Suicide in Mie Prefecture, Japan, since 1990 / El suicidio en la Prefectura de Mie, Japón, desde 1990

The number of suicides in Japan has increased to over 30 000 per year since 1998. Similarly, the number of suicides has been increasing in Mie Prefecture. In the present study, we examined the incidence and the circumstances of all suicidal cases that were reported to the Mie Prefectural Police Headquarters during the thirteen-year period 1990-2002. In Mie Prefecture, the number of suicides per year averaged 363.1. The largest numbers occurred in the spring and early summer months. For men, suicides were most common in the 50-59-year age group; for women, they were most common in the 70-79-year age group. As for the methods of suicide, hanging was the most frequent for both genders. The major causative factors of suicide were described as " suffering from physical illness" , " psychiatric disorders" and " economic difficulties" . Of these, " psychiatric disorders" was the most important causative factor for the younger groups of both genders. For the middle- aged group of men, the most important causative factor was " economic difficulties" . " Suffering from physical illness" was the most serious causative factor for the elderly group of both genders. In order to prevent suicide, urgent strategies for effective medical treatment and social cooperation are required.

El número de suicidios en Japón ha aumentado a más de 30 000 por año desde 1998. De modo similar, el número de suicidios ha experimentado un continuo ascenso en la Prefectura de Mie. El presente estudio examina la incidencia y las circunstancias de todos los casos suicidas reportados a las Jefaturas de Policía de la Prefectura de Mie durante un período de trece años - desde 1990 hasta 2002. En la Prefectura de Mie, el número de suicidios por año alcanzó la cifra de 363.1. Las cifras más altas ocurrieron en los meses de primavera y comienzos del verano. Entre los hombres, los suicidios eran más comunes en el grupo de edad de 50 a 59 años; entre las mujeres, los suicidios eran más comunes en el grupo de edad de 70 a 79 años. En cuanto a los métodos de suicidio, el ahorcamiento fue el más frecuente para ambos géneros. Los principales factores descritos como causa de los suicidios fueron " padecimiento de una enfermedad" , " trastornos psiquiátricos" , y " dificultades económicas" . De estos, los " trastornos psiquiátricos" constituyeron el factor causal más importante entre los grupos más jóvenes de ambos sexos. Para el grupo de hombres de mediana edad, el factor causal principal radicaba en " las dificultades económicas" . El " padecimiento de enfermedades físicas" fue el principal factor causal entre el grupo de ancianos de ambos géneros. A fin de prevenir los suicidios, se requieren estrategias para un tratamiento médico efectivo y cooperación social.

Suicide in Mie Prefecture, Japan, since 1990.

The number of suicides in Japan has increased to over 30,000 per year since 1998. Similarly, the number of suicides has been increasing in Mie Prefecture. In the present study, we examined the incidence and the circumstances of all suicidal cases that were reported to the Mie Prefectural Police Headquarters during the thirteen-year period 1990-2002. In Mie Prefecture, the number of suicides per year averaged 363.1. The largest numbers occurred in the spring and early summer months. For men, suicides were most common in the 50-59-year age group; for women, they were most common in the 70-79-year age group. As for the methods of suicide, hanging was the most frequent for both genders. The major causative factors of suicide were described as "suffering from physical illness", "psychiatric disorders" and "economic difficulties". Of these, "psychiatric disorders" was the most important causative factor for the younger groups of both genders. For the middle-aged group of men, the most important causative factor was "economic difficulties". "Suffering from physical illness" was the most serious causative factor for the elderly group of both genders. In order to prevent suicide, urgent strategies for effective medical treatment and social cooperation are required.

Significance of levels of IL-6 and IL-8 after trauma: a study of 11 cytokines post-mortem using multiplex immunoassay.

PURPOSE: To identify cytokines useful for diagnosis of traumatic death. METHODS: Post-mortem serum levels of 11 cytokines were assayed for 43 people who died of traumatic injury or from non-traumatic causes. Levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, gamma interferon, interleukin IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, and tumour necrosis factor-alpha were measured using multiplex immunoassay. RESULTS: Levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (p<0.01), IL-6 (p<0.001), and IL-8 (p<0.01) among the traumatic group were significantly higher than those among the non-traumatic group. Anatomical trauma severity was also estimated using the total abbreviated injury scale and injury severity score, revealing significant positive correlations between the former and IL-6 (rs=0.6523, p<0.01) and IL-8 levels (rs=0.6584, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Levels of IL-6 and IL-8 assist differentiation between traumatic and non-traumatic death, are useful objective indices of trauma severity and can support a diagnosis of traumatic death.

Polymorphism of 17 STRs by multiplex analysis in Japanese population.

Genotype and distribution of allele frequencies at 17 STRs were studied in 526 unrelated Japanese individuals using the PowerPlex 16 system and the AmpFlSTR Identifiler.

Comparison of the likelihood ratio and identity-by-state scoring methods for analyzing sib-pair test cases: a study using computer simulation.

To assess the power and significance of the likelihood ratio (LR) and the identity-by-state scoring (IBS) methods for a pair of siblings, we performed computer simulations by use of 10 DNA markers (HLA-DQalpha, D1S80, and 8 short tandem repeat loci) that were frequently analyzed in paternity tests in Japan. The combined power of discrimination of these 10 markers in the Japanese population is 0.999 999 999 98. Pedigrees each consisting of 10,000 pair of full-siblings, half-siblings and unrelated individuals were generated and typed on all markers as random samples. Both the summation of log10 LR and IBS of each group had approximate standard normal distribution with significant differences between the means. Statistical studies showed that the LR method has 91% power to detect unrelated individuals and 38% power to detect half-siblings as not full-siblings with a 5% false-positive rate, whereas the IBS method does 87% and 42% powers, respectively. In 62% of full-siblings, in contrast with only 0.2% of unrelated individuals, the values of LR exceeded 100 which was equivalent to 0.99 of probability of full-sibship at 50% prior probability. The advantage of the LR method over IBS method was convincing especially for the detection of unrelated individuals as not half-siblings, however, the latter would be also informative for sib-pair tests if sufficient number of polymorphic markers are available.

Diatom numbers around the continental shelf break.

Diatom concentrations in seawater were examined monthly at four aquatic areas. Diatom concentrations inside a bay showed a monthly variation, but these were detectable. On the other hand, in the open sea around the continental shelf break, there were few diatoms in any season. When a person drowns in the open sea, the diatom test cannot be expected to function reliably.

Correlation between serum IL-6 levels and death: usefulness in diagnosis of "traumatic shock"?

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been considered as an important mediator of inflammation. Clinically it is a well-known marker of the severity of injury following major trauma. In this study, the levels of IL-6 in body serum were applied to a traumatic death index. Of ninety victims 55 were men and 35 women, with a mean age of 53.4+/- 19 (S.D.) years. The cases were classified as traumatic deaths (38 cases), non-traumatic deaths other than natural causes of deaths (36 cases), and deaths due to natural causes (16 cases). All samples were collected within 2 days after death. The mean values of IL-6 levels of the traumatic, non-traumatic and disease groups were 8608.97, 2205.65, and 3266.64 pg/ml, respectively. Some cases in non-traumatic and disease cases were beyond 10 000 pg/ml, however, the mean value of the traumatic group was statistically higher than that of the other two groups. Even though several cases had high levels of IL-6 in spite of instantaneous death, the results showed that IL-6 levels are helpful in the diagnosis of traumatic shock.

X chromosome inactivation patterns in 45,X/46,XX mosaics.

To investigate X chromosome inactivation (XCI) patterns in 45,X/46.XX mosaics, genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples of 15 female subjects who showed different proportions of 45,X cell clones. XCI patterns were analyzed using two assays. The first assay was the BstXI restriction endonuclease detection of an X-linked phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) gene polymorphism following digestion of the DNA with methylation-sensitive HpaII, or with methylation-insensitive AfaI as a control. The second assay was the detection of a CAG triplet repeat polymorphism in the X-linked androgen receptor (AR) gene after sodium bisulfite treatment. Of the 15 subjects, 11 were informative due to heterozygosity for at least one of the polymorphisms (6 were heterozygous for the PGK polymorphism and 9 were heterozygous for the AR polymorphism). Four of the 11 informative subjects (36%) showed extremely skewed XCI for at least one of the polymorphisms, which was a much higher incidence than previously reported for normal females. Moreover, 3 of these 4 women had proportions of 45,X cell clones greater than 20%. Although our results may be due to several possible cytogenetic or molecular mechanisms, the most likely explanation is that cases of 45,X/46,XX that contain relatively high levels of 45,X cell clones probably arose due to structural aberrations of the X chromosome undetectable by conventional karyotyping.

Isochromosome consisting of terminal short arm and proximal long arm X in a girl with short stature.

A 16-year-old girl with short stature, short neck, shield chest, and cubitus valgus was studied. FISH analyses of her structurally altered X chromosome showed a der(X)- (wcpX+,TelXp/Yp++,SHOX++,STS++,KAL-, 37A12-,DXZ1+,XIST++,97L7++,300O13-,404F- 18-,417G15-,404F18-,140A-,TelXq/Yq-). These results, together with the high-resolution banding analysis, indicated her karyotype to be 46,X,der(X)(Xpter-->Xp22.3::Xq22.3--> cen-->Xq22.3::Xp22.3-->Xpter). The der(X) was an isochromosome, consisting of duplicated terminal short arms and duplicated proximal long arms. This in turn suggested that the chromosome was formed through pericentric inversion of an X chromosome, followed by isochromosome formation through sister chromatid exchange at Xp, close to the centromere. Replication R-banding analysis showed that the abnormal X chromosome was late replicating. Analysis of digestion patterns with a methylation-sensitive restriction endonuclease of the phosphoglycerate kinase 1 gene, located in Xq13.3, indicated that its inactivation patterns were completely skewed.

Intracerebral haematoma: traumatic or non-traumatic.

A 35-year-old woman, a chronic alcoholic, died from an intracerebral haematoma 10 hr after she fell downstairs. Some subcutaneous bleeding was seen on the head and face, but there were no new skull fractures and surface contusions of the brain. She appeared to have few predisposing conditions for non-traumatic cerebral haemorrhage. In addition, the haematoma was mainly located "lateral" to the basal ganglia, not where hypertensive bleeding most commonly occurs, and subdural and haemorrhage in the corpus callosum was found with subdural/and subarachnoid haemorrhage. We concluded that on falling a shearing strain from a rotating force produced the intracerebral haemorrhage, but without skull fractures and surface contusions of the brain. She had been admitted to a neurosurgical hospital just 11 months before this incident because of an epidural haemorrhage with left temporal bone fracture. Mild thrombocytopenia was found during that hospitalization. In this report, this abnormality was thought to have some relation to the formation of the huge haematoma occurring after the intracerebral bleeding started.

Dental identification using digital images via computer network.

Dental identification is a useful scientific method. In Japan, however, there are only a few forensic odontologists; moreover, until now, forensic dental services have only been offered by general dentists. These dentists may not be able to offer such forensic services during office time. For a quick comparison, the authors tried sending digital photos, taken with a 2-million-pixel digital camera, to dental offices via the Internet. If a dental office has Internet access, it is possible for dental charting to be sent directly to the autopsy room. Of course, digital images only provide the first outline. However, when antemortem dental records of the person in question are available at autopsy, a quick comparison can be made.