Obsessive-compulsive disorder after traumatic injury to the right frontal and left temporal lobes: A case report.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder affecting many behaviors in daily life. Hyperactivity of the fronto-striato-thalamic circuit via the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is assumed to play a major role in the pathophysiology of OCD; however, its pathogenesis is not fully understood. Several reports have described the development of OCD after traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the pathogenesis of post-TBI OCD remains unknown.

Spontaneous recovery from post-COVID-19 brain fog.

Background: One-third of individuals who contract novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reportedly experience persistent symptoms, including respiratory issues, headache, dizziness, taste disorders, fatigue, and various psychiatric and neurological symptoms, known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2. In this case report, we present a patient who became aware of brain fog, which is cognitive impairment, approximately 2 months after their COVID-19 symptoms had resolved, accompanied by anxiety and depression.

Case Presentation: The patient, a 35-year-old Japanese man, was infected with COVID-19 and resumed work approximately 2 weeks later after symptoms improved.

Performing a sperm DNA fragmentation test in addition to semen examination based on the WHO criteria can be a more accurate diagnosis of IVF outcomes.

Background: We analyzed the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and general semen test based on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and compared the two tests using semen factors. In addition, we examined whether DFI is a reliable parameter associated with in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes.

Methods: Sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) and general semen tests were conducted in accordance with the WHO 2010 guidelines, and correlations between the two tests were investigated.

Comparative efficacy and safety of suvorexant and lemborexant for insomnia treatment.

Aim: Although suvorexant and lemborexant, which have orexin receptor antagonist activity, are used as sleep medications in Japan, no report has directly compared their efficacy and safety. This study compared the efficacy and safety of the drugs.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients who presented to the Outpatient Department of Psychiatry at Tottori University Hospital between December 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021.

Actual conditions of person-to-object contact and a proposal for prevention measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study focused on human contact behavior with objects and discussed countermeasures during the COVID-19 pandemic across 15 location types. Reducing contact with objects and disinfecting items can be implemented at a relatively low cost. We created a protocol for organizing the objects, and 1260 subjects who went outside during a day between December 3-7, 2020 in Tokyo and Kanagawa, Japan were surveyed.

Net-TF-SW: Event Popularity Quantification with Network Structure.

Event popularity quantification is essential in the determination of current trends in events on social media and the internet. Particularly, it is important during a crisis to ensure appropriate information transmission and prevention of false-rumor diffusion. Here, we propose Net-TF-SW - a noise-robust and explainable topic popularity analysis method.

Intracerebroventricular administration of leptin increases anxiety-like behavior in female rats after semi-starvation--implications for anxiety in eating disorders.

Background: Patients with eating disorders often exhibit abnormal eating conditions like food restriction, adipocyte and body weight reduction, and pathologic anxiety-like behavior. The role of leptin, which is recognized as an adipocyte-derived hormone, on anxiety-like behavior in eating disorders is still unclear.

Methods: We investigated the role of leptin on anxiety-like behavior with or without semi-starvation using the elevated plus-maze test in adolescent female rats.

Effects of the nonsugar fraction of brown sugar on chronic ultraviolet B irradiation-induced photoaging in melanin-possessing hairless mice.

Brown sugar has been used traditionally for the treatment of skin trouble as a component of soaps or lotions. Symptoms of aging including wrinkles and pigmentation develop earlier in sun-exposed skin than unexposed skin, a phenomenon referred to as photoaging. Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation is one of the most important environmental factors influencing photoaging.

Analysis of skin disposition and metabolism of ethyl nicotinate after topical application using dual agar gel disc-inserted rats.

The skin disposition and metabolism of topically applied ethyl nicotinate (EN) were evaluated in dual agar gel disc-inserted hairless rats, which have two agar gel discs subcutaneously inserted into the abdominal region as drug receptors, and a topical formulation containing EN placed on either side of the gel disc through the skin. Plasma and agar levels of EN and its metabolite, nicotinic acid (NA), were followed every 2 h over 6 h. EN permeated through the skin barrier and partly metabolized to NA with 89.

Analysis of skin disposition of flurbiprofen after topical application using dual agar gel discs-inserted rats.

Most of the drug fraction penetrating the skin after topical application is taken up by the cutaneous blood flow, although the rest directly migrates into deeper tissues such as the subcutis and muscle. A new in situ experimental hairless rat model was designed to distinguish these fractions of topically applied drugs. Flurbiprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, was selected as the model drug.

Corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type 1, but not type 2, in the ventromedial hypothalamus modulates dopamine release in female rats.

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) plays an important role in stress responses and is mediated through two subtypes of receptors, CRF receptor type 1 (CRFR1) and CRF receptor type 2 (CRFR2). Each CRF receptor might have a different function through several neurotransmitter systems; however, the mechanism remains unclear. To clarify the role of each receptor in dopamine (DA) metabolism, we measured the change of extracellular concentrations of DA and the metabolites in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) that played important roles in the stress response of freely moving female rats in response to the direct administration of comparative CRFR1 selective agonist, CRF, or CRFR2 selective agonist, Urocortin II (Ucn II), into the brain region.

[Neuroendocrine differentiation in adenocarcinoma of prostate during combined androgen blockade therapy: a case report].

Prostatic neuroendocrine (NE) carcinoma is a rare disease with a poor prognosis because of its rapid progression and the androgen-independent characteristic, for which no successful therapy is available presently. We report a case of NE differentiated prostate cancer, which was diagnosed as adenocarcinoma initially and progressed with NE differentiation during the combined androgen blockade therapy.

Utility of a three-dimensional cultured human skin model as a tool to evaluate the simultaneous diffusion and metabolism of ethyl nicotinate in skin.

The simultaneous diffusion and metabolism of ethyl nicotinate (EN) in a cultured human skin model, Living Skin Equivalent-high, was evaluated by the in vitro skin permeation and metabolism experiments, and esterase distribution was also determined. Theoretical calculations using Fick's 2nd Law of Diffusion with Michaelis-Menten kinetics were performed to obtain the permeation and metabolic parameters together with information on enzyme distribution. The obtained data was compared with the corresponding results in excised hairless rat skin.

Differences in oligosaccharide pattern of a sample of polar bear colostrum and mid-lactation milk.

Although the concentrations of carbohydrate in the colostrum and in the mid-lactation milk of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) were similar, the oligosaccharide patterns differed. The colostrum sample contained Neu5Ac(alpha2-3)Gal(beta1-4)Glc (3'-N-acetylneuraminyllactose), GalNAc(alpha1-3)[Fuc(alpha1-2)]Gal(beta1-4)Glc (A-tetrasaccharide), Fuc(alpha1-2)Gal(beta1-4)Glc (2'-fucosyllactose) and Gal(beta1-4)Glc (lactose). The mid-lactation milk contained Gal(alpha1-3)[Fuc(alpha1-2)]Gal(beta1-4)[Fuc(alpha1-3)]Glc (B-pentasaccharide), GalNAc(alpha1-3)[Fuc(alpha1-2)]Gal(beta1-4)[Fuc(alpha1-3)]Glc (A-pentasaccharide), Gal(alpha1-3)[Fuc(alpha1-2)]Gal(beta1-4)Glc (B-tetrasaccharide), A-tetrasaccharide, Gal(alpha1-3)Gal(beta1-4)[Fuc(alpha1-3)]Glc (3-fucosylisoglobotriose), Gal(alpha1-3)Gal(beta1-4)Glc (isoglobotriose) and lactose.