Application of permanents of square matrices for DNA identification in multiple-fatality cases.

[Background]DNA profiling is essential for individual identification. In forensic medicine, the likelihood ratio (LR) is commonly used to identify individuals. The LR is calculated by comparing two hypotheses for the sample DNA: that the sample DNA is identical or related to a reference DNA, and that it is randomly sampled from a population. For multiple-fatality cases, however, identification should be considered as an assignment problem, and a particular sample and reference pair should therefore be compared with other possibilities conditional on the entire dataset. [Results]We developed a new method to compute the probability via permanents of square matrices of nonnegative entries. As the exact permanent is known as a #P-complete problem, we applied the Huber–Law algorithm to approximate the permanents. We performed a computer simulation to evaluate the performance of our method via receiver operating characteristic curve analysis compared with LR under the assumption of a closed incident. Differences between the two methods were well demonstrated when references provided neither obligate alleles nor impossible alleles. The new method exhibited higher sensitivity (0.188 vs. 0.055) at a threshold value of 0.999, at which specificity was 1, and it exhibited higher area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (0.990 vs. 0.959, P = 9.6E-15). [Conclusions]Our method therefore offers a solution for a computationally intensive assignment problem and may be a viable alternative to LR-based identification for closed-incident multiple-fatality cases

Validity and Reliability of the Japanese Version of the 12-item Self-administered World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 in Patients with Schizophrenia

It is necessary to assess functional impairment when treating schizophrenia. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) has been adopted as a measure of functional disability in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. This study was a secondary analysis from a cross-sectional study of health-related behaviors among patients with schizophrenia. We examined the validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the 12-item WHODAS 2.0 when self-administered by such patients. Participants were 350 outpatients with schizophrenia from a psychiatric hospital. The standard six-factor structure of the WHODAS 2.0 showed a good fit for these participants. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.858, showing good internal consistency. The WHODAS 2.0 showed moderate correlations with the modified Global Assessment of Functioning and Kessler 6 scales (r=−0.434 and 0.555, respectively). The results of this study show that the Japanese version of the 12-item self-administered WHODAS 2.0 has good internal consistency and convergent validity among patients with schizophrenia. Further exploration of the usefulness of WHODAS 2.0 in clinical settings is needed

Peripheral Administration of Morphine Attenuates Postincisional Pain by Regulating Macrophage Polarization through COX-2-Dependent Pathway

BACKGROUND: Macrophage infiltration to inflammatory sites promotes wound repair and may be involved in pain hypersensitivity after surgical incision. We recently reported that the development of hyperalgesia during chronic inflammation is regulated by macrophage polarity, often referred to as proinflammatory (M1) or anti-inflammatory (M2) macrophages. Although opioids such as morphine are known to alter the inflammatory milieu of incisional wounds through interactions with immunocytes, the macrophage-mediated effects of morphine on the development of postincisional pain have not been well investigated. In this study, we examined how morphine alters pain hypersensitivity through phenotypic shifts in local macrophages during the course of incision-induced inflammation. RESULTS: Local administration of morphine in the early phase, but not in the late phase alleviated mechanical hyperalgesia, and this effect was reversed by clodronate-induced peripheral depletion of local macrophages. At the morphine-injected incisional sites, the number of pro-inflammatory F4/80(+)iNOS(+)M1 macrophages was decreased during the course of pain development whereas increased infiltration of wound healing F4/80(+)CD206(+)M2 macrophages was observed during the early phase. Morphine increased the gene expression of endogenous opioid, proenkephalin, and decreased the pronociceptive cytokine, interleukin-1β. Heme oxygenase (HO)-1 promotes the differentiation of macrophages to the M2 phenotype. An inhibitor of HO-1, tin protoporphyrin reversed morphine-induced analgesic effects and the changes in macrophage phenotype. However, local expression levels of HO-1 were not altered by morphine. Conversely, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, primarily produced from peripheral macrophages in acute inflammation states, was up-regulated in the early phase at morphine-injected sites. In addition, the analgesic effects and a phenotype switching of infiltrated macrophages by morphine was reversed by local administration of a COX inhibitor, indomethacin. CONCLUSIONS: Local administration of morphine alleviated the development of postincisional pain, possibly by altering macrophage polarity at the incisional sites. A morphine-induced shift in macrophage phenotype may be mediated by a COX-2-dependent mechanism. Therefore, μ-opioid receptor signaling in macrophages may be a potential therapeutic target during the early phase of postincisional pain development

Patients' acceptability and implementation outcomes of a case management approach to encourage participation in colorectal cancer screening for people with schizophrenia: a qualitative secondary analysis of a mixed-method randomised clinical trial

Objectives We examined the efficacy of case management (CM) interventions to encourage participation in colorectal cancer screening for patients with schizophrenia. This study aimed to clarify patients' acceptability of the intervention and the helpful components of the intervention. Simultaneously, the study aimed to determine the acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility of the intervention from the perspective of psychiatric care providers. Study design and setting This study was a secondary qualitative analysis of a mixed-method randomised controlled trial that evaluated the efficacy of the CM approach to encourage participation in cancer screening for people with schizophrenia. The intervention comprised education and patient navigation for colorectal cancer screening. Interviews were conducted with patients who received the intervention and staff from two psychiatric hospitals in Japan who delivered the intervention. Participants Of the 172 patients with schizophrenia who participated in the trial, 153 were included. In addition, three out of six providers were included. Data collection and analysis Using a structured interview, the case manager asked participants about patient acceptability and the helpful components of the intervention. Content analysis was conducted for the responses obtained, and the number of responses was tabulated by two researchers. For the interviews with the providers, opinions obtained from verbatim transcripts were extracted and summarised. Results Forty-three of the 56 patients perceived that the intervention was acceptable. For the intervention component, inperson counselling with an explanation of the screening process by psychiatric care providers was most frequently reported by the patients as helpful (48 of the 68 respondents). Psychiatric care providers evaluated the intervention as acceptable, appropriate and easy to understand and administer. However, providing the intervention to all patients simultaneously was considered difficult with the current human resources. Conclusions This study showed that the CM intervention was perceived as acceptable by patients and acceptable and appropriate by psychiatric care providers

Antitumor activity of α-pinene in T-cell tumors

T-cell acute leukemia and lymphoma have a poor prognosis. Although new therapeu-tic agents have been developed, their therapeutic effects are suboptimal. α- Pinene, a monoterpene compound, has an antitumor effect on solid tumors; however, few comprehensive investigations have been conducted on its impact on hematologic ma-lignancies. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential benefits of using α- pinene as an antitumor agent for the treatment of T-cell tumors. We found that α- pinene inhibited the proliferation of hematologic malignancies, especially in T- cell tumor cell lines EL-4 and Molt-4, induced mitochondrial dysfunction and re-active oxygen species accumulation, and inhibited NF-κB p65 translocation into the nucleus, leading to robust apoptosis in EL-4 cells. Collectively, these findings suggest that α- pinene has potential as a therapeutic agent for T-cell malignancies, and further investigation is warranted

Development of a Multifunctional Lightweight Membrane with a High Specific Power Generation Capacity

As a lighter power generation system, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Sakase Adtech Corp. are developing a demonstrator component named “Harvesting Energy with Lightweight Integrated Origami Structure” (HELIOS), which is a deployable lightweight membrane structure. HELIOS has solar arrays on its surface and demonstrates the technology which enables higher specific power generation capacity compared to the conventional solar array panels. The membrane also has communication antennas, showing the potency of lightweight membrane’s multifunctionality such as large data transmitting by 5G antennas and high-resolution observation by interferometer antennas. This paper presents the component’s concept and design, and the expected achievements

Application of permanents of square matrices for DNA identification in multiple-fatality cases

BACKGROUND: DNA profiling is essential for individual identification. In forensic medicine, the likelihood ratio (LR) is commonly used to identify individuals. The LR is calculated by comparing two hypotheses for the sample DNA: that the sample DNA is identical or related to a reference DNA, and that it is randomly sampled from a population. For multiple-fatality cases, however, identification should be considered as an assignment problem, and a particular sample and reference pair should therefore be compared with other possibilities conditional on the entire dataset. RESULTS: We developed a new method to compute the probability via permanents of square matrices of nonnegative entries. As the exact permanent is known as a #P-complete problem, we applied the Huber–Law algorithm to approximate the permanents. We performed a computer simulation to evaluate the performance of our method via receiver operating characteristic curve analysis compared with LR under the assumption of a closed incident. Differences between the two methods were well demonstrated when references provided neither obligate alleles nor impossible alleles. The new method exhibited higher sensitivity (0.188 vs. 0.055) at a threshold value of 0.999, at which specificity was 1, and it exhibited higher area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (0.990 vs. 0.959, P = 9.6E-15). CONCLUSIONS: Our method therefore offers a solution for a computationally intensive assignment problem and may be a viable alternative to LR-based identification for closed-incident multiple-fatality cases