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Using the presence or absence of 63 variable restriction endonuclease (RE) sites selected from 225 sites with six REs, genomic polymorphism of 242 herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) strains from six countries (Japan, Korea, China, Sweden, U.S.A. and Kenya) was quantitatively analysed. Twenty-five of the 63 sites were found to differ between Korean and Kenyan strains. In contrast, only three and six sites were found to differ between isolates from Sweden and the U.S.A. and between those from Korea and China, respectively, suggesting that they are closely related to each other. In this way, characterization of 63 sites enabled us to categorize 186 distinct HSV-1 genotypes from 242 individuals. Some strains from Japan, Korea and China shared the same genotypes, indicating that they are phylogenetically closely related. Many significant correlation coefficients (] r ] > 0.42; P < 0.01) between pairs of sites were found in isolates from the three Asian countries (Japan, Korea and China) as well as in those from Sweden and the U.S.A., suggesting that HSV-1 strains from within the same ethnic groups are evolutionarily closer. The average number of nucleotide substitutions per nucleotide, as defined by nucleotide diversity (~), was estimated for HSV-1 genomes within (~x or ~y) and between (~xY) countries. On the basis of 225 sites, nucleotide diversity for Kenyan isolates was 0-0056, almost three times higher than that for Korean isolates, implying that Kenyan HSV-1 genomes are much more diverse than those from Korea. In addition, the diversity between HSV-1 isolates from different countries (~xY) was highest between isolates from the three Asian countries and Kenya (0.0075 to 0.0081) and lowest among those from the three Asian countries (0.0032 to 0.0040). The mutation rate (k) for HSV-1 was estimated to be 3-5 x 10 S/site/year. All these findings show that the evolution of HSV-1 may be host-dependent and very slow.

Background For many patients with lung cancer, disease progression occurs without notice or with vague symptoms, and unfortunately, most treatments are not curative. Given this unpredictability, we hypothesized the following: (1) poorer psychological adjustment (specifically, more depressive symptoms, higher perceptions of stress, and poorer emotional well-being) would be associated with higher intolerance for uncertainty, higher perceived illness-related ambiguity, and their interaction; and (2) greater avoidance would mediate associations between higher intolerance of uncertainty and poorer psychological adjustment. Methods Participants (N = 49) diagnosed with lung cancer at least 6 months prior to enrollment completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression Scale, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – Lung Emotional Well-being subscale, the Perceived Stress scale, the Intolerance of Uncertainty scale, the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale Ambiguity subscale, the Impact of Event – Revised Avoidance subscale, and the Short-scale Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Revised Neuroticism subscale. Mean age was 64.2 years (standard deviation [SD] = 11.0), mean years of education was 15.6 (SD = 3.1), and 71.4% were female. Hypotheses were tested with regression analyses, adjusted for neuroticism. Results Higher perceptions of stress and poorer emotional well-being were associated with higher levels of intolerance of uncertainty and higher perceived illness-related ambiguity. Non-somatic depressive symptoms were associated with higher levels of intolerance of uncertainty. Avoidance was found to mediate relations of intolerance of uncertainty with non-somatic depressive symptoms and emotional well-being only. Conclusions Findings suggest that interventions to address avoidance and intolerance of uncertainty in individuals with lung cancer may help improve psychological adjustment.

Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) posit aberrant beliefs about the social self as a key psychological mechanism that maintains fear of negative evaluation in social and performance situations. Consequently, a distorted self-view should be evident when recalling painful autobiographical social memories, as reflected in linguistic expression, negative self-beliefs, and emotion and avoidance. To test this hypothesis, 42 adults diagnosed with SAD and 27 non-psychiatric healthy controls (HC) composed autobiographical narratives of distinct social anxiety related situations, generated negative self-beliefs (NSB), and provided emotion and avoidance ratings. Although narratives were matched for initial emotional intensity and present vividness, linguistic analyses demonstrated that, compared to HC, SAD employed more self-referential, anxiety, and sensory words, and made fewer references to other people. There were no differences in the number of self-referential NSB identified by SAD and HC. Social anxiety symptom severity, however, was associated with greater self-referential NSB in SAD only. SAD reported greater current selfconscious emotions when recalling autobiographical social situations, and greater active avoidance of similar situations than did HC. These findings support cognitive models of SAD, and suggest that autobiographical memory of social situations in SAD may influence current and future thinking, emotion, and behavioral avoidance.

Abstract-Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine associations of lifestyle with dental health behaviors such as tooth brushing frequency, use of extra cleaning devices, and regular dental visits to a dentist. Methods: Data were collected from 1,182 dentate residents 18 years of age or older who resided in a typical farming village. The data included data on the demographic factors, dental health behavior, and various aspects of lifestyle, i.e, mental condition, alcohol consumption, smoking habit, physical activity, social activity, dietary habits, and presence of systemic diseases. Results: Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that subjects in a younger group (18-39 years old) and subjects who had never smoked brushed their teeth more frequently. Experience of social volunteer work and presence of systemic disease were correlated with use of extra cleaning devices.Associations of female gender with frequency of tooth brushing and use of extra cleaning devices were weakly positive. The subjects who considered dietary combination carefully and those who lived alone were predisposed to visit a dentist regularly. Conclusions: The results indicate that dental health behavior is associated with lifestyle as well as demographic factors.