Metabolic risk factors of cognitive impairment in young women with major psychiatric disorder

BackgroundCognitive performance improves clinical outcomes of patients with major psychiatric disorder (MPD), but is impaired by hyperglycemia. Psychotropic agents often induce metabolism syndrome (MetS). The identification of modifiable metabolic risk factors of cognitive impairment may enable targeted improvements of patient care.ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between MetS and cognitive impairment in young women with MPD, and to explore risk factors.MethodsWe retrospectively studied women of 18–34 years of age receiving psychotropic medications for first-onset schizophrenia (SCH), bipolar disorder (BP), or major depressive disorder (MDD). Data were obtained at four time points: presentation but before psychotropic medication; 4–8 and 8–12 weeks of psychotropic therapy; and enrollment. MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, (MCCB)—based Global Deficit Scores were used to assess cognitive impairment. Multiple logistic analysis was used to calculate risk factors. Multivariate models were used to investigate factors associated with cognitive impairment.ResultsWe evaluated 2,864 participants. Cognitive impairment was observed in 61.94% of study participants, and was most prevalent among patients with BP (69.38%). HbA1c within the 8–12 week-treatment interval was the most significant risk factor and highest in BP. Factors in SCH included pre-treatment waist circumference and elevated triglycerides during the 8–12 weeks treatment interval. Cumulative dosages of antipsychotics, antidepressants, and valproate were associated with cognitive impairment in all MPD subgroups, although lithium demonstrated a protect effect (all P < 0.001).ConclusionsCognitive impairment was associated with elevated HbA1c and cumulative medication dosages. Pre-treatment waist circumference and triglyceride level at 8–12 weeks were risk factors in SCH. Monitoring these indices may inform treatment revisions to improve clinical outcomes

Military realm entity links based on improved editing distances

In order to accurately link the entity references in the commander’s demand statement to the standardized entity nodes in the knowledge graph, an entity linking method in the military domain based on improved edit distance is proposed. By summarizing the non-standard forms of entity referencing to establish an index, and using the BM25 model to integrate the improved edit distance algorithm that considers the character position exchange, inclusion similarity and other similarities, the entities to be linked are sorted to achieve the link. The experimental results show that the entity linking method in the military field can effectively improve the matching accuracy in similarity calculation

A Hybrid Forecasting Model for Self-Similar Traffic in LEO Mega-Constellation Networks

Mega-constellation network traffic forecasting provides key information for routing and resource allocation, which is of great significance to the performance of satellite networks. However, due to the self-similarity and long-range dependence (LRD) of mega-constellation network traffic, traditional linear/non-linear forecasting models cannot achieve sufficient forecasting accuracy. In order to resolve this problem, a mega-constellation network traffic forecasting model based on EMD (empirical mode decomposition)-ARIMA (autoregressive integrated moving average) and IGWO (improved grey wolf optimizer) optimized BPNN (back-propagation neural network) is proposed in this paper, which makes comprehensive utilization of linear model ARIMA, non-linear model BPNN and optimization algorithm IGWO. With the enhancement of the global optimization capability of a BPNN, the proposed hybrid model can fully realize the potential of mining linear and non-linear laws of mega-constellation network traffic, hence improving the forecasting accuracy. This paper utilizes an ON/OFF model to generate historical self-similar traffic to forecast. RMSE (root mean square error), MAE (mean absolute error), R-square and MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) are adopted as evaluation indexes for the forecasting effect. Comprehensive experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms traditional constellation network traffic forecasting schemes, with several improvements in forecasting accuracy and efficiency

Taugt17b1 Overexpression in Trichoderma atroviride Enhances Its Ability to Colonize Roots and Induce Systemic Defense of Plants

Trichoderma atroviride, a soil fungus, has important applications in the biocontrol of plant diseases. Glycosyltransferases enhance the root colonization ability of Trichoderma spp. This study aimed to functionally characterize glycosyltransferase Taugt17b1 in T. atroviride. We investigated the effect of Taugt17b1 overexpression in T. atroviride H18-1-1 on its biocontrol properties, especially its ability to colonize roots. Our results demonstrated that the overexpression of the Taugt17b1 increases the T. atroviride colony growth rate, improves its root colonization ability, promotes the growth and activity of the defensive enzymatic system of plants, and prevents plant diseases. This study put forth a new role of T. atroviride glycosyltransferase and furthered the understanding of the mechanisms by which fungal biocontrol agents exert their effect

1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Induces Neutrophil Apoptosis through the p38 MAPK Signaling Pathway in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients.

Reduced neutrophil apoptosis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of acute exacerbation chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway is involved in neutrophil apoptosis. 1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1α,25VitD3) can induce tumor cell apoptosis. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of 1α,25VitD3 on peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis in AECOPD and examine the role of the p38 MAPK signaling pathway.The study enrolled 36 AECOPD patients and 36 healthy volunteers. Venous blood samples were obtained from both groups. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-(OH) D) levels in peripheral venous blood were assayed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS); the neutrophils were separated and cultured with SB203580 (a p38 inhibitor) and 1α,25VitD3. Neutrophil apoptosis was measured using flow cytometry, and phospho-p38 MAPK protein expression was detected by Western blot. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance. Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for the between-group differences and correlation analysis, respectively.The 25-(OH) D levels were lower in AECOPD patients than in healthy controls, and the peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis results were similar. 1α,25VitD3 increased the apoptosis rate and the level of phospho-p38 MAPK in peripheral blood neutrophils of AECOPD patients. SB203580 partly inhibited 1α,25VitD3-induced peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis and phospho-p38 MAPK overexpression. The 25-(OH) D levels were positively correlated with increased peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis and phospho-p38 MAPK levels. In addition, expression of the phospho-p38 MAPK protein was also positively correlated with peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis.Our results suggest that 1α,25VitD3 induces peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis through the p38 MAPK signaling pathway in AECOPD patients

Characterization and genetic mapping of a novel recessive genic male sterile gene <i>ms305</i> in maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.)

<div><p>The male sterility system shows tremendous value for the long-term utilization of hybrid crop breeding. In this study, a male sterile mutant, <i>K305ms</i>, was derived from the M₃ progeny of maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) inbred line K305 exposed to ⁶⁰Co-γ irradiation. Male sterile <i>K305ms</i> plants did not show any obvious differences from their sibling male fertile plants (K305F) during the vegetative stage, but failed to produce functional pollen at the reproductive stage. Microscopic observations determined that the dyads and tetrads from the pollen of <i>K305ms</i> plants developed abnormally, and subsequently the microspores were shriveled. Genetic analysis indicated that the male sterility of <i>K305ms</i> was controlled by a single recessive genic gene. Gene mapping showed that the responsible gene was located between two simple sequence repeat markers on chromosome 2L in a region of 10.3 cM, bnlg469b and bnlg1940, with genetic distances of 2.9 and 7.4 cM, respectively. According to the microscopic and mapping characteristics, our results showed that this gene was distinguishable from all other reported male sterile genes in maize, and it is temporarily designated as <i>ms305</i>. The linkage map in this study will provide a useful fundamental basis for molecular marker-assisted selection as well as for further map-based cloning of <i>ms305</i>.</p></div