Identification of stomatal-regulating molecules from de novo arylamine collection through aromatic C-H amination.

Stomata-small pores generally found on the leaves of plants-control gas exchange between plant and the atmosphere. Elucidating the mechanism that underlies such control through the regulation of stomatal opening/closing is important to understand how plants regulate photosynthesis and tolerate against drought. However, up-to-date, molecular components and their function involved in stomatal regulation are not fully understood.

Comparing the driving behaviours of individuals with frontotemporal lobar degeneration and those with Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Assessing driving aptitude in dementia patients is critically important for both patient and public safety. However, there have been only a few reports on the driving behaviours and accident risk of patients with dementia, especially frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Therefore, we compared the characteristics of driving behaviours in patients with FTLD and those with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Hippocampal subfield volumes in first episode and chronic schizophrenia.

Background: Reduced hippocampal volume in schizophrenia is a well-replicated finding. New imaging techniques allow delineation of hippocampal subfield volumes. Studies including predominantly chronic patients demonstrate differences between subfields in sensitivity to illness, and in associations with clinical features.

Effect of depression-related somatic pain on treatment satisfaction and daily living functions.

Objective: Recent studies suggest that depression is associated with somatic pain. Despite growing research interest in the topic, the effects of depression-related somatic pain remain unclear. The present study sought to investigate the relationships between depression-related somatic pain, treatment satisfaction, and functions of daily living, and to compare them with the relationships between these factors and mental health measures.

Impaired musical ability in people with schizophrenia.

Background: Assessment of the musical ability of people with schizophrenia has attracted little interest despite the diverse and substantive findings of impairments in sound perception and processing and the therapeutic effect of music in people with the illness. The present study investigated the musical ability of people with schizophrenia and the association with psychiatric symptoms and cognition.

Methods: We recruited patients with chronic schizophrenia and healthy controls for participation in our study.

The Autism-Spectrum Quotient in university students: pattern of changes in its scores and associated factors.

Introduction: Support to university students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is becoming increasingly important. To determine the validity of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) for ASD screening of university students, we conducted longitudinal measurements of the AQ in a large sample of university students and investigated the possibility of changes in the AQ and associated factors.

Methods: The AQ, University Personality Inventory (UPI), and the willingness of the students to be interviewed were determined at admission in students from four departments of Kochi University; the AQ was determined again in the second year.

Psychoeducation for major depressive disorders: a randomised controlled trial.

Various psychological therapies have been shown to be effective for the treatment of mood disorders. Among them, family psychoeducation has demonstrated efficacy in reducing symptom severity and extending the time to relapse. We tested the efficacy of adding psychoeducation focussed on how to deal with the family's expressed emotion to treatment as usual (TAU) to prevent relapse among patients with remitted major depression.

[Early intervention in an early psychosis outpatient clinic].

The importance of early detection and intervention for psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, is beginning to attract attention based on the results of imaging and psychosocial studies. Unfortunately, Japan still lags markedly behind Western countries and Australia in respect of early detection and intervention. We conducted a collaborative questionnaire survey of mental health among junior and senior high school students, and found that education on psychiatric disorders is not provided in schools and that the detection of these disorders is delayed due to the lack of awareness and accurate information.

A greater number of somatic pain sites is associated with poor mental health in adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Identifying indicators of poor mental health during adolescence is a significant public health issue. Previous studies which suggested an association between the number of somatic pains and depression have mainly focused on adults or have employed samples with a narrow age range. To date, results from previous studies have been inconsistent regarding the association between somatic pain and academic impairment.

Help-seeking behavior among Japanese school students who self-harm: results from a self-report survey of 18,104 adolescents.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with poor help-seeking among adolescents who self-harm and to explore the resources used for help.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey using an anonymous questionnaire was conducted in 47 junior and 30 senior high schools in Japan. Adolescent self-harm was defined as an adolescent who had harmed himself or herself in the previous year, as in previous studies reported in Western countries.

Effects of psychosocial program for preparing long-term hospitalized patients with schizophrenia for discharge from hospital: randomized controlled trial.

Aim: The aims of the present study were to revise the Community Re-entry Program-Japanese version and to review the effectiveness of the revised Program, named the Discharge Preparation Program.

Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial. The Discharge Preparation Program (DPP) was the intervention condition (n = 26), and the usual rehabilitation program was the control condition (n = 23).

Deliberate self-harm in adolescents aged 12-18: a cross-sectional survey of 18,104 students.

Little is known about accurate prevalence and associated factors of deliberate self-harm (DSH) among adolescents in Asian countries. In this study, the prevalence and associated factors of DSH among adolescents in Japan were examined. Data were derived from a cross-sectional survey using an anonymous self-report questionnaire and enrolling 8,620 adolescents aged 12-15 and 9,484 aged 15-18.

Cost-effectiveness of family psychoeducation to prevent relapse in major depression: results from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Family psychoeducation is a relatively simple and straightforward intervention whose prophylactic effectiveness and cost-effectiveness is well-established for schizophrenia. We have recently demonstrated its effectiveness for unipolar depression, but its cost-effectiveness has never been examined. We hereby report a cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomized controlled trial in order to assess its cost-effectiveness for preventing relapse/recurrence in depression.

Mapping hypofrontality during letter fluency task in schizophrenia: a multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Cognitive impairment and associated frontal lobe dysfunction characterize schizophrenia. The letter fluency test (LFT) has been used as one of the most sensitive measures of the cognitive dysfunction, but the nature and topography of the hypofrontality have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study we used multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a recently developed noninvasive functional imaging technique, to measure changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in the prefrontal cortices of 31 schizophrenia patients and 26 age- and sex-matched healthy controls during performance of the LFT.

Duration of untreated psychosis in a rural/suburban region of Japan.

Aims: We examined the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and its social and clinical correlates in patients with schizophrenia in a rural/suburban region of Japan.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with first-episode psychosis from 11 hospitals in Kochi Prefecture. There were 108 patients who met the eligibility criteria, and data regarding their DUP and social/clinical variables were collected.

Family psychoeducation for major depression: randomised controlled trial.

Background: The value of family psychoeducation for schizophrenia has been well established, and indications for its use have recently expanded to include bipolar affective disorder. However, no study to date has adequately examined its use in depression.

Aims: To examine family psychoeducation in the maintenance treatment of depression and to investigate the influence of the family's expressed emotion (EE) on its effectiveness.

Psychotic-like experiences are associated with violent behavior in adolescents.

Objective: The diagnosis of psychotic disorder is associated with a risk of violence. Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in the general population may share an etiological background with psychotic disorders. The present study has evaluated the association between PLEs and violent behavior in adolescents.

Effect of a family psychoeducational program on relatives of schizophrenia patients.

Aims: Family psychoeducational programs have been shown to be effective in terms of knowledge acquirement and relapse prevention, but few studies have looked at whether one mode of educational method is more effective than another. The aim of the present study was to compare several modes of educational approaches and to elucidate which mode of education is more effective.

Methods: A total of 110 relatives of 95 patients with schizophrenia received three types of family psychoeducational programs between January 1995 and September 2003: a small group with two sessions (P1), a large group with nine sessions (P2), and a large group with five sessions (P3).

Residential program for long-term hospitalized persons with mental illness in Japan: Randomized controlled trial.

Research on the merits of long-term group residences is inconclusive. The purpose of the present paper was to investigate the effects of supported group residence on the symptoms, social function, quality of life, general health quality, and the medical/psychiatric cost in Japan of a large number of psychiatric beds and long average length of stay. Patients were assessed every 6 months for 2 years using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Katz Adjustment Scale, World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHO-QOL) and General Health Questionnaire 12-item version.

Medical cost analysis of family psychoeducation for schizophrenia.

Family psychoeducation has been shown to prevent the relapse of schizophrenia. However, whether medical costs are reduced by this approach remains uncertain. The subjects were patients with schizophrenia who lived with high-expressed emotion (EE) families and were at high risk of relapse.

Vulnerability of synaptic plasticity in the complexin II knockout mouse to maternal deprivation stress.

The alterations in brain function and structure seen in schizophrenia are mediated by genetics as well as vulnerability due to environmental factors. Postmortem studies in schizophrenic patients have shown that expression of complexin II, which is involved in neurotransmitter release at central nervous system synapses, is decreased in the brain. We examined the physiological characteristics of complexin II gene-deficient mice subjected to maternal deprivation stress to determine whether psychological stress during the early stage of life affected the development of brain function.

A cross-cultural study on expressed emotion in carers of people with dementia and schizophrenia: Japan and England.

Expressed emotion (EE) research has been productive in investigating the influence of the interpersonal environment on a range of disorders. The majority of EE research on the influence of carers has been carried out in the west. This is the first EE study of the carers of people with dementia in Japan.