Reducing the delay in initiation of treatment improved clinical outcomes in patients with imported malaria.

Although imported malaria poses a grave public health threat in Japan, diagnostic methods and disease management among patients and primary care providers has rarely been reported. Here, we retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients diagnosed with imported malaria in our hospital from 1991 to 2010. Thirty-four malaria cases were identified, corresponding to approximately 2% of the total number of cases in Japan. Falciparum malaria has become predominant in the last 2 decades, and compared with patients in the earlier decade (1991-2000), patients in the latter decade (2001-2010) showed significantly shorter delays in consulting medical facilities. The overall hospital delay also tended to be shorter in the latter decade, although delayed referral of patients by a week or more was still observed in more than one-third of the cases. The prevalence of risk factors for severe malaria among patients on the day of the referral visit was also lower in the latter decade. Further, the number of WHO-defined cases of severe malaria was smaller, and the length of the hospital stay was not prolonged during that decade. These findings indicated that a shorter delay in seeking medical treatment could reduce the risks of severe malaria.

Decrease in nasal temperature of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in negative emotional state.

We established an infrared thermographic system for the detection of emotion-related temperature changes in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). We continuously measured temperatures of various facial regions of four rhesus monkeys during the presentation of a potentially 'threatening' person, i.e., a person in a laboratory coat with a catching net, who entered the experimental room and approached the monkeys. The temperatures were also measured before and after the presentation of the 'stimulation period.' The temperature of the nasal region decreased significantly within 10-30 s, and continued to decrease throughout the stimulation period. During this period, the monkeys frequently expressed silent bared-teeth face, staring open-mouth face, and lip-smacking, all of which were expressions of a negative emotion. Assuming that the monkeys experience the negative emotion when viewing the potentially threatening stimulus, we conclude that the decrease in nasal skin temperature is relevant to the alteration of the emotional state. The present findings suggest that nasal temperature can be a reliable and accurate indicator of a change from neutral to negative in emotional state of non-human primates.

Effect of apolipoprotein E4 allele on plasma LDL cholesterol response to diet therapy in type 2 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of apolipoprotein (apo)E4 allele on plasma LDL cholesterol response to calorie-restricted diet therapy in type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Twenty-four diabetic patients with the apoE3/3 genotype and 11 diabetic patients with the apoE4/3 genotype were recruited. Participants were hospitalized for calorie-restricted diet therapy (25.0 kcal. kg body wt(-1). day(-1)) for 14 days. Body weight, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, and plasma lipid levels on hospital days 1 and 14 were compared between the two apoE genotype groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in baseline FPG levels, HbA(1c) levels, BMI, and plasma levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, and HDL cholesterol between the two apoE genotype groups, but baseline plasma levels of LDL cholesterol were significantly higher in the apoE4/3 group than in the apoE3/3 group. Body weight decreased slightly and FPG levels decreased significantly after diet therapy in both apoE genotype groups. In the apoE3/3 group, only plasma levels of triglyceride decreased significantly after diet therapy, whereas in the apoE4/3 group, plasma levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol decreased significantly after diet therapy. The decrease (percentage of change) in total cholesterol (-16.3 vs. -6.6%) and LDL cholesterol (-15.6 vs. -0.7%) after diet therapy was significantly greater in the apoE4/3 group than in the apoE3/3 group. CONCLUSIONS: Calorie-restricted diet therapy is more effective in reducing plasma LDL cholesterol in type 2 diabetic patients with the apoE4 allele.

Observing conspecifics scratching induces a contagion of scratching in Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata).

Although a large number of studies have examined self-directed behaviors (SDBs) such as scratching and self-grooming as nonverbal leakage of negative emotional arousal in humans, few studies have investigated the informative function of SDBs in nonhuman primates. The present study investigated whether viewing another monkey scratching itself elicited negative arousal from conspecific observers in Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata). An experimental situation was created in which the target monkey watched a stranger through a small peephole and the observer monkey(s) watched the target in turn. Scratching spread when conspecific observers watched the target scratching itself while performing monitoring behavior. The author proposes that the possible contagion of scratching by monkeys observing another's scratching may involve transmission of a psychological state, a primitive style of empathy.