The effect of job loss and unemployment duration on suicide risk in the United States: a new look using mass-layoffs and unemployment duration

We examine the link between employment status and suicide risk using a panel of US states from 1996 to 2005 with monthly data on suicides, the duration of unemployment spells and the number of job losses associated with mass-layoff events. The use of aggregate data at the monthly level along with the distribution of unemployment duration allows us to separate the effect of job loss from the effect of unemployment duration, an important distinction for policy purposes, especially for the timing of potential interventions. Our results are consistent with unemployment duration being the dominant force in the relationship between job loss and suicide. Nevertheless, mass-layoffs may be powerful localized events where suicide risk increases shortly afterward. Implications for the design of unemployment insurance are discussed.     

Urinary saturation measurements in calcium nephrolithiasis.

Urinary saturation with respect to calcium oxalate monohydrate was measured in 111 consecutive patients with calcium nephrolithiasis. Each patient also was evaluated by a detailed conventional metabolic protocol. Patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria produced abnormally oversaturated urine more frequently than normal subjects and normocalciuric patients, but normocalciuric patients had unexpectedly high levels of urine saturation. Measuring levels of calcium concentration, oxalate concentration, or the chemical concentration product of calcium and oxalate in urine did not predict oversaturation. During thiazide treatment, saturation level tended to fall if it was initially elevated, whether the patient was hypercalciuric or not. Patients whose urine was not remarkably oversaturated showed no tendency to elaborate even less saturated urine during thiazide treatment; instead, the average calcium oxalate saturation level remained constant. Direct urine saturation measurements can detect a small but significant number of normocalciuric patients who have marked oversaturation with respect to calcium oxalate and appear to benefit from treatment.     

Effect of sodium chloride on prostaglandin E2 synthesis in rat renal papillary collecting tubule cells in culture

To investigate the relationship of renal prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis to medullary interstitial osmolality, rat renal papillary collecting tubule (RPCT) cells in culture were exposed to media with different osmolaties. PGE2 released into the media was measured by radioimmunoassay. Increasing osmolality with equiosmolar sodium chloride and urea from 300 to 900 mOsm slightly increased PGE2 synthesis, whereas further increase above 1200 mOsm markedly inhibited PGE2 synthesis in RPCT cells. Hyperosmolar media also inhibited calcium ionophore-stimulated PGE2 synthesis, but did not inhibit arachidonate-stimulated PGE2 synthesis. In contrast, decreasing osmolality from 1800 to 300 mOsm induced a prominent but transient increase in PGE2 synthesis. This increase was abolished by TMB-8, an intracellular calcium antagonist, and trifluoperazine, a calmodulin antagonist. Osmolar increments with sodium chloride or urea alone resulted in the similar inhibition of PGE2 synthesis by sodium chloride but not by urea. These results indicate that extracellular sodium chloride inhibits PGE2 synthesis in RPCT cells at the step of arachidonic acid release, possibly at phospholipases, in a calcium-dependent manner.     

Further development and automation of a high pressure liquid chromatography method for the determination of glycosylated hemoglobins.

A previously described high pressure liquid chromatography system for the determination of glycosylated hemoglobin concentrations has been automated and simplified. With this methodology it is possible to perform up to 60 analyses per day for hemoglobin A1a+b% and hemoglobin A1c%. Where an estimate of the total fast hemoglobin alone is required, then a considerably greater number of analyses can be performed. The individual values are calculated directly with an electronic integrator. The mean coefficient of variation of the duplicate determinations of 48 samples was 0.63 +/- 0.83% (mean +/- SD). Aliquots of pooled hemolysates have been maintained in liquid nitrogen at -90 degrees C and run at the beginning and end of each daily analytical run over an 18-mo period. Both the inter- and intra-run coefficients of variation of these values have remained consistently less than 3%. Therefore, the methodology offers a reliable and accurate method of containing glycosylated hemoglobin values for clinical use.     

Separation of erythropoietin responsive cells in fetal mouse liver.

The erythropoietin responsive cells (ERC) in suspension cultures (ERCSC) of fetal mouse liver and the cells producing erythroid colonies in 2-day plasma clot cultures (CFU-E) sediment at similar rates. However, the sedimented fractions containing the majority of nucleated cells show minimal sensivitity to erythropoietin (Ep) and these cells sediment at a slower rate than the ERCSC. The studies suggest that in short-term suspension cultures of fetal mouse liver, Ep acts on morphologically unrecognizable cells to increase the number of hemoglobin-synthesizing cells rather than by increasing the quantity of hemoglobin synthesized per cell. This effect is similar to the principal in vivo action of Ep.