Formation of NV centers in diamond by a femtosecond laser single pulse.

The NV centers in a diamond were successfully created by the femtosecond laser single pulse. We also investigated the effect on the diamond lattice induced by the different laser pulse widths from both experimental and theoretical perspectives. Interestingly, in spite of the high thermal conductivity of a diamond, we found that there is a suitable pulse repetition rate of several tens kHz for the formation of NV center ensembles by the femtosecond laser pulse irradiation.

[The mental health of school children after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: I. Epidemiological study and risk factors for mental distress].

UNLABELLED: We conducted surveys to study the magnitude and nature of psychological consequences of school children affected by the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, which occurred in Kobe on January 17th, 1995. It measured 7.2 in magnitude, killed more than 6000 people and destroyed at least 170,000 buildings and houses. The investigations were carried out 4 months following of the disaster. SUBJECTS: About 9000 school children in the 3rd grade, the 5th grade, the 8th grade living in the disaster areas. About 2000 children living in distant areas were also surveyed as control subjects. METHOD: The questionnaire was in a self-descriptive format and consisted of 10 items regarding situation and behavior when the earthquake occurred and 22 items about mental health condition. The responses were rated from 1 to 4 depending on the frequency of the symptoms, and statistically analyzed. RESULT: By factor analysis, three factors were elicited. Factor 1 was interpreted as being related to fear and anxiety, factor 2 as related to depression and physical symptoms, and factor 3 as related to pro-social tendencies. The highest mean score of factor 1 was associated with the most heavily damaged areas. Less severe damage was associated with a lower mean score, and the control areas showed the lowest score. These results show that the children in the damaged areas were strongly affected. Factor 2 shows a different pattern from factor 1. The score of heavily damaged areas is conspicuously high. However, the differences between the other areas were not significant, the control areas had scores almost the same as these of the slightly damaged areas. These results may mean that in less damaged areas than in more heavily damaged areas, there was a more remarkable "heroic phase" after the disaster, which hid depressive moods and lasted longer than in the more severely damaged areas, where people had to face stern reality in the early stages. Factor 3 shows the reverse pattern of factor 2. The slightly damaged areas had the highest score. This result also shows the influence of the "heroic stage". As for the mean scores of factors 1 and 2, younger children showed higher scores. There were no differences in the scores of factor 3 between students in the 3rd grade and 5th grade. The score of the students in the 8th grade was the lowest among all. It can be seen that adolescents generally lessen their consideration for society as a developmental stage in their growth. All of the mean scores of factors 1, 2 and 3 of females are higher than those of males. In the heavily damaged areas, factor 1 is associated with an experience of being rescued and injuries of the children themselves. Factor 2 is associated with injuries of the children themselves. In the moderately damaged areas, factors 1 and 2 are associated with injuries of the children themselves and taking in victims in the children's homes. In the slightly damaged areas, factor 1 is associated with injuries within families. Factor 2 is associated with injuries within families and taking in victims in the childrens' homes. CONCLUSIONS: School-aged children exposed to a high-magnitude natural disaster had 3 categories of emotions: "fear and anxiety," "depressive mood and physical symptoms" and "pro-social tendency." The severity of disaster, younger age, and female gender were high risk factors for distress. In the heavily damaged areas, an experience of being rescued and injuries of the children themselves had a great influence on the mental health of children. In lesser damaged areas, taking in victims in the childrens' homes and injuries within families had an influence.

[The mental health of school children after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: II. Longitudinal analysis].

UNLABELLED: We conducted surveys to investigate the nature of the recovery processes and psychological reactions of children and adolescents affected by the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake. The investigations were carried out 4 times at 4 months, 6 months, one year and two years after the disaster. SUBJECTS: About 9000 school children in the 3rd grade, the 5th grade, the 8th grade living in the disaster area. METHOD: The questionnaire consisted of 9-12 items regarding situation and behavior when the earthquake occurred, and 22 items regarding mental health condition, and was filled out in the classroom under supervision by the teacher in charge. The responses were rated from 1 to 4 depending on the frequency of the symptoms, and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: By factor analysis, three factors were elicited. Factor 1 was interpreted as being related to fear and anxiety, factor 2 as related to depression and physical symptoms, and factor 3 as related to pro-social tendencies. These 3 factors were distinct and stable throughout all 4 surveys and each of them showed unique recovery processes. The mean score of factor 1 was highest at 4 months after the earthquake, and decreased as time passed. This factor shows that fear and anxiety seem to be directly related to the experience of the earthquake. According to the severity of the disaster, more severe damage brought about a higher mean score of factor 1. Furthermore, younger children and girls were more strongly affected. Each of the differences in the severity of disaster, in age, and in gender decreased as time passed. The mean score of factor 2 peaked at 6 months, and it slightly recovered after one year. However, the score at the 1st year was still higher than that of the 4th month. At two years the score returned to almost the same level as that of the 4th month. We think that factor 2, involving depressive mood and psychophysical symptoms, may be a secondary phenomenon to fear and anxiety. Other possibilities are that they may be caused by environmental changes after the disaster, inconveniences of daily life, loss of jobs of parents, or masked by hypomanic mood which covered over the disaster area soon after the earthquake (so-called heroic phase). Older children have a greater tolerance for depressive mood and psychophysical symptoms, but those symptoms occurring in older children have a tendency to continue for a longer time. Girls are more heavily affected and need more time to recover from trauma than boys. The mean score of factor 3 showed a gradual decrease as time passed. There was no difference in the way of decrease according to the severity of disaster, age and gender. It may be natural that, since the interest in the earthquake decreased as time passed, consideration for the victims decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The problems of mental health of children and adolescents after the disaster may consist of at least 2 different components; "fear and anxiety," which appeared just after the disaster and decreased earlier; "depressive and psychophysical symptoms" appeared later and stayed longer.

Effect of the Kobe earthquake on stress and glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of the Kobe, Japan, earthquake, a life-threatening event, on stress and glycemic control in diabetic patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hemoglobin A1c levels before and after the earthquake were evaluated in diabetic patients in Kobe (N = 157; magnitude, 7.2) and in Osaka, Japan, as a control (N = 277; magnitude, 4.2), where little damage to houses and traffic facilities occurred. Glycosylated hemoglobin levels were also compared with those of 2 years before and 1 year after the earthquake. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and a self-administered questionnaire regarding damage to houses and relatives killed or injured were used to assess psychological and mental stresses on earthquake survivors. RESULTS: Glycemic control was aggravated in diabetic patients after the earthquake in Kobe but not in Osaka. THe GHQ scores were significantly higher in the patients in Kobe than those in Osaka. Increased hemoglobin A1c concentrations and high scores on the GHQ were especially evident in diabetic patients with severe damage to houses and/or with relatives killed or injured. CONCLUSION: These results suggest an association between chronic, life-threatening stress and the worsening of metabolic control in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Control by treatment with lithium chloride of ornithine decarboxylase in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

The activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) was increased in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells by a change of the medium. This increase in the activity was inhibited by the addition of LiCl to the medium. Na+ and Mg2+ did not affect the enzyme activity. The inhibition of the enzyme activity with LiCl was not reversed by the addition of inositol or dibutyryl cyclic AMP. Total RNA was isolated from cells treated with LiCl and the relative abundance of the ODC mRNA was measured by Northern blot analysis. These levels in cells treated with LiCl were comparable to those in control cells. In the treated cells, the biological half-life of ODC was 14 min, which was the same as for the control cells. The inhibition by LiCl of ODC activity was not due to the nonspecific toxicity of LiCl. These results suggest that treatment of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells with LiCl suppressed ODC induction during translation, not during transcription or after translation.

[Three patients with hypopituitarism accompanied by primary empty sella presenting mental symptoms].

We report here three patients with hypopituitarism accompanied by primary empty sella, whose first manifestations were various mental symptoms. Endocrine studies revealed that two patients showed panhypopituitarism and the other had isolated adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) deficiency. Although several different types of pituitary dysfunctions have been described in a mild form, empty sella is usually asymptomatic. Their first manifestations were mental symptoms; consciousness disturbance, psychomotor agitation, visual hallucination and delusion. Isolated ACTH deficiency is an uncommon disease which etiology is still undetermined. A case with isolated ACTH deficiency associated with an empty sella has been reported before. It is suggested that empty sella might have a role in pathogenesis of isolated ACTH deficiency. The empty sella was confirmed by metrizamide cisternography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These imaging studies are good tools to disclose empty sella. Replacement with cortisone and levothyroxine resulted in an improvement in the mental symptoms in two patients with panhypopituitarism. No alteration was observed following cortisone administration in the patient with isolated ACTH deficiency. Delusion and visual hallucination in this patient poorly responded to treatment with neuroleptics.

[The dexamethasone suppression test in child and adolescent psychiatry]. / Le test de freinage par la dexaméthasone en psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent.

The dexamethasone suppression test was performed on 67 children and adolescents who were hospitalized in the child psychopathology unit of Herold Hospital (Paris). We used the DSM-III diagnostic criteria. After 10 preliminary trials using 2 mg/1.73 m2 of dexamethasone, 63 trials were conducted with a dosage of 1 mg/1.73 m2. In 19 cases of anorexia nervosa, non-suppression was associated with the weight reduction, with no other significance attached to the results. In 30 pubertal cases, 11 out of the 20 depressed patients escaped from dexamethasone suppression while none of the 10 non-depressed patients did. Those 5 adolescents who were categorized as depressed with psychotic features all escaped suppression. Criteria of specificity and more specifically the role of weight loss, are discussed. In 8 prepubertal patients (under Thirteen) the 4 depressed cases showed no escape response but this response was noted in 2 out of the 4 other children. These results suggest the presence of neuroendocrinological alterations in depressed pubertal children similar to those observed in some depressed adults. We could not find similar alterations in our small sample of non pubertal children.

[Mental disorders in Japanese living in Paris]. / Maladies mentales chez les japonais à Paris.

This paper relates the original work of a group of seven young Japanese psychiatrists during their residentship or their foreign assistant function in Paris. During approximately 3 years, they devoïd a part of their activity to assist their japanese copatriots who having developed some mental health accidents during they stay in the district of Paris. From the 28 patients, 15 have been hospitalized in different psychiatric wards of Paris but the french psychiatrists did not take part of the paper. The authors have divided their clinical material into 3 groups of japanese patients: tourists, permanent residents or temporary residents who represents 2/3 of the whole. In each group the incidence of nosographic diagnosis is precise and the transcultural problems are underlined. Finally, all the patients has been sent back to Japan.

Stimulation of the rat dorsal raphe in vivo releases labeled serotonin from the parietal cortex.

In vivo release of labeled serotonin ([3H]5-HT) from the parietal cortex was investigated by cortical cup technique and electrical stimulation of midbrain raphe in rats anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium. The spontaneous efflux of tritium from the parietal cortex preload with [3H]5-HT followed a multiphasic exponential course. After 120 min, the rate of efflux appeared to fit the single exponential function (slow phase). Imipramine (10(-6)-10(-3) M) produced a dose-dependent increase in the spontaneous release. When pargyline in concentrations ranging from 10(-4) to 10(-3) M were added to the medium in the cup, the unchanged [3H]5-HT significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner and the slow declining coefficient of tritium efflux significantly decreased in the presence of 10(-4) pargyline. Stimulation of the rostral two-thirds of the dorsal raphe and the lateral 5-HT bundle originating from the dorsal raphe significantly increased the release of [3H]5-HT and its metabolites while stimulation of the caudal one-third of the dorsal raphe did not produce a significant increase in the release of [3H]5-HT and its metabolites. Stimulation of the medium raphe produced no or only a slight increase in the release of [3H]5-HT and its metabolites. These findings are a direct demonstration of the in vivo release of [3H]5-HT from the parietal cortex with stimulation of the dorsal raphe, particularly the rostral two-thirds of the nucleus and provide the neurochemical evidence for the dorsal raphe-cortical 5-HT pathway via the lateral 5-HT bundle.

Mass spectrometry of Alternaria mali toxins and related cyclodepsipeptides.

The structures of AM-toxins I, II and III, host specific phytotoxic metabolites of Alternaria mali, can be readily deduced from low and high resolution mass spectral data, since the amino acids and their sequences are demonstrated by this technique. Additionally, the general fragmentation of these compounds by electron impact is discussed by comparing the spectra of analogous synthetic compounds.