Characteristics of Early-Onset Dementia in Chiba Prefecture, Japan: A Multicenter Survey.

Introduction: Early-onset dementia (EOD), defined as dementia onset before the age of 65 years, is relatively rare, but its social impacts are significant. This study aimed to characterize the diagnosis and clinical and social status of EOD subjects in the 11 dementia centers in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Methods: A retrospective 1-year survey was conducted.

Modification of ligands for serum albumin on polyethyleneimine to stabilize polyplexes in gene delivery.

In this work, we have developed a new technique to stabilize a ternary complex composed of plasmid DNA, a linear polyethyleneimine (LPEI) and serum albumin. A stearoyl group was conjugated to LPEI as a specific ligand for serum albumin. The resultant ternary complex has excellent stability in physiological saline conditions, maintaining its initial diameter and preventing aggregation of red blood cells.

[Deceased Schizophrenic Patients--Focus on QT Prolongation].

We retrospectively evaluated factors affecting the lifespan of schizophrenic patients, who are known to have a shorter life expectancy than healthy people, focusing on the relationship with QT prolongation associated with antipsychotics. In a total of 406 patients who died at Asai Hospital the mean age at death was compared between schizophrenic patients and nonpsychiatric patients. In deceased schizophrenic patients, drug-related factors, hematology results, and electrocardiographic findings for 3 years before death were compared with those for the same period in age-matched surviving schizophrenic patients.

Ten year progressive ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia: an MRI morphometrical study.

Recent studies of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have suggested progressive structural changes in schizophrenics. However, those studies were conducted over periods of less than 5 years and thus lacked sufficient capacity to determine the course and nature of this process. In this study, MRI scans were obtained in 15 schizophrenics and 12 controls at baseline and after 4- and 10-year follow ups.