We analysed associations between exposure to nightlife businesses and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 PCR test results at a tertiary hospital in Tokyo between March and April 2020. A ...nightlife group was defined as those who had worked at or visited the businesses. We included 1517 individuals; 196 (12.9%) were categorised as the nightlife group. After propensity score matching, the proportion of positive PCR tests in the nightlife group was significantly higher than that in the non-nightlife group (nightlife, 63.8%; non-nightlife, 23.0%; P < 0.001). An inclusive approach to mitigate risks related to the businesses needs to be identified.
There are concerns that suicide rates may have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
To assess whether suicide rates in Japan increased in April through November 2020 ...compared with previous years.
This cross-sectional study used national data obtained from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare from 2016 to 2020 on the monthly number of individuals who died of suicide in Japan from January to November of 2016 to 2020.
2020 vs previous years.
The main outcome was monthly suicide rates, calculated as the number of individuals who died of suicide divided by the total population. A difference-in-difference regression model was used to estimate the change in monthly suicide rates in April to November 2020 vs these months in 2016 to 2019.
Analyses included 90 048 individuals (61 366 68.1% men) who died of suicide from 2016 to 2020. The difference-in-difference analysis of men showed that there was no increase in suicide rates from April through September 2020 compared with these months in 2016 to 2019, but that suicide rates were increased in October (difference-in-difference, 0.40 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.67 suicide deaths per 100 000 population) and November (difference-in-difference, 0.34 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.60 suicide deaths per 100 000 population). Among women, suicide rates in 2020 compared with 2016 to 2019 increased in July (difference-in-difference, 0.24 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.38 suicide deaths per 100 000 population), August (difference-in-difference, 0.30 95% CI, 0.16 to 0.45 suicide deaths per 100 000 population), September (difference-in-difference, 0.29 95% CI, 0.15 to 0.44 suicide deaths per 100 000 population), October (difference-in-difference, 0.62 95% CI, 0.48 to 0.77 suicide deaths per 100 000 population), and November (difference-in-difference, 0.29 95% CI, 0.15 to 0.44 suicide deaths per 100 000 population). In secondary analyses in which the suicide rates of 2020 were compared with the expected rates based on trends from 2011 to 2019, the increases in suicide rates were most pronounced among men aged younger than 30 years (eg, November: observed vs expected rate ratio RR, 1.48 95% CI, 1.26-1.71) and women aged younger than 30 years (eg, October: observed vs expected RR, 2.14 95% CI, 1.76 to 2.52) and 30 to 49 years (eg, October: observed vs expected RR, 2.30 95% CI, 2.01 to 2.58).
These findings suggest that compared with previous years, suicide rates in Japan in 2020 increased in October and November for men and in July through November for women.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had variable effects on the rates of STIs reported across the globe. This study sought to assess how the number of STI reports changed during the pandemic in Japan.
We used ...national infectious disease surveillance data from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (Tokyo, Japan) for the period between January 2013 and December 2021. We compared reported rates of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, condyloma acuminata and genital herpes, as well as total notifications for HIV/AIDS and syphilis during the pandemic versus previous years in Japan. We used a quasi-Poisson regression to determine whether any given week or month between January 2018 and December 2021 had a significant excess or deficit of STIs. Notification values above or below the 95% upper and lower prediction thresholds were considered as statistically significant. The start of the pandemic was defined as January 2020.
Chlamydia generally remained within predicted range during the pandemic period. Reporting of gonorrhoea was significantly higher than expected throughout early-to-mid 2021 but otherwise generally remained within predicted range prior to 2021. Condyloma, herpes and HIV/AIDS reporting were transiently significantly lower than expected throughout the pandemic period, but no significant periods of higher-than-expected reporting were detected. Syphilis showed widespread evidence of significantly lower-than-predicted reporting throughout 2020 but eventually reversed, showing significantly higher-than-predicted reporting in mid-to-late 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with variable changes in the reporting of STIs in Japan. Higher-than-predicted reporting was more likely to be observed in the later phases of the pandemic. These changes may have been attributable to pandemic-related changes in sexual behaviour and decreased STI clinic attendance and testing, but further research on the long-term impact of the pandemic on STIs is necessary.
Early detection of illness trajectory in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected patients is crucial for patients and healthcare workers. An effective, noninvasive ...approach, with simple measurement for decision-making, is necessary in a pandemic to discriminate between high- and low-risk patients, even though both groups may exhibit mild symptoms in the beginning.
To predict COVID-19 disease severity within 10 days, distinguishing cases that will progress to moderate or severe versus mild, patient urinary L-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) was assayed within 4 days of receiving a diagnosis. The study also examined whether L-FABP point of care (POC) test is helpful in risk screening.
Symptomatic subjects who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were hospitalized were prospectively enrolled at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM), Yamanashi Prefectural Central Hospital (YPCH), and Sinai Hospital in Maryland. The outcome of each case was evaluated 7 days after admission and the diagnostic performance of L-FABP was assessed.
Subjects were treated for COVID-19 at public healthcare centers in Japan from January 31, 2020, to January 31, 2021, to NCGM, YPCH, and at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, MD, during the same period.
The primary outcome was to determine whether urinary L-FABP within 48 hours of admission can predict the patient's severity of COVID-19 1 week later. We obtained demographic data, information on clinical symptoms, radiographic images, and laboratory data.
Diagnostic performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis. Of the 224 participants in the study, 173 initially had a mild form of COVID-19. The area under the curve (AUC) for a severe outcome was 93.5%. L-FABP POC risk prediction of a severe outcome had an AUC of 88.9%.
Urinary L-FABP can predict patient risk of COVID-19 illness severity. L-FABP POC is implementable for patient management. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04681040).
Sonophotocatalysis of water in a CO2-Ar atmosphere HARADA, Hisashi; HOSOKI, Chigusa; ISHIKANE, Makoto
Journal of photochemistry and photobiology. A, Chemistry,
08/2003, Letnik:
160, Številka:
1-2
Conference Proceeding, Journal Article
The fundamental absorption spectrum of Cs sub(4)PbCl sub(6) has been observed for the first time. The spectrum exhibits novel structures. They are explained in terms of Pb super(2+)-ion excitation of ...the octahedral Pb super(2+)(Cl super(-)) sub(6) quasi-complexes, like the case of isolated Pb super(2+) ions, doped in fcc alkali halides. The individual quasi-complexes behave like quantum dots. The Cs sub(4 )PbCl sub(6) crystal provides the regular array of the quantum dots. copyright 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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