Travel Distance to Hospital Is Associated With Self-Harm Hospital Presentation But Not Suicide.

Background: Travel distance to hospital emergency departments (EDs) may be a more influential factor in the spatial variation in hospital-presenting self-harm than for suicide deaths. Aims: We investigated the associations of travel distance to the nearest ED with self-harm hospital presentations and suicides in a large city in Taiwan. Method: Data for self-harm and suicide were extracted from Taiwan's National Suicide Surveillance System (2012-2016). Results: Adjusted analyses using Bayesian hierarchical models showed that a longer travel distance to the nearest hospital ED was associated with lower self-harm hospital presentation rates but not suicide rates. Limitations: This is an ecological study; the area-level associations could not be directly implied at the individual level. Conclusion: Living in remote neighborhoods could be a barrier to seeking medical help after self-harm, and this has implications for suicide, surveillance, prevention and intervention strategies.

Intentions to Help People at Risk of Suicide and Associated Factors: A National Telephone Survey in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: Many people at risk of suicide do not actively seek help. Suicide prevention efforts need to involve the general public to provide appropriate support to those in need. It is important to investigate the intention to help those at risk of suicide and the factors associated with helping intentions in the general population. We aimed to assess the intention to help people at risk and associated factors using a national representative sample. METHOD: We conducted a national telephone survey of 1,087 Taiwanese adults and collected data regarding participants' socio-demographic characteristics, mental health status, helping intentions, misconceptions about suicide, and attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention. RESULTS: The prevalence of high intentions to help people at risk of suicide was 56.5%. Helping intentions did not differ by sex, educational level, employment status, marital status, or mental health status. Those with high helping intentions were younger, less likely to have misconceptions about suicide or agree that suicide is a personal choice, and more likely to believe that suicide is preventable and support suicide prevention measures. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide prevention education programs aimed to enhance helping intentions may usefully target debunking misconceptions about suicide and cultivating positive attitudes toward suicide prevention.

The prevalence of high intentions to help people at risk of suicide was 56.5%.Individuals with high intentions to help were less likely to hold misconceptions about suicide.Individuals with high intentions to help were less likely to believe that suicide is a personal choice.

Activation of α7 nAChR by PNU-282987 improves synaptic and cognitive functions through restoring the expression of synaptic-associated proteins and the CaM-CaMKII-CREB signaling pathway.

Ligands of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are widely considered as potential therapeutic agents. The present study used primary hippocampus cells and APPswe/PSEN1dE9 double-transgenic mice models to study the possible therapeutic effect and underlying mechanism of the specific activation of α7 nAChR by PNU-282987 in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. The results indicated that activation of α7 nAChR attenuated the Aß-induced cell apoptosis, decreased the deposition of Aß, increased the expression of synaptic-associated proteins, and maintained synaptic morphology. Furthermore, in the APP/PS1_DT mice model, activation of α7 nAChR attenuated Aß-induced synaptic loss, reduced the deposition of Aß in the hippocampus, maintained the integral structure of hippocampus-derived synapse, and activated the calmodulin (CaM)-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII)-cAMP response element-binding protein signaling pathway by upregulation of its key signaling proteins. In addition, activation of α7 nAChR improved the learning and memory abilities of the APP/PS1_DT mice. Collectively, the activation of α7 nAChR by PNU-282987 attenuated the toxic effect of Aß in vivo and in vitro, which including reduced deposition of Aß in the hippocampus, maintained synaptic morphology by partially reversing the expression levels of synaptic-associated proteins, activation of the Ca2+ signaling pathway, and improvement of the cognitive abilities of APP/PS1_DT mice.

Prucalopride inhibits the glioma cells proliferation and induces autophagy via AKT-mTOR pathway.

BACKGROUNDS: Glioma is the most fatal primary brain glioma in central nervous system mainly attributed to its high invasion. Prucalopride, a Serotonin-4 (5-HT4) receptor agonist, has been reported to regulate neurodevelopment. This study aimed to investigate the influence of the Prucalopride on glioma cells and unveil underlying mechanism. METHODS: In this study, glioma cells proliferation was evaluated by Cell counting kit-8 (CCK8). Wound healing and transwell assay were used to test cellular migration and invasion. Flow cytometry was utilized to determine cellular apoptosis rate. Apoptosis related markers, autophagy markers, and protein kinase B (AKT)-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway key molecules were detected using western blot assay. RESULTS: As a result, the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of glioma cells were impaired by Prucalopride treatment, the apoptosis rate of glioma cells was enhanced by Prucalopride stimulation, accompanied by the increased pro-apoptosis proteins Bax and Cleaved caspase-3 and decreased anti-apoptosis protein Bcl-2. Prucalopride significantly promoted autophagy by increased expression level of Beclin 1 and LC3-II, while decreased expression level of p62. Prucalopride administration resulted in obvious inhibitions of key molecules of AKT-mTOR pathway, including phosphorylated- (p-) AKT, p-mTOR and phosphorylated-ribosomal p70S6 kinase (p-P70S6K). CONCLUSIONS: Taking together, these results indicate that Prucalopride may be likely to play an anti-tumor role in glioma cells, which suggests potential implications for glioma promising therapy alternation in the further clinics.

Cavity QED implementation of non-adiabatic holonomies for universal quantum gates in decoherence-free subspaces with nitrogen-vacancy centers.

A cavity QED implementation of the non-adiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces is proposed with nitrogen-vacancy centers coupled commonly to the whispering-gallery mode of a microsphere cavity, where a universal set of quantum gates can be realized on the qubits. In our implementation, with the assistant of the appropriate driving fields, the quantum evolution is insensitive to the cavity field state, which is only virtually excited. The implemented non-adiabatic holonomies, utilizing optical transitions in the Λ type of three-level configuration of the nitrogen-vacancy centers, can be used to construct a universal set of quantum gates on the encoded logical qubits. Therefore, our scheme opens up the possibility of realizing universal holonomic quantum computation with cavity assisted interaction on solid-state spins characterized by long coherence times.

Derivation and validation of a risk score for contrast-induced nephropathy after cardiac catheterization in Chinese patients.

BACKGROUND: To derive and validate a risk score for prediction of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in the Chinese patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. METHODS: The hospital medical records of 3945 patients undergoing coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention were reviewed. Patients were randomly assigned into two cohorts: one was for derivation of risk score (n = 2764) and another for validation (n = 1181). The CIN was defined as an increase of serum creatinine level ≥44.2 µmol/L or ≥25 % and beyond its upper limit of normal value within 72 h following the procedure. On the basis of the odds ratio obtained from multivariate logistic regression, risk score of CIN was built up. The discrimination of the risk score was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and the calibration was assessed using the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test. RESULTS: The incidences of CIN in the derivation and validation cohorts were 4.6 and 4.2 %, respectively. Independent predictors included age >60 years, hypertension, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, use of intra-aortic balloon pump, decreased glomerular filtration rate and contrast volume >100 mL. The incidence of CIN was increased with increment of risk score. Both the derivation and validation cohorts showed adequate discrimination (an area under the ROC curve, 0.76 and 0.71, respectively) and good calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic test, P = 0.50 and P = 0.54, respectively). CONCLUSION: A simple risk score for prediction of CIN development after cardiac catheterization in Chinese patients was built up by this study. Use of this risk score may help clinicians to perform early preventative strategies to minimize the risk of CIN.

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography fingerprinting for quality control of Phragmitis rhizoma (Lugen) produced in Baiyangdian.

OBJECTIVE: To establish an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) fingerprinting method for quality control of Phragmitis rhizoma from Baiyangdian. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ultrasonic extraction with 70% methanol was performed on 10 samples of P. rhizoma collected from 10 different villages in Baiyangdian. The sample solutions were analyzed by Waters UPLC equipped with the ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column and photodiode array (PDA) detector, and gradient eluted with acetonitrile/water as the mobile phase. The flow rate was set to 0.1 mL/min; the column temperature was set to 25°C; and the detection wavelength was set to 285 nm. RESULTS: The chromatograms of the 10 samples showed 27 common peaks, of which one was identified as the ferulic acid standard. The similarity indexes were all above 0.82. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed that the constituents and their quantities differed according to the diameter of the original plant, which is related to its age. CONCLUSION: The UPLC fingerprinting method had the advantages of being fast, accurate, and highly efficient; this indicated that it can be used for quality control of P. rhizoma produced in Baiyangdian. Also, the relation between the quality and diameter/age of the plant needs to be further investigated.

[Control of organ shape and size by YUAN1 in Arabidopsis thaliana].

Control of organ shape and size by cell proliferationandcell expansion is a fundamental process in plant development. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that set the shape and size of determinate organs in plants. We have previously demonstrated that the Arabidopsis gene DA1 controls the final size of organs by restricting cell proliferation. Through an activation tagging screen for modifiers of da1-1, we have identified a semi-dominant mutant (yuan1-1D) with altered leaf shape and size. The yuan1-1D mutation results in reduced plant height, short and round leaves and short petioles due to defects in cell elongation. YUAN1 encodes a PHD zinc finger domain-containing protein. The GFP-YUAN1 fusion protein is localized to the nucleus. Overexpression of YUAN1 leads to round leaves and short petioles. Genetic analyses show that YUAN1 acts independently of DA1, ROTUNDIFOLIA 3 (ROT3) and ROTUNDIFOLIA4 (ROT4) to influence leaf shape and size. Collectively, our findings show that Arabidopsis YUAN1, a PHD zinc finger domain-containing protein, controls organ shape and size by restricting cell elongation, and give insight into how plants control their organ shape and size.

[Epidemiological features of chronic and Alzheimer's diseases in the community-based elderly living in cities and counties in Hebei province].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the epidemiological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the community-based elderly living in cities and counties in Hebei province. METHODS: Under the stratified random sampling method, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to evaluate senile dementia and Activity of Daily Living Scale (ADL) and to evaluate the daily lives of the elderly. Related dementia standard on the diagnose of AD and its subtypes was used. Statistically, data was analyzed through SPSS 13.0 software. RESULTS: The overall prevalence was 64.84% (2355/3632) on chronic diseases in those elderly who were over 60 years of age while AD appeared to be high and increased with age. The prevalence rate of dementia was 7.24% (263/3632), in which AD accounted for 4.87% (177/3632). Rates for other chronic diseases were as follows:hypertension (32.35%), diabetes (11.37%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (9.25%), coronary heart disease (8.84%) and stroke (7.16%). The prevalence of AD increased with age and was related to the low degree of education having. CONCLUSION: Elderly living in the communities of Hebei province showed high prevalent rates of chronic diseases including AD, which had become the major kind of diseases related to old age.

7-(Hydroxy-meth-yl)-2-(1-hydr-oxy-1-methyl-ethyl)-4-meth-oxy-2,3-dihydro-5H-furo[3,2-g]chromen-5-one methanol hemisolvate.

The title compound (cimifugin), C(16)H(18)O(6)·0.5CH(3)OH, was isolated from the rhizome of Actaea asiatica Hara. The asymmetric unit contains two independent mol-ecules and a solvent methanol mol-ecule. The five-numbered ring adopts an envelope conformation in each molecule. Intra- and inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds stabilize the crystal structure.