Neural Correlates of Attitude Change Following Positive and Negative Advertisements

Understanding changes in attitudes towards others is critical to understanding human behaviour. Neuropolitical studies have found that the activation of emotion-related areas in the brain is linked to resilient political preferences, and neuroeconomic research has analysed the neural correlates of social preferences that favour or oppose consideration of intrinsic rewards. This study aims to identify the neural correlates in the prefrontal cortices of changes in political attitudes toward others that are linked to social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments have presented videos from previous electoral campaigns and television commercials for major cola brands and then used the subjects' self-rated affinity toward political candidates as behavioural indicators. After viewing negative campaign videos, subjects showing stronger fMRI activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lowered their ratings of the candidate they originally supported more than did those with smaller fMRI signal changes in the same region. Subjects showing stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex tended to increase their ratings more than did those with less activation. The same regions were not activated by viewing negative advertisements for cola. Correlations between the self-rated values and the neural signal changes underscore the metric representation of observed decisions (i.e., whether to support or not) in the brain. This indicates that neurometric analysis may contribute to the exploration of the neural correlates of daily social behaviour

A Hepatocellular Adenoma in a Diet-induced Obese Mouse

A hepatic nodule was noted in a C57BL/6J mouse with diet-induced obesity at 53 weeks of age. Macroscopically, a protruding yellowish white nodule was observed on the visceral surface of the left lateral lobe. Light microscopy demonstrated clear demarcation from the compressed adjacent parenchyma, with loss of the distinct lobular pattern. The proliferating cells of the lesion varied in shape and showed cellular atypia and prominent nucleoli along with vacuoles of various sizes. Some of the cells contained various-sized eosinophilic inclusion bodies in their cytoplasm, and electron microscopy revealed the presence of lipid droplets in the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Eosinophilic inclusions were observed as electron dense granular material in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, with one or a few low density central cores. A diagnosis of hepatocellular adenoma was made based on these findings

半側空間無視症例の正中認知に与えるヘッドマウントディスプレイアダプテーションの即時効果

東京都立大

Rosai-Dorfman disease of the colon presented as small solitary polypoid lesion

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) was formerly known as “sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy”, and cases involving the gastrointestinal tract are rare. We present a case of pure extranodal RDD, resected as a polypoid lesion in colonoscopic study. The patient was a 62-year old woman with a history of sigmoidectomy for unexplained peritonitis. Microscopic study of the polypoid lesion showed the submucosal mass with histological and immunological features of RDD. The whole body computed tomography revealed neither lymphadenopathy nor tumor-like mass

行政用文字の調査研究 : 汎用電子情報交換環境整備プログラム

国立国語研究所国立国語研究所国立国語研究所The National Institute for Japanese LanguageThe National Institute for Japanese LanguageThe National Institute for Japanese Languageさまざまな行政手続をインターネットで行う「電子政府」を構築するためには,氏名,住所,法人名などの固有名に使われる文字をも含め,行政情報処理で必要とされる文字をコンピュータで扱えるような環境を整えなければならない。国立国語研究所・情報処理学会・日本規格協会では,行政情報処理で必要とされる文字の調査研究(汎用電子情報交換環境整備プログラム)を実施している。この調査研究において,住民基本台帳ネットワーク統一文字,戸籍統一文字,登記統一文字を検討し,行政用文字の文字コード規格(JIS X O213,ISO/IEC10646)によるカバー率を明らかにした。また,漢和辞典に掲載されていない文字について,地名資料による文字同定を進めている

Haplotypes of P2RX7 gene polymorphisms are associated with both cold pain sensitivity and analgesic effect of fentanyl

Background: The P2X7 receptor is a member of the P2X family of adenosine 5'-triphosphate- gated cation channels. Several recent studies have demonstrated that this receptor is involved in mechanisms related to pain and inflammation. However, unknown is whether polymorphisms of the P2RX7 gene that encodes the human P2X7 receptor influence pain sensitivity and analgesic effects of opioids. The P2RX7 gene is known to be highly polymorphic. Thus, the present study examined associations between fentanyl sensitivity and polymorphisms in the P2RX7 gene in 355 Japanese patients who underwent painful orofacial cosmetic surgery. Results: We first conducted linkage disequilibrium (LD) analyses for 55 reported single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the region within and around the P2RX7 gene using genomic samples from 100 patients. In our samples, 42 SNPs were polymorphic, and a total of five LD blocks with six Tag SNPs (rs2708092, rs1180012, rs1718125, rs208293, rs1718136, and rs7132846) were observed. Thus, we further analyzed associations between genotypes/haplotypes of these Tag SNPs and clinical data using a total of 355 samples. In the genotype-based association study, only the rs1718125 G > A SNP tended to be associated with higher pain scores on a visual analog scale 24 h after surgery (VAS24). The haplotype-based association study showed that subjects with homozygous haplotype No. 3 (GTAAAC; estimated frequency: 15.0%) exhibited significantly higher cold pain sensitivity and lower analgesic effects of fentanyl for acute cold pain in the cold pressor test. Conversely, subjects who carried haplotype No. 1 (ACGGAC; estimated frequency: 24.5%) tended to exhibit lower cold pain sensitivity and higher analgesic effects of fentanyl. Furthermore, subjects with homozygous haplotype No. 2 (GCGGAC; estimated frequency: 22.9%) exhibited significantly lower VAS24 scores. Conclusions: Cold pain sensitivity and analgesic effects of fentanyl were related to the SNP and haplotypes of the P2RX7 gene. The patients with the rs1718125 G>A SNP tended to show higher VAS24 scores. Moreover, the combination of polymorphisms from the 5'-flanking region to exon 5 recessively affected cold pain sensitivity and analgesic effects of opioids for acute cold pain. The present findings shed light on the involvement of P2RX7 gene polymorphisms in naive cold pain sensitivity and analgesic effects of fentanyl

Association between Genetic Polymorphisms in Ca(v)2.3 (R-type) Ca2+ Channels and Fentanyl Sensitivity in Patients Undergoing Painful Cosmetic Surgery

Individual differences in the sensitivity to fentanyl, a widely used opioid analgesic, lead to different proper doses of fentanyl, which can hamper effective pain treatment. Voltage-activated Ca2+ channels (VACCs) play a crucial role in the nervous system by controlling membrane excitability and calcium signaling. Ca(v)2.3 (R-type) VACCs have been especially thought to play critical roles in pain pathways and the analgesic effects of opioids. However, unknown is whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the human CACNA1E (calcium channel, voltage-dependent, R type, alpha 1E subunit) gene that encodes Ca(v)2.3 VACCs influence the analgesic effects of opioids. Thus, the present study examined associations between fentanyl sensitivity and SNPs in the human CACNA1E gene in 355 Japanese patients who underwent painful orofacial cosmetic surgery, including bone dissection. We first conducted linkage disequilibrium (LD) analyses of 223 SNPs in a region that contains the CACNA1E gene using genomic samples from 100 patients, and a total of 13 LD blocks with 42 Tag SNPs were observed within and around the CACNA1E gene region. In the preliminary study using the same 100 genomic samples, only the rs3845446 A/G SNP was significantly associated with perioperative fentanyl use among these 42 Tag SNPs. In a confirmatory study using the other 255 genomic samples, this SNP was also significantly associated with perioperative fentanyl use. Thus, we further analyzed associations between genotypes of this SNP and all of the clinical data using a total of 355 samples. The rs3845446 A/G SNP was associated with intraoperative fentanyl use, 24 h postoperative fentanyl requirements, and perioperative fentanyl use. Subjects who carried the minor G allele required significantly less fentanyl for pain control compared with subjects who did not carry this allele. Although further validation is needed, the present findings show the possibility of the involvement of CACNA1E gene polymorphisms in fentanyl sensitivity

Dietary habits and issues of junior high school students in a town in Gunma Prefecture

The purpose of this study was to understand the actual conditions of the dietary habits and to examine issues of junior high school students in a town in Gunma, Japan. In 2012, we conducted an anonymous self-reported questionnaire of all 163 students attending the junior high school in that area. Survey contents were as follows: Eating habits (such as taking breakfast and vegetables, food preferences), and food culture(such as awareness of food culture,taking locally produced foods). The survey resulted in a 64.4％ response rate. It was shown that 100 students (95.2％) took breakfast almost every day. Only 6 students(5.8％)took five or more servings of vegetables per day.34 students took breakfast with their family(32.4％) and 86 students took dinner with their family(81.9％). Less than 40％ of the students knew about locally produced food (n＝37,35.2％)or took those products often (n＝40,38.1％). With the results of the survey’s data, certain issues have been raised, and new procedures have been implemented. Dietary habits and issues are as follows: further promotion regarding taking breakfast, communication with the family while taking meals, promotion of increasing the daily vegetable intake, and understanding of food culture