Research Grant

2008 Institute for Psychological and Physical Science Research Grant 　Research accomplishment report (reprinted in the Psychological and Physical Science Research Institute Bulletin No.2)

In various web and advertising designs, the combination of letter color [Remark 2] and background color is an important element in enhancing visibility. Saburi (2008) tried to understand the structure of this visibility by using the ASYMMAXSCAL (Saburi & Chino, 2008) maximum likelihood method for asymmetric multidimensional scaling. From comparison of the groups of colors and groups of different color spaces obtained from this method, the majority of the symmetrical part of visibility was shown to be based on the groups of the YUV color space expanding and contracting in a different dimension at a specific ratio. Furthermore, these skew-symmetric parts obtained comparatively small results. However, the colors dealt with in this research were only the eight fundamental colors. As part of a large-scale data collection, the author took a look at 191 university students, and gathered visibility data on the partial combination of six colors, which were different colors to Saburi’s eight, and analyzed this data with the MAXSCAL (Takane, 1981). By comparing the groups obtained, and the groups of YUV color space expanding and stretching in a different dimension as found by Saburi, both values were found to vary greatly. There is a possibility that there was insufficient information on the groups obtained to draw up a group based on just the six colors dealt with in this research. These six colors were thought to all gather in an area in the YUV color space where the Y score representing luminance was small. The author assembled all the data obtained and reported on it in the "Psychological and Physical Science" bulletin (Saburi, 2009).
The author also conducted a study on methodology, in particular data gathering methods. In regard to the ASYMMAXSCAL, which uses rating scale data, Saburi & Chino (2007) propose asymmetric maximum likelihood multidimensional scaling for paired comparison data. The authors then applied the latter method to paired comparison data examined through friendly relations between relevant East Asian countries, and reported on this in “Psychological and Physical Science” (Saburi & Chino, 2010). The analysis results were then compared with the results of Saburi & Chino's (2008) rating scale data, investigating a similar relationship, and applied to ASYMMAXSCAL. In the latter, these results were rejected in all symmetry tests, whereas the former was generally accepted, and the optimal model according to AIC standards was also different. It was considered possible that there was a difference between the data properties of the absolute evaluation rating scale data and the relative evaluation paired comparison data. From these comparative results, the reaction process of the decision maker was considered, and the current issue is utilizing this for the improvement and expansion of the analytical method model.

• Saburi, S. (2008). Structure of visibility for the combination of background and character colors: an analysis of a maximum likelihood asymmetric multidimensional scaling. The Japanese Journal of Behav- iormetrics, 35, 193-201.
• 佐Saburi, S. (2009). Analysis of visibility for the combination of character and background colors – A preparatory report for the large data collec-
  Tion -. Journal of the Institute for Psychological and Physical Science,
  1, 71-77.
• Saburi,S.，＆Chino,N. (2007). An ML asymmetric MDS for paired comparison data. Abstracts of the 72nd AnnualMeeting of the Psychometric Society (p.9).Tokyo,Japan.
• Saburi,S.,＆Chino,N. (2008). A maximum likenhood method for an asymmetric MDS model. Computational Statisticsand Data Analysis, 52,4673-4684.
• Saburi, S., & Chino, N. (2010). An application of maximum likelihood Asymmetric multidimensional scaling for paired comparison data Analysis of friendship data among nations in east Asia and the related nations. Journal of the Institute for Psychological and Physical Science, 2, 43-48.

Aphasia is an acquired language impairment as a result of organic cerebral damage. Since the language functions of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing all deteriorate, daily conversation-level communication becomes difficult. The number of patients suffering from aphasia in this country is increasing due to the aging Japanese society, and as of 2007 there are roughly 500,000 people with aphasia. The care-givers for aphasic patients at home are usually relatives like spouses and children, but difficulties with communication and providing aphasic patients with sufficient support is a cause of serious mental stress for families. The burden of care-giving is also large. There is little research regarding the care-giving burden within families with an aphasic member, however, and no fixed conclusions have been made regarding the relationship between the care-giver's burden and communicative disorders. In Medical Health and Welfare Services for aphasic patients, psychological interventions for the family as well as the patient are an important theme. However, the necessity of care support for families and effective intervention strategies for mitigation have not been sufficiently studied in this country.

In this research, we aim to obtain basic knowledge on intervention program development to reduce families' care-giving burden, by examining the care-giving burden and related factors of the family who are the primary care-givers for chronic phase aphasiac patients at home.

Our subjects were 25 patients with aphasia (12 men, 13 women, average age 67.8 ± 10.6 years), and 25 family care givers (8 men, 17 women, average age 9.2 ± 13.5 years) who visited the General Hospital between April and September 2008 for speech and language therapy follow-ups. The inclusion criteria consisted of the following: 1) Chronic phase aphasiac patients with organic cerebral damage (over six months after onset), 2) In a stable general condition, and able to receive medical treatment at home and come for follow-up visits, 3) Living with family members who can provide the patient's information, 4) No history of being re-hospitalized due to the re-occurrence of strokes with their brain disease initially, 5) No other severe higher brain dysfunctions other than aphasia, 6) Receipt of written informed consent from the patient and family regarding the aims and summary of the research. We conducted the following evaluations on the patients: the SLTA, short version of the CADL, the SAQOL-39, the CES-D scale, the RCPM, FIM exercises, and the following checks on the family: the SF-36 survey, the SAQOL-39 (objective evaluation), the CES-D scale, the J-ZBI, lively social activities checklist, and the NPI-Q . The subjects were divided into a high burden group (a score of 21 or above), and a low burden group (a score of 20 or below) based on their overall J-ZBI score, and we saw significant differences with each evaluation item. We also examined the correlation between the J-ZBI and each evaluation item, and conducted a further multiple regression analysis to clarify the care-giving burden predictor.

We saw significant differences between the high burden group and the low burden group in terms of the main lesion site and FIM exercises, the short version of the CADL, the family's CES-D scale, objective SAQOL-39 psycho-socia1 score, and the NPI-Q severity and degree of burden. We saw a significant correlation with the overall care-giving burden in terms of FIM exercises, the CADL, family education age, the family's SF-36 survey, the family's CES-D scale, and NPI-Q severity and degree of burden. The results of the multiple regression analysis, FIM exercises and the family's CES-D scale were extracted as related factors. On the other hand, no correlation was seen between the severity of the patient's language disorder and intellectual functions.

It has been determined that the degree of care given by families who support chronic aphasiac patients at home is strongly influenced by the patient's ADL functions and the family's emotional state (e.g. depression). To reduce the care-giving burden of families who care for aphasiac patients, and attempt to maintain and improve the patient's ADL functions, it is important to increase the family's psychological and mental support. In rehabilitation treatment for aphasia an approach to dysfunction is required in addition to a comprehensive service taking into account psychological education and lineage. A comparative study couldn't be done on the number of patients looked at in terms of type of aphasia and the modified the degree of movement disorder (e.g. paralysis). We plan to continue data collection and engage in developing an effective intervention program.

〔Journal articles〕（1）　
Psychological and Physical Science, 2,9-16（2010）

〔Conference presentation〕（1）　
33rd Higher Brain Dysfunction Society General Assembly, "Study on care-giving burdens and related factors of family care-givers who care for chronic aphasia patients at home" October 2009　Sapporo

We sincerely thank the Institute for Psychological and Physical Science for their funding and continued support of our research. This research was also carried out jointly with Professor Masahiko Yamamoto from the Department of Health Science.

Many antioxidant foods are currently on the market, with their functionality is attracting a lot of attention. Amongst antioxidant foods, sesame seeds have been consumed since ancient times, and in recent years various investigations have been conducted on sesame lignans found within sesame seeds. Sesaminol triglucoside (STG), which is a typical sesame lignan comprises approximately 0.2% to 0.5% of the sesame seed water-soluble fraction. It has been reported to exist in the blood in the form of sesaminol (SML) with a strong antioxidant activity in vivo, according to experiments on dogs and hypercholesterolemic rabbit models. When these rabbits are orally fed STG, this significantly decreases the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. ※ Note 1. There have been some reports on the effectiveness of sesaminol, but there are hardly any reports on active substances. In this research, we focused on sesame lignan antioxidant food agent metabolites in the body, and conducted experiments with the aim of clarifying the molecular biology facilitating atherosclerosis prevention.

To clarify the body's metabolism of sesame lignans, as an in vitro body metabolism reaction we conducted an experiment on the sesame lignan SML's metabolic mechanisms using rat hepatic microsomal fractions. In the rat liver S9, one of the hepatic SML methlyenedioxy moieties was cleaved, and metabolized to the catechol moiety sesaminol-6-catchol (SMLC). ※ Note2. Furthermore, when temporal change was investigated, sesaminol reduced with time whereas SMLC gradually increased, reaching a peak 8 hours after the start of a reaction.

In experiments using hypercholesterolemic rabbits, STG is reported to be effective in the initiation of aortic sclerosis. By confirming adhesive molecule expression of vascular endothelial cells, we examined the effect of adhesive molecule expression in the initiation of atherosclerosis. We investigated this by examining the effects of STG metabolite adhesive molecule expression using this mechanism in atherosclerotic cells. Results confirmed that both SML and SMLC decrease adhesive molecule expression through cytokine stimulation in a concentration-dependent manner. In recent years it has also been reported that SML and SMLC have high antioxidant activity in sesame lignans. ※ Note 3. This suggests the possibility that the in vivo STG metabolite SMLC has a physiological effect on sites of inflammation that produce atherosclerotic cytokines, among other substances.

STG is subject to various metabolic processes within the body, and is converted to different substances each of which have a specific activity. In this research we identified the main STG metabolites, and were able to confirm their physiological effects. We consider this to be the first step toward elucidating sesame lignans’ in vivo metabolism. In future, as well as elucidating the in vivo disposition of STG, an approach to the body's metabolism mechanism in humans is expected.

This research was conducted with incentive research funding from the Institute for Psychological and Physical Science . We would like to express our thanks to Toshihiko Osawa from Nagoya University's Graduate School of Life, Graduate School of Agriculture for guidance and encouragement throughout the course of this research. We are also deeply grateful to lecturer Yuki Ueno from Aichi Gakuin University's Faculty of Psychological and Physical Science, Department of Health and Nutrition for the warm advice she gave every day. We offer our deepest thanks to associate professor Nori Nakamura from Okayama University's Graduate School of Science and Technology, and associate professor Yoshiaki Miyake from Tokai Gakuen University's Department of Human Health for their constant advice and encouragement. We also offer our warmest thanks to Misaki Inayoshi from Takemoto Oil & Fat Co. Ltd. for providing us with valuable STG. Over the course this research we received a lot of input and encouragement from the graduates and students of Nagoya University's Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences Food Function Laboratory, and we offer them our sincerest thanks. Finally, we would like to express our deepest thanks to the Institute for Psychological and Physical Science and parties concerned for providing significant funding to carry out this research.

Note 1） Kang eta1.(1999) J. Nutr., 129, 1885-1890.

Note 2） Mochizuki,M. et a1. (2009) Agric Food Chem., 57, 10429-10434.

Note 3） Miyake,Y. et a1. (2005) J. Agric Food Chem., 53, 22一27.