Iwaki Meisei University

Background.This study examines mediation models in which behavioral inhibition and activation systems (BIS/BAS) impact Internet addiction through mental health and the moderating roles of innate and acquired resilience in the models. Methods.The data set used in this study was a cross-sectional survey among 952 adolescents in July 2021.Internet Addiction Test, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, BIS/BAS scales, and Depression Self-Rating Scale were used for analysis.After controlling for gender, the mediation and moderated mediation models were examined. Results.The results revealed that depressive symptoms partially mediated the relationship between BIS and Internet addiction and between BAS-fun-seeking (BAS-FS) and Internet addiction.Innate and acquired resilience moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and Internet addiction.The indirect effect of innate and acquired resilience on Internet addiction via depressive symptoms was statistically significant in both low and high innate and acquired resilience.The results of conditional indirect effect analysis indicated that the depressive symptoms-internet addiction association decreased with the increase of innate or acquired resilience level.Discussion.Our results suggested that depression symptoms played a significant mediation role in the relationships between BIS/BAS and internet addiction, and higher innate and acquired resilience was associated with a reduced risk of internet addiction.BIS/BAS may be a risk for internet dependence via mental health, and innate and acquired resilience appears to serve as a protective factor.

Cambodia’s domestic policy towards supports for people with disabilities is not well-developed, and support from abroad has been historically essential. However, support from overseas is not yet sufficiently advanced, nor has it been consistent. In this study, we interviewed three people engaged in support activities to identify the factors that are causing difficulties for foreign supporters or support groups in developing supports in Cambodia. The following five points were identified as the main difficulties in developing education and welfare support for people with disabilities in Cambodia: 1) inconsistent understanding among the Cambodian people of the significance of educating and providing welfare to people with disabilities, 2) difficulties in interpreting technical terms and concepts that do not exist in Cambodia, 3) 3)unestablished professional positions of people with disabilities and their supporters, 4) difficulties in identifying local leadership, and 5) difficulty in developing activities due to the closed nature of relationships. The interviews in this study do not only highlight the above issues in case studies, but also provides successful examples of how to solve these problems. The findings will be useful in planning and developing future support for the education and welfare of people with disabilities in Cambodia.

Background Teleost fish are known to respond to environmental manipulation, which makes them an ideal model animal for testing relationships between the environment and behavior. The Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, is a solitary, highly territorial fish that displays fierce stereotyped aggressive behavior toward conspecifics or members of other species. Adult fish, especially males, are generally housed in isolation in captivity. Here we report evidence that an enriched rearing environment can decrease the level of aggression in bettas and enable adults to be housed in groups. Results B. splendens individuals were hatched in our laboratory and raised in groups in an enriched environment. At the juvenile or subadult stage, some individuals were relocated to a poor environment and kept in isolation. To evaluate aggression, a mirror-image test was conducted at the juvenile, subadult, and adult stages for each fish, and body parameters as well as plasma concentrations of 11-ketotestosterone, estradiol, and cortisol were evaluated. Male and female adult bettas raised in a group showed lower levels of aggression than other adult fish. The magnitude of threatening behavior was greater in adult bettas isolated as subadults, whereas the magnitude of fighting behavior was grater in adult bettas isolated as juveniles. The influence of rearing conditions on behavior was greater in females than in males. Plasma cortisol concentrations of adult bettas isolated as subadults after the mirror-image test were higher than those in other experimental groups. Adult males isolated as subadults had significantly higher plasma concentrations of 11-ketotestosterone than males raised in a group and isolated as juveniles. Females isolated as subadults had a higher gonadosomatic index than females raised in a group and females isolated as juveniles. Conclusions These results indicate that bettas can be kept in a group under enriched environments and that the timing of isolation influences the aggression and sexual maturity of bettas. Female and male bettas responded differently to environmental manipulation. Judging from their level of sexual maturity, bettas isolated as subadults show proper development.

Two oxidized forms of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), oxidized (Ox-LDL) and minimally modified (MM-LDL), and the immune complexes (LDL-ICs) that they form with their corresponding antibodies, play a major role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Recently, we reported that the heptapeptide KP6 (Lys-Trp-Tyr-Lys-Asp-Gly-Asp) coupled through its ε-amino group present on the N-terminal Lys to fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)- (FITC)KP6- binds specifically to Ox-LDL and MM-LDL, but not to native LDL. Here, to develop a novel method for measuring the levels of oxidatively modified LDL in blood, using (FITC)KP6, we analyzed the latter's binding with MM-LDL-IC and Ox-LDL-IC. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that (FITC)KP6 could efficiently and specifically bind to polyethylene glycol (PEG)-precipitated MM-LDL-IC and Ox-LDL-IC in a dose-dependent manner with high sensitivity in plasma and serum. Our results indicate that the above method for measuring the levels of PEG-precipitated, oxidatively modified LDL-ICs, formed by the addition of anti-Ox-LDL antibody to blood, using (FITC)KP6, can aid the diagnosis of atherosclerosis.