Search

Cognitive deficit remains an intractable symptom of schizophrenia, accounting for substantial disability. Despite this, little is known about the cause of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. Recent studies suggest that schizophrenia patients show several changes in dentate gyrus structure and functional characteristic of immaturity. The immature dentate gyrus (iDG) has been replicated in several mouse models, most notably the CaMKIIα heterozygous mouse (CaMKIIα-hKO). The current study characterizes behavioral phenotypes of CaMKIIα-hKO mice and determines their neurophysiological profile using electroencephalogram (EEG) recording from hippocampus. CaMKIIα-hKO mice were hypoactive in home-cage environment; however, they displayed less anxiety-like phenotype, suggestive of impulsivity-like behavior. In addition, severe cognitive dysfunction was evident in CaMKIIα-hKO mice as examined by novel object recognition and contextual fear conditioning. Several EEG phenomena established in both patients and relevant animal models indicate key pathological changes associated with the disease, include auditory event-related potentials and time-frequency EEG oscillations. CaMKIIα-hKO mice showed altered event-related potentials characterized by an increase in amplitude of the N40 and P80, as well as increased P80 latency. These mice also showed increased power in theta range time-frequency measures. Additionally, CaMKIIα-hKO mice showed spontaneous bursts of spike wave activity, possibly indicating absence seizures. The GABAB agonist baclofen increased, while the GABAB antagonist CGP35348 and the T-Type Ca2

This study investigated the efficacy of 10-module metacognitive training (MCT) among Japanese patients with schizophrenia by conducting a multicenter randomized controlled trial to test the influence of the most recent and extended version of MCT on positive symptoms. A six-center, randomized, assessor-blind, controlled trial between “treatment as usual” (TAU) and TAU + MCT was conducted. Fifty inpatients and outpatients with schizophrenia, schizotypal, and delusional disorders (ICD 10) were enrolled, then randomly assigned to TAU (n = 26) or TAU + MCT (n = 24). Assessments were made at baseline, after six weeks, immediately posttreatment, and 1-month post-treatment. The primary outcome was positive symptom score, as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). General assessment of functioning (GAF) and measures of cognitive biases were secondary outcomes. Completion at post-treatment (10 weeks later) and 1-month follow-up was high—TAU + MCT, n = 22 (91.67%) and TAU, n = 23 (88.46%). The severity of PANSS positive symptoms declined significantly in the TAU + MCT treatment group compared with the TAU group. GAF also showed significantly greater improvement in the TAU + MCT group compared with the TAU group. There was also a trend for greater efficacy of MCT on cognitive biases. In conclusion, this study provides support for the efficacy of 10 module MCT concerning positive symptomatology (especially, delusion) and general functioning.

This study serves as an update to a recent systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the effect of aerobic exercise on cognition in schizophrenia and determine the most effective method of aerobic exercise. We searched for controlled studies investigating the effect of aerobic exercise on cognition in schizophrenia published until January 2021. Fifteen studies were included. A random-effects model was used to estimate the standardized mean differences (SMDs) between cognitive outcomes of aerobic exercises and controls. Compared with controls, aerobic exercises resulted in significant improvements in global cognition (SMD = 0.21), attention/vigilance (SMD = 0.32), working memory (SMD = 0.27), and verbal learning (SMD = 0.30). Significant improvements in global cognition were observed with group exercise (SMD = 0.28), exercise supervised by exercise professionals (SMD = 0.27), as well as with ≥ 90 min/week (SMD = 0.26) and ≥ 12 weeks duration (SMD = 0.22). Our findings provide information beneficial for determining the most effective aerobic exercise method to improve cognition in schizophrenia.

This study involved designing and developing a smart structural system for pointing control of large-scale trusses. The system consisted of a pointing control mechanism, an internal displacement-sensor, and a controller. The significant points of the system included the following: (1) artificial thermal expansions of truss members were utilized as linear actuators, (2) elastic hinges were employed instead of ball joints, and (3) the internal displacement-sensor that did not require external jigs and possessed high measuring accuracy was applied. The study involved conducting a feasibility study and an experimental demonstration. The results indicated that the pointing control mechanism produced a sufficient tilt angle to satisfy typical requirements of recent scientific satellites. Furthermore, the findings confirmed that the hysteresis of the pointing control mechanism could be kept sufficiently small due to the absence of sliding parts. The difference between the finite element analysis and the measured value corresponded to [Formula: see text] for a [Formula: see text] long truss. Additionally, the results suggested that the proposed smart structural system for pointing exhibited high control accuracy and tracking performance for a periodic motion. The root mean square error value for a circular trajectory with a radius of [Formula: see text] for a period of [Formula: see text] corresponded to [Formula: see text] for the [Formula: see text] long truss.

Objective/Background This longitudinal study explored factors influencing the rehospitalisation of patients with schizophrenia in Japan. Methods Participants comprised patients with schizophrenia who were discharged from a psychiatric hospital in Japan. The investigations were conducted at the time of discharge and one year later. Demographics and clinical characteristics included the following: the type of occupational therapy (OT) interventions (group and individualized or group only); the assessment scales’ scores on hospitalisation; the community living conditions after discharge; and the contents of outpatient treatment (outpatient OT, day-care treatment, home-visit nursing, and adherence to outpatient treatment and medication). All variables were examined in a binomial logistic regression analysis to identify the factors for rehospitalisation. Results The rehospitalisation rate was 31.8%, as 14 of 44 participants were rehospitalised within one year after discharge. The type of OT interventions (OR = 7.05, 95% CI = 1.36 −36.69, p = .020) and the adherence to outpatient treatment and medication (OR = 9.48, 95% CI = 1.82–49.33, p = .008) were significant contributing factors to rehospitalisation. Conclusion This study provided preliminary support for the finding that individualized occupational therapy and proper adherence to outpatient treatment and medication are associated with reducing the rehospitalisation of patients with schizophrenia in Japan.

This pilot randomized controlled trial evaluated the combined effect of individual and group aerobic exercises (AEs) on cognition in schizophrenia. Among 32 randomized patients, 31 were included in the intent-to-treat population: 16 in treatment as usual (TAU) + AE and 15 in TAU groups. Over 12 weeks, patients were given a dose of 2 exercise sessions per week, including 1 individual session and 1 group session. TAU + AE patients showed significant improvements in cognition, intrinsic motivation, psychiatric symptoms, and interpersonal relations. These encouraging findings support the promise of integrated individual and group AEs to improve cognition and other outcomes in schizophrenia.

This paper is an application of image processing techniques for computer-aided diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Accurately measuring the progression of joint space narrowing (JSN) is crucial during medical treatment and in imaging biomarkers in clinical trials. In this paper, we analyze sequential radiographic images of patients who have rheumatoid arthritis in hands using image processing techniques. Phase only correlation (POC) is used to detect the progression of JSN between images. A new image processing algorithm is proposed to segment joint images so as to eliminate the mutual interference when measuring the movement of the upper and lower bones by POC. We found that the texture feature on bones will greatly affect the accuracy of POC. Median filter is used to eliminate the effect of texture, and excellent results are obtained in practice. Additionally, the progress of JSN is measured accurately in our method. This can be beneficial for doctors in the identification of disease stages.

AIM We examined the effect of individualized occupational therapy (IOT) compared to the usual group occupational therapy (GOT) on the rehospitalization of patients with schizophrenia. METHODS A prospective cohort study included patients with schizophrenia who were discharged within 1 year from a psychiatric hospital. Time to rehospitalization by treatment group (GOT + IOT or GOT-alone) was evaluated with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The impact of demographics and clinical factors associated with rehospitalization was investigated using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS Of the 111 patients who met the criteria, 54 were in the GOT + IOT group and 57 in the GOT-alone group. Over the 2 years from discharge, the overall rehospitalization rate was 51.376% (56 patients); the GOT + IOT group demonstrated a significantly lower rehospitalization rate with 16 patients rehospitalized compared to 40 patients from the GOT-alone group. Time to rehospitalization was significantly longer for the GOT + IOT group compared to those in the GOT-alone group (P

To replicate human visual perception, we analyze processing images with optical illusion using edge preserving filters and smoothed local histogram equalization (LHE). Images with the optical illusions are good models for gradual/rapid changes in contrast and strong edges, which are good cases for assessing the robustness of image filters. Here, we study and an-alyze the performance of smoothed LHE filters while processing perceptual illusion. Our studies conclude that, smoothed LHEs are useful in retaining actual edge forms in these images as they can operate using large kernel sizes. These large kernel size filters can construct sawtooth like edge and it corresponds to adequately wide halos. We also demonstrate the usefulness of smoothed LHE like tone mapping techniques in preserving naturalness, and we confirmed it by performing subjective visual test.

Biological sensing technology utilizing nanoparticles extends through a diverse range of fields. The nanosensing is controlled using the assembly/disassembly of nanoparticles dominated by interaction forces between them. Although the interaction potential surface gives decisive information on the sensing mechanism, evaluating the quantitative profile has been impossible due to extremely complicated interactions of conjugated soft matter. In this study, a model-potential-free determination of the interaction potential surfaces was devised by combining small-angle scattering and liquid-state theory. The model-potential-free liquid theory was developed for colloidal nanoparticles inherently with strong van der Waals attraction forces by their nanoscopic size. The present method extracts interaction potential between nanoparticles even in systems with complicated interactions due to conjugated soft matter. By applying this determination method to a glutathione-triggered biosensing reaction, interaction potent...

We described an individualized occupational therapy (IOT) programme and examined the effects of adding IOT to group OT (GOT) on improving neurocognition, symptoms and social functioning among recently hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia-Japanese version (BACS-J), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning scale were used for outcome evaluations. Fifty-one patients were voluntarily assigned to either the GOT + IOT (n = 30) or GOT alone (n = 21) groups based on their preferences. Retention in the GOT + IOT group was 100%. Three-month baseline to discharge assessments in the GOT + IOT group showed significant improvements in BACS-J verbal memory, working memory, verbal fluency, attention, executive function and composite score, and in PANSS positive subscale, general psychopathology subscale, and total score compared to the GOT alone group. Study limitations notwithstanding, the present findings provide preliminary support for the feasibility of implementing IOT and its effectiveness for improving cognitive impairment and symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The results of this study indicate that IOT in psychiatric facilities may improve psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia. Additional study is warranted to replicate the effects of IOT as demonstrated in this Japanese study. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Co and Sn-doped/added p-type skutterudite was prepared to examine the reduction of the electronic thermal conductivity. Samples with the nominal compositions of Ce0.95Fe4Sb12.2, Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2, Ce0.95-xSnxFe3Co1Sb12.2 (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3), ySn-Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2 (y = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) were synthesized by heat treatment, melt-spinning followed by spark plasma sintering. In Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2 and ySn-Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2 single skutterudite phase was detected by XRD. ySn-Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2 has lower electrical conductivity and higher Seebeck coefficient than Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2, which result in higher power factor and lower electronic thermal conductivity of ySn-Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2. EXAFS spectra confirmed that Sn occupies the Sb site. Sn seems to compensate the defect of Sb in Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2 and supplied electron carriers. The ZT value of 0.2Sn–Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2 reached 0.9 at 673 K, which is 30% higher than that of Ce0.95Fe3Co1Sb12.2 prepared in this study.

We previously reported that adding combined, individual, and group aerobic exercise (AE) interventions to the treatment as usual (TAU) for schizophrenia showed significant improvements in cognition and other outcomes compared to those with TAU alone in a randomized controlled trial. Following the promising results of our previous study, this 1-year follow-up study evaluated the improvements in cognition and other outcomes with TAU + AE compared to those with TAU alone. Of 41 randomized patients, 40 were included in the intent-to-treat population—20 in the TAU + AE and 20 in the TAU alone; all patients completed the 1-year follow-up. Mixed models were applied to assess changes in outcome measures over time from baseline to 1-year follow-up. At 1-year follow-up, the TAU + AE demonstrated significant group by time interaction effects in several cognitive domains, intrinsic motivation, negative symptom, interpersonal relations, and functional outcome compared with the TAU alone. Our results demonstrate that the improvements in cognition and other outcomes with TAU + AE were maintained and that functional outcome improved over 1-year follow-up. These findings show that the improvements sustained for each outcome over 1 year have the potential to offer opportunities for greater transitions to improvement of functional outcome.

In this study, we propose an efficient stereo matching method which estimates sparse disparities using global phase only correlation (POC). Conventionally, cost functions are to be calculated for all disparity candidates and the associated computational cost has been impediment in achieving a realtime performance. Therefore, we consider to use full image 2D phase only correlation (FIPOC) for detecting the valid disparities candidates. This would require comparatively fewer calculations for the same number of disparities. Since, the FIPOC output indicates the disparity distribution of two stereo images, we can sort the disparity candidates and choose them for sparse calculation. In our proposed method, the searchable disparity range is half of the input image size, which is much wider than that of the conventional methods. When we apply the FIPOC to naive sum of absolute difference (SAD) stereo matching method, the combined algorithm would require fewer calculations while maintaining the same accuracy. In our evaluation, the proposed method achieves 194 disparity stereo matching in 70 ms on $398 \times 288$ images without the need for SIMD instruction, multi-thread operation, or additional hardware while using a Intel Core i5-5257U.

Composite particles of lignin–hydroxyethylcellulose were fabricated by means of reverse-micelle formation using H2O–CHCl3 in the presence of a surfactant, and an aggregate of the particles was obtained by successive precipitation from acetone, filtration, and drying. The aggregate was carbonized by pyrolysis with heating up to 900 °C under flowing of argon. The carbonized product was a hierarchical porous carbon that had a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 405 m2/g with micropore volume (0.11 cm3/g) and no small mesopore volume (0.58 cm3/g). Higher-porous spherical-carbon aggregates were obtained by fitting an in situ surface activation in the carbon conversion process, i.e., composite particles similarly prepared from lignin and hydroxyethylcellulose in the presence of NaOH were carbonized. One of them showed a BET surface area of 1790 m2/g with a micropore volume (0.54 cm3/g) and large mesopore volume (2.08 cm3/g). This in situ activation process added micropores and mesoporous cavities to th...

The individualized occupational therapy (IOT) program is a psychosocial program that we developed to facilitate proactive participation in treatment and improve cognitive functioning and other outcomes for inpatients with acute schizophrenia. The program consists of motivational interviewing, self-monitoring, individualized visits, handicraft activities, individualized psychoeducation, and discharge planning. This multicenter, open-labeled, blinded-endpoint, randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of adding IOT to a group OT (GOT) program as usual for outcomes in recently hospitalized patients with schizophrenia in Japanese psychiatric hospitals setting compared with GOT alone. Patients with schizophrenia were randomly assigned to the GOT+IOT group or the GOT alone group. Among 136 randomized patients, 129 were included in the intent-to-treat population: 66 in the GOT+IOT and 63 in the GOT alone groups. Outcomes were administered at baseline and discharge or 3 months following hospitalization including the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia Japanese version (BACS-J), the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale Japanese version, the Social Functioning Scale Japanese version, the Global Assessment of Functioning scale, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory Japanese version (IMI-J), the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the Japanese version of Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8J). Results of linear mixed effects models indicated that the IOT+GOT showed significant improvements in verbal memory (p

Arthrospira platensis ou Spirulina é uma microalga com alto valor nutricional. Foram preparados extratos de Spirulina, caracterizados e aplicados como estabilizadores de emulsão de óleo de girassol comercial em água (O/A) (10% v/v) na ausência e na presença de quatro tipos de hidroxipropil metilcelulose (HPMC). Os extratos brutos de Spirulina foram preparados em tampões a pH 6 (EB6) e pH 8 (EB8) por sonicação para promover a lise celular e a libertação de proteínas e fosfolípides; Parte dos extratos foi centrifugada (EC6 ou EC8). Independentemente das condições de extração, todos os extratos apresentados apresentaram valores de potencial-&#950 médio variando de - (16 ± 2) mV a - (20 ± 2) mV, tamanho médio variando de (108 ± 52) nm a (306 ± 68) nm e atividade interfacial. As emulsões O/A preparadas com extratos de Spirulina (10 g / L) exibiram partículas com potencial- médio variando de - (16 ± 2) mV a - (27 ± 4) mV, tamanho médio variando de ~ 70 nm (EB6 ou EB8) a ~ 700 nm (EC6 ou EC8). No entanto, o EB6 levou a emulsões ligeiramente mais estáveis do que as outras. A combinação de EB6 (10 g / L) e HPMC (1,0 % m/m) levou a um aumento substancial na estabilidade da emulsão, embora os valores de potencial- diminuíram uma ordem de grandeza. Em particular, a HPMC com a maior massa molar e o maior grau de substituição de grupos metila conduziu a i) camada interfacial mais robusta resultante da formação de complexos entre cadeias HPMC e proteínas EB6 e (ii) meio contínuo mais viscoso. Arthrospira platensis or Spirulina is a microalga with a high nutritional value. Extracts of Spirulina were prepared, characterized and applied as oil in water (O/W) (10 % v/v) emulsion stabilizers in the absence and presence of four types of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC). The emulsions were prepared with edible sunflower oil. Crude extracts of Spirulina were prepared in buffers at pH 6 (CE6-Crude extract pH6) and pH 8 (CE8-Crude extract pH8) by sonication to promote cell lysis and protein and phospholipids release; part of the extracts was centrifuged (CCE6 or CCE8). Regardless of the extraction conditions, all extracts presented mean -potential ranging from (16 ± 2) mV to (20 ± 2) mV, mean diameter ranging from (108 ± 52) nm to (306 ± 68) nm and interfacial activity. The emulsions prepared with Spirulina extracts (10 g/L) displayed particles with mean -potential ranging from (16 ± 2) mV to (27 ± 4) mV, mean diameter ranging from ~ 70 nm (CCE6 or CCE8) to ~ 700 nm (CE6 or CE8). However, CE6 led to emulsions slightly more stable than the others did. The combination of CE6 (10 g/L) HPMC (1.0 wt %) led to substantial increase in the emulsion stability, although the -potential values decreased one order of magnitude. Particularly, the HPMC with the highest molecular weight and highest methyl substitution degree led to the most (i) robust interfacial layer resulting from the complex formation between HPMC chains and CE6 proteins and (ii) viscous continuous medium.

Division is a fundamental operation used in the architectures for digital signal processing algorithms. In this paper, we propose a fixed-point divider based on an ensemble of moving average (EnMA) curves. The EnMA algorithm generates piecewise polynomial explicit functions, which are first-order continuously differentiable. Thus, applying the EnMA algorithm for generating the curve y = 1/x, we directly obtain values of y and decrease multiplications and subtractions in the division algorithm. Evaluation of our divider on an FPGA Xilinx Kintex-7 board revealed latency of one clock cycle and operation speed of 23.12 ns by using only 625 look-up-tables, which is two times faster than the latest Xilinx IPs. The relative error was smaller than 0.01%, so our divider guaranteed 13-bit precision in division. Therefore, our proposed divider can be effectively used for image processing applications.

High quality ceramics of Ba((Co 0.7 Zn 0.3 ) 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 (BCZN), Ba(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 (BMN) and Ba(Mg 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 (BMT) were prepared by the mixed oxide route using sintering temperatures up to 1620 °C. Products with a high degree of cation ordering exhibited dielectric Q × f values from 83,000 GHz (BCZN) to 360,000 GHz (BMT). High Resolution TEM and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) revealed ordering domains and type I, II and III boundary structures. High-Angle Angular Dark Field (HAADF) STEM images provided direct evidence of 1:2 ordering and stacking sequences, and the presence of disordered regions within domain boundaries. The exceptionally high Q × f values for BMT are associated with a high degree of B-site ordering and the removal of domain boundaries in large, single domain grains. The catastrophic degradation of Q × f values in BMN after prolonged sintering is associated with formation of a lossy ferroelectric secondary phase (Ba 3 Nb 2 O 8 ), and changes to composition and stoichiometry of BMN grains.

Objective Ghrelin is a stomach-derived hormone. Acylation of ghrelin has been essential for its biological activities such as stimulating appetite. On the other hand, the function of des-acyl ghrelin (Des-G) has not been fully elucidated. The aim of the present study is to examine the anti-apoptotic effect of Des-G on endothelial cells. Materials/Methods After human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (RMECs) were pretreated with or without 100 nmol/L Des-G, apoptosis was induced with 0.1 mmol/L hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). For pharmacological inhibition of surtuin 1 (SIRT1) catalytic activity, the cells were treated with 10 μmol/L Ex-527. Inhibition of SIRT1 with siRNA was also performed. The quantitative estimation of DNA fragmentation was used as a marker of apoptosis. Furthermore, total SIRT activity in nuclear extracts, mRNA and protein levels of SIRT1, manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and catalase were determined. Results Des-G pretreatment protected RMECs from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis and increased SIRTs deacetylase activity in nuclear extracts. On the other hand, both pharmacological and siRNA mediated inhibition of SIRT1 attenuated the anti-apoptotic effect of Des-G. Moreover, Des-G increased mRNA and protein levels of SIRT1 and antioxidant enzymes such as MnSOD and CAT, which are downstream targets of SIRT1. Although the treatment of Ex-527 did not alter mRNA expression levels of SIRT1, it decreased mRNA expression levels of antioxidant enzymes in the cells with Des-G pretreatment. Conclusions Our results suggest that SIRT1 signaling pathway contributes to protective effect of Des-G against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis.

Aims/Introduction The adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel is a key component of insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells. Activating mutations in ABCC8 encoding for the sulfonylurea receptor subunit of the KATP channel have been associated with the development of neonatal diabetes mellitus (NDM). The aim was to investigate clinical and functional characterization of the Pro1198Leu ABCC8 gene mutation associated with permanent NDM (PNDM). Materials and Methods The coding regions and conserved splice sites of KCNJ11, ABCC8 and INS were screened for mutations in a 12-year-old girl diagnosed with PNDM. The functional property of the mutant channel identified was examined with patch-clamp experiments in COS-1 cells. We also investigated the difference of effectiveness between two groups of oral sulfonylureas in vitro and in the patient. Results We identified a heterozygous missense mutation (c.3593 C>T, Pro1198Leu) in ABCC8. The mutated residue (P1198) is located within a putative binding site of sulfonylureas, such as tolbutamide or gliclazide. In patch-clamp experiments, the mutant channel was less ATP sensitive than the wild type. Furthermore, the sensitivity to tolbutamide was also reduced in the mutant channel. In addition to the tolbutamide/gliclazide binding site, glibenclamide is thought to also bind to another site. Glibenclamide was more effective than other sulfonylureas in vitro and in the patient. The treatment of the patient was finally able to be switched from insulin injection to oral glibenclamide. Conclusions We identified the Pro1198Leu ABCC8 mutation in a PNDM patient, and clarified the functional and clinical characterization. The present findings provide new information for understanding PNDM.

We designed and developed a novel smart structural system for pointing control of large-scale support structures, such as trusses. The system consists of a pointing control mechanism, an internal displacement-sensor, and a controller. Remarkable points of our system are (1) artificial thermal expansion of truss members is utilized as linear actuators, (2) elastic hinges are applied instead of boll joints, and (3) the internal displacement-sensor which does not need external jigs and has high measuring accuracy is applied. In this paper, we conducted the feasibility study and the experimental demonstration. As a result of the feasibility study, the proposed pointing control mechanism can produce several hundred arcseconds of the rotational displacements within three minutes, therefore it has potential for using in practical operations. As a result of the experimental demonstration, we confirmed that the hysteresis of the pointing control mechanism can be kept sufficiently small due to the absence of the sliding parts, and has high control accuracy and followability (the error RMS value for a circle of the radius of 500 μm is 3.6 %).

We described an individualized occupational therapy (IOT) programme and examined the effects of adding IOT to group OT (GOT) on improving neurocognition, symptoms and social functioning among recently hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia-Japanese version (BACS-J), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning scale were used for outcome evaluations. Fifty-one patients were voluntarily assigned to either the GOT + IOT (n = 30) or GOT alone (n = 21) groups based on their preferences. Retention in the GOT + IOT group was 100%. Three-month baseline to discharge assessments in the GOT + IOT group showed significant improvements in BACS-J verbal memory, working memory, verbal fluency, attention, executive function and composite score, and in PANSS positive subscale, general psychopathology subscale, and total score compared to the GOT alone group. Study limitations notwithstanding, the present findings provide preliminary support for the feasibility of implementing IOT and its effectiveness for improving cognitive impairment and symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The results of this study indicate that IOT in psychiatric facilities may improve psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia. Additional study is warranted to replicate the effects of IOT as demonstrated in this Japanese study. Copyright © 2016 John WileySons, Ltd.

Summary Obesity-induced inflammation mediated by immune cells in adipose tissue appears to participate in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. We show that natural killer (NK) cells in adipose tissue play an important role. High-fat diet (HFD) increases NK cell numbers and the production of proinflammatory cytokines, notably TNFα, in epididymal, but not subcutaneous, fat depots. When NK cells were depleted either with neutralizing antibodies or genetic ablation in E4bp4 +/− mice, obesity-induced insulin resistance improved in parallel with decreases in both adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) numbers, and ATM and adipose tissue inflammation. Conversely, expansion of NK cells following IL-15 administration or reconstitution of NK cells into E4bp4 −/− mice increased both ATM numbers and adipose tissue inflammation and exacerbated HFD-induced insulin resistance. These results indicate that adipose NK cells control ATMs as an upstream regulator potentially by producing proinflammatory mediators, including TNFα, and thereby contribute to the development of obesity-induced insulin resistance.

Positive temperature coefficient of resistivity (PTCR) ceramics of 0.912(Ba1+xTiO3)–0.088(Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3) (BT–BNT) (x = −0.03 to 0.03) were prepared using the mixed oxide route and sintered at 1340°C for 4 h. Products were predominantly single phase with a tetragonal structure and grains in 2–6 μm size containing 90° ferroelectric domains. Samples with Ti/Ba > 1 contained second-phase Ba6Ti17O40. HRTEM and aberration-corrected Z-contrast high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) suggested that the dopants, Bi and Na, occupy the Ba site of the perovskite lattice, and revealed the presence of dissociated dislocations in x = −0.03 and x = 0.00 materials. The interval between two partial dislocations was 1.9–3.4 nm, yielding stacking fault energies of 363–649 mJ/m2. The PTCR behavior of the ceramics increased with Ti/Ba content, reaching a maximum of six decades change in resistivity for x = −0.03. The anomalous increase in resistivity depends critically on stoichiometry, increasing with the Ti/Ba ratio; this in turn is directly correlated with an increase in the amount of second-phase Ba6Ti17O40, an increase in the stacking fault energy, and an increase in the tilt angle of the grain boundaries.

8 mol% yttria-stabilised zirconia (8YSZ) was annealed at high temperature under various compressive stress conditions. The conductivity was measured during the annealing whilst the grain structure as well as the crystal structure was examined before and after annealing. The conductivity of 8YSZ subjected to no stress decreased with the annealing time due to the increase of the tetragonal phase. The compressive stress of 50 MPa had no effect on either the decrease of the conductivity or the increase of the tetragonal phase. The compressive stresses of 100 and 200 MPa had also no influence on them, except for the initial decrease in the conductivity caused by the fracture. The average grain size was almost constant regardless of the annealing time, temperature and the compressive stress. The degradation phenomenon of 8YSZ therefore could not be influenced by a compressive stress of up to 200 MPa.

We have developed a new simple method to induce serotonergic neurons from embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem cells. When ES or induced pluripotent stem cells were cultured on a thick gel layer of Matrigel, most colonies extended TuJ1-positive neurites. We found that noggin, a known antagonist of bone morphogenic protein, induces ES cells to express genes involved in serotonergic differentiation, such as Nkx2.2, Pet-1, Sonic hedgehog, tryptophan hydroxylase 2, and serotonin transporter, as well as increases high potassium-induced release of serotonin. To concentrate serotonergic neurons, ES cells carrying Pet-1-enhancer-driven enhanced green fluorescent protein were differentiated and sorted into about 80% pure cultures of serotonergic neurons. Whole cell voltage-clamp recordings showed a voltage-dependent current in dissociated neurons. This simplified method provides an alternative option for serotonergic differentiation of pluripotent stem cells and will likely contribute a deeper understanding regarding the nature of serotonergic neurons and open new therapeutic perspectives for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.