National Office for Suicide Prevention annual report 2010

International research informs us that any economic downturn leads to an increase in suicides. In one recent article in the Lancet it was stated that a 1.0% increase in unemployment led to 0.7% increase in suicides. Such analysis is startling and in Ireland more than relevant as our suicide numbers rose dramatically in 2009 and 2010. Provisional figures for 2009 indicated a record number of 527 recorded suicides and even though there was a slight fall in 2010 the figure remains unacceptably high. It is likely that when the year of occurrence figures for these years are published the numbers will be even higher This year we have included a section in Chapter 5 on the year on year difference between ‘provisional’ (year of registration) data and ‘official’ (year of occurrence) data which highlights the reason why these two data sets cannot be directly compared. We also acknowledge that some undetermined deaths can also be classified as suicides. Ongoing analysis of this data is therefore important. What is particularly worrying and perhaps not unexpected is the rise in suicides in the middle age groups, both men and women. Such a dramatic increase can largely be attributed to the fracturing and resulting stress and pressure on individuals which has occurred in our society due to the economic downturn.   .

Anti-Signal Recognition Particle Myopathy in a Geriatric Patient

Anti-signal recognition particle (SRP) myopathy is a rare idiopathic inflammatory myositis that usually affects middle-age women, and is characterized by rapidly progressive proximal and symmetrical muscle weakness, elevated creatine kinase levels, severe necrotizing immune-mediated myopathy, presence of anti-SRP autoantibodies and poor response to steroid therapy. We report a geriatric case of a previously independent patient, presenting with slow onset of proximal paraparesis, myalgia and severe gait impairment. The patient was treated with steroid and azathioprine, with laboratory and pain response but modest muscle strength improvement. The clinical presentation of this unusual patient was atypical, which hampered the correct diagnosis.

Manos manchadas de sangre: los orígenes cristianos del mito antijudío del crimen ritual

La acusación antijudía del crimen o asesinato ritual gozó de una enorme popularidad en la Edad Media. A mediados del siglo XII, surgió de forma “espontánea” en diferentes lugares de la Europa medieval y dio lugar a infinidad de variantes. Su versión definitiva fue la del asesinato, preferentemente por crucifixión, de un niño cristiano a manos de los judíos con el fin de incorporar su sangre al pan ázimo. Sin embargo, su origen más remoto debe buscarse en la Antigüedad. De hecho, su más incipiente desarrollo puede encontrarse ya a comienzos del siglo V en el historiador cristiano Sócrates (Hist. Eccl., VII, 16), quien cuenta que hacia el año 415, en Inmestar (Siria), con motivo de las celebraciones de la fiesta de Purim, los judíos, embriagados por el vino, amarraron a un niño cristiano a una cruz y lo asesinaron. El relato de este hecho monstruoso plantea algunas dudas acerca de lo acontecido. Seguramente la historia sea falsa y se sitúe en el contexto de una ley del Codex Theodosianus del año 408 (XVI, 8, 18) que prohibía insultar a la Cruz durante la celebración de dicha festividad judía.

La influencia de un programa de actividad física sobre parámetros corporales y cardiovasculares en mujeres premenopáusicas

Durante el ciclo de la vida, la figura corporal de la mujer se modifica paulatinamente, pero al llegar la edad mediana, a consecuencia de la pérdida folicular de la función ovárica entre otros factores, se acentúan los cambios fisiológicos que pueden aumentar el riesgo para la salud y el bienestar. La androgenia, en asociación con la obesidad, aumenta el riesgo de padecer diabetes, hipertensión, dislipidemia, arterosclerosis, enfermedades cardiovasculares, colelitiasis, artrosis, artritis, carcinomas femeninos y otras patologías de la edad mediana. El ejercicio físico ha adquirido cada vez mayor importancia dentro de la terapéutica en el climaterio. Se han demostrado los efectos positivos del ejercicio sobre las enfermedades cardiovasculares y el mantenimiento del peso. Por todo ello, el estudio pretende conocer la influencia de un programa de actividad física de cinco meses de duración sobre factores de riesgo cardiovasculares como la hipertensión arterial y la composición corporal en mujeres premenopáusicas. Participaron 20 mujeres premenopáusicas, separadas en dos grupos de mujeres: menores de 35 años (n=10), y mayores de 35 años (n=10). Las valoraciones previas y al finalizar el programa fueron: valoración de la tensión arterial y de la composición corporal. Los resultados mostraron una reducción significativa en mayor medida en la tensión arterial diastólica y en la masa grasa en el grupo de mujeres mayores de 35 años premenopáusicas. Por ello, practicar un programa de ejercicio físico basado en el aeróbic, clases de step y tonificación con mancuernas, mejora factores de riesgo cardiovasculares como la hipertensión arterial y la composición corporal en mujeres adultas mayores de 35 años premenopáusicas.

From Landscape to Garden-with Wildflowers Meadows

Since the middle age wildflower meadows are used to bring the flowers from the natural and rural areas into urban landscapes. Wildflowers meadows can improve the quality of Green Infrastructures as they increase biodiversity. However, after a few centuries of given flowers a principal part, lawns started to be used in every kind of places leading to a green obsession. Nowadays, urban lawns are cover more than 70% of urban green spaces all over the world. Frequently design options aren’t environmental or economical friendly, and lawns are this example. Lawns are green deserts with low biodiversity, and unsustainable. Wildflower meadows are an alternative to lawns, more sustainable, less resources consumer and much more biodiverse. In the regions with a Mediterranean climate water is a limit factor, especial in summer.

Perceptions of younger, middle-aged, and older adults in Australia and Japan: Stereotypes and age group vitality

This study investigated the perceptions of young adults in Japan and Australia about their own age group, as well as middle-aged and older adults. Using a self-administered questionnaire, 155 Japanese and 171 Australian students rated people in the three age groups on traits of personal vitality and benevolence, and also rated their age group vitalities. Results indicated that Australians perceived both middle-aged and older adults in more positive terms than did Japanese and also perceived the vitality of these age groups as higher. On the other hand, both Japanese and Australian young people judged the vitality of their own group as lower than that of middle-aged adults. These results suggest that norms of filial piety, especially its respect dimension, in Japan may be eroding, whereas older Australians may be gaining in social stature.

A synchronous, middle early Aptian age for the demise of the Helvetic Urgonian platform related to the unfolding oceanic anoxic event 1a ("Selli event")

Un âge synchrone (partie moyenne de l'Aptien inférieur) de l'ennoiement de la plate-forme Urgonienne helvétique en relation avec l'événement océanique anoxique 1a ("événement Selli"). - La fin de la plate-forme urgonienne, calibrée par analyse des isotopes stables du carbone sur roche totale et par biostratigraphie basée sur les ammonites, est datée du milieu de l'Aptien inférieur (Près de la limite des zones weissi et deshayesi). Cet arrêt, synchrone dans des coupes représentatives du domaine helvétique alpin, est un événement environemental majeur renregistré en France, en Espagne, au Protugal, en Oman, au Mexique et dans le domaine Pacifique. En tenant compte des limites de résolution de la biostatrigraphie et des autres techniques de datation, cet épisode semble également être synchrone à l'échelle globale. Pour beaucoup d'auteurs, la disparition de récifs de coraux et de rudistes corrélée à la fin de la sédimentation urgonienne correspond à la mise en place de conditions anoxiques à l'Aptien inférieur. Celles-ci caractérisent un événement d'importance global: l'événement anoxique OAE 1a.

Prevalence of sleep apnoea syndrome in the middle to old age general population.

On the basis of a large populationbased sample who underwent full polysomnography at home (HypnoLaus cohort), we recently reported that 49·7% of men and 23·4% of women aged 40 years or older had an apnoea-hypopnoea index of 15 events per h or more1 according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) 2013 scoring criteria. When excessive daytime sleepiness (ie, Epworth score >10 [maximum score 24]) was included in the definition with an apnoea-hypopnoea index of 5 events per h or more, the prevalence was 12·5% in men and 5·9% in women. This high prevalence of sleep disordered breathing reinforced the idea that the treatment decision should not only be based the apnoeahypopnoea index, but should also take into account associated symptoms and cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities. After this Article was published, several readers contacted us to ask for the prevalence of sleep apnoea syndrome in our sample according to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-3) criteria. These criteria include either the presence of an apnoea-hypopnoea index of 5 events per h or more associated with obstructive sleep apnoearelated symptoms or cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities, or an apnoea-hypopnoea index of 15 events per h or more (figure).

Water management in Minoan Crete, Greece: the two cisterns of one Middle Bronze Age settlement

The two earliest structures of Minoan Crete that may be considered as large cisterns were both built in the first half of the second millennium BC (the time of the first Minoan palaces) at Myrtos-Pyrgos (lerapetra). A considerable feat of engineering and social management, they remain a most unusual attribute of a Minoan settlement, all the more so since the Myrtos river is/was available to supply water at the foot of the hill of Pyrgos. This paper presents these cisterns, briefly, in terms of geology and technology, the history of their use and re-use, and their relevance to understanding the culture and society (at local and regional levels) of Crete in the time of the Old Palaces, as well as their possible contribution to the political and military history of the period. I then review possible precursors of, and architectural parallels to, the Pyrgos cisterns at Knossos, Malia and Phaistos (none of which has been proved to be a cistern), and the later history of cisterns in Bronze Age Crete. Since only three others are known (at Archanes, Zakro and Tylissos, of Late Bronze Age date), the two cisterns of Myrtos-Pyrgos are an important addition to our still rudimentary knowledge of how the Bronze Age Cretans managed their water supplies.

OSL and TL dating of the Middle Stone Age sequence at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa): a clarification

Diepkloof Rock Shelter offers an exceptional opportunity to study the onset and evolution of both Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP) techno-complexes. However, previous age estimates based on luminescence dating of burnt quartzites (Tribolo et al., 2009) and of sediments (Jacobs et al., 2008) were not in agreement. Here, we present new luminescence ages for 17 rock samples (equivalent dose estimated with a SAR-ITL protocol instead of classical MAAD-TL) as well as for 5 sediment samples (equivalent dose estimated with SAR-single grain OSL protocol) and an update of the 22 previous age estimates for burnt lithics (modified calibration and beta dose estimates). While a good agreement between the rock and sediment ages is obtained, these estimates are still significantly older than those reported by Jacobs et al. (2008). After our own analyses of the sediment from Diepkloof, it is suspected that these authors did not correctly chose the parameters for the equivalent dose determination, leading to an underestimate of the equivalent doses, and thus of the ages. From bottom to top, the mean ages are 100 ± 10 ka for stratigraphic unit (SU) Noël and 107 ± 11 ka for SU Mark (uncharacterized Lower MSA), 100 ± 10 ka for SU Lynn-Leo (Pre-SB type Lynn), 109 ± 10 ka for SUs Kim-Larry (SB), 105 ± 10 ka for SUs Kerry-Kate and 109 ± 10 ka for SU Jess (Early HP), 89 ± 8 ka for SU Jude (MSA type Jack), 77 ± 8 ka for SU John, 85 ± 9 ka for SU Fox, 83 ± 8 ka for SU Fred and 65 ± 8 ka for SU OB5 (Intermediate HP), 52 ± 5 ka for SUs OB2-4 (Late HP). This chronology, together with the technological analyses, greatly modifies the current chrono-cultural model regarding the SB and the HP and has important archaeological implications. Indeed, SB and HP no longer appear as short-lived techno-complexes with synchronous appearances for each and restricted to Oxygen Isotopic Stage (OIS) 4 across South Africa, as suggested by Jacobs et al. (2008, 2012). Rather, the sequence of Diepkloof supports a long chronology model with an early appearance of both SB and HP in the first half of OIS 5 and a long duration of the HP into OIS 3. These new dates imply that different technological traditions coexisted during OIS 5 and 4 in southern Africa and that SB and HP can no longer be considered as horizon markers.