Model selection and prediction of outcomes in recent onset schizophrenia patients who undergo cognitive training.

Predicting treatment outcomes in psychiatric populations remains a challenge, but is increasingly important in the pursuit of personalized medicine. Patients with schizophrenia have deficits in cognition, and targeted cognitive training (TCT) of auditory processing and working memory has been shown to improve some of these impairments; but little is known about the baseline patient characteristics predictive of cognitive improvement. Here we use a model selection and regression approach called least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) to examine predictors of cognitive improvement in response to TCT for patients with recent onset schizophrenia. Forty-three individuals with recent onset schizophrenia randomized to undergo TCT were assessed at baseline on measures of cognition, symptoms, functioning, illness duration, and demographic variables. We carried out 10-fold cross-validation of LASSO for model selection and regression. We followed up on these results using linear models for statistical inference. No individual variable was found to correlate with improvement in global cognition using a Pearson correlation approach, and a linear model including all variables was also found not to be significant. However, the LASSO model identified baseline global cognition, education, and gender in a model predictive of improvement on global cognition following TCT. These findings offer guidelines for personalized approaches to cognitive training for patients with schizophrenia

Bis[2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)­phenolato]­dimethanol­manganese(III) chloride

In the title compound, [Mn(C13H9N2O)2(CH3OH)2]Cl, the MnIII atom (site symmetry ) is coordinated by two N,O-bidentate 2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)phenolate ligands and two methanol mol­ecules, to generate a distorted trans-MnN2O4 octa­hedral geometry for the metal ion. The dihedral angle between the aromatic ring systems in the ligand is 16.0 (3)°. In the crystal structure, the complex cations and chloride anions are linked by O—H⋯Cl and N—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds. The chloride ion lies on a crystallographic twofold axis

Tris[2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)imidazol-1-ido]cobalt(III)

In the title compound, [Co(C6H5N4)3], the CoIII atom adopts a distorted octa­hedral CoN6 coordination geometry, arising from three N,N′-bidentate deprotonated 2,2′-biimidazole ligands. The dihedral angles between the five-membered rings of the ligands are 4.1 (2), 9.4 (2) and 10.5 (2)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, generating a layered network lying in (11)

Multifunctional gold nanostar conjugates for tumor imaging and combined photothermal and chemo-therapy

Uniform gold nanostars (Au NS) were conjugated with cyclic RGD (cRGD) and near infrared (NIR) fluorescence probe (MPA) or anti-cancer drug (DOX) to obtain multi-functional nanoconstructs, Au-cRGD-MPA and Au-cRGD-DOX respectively. The NIR contrast agent Au-cRGD-MPA was shown to have low cytotoxicity. Using tumor cells and tumor bearing mice, these imaging nanoparticles demonstrated favorable tumor-targeting capability mediated by RGD peptide binding to its over-expressed receptor on the tumor cells. The multi-therapeutic analogue, Au-cRGD-DOX, integrates targeting tumor, chemotherapy and photo-thermotherapy into a single system. The synergistic effect of photo-thermal therapy and chemotherapy was demonstrated in different tumor cell lines and in vivo using S180 tumor-bearing mouse models. The viability of MDA-MB-231 cells was only 40 % after incubation with Au-cRGD-DOX and irradiation with NIR light. Both tail vein and intratumoral injections showed Au-cRGD-DOX treated mice exhibiting the slowest tumor increase. These results indicate that the multifunctional nanoconstruct is a promising combined therapeutic agent for tumor-targeting treatment, with the potential to enhance the anti-cancer treatment outcomes

Synergistic Improvement of Production, Economic Return and Sustainability in the Tea Industry through Ecological Pest Management

The use of ecological principles to manage plant pests has attracted renewed attention, but our knowledge related to the contributions of ecological pest management to social and natural sustainability is fragmented. In this study, we compared the performance and resilience of tea production and the economic benefits of tea ecological management (TEM) and tea conventional management (TCM). We show that TEM significantly improved tea biomass and quality, nutritional efficiency, and beneficial insects, but reduced seasonal variation. As a result, economic return increased by $8045/ha in the TEM mode compared to$6064/ha in the TCM mode. These results confirm that TEM is a promising production mode that can reconcile the conflict between the immediate and long-term service of agriculture. However, environmental improvements associated with organic pest control benefit society, and the government should provide adequate financial support to promote the production system

Cognitive Control Errors in Nonhuman Primates Resembling Those in Schizophrenia Reflect Opposing Effects of NMDA Receptor Blockade on Causal Interactions Between Cells and Circuits in Prefrontal and Parietal Cortices

Background: The causal biology underlying schizophrenia is not well understood, but it is likely to involve a malfunction in how neurons adjust synaptic connections in response to patterns of activity in networks. We examined statistical dependencies between neural signals at the cell, local circuit, and distributed network levels in prefrontal and parietal cortices of monkeys performing a variant of the AX continuous performance task paradigm. We then quantified changes in the pattern of neural interactions across levels of scale following NMDA receptor (NMDAR) blockade and related these changes to a pattern of cognitive control errors closely matching the performance of patients with schizophrenia. Methods: We recorded the spiking activity of 1762 neurons along with local field potentials at multiple electrode sites in prefrontal and parietal cortices concurrently, and we generated binary time series indicating the presence or absence of spikes in single neurons or local field potential power above or below a threshold. We then applied causal discovery analysis to the time series to detect statistical dependencies between the signals (causal interactions) and compared the pattern of these interactions before and after NMDAR blockade. Results: Global blockade of NMDAR produced distinctive and frequently opposite changes in neural interactions at the cell, local circuit, and network levels in prefrontal and parietal cortices. Cognitive control errors were associated with decreased interactions at the cell level and with opposite changes at the network level in prefrontal and parietal cortices. Conclusions: NMDAR synaptic deficits change causal interactions between neural signals at different levels of scale that correlate with schizophrenia-like deficits in cognitive control

Classification method of surrounding rock of plateau tunnel based on BP neural network

Due to the unique high-altitude geological conditions of the railway in the cold region, the problem of high ground stress in the construction process is very prominent. In constructing high ground stress tunnels, accurately evaluating the surrounding rock grades is important in rock mass engineering. Based on this, based on a plateau tunnel under construction, this paper selects the classification index of the surrounding rock, which can accurately reflect the geological characteristics of high ground stress tunnel around the geological environment elements of the surrounding rock of high ground stress tunnel. Based on the rapid classification method of surrounding rock of the BP neural network, the classification method of the surrounding rock suitable for high ground stress tunnel is constructed, and the tunnel engineering data is introduced into the BP neural network classification method of surrounding rock for training and testing. It is found that the classification results of surrounding rock obtained by the classification method of surrounding rock of high ground stress tunnel are in good agreement with the actual situation, which provides an important guarantee for the accurate and rapid determination of the surrounding rock grade of high ground stress tunnel and the safe and efficient construction of the tunnel