No abstract

No abstract

Aim: Insight in schizophrenia is considered to have a multidimensional construct, and cognitive insight is thought to be an important dimension of insight: an ability to evaluate and correct one's own distorted beliefs and misinterpretations. The Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) was developed to measure cognitive insight, and studies have shown that cognitive insight is associated with several clinical features in schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to develop a Japanese version of the BCIS (BCIS-J) and assess the psychometric properties of this instrument. Methods:The BCIS-J was completed by university students (n = 183) and patients with schizophrenia (n = 30). The Japanese version of the Schedule for the Assessment of Insight was used to measure clinical insight in patients with schizophrenia, and its association with the BCIS-J was investigated.Results: Factor analysis in the university students indicated that the BCIS-J was composed of two factors, self-reflectiveness and self-certainty, as was seen in the original BCIS. The relation between the specific dimensions of clinical insight and each component of the BCIS-J in patients with schizophrenia indicated that overconfidence in their belief or judgment may be involved in their attitude to treatment and openness to feedback, and objectivity might be essential to attribute one's symptoms as part of mental illness. Conclusions:The BCIS-J is a reliable and valid instrument to measure cognitive aspects of insight and appears to complement clinical insight scales.

No abstract

The effects of Heterocapsa circularisquama (Peridiniales, Dinophyceae) on the clearance rate of blue mussel Mytilus galloprovjncialis were studied in the laboratory to clarify the mechanism involved in the toxic effects of dinoflagellates on bivalve mollusks The clearance rate of blue mussels was s~gnificantly reduced when exposed to H. circularisquama, even at a low dinoflagellate cell density (50 cells ml-'). Mussels also showed extreme retraction of the mantle edge and no production of feces or pseudofeces. The reduction in clearance rate did not seen1 to be caused by slze, density, or shape of H. circularisquama, since no inhibitory effect was observed when mussels were exposed to other n~orphologically similar dinoflagellates, i.e. Scrippsiella trochoidea and Heterocapsa tnquetra. A filtrate of the H. circularisquama culture d~d not repress the clearance rate of M. galloprovincial~s. 'Naked cells' of H. circularisquama (without cell wall), which were prepared by centrifugation, showed no inhibitory effect on clearance rate. Therefore, it is quite likely that the source of toxicity of H. circularisquama is localized on the cell surface. The inhibitory effect of H. circularisquama was inactivated by treatment of intact cells with trypsin and sodium dodecylsulfate. These results indicate that the toxic response of M . galloprovincialis to H. circularisquama is caused by a protein-like substance involving the outer cell components. T h~s is the first study to explain the specific inhibition process of H circulansquama on the filtering activities of bivalve mollusks.