Postponed suicide death? Suicides around birthdays and major public holidays.

The relationship between suicide and birthdays, and suicide and public holidays has been studied from data on 32,291 Danish suicides by persons ages 15 years and older in the 25-year period 1970-1994. Evidence was found to support the theory of the "broken-promise effect" for major public holidays in that there appears to be a postponement of a significant number of suicides from before a holiday until after. The division of holidays into nonworking and (half-time) working days showed that a "holiday effect" could only be found around major public holidays, particularly Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun. The postponing or transpositioning effect is relevant to prevention, especially because of the availability and accessibility of help at the end of and after major public (nonworking) holidays.

Attempted suicide and major public holidays in Europe: findings from the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between suicide attempts and major public holidays in Europe. METHOD: The analysis was based on data on 24 388 suicide attempts by persons aged 15 years or older in the period 1989-1996. Data from 13 centres (representing 11 countries) participating in the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide were analysed. The analysis of the fluctuation of suicide attempts around public holidays was based on the daily number of suicide attempts for each centre. For each day in the period under examination a mean number of suicide attempts (mu) was calculated. The analysis was based on the assumption that the data followed a Poisson distribution. The observed number of daily suicide attempts was compared with the expected number of attempts. A multiplicative model for the expected number in each centre was developed. RESULTS: Before Christmas there were fewer suicide attempts than expected, and after Christmas there were approximately 40% more attempts than expected. In addition, more attempts than expected were registered on New Year's Day. In countries where people have the day off work on Whit Monday there were significantly fewer attempts during the 3 days before, but where Whit Monday is a normal working day significantly fewer attempts occurred on the Monday to Wednesday after Whit Sunday. CONCLUSION: There appears to be a transposition of a significant number of suicide attempts from before (and during) a major public holiday until after it. The division of holidays into non-working and working days showed that a 'holiday effect' could only be found around major public holidays, particularly Christmas, Easter and Whitsun. These findings support the theory of the 'broken-promise effect' for major public holidays.

[Prostacyclin inhalation in pulmonary failure following smoke inhalation]. / Prostacyklininhalation ved lungesvigt efter røgforgiftning.

A 42 year-old man was admitted to hospital due to smoke inhalation. Thirty-three hours after admission arterial oxygen saturation was 80-90% with FiO2 = 1.0. Inhalation with prostacyclin was commenced with a dose rate of 7 ng/kg/min with an immediate effect, i.e. SATaO2 increased to 100%. Prostacyclin was terminated after 24 hours, when FiO2 was reduced to 0.5. It is concluded that prostacyclin inhalation therapy may have effect in patients following pulmonary smoke injury.

[Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms. Treatment, complications and early results]. / Torakoabdominale aortaaneurismer. Behandling, komplikationer og tidlige resultater.

Over a four and a half year period ten patients operated upon for thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm. One patient died, and another developed paraparesis. Review of the literature and the experience obtained by using an intraluminal aortic graft for the proximal anastomosis is presented. Reduction of aortic cross-clamping time is essential in reducing complications, of which paraparesis is the most common. The employment of an intraluminal prosthesis whenever possible seems advantageous in achieving this goal. Patients with thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysms can be treated with an acceptably low mortality and morbidity.

[Leptospirosis. A disease with non-specific initial symptoms]. / Leptospirosis. En sygdom med uspecifikke debutsymptomer.

A case of leptospirosis in a young fish-farm worker is described. Early penicillin therapy was initiated solely on the clinical suspicion of the disease. The importance of recognition of the disease is emphasized together with early institution of penicillin therapy and effective eradication of vermin.

[Surgical treatment of abdominal aorta aneurysm 1983-1987. A multicenter study. 1266 operations, development and early results]. / Operative behandling af abdominalt aorta-aneurysme 1983-1987. Multicenterundersøgelse. 1,266 operationer, udvikling og tidlige resultater.

During the years 1983-1987, 1,266 operations for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) were carried out in eight surgical departments with vascular surgical function. The activity increased constantly corresponding to 311 patients in 1987 or 50% more than in 1983. During this period the distribution between patients subjected to elective operation and those operated upon as emergencies was very uniform. In the latter group, only a slight increase in the number of AAA patients with rupture was observed. The risk of complications was low with a significant decrease in the need for dialysis. The early mortality was constant for the patients subjected to elective operation remained constant about 5.5%. A marked decrease in the early mortality was observed for the patients operated upon as emergencies with rupture from 63 to 50% and without rupture from 37 to 25%. At the conclusion of the period, ultrasonic scanning became the preoperative investigation of election and introduction of an aortic prosthesis the method of operation of election. Patients with AAA should be recognized so that elective surgery can be offered before a condition endangering life develops.

Toxicological Safety Evaluation of a Bacillus acidopullulyticus Pullulanase.

Promozyme®, an amylopectin debranching enzyme produced by Bacillus acidopullulyticus , was studied to evaluate its safety in the food industry. A dietary subchronic toxicity study incorporating fertility and teratogenicity studies was performed in 1-month-old rats at concentrations of 0.5, 1.5 and 5% Promozyme. No adverse effects were seen at the 0.5 and 1.5% dose levels, and at the 5% dose level only minor or equivocal signs of toxicity were recorded. With the exception of a moderate reduction in body weight gain the FIA litters at the 5% dose level, no effects were found in the fertility study, and Promozyme was not teratogenic. In a 13-wk oral toxicity study in dogs, no adverse effects resulted from 0.5 g/kg/d, whereas mild gastrointestinal disturbances were seen clinically at 1.5 and 5.0 g/kg/d. In dogs given 5.0 g/kg/d, terminal investigations showed increased kidney weights and mineralized casts in renal cortical tubules. This was probably due to the high content of ash (phosphorus) in the test material. Lack of mutagenic potential was confirmed in bacterial mutagenic assays with Salmonella typhimurium (TA 1535, TA 1537, TA 1538, TA 98 and TA 100) and in an in vivo cytogenetic study in rat bone marrow cells after a single dose and daily dosing for 5 d of up to 8 g/kg/d. In an acute inhalation study with 4 h of exposure of rats, no death occurred at the highest dose level used, i.e., 2 mg/L. The test material was non-irritating to skin and did not produce eye injury in rabbits. A skin sensitization study in guinea pigs revealed no indication that the enzyme is a sensitizer. The pathogenic potential of the enzyme-producing B. acidopullulyticus was investigated by single intraperitoneal and subcutaneous administrations to rats and mice; the microorganism was found to be nonpathogenic (LD50>1010 cells/kg). Tests of culture broths revealed that the microorganism does not produce antibiotics. Results indicated that production and the intended use of Promozyme can be regarded as safe for plant workers and consumers.

In vitro splicing of the ribosomal RNA precursor in isolated nucleoli from Tetrahymena.

The macronuclear rRNA genes of Tetrahymena thermophila contain an 0.4 kb intervening sequence in the 26S rRNA coding region. The sequence is represented within the primary transcription product. We demonstrate in this paper that the enzyme activities necessary for the endonucleolytic cleavage as well as for the ligation of the transcript are associated with the isolated. The intervening sequence is excised as an unique molecule, which is stable in vitro. About 50% of the in vitro synthesized RNA is processed. Faithful in vitro transcription occurs in the presence of the divalent ions Mg2+, Mn2+ and Co2+ while processing takes place only in the presence of Mg2+. The absolute requirement for Mg2+ in the excision reaction enables us to synthesize labelled pre-rRNA in the presence of Mn2+ or Co2+. The synthesized RNA can be used as a substrate in studies of th processing enzymes in vitro.