Two papers in the Journal this month examine factors that influence rates of suicide and suicidal behaviour, considering both individual and societal determinants. O’Reilly et al (pp. 106– 111) assessed the role of area-level factors in their 5-year followup study of the population in Northern Ireland. They found that suicide rates were higher in the more deprived areas of the country, as previ...

Limb bud (LB) and central nerve system (CNS) cells were prepared from 12.5 day old pregnant female Crj:CD (SD) rats and treated with olaquindox and vitamin A. Cytotoxicity and inhibition on differentiation were measured in each cell. Three doses of olaquindox (4, 21 and 100 mgkg) , and 0.2 and 75 mg/kg of vitamin A were administered to pregnant rat for 11 days from 6(th) to 16(th) of pregnancy....

Resolving community noise problems demands not just accurate data about noise impacts but also requires an effective means of communicating this information to decision makers. The Interactive Sound Information System (ISIS) is a “new media” package designed to explain and de-mystify the complex metrics used to describe noise impacts. Central to the ISIS package is the idea that “real” noise ex...

After 10 years of follow-up of a cohort of adolescents and young adults living in Munich, Tijssen et al (pp. 102–108) found that the persistence of affective symptoms earlier in life predicted later development of bipolar disorder in a dose–response fashion. They confirmed that although hypomanic symptoms are relatively common in adolescence, most resolve with time. In a Swedish national cohort...