Suicidal process,suicidal communication and psychosocial situation of young suicide attempters in a rural Vietnamese community

The study aimed to explore the suicidal process, suicidal communication and psychosocial situation of young suicide attempters in a rural community in Hanoi, Vietnam. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, in a community setting, with 19 suicide attempters aged 15-24 who had been consecutively hospitalized in an intensive care unit. In 12 of 19 cases, the first pressing, distinct and constant suicidal thoughts appeared less than one day before the suicide attempt in question. However, distress and mild, fleeting suicidal thoughts had been present up to six months before the suicide attempt in 16 cases. Five respondents had a suicide plan one to three days before attempting suicide. Altogether, 13 engaged in some form of suicidal communication before their attempt. This communication was, however, difficult for outsiders to interpret. Twelve of the respondents were victims of regular physical abuse and 16 had suffered psychological violence for at least one year before attempting suicide. Eighteen of the respondents used pesticides or raticides in their suicide attempts. None sought advice or consultation in the community despite long-standing psychosocial problems. The strategy of reducing the availability of suicide means (e.g., pesticides or raticides) in Asian countries should be complemented with a long-term suicide-preventive strategy that targets school dropouts and domestic violence, and promotes coping abilities and communication about psychological and social problems as well as recognition of signs of distress and suicidal communication.     

Plant collecting spread and densities: their potential impact on biogeographical studies in Thailand

Aims To produce representative aggregate maps of plant collection locations in Thailand and discuss their impact on biogeographical studies in Thailand and the surrounding region. Location Thailand. Methods A representative data set comprising 6593 plant specimen records for Thailand has been assembled. The data set contains ± all known collections for fifteen representative plant families and further records for another 104. All records are localized to Changwat (province), 6441 to at least quarter degree square. Results Analysis shows that the spread of collecting activity in Thailand is markedly uneven; 20% of collections come from a single Changwat (Chiang Mai) and 53% of Changwat have fifty or fewer collections. The distribution of collections by Changwat and by quarter degree square is erratic with most squares and Changwat having few collections, both in proportionate and absolute terms. Some of the most densely forested Changwats and squares appear undercollected. Distribution maps for common, easily recognized tree species in the genus Syzygium show distributional gaps. Conclusions Thailand is defined as an undercollected country. Even within the few well‐collected quarter degree squares the spread of collecting is still poor; almost all collections being localized to one of three mountain ranges or their foothills. There are many gaps in collecting activity which make impossible a straightforward interpretation of biogeographical pattern. It is argued that targeted collecting activity is needed, that assembly of this type of data set is therefore essential and that our data set and its interpretation is a model for all countries in the region.     

High‐Performance Multilayer Encapsulation for Perovskite Photovoltaics

An encapsulation system comprising of a UV‐curable epoxy, a solution processed polymer interlayer, and a glass cover‐slip, is used to increase the stability of methylammonium lead triiodide (CH₃NH₃PbI₃) perovskite planar inverted architecture photovoltaic (PV) devices. It is found this encapsulation system acts as an efficient barrier to extrinsic degradation processes (ingress of moisture and oxygen), and that the polymer acts as a barrier that protects the PV device from the epoxy before it is fully cured. This results in devices that maintain 80% of their initial power conversion efficiency after 1000 h of AM1.5 irradiation. Such devices are used as a benchmark and are compared with devices having initially enhanced efficiency as a result of a solvent annealing process. It is found that such solvent‐annealed devices undergo enhanced burn‐in and have a reduced long‐term efficiency, a result demonstrating that initially enhanced device efficiency does not necessarily result in long‐term stability.     

Timing and temperature of decollement on hydrocarbon source rock beds in cyclic lacustrine successions

The generation of hydrocarbons causes lubrication of source rock bedding planes which can enhance deformation during basin subsidence and subsequent tectonic events. Deformation includes decollement, i.e. gravitational sliding of rocks above the lubricated horizon. In cyclic sequences, such as occur in many lacustrine basins, decollement is generally restricted to the organic-rich beds of the cycle. Case studies in lacustrine successions in the Devonian Orcadian Basin, Scotland, and the Triassic–Jurassic Hartford–Deerfield Basin, USA, show that movement of material associated with the decollement surface occurred in the current down-dip direction. These extensional basins experienced rapid subsidence and a high heat flow such that hydrocarbon generation, and therefore decollement, occurred early in the basin histories. During extension, half-graben rotation ensured that the beds were dipping during hydrocarbon generation, facilitating decollement. Inversion of the Orcadian Basin reactivated decollement surfaces, involving thrust motion in some cases. Minerals precipitated in tension cavities associated with decollement yield fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures in the ranges 96–139°C and 85–96°C for the Orcadian and Hartford–Deerfield basins, respectively. These data are consistent with burial into the oil window at depths of between 1.5 and 2.0 km.     

Changing Use of Hospital Beds by the Elderly

Recent changes in the age structure of the mental hospital population in the Birmingham Region are first examined. The proportion of patients aged 65 and over of the total in residence has steadily increased and at the end of 1967 was 43%, and more than half the female patients are now in this age group.Admissions of elderly persons to both psychiatric and general hospitals have increased, and these hospitals have responded to the increased demand on their services by increasing bed-turnover rates. During 1967 on average one-fifth of all patients occupying beds for acute cases (excluding maternity) were 65 years of age or over.In the geriatric hospital service, on the other hand, accommodation per head of the population decreased between 1961 and 1967, as did the total annual number of admissions and the rate of turnover. This suggests that the geriatric service is overstretched and that it is under-organized, understaffed, or undercapitalized—possibly all three. The enforced expedient of admitting “excess” elderly patients to mental hospitals does not recommend itself.     

Scientists urge DHS to improve Bioterrorism Risk Assessment

In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) completed its first Bioterrorism Risk Assessment (BTRA), intended to be the foundation for DHS's subsequent biennial risk assessments mandated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10 (HSPD-10). At the request of DHS, the National Research Council established the Committee on Methodological Improvements to the Department of Homeland Security's Biological Agent Risk Analysis to provide an independent, scientific peer review of the BTRA. The Committee found a number of shortcomings in the BTRA, including a failure to consider terrorists as intelligent adversaries in their models, unnecessary complexity in threat and consequence modeling and simulations, and a lack of focus on risk management. The Committee unanimously concluded that an improved BTRA is needed to provide a more credible foundation for risk-informed decision making.     

Proof-of-concept human laboratory study for protracted abstinence in alcohol dependence: effects of gabapentin

There is a need for safe medications that can effectively support recovery by treating symptoms of protracted abstinence that may precipitate relapse in alcoholics, e.g. craving and disturbances in sleep and mood. This proof-of-concept study reports on the effectiveness of gabapentin 1200 mg for attenuating these symptoms in a non-treatment-seeking sample of cue-reactive, alcohol-dependent individuals. Subjects were 33 paid volunteers with current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV alcohol dependence and a strength of craving rating 1 SD or greater for alcohol than water cues. Subjects were randomly assigned to gabapentin or placebo for 1 week and then participated in a within-subjects trial where each was exposed to standardized sets of pleasant, neutral and unpleasant visual stimuli followed by alcohol or water cues. Gabapentin was associated with significantly greater reductions than placebo on several measures of subjective craving for alcohol as well as for affectively evoked craving. Gabapentin was also associated with significant improvement on several measures of sleep quality. Side effects were minimal, and gabapentin effects were not found to resemble any major classes of abused drugs. Results suggest that gabapentin may be effective for treating the protracted abstinence phase in alcohol dependence and that a randomized clinical trial would be an appropriate next step. The study also suggests the value of cue-reactivity studies as proof-of-concept screens for potential antirelapse drugs.