The objective of the present study was to examine the efficacy of group musical therapy for inpatients with DSM-IV schizophrenia or schizoaffective psychosis. Thirty-four therapy group subjects in a ward for long-stay female patients received 15 group musical therapy sessions over 4 months, while 32 waiting group subjects from another ward with the same function were to wait for the sessions until the studied course was completed. The assessment included measures of psychotic symptoms, objective quality of life and subjective musical experiences. Comparison of the groups indicated that significant advantages in the therapy group subjects were detected in some measures concerning personal relations and a subjective sense of participation in a chorus activity. However, the follow-up evaluation suggested that the improvement might not be durable. These findings suggested that the musical therapy had some, but possibly only shortlived, effects on personal relations and musical experiences of chronic psychotic patients.

-In our previous study on the effects of restricted feeding on pregnant rabbits (Matsuoka et al., 2009), animals given 20 g/day of diet on and after gestation day 6 (GD 6) showed significant changes in blood coagulation-related parameters suggesting a tendency to bleed and a decrease in serum concentration of progesterone, an important factor to maintain pregnancy, on GD 22, and a half of them showed serum progesterone concentrations less than 4.0 ng/ml which resulted in abortions on and after GD 23. In the present study, the effects of restricted feeding of 20 g/day from GD 6 to GD 22 on embryo-fetal and placental development on GD 23 as well as on blood coagulation-related parameters and serum progesterone concentrations on GD 22 were examined in pregnant rabbits. As compared with the non-restricted feeding (Not-treated, NT) group, the restricted feeding (RF) group showed lower values of platelets, fibrinogen, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and antithrombin III (ATIII) and a longer prothrombin time (PT), reflecting an inhibition of blood coagulation, and a decrease in serum progesterone concentration on GD 22. Cesarean section performed on GD 23 revealed that the RF group showed a tendency towards an increase in the embryo-fetal death index and lower body weights and placental volumes compared with the NT group. Histological examination of the placenta in the RF group revealed that the labyrinth zone was thin and many glycogen-containing cells still remained in the basal zone, suggesting a delay in placental growth.

To clarify the mechanism of metabolic derangement by massive blood transfusion to the damaged liver, the changes in the hepatic mitochondrial redox state, as reflected in arterial ketone body ratio (acetoacetate/3-hydroxybutyrate), were studied in jaundiced rabbits by infusion of massive citrate-phosphate-dextrose (CPD) solution. The jaundiced rabbits received common bile duct ligation (BDL group), and the sham group had a simple exploration of the bile duct. CPD solution was infused for 3 h at a rate of 9 ml/kg/h in each group. As metabolic parameters, blood gas, pyruvate, lactate, citrate and ketone body ratio were analyzed in the arterial blood. During the course, arterial ketone body ratio decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in the BDL group with severe metabolic acidosis, while it was maintained at high value in the sham group with metabolic alkalosis. Organic acids were more highly accumulated in the BDL group than in the sham group. These results suggested a hepatodepressant effect of massive blood transfusion, especially in the damaged liver.

A well-known putative tumor suppressor WW domain–containing oxidoreductase (Wwox) is highly expressed in hormonally regulated tissues and is considered important for the normal development and function of reproductive organs. In this study, we investigated the cellular and subcellular localization of Wwox in normal testes during postnatal days 0–70 using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Wwox is expressed in testes at all ages. Immunohistochemistry showed that fetal-type and adult-type Leydig cells, immature and mature Sertoli cells, and germ cells (from gonocytes to step 17 spermatids) expressed Wwox except peritubular myoid cells, step 18–19 spermatids, and mature sperm. Wwox localized diffusely in the cytoplasm with focal intense signals in all testicular cells. These signals gradually condensed in germ cells with their differentiation and colocalized with giantin for cis-Golgi marker and partially with golgin-97 for trans-Golgi marker. Biochemically, Wwox was detected in isolated Golgi-enriched fractions. But Wwox was undetectable in the nucleus. This subcellular localization pattern of Wwox was also confirmed in single-cell suspension. These findings indicate that Wwox is functional in most cell types of testis and might locate into Golgi apparatus via interaction with Golgi proteins. These unique localizations might be related to the function of Wwox in testicular development and spermatogenesis:

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