It remains unclear whether language tasks in one's first (L1) or second (L2) language can cause stress responses and whether frontal, autonomic and behavioral responses to stressful tasks are correlated. In this study, we studied 22 Chinese subjects whose L2 was English and measured the cerebral blood oxygenation in their frontal lobe by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as participants engaged in a mental arithmetic task (MAT) and verbal fluency tasks (VFTs) in L1 (Chinese) and L2 (English). To examine the activated cortical areas, we estimated the channel location based on Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) standard brain space by using a probabilistic estimation method. We evaluated heart rate (HR) changes to analyze autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning. We found that the MAT and VFTs induced greater increases in HR than did the control (Ctrl) task. Furthermore, subjects developed greater increases in HR in the MAT and VFTL2 than they did in the VFTL1. Compared with the Ctrl task, the MAT and both VFTL1 and VFTL2 produced robust and widespread bilateral activation of the frontal cortex. Interestingly, partial correlation analysis indicated that the activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) [Brodmann's area (BA) 47] was consistently correlated with the increases in HR across the three tasks (MAT, VFTL2, and VFTL1), after controlling for the performance data. The present results suggested that a VFT in L2 may be more stressful than in L1. The LIFG may affect the activation of the sympathetic system induced by stressful tasks, including MATs and VFTs.

We experienced a 56-year-old male who had suffered from diarrhea, epigastric discomfort and an enlarged abdomen feeling for 12 years, and who was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. Although he had undergone treatment using Western medicine in many hospitals, his condition had not improved. He was therefore started on Kampo medicine 5 years ago. However, since the enlarged abdomen feeling worsened whenever he changed his prescription, it was difficult to treat him on an outpatient basis. Thus we tried hospitalization. His feeling of enlarged abdomen was near continuous, but the discomfort from a spasmodic enlarged abdomen feeling was greater. We recognized the spasmodic feeling to be hontonki disease and started ryokeikansoto. The spasmodic feeling disappeared promptly after hospitalization. On the 12 th day of hospitalization, we noticed that the circumference of his navel was cold. Therefore, we changed his prescription to ryokito, which is kind of ryokeikansoto, containing ryokyo, which dispels cold and stops pain, and then the near continuous feeling of enlarged abdomen also disappeared. He was discharged from hospital on the 24 th day. Although the original text for ryokito states that it cures a right fleshy tumor and pain, this suggests that ryokito is effective in cases of hontonki disease and cold, even when not necessarily accompanied by hypochondralgia.

We report a case of systemic sclerosis complicated with primary biliary cirrhosis successfully treated with orengedokuto (wanbinghuichun) and sekiganryo. The patient was a 68-year-old female. She had been diagnosed with systemic sclerosis 20 years previously, and primary biliary cirrhosis 17 years previously. She received modern Western medical treatment for skin itching and scleroderma, but her symptoms showed little improvement. Therefore, she consulted our clinic in order to receive Kampo therapy. We prescribed orengedokuto (wanbinghuichun), and the skin itching improved in 5 days. As a result of administering sekiganryo in addition to orengedokuto (wanbinghuichun) for severe coldness, the scleroderma was also ameliorated. We consider this to be a case of diseases overlapping between yin and yang syndrome.

Trigger finger develops because of stenosis around the A1 annular ligament, which causes inhibition of smooth expansion and contraction of the finger. It is effectively treated by an anti-inflammatory analgesic and/or steroid infusion, and by Western style medical surgery. Here, we report 3 cases of trigger finger effectively treated with unkeito. The first case was a 71-year-old female who had been treated with Kampo medicine for an enlarged feeling in the abdomen. She complained of trigger finger, in the knuckle of her right third finger, dry lips, and hot flashes in her hands and feet. The second case was a 56-year-old female who had been treated with Kampo medicine for polyarticular pain in her fingers. She complained of trigger finger of the left fourth finger and hot flashes in her hands. The third case was a 71-year-old female who had been treated for chronic renal failure. She complained of trigger finger in the left first finger and dry skin but had neither hot flashes in the hands nor dry lips. One of the target symptoms of unkeito is hot flashes in the hands and dry lips. Unkeito is composed of herbs which improve ketsu deficiency, oketsu, inflammation, and dry skin. It is possible that these actions of unkeito are effective in trigger finger as well.

It remains unclear whether language tasks in one's first (L1) or second (L2) language can cause stress responses and whether frontal, autonomic and behavioral responses to stressful tasks are correlated. In this study, we studied 22 Chinese subjects whose L2 was English and measured the cerebral blood oxygenation in their frontal lobe by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as participants engaged in a mental arithmetic task (MAT) and verbal fluency tasks (VFTs) in L1 (Chinese) and L2 (English). To examine the activated cortical areas, we estimated the channel location based on Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) standard brain space by using a probabilistic estimation method. We evaluated heart rate (HR) changes to analyze autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning. We found that the MAT and VFTs induced greater increases in HR than did the control (Ctrl) task. Furthermore, subjects developed greater increases in HR in the MAT and VFTL2 than they did in the VFTL1. Compared with the Ctrl task, the MAT and both VFTL1 and VFTL2 produced robust and widespread bilateral activation of the frontal cortex. Interestingly, partial correlation analysis indicated that the activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) [Brodmann's area (BA) 47] was consistently correlated with the increases in HR across the three tasks (MAT, VFTL2, and VFTL1), after controlling for the performance data. The present results suggested that a VFT in L2 may be more stressful than in L1. The LIFG may affect the activation of the sympathetic system induced by stressful tasks, including MATs and VFTs.
Adult ; Autonomic Nervous System ; physiology ; Brain Mapping ; methods ; Female ; Functional Laterality ; Heart Rate ; physiology ; Humans ; Language ; Male ; Oxyhemoglobins ; metabolism ; Prefrontal Cortex ; metabolism ; physiology ; Psychomotor Performance ; physiology ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared ; methods ; Stress, Psychological

BACKGROUND: Building an effective casework system for child maltreatment is a global issue. We estimated the effect of household dysfunction (i.e., interparental violence, caregiver mental health problems, and caregiver substance abuse) on child maltreatment to understand how to advance the current framework of child welfare. METHODS: The sample comprised 759 children (1- to 17-year-old; mean age was 10.6; 404 boys and 355 girls) placed in temporary custody units (one of the strongest intervention of the Japanese child protection system). Caseworkers from 180 units across 43 prefectures completed questionnaires on children and their family and were asked whether a child maltreatment report had been made after cancelation of custody in a 15-month follow-up period. The relations of household dysfunction and maltreatment reports were assessed using the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: About half (48.4%) of the children had been placed in the unit because of maltreatment, and 88.3% had a history of victimization. Seventy-six cases had maltreatment reports after cancelation. We entered household dysfunction variables individually into the model, and each had a significant relationship with maltreatment reports (hazard ratios for interparental violence, caregiver mental health problem, and substance abuse were 1.69, 1.69, and 2.19, respectively) after covariate adjustment. When treating these three variables as cumulative risk score model of household dysfunction, the hazard ratio increased with increasing number of score (1.96 for score two; 2.35 for score three; score 0 as reference). CONCLUSIONS Greater household dysfunction score is a risk of maltreatment after intensive intervention. It is imperative to construct systems facilitating cooperation between child and adult service sectors and to deliver seamless services to children and families. Our findings provide child protect services with risk-stratified interventions for children at victimization risk and promote adult-focused services to be proactive in prevention or intervention for adults with perpetration risk.
Adolescent ; Caregivers ; psychology ; Child ; Child Abuse ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Child Protective Services ; statistics & numerical data ; Child, Preschool ; Domestic Violence ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Japan ; epidemiology ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Mental Disorders ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Risk Factors ; Substance-Related Disorders ; epidemiology ; etiology