Autonomic Nervous System Changes in Term Infants during Early Skin-to-skin Contact (SSC) : Examination of SSC Effectiveness and the Influence of Meconium-stained Amniotic Fluid

Article信州医学雑誌 67(2): 91-103(2019)journal articl

Validation and Factor Analysis of the Japanese Version of the Highs Scale in Perinatal Women

Background: The Highs scale has been developed to evaluate hypomanic symptoms in the first postpartum week. However, it has not been elucidated whether this scale is also applicable to pregnant women. To address this issue, we confirmed the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Japanese version of the Highs scale for pregnant and postpartum women.Methods: 418 women provided effective responses to both the Highs scale and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during early pregnancy (before week 25), late pregnancy (around week 36), at 5 days and at 1 month after delivery. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed for each group. Cronbach's alpha was calculated and the correlation of the Highs scale with EPDS was analyzed. The correlation between the subscales was analyzed at four time points, and the correlation of subscales between the four time points was confirmed.Results: This scale was found to have the two-factor structure with elation and agitation subscales. The two subscales had reasonable internal consistency at all time points (Cronbach's alpha range: Factor 1, 0.696–0.758; Factor 2, 0.553–0.694). The overall scale had reasonable internal consistency at all time points (Cronbach's alpha range: 0.672–0.738). Based on the correlation analysis of the two subscales and EPDS, discriminative and convergent validity were indicated at all time points, confirming the construct validity of the Highs scale. Subscale scores showed a significant correlation with EPDS at all time points (r = 0.388, 0.384, 0.498, and 0.442, p < 0.01).Conclusions: The Japanese version of the Highs scale is reliable and valid, and can be applied for evaluating the hypomanic symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum period

Prospective Study on the Association between Harm Avoidance and Postpartum Depressive State in a Maternal Cohort of Japanese Women

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have displayed increased interest in examining the relationship between personality traits and the onset, treatment response patterns, and relapse of depression. This study aimed to examine whether or not harm avoidance (HA) was a risk factor for postpartum depression measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the state dependency of HA. METHODS: Pregnant women (n=460; mean age 31.9±4.2 years) who participated in a prenatal program completed the EPDS as a measure of depressive state and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) as a measure of HA during three periods: early pregnancy (T1), late pregnancy (around 36 weeks), and 1 month postpartum (T2). Changes in EPDS and HA scores from T1 to T2 were compared between the non depressive (ND) group and the postpartum depressive (PD) group. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the level of HA between the ND and PD groups at T1. In the ND group, EPDS and HA scores did not change significantly from T1 to T2. In the PD group, both scores increased significantly from T1 to T2 (EPDS, p<0.0001; HA, p<0.048). In the ND and PD groups, a significant positive correlation was observed in changes in EPDS and HA scores from T1 to T2 (r=0.31, p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that HA cannot be considered a risk factor for the development of postpartum depression measured by EPDS. Furthermore, HA may be state dependent

Pre-post changes in psychosocial functioning among relatives of patients with depressive disorders after Brief Multifamily Psychoeducation: A pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Depressive disorder is often chronic and recurrent, and results in a heavy psychosocial burden on the families of patients with this disorder. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of brief multifamily psychoeducation designed to alleviate their psychosocial burden.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty-two relatives of patients with major depressive disorder participated in an open study testing the effectiveness of brief multifamily psychoeducation. The intervention consisted of four sessions over the course of 6 weeks. Outcome measures focused on emotional distress, care burden and Expressed Emotion (EE).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The emotional distress, care burden and EE of the family all showed statistically significant improvements from baseline to after the family intervention. The proportion of relatives scoring 9 or more on K6, which indicates possible depressive or anxiety disorder, decreased from sixteen relatives (50.0%) at baseline, to only 3 relatives (9.3%) after the intervention.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests that brief multifamily psychoeducation is a useful intervention to reduce the psychosocial burden of the relatives of patients with depressive disorder. Further evaluation of family psychoeducation for relatives of patients with depressive disorder is warranted.</p

Deep sequencing reveals as-yet-undiscovered small RNAs in Escherichia coli

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In <it>Escherichia coli</it>, approximately 100 regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs) have been identified experimentally and many more have been predicted by various methods. To provide a comprehensive overview of sRNAs, we analysed the low-molecular-weight RNAs (< 200 nt) of <it>E. coli </it>with deep sequencing, because the regulatory RNAs in bacteria are usually 50-200 nt in length.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We discovered 229 novel candidate sRNAs (≥ 50 nt) with computational or experimental evidence of transcription initiation. Among them, the expression of seven intergenic sRNAs and three <it>cis</it>-antisense sRNAs was detected by northern blot analysis. Interestingly, five novel sRNAs are expressed from prophage regions and we note that these sRNAs have several specific characteristics. Furthermore, we conducted an evolutionary conservation analysis of the candidate sRNAs and summarised the data among closely related bacterial strains.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This comprehensive screen for <it>E. coli </it>sRNAs using a deep sequencing approach has shown that many as-yet-undiscovered sRNAs are potentially encoded in the <it>E. coli </it>genome. We constructed the <it>Escherichia coli </it>Small RNA Browser (ECSBrowser; <url>http://rna.iab.keio.ac.jp/</url>), which integrates the data for previously identified sRNAs and the novel sRNAs found in this study.</p

The Prevalence, Antecedents and Consequences of Sexual Harassment in the Myanmar Workplace

The primary purpose of this study was to explore female workers experiences of sexual harassment and the antecedents and the outcomes of those experiences in the Myanmar workplace. Using the Myanmar versions of Sexual Experiences Questionnaire developed originally by Fitzgerald and colleagues (1988, 1995), a questionnaire survey of working women in Myanmar was conducted. The representative sample included 271 working Myanmar women at a university, along with government and private sectors. The antecedent variables (personal vulnerability, organizational context) and three general types of negative outcome variables (psychological outcomes, physical outcomes, and work-related outcomes) were identified through victims of sexual harassment. Analyses explored the relationship of these antecedents and negative outcomes to type of sexual harassment, and the victim's coping responses. In addition, the influences of self-role belief and attribution style were explored

“Karoshi (Work to Death)” in Japan

karoshi (work to death), karo-jisatsu (suicide by overwork), white-collar exemption, Japanese male workers,

An International Comparison of Factors Related to Long Work Hours1

This study aimed to examine psychosocial factors related to working long hours, which causes depression, anxiety, and so forth, including karoshi [work to death]. In particular, the issue of working very long hours and its impacts on employees is seen as an urgent issue in Japan, and by clarifying the factors associated with this phenomenon, we aim to contribute to efforts to identify appropriate mitigation measures. We proposed a model of factors related to long work hours from multiple perspectives, and tested it in six countries: China, Finland, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Data were collected via a web-based questionnaire survey. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that organizational level variables were related to work hours in all six countries, but individual level variables were related to work hours only in the United States. In addition, only in Japan did the maintenance dimension of leadership affect the extension of working hours. Organization level factors, rather than job or individual level factors, should be considered when establishing measures to prevent employees from working excessively long hours.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174926/1/jpr12338.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174926/2/jpr12338_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174926/3/jpr12338-sup-0001-TableS1.pd