Media Influence Over the Transformation of Stigma Toward Depression in Japan

in Japan, the number of depression patients has markedly increased over the last 10 years, and depression is now a major social concern. Moreover, there are concerns that patients with depression are not always seeking the treatment they need, in part due to the stigma associated with the illness. Despite of increasing public awareness of depression, the stigma has not lessened, but has changed in form. Previous studies report that depression which was once viewed as a special psychiatric illness is now viewed as a ＂common＂ mental illness. The author, too, believes that the nature of the stigmatization has changed in recent years to become more complex and ultimately continues to present a barrier to treatment for people with depression. This study aims to explore how the stigmatization has changed by examining one specific aspect in society that may have contributed to this change, namely, the media＇s portrayal of depression. The author presents and discusses clear examples of how the Japanese media＇s portrayals of depression have changed, particularly over the last 20 to 30 years, and discusses how media influence could have contributed to the shifts in stigmatization, with reference to labeling theory and growing social isolation.

Pyrolysis mechanism of glucose and mannose: The formation of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural and furfural

Fast pyrolysis of biomass will produce various furan derivatives, among which 5-hydroxymethyl furfural（5-HMF） and furfural（FF） are usually the two most important compounds derived from holocellulose. In this study, density functional theory（DFT） calculations are utilized to reveal the formation mechanisms and pathways of 5-HMF and FF from two hexose units of holocellulose, i.e., glucose and mannose. In addition, fast pyrolysis experiments of glucose and mannose are conducted to substantiate the computational results, and the orientation of 5-HMF and FF is determined by 13C-labeled glucoses. Experimental results indicate that C1 provides the aldehyde group in both 5-HMF and FF, and FF is mainly derived from C1 to C5 segment. According to the computational results, glucose and mannose have similar reaction pathways to form 5-HMF and FF with d-fructose（DF） and 3-deoxy-glucosone（3-DG） as the key intermediates. 5-HMF and FF are formed via competing pathways. The formation of 5-HMF is more competitive than that of FF, leading to higher yield of 5-HMF than FF from both hexoses. In addition, compared with glucose,mannose can form 5-HMF and FF via extra pathways because of the epimerization at C2 position. Therefore, mannose pyrolysis results in higher yields of 5-HMF and FF than glucose pyrolysis.