Glial Markers of Suicidal Behavior in the Human Brain-A Systematic Review of Postmortem Studies.

Suicide is a major public health priority, and its molecular mechanisms appear to be related to glial abnormalities and specific transcriptional changes. This study aimed to identify and synthesize evidence of the relationship between glial dysfunction and suicidal behavior to understand the neurobiology of suicide. As of 26 January 2024, 46 articles that met the inclusion criteria were identified by searching PubMed and ISI Web of Science. Most postmortem studies, including 30 brain regions, have determined no density or number of total Nissl-glial cell changes in suicidal patients with major psychiatric disorders. There were 17 astrocytic, 14 microglial, and 9 oligodendroglial studies using specific markers of each glial cell and further on their specific gene expression. Those studies suggest that astrocytic and oligodendroglial cells lost but activated microglia in suicides with affective disorder, bipolar disorders, major depression disorders, or schizophrenia in comparison with non-suicided patients and non-psychiatric controls. Although the data from previous studies remain complex and cannot fully explain the effects of glial cell dysfunction related to suicidal behaviors, they provide risk directions potentially leading to suicide prevention.

The role of perspective-taking in suppressing stereotypes about mathematics.

OBJECTIVE: When people attempt to suppress stereotypes, they often end up making stereotypical judgments. The adverse effects of this form of suppression are called "paradoxical effects." This study examined the effect of perspective-taking as a strategy to reduce the paradoxical effects related to stereotype suppression. Specifically, this study addressed stereotypes within the context of women's mathematical abilities, with Japanese university students as participants. It was predicted that when participants suppressed the stereotype of a woman, those who engaged in perspective-taking toward that woman would make less stereotypical judgments of other women, compared with those who did not. Moreover, as this study focuses on gender stereotypes, an exploratory analysis was conducted to investigate whether the effects of engaging in perspective-taking about women vary depending on the participants' gender. RESULTS: Although no significant effect was observed and the hypothesis was not supported, and while the results of this study were statistically inadequate, they suggest that among the female participants, those who did not engage in perspective-taking showed the paradoxical effects of stereotype suppression. However, those paradoxical effects were not observed among those who performed perspective-taking.

Accuracy and Correlation of the Kinect-Based Semi-Automatic Scoring Method for Measuring Anomalous Head Posture as Compared to the CROM® Device.

Objective: To determine the reliability of the Kinect-based semi-automatic scoring method (KSSM) using Kinect for Windows v2 for head posture compared to the cervical range-of-motion (CROM) device. Methods and Analysis: Head positions between -40° and +40° of chin up/down (X), head turn (Y), and lateral tilt (Z) were measured in 10° increments in healthy volunteers. Their head positions were simultaneously measured using the KSSM and CROM. The following four points were analyzed: the success rate of the KSSM, the correlation between the two methods, the comparison of results by 95% limits of agreement (LA), and proportional error at 95% LA. Results: The measurability of the KSSM for all positions within ±30° of the X, Y, and Z axes was 100%. The correlations for both methods were 0.979 (95% CI: 0.967-0.987), 0.985 (0.976-0.991), and 0.988 (0.981-0.993) for the X-, Y-, and Z-axes, respectively. The simple linear regression analysis equations for 95% LA were Y=-0.024X-0.452 for X axes, Y=0.024X-0.363 for Y axes, and Y=-0.045X+0.217 for Z axes (95% confidence interval for each axis: -0.055-0.007, -0.006-0.050, and -0.071-0.018). However, the proportional biases were small because the predictive values of the differences in head positions from -40° to 40° determined by the equations were within ± 5° for chin up/down and within ± 3° for head tilt. Conclusion: Head posture measurements using the KSSM and CROM were found to be similar when used in clinical settings.

Psychogenic fever and postural tachycardia syndrome among school-aged children and adolescents with fever of unknown origin.

BACKGROUND: Although fever is a common symptom in pediatric practice, its origin is often unknown in pediatric patients. Psychogenic fever is a stress-related, psychosomatic disease observed especially in young women. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of psychogenic fever in pediatric patients with fever of unknown origin by surveying the medical records of school-aged children and adolescents. METHODS: The study subjects included 47 patients aged 6-15 years who visited the Department of Pediatrics in Kansai Medical University Medical Center between January 2006 and December 2020 with fever of unknown origin. Data on age, sex, final estimated diagnosis, and comorbid psychosocial issues were collected from the medical records. RESULTS: The study was composed of 47 patients, including 22 male and 25 female patients (male/female ratio, 1:1.36). The mean age was 10.1 (standard deviation, 2.4) years for boys and 11.6 (standard deviation, 2.7) years for girls (p = .047). The final estimated diagnoses were psychogenic fever, physical disorder, infection of unknown origin, and miscellaneous in 18, 12, 12, and 5 patients, respectively. The most common comorbidity in these pediatric patients with psychogenic fever was postural tachycardia syndrome. CONCLUSION: Psychogenic fever was a common cause of fever of unknown origin in pediatric patients, and postural tachycardia was prevalent among children with psychogenic fever. Enhanced sympathetic response to stress might play an important role in both psychogenic fever and postural tachycardia.

Evaluation of Axial Length Measurement Using Enhanced Retina Visualization Mode of the Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Biometer in Dense Cataract.

INTRODUCTION: It has been reported that even using the swept-source (SS) optical coherence biometer, it is challenging to measure the axial length (AL) in cases with advanced cataracts. The enhanced retina visualization (ERV) mode, which is equipped with OCTB1 (ARGOS), shifts the peak of measurement sensitivity to the retinal side so that the AL can be measured even if the light energy is attenuated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy and efficacy of the ERV mode in measuring the AL of dense cataracts. METHODS: This was a single-center retrospective observational case series conducted in Japan. We included 213 eyes of 213 consecutive patients with advanced cataracts who underwent preoperative evaluation. The AL was measured before and after surgery using two SS optical coherence tomography biometers (OCTB1 and OCTB2; IOLMaster 700). Cases in which OCTB1 the standard mode failed to measure AL, OCTB1 with the ERV mode was used instead. Primary outcome measures were the acquisition rate and the AL measurement accuracy using the ERV mode. The χ2 test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to compare the acquisition rate and differences between pre- and postoperative AL values, respectively. In the ERV subgroup, Bland-Altman plots were used to compare the pre- and postoperative AL values measured using OCTB1-ERV mode. A p-value of less than 5% was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The AL acquisition rate was not significantly different between OCTB1 with the standard mode and OCTB2. The AL of 65 eyes (30.5%) could not be measured using OCTB1 with the standard mode. Conversely, the AL of 51 of these eyes (78.5%) was successfully measured using OCTB1 with the ERV mode. In these 51 eyes, a difference of ≤0.2 mm and of ≤0.1 mm between pre- and postoperative AL measurements was observed in 40 (78.4%) and 30 eyes (58.8%), respectively. The Bland-Altman plot found no systematic error between pre- and postoperative AL values measured using the ERV mode. CONCLUSION: In patients with dense cataracts, AL measurement using the standard mode of an SS-OCT biometer is challenging. Furthermore, the ERV mode could be promising for AL measurement in such cases.

Clinical Evaluation of a New Swept-Source Optical Coherence Biometer That Uses Individual Refractive Indices to Measure Axial Length in Cataract Patients.

BACKGROUNDS: Although the OCT biometer using individual refractive index is available, comparisons of measurement value and intraocular lens (IOL) power calculation error with other SS-OCT biometers are not known. OBJECTIVES: To compare the new SS-OCT biometer ARGOS (OCTB1), which uses individual refractive indices to measure axial length, with the IOLMaster 700 (OCTB2) and OA-2000 (OLCR), which use equivalent refractive index. METHOD: Six hundred and twenty-two eyes of 622 patients who had been diagnosed with cataract were enrolled in the study. Among the 158 eyes that had undergone cataract surgery, the postoperative refractive error was evaluated using the Haigis formula. RESULTS: The axial length measured by the OCTB1 showed a proportional bias in comparison with the other two biometers and a fixed bias in eyes with an axial length ≥26 mm. No significant difference was found in the median absolute refractive prediction error (p = 0.3278). However, in eyes with an axial length ≥26 mm, the OCTB1 showed myopic error compared with the other two biometers (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In eyes with long axial length, when the conventional IOL calculation was optimized with the equivalent refractive index-based instrument, we need to consider that IOL calculation using OCTB1 tends to cause slightly myopic refractive prediction error.

Impact of the anterior-posterior corneal radius ratio on intraocular lens power calculation errors.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the distribution of the anterior-posterior corneal radius ratio (AP ratio; anterior corneal radius/posterior corneal radius) in patients before cataract surgery, and investigate which parameters can affect this ratio. We also investigated the impact of the AP ratio on the intraocular lens (IOL) power calculation error in cataract surgery. METHOD: A total of 501 eyes of 501 consecutive patients who had no history of corneal diseases and had undergone cataract surgery were enrolled in this study. The patients' AP ratio was measured before surgery using anterior segment optical coherence tomography; using these data, we evaluated the correlation between the AP ratio and various parameters that can affect the corneal radius. For subgroup analyses, we investigated the correlation between the AP ratio and IOL power calculation error in 181 eyes of 181 patients. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed with the IOL power calculation errors of the SRK/T, Haigis, Holladay 1, and Hoffer Q formulas as the dependent variables and various parameters that can affect the postoperative IOL power calculation error as the independent variables. RESULTS: The mean AP ratio was 1.19±0.02, and it weakly correlated with corneal thickness, horizontal corneal diameter, and posterior corneal radius. The correlations between the AP ratio and IOL power calculation errors in the 4 calculation formulas were not statistically significant. Stepwise multiple regression analysis could not detect any significant parameters affecting this ratio. CONCLUSION: The AP ratio has no major influence on IOL power calculation error in patients with any history of corneal disease.

[Motivation for change and recidivism among prison inmates for drug-related offences].

Programs for improving motivation to recover drug dependence were conducted in penal institutes in Japan. This study examined the effects of these programs, in order to increase their efficacy. Furthermore, relationship between increased motivation and prevention of recidivism was examined. The following programs had been conducted in penal institutions: (1) speed learning program using audio-visual aids, (2) meeting program (meet a experienced person in recover), in cooperation with DARC (Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Center), and (3) relapse prevention program. Participants were female inmates (N = 94) that had taken part in one of the programs. In order to examine the relationship between motivation for change and recidivism, the motivation for change score was assessed before and after the treatment program. Furthermore, a followed-up was conducted to assess recidivism after release. Results indicated that all the programs resulted in improvements in motivation for change. However, motivation for change resulting from none of the programs had any significant effect on recidivism. The objectives of the treatment programs were reached as expected, since motivation for change improved after the treatment However, it is suggested that to prevent recidivism, more effective treatment methods for improving motivation to change are required.

[Relationship between recidivism and self-efficacy among inmates of drug-related offences].

UNLABELLED: Aims. Treatment programme for drug-related offenders in Japanese prisons is aimed at acquiring coping skills for preventing recidivism and improving self-efficacy for preventing recidivism. In this study, we examined if improvement of self-efficacy actually contributes to the prevention of recidivism. Methods. In order to measure the relationship between recidivism and self-efficacy, we examined the degree of self-efficacy at the beginning and end of the programme, and we monitored 144 females upon their release from prison. The women were all incarcerated for drug-related offences and had been participated in the self-efficacy programme. Results. In this study, we obtained the following results: 1) Change in self-efficacy through the programme was not statistically significant; 2) The recidivism rate of inmates with high self-efficacy at the end of the program was low; 3) The amount of change in self-efficacy through the programme did not affect the recidivism rate. CONCLUSION: Enhancing self-efficacy through the programme is effective in preventing recidivism. It is necessary to improve the programme.