EEG biomarkers of behavioral inhibition in patients with depression who committed violent offenses: a Go/NoGo ERP study.

Understanding the neurobiological correlates of behavioral inhibition in patients with depression who committed violent offenses could contribute to the prediction and prevention of violence. The present study recruited 29 depressed patients with violent offenses (VD group), 27 depressed patients without violent behavior (NVD group), and 28 healthy controls (HC group) to complete a visual Go/NoGo task, during which their responses and electroencephalography were simultaneously recorded using an event-related potentiometer. The results showed that the VD group made more commission errors and responded more slowly relative to the NVD and HC groups. The P3 amplitude of the VD group was reduced in the frontal and central brain regions compared to the HC group and increased in the parietal regions compared to the NVD group. In comparison to Go stimuli, NoGo stimuli induced longer P3 latencies in frontal regions in both the VD and NVD groups; however, this difference was not statistically significant in the HC group. These results provide electrophysical evidence of behavioral inhibition deficits in patients with depression, especially in those with violent behaviors. The reduced P3 amplitude in the frontal-central regions, increased P3 amplitude in the parietal regions, and increased NoGo P3 latency may be potential electrophysiological features that can predict violent behavior in patients with depression.

Neurological Symptoms and Their Associations With Inflammatory Biomarkers in the Chronic Phase Following Traumatic Brain Injuries.

Background: The underlying biological mechanisms for neurological symptoms following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) remain poorly understood. This study investigated the associations between serum inflammatory biomarkers and neurological symptoms in the chronic phase following moderate to severe TBI. Methods: The serum interleukin [IL]-1ß, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, and the tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α in 72 TBI patients 6 months to 2 years post injury were measured. Neurological symptoms including depression, chronic headache, sleep disturbance, irritability, anxiety, and global neurological disability was assessed. The associations between the biomarkers and the neurological symptoms were assessed using correlation and regression analysis. Results: It was found that the most common post-injury symptom was sleep disturbance (84.7%), followed by chronic headaches (59.7%), irritability (55.6%), and depression (54.2%). TNF-α was a protective factor for chronic headache (OR = 0.473, 95% CI = 0.235-0.952). IL-6 was positively associated with sleep disturbance (r = 0.274, p = 0.021), while IL-5 and IL-12p70 were negatively associated with the degree of global neurological disability (r = -0.325, p = 0.006; r = -0.319, p = 0.007). Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence for the association between chronic inflammation with neurological symptoms following a TBI, which suggests that anti-inflammatory could be a potential target for post-TBI neurological rehabilitation. Further research with larger sample sizes and more related biomarkers are still needed, however, to elucidate the inflammatory mechanisms for this association.

Migration, Schizophrenia, and Crime: A Study From a Forensic Psychiatric Sample.

Background: The association between mental health problems and crime in immigrants has attracted recent academic interest, with results suggesting that there were possible interactions between immigration, schizophrenia, and criminal behavior. However, very few studies have examined these interactions, especially in developing countries that have mass internal immigration. Therefore, this study sought to identify the associations between the sociodemographic, clinical, and criminal factors in migrants and non-migrants with schizophrenia who had been involved in criminal activities in China. Methods: Forensic archives of suspects who had been referred for criminal responsibility assessments in the Sichuan West China Forensic Center from January 2015 to December 2019 were reviewed. The sociodemographic, and criminal activity information of the suspects were extracted, while the clinical and social function were measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Social Disability Screening Schedule (SDSS) based on the archives. A Chi-squared test, a T-test, a Mann-Whitney U test, and Multinomial logistic regression were employed for the statistical analysis. Results: A total of 552 patients were reviewed and evaluated, 17.2% (n = 95) of which were migrants. The migrant patient group was younger than the non-migrant patient group. The BPRS and SDSS scores for the migrant patient group were lower than for the non-migrant patient group. The migrant patient group had more work experience and more had been employed at the time of the crime than the non-migrant patient group. The unemployed migrant patients were more likely to commit a property-related crime. Conclusions: Compared to the non-migrant schizophrenia patient group, the migrant patient group had less severe psychiatric symptoms and less social function impairments. Employment was an important factor in preventing criminality in patients with schizophrenia, especially for migrant patients. Vocational rehabilitation focuses on developing appropriate employment that can significantly assist in schizophrenia patient recovery, which in turn could reduce their chances of committing crime. Besides, reducing other obstacles to stigma, housing and health insurance would also be beneficial to crime reduction.

Enhancement of the Thermoelectric Performance of Cu2GeSe3 via Isoelectronic (Ag, S)-co-substitution.

Recently, ternary Cu-based Cu-IV-Se (IV = Sb, Ge, and Sn) compounds have received extensive attention in the thermoelectric field. Compared with Cu-Sb-Se and Cu-Sn-Se, Cu-Ge-Se compounds have been less studied due to its poor Seebeck coefficient and high thermal conductivity. Here, the Cu2GeSe3 material with high electrical conductivity was first prepared, and then, its effective mass was increased by doping with S, which led to the Seebeck coefficient of the doped sample being 1.93 times higher than that of pristine Cu2GeSe3 at room temperature. Moreover, alloying Ag at the Cu site in the Cu2GeSe2.96S0.04 sample could further cause a 5.16 times increase in the Seebeck coefficient at room temperature, and the lattice thermal conductivity was remarkably decreased because of the introduction of the dislocations in the Cu2GeSe3 sample. Finally, benefitted from the high Seebeck coefficient and low thermal conductivity, a record high ZT = 0.9 at 723 K was obtained for the Cu1.85Ag0.15GeSe2.96S0.04 sample, which increased 345% in comparison with the pristine Cu2GeSe3, and it is among the highest reported values for Cu2GeSe3-based thermoelectric.

Research on interpersonal violence in schizophrenia: based on different victim types.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is one of the most common severe mental disorders associated with an increased risk of violence. The present study compares the demographical, clinical, and criminological characteristics of the patients with schizophrenia who committed different types of violence to relatives, acquaintances, or strangers. METHOD: Archives of the violent offenders with schizophrenia referred to forensic psychiatric assessments from January 2015 to December 2019 in the West China Forensic Medicine Assessment Center in China were analyzed. The demographic information, mental illness history, and criminological characteristics of the offenders were collected. The clinical symptoms, previous violent behaviors, and social deficits were also evaluated. One-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, Chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis were enrolled to do the statistical analysis. RESULTS: The study enrolled 332 cases: 165 cases (49.7%) in the acquaintance victim group (AV), 96 cases (28.9%) in the relative victim group (RV), and 71 cases (21.4%) in the stranger victim group (SV). The multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that older patients were less likely to attack relatives (OR = 0.966, 95% CI = 0.944-0.990; p = 0.005), and strangers, (OR = 0.971, 95% CI = 0.944-0.998; p = 0.034). Patients who lived with others were more inclined to attack relatives (OR = 15.057, 95% CI = 3.508-64.628; p < 0.001). Additionally, employed patients were more likely to attack strangers (OR = 2.034, 95% CI = 1.036-3.994; p = 0.039). The regression equation did not include psychiatric symptoms. For RV and AV victims, the risk of death was higher compared to that of SV victims (OR = 13.778, p < 0.001; OR = 2.663, p = 0.014). CONCLUSION: In the interpersonal violence cases committed by schizophrenia patients, the victim type correlates with demographic characteristics of offenders such as living situation, age, and employment status, but not with the psychiatric symptoms. The majority of victims were acquaintances and relatives, and the relative victims having more severe injuries. In order to decrease interpersonal violence, especially violent crimes, more people, especially family members and neighbors, should be educated about symptoms of schizophrenia, the ways to communicate with the patients, and the methods for crisis management.

Relationship between mortality in people with mental disorders and suicide mortality in China during 2000 to 2014: An observational study.

Suicide is one of the top 10 causes of death in many countries. Although there are many studies on mental disorders, few studies have examined mortality in suicide population and mentally ill population. This study examined the association between mortality and mental disorders using data on suicides and mental disorders in China. Data from China's Health and Family Planning Statistical Yearbook for 2000 to 2014 were used to analyze the relationship between mortality associated with suicide and mental disorders. The analyses found that mortality among people with mental disorders dropped from 5.42/10 million in 2000 to 2.68/10 million in 2014, decreased more among females than males, and differed between urban and rural areas; that suicide mortality dropped from 10.79/10 million in 2000 to 6.79/10 million in 2014; the decrease was greater in women than in men, with suicide being highest among male residents of cities; and no significant correlation was found between mortality among persons with mental disorders and suicide mortality. There was no correlation between suicide mortality and mental-disorder mortality during 2000 to 2014; however, overall mortality decreased more among females than males during this period.

Remarkable photoluminescence of europium(ii)-doped phosphate cyan@red-emitting phosphors with highly dispersed luminescence centers.

Europium(ii)-doped phosphate cyan@red-emitting phosphors with highly dispersed luminescence centers were developed for the first time by using the deposition-precipitation method. Amazingly, when excited by near-ultraviolet light, the single phosphor generated warm white light with an adjustable correlated colour temperature (4000-2500 K) and high colour-rendering index (Ra ∼ 90).

Comparative study of forensic psychiatric system between China and America.

Laws and regulations about the forensic psychiatric systems in China and America were compared, and suggestions for improving the forensic psychiatric system of China were provided. There are many differences regarding the role of the forensic psychiatrist, the initiation of the assessment and the admission of expert opinion because of elements in the legal systems in China and America. The Chinese system has the advantages of objectivity, cost saving and high efficiency; but it has deficiencies in procedural justice and the admission of expert opinion. China can persist with the current system while taking measures to give more rights to the litigants to participate in their assessment, and while improving the quality and utility of the expert opinion; however, this review article will compare broadly the two systems without addressing human rights issues or procedural justice issues, nor will it presume to address the entirety of Chinese systems. In addition, China is developing its legal system for dealing with the mentally ill defendant in situations involving the criminal justice system and civil commitment. Although China enacted new laws regarding the mandatory treatment for the mentally ill, both in criminal and civil systems, there remain many aspects to be improved, including but not limited to a system of review of the decision to detain a patient on psychiatric grounds, and the need for provisions in the laws preventing indefinite detention. From this viewpoint, America's laws and regulations are instructive for us, in matters such as the method of dealing with the mentally ill defendant who is "incompetent to stand trial", "not guilty only by reason of insanity" or "guilty but mentally ill". The conditional release of the committed mentally ill person and the special programs in the forensic security hospital are all worthy of study by China in order to manage the mentally ill offender and to reduce the recidivism rate.

Genetic variants in the promoters of let-7 family are associated with an increased risk of major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Let-7 family plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD). Genetic polymorphisms in the promoters of miRNA may influence individual׳s susceptibility to diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between rs10877887 and rs13293512 polymorphisms in the promoters of let-7 family and the risk of MDD. METHOD: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing assays were used to analyze the rs10877887 and rs13293512 polymorphisms in 237 MDD patients and 296 controls. RESULTS: We found that the rs10877887 CC genotype was associated with an increased risk of MDD (CC vs. TT: OR=1.73, 95% CI, 1.04-2.86, P=0.03, and CC vs. TT/TC: OR=1.74, 95% CI, 1.08-2.80, P=0.02, respectively). Similarly increased risk was also observed for the rs13293512 (CC vs. TT: OR=1.83, 95% CI, 1.12-2.99, P=0.015; CC vs. TT/TC: OR=1.84, 95% CI, 1.20-2.81, P=0.005; and C vs. T: OR=1.32, 95% CI, 1.03-1.68, P=0.03, respectively). Stratification analysis showed that patients with the rs13293512 TC and CC genotypes had a 2.29 and 2.56-fold increased risk of MDD recurrence after treatment (TC vs. TT: 95% CI, 1.23-4.25, P=0.008; CC vs. TT: 95% CI, 1.25-5.23, P=0.009, respectively). LIMITATIONS: Relatively small sample size and hospital-based study design may influence the results. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the rs10877887 and rs13293512 polymorphisms may be related to the development of MDD.

Accuracy rate of lie-detection in China: estimate the validity of CQT on field cases.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the accuracy rate of the comparison question test (CQT) by Binomial Distribution way on field cases in Chengdu area of China. In detail, the study revealed the accuracy rate of detecting guilty and innocent examinees, and the rate of False Positive and False Negative. METHOD: The study was built on the field cases with only two examinees that held the opposite opinions to the same single case. The original evaluators and four experienced polygraph specialists independently chose and scored 148 field criminal cases into the final study, among which 111 paired-records were concluded as indicative records and the rest, 37 ones, were ruled as non-indicative. RESULT: Judging from all records, the accuracy rate of detecting guilty examinees was 0.836 with a 0.164 False Negative rate. In addition, the rate to detect innocents was 0.822 with a 0.178 False Positive rate. Judging from indicative cases only excluding the non-indicative, the accuracy rate rose to 0.958 for perceiving guilty examinees with a 0.042 False Negative rate. To innocents, the accuracy rate was 0.859 with a 0.141 False Positive rate. CONCLUSION: The study with non-standard methodology was not limited to mock cases and the final confessions. It was able to estimate validity of other lie-detection ways, GKT, POT, etc., with this method being applied. With high accuracy rate and validity, polygraph examinations were able to give better decisions to real-life investigations.

An exploratory study of using polygraph to detect deception in patients with traumatic brain injury.

To investigate the accuracy of the polygraph when used on patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to analyze the factors influencing accuracy to enable provision of some field data for expert witnesses. Sixty patients with TBI (experimental group) and sixty normal individuals (control group) were tested by the polygraph with a Stimulation Test; responses of skin conductance, respiration, and finger pulse were recorded. The intelligence quotient of the experimental participants was measured and the factors influencing the accuracy of the polygraph test were analyzed. According to the computer automatic scoring, the overall accuracy was 76.7% for the control group; the accuracy of skin conductance, respiration, and finger pulse was 76.7, 35, and 18.7%, respectively, whereas for the experimental group, the overall accuracy was 56.7%. The accuracy of skin conductance, respiration, and finger pulse was 55.6, 23.3, and 25%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the overall accuracy between the two groups (P=0.020). According to the examiner's manual scoring, the overall accuracy was 86.7% for the control group and 61.7% for the experimental group (χ=9.786, P=0.002). The difference in accuracy obtained from the examiner and the computer was not significant. In the experimental group, the intelligence quotient of participants who had the right outcome was 63.2±10.9 and it was 55.3±9.5 for those who had the wrong outcome; this difference was significant (t=2.68, P=0.010).The accuracy of a polygraph test is much lower when it is used on patients with TBI compared with that of normal individuals. In actual application, full communication with the examinees should take place and their comprehension of the protocol should be evaluated. If participants can understand and co-operate with the test, the outcome can be considered reliable; if not, the outcome should not be relied on.

Lack of association between brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met polymorphism and aggressive behavior in schizophrenia.

We investigated the association of the Val66Met gene polymorphism in the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) gene with aggressive behavior among Southern Han Chinese schizophrenia patients. We used polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism to determine the genotypes and the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) to measure aggressive behavior. No significant differences in genotype or allele distribution of Val66Met were identified between aggressive and non-aggressive schizophrenia patients.

Association between COMT gene and Chinese male schizophrenic patients with violent behavior.

BACKGROUND: Haplotype analysis is hypothesized as having better power than individual SNPs in detecting the association between genotype and phenotype, but this approach has rarely been used in studies of the genetics of violent behavior in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to further examine the role of the COMT gene in violent behavior. MATERIAL/METHODS: Both individual SNP and haplotype were used to explore associations between COMT polymorphisms and violent behavior in 252 patients with violent behavior and 332 patients without violent behavior of Chinese Han schizophrenics. Then the association between a three-marker haplotype (SNPs rs4680, rs737865, and rs165599) and violent behavior was explored by performing haplotype analysis using SHEsis and PHASE. Finally, the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) was used to assess the aggressive or violent behaviors of the patients. RESULTS: No association was found between the individual SNPs and violent behavior in schizophrenia. However, an association was found between haplotypes and violent behavior. The frequency of the haplotype A-A-G was higher in the case group and that of haplotype G-G-A was higher in the control group. Furthermore, the patients with haplotype A-A-G scored higher on the "physical aggression against objects" subscale of the MOAS than those with the haplotype G-G-A in the case group. CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between COMT gene and violent behavior in Chinese schizophrenics. The haplotypes A-A-G and G-G-A may be used to predict violent behavior in Chinese schizophrenics.

RTMS may be a good choice for pregnant women with depression.

Due to the possible adverse effects on fetus, the treatment of pregnant women with depression is a difficult problem in the field of psychiatry. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was used to treat three pregnant women with depression in the early pregnancy. After systemic treatments, the patient's depressive symptoms significantly relieved, and each of them smoothly provided a healthy baby. Up to now, we have not found that rTMS can be harmful to fetuses. RTMS may be a good choice for pregnant women with depression.

[A study on characteristics of the criminals with alcohol-related offence in forensic psychiatry].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the criminal characteristics of alcohol-related offence in forensic psychiatric practice. METHODS: Ninety cases were collected according to our research criteria and were divided into two groups, ordinary drinking (OD) (63 cases) and chronic alcoholic (CA) (27 cases). Descriptive and comparative studies were conducted between the two groups. RESULTS: 54.0% OD group had induced incident compare with 22.2% CA group; 58.7% of OD group had a motive while 55.6% of CA group were with no clear motive; 66.6% of OD group had a chosen target, 51.8% of CA group with no clear target; 19.0% of OD group chose criminal time while only 3.7% of CA group did; 61.9% of OD took certain anti-detection means while 59.3% of CA group stayed at the scene. 98.4% of OD group was found guilty and only 3.7% of CA was found guilty. CONCLUSION: OD group tends to have induced events, criminal motive, often are found to be guilty; CA group tends to be older, lacks awareness of self-protection during and after committing the crime, and usually is found not guilty or only partially responsible.

[The criminological characteristics of mental retardation].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the criminological characteristics of mental retardation (MR) in forensic psychiatry. METHODS: The record scale of forensic psychiatric assessment designed by ourselves was used to analyse the criminological characteristics of 83 offenders with MR, and to compare the criminological characteristics of mild MR with that of moderate and severe MR. RESULTS: The mild MR accounted for 62.7%, moderate and severe MR was 22.9%. The percentage of sex offenders in MR was 37.3%, manslaughter 34.7%, property offences 28.0%, respectively. Additionally, 96.1% cases with MR have definite criminal motives, and the criminal history was established in 34.7% cases. Significant differences of criminal premeditation (X2chi-squared l11,P=0.001), criminal aim(x2chi-squared 7.531, P=0.006), criminal motive(X 2chi-squared . 920, P= 0.019) and criminal types(s 2chi-squared .855, P=0.02) were found between the mild MR and the moderate, severe MR. CONCLUSIONS: The criminal offenders were mostly found in mild MR. The sex offenders and manslaughter were in outright majority, and most of them had definite criminal motives. The proportion of offenders in mild MR who had criminal premeditation and criminal aim was higher significantly than which in the moderate, severe MR. The proportion of offenders in moderate, severe MR whose criminal motive was for sex was higher than that in mild MR.