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Kazuhisa Yoshizawa,1 Masahiro Takeshima,2 Sayaka Ishino,3 Masaya Ogasawara,2 Dai Fujiwara,2 Yu Itoh,2 Aya Imanishi,2 Hidenobu Ohta,2 Kazuo Mishima2 1Department of Psychiatry, Akita Prefectural Center for Rehabilitation and Psychiatric Medicine, Daisen City, Akita, 019-2492, Japan; 2Department of Neuropsychiatry, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita City, Akita, 010-8543, Japan; 3Department of Neuropsychiatry, Sugawara Hospital, Yurihonjo City, Akita, 015-0012, JapanCorrespondence: Masahiro TakeshimaDepartment of Neuropsychiatry, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1, Hondo, Akita City, Akita, 010-8543, JapanTel +81-18-884-6122Fax +81-18-884-6445Email m.takeshima@med.akita-u.ac.jpPurpose: A major depressive episode is a risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in psychiatric inpatients. However, it is unclear whether the severity of depressive symptoms or duration of the current depressive episode is associated with VTE. Further, the VTE prevalence among hospitalized patients with a major depressive episode receiving electroconvulsive therapy is unknown. This retrospective study examined factors associated with VTE among hospitalized patients with a major depressive episode and estimated the prevalence of VTE in such patients who underwent electroconvulsive therapy.Patients and Methods: Patients with a major depressive episode hospitalized in the Department of Neuropsychiatry at Akita University Hospital between January 2018 and December 2020 were included. Data from the first week of hospitalization were extracted from medical records. VTE was diagnosed based on the findings of computed tomography. To evaluate whether the severity of depressive symptoms or duration of the current depressive episode was associated with VTE, logistic regression analysis was conducted after adjusting for covariates with known VTE risk factors (antidepressants, antipsychotics, and physical comorbidities).Results: We analyzed 133 patients; of these, 14 were diagnosed with asymptomatic VTE. The severity of depressive symptoms (odds ratio: 1.220, 95% confidence interval: 1.081– 1.377, p = 0.001) was significantly associated with VTE. The prevalence of VTE among those receiving electroconvulsive therapy was 35% (7/20).Conclusion: The prevalence of VTE was 35% among patients receiving in-hospital electroconvulsive therapy for a major depressive episode. VTE should be considered for hospitalized patients with severe depressive symptoms and patients receiving in-hospital electroconvulsive therapy for a major depressive episode.Keywords: bipolar depression, depressive symptoms, electroconvulsive therapy, unipolar depression, venous thromboembolism

Yasuaki Kanada, Ayami Katayama, Hideshi Ikemoto, Kana Takahashi, Mana Tsukada, Akio Nakamura, Shogo Ishino, Tadashi Hisamitsu, Masataka Sunagawa Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Showa University, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan Objectives: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder with symptoms of abnormal defecation and abdominal discomfort. Psychological factors are well known to be involved in onset and exacerbation of IBS. A few studies have reported effectiveness of traditional herbal (Kampo) medicines in IBS treatment. Yokukansan (YKS) has been shown to have anti-stress and anxiolytic effects. We investigated the effect of YKS on defecation induced by stress and involvement of oxytocin (OT), a peptide hormone produced by the hypothalamus, in order to elucidate the mechanism of YKS action. Methods and results: Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups; control, YKS (300 mg/kg PO)-treated non-stress (YKS), acute stress (Stress), and YKS (300 mg/kg PO)-treated acute stress (Stress+YKS) groups. Rats in the Stress and Stress+YKS groups were exposed to a 15-min psychological stress procedure involving novel environmental stress. Levels of plasma OT in the YKS group were significantly higher compared with those in the Control group (P < 0.05), and OT levels in the Stress+YKS group were remarkably higher than those in the other groups (P < 0.01). Next, rats were divided into four groups; Stress, Stress+YKS, Atosiban (OT receptor antagonist; 1 mg/kg IP)-treated Stress+YKS (Stress+YKS+B), and OT (0.04 mg/kg IP)-treated acute stress (Stress+OT) groups. Rats were exposed to acute stress as in the previous experiment, and defecation during the stress load was measured. Administration of YKS or OT significantly inhibited defecation; however, administration of Atosiban partially abolished the inhibitory effect of YKS. Finally, direct action of YKS on motility of isolated colon was assessed. YKS (1 mg/mL, 5 mg/mL) did not inhibit spontaneous contraction. Conclusion: These results suggested that YKS influences stress-induced defecation and that increased OT secretion may be a mechanism underlying this phenomenon. Keywords: Yokukansan, oxytocin, irritable bowel syndrome, acute stress, corticosterone, Kampo medicine

17O‐excess (Δ17O = δ17O − 0.52 × δ18O) of sulfate trapped in Antarctic ice cores has been proposed as a potential tool for assessing past oxidant chemistry, while insufficient understanding of atmospheric sulfate formation around Antarctica hampers its interpretation. To probe influences of regional specific chemistry, we compared year‐round observations of Δ17O of non‐sea‐salt sulfate in aerosols (Δ17O(SO42−)nss) at Dome C and Dumont d'Urville, inland and coastal sites in East Antarctica, throughout the year 2011. Although Δ17O(SO42−)nss at both sites showed consistent seasonality with summer minima (∼1.0‰) and winter maxima (∼2.5‰) owing to sunlight‐driven changes in the relative importance of O3 oxidation to OH and H2O2 oxidation, significant intersite differences were observed in austral spring–summer and autumn. The cooccurrence of higher Δ17O(SO42−)nss at inland (2.0‰ ± 0.1‰) than the coastal site (1.2‰ ± 0.1‰) and chemical destruction of methanesulfonate (MS–) in aerosols at inland during spring–summer (October–December), combined with the first estimated Δ17O(MS–) of ∼16‰, implies that MS– destruction produces sulfate with high Δ17O(SO42−)nss of ∼12‰. If contributing to the known postdepositional decrease of MS– in snow, this process should also cause a significant postdepositional increase in Δ17O(SO42−)nss over 1‰, that can reconcile the discrepancy between Δ17O(SO42−)nss in the atmosphere and ice. The higher Δ17O(SO42−)nss at the coastal site than inland during autumn (March–May) may be associated with oxidation process involving reactive bromine and/or sea‐salt particles around the coastal region. Plain Language Summary: It has been proposed that the past variations of atmospheric oxidants (e.g., ozone) might be estimated using 17O‐excess, a unique isotopic signature, of sulfate trapped in polar ice cores. However, chemical processes altering 17O‐excess of sulfate in the atmosphere and also in snow after deposition have not been fully understood, limiting the practicality of the signature. We investigated regional differences in 17O‐excess of sulfate in aerosol particles at inland and coastal sites in East Antarctica. Our results suggest that the chemical destruction of atmospheric methanesulfonate, the second abundant sulfur compound in Antarctic aerosols, produces sulfate with significantly high 17O‐excess signature at inland Antarctica. If also occurring in snow, this process can explain the existing gap of the signature between the atmosphere and ice. These results should be taken into account through future studies investigating the past atmospheric compositions using this signature in ice cores. Key Points: Regional characteristics of atmospheric sulfate formation were probed by 17O‐excess (Δ17O) of sulfate at inland and coastal East AntarcticaSpecifically, high Δ17O in spring–summer at inland suggests that chemical destruction of methanesulfonate (MS–) on the Antarctic Plateau produces sulfateExisting gap between Δ17O of sulfate in the atmosphere and ice can be reconciled by MS– destruction in snow [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report electrical current switching of noncollinear antiferromagnetic (AFM) Mn3GaN/Pt bilayers at room temperature. The Hall resistance of these bilayers can be manipulated by applying a pulse current of 1.5 × 106 A/cm2, whereas no significant change is observed up to ∼108 A/cm2 in Mn3GaN single films, indicating that the Pt layer plays an important role. In comparison with ferrimagnetic Mn3GaN/Pt bilayers, a lower electrical current switching of noncollinear AFM Mn3GaN is demonstrated, with a critical current density two orders of magnitude smaller. Our results highlight that a combination of a noncollinear AFM antiperovskite nitride and a spin-torque technique is a good platform for AFM spintronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite widespread applications of sulfur isotope mass-independent fractionation (MIF) signals for probing terrestrial and extra-terrestrial environments, there has been no international sulfur isotope reference material available for normalization of Δ33S and Δ36S data. International reference materials to anchor isotope values are useful for interlaboratory data comparisons and are needed to evaluate, e.g., whether issues exist associated with blanks and mass spectrometry when using different analytical approaches. We synthesized two sodium sulfate samples enriched in 33S with different magnitudes, and termed them S-MIF-1 and S-MIF-2, respectively. The sulfur isotopic compositions of these two samples were measured in five different laboratories using two distinct techniques to place them on the V-CDT scale for δ34S and a provisional V-CDT scale for Δ33S and Δ36S. We obtained average δ34S values of S-MIF-1 = 10.26 ± 0.22‰ and S-MIF-2 = 21.53 ± 0.26‰ (1σ, versus V-CDT). The average Δ33S and Δ36S values of S-MIF-1 were determined to be 9.54 ± 0.09‰ and −0.11 ± 0.25‰, respectively, while the average Δ33S and Δ36S values of S-MIF-2 are 11.39 ± 0.08‰ and −0.33 ± 0.13‰ (1σ, versus V-CDT). The lack of variation among the interlaboratory isotopic values suggests sufficient homogeneity of S-MIF-1 and S-MIF-2, especially for Δ33S. Although additional measurements may be needed to ensure the accuracy of the isotopic compositions of S-MIF-1 and S-MIF-2, they can serve as working standards for routine Δ33S analysis to improve data consistency, and have the potential to serve as secondary sulfur isotope reference materials to address issues such as scale contraction/expansion and for normalization and reporting of Δ33S and Δ36S between laboratories. For the same reasons as listed for sulfur isotopes, the same standards were also artificially enriched in 17O. The calibration is still in progress but first estimations gave Δ17O = 3.3 ± 0.3‰ with unassigned δ18O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]