We investigated the anisotropic g tensors of nine kinds of organic semiconductor molecules in the cationic state by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Large anisotropy was obtained in sulfur-containing molecules because of the large spin-orbit coupling at the sulfur atoms. The calculated g values were validated by electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments for the cation radicals in solution.

We have investigated structural changes of amorphous borosilicon carbonitride materials with atomic ratios of B/Si/C of 2/3/6 and 4/3/6 calcined at several temperatures. The boron K-edge x-ray absorption spectra showed that the structures of both hexagonal boron nitride ([BN3] unit) with nitrogen-void defects ([BN2] and [BN1] units) and boron oxide existed in the samples, and the relative peak intensity due to the [BN3] unit became stronger by increasing the calcined temperature. It is thought that the well-developed B–N chain and the borosilicate glass coating lead to the high resistance to oxidation at high temperature. X-ray diffraction and infrared measurements followed the x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy findings.

Stability of Pd-Co-Ni-Cu-P metallic glass was investigated in terms of free energy using first principle cluster calculations, thermal analysis, and photoemission spectroscopy measurements. We found that the internal energy of the Pd-based metallic glasses is dominated by the electronic structure near the Fermi level. The analyses on the electronic structure and local atomic arrangements indicate that the substitution of cobalt or a hypothetical atom Co0.5Cu0.5 for nickel in the Pd40Ni40P20 metallic glass decreases the free energy of the Pd-Ni-P metallic glass by increasing entropy without altering significantly internal energy. On the basis of the idea mentioned above, we prepared Pd28Co24Ni24P24, Pd25Co25Ni25P25 and Pd40Co40/3Ni40/3Cu40/3P20 metallic glasses. These metallic glasses certainly showed the nearly highest TX, which directly reflect the activation energy against crystallization, among the Pd-based metallic glasses ever reported.

Where ill or frail older adults might reside is still too narrowly viewed, as if there are but two choices—home versus nursing home. But the choices are expanding, and, in the process, new treatment challenges and opportunities are emerging. This is especially the case from a psychogeriatric perspective.

Welcome to International Psychogeriatrics. It is with pride, excitement, and a sense of challenge that we launch this first issue of our new journal. Why this new journal? The impetus and the credit go to the field—specifically to the growing community of researchers, teachers, and clinicians around the globe who are interested in and contribute to psychogeriatric knowledge. This truly is the historic moment in the fields of gerontology and geriatrics, a period marked by the coming together of societal concern and scientific curiosity about issues of aging and the problems of the elderly. It is a moment not confined to any one nation, nor to any one continent; that is what makes it all the more important and exciting. It is in this context that this new journal, international in scope, is being launched.

We express our sincere gratitude to Barry Reisberg, M.D., and Gerald Oppenheim, M.B., B.S., F.R.A.N.Z.C.P., for their guest editorship in compiling a group of important papers on the clinical course of Alzheimer's disease, as well as the methodological implications of clinical changes in Alzheimer's disease for pharmacologic trials. The papers were presented initially at a special symposium of the IPA Fifth International Congress in Rome, Italy, August 18–23, 1991. This issue of International Psychogeriatrics is our second supplement within a year, derived from important presentations at IPA meetings and deemed worthy of dissemination to the wide IPA audience.

This issue of International Psychogeriatrics is the first in the last decade of this century. If progress in the field of psychogeriatrics during the 1980s is any indication, the 1990s should be all the more impressive. The 1980s witnessed a remarkable upsurge of psychogeriatric research and clinical interest in working with older patients. There was a geometric growth of scientific publications and a new infrastructure fostered by the growth and development of national and international professional societies emphasizing psychogeriatrics.

We are grateful to Nancy Miller, Zbigniew Lipowski, and Barry Lebowitz for their outstanding work as guest editors of this issue of International Psychogeriatrics. These papers were stimulated by a special meeting of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). They are authored by Americans and Canadians and are followed by discussions and critiques from experts in Europe, Australia, and Asia. This format is a novel one, but one which presents many exciting possibilities.

Research and practice amidst interesting dichotomies — such is the state of psychogeriatrics in the 1990s — a field that reflects interesting dichotomies, though often in a complementary manner. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a case in point. Discoveries at the molecular level and in understanding neurobiological phenomena in AD have generated enormous scientific excitement and public hope about potential breakthroughs; findings involving chromosome 14, the amyloid precursor protein, synaptic changes, the tau protein, and the like are increasing chances of cracking the mystery that surrounds the etiology of AD. Meanwhile, neither cause nor cure is known. However, it would be incorrect to say there is no treatment for AD. While there are no treatments that can reverse or stop the progression of the disorder, there are a number of interventions that can alleviate many of the behavioral symptoms that compound the course of the disorder. These behavioral problems contribute significantly to excess disability in AD; treating these behavioral symptoms can alleviate patient suffering, improve patient coping at that point in time, and reduce family burden. Hence, while research on the molecular biology of AD offers hope for tomorrow, attention to the manifest behavioral problems of the disorder contributes to improved management today (Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, 1988).

In this review article, we describe the historical background of gerontopsychiatry in Japan and elucidate research studies on dementia. To date, 19 relatively large-scale epidemiological investigations on dementia have been conducted in the community. These results suggest that approximately 4–5% of the population over age 65 has dementia. Multi-infarct dementia is more prevalent than the Alzheimer's type dementia. Three hypotheses for this finding are suggested. Finally, we propose a theoretical model correlating the relationship between degree of cognitive dysfunction and caregiver's stress.

The Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) has a score range of 0 to 100 and provides quantitative assessment on attention, concentration, orientation, short-term memory, long-term memory, language abilities, visual construction, list-generating fluency, abstraction, and judgment. Scores of the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Modified Mini-Mental State Test, and the Hasegawa Dementia Screening Scale can also be estimated from subsets of the CASI items. Pilot testing conducted in Japan and in the United States has demonstrated its cross-cultural applicability and its usefulness in screening for dementia, in monitoring disease progression, and in providing profiles of cognitive impairment. Typical administration time is 15 to 20 minutes. Record form, manual, videotape of test administration, and quizzes to qualify potential users on the administration and scoring of the CASI are available upon request.

The rapid growth of the field of psychogeriatrics, spurred on by aging populations, substantially increased funding, and growing interest by professionals, government, and society, has led, in turn, to a rapid growth of medical information. The management of this information poses a significant challenge to health care professionals and scientists. This rapid growth of knowledge has spawned a whole new field, “Medical Informatics.” This field concerns itself with the “cognitive, information processing, and communication tasks of medical practice, education and research, including the information science and the technology to support these tasks” (Greenes & Shortliffe, 1990).

Suicide rates for older people are increasing worldwide, thereby creating a major public health concern. There has been an absence of public policy and research interest in this area, although the needs are pressing and promise to be even more so.

Although scientific research is generally and appropriately initiated by individuals, there are limitations and inefficiencies inherent in studies done by individuals alone. Collaboration is the concept of our time. As an example, both the medical community and lay public recognize the urgent need for an effective antidementia drug. Sound clinical trials will require subjects sufficiently numerous for investigation, and a multicentered collaborative study approach, extending even to international collaborative clinical trials.

It is estimated that in the year 2020, approximately 25% of the Japanese population will be over 65 years of age. Moreover, suicide is a significant public health problem in Japan, where more than 6,000 elders take their lives each year. The authors compare late-life suicide in urban Kawasaki with suicide among the elderly in rural Higashikubiki over a 12-year period, from 1979 through 1990. The suicide rates in Kawasaki were lower than for Japanese elders as a whole, whereas those in rural Higashikubiki were extraordinarily high. The most frequent method used in both areas was hanging, and none of the victims died of gunshot wounds. In Higashikubiki, almost two thirds of victims lived in a three-generation family and none lived alone. The change of the family system from the traditional extended family to the nuclear family is accelerating, especially in rural areas. The authors suggest that the greatly elevated suicide rates among the elderly in Higashikubiki, and in rural regions of Japan more generally, result from these rapidly occurring changes in traditional social structure.

What a time it is for psychogeriatric research! This supplementary issue, drawing upon papers submitted for the 1991 IPA Research Awards in Psychogeriatrics, attests to the growth, vigor, and international reach of such studies. Also apparent are the depth and breadth of this field, as reflected in the papers published here— ranging in focus from dementia to depression, from biology to behavior, from cognition to culture. Especially exciting is the growing number of young investigators entering the field and contributing in an important way to the advancement of psychogeriatric knowledge.

Driving the growing interest in psychogeriatrics is its growing knowledge base. This knowledge base has been both product and impetus of an ever-expanding number of research studies. Moreover, psychogeriatric knowledge is catalyzing the proliferation of scientific journal articles and professional textbooks, as well as influencing significant changes in curricula and training programs. International Psychogeriatrics is itself a response to rapidly accruing knowledge in this area.

Increasing numbers of people in absolute terms, and even more so in relative terms, are reaching an age in which psychogeriatric illness, as well as geriatric illness, frequently is manifested. This unprecedented increase in average individual lifespan is due largely to advancement in life standards of the population as a whole, the enormous improvement in hygiene, and the progress made by preventive and curative medicine in controlling acute and fatal disease, in addition to advancements in available treatments of chronic disease in old people.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2004 in Savannah, Georgia, USA, August 1–5, 2004.

We are conducting a survey of the CO J=2-1 line emission in the southern Milky Way (the Tokyo-Onsala-ESO-Calán Galactic CO survey), using the 60-cm radio telescope (VST2) in La Silla, Chile. It is combined with the northern survey made with the identical telescope (VST1) at Nobeyama (e.g., Sakamoto et al. 1995), and is directly comparable with the Columbia survey of the CO J=1-0 emission (e.g., Dame et al. 1987).