Relationships Between Meaning in Life and Positive and Negative Spirituality in a Field Setting in Japan.

This study examined the relationships between positive/negative spirituality and meaning in life at two religious sites in Japan. Participants reported greater sadness and less meaning in life at Koyasan Okunoin, a temple with graves surrounded by nature, than at Nachi Kumano Taisha, a shrine with a waterfall. However, greater feelings of happiness protected meaning in life in the presence of sadness at Koyasan. Additionally, participants who felt a sense of awe reported greater meaning in life through self-liberation, regardless of the sites. The results provide new insights into meaning in life from the two sides of spirituality.

Role of Affect and Risk-Benefit Perception on Reckless Betting: Prior Wins and Losses Both Lead to Risky Bets.

People who have experienced many gambling wins tend to make larger bets even when they are unlikely to win (reckless betting) than those who have experienced many losses. This study examined psychological factors underlying reckless betting when gambling from the perspectives of affect and risk-benefit perception. University students (N = 63) participated in an experiment using the Acey-Deucey Task, in which the number of wins and losses during the 1st session was experimentally manipulated such that there were either 24, 12, or 6 wins out of 30 trials. Positive-negative affect and perceived risk-benefit during the task were assessed by self-report. Betting recklessness during the 2nd session was calculated using winning probability and bet size data in each trial. The results indicated that experiencing few prior wins, that is, many prior losses decreased positive affect and perceived benefits of betting and increased negative affect and perceived risks of betting. Path analysis results suggested that gambler's positive and negative affect altered perceived benefits of betting, which influenced reckless betting. Although participants that experienced more prior wins made more reckless bets similar to previous studies, there were no statistical differences between the three groups. Time-series analysis revealed that participants who experienced many prior losses made increasingly reckless bets at the end of the gambling task. We have discussed other potential variables that might have influenced recklessness, and the time-series analysis' implications on reckless betting and loss-chasing.

[A case of advanced gastric cancer with an invasive micropapillary carcinoma component].

A 62-year-old man was admitted for the evaluation of epigastric pain. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a type 3 circumferential carcinoma in the gastric antrum. Distal gastrectomy was performed, and the lesion was histopathologically diagnosed as gastric cancer with an invasive micropapillary carcinoma component. Chemotherapy was administered after surgery; however, he died with multiple liver metastases after 39 months. Micropapillary carcinoma is a rare, high-grade, malignant histological subtype of gastric cancer that has not been described in detail till date. Here we describe this rare lesion and present a review of the relevant literature.

Implicit Attitudes About Agricultural and Aquatic Products From Fukushima Depend on Where Consumers Reside.

Japanese consumers are still hesitant to purchase products from Fukushima, although 7 years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and these products are officially considered safe. In this study, we examined whether Japanese consumers have negative implicit attitudes toward agricultural and aquatic products from the Fukushima region and whether these attitudes are independent of their explicit attitudes. Japanese students completed an implicit association test and a questionnaire to assess their implicit and explicit attitudes toward products from Fukushima relative to another region. The results of two experiments reliably demonstrated that the public has negative implicit attitudes toward Fukushima products, whereas their explicit attitudes are consistently positive. These observations predominantly held for participants living close to Fukushima (Tokyo) as opposed to participants living far away (Hiroshima): Experiment 1 (n = 40). Furthermore, individual differences in aversion to germs contributed to the implicit attitudes; the implicit negative attitudes were attenuated among the participants with a relatively low aversion to germs: Experiment 2 (n = 60). These results suggest that the implicit attitudes associated with the behavioral immune system, which is conceptualized as a suite of psychological mechanisms designed to proactively resist pathogenic threats, may underlie the hesitation to purchase products from Fukushima.