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Background: In Japan, the number of beds and average length of stay in a psychiatric ward are greater than in other developed countries., Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the association between family variables and the length of stay of patients with mental and behavioural disorders in a private psychiatric hospital in Japan., Methods: The medical records of patients discharged during a one-year period (n=56: men 50.0% excepting 27 patients discharged due to death were re-examined regarding age, laundry type (self-washing of clothes, family washing or supplier washing), number of family visits per one month while hospitalised, and family structure prior to hospitalisation. A length of stay greater than six months was considered the cut-off point for a long hospital stay. Bivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors independently associated with the length of stay, adjusted for sex, age, and mental and/or behavioural disorders according to the criteria of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems., Results: The bivariate-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) for in-patients hospitalised for more than six months was 0.08 (0.01, 0.48) for those who used family washing ( p = 0.006) compared with those who used supplier washing. The number of visits per month and family structures before hospitalisation were not significantly associated., Conclusion: These results suggest that within a private psychiatric hospital in Japan, family washing is associated with shortened stays and frequency of family visits, while family structure is not associated with these factors.

Alendronate, an oral bisphosphonate (e.g., Fosamax(®)), is effective in the treatment of osteoporosis, and the Fosamax(®) package insert advises that the bioavailability is reduced when taken with mineral water containing high levels of metal cations (Ca(2+), Mg(2+), etc.). However, standards regarding the water used when taking alendronate are unclear. In this study, the influence of mineral water on the absorption of oral alendronate was investigated based on urinary excretion of its unchanged form in rats. Alendronate was diluted in each water sample and administered orally (0.7 mg/kg) to male Wistar rats after 24-hour fast. Urine samples were collected until 24 h after dosing. Urine samples were alkalinized, and alendronate in urine was precipitated as a calcium salt, followed by loading on an anion exchange cartridge. Eluted alendronate was derivatized with 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) chloride and determined by HPLC with fluorescent detection. Cumulative urinary excretion recoveries of alendronate were calculated from the amounts of urinary excretion. Alendronate was rapidly excreted in the first 6 h, and similar elimination rate constants were seen (from 0.28 to 0.45 h(-1/2)) among the water samples. Cumulative urinary excretion recoveries with tap water, evian(®) and 100% deep ocean water were 0.98±0.17%, 0.80±0.18% and 1.01±0.16% (mean±S.E., n=4). Those with Contrex(®) (0.33±0.07%) were significantly lower when compared with ultrapure water (1.56±0.35%, p<0.01). These findings suggest that the absorption of alendronate decreases based on the calcium concentration of mineral water. In conclusion, mineral water containing high levels of calcium is not recommended when alendronate is taken.

The amygdala is known to be involved in the pathology of schizophrenia. While only a limited number of studies in schizophrenia have measured the amygdala as a single structure. The aim of this study was to examine the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia would show reduced volumes in the amygdala compared with normal controls. We investigated amygdala volume in 40 patients with schizophrenia (20 males, 20 females) and 40 age- and gender-matched normal controls using three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Whole volumes of both the amygdala and the temporal lobe were measured on consecutive coronal 1-mm slices. The amygdala volume was significantly smaller in schizophrenia patients than in controls. Considering gender differences, male patients had significantly smaller volumes in the bilateral amygdala than male controls; female patients had a significantly reduced right amygdala compared with female controls. Furthermore, a significant left-smaller-than-right volumetric asymmetry of the amygdala was detected in male patients with schizophrenia. The results may be important for understanding the role of the amygdala in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the anatomical substrates of gender difference in the expressions of the illness.

Neuropsychological impairments have been consistently reported in patients with schizophrenia. As little is known whether subjects with schizotypal personality disorder exhibit neurocognitive dysfunction similar to that in schizophrenia, we assessed the neuropsychological profile of 15 subjects with schizotypal personality disorder and compared it with that for 15 patients with schizophrenia and for 15 psychiatrically normal volunteers. All participants were administered a standard neuropsychological battery assessing language ability, spatial ability, visuomotor function, verbal memory, visual memory, auditory attention, visual attention, and executive function. Performance on most of the cognitive domains was impaired in patients with schizotypal personality disorder but less than patients with schizophrenia. Specifically, impairment in verbal memory and visuomotor ability in patients with schizotypal personality disorder and patients with schizophrenia were comparable, while patients with schizophrenia performed worse on the test of executive function than did patients with schizotypal personality disorder. As a whole, cognitive deficits in patients with schizotypal personality disorder were qualitatively similar to, but quantitatively milder than, those for patients with schizophrenia. The results suggest that cognitive abilities related to frontotemporal lobe function are disturbed across these schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

When the four-week-old woody stem of Prunus jamasakura was grown under simulated microgravity condition on a three-dimensional clinostat, it bent at growth, and width of its secondary xylem decreased due to the reduction of fiber cell numbers and a smaller microfibril angle in the secondary cell wall, as reported in our previous paper. Gravity induces the development of the secondary xylem that supports the stem upward against the action of gravity. In this study, morphological changes of the tissues and cells were microscopically observed. Disorder was found in the concentric structure of tissues that organize the stem. The radial arrangement of the cells was also disturbed in the secondary xylem, and in the secondary phloem secondary cell walls of the bast fiber cells were undeveloped. These findings suggest that differentiation and development of the secondary xylem and the bast fiber cells are strongly controlled by terrestrial gravity. These tissue and cells functions to support the stem under the action of gravity. Furthermore, clinorotation induced disorder in the straight joint of vessel elements and the lattice-like structure of radial parenchyma cells, which is responsible for water transportation and storage, respectively. Gravity is an essential factor for keeping the division and differentiation normal in woody stem.

The present study was performed to examine the relationship between schizophrenia-related personality and brain morphometry. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and schizophrenia-related personality scales extracted from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were administered to 42 university students. Analysis of the relationships between the gray matter segmented from the MR images on a voxel-by-voxel basis through the use of the statistical parametric mapping technique and the schizophrenia-related personality subscale scores from the MMPI revealed that lack of self-control subscale scores were negatively related to the gray matter volume of the supplementary motor area (SMA). Furthermore, it was suggested that self-control including self-inhibition is associated with the density of the SMA, the precuneous and the cerebellar vermis, which govern voluntary movements and motor imagery. These results provide important clues to the neural basis for the disturbance of self commonly observed in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

This investigation deals with patients of more than 15 years of age and family members of children younger than 12 years of age to evaluate the pre-operative interviews using information sheets. The information sheets describe the anesthetic management and complications in a simple style. Sixty% of the patients and 75% of the children's family felt anxiety about the anesthesia and/or the operation (P < 0.05). More than a half of the patients did not want to receive informations about the anesthetic management and the risk of anesthesia. On the other hand, 9% of children's family did not want to know informations about the risk (P < 0.05). More than 80% of patients read the information sheets after the pre-operative interviews and about a half of patients answered that their anxiety before the surgery decreased. In this investigation, the children's family wanted to have information about the anesthesia or the operation more than patients themselves. The pre-anesthetic interviews using information sheets is useful to give information about anesthesia and to relieve anxiety of the patients and the children's family.

Since the introduction of clotrimazole cream to the Japanese market in 1979, topical imidazole antimycotics have been used with increasing frequency in the treatment of superficial fungal infections. Topical imidazole antimycotics are in common use today and new imidazole derivatives continue to be developed. In this study, the author discussed allergic contact dermatitis due to topical imidazole antimycotics and cross-reactions among them. Of the 3,049 outpatients who were patch-tested for contact dermatitis at the Department of Dermatology, Nippon Medical School Hospital from January, 1984 to August, 1994, 218 were patch-tested with topical antimycotic agents. Of these 218 cases, 18 were tested with imidazole derivatives and 66 showed positive. Thirty-five were allergic to the active ingredients; 16 were allergic to sulconazole, 11 to croconazole, 3 to tioconazole, 3 to miconazole, one to bifonazole, and one to clotrimazole. The reason why sulconazole induced the most frequent positive reactions is probably that sulconazole was prescribed most frequently at our department during the period. The duration and the total amount of topical imidazole needed until contact dermatitis occurred, were statistically analyzed by t.test. Croconazole needed a significantly shorter duration and smaller quantity than sulconazole. This means that the sensitizing ability of croconazole is stronger than that of sulconazole. Since 21 of the 35 imidazole-allergic cases cross-reacted to other imidazole(s), the imidazole derivatives are considered to cross-react frequently.