Relationships between Affect and Short-Term Life Satisfaction: Considering the Activation Dimension and Balance of Affect

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between affect and short-term life satisfaction (LS) taking into account the dimensions of activation and balance of PA and NA. The study included 398 students (184 men and 214 women) who completed six questionnaires, three of which were used for another study. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule was utilized for assessing activated PA and NA. Two subscales (deactivated pleasure and boredom) of the Multiple Mood Scale were used for measuring deactivated PA and NA, and the Short-term Life Satisfaction Scale was used for gauging short-term LS. Correlation analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationships between affect balance (PA-NA and PA/NA) and LS. The results of correlation and scattergram analyses showed that LS displayed positive linear associations with affect balance in both activated and deactivated dimensions. Additionally, hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a significant interaction between activated PA and NA in women, and indicated that the positive relationship between activated PA and LS in women was strengthened when levels of activated NA were lower. We discuss the importance of considering subtypes within and relationships between PA and NA and overall implications for health/adjustment

Development of a Questionnaire to Assess Self-Esteem in the Teaching Profession

Schoolteachers in Japan frequently suffer from mental health problems, resulting in a high rate of leaves of absence from work. Considering the poor condition of Japanese teachers, this study aimed to develop a questionnaire to assess self-esteem in the teaching profession for students in teacher training courses at university. As self-esteem is generally associated with health and adaptation, improving teachers’ working conditions and enhancing their self-esteem are expected. First, we created an original version of the questionnaire taking into consideration the content validity. Thereafter, a web-based survey was conducted among registered participants of a survey company in Japan. The final sample for analysis consisted of 422 participants (176 males and 246 females). The results showed factorial validity through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, along with internal consistency and an undistorted distribution of scores for the normal distribution. Thus, the “Self-Esteem Questionnaire in the Teaching Profession (SEQ-TP)” that includes twelve items with the score range of 12 to 84 was completed for future study. Finally, the limitations of this study are discussed, along with possibilities for future research

Efficacy of a School-Based Universal Program for Bullying Prevention: Considering the Extended Effects Associated with Achievement of the Direct Purposes of the Program

We have developed a group of universal prevention programs for children’s health and adjustment. The programs are characterized by new theories such as the somatic-marker hypothesis and enjoyable methods that utilize animated stories and games. This study adopted one of the programs, a universal program for bullying prevention in third-grade students, and evaluated its efficacy. Participants were third-grade students in two public elementary schools in Japan. Homeroom classes in the schools were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The final intervention group included 99 children (58 boys, 41 girls) and the final control group included 96 children (45 boys, 51 girls). The program was implemented weekly in one regular 45-minute class over eight weeks for all homeroom class members. Participants completed two questionnaires both before and after the program. Similar assessment periods were used for the control group. The questionnaires assessed the main purposes of the program (to enhance the understanding of bullying, to cultivate empathetic feelings for bullying victims, and to cultivate behavioral capabilities that stop bullying), and measured the adaptive status of children in homeroom class and at school. Results indicated that all of the main program purposes were achieved in the intervention group compared to the control group. Moreover, the level of the children’s adjustment in homeroom class and at school significantly increased with the program, except for motivation for learning, which did not change. The necessity of future research that examines the sustainability of the efficacy of the program with randomized controlled trials is discussed, along with the study limitations

Bowen disease on the foot associated with HPV

A 94 years old Japanese female was presented to our hospital with a skin lesion on her left foot. A physical examination found a markedly hyperkeratotic reddish-brown plaque, measuring 3 cm in diameter. A biopsy specimen showed prominent papillomatosis, hyperkeratosis, and atypical keratinocytes throughout the epidermis. Individual cell keratinization, multinucleated keratinocytes, and many keratinocytes with clear cytoplasm were seen. We excised the lesion, and the skin grafting was used for covering the skin defect. We investigated whether human papillomavirus (HPV) was present in the lesion, and HPV 16 DNA was detected using the polymerase chain reaction. Immunohistochemical analysis showed several HPV-positive cells in the upper epidermis. In addition, the tumor cells showed strong and diffuse expression of p16INK4a. Bowen disease (BD) is an intraepidermal squamous cell carcinoma. The precise pathogenesis of BD is unclear, but it involves various factors. HPV infection is one of these factors and is a well-known cause of BD of the genitalia and fingers. It has been shown that some BD lesions occurring at other locations are also associated with HPV. Dysregulation of the Rb / p16INK4a pathway is considered to play an important role in HPV-induced BD, but the precise mechanism remains to be elucidated

Tumor epitope spreading by a novel multivalent therapeutic cellular vaccine targeting cancer antigens to invariant NKT-triggered dendritic cells in situ

IntroductionCancer is categorized into two types based on the microenvironment: cold and hot tumors. The former is challenging to stimulate through immunity. The immunogenicity of cancer relies on the quality and quantity of cancer antigens, whether recognized by T cells or not. Successful cancer immunotherapy hinges on the cancer cell type, antigenicity and subsequent immune reactions. The T cell response is particularly crucial for secondary epitope spreading, although the factors affecting these mechanisms remain unknown. Prostate cancer often becomes resistant to standard therapy despite identifying several antigens, placing it among immunologically cold tumors. We aim to leverage prostate cancer antigens to investigate the potential induction of epitope spreading in cold tumors. This study specifically focuses on identifying factors involved in secondary epitope spreading based on artificial adjuvant vector cell (aAVC) therapy, a method established as invariant natural killer T (iNKT) -licensed DC therapy.MethodsWe concentrated on three prostate cancer antigens (prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP)). By introducing allogeneic cells with the antigen and murine CD1d mRNA, followed by α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) loading, we generated five types of aAVCs, i.e, monovalent, divalent and trivalent antigen-expressing aAVCs and four types of prostate antigen-expressing cold tumors. We evaluated iNKT activation and antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses against tumor cells prompted by the aAVCs.ResultsOur study revealed that monovalent aAVCs, expressing a single prostate antigen, primed T cells for primary tumor antigens and also induced T cells targeting additional tumor antigens by triggering a tumor antigen-spreading response. When we investigated the immune response by trivalent aAVC (aAVC-PROS), aAVC-PROS therapy elicited multiple antigen-specific CD8+ T cells simultaneously. These CD8+ T cells exhibited both preventive and therapeutic effects against tumor progression.ConclusionsThe findings from this study highlight the promising role of tumor antigen-expressing aAVCs, in inducing efficient epitope spreading and generating robust immune responses against cancer. Our results also propose that multivalent antigen-expressing aAVCs present a promising therapeutic option and could be a more comprehensive therapy for treating cold tumors like prostate cancer

Split luciferase complementation assay to detect regulated protein-protein interactions in rice protoplasts in a large-scale format

© 2014 Fujikawa et al. Background: The rice interactome, in which a network of protein-protein interactions has been elucidated in rice, is a useful resource to identify functional modules of rice signal transduction pathways. Protein-protein interactions occur in cells in two ways, constitutive and regulative. While a yeast-based high-throughput method has been widely used to identify the constitutive interactions, a method to detect the regulated interactions is rarely developed for a large-scale analysis. Results: A split luciferase complementation assay was applied to detect the regulated interactions in rice. A transformation method of rice protoplasts in a 96-well plate was first established for a large-scale analysis. In addition, an antibody that specifically recognizes a carboxyl-terminal fragment of Renilla luciferase was newly developed. A pair of antibodies that recognize amino- and carboxyl- terminal fragments of Renilla luciferase, respectively, was then used to monitor quality and quantity of interacting recombinant-proteins accumulated in the cells. For a proof-of-concept, the method was applied to detect the gibberellin-dependent interaction between GIBBERELLIN INSENSITIVE DWARF1 and SLENDER RICE 1. Conclusions: A method to detect regulated protein-protein interactions was developed towards establishment of the rice interactome

チョウサ ケンキュウ ニオケル シツモンシ ノ サクセイ カテイ ト テキヨウジョウ ノ ショモンダイ

Questionnaires are often administered in survey studies in psychology. The reason why they are used more frequently than the other methods, such as observations and interviews, is that they have greater merits in time and costs. However, the questionnaires have low accuracy to measure psychological characteristics, specifically psychological constructs, such as personality, affection, and cognition. So, in order to improve their measurement accuracy, it becomes essential to be careful to develop and administer them. In this paper, after indicating the low measurement accuracy of the questionnaires, we presented various methodological considerations when developing the Japanese versions of the questionnaires based on their original versions in foreign countries, and furthermore the original Japanese versions. Above all, we explained in great detail the process to develop the questionnaires that are original to Japan. The process contained the precise understanding of concepts to measure, how to answer the questionnaires (e.g., self-report or report by others), collection of items, and general standardization methods concerning reliability and validity. In addition, we called attention to a number of points to notice when administering the questionnaires to groups. Lastly, we closed the paper, emphasizing that the attempt to enhance the level of standardization is never ending.国立情報学研究所『研究紀要公開支援事業』により電子化

ガッコウ ヨボウ キョウイク プログラム カンジョウ ノ リカイ ト タイショ ノ イクセイ

Yamasaki, Sasaki, Uchida, Katsuma, and Matsumoto (2011) developed a universal prevention education named "TOP SELF (Trial Of Prevention School Education for Life and Friendship)." This article focused on an educational program for development of understanding and regulating emotions that belongs to the programs in TOP SELF, constructing the structure of hierarchical purposes. Moreover, scientific bases were provided for the validity of those hierarchical purposes. First, after emotional functions were presented using the data and theories in studies of brain science and psychology, the structure of hierarchical purposes was elucidated with some models on emotions and prior concepts regarding emotions such as emotional intelligence and emotional competence. Next, we revealed how each hierarchical purpose was valid in terms of prior scientific theories and data. Finally, differences in purposes between grades are clarified taking into account kinds of emotions and concrete methods

Unconscious Factors May Be More Important Than Conscious Factors in School Education: Development of a New Type of Prevention Education for Children’s Health and Adjustment and Assessment of Its Effectiveness

This paper describes a new type of prevention education for children’s health and adjustment. Unlike prior programs, this prevention education is based on scientific data and focuses on the roles of unconscious factors and emotions, which are mostly unconscious subtle body reactions. Thus, this education evokes emotions that partially become feelings after emotions rise up to the conscious level, and under the condition that emotions and feelings are sufficiently evoked, adaptive mental characteristics such as thinking, cognizing, and behaving are learned. Thereafter, these learned mental characteristics with evoked emotions and feelings are stored into memories. Thus, when children encounter a situation similar to the one they learned about in class, their mental characteristics, guided by memorized emotions and feelings, work adaptively in real life. Moreover, this paper depicts the methods of assessment for the described prevention education. Although Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) represent the final planned assessment, we are currently preparing for this step, and are now conducting preliminary methods of assessment. At present, we have developed a number of tests to assess implicit features of learning in children using semiprojection methods and writing tasks. Further, we have set up control conditions or groups to compare against intervention conditions or groups, although such conditions and groups have limitations. Finally, future directions for this education to be implemented widely on a regular basis are discussed

ガッコウ ニオケル ヨボウ キョウイク カガク ノ テンカイ

This paper introduced the science of preventive education that is applied to schools. This education is developed and implemented mainly as a universal intervention using empirical scientific data and theories to prevent health and adjustment problems for school children. Since it is an emerging cutting-edge education in schools, it includes various problems to overcome so that it could be run on a regular basis in the present school curricula. This paper attempted to comprehensively seize such problems and to suggest promising directions to overcome them. In the first part of this paper, after indicating the worsening of children’s health and adjustment problems in recent years, the basic characteristics of the science of preventive education were explained in details emphasizing the necessity of universal prevention at schools as well as treatment-like attempts. Thereafter, it was underscored to regard the fundamental causes of diseases and maladaptation as the main targets to remove in universal preventive educations. Specifically, it was suggested that such causes should be psychological ones such as distortions of personality, cognition, emotions, and behaviors. In the second part, the fundamental psychological causes leading to diseases and maladaptation were clarified focusing personality characteristics, which resulted in revealing that they are lacks of autonomy and prosociality. In doing so, we also scrutinized the developmental process of such psychological factors. In the last part, it was discussed on how this education is implemented at schools on a regular basis. Although it is difficult to implement the education at schools because of inflexible curricula, we suggested a number of crucial tactics to actualize this implementation. Finally, the collaboration of researchers and practitioners on preventive education was underscored, expecting the future status in which preventive education will be added to official classes in schools