Dropout Deep Belief Network Based Chinese Ancient Ceramic Non-Destructive Identification.

A non-destructive identification method was developed here based on dropout deep belief network in multi-spectral data of ancient ceramic. A fractional differential algorithm was proposed to enhance the spectral details by making use of the difference between the first and second-order differential pre-process spectral data. An unsupervised multi-layer restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) was employed to extract some high-level features during pre-training. Some weight and bias values trained by RBM were used to initialize a back propagation (BP) neural network. The RBM deep belief network was fine-tuned by the BP neural network to promote the initiative performance of network training, which helped to overcome local optimal limitation of the network due to the random initializing weight parameter. The dropout strategy has been put forward into the RBM network to solve the over-fitting of small sample spectral data. The experimental results show that the proposed method has excellent recognition performance of the ceramics by comparisons with some other ones.

Association between residual symptoms and social functioning in patients with depression.

OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of data about residual symptoms in Chinese patients with depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of residual symptoms with social functional impairment in these patients. METHODS: This was a multicenter cross-sectional study conducted in 11 hospitals in eight cities of China from September 2014 to April 2015. Residual symptoms and social functioning were assessed using the SDS, QIDS-SR16, Q-LES-Q-SF, and PHQ-15 scales. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with social functional impairment. RESULTS: Among the 1503 patients, 915 (60.9%) had no functional impairment (SDS ≤6) and 588 (39.1%) showed functional impairment (SDS >6). Those with impairment had higher PHQ-15 scores (7.4 ± 4.8 vs. 4.0 ± 3.4, P < 0.0001), lower Q-LES-Q-SF scores (all items P < 0.0001), higher SDS scores (13.9 ± 5.7 vs. 2.8 ± 2.2, P < 0.0001), and higher scores for all QIDS dimensions (all P < .0001). The factors related to functional impairment included QIDS dimension 7 (loss of interest) (OR = 2.137, 95%CI 1.600-2.853, P < 0.0001), QIDS dimension 9 (mental anxiety) (OR = 1.627, 95%CI 1.215-2.180, P = 0.0011), QIDS dimension 3 (appetite) (OR = 1.502, 95%CI 1.141-1.977, P = 0.0037), QIDS dimension 8 (energy) (OR = 1.468, 95%CI 1.092-1.973, P = 0.0110), age (OR = 0.982, 95%CI 0.971-0.993, P = 0.0013), disease course (OR = -1.004, 95%CI 1.002-1.006, P = 0.0004), and QIDS dimension 1 (sleep disorders) (OR = 1.622, 95%CI 1.068-2.463, P = 0.0232). CONCLUSION: Compared with patients with normal social function, cases with impaired social function have more physical symptoms, more residual symptoms of depression, and less satisfaction with the quality of life. Residual symptoms are associated with social functional impairment in patients with depression.

Gender differences in quality of life and functional disability for depression outpatients with or without residual symptoms after acute phase treatment in China.

BACKGROUND: Depression is associated with substantial personal suffering and reduced quality of life and functioning. The aim of this study was to investigate gender differences on quality of life and functional impairment of outpatients with depression after acute phase treatment. METHODS: 1503 depression outpatients were recruited from eleven hospitals in China. Subjects were evaluated with sociodemographic characteristics, history and self-report instruments, related to severity of symptoms, function and quality of life. All data were analyzed to determine the gender differences. RESULTS: Men had a younger age at onset and the first onset age, higher education compared to women in total patients and with or without residual symptoms group. Using regression analysis, it was found that gender was significantly statistically related to severity scores of SDS and had no correlation with Q-LES-Q-SF total scores. In the residual symptoms group, greater functional impairment was noted by men in the area of work and social life. Significant gender differences of mood, work and sexual life in quality of life were observed. LIMITATIONS: This is a cross-sectional study of depressed outpatients and duration of acute phase treatment may not an adequate time to measure changes. CONCLUSIONS: Depression appears to affect men more seriously than women after acute phase treatment. Men had a younger age at onset and the first onset age, higher education, more functional impairment and lower satisfaction of quality of life in mood, work and sexual life. Gender differences affect acute treatment, remission and recovery.

Efficacy of Atypical Antipsychotics in the Management of Acute Agitation and Aggression in Hospitalized Patients with Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder: Results from a Systematic Review.

Acute agitation and aggression are common symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In this review, we discuss the prevalence, clinical assessment strategies, treatment options, and current Western and Chinese guidelines for the management of acute agitation and aggression in patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Among available approaches, we discuss in detail recent evidence supporting the use of intramuscular (IM) antipsychotics and some recently approved oral atypical antipsychotics for the management of acute aggression and agitation in hospitalized patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia presenting with acute agitation or aggression, highlighting some differences between individual antipsychotic agents.

Acute Effects of Haloperidol, Amisulpride, and Quetiapine on Bone Turnover Markers in Patients With Schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: This prospective study sought to compare the acute effects of haloperidol, amisulpride, and quetiapine on serum markers of bone formation and resorption in relatively young patients with minimal previous exposure to antipsychotic drugs. METHODS: Patients included in the study were randomly assigned to receive haloperidol, amisulpride, or quetiapine monotherapy in an open-label manner. Serum osteocalcin (OC, a marker of bone formation), C-terminal peptide of type I collagen (CTX, a marker of bone resorption), prolactin (PRL), estradiol, and testosterone were measured in 70 patients at baseline and after 4 weeks of antipsychotic treatment. RESULTS: A repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in CTX levels and in the OC to CTX ratio between treatment groups (F = 4.481, P < 0.05; F = 8.114, P < 0.01). After 4 weeks of treatment, only the amisulpride group had significantly increased CTX levels and decreased OC/CTX. In addition, an obvious increase in PRL level and a reduction of sex hormone secretion after amisulpride treatment were found. No significant changes in bone turnover were observed in the haloperidol or quetiapine groups. Notably, a positive correlation between the CTX change to the change in PRL after treatment (r = 0.255, P < 0.05) was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The PRL-raising antipsychotic drug amisulpride influenced bone turnover balance very early in the course of treatment, which may require long-term monitoring of bone metabolism. Bone resorption marker changes induced by acute antipsychotic drug treatment are likely related to increased PRL levels.

Comparison of risperidone oral solution and intramuscular haloperidol with the latter shifting to oral therapy for the treatment of acute agitation in patients with schizophrenia.

This randomized, parallel-group, open study investigated the efficacy and safety of risperidone oral solution (RIS-OS) in combination with clonazepam and intramuscular haloperidol for the treatment of acute agitation in patients with schizophrenia, and the study explored the possibility of decreasing the efficacy of an acute 6-week treatment by switching intramuscular haloperidol injection to RIS-OS. Two hundred and five agitation-exhibiting schizophrenic inpatients at six hospitals were originally included in the study. The 47-day trial consisted of 5 days (session I) of receiving either oral treatment (RIS-OS plus clonazepam) or intramuscular treatment (intramuscular haloperidol) and a 42-day (session II) period of either withdrawing from clonazepam or shifting from intramuscular haloperidol to a RIS-OS period. The primary efficacy outcome was measured as the change in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-Excited Component (PANSS-EC) in session I and the change in the PANSS in session II. Safety was assessed by the frequency of the adverse events. Mean PANSS-EC improvement was significant after 5 days of treatment in both groups (P>0.05) and was similar between the two treatment groups (P<0.01). Most patients' PANSS-EC scores improved or remained stable during the drawback/shift treatment period. Efficacy was not significantly different between the two treatment groups after the 6-week treatment (P>0.05). However, combination treatment exhibited greater efficacy, and adverse events, especially extrapyramidal symptoms, were lower with the oral treatment than with the intramuscular treatment in session I. These results show that RIS-OS in combination with clonazepam is an effective treatment, comparable with intramuscular haloperidol, and is well-tolerated for acute agitation in patients with schizophrenia.

Investigation of stressful life events in patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the occurrence of stressful life events in the year before the initiation of systemic sclerosis. METHODS: A consecutive series of 40 patients with systemic sclerosis (mean age (56.3+/-11.9) years, mean disease duration (4.3+/-3.1) years; 32 females and 8 males), including 28 with diffuse cutaneous scleroderma and 12 with limited cutaneous scleroderma, were evaluated. A control group of 40 healthy subjects free of systemic sclerosis also was included. Socioeconomic status was investigated and Paykel's interview for recent life events (a semi-structured research interview covering 64 life events) was conducted. RESULTS: Patients with systemic sclerosis showed higher percentages of lower education (72.5%) and working class (82.5%), and reported more stressful life events (P<0.05), such as exits (P<0.05), undesirable events (P<0.01), and uncontrolled events (P<0.001), when compared with the control. More events that had an objective negative impact (P<0.001) were also reported in systemic sclerosis patients than in the control. These results are in accordance with a multifactorial model of pathogenesis in systemic sclerosis. CONCLUSION: We reported a strong relationship between stressful life events and the initiation of systemic sclerosis. Our findings are consistent with current understanding of the extensive links of behavioral responses to stress with neurophysiological and biochemical processes.