Introduction
Uchida & Yamasaki (2012, 2022) have developed a universal prevention program to enhance understanding and regulating others’ emotions for elementary and junior high school students. In ...recent years, affect and emotions are popular research topics in the domains of psychology and brain science. Most research has thus far focused on the effects of explicit affect on health and adjustment. However, an increasing number of studies have started to examine the effects of implicit affect on psychological outcomes. Although the program was developed for enhancing coping of explicit emotions for health and adjustment, the effectiveness needs to be examined also in terms of implicit affect.
Objectives
The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of this program in terms of implicit and explicit affect.
Methods
Participants were 6th-grade children in a public elementary school in Japan. The final sample was 61 children (32 boys and 29 girls). Participants completed a battery of two questionnaires just before (Time 1) and just after (Time 2) the intervention program. The questionnaires were the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test for Children (IPANAT-C) for assessing implicit positive and negative affect (IPA and INA) and the Japanese version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C) for measuring explicit positive and negative affect (EPA and ENA). The universal intervention program that was one of the programs we developed for children’s health and adjustment was implemented over four regular classes targeting all children in their homeroom classes.
Results
Data were analyzed by 2 (pre-intervention and post-intervention periods) x 2 (boys and girls) analyses of variance (ANOVA) with the hoc tests using Holm corrections. First, regarding the EPA and IPA, there was a significant main effect of periods (
F
s (1, 59) = 6.82 and 4.54,
p
< .05, respectively), revealing in the post hoc tests that they significantly increased at the post-intervention period. In contrast, regarding ENA and INA, there was no significant main effect of periods. Moreover, regarding EPA, there was a significant main effect of sex. No significant period x sex interactions were found in any affect.
Conclusions
These results revealed that the current program was effective in enhancing explicit and implicit positive affect. On the other hand, no significant effects were found in enhancing explicit and implicit negative affect. The necessity of future research that will examine the sustainability of the effectiveness of the program is discussed, along with several limitations.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared
Summary
Background
A T‐helper (Th) cell subset Th17 preferentially produces interleukin (IL)‐17 and plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. However, the pathological roles of IL‐17 ...cascades in generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) and psoriatic erythroderma (PsE) have not been well established.
Objectives
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of brodalumab, a human immunoglobulin G2 monoclonal antibody against human IL‐17‐receptor A (IL‐17RA), in Japanese patients with GPP and PsE.
Methods
This was an open‐label, multicentre, long‐term phase III study in Japanese patients with rare and severe types of psoriasis. Patients received brodalumab 140 mg at day 1 and weeks 1 and 2, and then every 2 weeks until week 52. The primary endpoint was the Clinical Global Impression of Improvement (CGI). Safety evaluations included treatment‐emergent adverse events (AEs) and changes in laboratory parameters.
Results
A total of 12 patients with GPP and 18 with PsE were enrolled. Ten patients with GPP and 16 with PsE completed the study. At week 52 (last observation carried forward), CGI remission or improvement was achieved in 11 patients with GPP and 18 with PsE. The most commonly reported AE was nasopharyngitis (33·3%). Five serious AEs occurred during the study. However, none was considered treatment‐related.
Conclusions
Brodalumab significantly improved the symptoms of patients with GPP and PsE throughout the 52 weeks, and demonstrated favourable safety profiles without any new safety signals. Inhibition of IL‐17RA‐mediated signalling by brodalumab is expected to be a promising new treatment option for patients with GPP and PsE.
What's already known about this topic?
The pathological roles of interleukin (IL)‐17 cascades in severe types of psoriasis including generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) and psoriatic erythroderma (PsE) have not been well established.
What does this study add?
Brodalumab significantly improved the symptoms of patients with GPP and PsE throughout the 52 weeks and demonstrated favourable safety profiles without any new safety signals.
Brodalumab is expected to be a promising new treatment option for patients with GPP and PsE by blocking IL‐17‐receptor A‐mediated signalling.
Linked Comment: Reich. Br J Dermatol 2017; 176:572–573.
Plain language summary available online
The temperatures in different zones in the world do not show significant changes due to El Niño except when measured in a restricted area in the Pacific Ocean. We find, in contrast, that the dynamics ...of a climate network based on the same temperature records in various geographical zones in the world is significantly influenced by El Niño. During El Niño many links of the network are broken, and the number of surviving links comprises a specific and sensitive measure for El Niño events. While during non-El Niño periods these links which represent correlations between temperatures in different sites are more stable, fast fluctuations of the correlations observed during El Niño periods cause the links to break.
We construct and analyze a climate network which represents the interdependent structure of the climate in different geographical zones and find that the network responds in a unique way to El Niño ...events. Analyzing the dynamics of the climate network shows that when El Niño events begin, the El Niño basin partially loses its influence on its surroundings. After typically three months, this influence is restored while the basin loses almost all dependence on its surroundings and becomes autonomous. The formation of an autonomous basin is the missing link to understand the seemingly contradicting phenomena of the afore-noticed weakening of the interdependencies in the climate network during El Niño and the known impact of the anomalies inside the El Niño basin on the global climate system.
Introduction
In recent years, new concepts have been proposed to discriminate between healthy (adaptive) and unhealthy (nonadaptive) self-esteem. Among them, Yamasaki et al. (2017) proposed the ...concepts of “autonomous” and “heteronomous” self-esteem. As they underscored that autonomous self-esteem needs to be nonconsciously assessed, several nonconscious assessment methods have been developed using implicit association tests (IATs). However, any IAT has not been developed for younger children, even though it is necessary to measure autonomous self-esteem in early childhood because it is largely formed in early developmental stages.
Objectives
The aim was to develop an IAT to measure autonomous and heteronomous self-esteem for 1st-grade elementary school children. In order to standardize it, the validity and reliability were examined.
Methods
Participants were 1st-grade children in a public elementary school in Japan. The final sample included 55 children (35 boys and 20 girls). Their two home-room teachers participated to evaluate the children. The IAT was administered twice, around four weeks apart. The original paper-and-pencil version of the IAT was developed based on the IAT by Yokoshima et al. (2021). In this test, the implicit association between two kinds of stimuli, category (e.g., “myself”) and attribute (face pictograms expressing high and low self-esteem), is measured in terms of accuracy and speed. The evaluation by teachers was conducted using 7-point Likert scales (“not true at all” to “very true”). The evaluation items were “this child proactively does what he or she wants to do alone or with friends for autonomous self-esteem and “this child is competitive and concerned with the consequences of other children” for heteronomous self-esteem.
Results
The test-retest reliability was calculated using correlational analyses of the two measurements. The correlation was significantly positive,
r
= .70,
p
< .01. To examine the validity, the children were divided into high and low groups based on the cut-off scores (over 1
SD
above the mean and under 1
SD
below the mean). Statistical analyses showed that the evaluated scores were significantly higher in Group High than in Group Low regarding the characteristic of autonomous self-esteem,
t
(19) = 3.87,
p
< .01,
d
= 1.62, and that they were significantly higher in Group High than in Group Low for the characteristic of heteronomous self-esteem,
t
(19) = 3.14,
p
< .01,
d
= 1.32.
Conclusions
This study showed that the newly developed IAT for lower-grade children includes high reliability and validity. Hereafter, this test can be utilized at schools to assess autonomous and heteronomous self-esteem. As schools are interested in enhancing healthy and adaptive self-esteem, this tool will be an effective assessment method to ascertain how autonomous self-esteem is cultivated.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared
The transition between isotope-mixing and nonmixing states in hydrogen-deuterium mixture plasmas is observed in the isotope (hydrogen and deuterium) mixture plasma in the Large Helical Device. In the ...nonmixing state, the isotope density ratio profile is nonuniform when the beam fueling isotope species differs from the recycling isotope species and the profile varies significantly depending on the ratio of the recycling isotope species, although the electron density profile shape is unchanged. The fast transition from nonmixing state to isotope-mixing state (nearly uniform profile of isotope ion density ratio) is observed associated with the change of electron density profile from peaked to hollow profile by the pellet injection near the plasma periphery. The transition from nonmixing to isotope-mixing state strongly correlates with the increase of turbulence measurements and the transition of turbulence state from TEM to ion temperature gradient is predicted by gyrokinetic simulation.
Summary
Background Prurigo nodularis (PN) is a chronic dermatitis characterized by discrete, raised, and firm papulonodules with intense pruritus. The pathogenesis still remains to be elucidated.
...Objectives To clarify the role of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in the pathogenesis of PN.
Methods We examined the cytokine signatures, such as phosphorylation of STAT1, STAT3 and STAT6, HLA‐DR and hyaluronan accumulation, to reveal the Th1 and Th2 cytokine influence on the lesional epidermis of PN.
Results We first optimized antigen retrieval methods to detect these signatures with antibodies for phospho‐STAT1 (pSTAT1), phospho‐STAT3 (pSTAT3), phospho‐STAT6 (pSTAT6), HLA‐DR and hyaluronic acid binding protein (HABP) on the formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded sections of psoriasis, lichen planus and atopic dermatitis biopsy samples. Activation of STAT1 and STAT6 in epidermis by Th1 and Th2 cytokines was further confirmed in a cultured skin equivalent model treated with interferon‐γ or interleukin (IL)‐4/IL‐13. With the relevant immunostaining methods, we examined the cytokine signatures in 22 cases of PN. The results revealed that (i) the entire epidermis of 19 cases was stained with anti‐pSTAT6 antibody, (ii) 21 cases demonstrated nuclear staining with anti‐pSTAT3 antibody, (iii) the entire epidermis of 21 cases was stained with HABP, (iv) the epidermis of eight cases showed scattered staining with anti‐pSTAT1 antibody, and (v) six cases were positive for HLA‐DR membrane expression.
Conclusions These data indicated that Th2 cytokines related to STAT6 activation together with some unknown stimuli that activate STAT3 play a principal role in the pathogenesis of PN.
MR imaging can reflect the pathologic progression of carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (CXPA). This study aimed to identify the imaging findings related to extracapsular invasion of CXPA. ...Additionally, the pathologic background of these findings was investigated.
This retrospective study included 37 patients with histologically confirmed CXPA. Three radiologists independently evaluated whether the CXPA showed the following characteristic MR imaging findings: border, capsule, the corona sign on fat-saturated T2WI and contrast-enhanced fat-saturated T1WI, and the black ring sign. The corona sign appeared larger on fat-saturated and/or contrast-enhanced fat-saturated T1WI than on T1WI. The black ring sign was defined as an intratumoral nodule with a thick low-intensity rim on T2WI. Interreader agreement of the visual assessment was performed using κ analysis, and MR imaging and histopathologic findings were also correlated. Kaplan-Meier survival and the log-rank test were used to estimate the 3-year disease-free survival.
MR imaging findings, especially peritumoral findings, showed a significant difference between invasive and noninvasive CXPA. The reliability was poor for the border and capsule. In contrast, it was good for the corona sign on fat-saturated and contrast-enhanced fat-saturated T1WI and the black ring sign. Pathologically, the corona sign reflected the invasiveness of the tumor and inflammatory cells, while the black ring sign reflected hyalinization or fibrosis. The corona sign also showed a significant difference in the 3-year disease-free survival.
MR imaging findings, including the corona and black ring signs, reliably differentiated invasive and noninvasive CXPA. The corona sign can be used as a prognostic factor for CXPA.
The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of ivermectin for the treatment of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), a type 2 family RNA coronavirus similar to SARS-CoV-2. Female BALB/cJ mice ...were infected with 6,000 PFU of MHV-A59 (group infected, n = 20) or infected and then immediately treated with a single dose of 500 µg/kg ivermectin (group infected + IVM, n = 20) or were not infected and treated with PBS (control group, n = 16). Five days after infection/treatment, the mice were euthanized and the tissues were sampled to assess their general health status and infection levels. Overall, the results demonstrated that viral infection induced typical MHV-caused disease, with the livers showing severe hepatocellular necrosis surrounded by a severe lymphoplasmacytic inflammatory infiltration associated with a high hepatic viral load (52,158 AU), while mice treated with ivermectin showed a better health status with a lower viral load (23,192 AU; p < 0.05), with only a few having histopathological liver damage (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between the group infected + IVM and control group mice (P = NS). Furthermore, serum transaminase levels (aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase) were significantly lower in the treated mice than in the infected animals. In conclusion, ivermectin diminished the MHV viral load and disease in the mice, being a useful model for further understanding this therapy against coronavirus diseases.
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