Juvenile Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease in Which Good Visual Prognosis Was Derived from Swift and Definitive Diagnosis

We report an 8-year-old girl who manifested Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease. At the first visit, conjunctival hyperemia, inflammation in the anterior chamber, serous retinal detachment, and papillitis were observed in both eyes. Fluorescein angiography (FA) revealed bilateral subretinal fluid and papillitis. Ocular computed tomography (OCT) showed subretinal fluid and choroidal hypertrophy underneath macula in both eyes. Cerebrospinal fluid examination indicated aseptic meningitis. Systemic data did not suggest the other systemic diseases. Therefore, she was diagnosed with incomplete VKH disease. After corticosteroid pulse therapy, oral prednisolone was administered for seven months. Eighteen days after the induction of the treatments, inflammation in the anterior chamber and serous retinal detachment of both eyes disappeared completely. For seven months after the induction of the treatments, she had no relapses of any symptoms. Cerebrospinal fluid examination and FA for children are difficult to conduct, since it is difficult to get informed consent of these examinations from their parents. However, those thorough examinations enable us to make a swift and definitive diagnosis of VKH disease, thus assuring good visual prognosis. We have to bear in mind that juvenile VKH disease is very rare, yet when it occurs, ophthalmologic examinations help us diagnose and treat it

A comprehensive analysis of the correlations between resting-state oscillations in multiple-frequency bands and big five traits

Recently, the association between human personality traits and resting-state brain activity has gained interest in neuroimaging studies. However, it remains unclear if Big Five personality traits are represented in frequency bands (~0.25 Hz) of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity. Based on earlier neurophysiological studies, we investigated the correlation between the five personality traits assessed by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) at four distinct frequency bands (slow-5 (0.01–0.027 Hz), slow-4 (0.027–0.073 Hz), slow-3 (0.073–0.198 Hz) and slow-2 (0.198–0.25 Hz)). We enrolled 835 young subjects and calculated the correlations of resting-state fMRI signals using a multiple regression analysis. We found a significant and consistent correlation between fALFF and the personality trait of extraversion at all frequency bands. Furthermore, significant correlations were detected in distinct brain regions for each frequency band. This finding supports the frequency-specific spatial representations of personality traits as previously suggested. In conclusion, our data highlight an association between human personality traits and fALFF at four distinct frequency bands

Chemical effect on muonic atom formation through muon transfer reaction in benzene and cyclohexane samples

To investigate the chemical effect on the muon capture process through a muon transfer reaction from a muonic hydrogen atom, the formation rate of muonic carbon atoms is measured for benzene and cyclohexane molecules in liquid samples. The muon transfer rate to carbon atoms of the benzene molecule is higher than that to the carbon atoms of the cyclohexane molecule. Such a deviation has never been observed among those molecules for gas samples. This may be because the transfers occur from the excited states of muonic hydrogen atoms in the liquid system, whereas in the gas system, all the transfers occur from the 1s (ground) state of muon hydrogen atoms. The muonic hydrogen atoms in the excited states have a larger radius than those in the 1s state and are therefore considered to be affected by the steric hindrance of the molecular structure. This indicates that the excited states of muonic hydrogen atoms contribute significantly to the chemical effects on the muon transfer reaction