Information provision and retrieval by registered salespersons from consumers during over-the-counter drug sales - a questionnaire survey.

BACKGROUND: In Japan, non-pharmacists who are accredited as registered salespersons can sell over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, and they play a very important role in supporting proper OTC drug use by consumers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate information provided to and information collected from consumers, and cooperation with pharmacists during OTC drug sales by registered salespersons, and to clarify their related concerns and behaviors. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey of 385 registered salespersons working at 56 drugstores throughout Japan was conducted. Based on the questionnaire survey, the frequency of information provision/collection in various categories was determined for the registered salespersons. The relation between concerns of registered salespersons relating to OTC drug sales and the frequency of information provision/collection was examined. The frequency of consultation of registered salespersons with a pharmacist was calculated for registered salespersons with/without in-store pharmacists. The χ-square test or Fisher's exact test was performed to assess the significance of differences. RESULTS: Two hundred and seven registered salespersons (53.7%) responded completely. A greater number of OTC drug purchasers per day was associated with a greater frequency of information provision about "side effects" and information collection about "favorite items" (alcohol, tobacco, health foods, etc.) (p < 0.05). One hundred and thirty-nine (67.2%) participants had concerns about "interactions between OTC drugs and prescription drugs", and these concerns were related to the frequency of information provision/collection (p < 0.05). Regarding the frequency of consultation with a pharmacist, 35 of 46 participants (76.1%) working with pharmacists answered "always" or "usually", whereas only 19 of 161 participants (11.8%) working without full-time pharmacists answered "always" or "usually". More than half of the registered salespersons thought that cooperation with a pharmacist was necessary when they were "asked about concomitant use with prescription drugs" or "told that side effects happened." CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that experienced registered salespersons selling OTC drugs are more likely to collect information from consumers and to provide information to consumers. It appears to be important for registered salespersons to cooperate with pharmacists in order to provide and collect appropriate information about concomitant medications.

PCR-based INDEL markers co-dominant between Oryza sativa, japonica cultivars and closely-related wild Oryza species.

Wild relatives genetically close to cultivars are precious genetic resources for plant breeding. Oryza rufipogon, O. barthii, O. glumaepatula, O. meridionalis and O. longistaminata are such wild species, and are also categorized as AA genome species based on their structural similarities. Chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) are a powerful resource in breeding and genetics, and numerous rice CSSLs have been produced. This study aimed to develop DNA markers for evaluation of CSSLs directly by PCR and subsequent gel electrophoresis. We confirmed that up to 155 of 188 markers developed for detection of japonica-indica INDELs could also detect INDELs between rice cultivars and wild AA-species accessions. Percentages of applicable markers were higher in O. rufipogon accessions (61.7 to 85.6%), and lower in accessions of other four AA species (39.8 to 51.4%). These markers were distributed throughout the rice chromosomes, and will be useful for genotyping of CSSLs and other genetic resources derived from crosses between rice cultivars and closely related wild species.

Knock-in mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy caused by troponin mutation.

We created knock-in mice in which a deletion of 3 base pairs coding for K210 in cardiac troponin (cTn)T found in familial dilated cardiomyopathy patients was introduced into endogenous genes. Membrane-permeabilized cardiac muscle fibers from mutant mice showed significantly lower Ca(2+) sensitivity in force generation than those from wild-type mice. Peak amplitude of Ca(2+) transient in cardiomyocytes was increased in mutant mice, and maximum isometric force produced by intact cardiac muscle fibers of mutant mice was not significantly different from that of wild-type mice, suggesting that Ca(2+) transient was augmented to compensate for decreased myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity. Nevertheless, mutant mice developed marked cardiac enlargement, heart failure, and frequent sudden death recapitulating the phenotypes of dilated cardiomyopathy patients, indicating that global functional defect of the heart attributable to decreased myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity could not be fully compensated by only increasing the intracellular Ca(2+) transient. We found that a positive inotropic agent, pimobendan, which directly increases myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity, had profound effects of preventing cardiac enlargement, heart failure, and sudden death. These results verify the hypothesis that Ca(2+) desensitization of cardiac myofilament is the absolute cause of the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy associated with this mutation and strongly suggest that Ca(2+) sensitizers are beneficial for the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy patients affected by sarcomeric regulatory protein mutations.