Levels of salivary immunoglobulin A under psychological stress and its relationship with rumination and five personality traits in medical students

Background and Objectives: The measurement of salivary immunoglobulin A is a useful and non-invasive method for measuring stress. Personality traits and rumination act as possible mediators in the relationship between psychological stressors and the immune system. This study was aimed to evaluate the levels of salivary IgA under psychological stress and its relationship with rumination and five personality traits in medical students. Methods: In this cross- sectional study, 45 medical students who intended to participate in the final exam were selected by simple random sampling. Two months before the exam, in the basal conditions, the NEO Personality Inventory-Short Form and Emotional Control Questionnaire (ECQ) were completed. Saliva samples were taken from students in both the basal conditions and exam stress conditions. Salivary IgA was measured by an ELISA test. Data was analyzed using paired samples T-test, Pearson correlation analysis, and stepwise regression. Results: A significant reduction of salivary IgA levels was found in exam stress conditions. Also, a significant negative correlation was found between traits of neuroticism and rumination with salivary IgA, as well as a significant positive correlation between of openness to experience and emotional inhibition with salivary IgA. Openness to experience and emotional inhibition may predict a substantial variance (34%) of salivary IgA under exam stress. Conclusions: Salivary IgA is reduced in response to exam stress. In addition, the rumination and personality traits may reduce or increase stress effects on the immune system, particularly the salivary IgA.

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis with bradyphrenia and psychiatric disorders: a case with 18F-FDG PET imaging and a literature review

Background and Objectives: Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is a rare autosomal recessive lipid-storage disease caused by mutations in the CYP27A1. The purpose of this study is to determine the clinical characteristics, neuroimaging and mutation detect in a family with CTX systematically. Methods: Collecting history materials and detecting the routine clinical biochemical tests and imaging examination, and for the first time taking the whole body positron emission tomography (PET)-CT examination for probed in the world to research abnormal metabolism activities in CTX. To observe the effect of treatment with chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and stains before and after the intervention, using serum lipid level detection and neuropsychological evaluation. Genetic testing was carried out to screen the nine exons and exon-intron boundaries about 200-300bq of CYP27A1. Results: A 37-year-old woman with typical clinical characteristics of CTX. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain showed bilateral lesions in the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum, then, PET images revealed multiple abnormal hypermetabolism areas at distal tendon, and multifocal areas of hypometabolism in bilateral sides of cerebellar hemispheres, the frontal lobe and temporal lobe. Histopathology reveals accumulation of xanthoma cells and dispersed lipid crystal clefts in xanthomas. In genetic analysis, it shown an insertion of cytosine (77-78insC) located in the first exon of CYP27A1 in the proband. Conclusions: We found that a Chinese patient presented a typical clinical feature of CTX along with clear correlation on both structural and functional imaging had a novel mutation in the CYP27A1 gene.

Lineup identification accuracy: the effects of alcohol, target presence, confidence ratings, and response time

Despite the intoxication of many eyewitnesses at crime scenes, only four published studies to date have investigated the effects of alcohol intoxication on eyewitness identification performance. While one found intoxication significantly increased false identification rates from target absent showups, three found no such effect using the more traditional lineup procedure. The present study sought to further explore the effects of alcohol intoxication on identification performance and examine whether accurate decisions from intoxicated witnesses could be postdicted by confidence and response times. One hundred and twenty participants engaged in a study examining the effects of intoxication (control, placebo, and mild intoxication) and target presence on identification performance. Participants viewed a simultaneous lineup one week after watching a mock crime video of a man attempting to steal cars. Ethanol intoxication (0.6 ml/kg) was found to make no significant difference to identification accuracy and such identifications from intoxicated individuals were made no less confidently or slowly than those from sober witnesses. These results are discussed with respect to the previous research examining intoxicated witness identification accuracy and the misconceptions the criminal justice system holds about the accuracy of such witnesses.

Psychosocial stressors perceived in the process of social reintegration and compliance time remaining in prison sentence

Introduction: This study shows the results obtained from evaluating the main psychosocial stressors perceived in the process of social reintegration and their relation to a remaining sentence time in prison. Material and methods: A questionnaire based on an ad hoc design was administered, using a Likert scale, with a total of 383 inmates serving sentences in southeast Spain. Results: Findings show that inmates with a remaining sentence period of more than one year, like those who had served more than a year of their sentence, showed greater concern about possible economic difficulties. Conclusions: The psychosocial stressors studied might provide relevant information to facilitate the process of social reintegration after the completion of a prison sentence.