Elderly suicide and attempted suicide: one syndrome

In this study we explore whether elderly suicide victims who had a previous history of attempted suicide differ from those with no similar history. A group of the elderly, who ended their lives with fatal self-harm (FSH) and had a history of deliberate self-harm (DSH) was compared to a matching group of the elderly who also ended their lives with FSH, but who were not known to have had any history of DSH. The comparison was in respect of epidemiological, social, psychological characteristics, service input and methods of suicide. The elderly, with a history of DSH, were more likely to have been known to the mental health services than the elderly who did not have such a history (P<.05). The two groups used similar methods in their final FSH act. The elderly victims of FSH with or without a previous history of DSH share the same characteristics. The two groups appear to be part of one syndrome. Deliberate self-harm in the elderly should be taken seriously as an unsuccessful suicide rather than a manipulative act or a cry for help and attention.     

History of deliberate self harm may predict methods of fatal self harm in the elderly

In this study we examined the association between methods of Deliberate Self Harm (DSH) by the elderly and their subsequent methods of Fatal Self Harm (FSH). Data was collected from the files of inquests into suicide by the elderly in Birmingham and Cheshire Coroner's Courts. All the subjects were above the age of 60, had history of deliberate self harm before the final act of fatal self harm and attracted either suicide or open verdict returned by the Coroners over a period of four years 1995-1998. We compared the methods of Deliberate Self Harm (DSH) to the methods of Fatal Self Harm (FSH) used by all the included elderly. 18 per cent of elderly victims of FSH had a previous history of DSH and in 35 per cent of the sample, the last known attempt of DSH occurred more than one year prior to the FSH. The majority of the methods that had been used in elderly DSH were used again in their final act of FSH. Nearly two thirds of all the elderly who died of an overdose had attempted suicide earlier by an overdose and one in five of those who died by hanging or drowning used the same method in an unsuccessful attempt of FSH within 12 months. A detailed history of DSH can improve the quality of risk assessment of self harm in the elderly. As more than one in three elderly victims of FSH attempted DSH more than a year prior to the final act, it is important when assessing an elderly DSH attempt that we obtain any previous case notes and question informants about the distant as well as the recent past.     

Seasonal metabolic profiling of Valencia orange leaf essential oil using GC coupled with chemometrics,nano-formulation,and insecticidal evaluation: in vivo and in silico

Mosquitoes and mosquito-borne infectious diseases are a global challenge, especially with increased resistance to synthetic insecticides. The foregoing study aimed to utilize the essential oil of leaves of Citrus sinensis var. Valencia as a cheap, safe, eco-friendly (green), and effective alternative to chemical insecticides. Essential oil samples were collected from fresh and dried leaves across different seasons. They are subjected to hydrodistillation and then GC analysis to be compared. Seventy-seven compounds were detected in all samples where monoterpene hydrocarbons represented the most abundant class of hydrocarbons in fresh leaves (52.6–74.4%) and dried leaves (58.6–66.9%). Sabinene (8.26–29.2%), delta-3-carene (8.23–16.4%), d-limonene (2.50–11.2%), and β-myrcene (2.40–4.93%) were the major monoterpene hydrocarbons in all seasons. Oxygenated monoterpenes comprising β-linalool, citronellal, terpinen-4-ol, β-citral, and α-citral exhibited also appreciable percentages in fresh (21.2–43.4%) and dried leaves (23.4–33.0%). Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) effectively segregated all samples into three discriminate clusters where, β-linalool, terpinen-4-ol, β-elemene enantiomer, sabinene, and β-phellandrene constitute the main discriminatory biomarkers. Essential oil of fresh spring leaves (FS) was chosen for nano-formulation adopting the hot emulsification method. Both FS sample and the prepared nano-hexosomal formula were screened against the 3rd instar larvae Culex pipiens L. (common house mosquito). LC₅₀ and LC₉₅ values of FS and oil loaded nano-formula were (48 and 30 552 mg L⁻¹) and (30 and 1830 mg L⁻¹) respectively. α-Citral followed by citronellal showed the best fitting within the binding sites of acetylcholine esterase enzyme utilizing molecular docking. Thus, it can be concluded that Valencia orange leaf as a nano-formulation could serve as an effective and sustainable insecticidal agent.

Mosquitoes and mosquito-borne infectious diseases are a global challenge, especially with increased resistance to synthetic insecticides.     

Orthogonal extraction/chromatography and UPLC, two powerful new techniques for bioanalytical quantitation of desloratadine and 3-hydroxydesloratadine at 25 pg/mL

Validation of the bioanalytical method for determination of desloratadine and 3-hydroxydesloratadine was conducted using ultra high pressure liquid chromatography (UPLC) in conjunction with mix mode solid phase extraction. The dynamic range of the assay was from 0.025 ng/mL to 10 ng/mL using 96-well solid phase extraction. On an UPLC system, the inter-run accuracy was better than 94.7% for desloratadine (n = 18) and 94.0% for 3-hydroxydesloratadine (n = 18). The between-run precision (%CV) ranged from 2.6% to 9.8% for desloratadine (n = 18) and 3.1% to 11.1% for 3-hydroxydesloratadine (n = 18). The limit of quantitation represented 0.478 pg and 0.525 pg of extracted material injected on-column for desloratadine and 3-hydroxydesloratadine, respectively. The total run time was slightly over 2 min per sample. The approach of orthogonal extraction/chromatography and UPLC significantly improves assay performance while also increasing sample throughput for drug development studies.     

Determination of seminal oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) as an easy and cost‐effective clinical marker of male infertility

Oxidative stress (OS) is an important contributing factor to male infertility. While previous methods to measure seminal OS are time‐consuming and limited to the use of freshly produced semen, oxidation reduction potential (ORP) is easier and quicker to perform and can also be used in frozen semen. Therefore, this study evaluated the clinical utility of ORP as a potential marker of male infertility. ORP was measured in semen samples from 293 patients and 15 fertile controls and categorised according to WHO criteria as normozoospermic, oligozoospermic, asthenozoospermic, teratozoospermic and oligoasthenoteratozoospermic. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to differentiate these categories. Semen parameters were significantly different when subjects were grouped as control and patients or between the patient and normozoospermic group for concentration and morphology. ORP levels were significantly different between the control and normozoospermic group. When subjects were grouped based on concentration, motility, morphology or a combination of these, the area under the ROC curve, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and cut‐off values were significantly different. These differences were significant when combined with ORP and grouped with any two sperm abnormalities. In conclusion, ORP is a quick, easy, cost‐effective and reliable marker of semen quality as well as oxidative stress for use in a clinical setting.     

Dependence of AV nodal function curves on the selected recovery index: pivotal role of pretest conduction time

Introduction: Rate-dependent AV nodal function is often assessed with premature protocols. Conduction curves generated from nodal responses differ with the selected recovery index (atrial-atrial, AA, or His-atrial interval, HA). We propose that these differences arise from changes in pretest conduction time that affect nodal recovery time assessment. Methods and Results: We varied the basic (S(1)S(1)), pretest (S(1)S(2)), and test (S(2)S(3)) cycle length with S(1)S(2)S(3) protocols, and analyzed nodal responses as AA (A(3)H(3) vs A(2)A(3)) and HA (A(3)H(3) vs H(2)A(3)) curves in six rabbit heart preparations. Any A(2)H(2) (pretest conduction time) prolongation bodily shifted AA curve rightward and HA curve leftward, regardless of prevailing basic cycle length. A prolonged A(2)H(2) caused all A(3)H(3) to occur at longer A(2)A(3) and shorter H(2)A(3,) as compared with control. When corrected for these shifts, AA and HA curves displayed similar recovery and fatigue properties. To further investigate the possibility that nodal recovery time varies beyond that imposed by pacing interval, six additional preparations were subjected to 5-minute frequency step protocols during which a long cycle was introduced after every 30th short cycle. After each long cycle, nodal conduction time increased progressively despite the constant short cycle length and fatigue level. Conclusions: Increases in the pretest conduction time play a pivotal role in apparent recovery-index-dependent differences in rate-dependent AV nodal function by shifting AA and HA curves in opposite directions along the x-axis. When corrected for pretest effects, AA and HA curves display similar rate-dependent AV nodal function with recovery and fatigue as main properties.