Relationships between subjective experience, electroencephalogram, and heart rate variability during a series of cosmetic behavior

IntroductionCosmetic behavior is an important daily activity, especially for women, because it increases visual attractiveness, self-confidence, and positive emotions. However, it is unknown whether a relationship exists between physiological measures and subjective experiences during the series of cosmetic behaviors.MethodsElectroencephalograms (EEG) and electrocardiograms (ECG) from thirty female participants who were asked to look in a mirror after applying skincare, as well as base, eye, cheek, and lip makeup were recorded. The price range of cosmetic products was also considered. Subjective evaluations of the skin surface, emotions, and self-confidence were equally measured after looking in the mirror at each step of the cosmetic behavior. Linear mixed models were fitted to examine whether the subjective experience could be explained by the variety of cosmetic products and/or physiological responses.ResultsThe subjective evaluation was summarized into the following three factors using a factor analysis: self-confidence, hedonic perception, and negative emotion. Each theta-band (4–6 Hz) power, alpha-band (8–13 Hz) power of the EEG, and heart rate variability measures were subjected to a principal component analysis separately. The linear mixed models indicated that the variation in the self-confidence score and the negative emotion score was explained only by the steps of cosmetic behaviors, that is, self-confidence increased while negative emotions decreased as the steps of cosmetic behaviors proceeded. On the other hand, the hedonic perception score was explained by the interaction of the steps of cosmetic behaviors and price, indicating that positive tactile perception and positive emotion were higher when luxury cosmetic products were applied than when affordable products were applied. Furthermore, the model indicated that the hedonic perception score was positively associated with the alpha-band power over occipital sites whereas sympathetic nervous system activity was negatively associated with the alpha-band power over lateral central sites.DiscussionThese results suggest that positive perceptual and emotional experiences are associated with greater attention to somatosensory information than to visual information and sympathetic autonomic nervous system activities. The current results also emphasize the possibility of using physiological measurements as objective measures of cosmetic behavior

Case report: Cerebellar swelling and hydrocephalus in familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a severe inborn error of immunity caused by a genetic defect that impairs the function of cytotoxic T and NK cells. There are only a few reported cases of FHL with diffuse swelling of the cerebellum and obstructive hydrocephalus. We report a case of FHL3 with neurological symptoms associated with cerebellar swelling and obstructive hydrocephalus. A male patient was hospitalized several times due to fever and decreased feeding, hepatosplenomegaly, and cytopenia since the first month of life. At 7 months of age, disturbance of consciousness was seen. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed signal intensity in the bilateral cerebellar hemispheres, diffusely increased periventricular white matter, and ventriculomegaly. Although he was treated with methylprednisolone pulse therapy, he was unresponsive to the treatment. He was then transferred to a local hospital after tracheotomy but died. Targeted clinical sequencing revealed a homozygous splice-site mutation in UNC13D. Pediatric hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) includes some cases of central nervous symptom (CNS)-isolated HLH or CNS HLH preceding systemic lesions, which often do not initially meet the diagnostic criteria for FHL. Patients with FHL initiated by cerebellar symptoms may present with an atypical clinical course for HLH, leading to delayed diagnosis and poor outcomes. Despite the usefulness of a combination of a high percentage of lymphocytes in the peripheral leukocytes, a low lactate dehydrogenase level, and a high sIL-2R/ferritin ratio for identifying FHL, the diagnosis may be missed due to the absence of these results. Presymptomatic diagnosis of FHL by screening of newborns and subsequent early treatment of patients with a predicted poor prognosis may contribute to better outcomes

COMT Val158Met, but not BDNF Val66Met, is associated with white matter abnormalities of the temporal lobe in patients with first-episode, treatment-naïve major depressive disorder: a diffusion tensor imaging study

We investigated the association between the Val158Met polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, the Val66Met polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, and white matter changes in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy subjects using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We studied 30 patients with MDD (17 males and 13 females, with mean age ± standard deviation [SD] =44±12 years) and 30 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (17 males and 13 females, aged 44±13 years). Using DTI analysis with a tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) approach, we investigated the differences in fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity distribution among the three groups (patients with the COMT gene Val158Met, those with the BDNF gene Val66Met, and the healthy subjects). In a voxel-wise-based group comparison, we found significant decreases in fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity within the temporal lobe white matter in the Met-carriers with MDD compared with the controls (P<0.05). No correlations in fractional anisotropy, axial diffusivity, or radial diffusivity were observed between the MDD patients and the controls, either among those with the BDNF Val/Val genotype or among the BDNF Met-carriers. These results suggest an association between the COMT gene Val158Met and the white matter abnormalities found in the temporal lobe of patients with MDD

NBRP databases: databases of biological resources in Japan

The National BioResource Project (NBRP) is a Japanese project that aims to establish a system for collecting, preserving and providing bioresources for use as experimental materials for life science research. It is promoted by 27 core resource facilities, each concerned with a particular group of organisms, and by one information center. The NBRP database is a product of this project. Thirty databases and an integrated database-retrieval system (BioResource World: BRW) have been created and made available through the NBRP home page (http://www.nbrp.jp). The 30 independent databases have individual features which directly reflect the data maintained by each resource facility. The BRW is designed for users who need to search across several resources without moving from one database to another. BRW provides access to a collection of 4.5-million records on bioresources including wild species, inbred lines, mutants, genetically engineered lines, DNA clones and so on. BRW supports summary browsing, keyword searching, and searching by DNA sequences or gene ontology. The results of searches provide links to online requests for distribution of research materials. A circulation system allows users to submit details of papers published on research conducted using NBRP resources

Mitochondrial Localization of ABC Transporter ABCG2 and Its Function in 5-Aminolevulinic Acid-Mediated Protoporphyrin IX Accumulation

Accumulation of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) in malignant cells is the basis of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-mediated photodynamic therapy. We studied the expression of proteins that possibly affect ALA-mediated PpIX accumulation, namely oligopeptide transporter-1 and -2, ferrochelatase and ATP-binding cassette transporter G2 (ABCG2), in several tumor cell lines. Among these proteins, only ABCG2 correlated negatively with ALA-mediated PpIX accumulation. Both a subcellular fractionation study and confocal laser microscopic analysis revealed that ABCG2 was distributed not only in the plasma membrane but also intracellular organelles, including mitochondria. In addition, mitochondrial ABCG2 regulated the content of ALA-mediated PpIX in mitochondria, and Ko143, a specific inhibitor of ABCG2, enhanced mitochondrial PpIX accumulation. To clarify the possible roles of mitochondrial ABCG2, we characterized stably transfected-HEK (ST-HEK) cells overexpressing ABCG2. In these ST-HEK cells, functionally active ABCG2 was detected in mitochondria, and treatment with Ko143 increased ALA-mediated mitochondrial PpIX accumulation. Moreover, the mitochondria isolated from ST-HEK cells exported doxorubicin probably through ABCG2, because the export of doxorubicin was inhibited by Ko143. The susceptibility of ABCG2 distributed in mitochondria to proteinase K, endoglycosidase H and peptide-N-glycosidase F suggested that ABCG2 in mitochondrial fraction is modified by N-glycans and trafficked through the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus and finally localizes within the mitochondria. Thus, it was found that ABCG2 distributed in mitochondria is a functional transporter and that the mitochondrial ABCG2 regulates ALA-mediated PpIX level through PpIX export from mitochondria to the cytosol

Eine neue Betrachtungsweise zur Prüfung der chemischen Widerstandsfähigkeit des Glases

[no abstract available

Synthesis of TiFe Hydrogen Absorbing Alloys Prepared by Mechanical Alloying and SPS Treatment

This study aims to clarify the influence of the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) method on structural morphology, mechanical properties and also functional characteristics, such as hydrogen absorbing properties, for titanium-iron intermetallic compounds. We could synthesize B2-TiFe phase using mechanical alloying (MA) during 3 h and SPS treatment of 5 min at 500&ndash;1000 &deg;C, which was confirmed by XRD and Electron Probe Microanalyzer (EPMA) measurements. In addition, the synthesized TiFe intermetallic compound has been found to absorb hydrogen with high kinetics in both high pressure Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Pressure-Composition-Temperature (PCT) measurements. Therefore, we have successfully developed TiFe alloy in bulk form from initial raw powders by using a combination of short period mechanical alloying and SPS heat treatment. This combined route enhances the potential of the SPS method to synthesize new materials

Synthesis of TiFe Hydrogen Absorbing Alloys Prepared by Mechanical Alloying and SPS Treatment

International audienc