The effect of depressive mood on face recognition in non-clinical individuals

This research investigated whether depressive subjects in non-clinical groups can recognize accurately facial stimuli displaying different intensities of sadness (3 levels), happiness (4 levels) and angriness (4 levels) compared to non-depressive subjects, and whether depressive subjects in non-clinical groups show attentional biases to recognize the weak intensities of sad facial stimuli as sad faces compared to non-depressive subjects. Undergraduate female students were screened by BDI, and divided into two (high-depressive and low-depressive) groups. The measures were response ratio and response latency. The results of this experiment were as follows: 1) In the recognition of happy and angry faces, depressive subjects did not differ from non-depressive-subjects, and could recognize accurately expression on female faces in proportion to the intensities of expression, and judged subtly expressive male faces as happy or angry. 2) In the recognition of sad faces, depressive subjects could recognize accurately expression on female faces in proportion to the intensities of expression, but judged subtle expressive male faces as sad much more than non-depressive subjects. 3) Irrespective of depressive tendency, female subjects recognized accurately expression on female faces in proportion to the intensities of expression, but judged subtly expressive male faces as happy，angry or sad. The result suggests that depressive subjects in non-clinical group do not show significant evidence of attentional biases for facial stimuli displaying different intensities of expression.本研究では、怒り、喜び、悲しみの顔刺激の表出強度を数段階にした写真刺激を用いて、非臨床群をBDIによりスクリーニングし、高うつ群と低うつ群に分け、顔の表情判断について以下の仮説を検討した。1) 高うつ群で表情判断の正確さが損なわれるのであれば、3感情のどの表出強度の判断も抑うつ傾向の低い被験者よりも劣っている。2) もし高うつ群にcontent-specificな注意のバイアスがあるならば、悲しい顔の表情判断では高うつ群の方が表出強度がわずかな表的でも敏感に悲しいと認知をするが、怒りと喜びではどの表出強度でも表情判断において低うつ群と差はなく表出強度に応じて判断の正確さを増す。実験の結果から以下の点が明らかになった。1) 怒った顔と笑った顔では、高うつ群はどの表出強度でも低うつ群と差はなく、女性顔については表出強度に比例した判断の正確さが示され、男性顔については真顔に比べて他の全ての表出強度で表情ありと判断した。2) 悲しい顔では、女性顔では高うつ群と低うつ群に差はなく表出強度に応じて判断の正確さが増したが、男性顔では微妙な表情判断では高うつ群の方が高い比率で表情ありと判断する傾向にあったが、高うつ群も低うつ群も真顔に比べて他の表出強度で表情ありと判断した。3) 抑うつ傾向に関わらず3表情すべてについて、女性顔では表出強度に応じて判断の正確さを増したが、男性顔では真顔とそれ以外の表出強度で判断比率の差が認められた。以上の結果から、仮説1は支持されない結果となった。仮説2については、怒った顔や笑った顔では両群間に差はなく、表出強度に応じて判断の正確さを増すという点は支持されたが、悲しい顔の表情判断では、高うつ群の方が微妙な表情つまり表出強度がわずかでも敏感に悲しいと認知をするという点は、女性顔については支持されず男性顔については明確な結果は得られなかった。したがって、本研究の結果から非臨床群については上記の仮説は支持されなかった

Pretreatment with Perlecan-Conjugated Laminin-E8 Fragment Enhances Maturation of Grafted Dopaminergic Progenitors in Parkinson’s Disease Model

The therapeutic effect of a cell replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD) depends on the proper maturation of grafted dopaminergic (DA) neurons and their functional innervation in the host brain. In the brain, laminin, an extracellular matrix protein, regulates signaling pathways for the survival and development of neurons by interacting with integrins. The heparan sulfate (HS) chain binds mildly to various neurotrophic factors and regulates their intracellular signaling. Perlecan-conjugated laminin 511/521-E8 fragments (p511/p521) were designed to contain an integrin-binding site and HS chains. Here we examined the effect of treating DA progenitors with p511/p521 prior to transplantation in rodent PD models. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that p511/p521 treatment enhanced the maturation and neurite extension of the grafted DA progenitors by activating RAS-ERK1/2 signaling. This strategy will contribute to an efficient cell replacement therapy for PD in the future

Alteration of intestinal flora by the intake of enzymatic degradation products of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) with improvement of skin condition

AbstractAdlay has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine and nutrient for its beneficial effects on bowel movements and skin care. This study examined the effect of enzymatic degradation product of adlay, “Super Hatomugi” (SPH) on human skin and the intestinal flora in a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study. The subjects were divided into three groups: 500mg SPH, 1000mg SPH, and placebo, taken daily for 4weeks. Hematological and skin condition examinations as well as an analysis of intestinal flora were performed 2weeks before and 10weeks after the start of the SPH intake. Skin condition was improved by SPH intake as revealed by a reduction in the number of nucleated epidermal cells. In addition, an increase in the fecal population of Bacteroidetes followed the SPH intake. These results show the possibility that SPH improves the skin condition and changes the proportions of intestinal flora

Minority-carrier diffusion length, minority-carrier lifetime, and photoresponsivity of β-FeSi2 layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

We have epitaxially grown undoped β-FeSi2 films on Si(111) substrates via atomic-hydrogen-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy. β-FeSi2 films grown without atomic hydrogen exhibited p-type conduction with a hole density of over 1019 cm−3 at room temperature (RT). In contrast, those prepared with atomic hydrogen showed n-type conduction and had a residual electron density that was more than two orders of magnitude lower than the hole density of films grown without atomic hydrogen (of the order of 1016 cm−3 at RT). The minority-carrier diffusion length was estimated to be approximately 16 μm using an electron-beam-induced current technique; this value is twice as large as that for β-FeSi2 prepared without atomic hydrogen. This result could be well explained in terms of the minority-carrier lifetimes measured by a microwave photoconductance decay technique. The 1/e decay time using a 904 nm laser pulse was approximately 17 μs, which is much longer than that for β-FeSi2 prepared without atomic hydrogen (3 μs). The photoresponsivity reached 13 mA/W at 1.31 μm, which is the highest value ever reported for β-FeSi2 films

Dust from Comet 209P/LINEAR during its 2014 Return: Parent Body of a New Meteor Shower, the May Camelopardalids

We report a new observation of the Jupiter-family comet 209P/LINEAR during its 2014 return. The comet is recognized as a dust source of a new meteor shower, the May Camelopardalids. 209P/LINEAR was apparently inactive at a heliocentric distance rh = 1.6 au and showed weak activity at rh < 1.4 au. We found an active region of <0.001% of the entire nuclear surface during the comet's dormant phase. An edge-on image suggests that particles up to 1 cm in size (with an uncertainty of factor 3-5) were ejected following a differential power-law size distribution with index q=-3.25+-0.10. We derived a mass loss rate of 2-10 kg/s during the active phase and a total mass of ~5x10^7 kg during the 2014 return. The ejection terminal velocity of millimeter- to centimeter-sized particles was 1-4 m/s, which is comparable to the escape velocity from the nucleus (1.4 m/s). These results imply that such large meteoric particles marginally escaped from the highly dormant comet nucleus via the gas drag force only within a few months of the perihelion passage.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, accepted on 2014 December 11 for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

Yang-Baxter deformations and generalized supergravity -- A short summary

Integrable deformations of type IIB superstring theory on $\mathrm{AdS}_5\times S^5$ have played an important role over the last years. The Yang-Baxter deformation is a systematic way of generating such integrable deformations. Since its introduction, this topic has seen important conceptual progress and has among others led to the intriguing discovery generalized supergravity, a new low-energy effective theory. This review endeavors to not only introduce the historical development of the Yang-Baxter deformation, but also its relation to generalized supergravity, non-geometric backgrounds, non-abelian T-duality and preserved Killing spinors. We supplement the general treatment with a wealth of explicit examples.Comment: 64 pages plus appendices. Invited review by J.Phys.A. Based on various papers of the author

Gliosarcoma arising from a fibrillary astrocytoma

We report a 67-year-old woman who was diagnosed with a gliosarcoma at a second operation after diagnosis of a fibrillary astrocytoma 5 months previously. Initially, she underwent a CT-guided stereotactic biopsy. Histological examination showed fibrillary astrocytoma (World Health Organization [WHO] grade II). Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on 1 p, 10q, and 19q was not detected. She received chemotherapy, but no radiotherapy. Five months after the biopsy, MRI revealed rapid tumor growth. Tissue obtained from partial removal of the tumor revealed gliosarcoma (WHO grade IV), and LOH on 10q and 19q was detected. The history, histopathology, and genetic alterations of this patient are discussed.ArticleJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE. 18(9):1251-1254 (2011)journal articl