Nursing students with special educational needs in Japan.

Aim: To reveal the prevalence of nursing students with special educational needs in Japan.

Method: A mail survey of 833 nursing programs was conducted. Nurse educators were asked to report on their program's profiles and the number of extremely difficult students who belonged to the March 2011 class of graduates.

Plasma biopterin levels and depressive state in pregnancy and the early puerperal period.

Plasma total biopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin levels of 14 normal pregnant and 15 normal puerperal women (within 1 week after delivery) were measured. In the first group, total biopterin levels were already increased (average: 18.2 pmol/ml) in the second trimester and remained high until the early puerperal period.