The relevance of motor sequence and visual perception skills in learning Chinese handwriting.

This study explored visual perception skills and the ability to write according to standard stroke order and their links to the learning of Chinese handwriting. Thirty-seven children (aged 6-8) (15 boys and 22 girls) participated in a handwriting test and visual perception evaluation (Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-3rd Edition, TVPS-3). A computerized system was used to evaluate the stroke order accuracy, legibility, and automation of stroke movements. The stroke order accuracy was found to positively correlate with the scores of TVPS-3 (r = .498, p < .05) and to significantly correlate with handwriting legibility (r = .435, p < .05) as well as the automation of stroke movements (r = .494, p < .01). This study revealed that visual perception skill is related to stroke order accuracy and provides directions to assist students who encounter difficulties in learning Chinese handwriting.

Exploring the novel antioxidant peptides in low-salt dry-cured ham: Preparation, purification, identification and molecular docking.

Dry-cured ham is important source of bioactive peptides. In this study, the antioxidant activities of peptides and components from low and fully salted dry-cured hams were compared by peptidomics. And novel antioxidant peptides were identified and characterized. The results showed that the peptides (<3 KDa) extracted from low-salt dry-cured ham had higher antioxidant activity. Therefore, the antioxidant peptides in low-salt dry-cured ham were further characterized and the mechanism of their antioxidant activity was investigated. From the five candidate peptides selected, we found DWPDARGIWHND (DD12) to be highly stable, non-sensitizing, and non-toxic with the highest free radical scavenging activity. Molecular docking predicted that DD12 interacted with Keap1 through hydrogen-bond formation and hydrophobic interactions, suggesting that DD12 had good cellular antioxidant activity. DD12 peptide can bind to DPPH• and ABTS•+, resulting in strong free radical scavenging activity. Our findings support the development and application of natural antioxidant peptides in dry-cured ham.

Design and synthesis of luotonin A-derived topoisomerase targeting scaffold with potent antitumor effect and low genotoxicity.

Conventional topoisomerase (Topo) inhibitors typically usually exert their cytotoxicity by damaging the DNAs, which exhibit high toxicity and tend to result in secondary carcinogenesis risk. Molecules that have potent topoisomerase inhibitory activity but involve less DNA damage provide more desirable scaffolds for developing novel chemotherapeutic agents. In this work, we broke the rigid pentacyclic system of luotonin A and synthesized thirty-three compounds as potential Topo inhibitors based on the devised molecular motif. Further investigation disclose that two compounds with the highest antiproliferation activity against cancer cells, 5aA and 5dD, had a distinct Topo I inhibitory mechanism different from those of the classic Topo I inhibitors CPT or luteolin, and were able to obviate the obvious cellular DNA damage typically associated with clinically available Topo inhibitors. The animal model experiments demonstrated that even in mice treated with a high dosage of 50 mg/kg 5aA, there were no obvious signs of toxicity or loss of body weight. The tumor growth inhibition (TGI) rate was 54.3 % when 20 mg/kg 5aA was given to the T24 xenograft mouse model, and 5aA targeted the cancer tissue precisely without causing damage to the liver and other major organs.

Rapid detection of hydrogen using narrow bandwidth fiber-optic spectral combs with a low limit of detection.

The all-fiber detection solutions are the key technology to detecting hydrogen leakage in time because of the low explosive limit of the hydrogen-air mixture gas. However, most of the fiber-optic-based hydrogen sensing platforms must disrupt their structure to achieve a special architecture for interacting with the hydrogen. Here, we report a promising non-damaged structure of fiber-optic narrow bandwidth spectral combs, that can be developed to determine the refractive change as low as 10-5 using its cut-off cladding resonance mode. Such high performance of response for the refractive index induces a rapid detection of hydrogen after a proper thickness of palladium was deposited on the device. An average response time of hydrogen of 4 min with a low limit of detection of 348 ppm was achieved. It is demonstrated that these narrow bandwidth fiber-optic resonance combs can be used for gas detection after being combined with functional materials.

Dietary Diversity Changes and Cognitive Frailty in Chinese Older Adults: A Prospective Community-Based Cohort Study.

Evidence for the effects of dietary diversity changes and cognitive frailty (CF) in the older adults is not clear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary diversity changes and CF in older adults Chinese. A total of 14,382 participants (mean age: 82.3 years) were enrolled. Dietary diversity scores (DDSs) were collected and calculated using a food frequency questionnaire. DDS changes between baseline and first follow-up were categorized into nine patterns. The associations between DDS changes and the incidence of CF were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. During an 80,860 person-year follow-up, 3023 CF cases were identified. Groups with a decrease in DDS had increased CF risk compared with the high-to-high DDS group, with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs; 95% confidence intervals (Cis)) of 1.30 (1.06, 1.59), 2.04 (1.51, 2.74), and 1.81 (1.47, 2.22) for high-to-medium, high-to-low, and medium-to-low groups, respectively. Lower overall DDS groups were associated with greater CF risks, with HRs (95% CIs) of 1.49 (1.19, 1.86) for the low-to-medium group and 1.96 (1.53, 2.52) for the low-to-low group. Compared with the high-to-high group, significant associations with CF were found in other DDS change groups; HRs ranged from 1.38 to 3.12 for the plant-based DDS group and from 1.24 to 1.32 for the animal-based DDS group. Additionally, extreme and moderate declines in overall DDS increased CF risk compared with stable DDS, with HRs (95% CIs) of 1.67 (1.50, 1.86) and 1.13 (1.03, 1.24), respectively. In conclusion, among older adults, a declining or persistently low DDS and a moderately or extremely declining DDS were linked to higher incident CF. Plant-based DDS changes correlated more strongly with CF than animal-based DDS changes.

Associations of long-term joint exposure to various ambient air pollutants with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: evidence from a large population-based cohort study.

The association between long-term joint exposure to all kinds of ambient air pollutants and the risk of mortality is not known. Our study prospectively assessed the joint associations of various air pollutants with cause-specific and all-cause mortality risk and identified potential modifying factors affecting these associations. A total of 400,259 individuals aged 40-70 years were included in this study. Information on PM10, PM2.5-10, PM2.5, NO2, and NOx was collected. A weighted air pollution score was calculated to assess joint exposure to the above air pollutants. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. During a median of 12.0 years (4,733,495 person-years) of follow-up, 21,612 deaths were recorded, including 7097 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 11,557 deaths from cancer. The adjusted HRs of all-cause mortality were 1.39 (95% CI: 1.29-1.50), 1.86 (95% CI: 1.63-2.13), 1.12 (95% CI: 1.10-1.14), and 1.04 (95% CI: 1.03-1.05) for every 10-ug/m3 increase in PM10, PM2.5, NO2, and NOx, respectively. The adjusted HRs associated with the air pollution score (the highest quintile versus the lowest quintile) were 1.24 (95% CI: 1.19-1.30) for all-cause mortality, 1.33 (95% CI: 1.23-1.43) for cardiovascular mortality, and 1.16 (95% CI: 1.09-1.23) for cancer mortality. Furthermore, we found that the air pollution score was associated with a linear dose-response increase in mortality risk (all P for linearity < 0.001). The findings highlight the importance of a comprehensive assessment of various air pollutants.

[Analysis of Gene Recombination between HLA-B and -DRB1, HLA-DQB1 and -DPB1 Loci].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the recombinations within the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region in two families. METHODS: Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood specimens of the different family members. HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1 and -DPB1 loci were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probing technique (PCR-SSO) and next-generation sequencing technique. HLA haplotype was determined by genetic analysis of the pedigree. RESULTS: The haplotypes of HLA-A*11:01~C*03:04~B*13:01~DRB1*12:02~DQB1*03:01~DPB1*05:01:01G and HLA-A*03:01~C*04:01~B*35:03~DRB1*12:01~DQB1*03:01~DPB1*04:01:01G in the family 1 were recombined between HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 loci, which formed the haplotype of HLA-A*11:01~C*03:04~B*13:01~DRB1* 12:01~DQB1*03:01~DPB1*04:01:01G. The haplotypes of HLA-A *02:06~C*03:03~B*35:01~DRB1*08:02~DQB1*04:02~ DPB1*13:01:01G and HLA-A *11:01~C*07:02~B*38:02~DRB1*15:02~DQB1*05:01~DPB1*05:01:01G in the family 2 were recombined between HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DPB1 loci, which formed the haplotype of HLA-A*02:06~C*03:03~B*35:01~ DRB1*08:02~DQB1*04:02~DPB1*05:01:01G. CONCLUSION: The gene recombination events between HLA-B and -DRB1, HLA-DQB1 and -DPB1 loci were found respectively in two Chinese Han families.

Design and synthesis of pseudo-rutaecarpines as potent anti-inflammatory agents via regulating MAPK/NF-κB pathways to relieve inflammation-induced acute liver injury in mice.

Pseudo-natural products (PNPs) design strategy provides a great valuable entrance to effectively identify of novel bioactive scaffolds. In this report, novel pseudo-rutaecarpines were designed via the combination of several privileged structure units and 46 target compounds were synthesized. Most of them display moderate to potent inhibitory effect on LPS-induced NO production and low cytotoxicity in RAW264.7 macrophage. The results of the anti-inflammatory efficacy and action mechanism of compounds 7l and 8c indicated that they significantly reduced the release of IL-6, IL-1ß and TNF-α. Further studies revealed that they can strongly inhibit the activation of NF-κB and MAPK signal pathways. The LPS-induced acute liver injury mice model studies not only confirmed their anti-inflammatory efficacy in vivo but also could effectively relieve the liver injury in mice. The results suggest that compounds 7l and 8c might serve as lead compounds to develop therapeutic drugs for treatment of inflammation.

Gamma-radiation enhancement of sensing properties of FBGs in a few-mode polymer CYTOP fiber.

We investigate the effect of γ-radiation on temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) sensitivities of polymer perfluorinated fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). To this aim, different γ-radiation doses (80, 120, 160, and 520 kGy) were applied to a set of FBGs. We show that irradiated FBGs demonstrate an RH sensitivity rise with the received dose: from 13.3 pm/%RH for a pristine FBG up to 56.8 pm/%RH for a 520-kGy dose at 30℃. In contrast, T sensitivity decreases with radiation dose with a subsequent change of sign from positive to negative. Therefore, by experimental interpolation, T sensitivity can be eliminated at around a 160-kGy dose. This opens the possibility of designing an RH sensor with enhanced sensitivity, which at the same time is insensitive to T.

Dietary diversity and frailty among older Chinese people: evidence from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study.

BACKGROUND: Dietary diversity is widely advocated as a means to promote health, but little is known regarding whether the beneficial effects still apply in older adults. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between the dietary diversity score (DDS) and frailty among older Chinese adults. METHODS: A total of 13,721 adults aged ≥65 y without frailty at baseline were enrolled. The DDS at baseline was constructed based on 9 items of a food frequency questionnaire. We used 39 self-reported health items to construct a frailty index (FI), with FI ≥ 0.25 indicating frailty. Cox models with restricted cubic splines were used to evaluate the dose-response relationships of DDS (continuous) with frailty. In addition, Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between DDS (categorized as scores ≤4, 5-6, 7, and ≥8) and frailty. RESULTS: During the mean follow-up of 5.94 y, 5250 participants met the criteria for frailty. Each 1-unit increase in DDS corresponded to a 5% lower risk of frailty (hazard ratio [HR]; 0.95; 95% CI: 0.94, 0.97]. Compared with participants with DDS ≤4 points, those with a DDS of 5-6, 7, and ≥8 points exhibited a lower frailty risk, with HRs of 0.79 (95% CI: 0.71, 0.87), 0.75 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.83), and 0.74 (95% CI: 0.67, 0.81), respectively (P-trend < 0.001). Protein-rich food items, such as meat; eggs; and beans, were associated with protective effects against frailty. In addition, a significant association was observed between higher consumption of 2 high-frequency foods, tea and fruits, and lower risk of frailty. CONCLUSIONS: A higher DDS was associated with a lower risk of frailty among older Chinese adults. This study highlights the importance of a diverse diet as a potential modifiable behavioral factor for preventing frailty in older Chinese adults.

Clinical value of the MeltPro MTB assays in detection of drug-resistant tuberculosis in paraffin-embedded tissues / 中华病理学杂志

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of the MeltPro MTB assays in the diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to retrospectively collect all 4 551 patients with confirmed tuberculosis between January 2018 and December 2019 at Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University. Phenotypic drug sensitivity test and GeneXpert MTB/RIF (hereafter referred to as "Xpert") assay were used as gold standards to analyze the accuracy of the probe melting curve method. The clinical value of this technique was also evaluated as a complementary method to conventional assays of drug resistance to increase the detective rate of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Results: By taking the phenotypic drug susceptibility test as the gold standard, the sensitivity of the MeltPro MTB assays to detect resistance to rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol and fluoroquinolone was 14/15, 95.7%(22/23), 2/4 and 8/9,respectively; and the specificity was 92.0%(115/125), 93.2%(109/117), 90.4%(123/136) and 93.9%(123/131),respectively; the overall concordance rate was 92.1%(95%CI:89.6%-94.1%),and the Kappa value of the consistency test was 0.63(95%CI:0.55-0.72).By taking the Xpert test results as the reference, the sensitivity of this technology to the detection of rifampicin resistance was 93.6%(44/47), the specificity was100%(310/310), the concordance rate was 99.2%(95%CI:97.6%-99.7%), and the Kappa value of the consistency test was 0.96(95%CI:0.93-0.99). The MeltPro MTB assays had been used in 4 551 confirmed patients; the proportion of patients who obtained effective drug resistance results increased from 83.3% to 87.8%(P<0.01); and detection rate of rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, fluoroquinolone resistance, multidrug and pre-extensive drug resistance cases were increased by 3.2%, 14.7%, 22.2%, 13.7%, 11.2% and 12.5%, respectively. Conclusion: The MeltPro MTB assays show satisfactory accuracy in the diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis. This molecular pathological test is an effective complementary method in improving test positivity of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Analysis of Gene Recombination between HLA-B and -DRB1, HLA-DQB1 and -DPB1 Loci / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the recombinations within the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region in two families.@*METHODS@#Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood specimens of the different family members. HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1 and -DPB1 loci were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probing technique (PCR-SSO) and next-generation sequencing technique. HLA haplotype was determined by genetic analysis of the pedigree.@*RESULTS@#The haplotypes of HLA-A*11:01~C*03:04~B*13:01~DRB1*12:02~DQB1*03:01~DPB1*05:01:01G and HLA-A*03:01~C*04:01~B*35:03~DRB1*12:01~DQB1*03:01~DPB1*04:01:01G in the family 1 were recombined between HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 loci, which formed the haplotype of HLA-A*11:01~C*03:04~B*13:01~DRB1* 12:01~DQB1*03:01~DPB1*04:01:01G. The haplotypes of HLA-A *02:06~C*03:03~B*35:01~DRB1*08:02~DQB1*04:02~ DPB1*13:01:01G and HLA-A *11:01~C*07:02~B*38:02~DRB1*15:02~DQB1*05:01~DPB1*05:01:01G in the family 2 were recombined between HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DPB1 loci, which formed the haplotype of HLA-A*02:06~C*03:03~B*35:01~ DRB1*08:02~DQB1*04:02~DPB1*05:01:01G.@*CONCLUSION@#The gene recombination events between HLA-B and -DRB1, HLA-DQB1 and -DPB1 loci were found respectively in two Chinese Han families.

Computerized handwriting evaluation and statistical reports for children in the age of primary school.

This study proposed a novel computational method for evaluating logographic handwriting. It can precisely evaluate both the handwriting product and the process. The measures included handwriting performance as well as the temporospatial, kinematics, and kinetics features. For examining the psychometrics of this comprehensive evaluation system, typical development children aged 6 to 9 years old (grade 1 to grade 3) (n = 641) were involved in the study of factor analysis. From twelve measuring variables, the exploratory factor analysis extracted five factors (handwriting performance, motor control, speed and automation, halt and exertion, and "in air" events). The test reliability was confirmed by further recruitment of typically developing children (n = 242). The internal consistency mostly demonstrated good to excellent results for every measure. This study further recruited children with handwriting difficulties (n = 33) for testing the discriminative validity of the evaluation system. A series of two-way ANOVA tests was conducted to test the significance of the main effects of the groups (typical development and handwriting deficit) and grades (1, 2, and 3) and their interaction effects on the handwriting measures. All the measures showed significant differences between the two groups, indicating the discriminative validity for identifying handwriting deficits. Seven of twelve measures showed significant interaction effects, indicating the different trends across the grades between the two groups. Typically-developing children demonstrated ongoing progress from grade 1 to grade 3, suggesting a developmental trend during their early school age. Implications for motor development and clinical evaluation are discussed herein in relation to the five dimensions.

[Effect of Hypoxia on CD47 Expression in Human Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cell Lines].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of hypoxia on hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and CD47 expression in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines. METHODS: The CD47 expression in AML U937, HL-60, and K562 cells lines were detected by flow cytometry. U937, HL-60, and K562 cells were all divided into hypoxia-treated group and conventional oxygen group. The hypoxia-treated group was cultured with 1% O2, while the conventional oxygen group was cultured with 20% O2, then the cells were collected after 24 hours. Real time PCR was used to examine the mRNA changes of CD47 gene. Western blot assay was applied to detect the protein expression of HIF-1α and CD47. RESULTS: The expression of CD47 in U937, HL-60, and K562 cells was 98% (98%±0.03%), 99% (99%±0.05%), and 75% (75%±0.11%), respectively. The real time PCR showed that the mRNA expression of CD47 in U937 and HL-60 cells were up-regulated in the hypoxia-treated group (P<0.05), while in K562 cells was not (P>0.05). Western blot result showed that the protein levels of HIF-1α and CD47 of U937, HL-60, and K562 cells in the hypoxia-treated group were increased compared with the conventional oxygen group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The hypoxia can up-regulate the expression of CD47 in acute myeloid leukemia cells, which may be related to HIF-1α.

Substantial transition to clean household energy mix in rural China.

The household energy mix has significant impacts on human health and climate, as it contributes greatly to many health- and climate-relevant air pollutants. Compared to the well-established urban energy statistical system, the rural household energy statistical system is incomplete and is often associated with high biases. Via a nationwide investigation, this study revealed high contributions to energy supply from coal and biomass fuels in the rural household energy sector, while electricity comprised ∼20%. Stacking (the use of multiple sources of energy) is significant, and the average number of energy types was 2.8 per household. Compared to 2012, the consumption of biomass and coals in 2017 decreased by 45% and 12%, respectively, while the gas consumption amount increased by 204%. Increased gas and decreased coal consumptions were mainly in cooking, while decreased biomass was in both cooking (41%) and heating (59%). The time-sharing fraction of electricity and gases (E&G) for daily cooking grew, reaching 69% in 2017, but for space heating, traditional solid fuels were still dominant, with the national average shared fraction of E&G being only 20%. The non-uniform spatial distribution and the non-linear increase in the fraction of E&G indicated challenges to achieving universal access to modern cooking energy by 2030, particularly in less-developed rural and mountainous areas. In some non-typical heating zones, the increased share of E&G for heating was significant and largely driven by income growth, but in typical heating zones, the time-sharing fraction was <5% and was not significantly increased, except in areas with policy intervention. The intervention policy not only led to dramatic increases in the clean energy fraction for heating but also accelerated the clean cooking transition. Higher income, higher education, younger age, less energy/stove stacking and smaller family size positively impacted the clean energy transition.

Enhancing Executive Functions and Handwriting with a Concentrative Coordination Exercise in Children with ADHD: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Handwriting difficulties are common in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and they have been associated with lower academic achievement and self-esteem. Our aim in this study was to determine if training coordination of the head, eyes, and arm and engaging in the necessary visual concentration associated with table tennis would improve executive functions and school-based handwriting among children with ADHD. We designed a randomized controlled trial to explore the therapeutic efficacy of this table tennis training and recruited 48 children with ADHD that we randomly assigned to one of three equal-sized training groups: (a) actual table tennis, (b) simulated table tennis (exergame), or (c) a control group receiving no additional training. The training intervention lasted 12-weeks in which the two different table tennis trainings (i.e., actual or simulated) were scheduled for three one-hour sessions per week. Outcome measures included a computerized handwriting evaluation, the Stroop test, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Participants in each table tennis training group showed significant improvements in handwriting performance, response time, and required time to achieve automation. Both intervention groups also showed significant improvements on the Stroop Color-Word test, but only the actual table tennis training group showed a significant improvement on the WCST. This study provided evidence of at least short-term improvements in executive functions and handwriting problems in children with ADHD through their participation in table tennis motor coordination activities.

A Multi-Center Study for the Development of the Taiwan Cognition Questionnaire (TCQ) in Major Depressive Disorder.

Cognitive dysfunction is associated with functional impairment of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The goals were to explore the associated factors of cognitive impairment in MDD and to develop and validate a brief and culture-relevant questionnaire, the Taiwan Cognition Questionnaire (TCQ), among patients with MDD. This was a cross-sectional, multi-center observational study of MDD patients in Taiwan. Participants of Group 1 from 10 centers contributed to the validation of the TCQ by their response and sociodemographics. The participants of Group 2 from one center received an objective cognitive assessment for clarification of the relationship between the TCQ score and its associated factors. In Group 1, 493 participants were recruited. As for Group 2, an extra 100 participants were recruited. The global Cronbach's alpha for the TCQ was 0.908. According to the coordinates of the ROC curve, 9/10 was the ideal cut-off point. With the criteria, the sensitivity/specificity of the TCQ was 0.610/0.689. The TCQ score was positively associated with a history of being admitted to acute psychiatric care and the severity of depression and negatively associated with objective cognitive measures. The TCQ provides a reliable, valid, and convenient measure of subjective cognitive dysfunction in patients with MDD.

Properties of Fiber Bragg Grating in CYTOP Fiber Response to Temperature, Humidity, and Strain Using Factorial Design.

The characteristics of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in cyclic transparent fluoropolymer (CYTOP) optical fiber have attracted more and more attention in recent years. However, different results of the FBG response to environmental parameters are reported. This work presents a three-variable two-level factorial experimental method to investigate the FBG response to temperature, humidity, and strain in CYTOP fiber. Two uniform FBGs are inscribed separately in CYTOP fiber with and without over-clad. With only eight measuring points, the interactions among three variable parameters are computed and the parameter sensitivities and cross-sensitivities are estimated. Similar temperature and strain sensitivities were found for both gratings, whereas significant cross-sensitivity between humidity and temperature was present only in FBG inscribed in CYTOP fiber with over-clad.

Suicide Ideation among Outpatients with Alcohol Use Disorder.

INTRODUCTION: Individuals with substance use disorders, particularly those with alcohol use disorder (AUD), have a high risk of suicide. Therefore, identifying risk factors for suicide in these individuals is crucial. METHODS: This retrospective study reviewed the medical records of individuals with AUD who participated in an alcohol treatment program in central Taiwan during 2019-2020. We collected data using the Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, and Eye-opener questionnaire, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Brief Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and a suicidal ideation question. Furthermore, we collected information on several related variables, namely, sex, age, marital status, years in school, employment status, family history of alcohol problems, age at first exposure to alcohol, duration of alcohol use, history of alcohol cessation, history of domestic violence, and history of drunk driving. In total, 136 individuals were recruited to participate in this study. RESULTS: The suicidal ideation group had significantly younger participants, a higher proportion of women, a higher proportion of participants with a history of domestic violence, a greater severity of alcohol addiction (based on both AUDIT and MAST scores), higher depression scores, higher anxiety scores, less social support, a lower quality of life (World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)), and poorer sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI) compared with the nonsuicidal ideation group. The suicidal ideation score was correlated with the AUDIT score after age, and BDI, BAI, WHOQOL, and PSQI scores were controlled for (P = 0.034). CONCLUSION: Individuals with higher AUDIT scores visiting a clinic for alcohol treatment might have a higher risk of suicidal ideation. Therefore, clinicians should pay close attention to the suicidal ideation problem in this population. Furthermore, appropriate medication or management programs for suicide prevention should be considered.

Synthesis of spiroindolenine-3,3'-pyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazolinones through gold(I)-catalyzed dearomative cyclization of N-alkynyl quinazolinone-tethered indoles.

A variety of functionalized spiroindolenine-3,3'-pyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazolinones were prepared in good to excellent yields through a gold(I)-catalyzed dearomative cyclization of N-alkynyl quinazolinone-tethered C2-substituted indoles. This reaction features a broad substrate scope, good functional group tolerance, and easy gram-scale preparation and transformations. Furthermore, biological activity studies showed that most of the obtained spiroindolenine-3,3'-pyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazolinone scaffolds showed potential as good anti-inflammatory agents.