Transactional Analysis Shows Child Factor Would be Influential Egogram for Late Teenager

Background: Transactional Analysis (TA) and egogram have been in focus for medical and educational fields. There has been a reliable personality battery, Tokyo University Egogram (TEG). Recent topic includes TEG new version 3 for clinical introduction. Using TEG ver.3, university students were investigated for their egogram pattern. Subjects & Methods: Subjects were 99 late teenagers. They were given lectures of TEG and their data was analyzed three months after the admission of the university. Results: TEG ver3 presents 33 egogram types which are related to the personality of Japanese people. Among them, there were four higher prevalence of egogram types, which were Free Child (FC) dominant, Adapted Child (AC) dominant, Critical Parent (CP) inferior and Child (C) Dominant. The percentage datum of current study vs previous standard value in each type was 10 vs 6.8%, 26 vs 6.1%, 8 vs 2.1% 9 vs 1.1%, respectively. Discussion & Conclusion: These four types are estimated as free-spirit, dependent, loose and selfishness. Elevated FC and AC would be probably due to the influence of educational and social environment in Japan. Among them, high school students must study hard for entrance exams without meaningful social experiences. Further investigation will be required for TEG.

Genomic architecture differences at the HTT locus associated with symptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases of Huntington’s disease in a pilot study

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that causes degeneration of neurons in the brain, ultimately leading to death. The root cause of HD is an expanded trinucleotide Cytosine-Adenine-Guanine (CAG) repeat in the “huntingtin gene” (HTT). While there is a rough correlation between the number of CAG repeats and disease onset, the development of clinical symptoms can vary by decades within individuals and little is known about this presymptomatic phase. Using peripheral blood samples from HD patients and healthy controls we used EpiSwitch®, a validated high-resolution industrial platform for the detection of chromosome conformations, to assess chromatin architecture in the immediate vicinity of the HTT gene. We evaluated chromatin conformations at 20 sites across 225 kb of the HTT locus in a small cohort of healthy controls, verified symptomatic HD patients (CAG, n>39) and patients with CAG expansions who had not yet manifested clinical symptoms of HD. Discrete chromosome conformations were observed across the patient groups. We found two constitutive interactions (occurring in all patient groups) and seven conditional interactions which were present in HD, but not in healthy controls. Most important, we observed three conditional interactions that were present only in HD patients manifesting clinical symptoms (symptomatic cases), but not in presymptomatic cases. 85% (6 out of 7) of the patients in the symptomatic HD cohort demonstrated at least one of the specific chromosome conformations associated with symptomatic HD. Our results provide the first evidence that chromatin architecture at the HTT locus is systemically altered in patients with HD, with conditional differences between clinical stages. Given the high clinical need in having a molecular tool to assess disease progression in HD, these results strongly suggest that the non-invasive assessment of Chromosome Conformation Signatures (CCS) warrant further study as a prognostic tool in HD.

Delusional Parasitosis: More Than Just Skin-Deep - A Case Report

Delusional parasitosis is an uncommon disorder and is probably underdiagnosed - several factors contribute including lack of recognition/difficulty in arriving to a conclusion by a clinician, or the reluctance to seek help or even rejection of the diagnosis by a patient. Patients present with pruritus, excoriations, stinging or formication for which no physical explanation can be found. There is the belief on the part of the patient that their skin is infested by insects or inanimate objects. It is estimated that a dermatologist may see one case every 7 years (Suh, 2018). Morgellons disease is a disputed condition which may fall under the umbrella term of delusional parasitosis. In this condition any areas of concern on the skin are believed to contain foreign material, usually coloured fibres. There is often an overlap of delusional parasitosis with other mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Successful treatment requires a multi-modal approach in the form of medication (usually antipsychotics), psychotherapy and the input of various specialists (dermatology and psychiatry). Primary care -general practitioners in particular - has a central role to play by orchestrating this process so that a satisfactory outcome is achieved.

Selling to the ‘Mind’ of the Insurance Prospect: A Mind Genomics Cartography of Insurance for Home Project Contracts

The paper introduces the science and process of Mind Genomics as a process by which to reveal the mind of prospects regarding the factors surrounding insurance, specifically insurance that the home contractor will complete the project satisfactorily. The objective is to uncover the existence and nature of groups of people sharing the same point of view about what they want in such insurance. The Mind Genomics processes works through experimental design, presenting respondents with vignettes, combinations of messages about insurance, totally different combinations for each respondent. The subsequent analysis by regression reveals which messages make the respondent feel comfortable with the project and the insurance, versus which messages make the respondent feel insecure, and ready to drop the project. The data suggest three mind-sets of people; project-focused, contractor-focused, and legal/finance-focused, respectively, responding to different aspects of the contracting relationship. We introduce the PVI, personal viewpoint identifier, to assign a new person to one of these three mind-sets, to aid sales and client service.

Correlation of Depressive Illness with Academic Performance Among Medical Students at the University of Port Harcourt

Background: The rising prevalence and burden of Depression among all age groups including medical students have continued to constitute enormous concern worldwide. Depression has been associated with cognitive impairment and may impair academic performance. Aim: To determine the relationship between depression and academic performance among medical students at the University of Port Harcourt. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study gained ethical approval . Stratified random sampling method was used to select the subjects. A well-structured open ended self-administered socio-demographic questionnaire was administered to the students. The Zung Self Rated Depression Scale was used to assess the depression status of each respondent in conjunction with the Diagnostic Statistical Manual, Version Five (DSM V). The data were analysed using descriptive and analytical methods. Results: The prevalence of depression among the medical students was 5.3%. Fourteen students (4.6%) were mildly depressed while only two respondents had moderate depression. Academic performance was generally poor among the medical students with depressive illness compared to those without depression and was worse with increasing severity of depression(p=0.004). Conclusion: Depression does occur among medical students at the University of Port Harcourt and significantly affects academic performance.

Effectiveness of Workshop on Hand Washing Techniques among Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Quasi Experimental Study

Background: Compliance with the performance of correct and effective hand hygiene has not been adequate among undergraduate nursing students, in clinical settings. Aim: That is why this study evaluated if a hand washing workshop can effectively enhance the performance of hand washing among undergraduate nursing students. Method: A total of 15 participants were enrolled from a group of undergraduate nursing students; selected using simple random sampling. These participants primarily did a workshop on the 12-step of hand washing procedure based on the guidelines adapted from the World Health Organization. Their hand washing performance was evaluated before (pre-test) and after (posttest) the workshop using an observation checklist. Results: There was a significant effectiveness of work shop on hand washing techniques (p0.0046). Conclusion: Therefore, a hand washing workshop was an effective strategy in enhancing the skills of nursing students in effectively performing hand hygiene. A periodic re-education workshop or program regarding hand hygiene was recommended for health care personnel across all levels in order to maintain the quality of hand hygiene performance.

Antonovsky’s Short 13-Items SOC Scale in a Swedish Community Cohort-Considering the Selection of the 13 Items from the Original 29 SOC Scale

Background: Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale, published with 29 items, is considered a social concept, also used in mental health research. A scale using only 13 of the items has been suggested, without explanation as to how these 13 items were selected. Aim: To compare how total scores based on 29 and 13 and the remaining 16 items could be explained by sociodemographic and mental health factors and to explore how each of the 13 items relates to these factors in comparison to the remaining 16 items. Methods: The full SOC questionnaire was completed by 1,164 subjects in the Lundby cohort study in 1997. Using linear regression, socio-demographic factors were evaluated as predictors for the sum-scores of the 29 and 13 items. Relationships to the socio-demographic factors and mental disorders were evaluated for each item; the results for the 13 items were compared to the results for the remaining 16 items. The distributions of the responses for the 13 items were compared to the distributions of the responses for the 16 items. Results: The sum-scores related differently to age; generally, positively among the 13 items, but negatively for the 16 excluded items. Differences between the 13 and the remaining 16 items were observed in relations to gender and partnership, somewhat less to socio-economic status, minor differences in relation to mental disorders. The distributions of the responses of the items were highly negatively skewed, more so among the 13 items. Conclusion: No obvious explanation for the selection of the 13 items was found. Different results may be obtained regarding associations to socio-demographic factors depending on whether the 13 items or all 29 items are used. The highly skewed distributions of responses indicate that more research would be valuable in order to assess SOC.

Is Sex Addiction an Addiction?

In the past decade or so there has been a development for the addiction paradigm to be applied to sexual behaviors. An increasing number of people are reporting excessive thoughts or behavior that is sexual in nature, and that they claim causes them suffering. They attribute this suffering as sex "addiction" [1]. Diagnosing sex addictions implicate narratives of a compulsive obsession with behaviors of a sexual nature. It also needs to obstruct everyday living [2].

Inhibition of Rothia Species by Over-the-Counter Products and Bacterial Antagonists

The interaction between the human host micro biome and over the counter products has recently been investigated, with surprising results. Some over the counter items may negatively affect the health of the host, supporting the concept of the “hygiene hypothesis”, that is, that disease may be actually caused by the lack of beneficial commensal bacteria. Recent reports on the gluten metabolizing genus, Rothia, and a possible association with Celiac Disease beg the question, what happened to the Rothia? In this study inhibitory factors, such as, Over The Counter oral hygiene products and antagonistic bacteria were investigated and, in vitro, significantly inhibited the gluten metabolizing bacteria, possibly affecting human digestion and contributing to gluten sensitivity.

Suicide Risks and Prevention, Neuropathogenic Study

Past clinical evidence suggests that there is partly an association between suicide risk/mortality and mentally health condition. It is an interesting subject for modern diagnostic implication and therapeutic targeting. As a result, neuropathy in brain and relevant treatment (eased by anti-depressive agents or herbs) can be extensively explored. In order to find useful way for cutting off unnecessary suicide-induced human mortality, mental-related genes or molecules study may move forwards suicide risk prediction, prevention, targeting and application. This perspective highlights emerging areas of human suicide and mental healthcare.