Factors relating to the mental health of women who were pregnant at the time of the Great East Japan earthquake: analysis from month 10 to month 48 after the earthquake

Background

The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011. The epicenter was off the coast of Miyagi prefecture, and the magnitude of the earthquake was 9.0 with a maximum seismic intensity of 7.0. Although it has already been four years, victims continue to have complex problems. In the stricken areas of Miyagi prefecture, almost ten percent of the residents continue to live in temporary housing. Life altering events that force relocation and a change of living environment are known to adversely affect mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health of mothers of infants who experienced this disaster in Miyagi prefecture.

Methods

We conducted a survey using The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (10 months) and The General Health Questionnaire-28, an efficient screening tool for psychiatric distress. Eight hundred eighty-six mothers of children born from February to October, 2011 in Miyagi prefecture were surveyed 10, 16, 24, 36 and 48 months after the disaster. Data were analyzed with the use of SPSS 21.0 J for Windows. The study was approval by the review board of ethics at Tohoku University.

Results

The questionnaire was answered by the following number of mothers at the specified months after the disaster: 677 at 10 months, 384 at 16 months, 351 at 24 months, 250 at 36 months and 193 at 48 months. Results at all time periods indicated a high prevalence of psychiatric distress among the mothers surveyed. The percentage of Japanese adults with high-risk GHQ-28 scores is 14 %, thus psychological distress among the subjects in the present study is considerably more widespread. General Health Questionnaire-28 scores were significantly higher for those mothers experiencing dissatisfaction in their marital relationships. We found that mothers have experienced severe mental distress since the disaster, which we think is a possible cause of depression that is leading to poor mental health.

Conclusion

The results indicate that the upheaval caused by the tsunami affected the mental health of the mothers. Psychological distress continued to be prevalent up to four years after the disaster. Different factors were found to be associated with their distress. The most common issues were economic problems, dissatisfaction in the marital relationship, and no support with childcare.

     

Surface Molecules Released by Trypanosoma cruzi Metacyclic Forms Downregulate Host Cell Invasion

BackgroundThe question whether metacylic trypomastigote (MT) forms of different T. cruzi strains differentially release surface molecules, and how they affect host cell invasion, remains to be fully clarified. We addressed that question using T. cruzi strains that differ widely in the ability to invade cells.Conclusion/SignificanceOur data suggest that the surface molecules spontaneously released by MT impair parasite-host cell interaction, gp82 presumably competing with the molecule expressed on MT surface for the host cell receptor, and gp90 further contributing to down modulate invasion.     

Murine Virus-Induced Proteins Synthesized by Hamster Tumor Cells Transformed by, But Not Producing, Murine Sarcoma Virus

The 8303 hamster tumor cells transformed by Moloney strain of murine sarcoma virus (M-MSV), but which do not produce virus, do contain murine virus-induced proteins. The virus-induced proteins within the cell were identified either as free proteins or in association with membranous material, including the plasma membrane. In addition, some were excreted by the 8303 hamster tumor cells into the growth medium. Most virus-induced proteins were larger than 68,000 daltons, and they did not dissociate into components of smaller size in the presence of detergent and a reducing agent. A small amount of virus-induced protein with a molecular weight of less than 20,000 was also found in the hamster tumor cells. No virus-specific proteins with the identical antigenic specificity or size of the major internal group specific antigen (molecular weight about 30,000) of the murine leukemia viruses were present in these cells. There is a common cell surface antigen present in three other tumor cell lines, both virus-producing and non-virus-producing, identical in reactivity to that of the murine virus-induced antigen of the 8303 hamster tumor cell. This antigen is not present on the cell surface of normal mouse embryo cells.     

Reaction of c-Type Cytochromes with the Iron Hexacyanides: Mechanistic Implications

The reaction of c-cytochromes with iron hexacyanides is similar in mechanism to the interaction of cytochromes with their physiological oxidants and reductants in that the formation of complexes precedes electron transfer. Analysis of the kinetics of oxidation and reduction of a number of c-cytochromes by solving the simultaneous differential equations defining the mechanism is possible, and allows assignment of all six rate constants describing a minimum three-step mechanism [cyto(Fe(+3)) + Fe(+2) right harpoon over left harpoon cyto (Fe(+3)) - Fe(+2) right harpoon over left harpoon cyto(Fe(+2)) - Fe(+3) right harpoon over left harpoon cyto(Fe(+2)) + Fe(+3)]. We find that the usual steady-state approximations are not valid. Furthermore, the ratio of first-order rate constants for electron transfer was approximately 1.0, and no correlation was found between any of the six rate constants and the differences in oxidation-reduction potential of the iron-hexacyanides and different cytochromes c. However, it was found that the ratio of the rate constants for complex formation between ferricytochrome c and potassium ferrocyanide and ferrocytochrome c and potassium ferricyanide was proportional to the difference in oxidation-reduction potentials. Thus the minimum three-step mechanism given above accurately describes the observed kinetic data. However, this mechanism leads to a number of conceptual difficulties. Specifically, the mechanism requires that the collision complexes formed [cyto(Fe(+3)) - Fe(CN)(6) (-4) and cyto(Fe(+2)) - Fe(CN)(6) (-3)] have very different equilibrium constants, and further requires that formation of the collision complexes be accompanied by "chemistry" to make the intermediates isoenergetic. A more complex five-step mechanism which requires that the reactants [Fe(CN)(6) (-4) and ferricytochrome c or Fe(CN)(6) (-3) and ferrocytochrome c] form a collision complex followed by a first-order process before electron transfer, was found to yield results similar to those of the three-step mechanism. However, describing the formation of the collision complex in terms of a rapid equilibrium circumvents conceptual difficulties and leads to a physically reasonable mechanism. In this mechanism the reactants are in rapid equilibrium with the collision complexes and the rate constants for complex formation are controlled by diffusion and accessibility. The collision complexes then rearrange, possibly through conformational changes and/or solvent reorganization, to yield isoenergetic intermediates that can undergo rapid reversible electron transfer. The five-step mechanism can be described by the same rate constants obtained from the three-step mechanism with the appropriate adjustments to account for rapid equilibrium. This more complex analysis associates the oxidation-reduction potential of a particular cytochrome with the relative magnitude of the first-order conversion of the oxidant and reductant collision complexes to their respective intermediates. Thus the cytochromes c control their oxidation-reduction potential by chemical and/or structural alterations. This mechanism appears to be general in that it is consistent with the observed kinetics of 11 different cytochromes c from a wide variety of sources with a range of oxidation-reduction potentials.     

Experimental study on interactions between selenium and tin in mice

The organ distributions of tin and selenium, and their excretion into urine and feces, were determined in mice. There were four groups; (A) control, (B) Sn (5 μmol/kg/d) ip injection, (C) Se (5 μmol/kg/d) sc injection, and (D) Sn plus Se (5 μmol/kg/d, each). Animals received injections once a day for 12 consecutive days. The results were the following (1) Simultaneous injection of Sn and Se enhanced accumulation of both elements in the body, i.e., in group B, 14.1% of the total injected amount of Sn was excreted into urine and feces; in group C, 46.2% of total injected Se was excreted into urine and feces; in group D, 10.9% of total Sn and 37.5% of total Se were found in excreta. (2) Large amounts of Sn were found in bone, liver, spleen, and kidney in group B. When Se was administered jointly with Sn, the concentrations of Sn in bone and liver were suppressed, whereas those in spleen and pancreas were increased. (3) The effects of Se-injections at this dose on concentrations of Se in organs were small. (4) In plasma, chemical reduction of selenite by stannous chloride was not observed.     

High cell density suspension culture of mammalian anchorage independent cells: Oxygen transfer by gas sparging and defoaming with a hydrophobic net

Gas sparging directly into the culture-broth is not done in cell culture, except when the gas flow rate is very small, because much foaming occurs.During screening of defoaming methods, foam was observed to be broken up effectively when it made contact with a net fabricated from hydrophobic materials. Providing a highly efficient oxygen supply to suspension culture was tried using the new defoaming method. In a 5 1 reactor equipped with the foam-eliminating net fabricated with polysiloxane, oxygen was transferred at 21 mmole/l·h equivalent to an about forty-fold higher rate than in conventional surface aeration. This was equivalent to a consumption rate of 1×10⁸ cells/ml, even at a low oxygen gas flow rate of 0.1 cm/s corresponding to a fourth of the gas flow rate when foam leaked through the net.Perfusion culture of rat ascites hepatoma cell JTC-1 was successfully carried out in the 51 scale culture system with the net and a hydrophobic membrane for cell filtration. The viable cell concentration reached 2.7×10⁷ cells/ml after twenty-seven days, in spite of the nutrient-deficient condition of the lower medium exchange rate, that is, a working volume a day, and viability was maintained at more than 90%. In a 1.21 scale culture of mouse-mouse hybridoma cell STK-1, viable cell concentration reached 4×10⁷ cells/ml. These results showed that oxygen transfer by gas sparging with defoaming was useful for high density suspension culture. A foam-breaking mechanism was proposed.Abbreviations Eagle's MEM Eagle's minimal essential medium - Dulbecco's modified Eagle MEM Dulbecco's modified Eagle minimal essential medium     

Possible role of a 36 kDa protein induced by respiratory inhibitors in cyanide-resistant respiration in Hansenula anomala

The antimycin A or cyanide-dependent appearance of a 36 kDa protein in the particulate fraction was observed in L-[35S]methionine pulse-labeling experiments on cells of Hansenula anomala, in which cyanide-resistant respiration was induced. The combined addition of cycloheximide or anaerobiosis, which block the induction of cyanide-resistant respiration, repressed the synthesis of this protein. These results suggest the involvement of the particulate 36 kDa protein in cyanide-resistant respiration.     

Studies on Phyto-peroxidase

In a continuation of the structural studies on Japanese-radish peroxidase a. the products resulting from the action of pepsin on performic acid-oxidized apo-peroxidase a have been examined by ion-exchange chromatography on a Dowex 50W-X2 column, followed by gelfiltration chromatography on a Sephadex G-25 column and by high voltage paper electrophoresis. Seven peptides have been isolated in purified forms in yields of 6 to 39 per cent, and their amino acid compositions have been determined.