Bus hijacking by a pre-schizophrenic: From a viewpoint of criminal romance

Abstract  There are cases in which no clear symptoms of schizophrenia are observed in a person at the time of a crime but are diagnosed to have schizophrenia after the crime due to the appearance of typical symptoms. We present psychiatric evidence of a patient who saw a bus hijacking incident on TV during several years of isolation at home after graduation from junior high school, and was then determined to hijack a bus, and carried out the crime 6 months later. The patient exhibited clear symptoms of schizophrenia 3 days after the crime. This case of a crime committed before the appearance of clear symptoms of schizophrenia was evaluated from the viewpoint of verbrecherromantik or 'criminal romance'.     

Detection of Philadelphia Chromosome in Chronic Neutrophilic Leukemia

Chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) is a rare myeloproliferativedisorder, differentiated from chronic myelogenous leukemia byseveral features. A case of CNL which was found by long-termculture to involve the Philadelphia chromosome is reported.     

Reliability of the task-related component (P3b) of P3 event-related potentials

Abstract Within session and between session reliabilities of the task-related component (P3b) of the P3 measures (amplitude, area and latency) and their habituation across eight sessions separated by 7–10 days, except for an interval of 1 month between the 6th and 7th sessions, were studied based on the difference waves, which were obtained by subtracting the ignored infrequent event-related potentials (ERP) from the target ERP elicited by a standard auditory oddball paradigm with eyes-open or eyes-closed conditions in 10 normal subjects. The within session reliabilities represented as Pearson correlation coefficients ( r ) were 0.57-0.66 for the three measures except for those for the latency and amplitude under the eyes-closed condition. The between session reliabilities expressed as intraclass correlation coefficients ( R ) ranged from 0.54 to 0.60 except for that for latency under eyes-closed conditions. Long-term habituation occurred within the first six sessions for the P3b amplitude and area, and dishabituation took place in the 7th session after an interval of 1 month, whereas no such phenomenon was observed for the P3b latency. Implications of the present results are discussed in terms of the clinical application of the P3 measures.     

Relationship between odor perception and depression in the Japanese elderly

Abstract Odor perception has been studied in patients with various mental disorders; however, no consensus has been reached as to its detection, identification, or pleasantness/unpleasantness of odors especially in patients with depression. One hundred and nineteen normal elderly individuals living at home were exposed to odors of rose, perfume, white ginger, Indian ink, cigarette smoke, milk, feces and orange scent using the scratch and sniff method. They were asked to rate the strength of each odor, its pleasantness or unpleasantness, their liking for it, and their familiarity with it. They were also asked to complete a self-rating depression scale (SDS). The relationship of the score of each psychological olfactory scale with the SDS score and the difference in the score of each psychological scale between high-SDS and low-SDS groups are discussed.     

Influence of thrombopoietin on platelet activation in myeloproliferative disorders

Although thrombopoietin itself does not influence platelet aggregation, it enhances platelet activation in response to certain agonists. We evaluated the effects of thrombopoietin on platelet activation using platelet-rich plasma from 16 patients with myeloproliferative disorders (MPD group) and 16 healthy volunteers (control group). Preincubation with thrombopoietin significantly enhanced platelet aggregation stimulated by ADP, collagen, or epinephrine in the MPD group as well as the control group. However, aggregation induced by 3 μ M ADP or 16 μ M epinephrine showed significantly less augmentation by thrombopoietin in the MPD group than in the control group. Thrombopoietin significantly shortened the lag time between the addition of 3 μ M ADP or 16 μ M epinephrine and initiation of secondary aggregation and the lag time between addition of 2 μg/ml collagen and initiation of aggregation in both groups. When platelet-rich plasma was used without adjustment of the platelet count, thrombopoietin itself induced aggregation in two patients. Hypoaggregation after addition of 0.5 μg/ml collagen was observed in seven out of nine patients with normal thrombopoietin levels and only one of six patients with high levels ( P =0.04). Enhancement of 0.5 μg/ml collagen-induced aggregation by thrombopoietin was seen in five out of nine patients with normal thrombopoietin levels and none of the six patients with elevated levels ( P =0.04). These results indicate that platelet activation by certain agonists is enhanced by thrombopoietin in patients with these diseases as well as in normal controls and that the serum thrombopoietin level may regulate the function of circulating platelets in vivo .     

Difference in Autonomic Nervous Control between Ventricular Septal Defect and Atrial Septal Defect Based on Heart Rate Variability

Background: We hypothesized that patients with atrial (ASD) and ventricular septal defects (VSD) have similarly reduced heart rate variability (HRV) since both defects cause similar increases in pulmonary blood flow and right ventricular filling pressure. We examined the correlation between HRV and respiratory frequency (RSA) characteristics and left-to-right shunt ratio (Qp/Qs) measured by Doppler echocardiography.
Methods: The study included 83 patients with diagnoses of ASD (n = 43) or VSD (n = 40). The electrocardiogram and respiratory waves were recorded during Doppler echocardiography test, and HRV was measured to calculate the low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), total frequency (TF), and RSA components, and the LF/HF, RSA/TF, and LF/RSA ratios. Qp/Qs was calculated from Doppler echocardiography and its relationship with HRV parameters was examined by multivariate analysis.
Results: There was a positive correlation between Qp/Qs and LF/RSA in the ASD group, and a negative correlation in the VSD group. In contrast, Qp/Qs correlated negatively with RSA/TF in the ASD group, and positively in the VSD group.
Conclusion: Different effects of respiratory vagal activity on HRV were observed in patients with ASD versus VSD.     

Elimination of Ventricular Arrhythmia in Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia by Targeting “Catecholamine‐Sensitive Area”: A Dominant‐Subordinate Relationship between Origin Sites of Bidirectional Ventricular Premature Contractions

We report on a patient diagnosed with catechoaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) who underwent catheter ablation of ventricular premature contractions (VPCs) induced by epinephrine. VPCs were classified roughly into three types. Type 1 and Type 2 VPCs (right bundle branch block [RBBB] configuration and inferior axis) were eliminated by radiofrequency applications at the left aortic sinus of Valsalva and the anterolateral papillary muscle (APM), respectively. Although no spontaneous VPCs were seen after the elimination of Type 1 and 2 VPCs, pacing resulting in capture at the APM induced Type 3 VPC (RBBB configuration and superior axis) reproducibly. The electrophysiological findings observed in our representative case have important implications both for understanding the pathophysiology of CPVT and for considering therapeutic strategies.     

13-Week Oral Toxicity Study of Captafol in F344/DuCrj Rats

13-Week Oral Toxicity Study of Captafol in F344/DuCrj Rats TAMANO,S., KURATA, Y., SHIBATA, M.-A., TANAKA, H., OGISO, T., AND ITO,N. (1991). Fundarm Appl Toxicol. 17,390–398. Captafolfed at concentrations of 0,0.075, 0.15,0.3, and 0.6% to bothsexes of F344 rats for 13 weeks produced dose-related decreasesin body weight in males and females given 0.15% or higher concentrationsA dose-dependent decrease in urinary pH was observed in malesreceiving 0.3 or 0.6% and in females given 0.15% or higher concentrationsof captafol. The 0.3 and 0.6% doses produced slight increasesin leukocyte count and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase activityin females, along with a mild increase in alkaline phosphataseactivity in the 0.6% case. The liver and kidney-to-body weightratios were increased in both male and female rats. Histopathologicalchanges were observed in the forestomach, liver, and kidney.Squamous cell hyperplasia and edema accompanied by polynuclearleukocyte infiltration and dilation of vessels in the laminapropria were observed in the forestomach of both sexes given0.15% or higher concentrations Oval cell proliferation was apparentaround Glisson's sheath in the livers of females given 0.3 and0.6% captafol. Multifocal appearance of karycytomegaly and tubularcell atypia in the proximal tubules of the kidney was foundin the 0.3 and 0.6% groups of both sexes.