Reproducing Kernel Space Method for the Solution of Linear Fredholm Integro-Differential Equations and Analysis of Stability

We present a numerical method to solve the linear Fredholm integro-differential equation in reproducing kernel space. A simple algorithm is given to obtain the approximate solutions of the equation. Through the comparison of approximate and true solution, we can find that the method can effectively solve the linear Fredholm integro-differential equation. At the same time the numerical solution of the equation is stable

APOA-I: a possible novel biomarker for metabolic side effects in first episode schizophrenia

The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in plasma protein expression in first episode schizophrenia after an 8-week treatment with risperidone, and to explore potential biomarkers for metabolic side effects associated with risperidone treatment. Eighty first-episode schizophrenia patientswere enrolled in the study. Fifteen of the 80 patients were randomly selected to undergo proteomic analysis. Plasma proteins were obtained before and after the 8-week risperidone treatment, and measured using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry(MALDI-TOF/TOF) and peptide mass fingerprinting.Proteins with the highest fold changes after risperidone treatment were then measured for all 80 patients using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The relationship between changes in plasma protein levels and changes in metabolic parameters after risperidone treatment was examined. In 15 randomly selected patients, approximately 1,500 protein spots were detected in each gel by 2-DE. Of those proteins, 22 spots showed significant difference in abundance after risperidone treatment (p\u27s \u3c 0.05). After MALDI-TOF peptide mass fingerprinting, apolipoprotein A-I (APOA-I) and Guanine Nucleotide Binding Protein, Alpha Stimulating (GNAS), were found to have the highest fold changes.The content of APOA-I was significantly increased, and the content of GNAS was significantly decreased after risperidone treatment (p\u27s\u3c0.05). The analysis in the entire study sample showed similar findings in changes of APOA-I and GNAS after risperidone treatment. Further analysis showed significant relationships between changesin APOA-1 and changes in triglyceride, total cholesterol, and body mass index after controlling for age, gender and family history of diabetes. Similar analysis showed a trend positive relationship between changes in GNAS and changes in BMI. Using proteomic analysis, the study suggested that APOA-I might be a novel biomarkers related to metabolic side effects in first episode schizophrenia treated with risperidone

Fat-mass and obesity-associated gene polymorphisms and weight gain after risperidone treatment in first episode schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Obesity induced by antipsychotics severely increases the risk of many diseases and significantly reduces quality of life. Genome Wide Association Studies has identified fat-mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene associated with obesity. The relationship between the FTO gene and drug-induced obesity is unclear. METHOD: Two hundred and fifty drug naive, Chinese Han patients with first-episode schizophrenia were enrolled in the study, and genotyped for four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs rs9939609, rs8050136, rs1421085 and rs9930506) by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and direct sequencing. Body weight and body mass index (BMI) were measured at baseline and six months after risperidone treatment. RESULTS: At baseline, body weight and BMI of TT homozygotes were lower than those of A allele carriers in rs9939609; body weight of AA homozygotes was higher than those of G allele carriers in rs9930506 (p\u27s \u3c 0.05). After 6 months of risperidone treatment, body weight and BMI of TT homozygotes were lower than those of A allele carriers in rs9939609 (p\u27s \u3c 0.01); body weight and BMI of CC homozygotes were lower than those of A allele carriers in rs8050136 (p\u27s \u3c 0.05); body weight of AA homozygotes was higher than those of G allele carriers in rs9930506 (p\u27s \u3c 0.05). After controlling for age, gender, age of illness onset, disease duration, weight at baseline and education, weight gain of TT homozygotes at 6 months remained to be lower than those of A allele carriers in rs9939609 (p \u3c 0.01); weight gain of CC homozygotes at 6 months was lower than those of A allele carriers in rs8050136 (p = 0.01). Stepwise multiple regression analysis suggested that, among 4 SNPs, rs9939609 was the strongest predictor of weight gain after 6 months of risperidone treatment (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The FTO gene polymorphisms, especially rs9939609, seem to be related to weight gain after risperidone treatment in Chinese Han patients with first episode schizophrenia

A flexible dual-mode pressure sensor with ultra-high sensitivity based on BTO@MWCNTs core-shell nanofibers

Wearable flexible sensors have developed rapidly in recent years because of their improved capacity to detect human motion in wide-ranging situations. In order to meet the requirements of flexibility and low detection limits, a new pressure sensor was fabricated based on electrospun barium titanate/multi-wall carbon nanotubes (BTO@MWCNTs) core-shell nanofibers coated with styrene-ethylene-butene-styrene block copolymer (SEBS). The sensor material (BTO@MWCNTs/SEBS) had a SEBS to BTO/MWCNTs mass ratio of 20:1 and exhibited an excellent piezoelectricity over a wide range of workable pressures from 1 to 50 kPa, higher output current of 56.37 nA and a superior piezoresistivity over a broad working range of 20 to 110 kPa in compression. The sensor also exhibited good durability and repeatability under different pressures and under long-term cyclic loading. These properties make the composite ideal for applications requiring monitoring subtle pressure changes (exhalation, pulse rate) and finger movements. The pressure sensor developed based on BTO@MWCNTs core-shell nanofibers has demonstrated great potential to be assembled into intelligent wearable devices

Maintenance of estuarine water quality by mangroves occurs during flood periods: A case study of a subtropical mangrove wetland

Seasonal changes in water quality were measured in samples taken at various distances from shallow water across mudflat to mangroves during flood period and from mangroves across mudflat to shallow water during ebb period in a subtropical mangrove estuary (Zhangjiang Estuary, Fujian, China). The TN (total dissolved nitrogen), TP (total dissolved phosphorus), COD (chemical oxygen demand), and DOC (dissolved organic carbon) contents during the flood period were significantly higher than those during the ebb period. In contrast, the opposite was true for the POC (particulate organic carbon) content and transparency. The mangroves at Zhangjiang Estuary may trap nutrients at rates of 90.5 g N/m(2)/yr, 2.2 g TP/m(2)/yr, and 13.7 g C/m(2)/yr in the form of DOC, and export POC at a rate of 81.8 g/m(2)/yr. Our results support the hypothesis that the maintenance of estuarine water quality by mangroves occurs during flood periods. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Natural Science Fund of China [40876046, 40376025]; Fujian Province Universit

Decreased Functional Connectivity of Insular Cortex in Drug Naive First Episode Schizophrenia: In Relation to Symptom Severity

BACKGROUND: This study was to examine the insular cortical functional connectivity in drug naive patients with first episode schizophrenia and to explore the relationship between the connectivity and the severity of clinical symptoms. METHODS: Thirty-seven drug naive patients with schizophrenia and 25 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. A seed-based approach was used to analyze the resting-state functional imaging data. Insular cortical connectivity maps were bilaterally extracted for group comparison and validated by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. Clinical symptoms were measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). RESULTS: There were significant reductions in the right insular cortical connectivity with the Heschl\u27s gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and caudate (p\u27s \u3c 0.001) in the patient group compared with the healthy control (HC) group. Reduced right insular cortical connectivity with the Heschl\u27s gyrus was further confirmed in the VBM analysis (FDR corrected p \u3c 0.05). Within the patient group, there was a significant positive relationship between the right insula-Heschl\u27s connectivity and PANSS general psychopathology scores (r = 0.384, p = 0.019). CONCLUSION: Reduced insula-Heschl\u27s functional connectivity is present in drug naive patients with first episode schizophrenia, which might be related to the manifestation of clinical symptoms

Exogenous brassinosteroids alleviate calcium deficiency-induced tip-burn by maintaining cell wall structural stability and higher photosynthesis in mini Chinese Cabbage

Tip-burn has seriously affected the yield, quality and commodity value of mini Chinese cabbage. Calcium (Ca2+) deficiency is the main cause of tip-burn. In order to investigate whether exogenous brassinosteroids (BRs) can alleviate tip-burn induced by calcium (Ca2+) deficiency and its mechanism, in this study, Ca2+ deficiency in nutrient solution was used to induced tip-burn, and then distilled water and BRs were sprayed on leaves to observe the tip-burn incidence of mini Chinese cabbage. The tip-burn incidence and disease index, leaf area, fluorescence parameters (Fv/Fm, NPQ, qP andφPSII) and gas exchange parameters (Tr, Pn, Gs and Ci), pigment contents, cell wall components, mesophyll cell ultrastructure and the expression of genes related to chlorophyll degradation were measured. The results showed that exogenous BRs reduced the tip-burn incidence rate and disease index of mini Chinese cabbage, and the tip-burn incidence rate reached the highest on the ninth day after treatment. Exogenous BRs increased the contents of cellulose, hemifiber, water-soluble pectin in Ca2+ deficiency treated leaves, maintaining the stability of cell wall structure. In addition, BRs increased photosynthetic rate by increasing the activities of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) related to Calvin cycle, maintaining relatively complete chloroplast structure and higher chlorophyll content via down-regulating the expression of BrPPH1 and BrPAO1 genes related to chlorophyll degradation. In conclusion, exogenous BRs alleviated calcium deficiency-induced tip-burn by maintaining cell wall structural stability and higher photosynthesis

Topiramate and metformin are effective add-on treatments in controlling antipsychotic-induced weight gain:a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background: Antipsychotic drugs may lead to side effects such as obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease. The current systematic review and network meta-analysis analyzes and provides an update on the clinical performance of these add-ons in comparison to placebo on body weight and body mass index (BMI) reductions.Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed on electronic databases: PubMed (1946-), Embase (1974-), Cochrane library (1992-), and OpenGrey (2000-) until 31 July 2018. Network meta-analyses, comparing the body weight change, BMI change and withdrawn due to adverse events of different pharmacological add-ons, was performed using a multivariate meta-regression model with random-effects, adopting a frequentist approach. To rank the prognosis for all add-ons, we used surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) values.Outcomes: From 614 potential studies identified, 27 eligible studies (n = 1,349 subjects) were included. All the studies demonstrated low to moderate risk of bias. For the analysis of body weight change, all add-ons except Ranitidine showed significant weight reductions comparing to placebo. The effectiveness rank based on SUCRA results from highest to lowest was Sibutramine, Topiramate, Metformin, Reboxetine, Ranitidine, and placebo. A similar pattern was seen for BMI change. The analysis of safety outcome did not detect significantly increased withdrawn number from the add-ons. Current evidence showed relatively good tolerance and safety of using the pharmacological add-ons.Interpretation: Topiramate and Metformin are effective add-on treatments in controlling antipsychotic-induced weight gain, comparing to placebo. They are well tolerated in short-term period. Although Sibutramine has the highest rank of the effectiveness, its license has been withdrawn in many countries due to its adverse effects. Hence, Sibutramine should not be adopted to treat antipsychotic-induced weight gain.</p