Search

Background: In many developed countries, mood disorders have become problematic, and the economic loss due to treatment costs and interference with work is immeasurable. Therefore, a simple technique to determine individuals’ depressive state and stress level is desired. Methods: We developed a method to assess specific the psychological issues of individuals with major depressive disorders using emotional components contained in their voice. We propose two indices: vitality, a short-term index, and mental activity, a long-term index capturing trends in vitality. To evaluate our method, we used the voices of healthy individuals (n = 14) and patients with major depression (n = 30). The patients were also assessed by specialists using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). Results: A significant negative correlation existed between the vitality extracted from the voices and HAM-D scores (r = −0.33, p &lt, 0.05). Furthermore, we could discriminate the voice data of healthy individuals and patients with depression with a high accuracy using the vitality indicator (p = 0.0085, area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.76).

We developed an effective hemostatic method using HydrofitA simulated circuit was created using the pump of a Nipro ventricular assist system and a prosthetic graft. A hole was made in the graft by a needle and three hemostatic methods were applied: the silicone sheet method (SS) using HydrofitIn the 60 s compression, the amount of leakage after SS, BB, and FT was 0.4 ± 0.8, 0.2 ± 0.6, and 0 ± 0.0 ml, respectively, and FT showed no leakage. In the 30 s compression, the amount of leakage after SS, BB, and FT was 14.2 ± 27.9, 1.0 ± 3.2, and 7.8 ± 22.6 ml, respectively, and did not differ to a statistically significant extent.The method of combining Hydrofit

We developed a surgical hemostatic film using Hydrofit

The purpose of this study is to verify the impact of a deterioration of the sound quality of voice by a telephone line on estimating Vitality as the extent of depressive tendency based on voice analysis using MIMOSYS. First, the voices of about 1,000 people recorded using a recorder were prepared. Next, each voice was coded and resampled in preparation for transmission over a phone line. Vitalities obtained by analyzing the voices before and after these processes were compared. The results showed high correlation between the Vitality after coding and Vitality before coding, revealing that using a telephone would be an effective way to obtain voices.

Article, PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES. 62(3): 286-292(2008)

A high-performance brain PET scanner, jPET-D4, which provides four-layer depth-of-interaction (DOI) information, is being developed to achieve not only high spatial resolution, but also high scanner sensitivity. One technical issue to be dealt with is the data dimensions which increase in proportion to the square of the number of DOI layers. It is, therefore, difficult to apply algebraic or statistical image reconstruction methods directly to DOI-PET, though they improve image quality through accurate system modelling. The process that requires the most computational time and storage space is the calculation of the huge number of system matrix elements. The DOI compression (DOIC) method, which we have previously proposed, reduces data dimensions by a factor of 1/5. In this paper, we propose a transaxial imaging system model optimized for jPET-D4 with the DOIC method. The proposed model assumes that detector response functions (DRFs) are uniform along line-of-responses (LORs). Then each element of the system matrix is calculated as the summed intersection lengths between a pixel and sub-LORs weighted by a value from the DRF look-up-table. 2D numerical simulation results showed that the proposed model cut the calculation time by a factor of several hundred while keeping image quality, compared with the accurate system model. A 3D image reconstruction with the on-the-fly calculation of the system matrix is within the practical limitations by incorporating the proposed model and the DOIC method with one-pass accelerated iterative methods.

A 40-year-old woman was admitted with altered consciousness and hyperammonemia after she had delivered her first baby. DNA analysis of the citrin gene and enzymatic assay of argininosuccinate synthetase in the liver led to a diagnosis of adult-onset type II citrullinemia (CTLN2). She was also found to have hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and underwent palliative surgery consisting of partial liver section of the HCC. Delivery may be a trigger for the development of CTLN2, while certain pathologic conditions associated with citrin gene abnormality are likely to induce hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with this disorder.

We compared postural sway parameters during a 1-minute quiet stance in 28 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) in off phase with those in 17 age-matched normal subjects and investigated differences in the sway parameters before and after unilateral pallidotomy in 16 PD patients. The PD patients showed larger sway area (SA) and longer total sway path length (SPL) compared with normal subjects. Total SPL after subtraction of tremor effect did not differ from that in normal subjects. The shift of the mean center of foot pressure (CFP) position from the first 30 seconds to the last 30 seconds showed that the CFP tended to move forward in PD patients compared with normal subjects and to move laterally more in PD patients than normal subjects, especially in those with less severity (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, motor score < 40). After the operation, there was little change in either SA or lateral movement of CFP, but forward movement of CFP and total SPL tended to be normalized, along with an improvement of major parkinsonian symptoms. From these results, it is concluded that SPL elongation significantly involves tremor effect, forward movement of CFP in PD derives from basal ganglia dysfunction, and SA enlargement and large lateral movement of CFP may be caused partly by compensatory movements or by dysfunction outside the basal ganglia circuitry.

We describe a patient with cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa (CPN) and a patient with nonsystemic vasculitic neuropathy (NSVN), both presenting mononeuritis multiplex. Patient 1 was a 50 year-old woman. She developed livedo reticularis, palpable purpura, and sensory disturbance of lower extremities. Laboratory examinations showed no abnormal findings except for slight elevation of ESR, CRP, and anti-nuclear antibody. Skin biopsy revealed vasculitis of small to medium sized arterioles in dermis and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Sural nerve biopsy revealed axonal degeneration of myelinated fibers and infiltration of polymorphonuclear cells and mononuclear cells around feeding arteries. From these findings, she was diagnosed as having CPN. She was treated with intravenous injections of methylprednisolone (1,000 mg/day) followed by oral prednisolone (40 mg/day), which had a limited effect. Addition of an immunosuppressive agent (azathioprine 50 mg/day) produced marked improvement in her clinical symptoms. However, azathioprine was discontinued because of liver injury. Then, we added cyclophosphamide which was as effective as azathioprine. Patient 2 was a 57 year-old man. He developed weakness of legs and sensory disturbance of lower extremities and trunk. Laboratory examinations showed no abnormal findings except for slight elevation of CRP and anti-nuclear antibody. Sural nerve biopsy revealed infiltration of inflammatory cells mainly consisting of mononuclear cells around small sized arterioles in the epineurium and severe loss of myelinated fibers. From these findings, he was diagnosed as having NSVN. Treatment with oral prednisolone (60 mg/day) and azathioprine (50 mg/day) improved his clinical symptoms. CPN is differentiated from NSVN by the existence of skin lesions and the type of inflammatory cells involved. However, these two diseases share common clinical features such as mononeuritis multiplex, absence of systemic organ involvement, no specific abnormal laboratory data, effectiveness of immunosuppressive therapy, and relatively good prognosis. We suggest that CPN and NSVN are included in the same category of nonsystemic vasculitis that can involve peripheral nerves and/or skin.