Recognition of emotion from moving facial and prosodic stimuli in depressed patients

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that depressed patients have a "negative bias" in recognising other people's emotions; however, the detailed structure of this negative bias is not fully understood. OBJECTIVES: To examine the ability of depressed patients to recognise emotion, using moving facial and prosodic expressions of emotion. METHODS: 16 depressed patients and 20 matched (non-depressed) controls selected one basic emotion (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, or disgust) that best described the emotional state represented by moving face and prosody. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between depressed patients and controls in their recognition of facial expressions of emotion. However, the depressed patients were impaired relative to controls in their recognition of surprise from prosodic emotions, judging it to be more negative. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that depressed patients tend to interpret neutral emotions, such as surprise, as negative. Considering that the deficit was seen only for prosodic emotive stimuli, it would appear that stimulus clarity influences the recognition of emotion. These findings provide valuable information on how depressed patients behave in complicated emotional and social situations.     

Futue direction of three-year educational establishments for students of medical technology

The medical laboratory technologist education currently offered at four state run junior colleges will be upgraded to higher education as all those junior colleges become universities in 2004. It has already been decided that several private junior colleges and vocational schools are to be upgraded to universities as well. Furthermore, the course will not only be offered in undergraduate universities, but also on a postgraduate level, increasing the number of medical laboratory technologists with a master's degree or a doctorate. This reform is perhaps due to a demand for medical laboratory technologists of higher quality because of such social conditions as a highly-sophisticated information society, advancement in healthcare and medicine, and transition from volume to quality. It is also a measure for securing further capacity by seeking adequate human resources because of the declining population in the 18-year-old bracket, due to the declining birth rate. In such a condition, the direction three-year educational establishments must take is to nurture human resources with qualities that compare favorably with university graduates. As ways of accomplishing this, we could focus on practical technological education at vocational schools with the educational period set at four years, or recruit and train university graduates with rudimental abilities, as they do at specialist postgraduate schools.     

CDK- and Cdc45-dependent priming of the MCM complex on chromatin during S-phase in Xenopus egg extracts: possible activation of MCM helicase by association with Cdc45

BACKGROUND: MCM and Cdc45 are required for the initiation and elongation stages of eukaryotic DNA replication. Recent studies show that a purified Mcm4/6/7 complex has DNA helicase activity. However, the biochemical function of the MCM complex and Cdc45 bound to chromatin has not been elucidated. RESULTS: We have examined the biochemical properties of MCM proteins bound to chromatin fractions using Xenopus egg extracts. Immunoprecipitation of MCM proteins extracted under denaturing conditions reveals that all six subunits of MCM and Cdc45 form a tight complex following the initiation of DNA replication, and that both CDK activity and Cdc45 are essential for the complex formation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation of MCM proteins and Cdc45 shows that a complex containing MCM and Cdc45 has a DNA helicase activity which is dependent on CDK activity and Cdc45 in the extracts. Furthermore, both the complex and the helicase activity are resistant to treatment with phosphatase and high salt. CONCLUSIONS: Following the initiation of DNA replication, a tight MCM-Cdc45 complex is formed on chromatin and its formation is closely correlated with the DNA helicase activity of chromatin immunoprecipitates containing MCM and Cdc45. We propose that the tight MCM-Cdc45 complex functions as a replicative DNA helicase in vivo.     

Reduction of factor XII in antiphospholipid antibody-positive patients with thrombotic events in the rheumatology clinic

 Although rheumatological diagnosis often includes an assessment of antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies, the significance of other prothrombotic factors has not been established in thrombotic patients who are not afflicted with either arteriosclerosis or vasculitis syndrome. We have observed both the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies and a reduction of factor XII in such patients. Our results identified both lupus anticoagulant-positive (50%) and anticardiolipin antibody-positive (58%) patients. In addition, 83% of patients showed factor XII antigen level reduction. Furthermore, 70% of aPL-positive thrombotic patients showed factor XII antigen level reduction. Only two cases had antiphospholipid antibody alone, and 4/12 showed just factor XII antigen reduction. Recently, it has been reported that the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies induces factor XII reduction, and that anti-factor XII autoantibody can be detected in thrombotic patients. However, our results indicate that there are smaller factor XII reductions in non-thrombotic controls who are positive for antiphospholipid antibodies. Furthermore, anti-factor XII autoantibody was not detected in patients with decreased factor XII levels. Kindred research suggested that in two patients there was a genetic component to factor XII reduction. We concluded that the presence of both antiphospholipid antibodies and reduced serum factor XII was observed in most thrombotic patients from our rheumatology clinic. It is therefore possible to consider that the coexistence of these prothrombotic factors can contribute to the onset of thrombosis. Received: 12 March 2002 / Accepted: 27 August 2002     

Serum Immunoglobulin Levels at Onset: Association with the Prognosis of Childhood Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Between 1981 and 2000, 87 patients with new diagnoses of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) were admitted to the pediatric department of Kobe City General Hospital or Nishi-Kobe Medical Center. The patients' clinical records were analyzed for the relationships of disease outcome to serum immunoglobulin levels and other factors, including sex, onset age, and initial platelet counts. The disease of 22 patients became chronic, and of the 65 patients with an acute form of the disease, 27 exhibited levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgA, or IgM above the 97.5% confidence limits of the age-matched control subjects. However, only 2 patients with the chronic form of the disease showed elevated serum immunoglobulin levels. The presence of antecedent specific viral infections was also associated with the acute disease form. In predicting the prognosis of childhood ITP, high serum immunoglobulin levels at initial presentation can be considered a good prognostic marker for the acute form of the disease.     

The proMMP-2 activation rate in patients with chronic viral liver disease

BACKGROUND: Crush syndrome has been described as extensive muscle damage, leading to acute renal failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible role of nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) in crush syndrome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 17 patients suffering from crush syndrome, 7 patients without crush syndrome and 10 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Plasma nitrate, TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta levels and biochemical parameters were measured. RESULTS: All patients with crush syndrome demonstrated acute renal failure. Plasma nitrate levels were elevated significantly in the crush syndrome patients compared with patients without crush syndrome (33.5 +/- 20.1 vs. 15.3 +/- 5 micromol/l, p=0.014). There was no significant difference in TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta levels between control and patient groups. CONCLUSION: Increased plasma nitrate levels in the crush syndrome may be related either to the elevated production of NO or the diminished excretion of nitrate or both.     

Relation of diabetic macular edema to cytokines and posterior vitreous detachment

PURPOSE: To investigate whether angiotensin II (AII) or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is related to diabetic macular edema (DME) in patients with and without posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). DESIGN: A case-control study. METHODS: Vitreous fluid samples were obtained at vitreoretinal surgery from 28 eyes of 28 DME patients without PVD, 8 eyes of 8 DME patients with PVD, 14 eyes of 14 nondiabetic patients, and 8 eyes of diabetic patients without retinopathy. The VEGF levels in vitreous fluid and plasma were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, while AII levels were measured by radioimmunoassay.RESULTS: The vitreous levels of AII and VEGF were significantly higher in DME patients with or without PVD than in nondiabetic patients or diabetic patients without retinopathy (without PVD: P < .0061, P < .0001, P = .0261, and P < .0001; with PVD: P < .0012, P < .0001, P = .0473, and P < .0001, respectively). There was no significant difference in the vitreous levels of AII or VEGF between patients with or without PVD (P = .4948 and P = .6642, respectively). The vitreous level of AII significantly correlated with that of VEGF in DME patients without PVD (P = .576) or with PVD (P = .488). AII and VEGF levels in vitreous fluid were significantly higher than the respective plasma levels. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the vitreous levels of AII and VEGF were elevated in DME patients irrespective of the status of PVD. Angiotensin II and VEGF may be induced in the eyes and be related to the pathogenesis of DME.     

Relationship between human leukocyte antigen status and proliferative diabetic retinopathy in patients with younger-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) status and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) to assess the genetic basis of PDR in younger type 1 diabetic patients. DESIGN: Retrospective, nonrandomized, comparative trial. METHOD: Patients who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes under 30 years of age (range, 13-28) and had a disease duration of more than 10 years were studied. The patients were divided into two groups: 30 patients who had undergone vitreous surgery younger than 40 years old (the PDR group) and 50 patients without retinopathy (the non-DR group). The duration of diabetes and the level of glycemic control were matched between the two groups. The control group consisted of 50 healthy patients. HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR, and -DQ typing of blood samples was done using the standard microcytotoxicity method. RESULTS: The frequency of HLA-B62, Cw4, and DQ4 was significantly higher in the PDR group than in the non-DR group (P =.0020, P =.048, and P =.0026, respectively). The Cw4-DR4-DQ4 haplotype frequency was significantly higher in the PDR group than in the control group and the non-DR group (P =.0059). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggests that HLA-B62, Cw4, and DQ4 may be useful for predicting the prognosis of retinopathy in patients with younger-onset type 1 diabetes.     

Characterization of beta-adrenergic receptor sequestration by newly developed whole cell binding assays

Upon agonist binding, beta-adrenergic receptors sequestrate from the cell surface plasma membrane to cytosol. In the present study, we examine the kinetics of sequestration of beta1-adrenergic receptor and beta3-adrenergic receptor subtypes by radioligand binding assays using whole cells ('whole cell binding assays'). We found that HEK293T cells, but not COS1 cells, were readily and uniformly detached from the culture dish upon exposure to ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline. Using this property of HEK293T cells, we conducted whole cell binding assays using a hydrophilic antagonist ([3H]CGP-12177) and HEK293T cells transiently overexpressing human beta1-adrenergic receptor or beta3-adrenergic receptor. The Bmax and Kd values were 5.96 +/- 0.97 pmol/mg protein and 1 +/- 0.23 nM for the beta1-adrenergic receptor, and were 1.84 +/- 0.13 pmol/mg protein and 44.7 +/- 2.5 nM for the beta3-adrenergic receptor, respectively. Isoproterenol treatment, but not 6-[3-(dimethylamino)propionyl]forskolin treatment, for 2 h resulted in a dose-dependent loss of the number of the cell surface beta1-adrenergic receptor. At 100 microM, 36.6 +/- 5.7% of the cell surface beta1-adrenergic receptor was lost. In contrast, the cell surface beta3-adrenergic receptor number remained unchanged with isoproterenol treatment. Thus, beta1-adrenergic receptor sequestrates upon agonist stimulation but the same agonist stimulation does not induce beta3-adrenergic receptor sequestration, as demonstrated by our whole cell binding assays.