Objective: To nurture pharmacists capable of contributing to the prevention of adverse reactions to psychotropic agents, the Sapporo Hospital Pharmacist Association has been holding a seminar for psychiatric pharmacy specialist.  A questionnaire survey was conducted to clarify the usefulness of this seminar and its future direction, and evaluate the necessity of providing information on psychotropic drugs.
Methods: An anonymous 21-item questionnaire was distributed to participants in the 2008 Sapporo Hospital Pharmacist Association seminar for psychiatric pharmacy specialist.
Results: The mean recovery rate was 76.3%, and the respondents had a broad background in terms of age, gender, etc.  The seminar was identified as being beneficial, and the participants’ awareness of the accreditation of Board Certified Pharmacist in Psychiatric Pharmacy showed regional characteristics.
Conclusion: Based on the survey results, guidelines on conducting the seminar in the future were successfully developed.  From now on, it is important to create an environment to nurture psychiatric pharmacy specialist in the Sapporo area.  Additional efforts should be made so that the provision of information on psychotropic drugs in the seminar can contribute to the prevention of adverse reactions to them.

As of 2011, about 12.8 million people in Japan had osteoporosis, which is a social issue in that it increases the number of patients who are bedridden or require residential care and its poor prognosis increases the mortality rate. We delivered a presentation on osteoporosis prevention to residents;the presentation consisted of ultrasound bone densitometry readings followed by a slide show, based on the readings. This report summarizes the presentation and considers whether it was effective in enhancing awareness of osteoporosis. The presentation was given to 39 residents, who were asked to complete a questionnaire before and after it. Of the 31 female respondents, 16.1 percent had bone density in the “low or caution” range;for all eight male respondents, it was “sufficient” or “average.” After the presentation, over 90 percent of respondents selected “agree” or “slightly agree” in response to the statements “I want to have regular exercise and participate in sports,” “I want to eat nutritionally sound meals,” and “understanding one’s bone density is useful for the prevention of osteoporosis.” In addition, 97.4 percent of the residents responded that the lecture was “useful” or “somewhat useful,” and 94.9 percent indicated satisfaction with it. The presentation was considered to be useful in enhancing residents’ awareness of osteoporosis.

Objective: Acute mechanical thrombectomy (AMT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke from large vessel occlusion (LVO) is performed without directly identifying the occluded vessels. In this study, we evaluated whether 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with 3D-fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition (FIESTA) could visualize the occluded intracranial middle cerebral artery (MCA) and internal carotid artery (ICA) before AMT. Methods: This retrospective study included 21 consecutive patients who underwent time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF MRA) and 3D-FIESTA MRI immediately before AMT. The patients also underwent TOF MRA after AMT and achieved TICI 2b or 3 by AMT at our hospital between February 2018 and April 2019. When LVO in the anterior circulation was detected by TOF MRA, 3D-FIESTA MRI was additionally performed. Then, the occluded intracranial MCA and ICA, including their branches, were constructed on the workstation with volume rendering. The obtained images were fused with the TOF MRA images to create combined 3D images. Results: The length and top-to-bottom distance of the affected M1 segment (calculated by the ipsilateral-to-contralateral ratio) were 1.29 and 1.17, respectively, on 3D-FIESTA MRI before AMT and 1.34 and 1.24, respectively, on TOF MRA after AMT. We assessed the number of M2 segments branching from the affected M1/M2 junction and visualized the affected anterior temporal artery. The 3D-FIESTA MRI before AMT and TOF MRA after AMT were consistent in all patients, except for two who moved vigorously during imaging. Conclusions Images acquired by 1.5T 3D-FIESTA MRI can visualize to predict the existing path of the occluded MCA and ICA before AMT in patients with LVO of the anterior circulation.

AIMTo confirm the stability of exogenous genes in the generation of transgenic chickens using ejaculated chicken sperm, the deoxyribonuclease (DNase) activity was evaluated in the seminal plasma of ejaculated semen and the stability of DNA was examined by adding lipofection reagents.

METHODSA PCR fragment (249 bp) of pEGFPN-1 vector was used as the DNA substrate and was incubated with the seminal plasma at 40 degree C for 30 min. Then, the whole reaction solution was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis and the DNA size was evaluated under UV light.

RESULTSThe DNA substrate was completely diminished after incubation with seminal plasma. However, the substrate was intact after incubation with heat-treated seminal plasma or incubation with seminal plasma in the presence of 0.5 mmol/L approximately 5 mmol/L EDTA. The substrate was stabilized in the seminal plasma by the addition of commercially available lipofection reagents.

CONCLUSIONThe DNase activity is present in the seminal plasma of ejaculated chicken semen. However, DNA is stable in the liposomal-DNA complex.

Animals ; Cations, Divalent ; pharmacology ; Chickens ; physiology ; DNA ; analysis ; DNA Primers ; Deoxyribonucleases ; analysis ; Edetic Acid ; pharmacology ; Hot Temperature ; Indicators and Reagents ; Male ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Semen ; enzymology

Objective: Acute mechanical thrombectomy (AMT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke from large vessel occlusion (LVO) is performed without directly identifying the occluded vessels. In this study, we evaluated whether 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with 3D-fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition (FIESTA) could visualize the occluded intracranial middle cerebral artery (MCA) and internal carotid artery (ICA) before AMT. Methods: This retrospective study included 21 consecutive patients who underwent time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF MRA) and 3D-FIESTA MRI immediately before AMT. The patients also underwent TOF MRA after AMT and achieved TICI 2b or 3 by AMT at our hospital between February 2018 and April 2019. When LVO in the anterior circulation was detected by TOF MRA, 3D-FIESTA MRI was additionally performed. Then, the occluded intracranial MCA and ICA, including their branches, were constructed on the workstation with volume rendering. The obtained images were fused with the TOF MRA images to create combined 3D images. Results: The length and top-to-bottom distance of the affected M1 segment (calculated by the ipsilateral-to-contralateral ratio) were 1.29 and 1.17, respectively, on 3D-FIESTA MRI before AMT and 1.34 and 1.24, respectively, on TOF MRA after AMT. We assessed the number of M2 segments branching from the affected M1/M2 junction and visualized the affected anterior temporal artery. The 3D-FIESTA MRI before AMT and TOF MRA after AMT were consistent in all patients, except for two who moved vigorously during imaging. Conclusions Images acquired by 1.5T 3D-FIESTA MRI can visualize to predict the existing path of the occluded MCA and ICA before AMT in patients with LVO of the anterior circulation.