1, 95% CI = 2.0–4.6] and HCV Ab positivity (HR = 3.2, 95% CI = 2.0–5.0).ConclusionOur results suggest that it might be worth considering that usage of information on platelets in legal health checkups could be some help not to overlook workers with hepatitis virus carriers as a complementary countermeasure, although further investigations are needed into its practical application

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric determination of 11 phenothiazines with heavy side chains in urine

A rapid screening method was developed for the determination of phenothiazines by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). In this method, α-cyano-4-hydroxy cinnamic acid (CHCA) was used as the matrix to assist the ionization of phenothiazines. The identification of 11 phenothiazines with heavy side chains was performed by their protonated molecular ions [M + H]+ at m/z = 340 – 447, and the quantification was achieved using triflupromazine at m/z = 353 as the internal standard (IS). The relative ionization efficiencies of 11 phenothiazines and IS on MALDI-TOF-MS were different from those on ESI-TSQ-MS, but the product ion spectra on MALDI-MS-MS were quite similar to those on ESI-MS-MS except in the case of flupentixol. The limit of detection was 0.3 ng/ml with its quantification range of 1 – 50 ng/ml urine in the best case, and limit of detection was 5 ng/ml with its quantification range of 10 – 100 ng/ml urine in the worst case for 10 phenothiazines except thiethylperazine. Present method provides a simple and high throughput method for the screening of these phenothiazines using only 20 μl of urine. To our knowledge, this study is the first trial to analyze phenothiazines by MALDI-TOF MS (-MS)

TDP-43 regulates cholesterol biosynthesis by inhibiting sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2

Dyslipidemia is considered an essential component of the pathological process of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal motor neuron disease. Although TAR DNA Binding Protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) links both familial and sporadic forms of ALS and cytoplasmic aggregates are a hallmark of most cases of ALS, the molecular mechanism and the in vivo relation of ALS dyslipidemia with TDP-43 have been unclear. To analyze the dyslipidemia-related gene expression by TDP-43, we performed expression microarray and RNA deep sequencing (RNA-Seq) using cell lines expressing high levels of TDP-43 and identified 434 significantly altered genes including sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2), a master regulator of cholesterol homeostasis and its downstream genes. Elevated TDP-43 impaired SREBP2 transcriptional activity, leading to inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis. The amount of cholesterol was significantly decreased in the spinal cords of TDP-43-overexpressed ALS model mice and in the cerebrospinal fluids of ALS patients. These results suggested that TDP-43 could play an essential role in cholesterol biosynthesis in relation to ALS dyslipidemia