Explore the vast range of titles available.

The overall crime rate among individuals with severe mental illnesses is similar to that of the general population, although some studies suggest a higher risk of violent crime among this group. Empirical research on factors associated with violent crime among individuals with mental illnesses in East Asia remains limited. This study examined 648 offenders referred for forensic psychiatric evaluation by the criminal justice system to explore the relationship between severe mental illness, substance-related and addictive disorders, and violent crime. Demographic, clinical, forensic, and both static and dynamic factors were analyzed using bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. We also tested the moderating effects of gender, history of violent crime, poor treatment adherence, and comorbid substance-related and addictive disorders on the association between severe mental illness and violent crime. The results showed that violent offenders were more likely to be male and to have never undergone a psychiatric evaluation prior to the offense, compared to non-violent offenders. Severe mental illness, substance-related and addictive disorders, single status, unemployment, and poor treatment adherence were not significantly associated with violent crime. Furthermore, gender, poor treatment adherence, a history of violent crime, and comorbid substance-related and addictive disorders did not significantly moderate the relationship between severe mental illness and violent crime. These findings emphasize that individuals with severe mental illness should not be automatically linked to violent offending. A comprehensive evaluation of offenders with severe mental illness is crucial, alongside a deeper understanding of their treatment and reintegration needs.

Background. It is widely accepted that inflammation may contribute to cognitive impairment in patients with vascular dementia (VD). Our prior clinical researches have reported that acupuncture can alleviate cognitive function in VD, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. The purpose of this research was to explore whether acupuncture alleviates cognitive impairment by suppressing the microRNA-93- (miR-93-) mediated Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathway, which triggers inflammatory responses in the central nervous system. Methods. VD was established by permanent bilateral common carotid artery occlusion in male Wistar rats. Three days after operation, the rats began daily treatment with acupuncture for two weeks. The levels of miR-93, Toll-like receptors (TLR2 and TLR4), intracellular signaling molecules (myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)), and inflammatory cytokines were subsequently detected. TLR4 colocalized with neurons, microglia, and astrocytes in the hippocampus was evaluated. Neuroinflammation and cognitive function were determined after intracerebroventricular injection of TLR4 antagonist TAK-242 or agonist lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with or without acupuncture. Results. We found that acupuncture notably repressed the expression of inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus and plasma of VD rats. The expression of TLR4, but not TLR2, was markedly downregulated by acupuncture, accompanied by a decrease in miR-93 and MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway activation. The overexpression of TLR4 in microglia, but not in astrocytes and neurons, was reversed by acupuncture. Furthermore, intracerebroventricular injection of TAK-242 had similar effects to acupuncture on inflammation and cognitive function, while LPS injection abolished the beneficial effects of acupuncture. Conclusions. Taken together, these findings provide evidence that acupuncture attenuates cognitive impairment associated with inflammation through inhibition of the miR-93-mediated TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway in experimental VD. Acupuncture serves as a promising alternative therapy and may be an underlying TLR4 inhibitor for the treatment of VD.

Background: Due to educational, social and economic reasons, more and more women are delaying childbirth. However, advanced maternal age is associated with several adverse pregnancy outcomes, and in particular a high risk of Down’s syndrome (DS). Hence, it is increasingly important to be able to detect fetal Down’s syndrome (FDS). Methods: We developed an effective, highly sensitive, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor with biochemically amplified responses using carboxyl-molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) film. The use of carboxylic acid as a surface modifier of MoS2 promoted dispersion and formed specific three-dimensional coordination sites. The carboxylic acid immobilized unmodified antibodies in a way that enhanced the bioaffinity of MoS2 and preserved biorecognition properties of the SPR sensor surface. Complete antigen pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2) conjugated with the carboxyl-MoS2-modified gold chip to amplify the signal and improve detection sensitivity. This heterostructure interface had a high work function, and thus improved the efficiency of the electric field energy of the surface plasmon. These results provide evidence that the interface electric field improved performance of the SPR biosensor. Results: The carboxyl-MoS2-based SPR biosensor was used successfully to evaluate PAPP-A2 level for fetal Down’s syndrome screening in maternal serum samples. The detection limit was 0.05 pg/mL, and the linear working range was 0.1 to 1100 pg/mL. The women with an SPR angle > 46.57 m° were more closely associated with fetal Down’s syndrome. Once optimized for serum Down’s syndrome screening, an average recovery of 95.2% and relative standard deviation of 8.5% were obtained. Our findings suggest that carboxyl-MoS2-based SPR technology may have advantages over conventional ELISA in certain situations. Conclusion: Carboxyl-MoS2-based SPR biosensors can be used as a new diagnostic technology to respond to the increasing need for fetal Down’s syndrome screening in maternal serum samples. Our results demonstrated that the carboxyl-MoS2-based SPR biosensor was capable of determining PAPP-A2 levels with acceptable accuracy and recovery. We hope that this technology will be investigated in diverse clinical trials and in real case applications for screening and early diagnosis in the future.

Objective Survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) often depends on the effective and immediate use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Given that there have been few studies about AED use in China, the purpose of this study is to investigate the knowledge and attitudes regarding AED use among the Chinese public, then provide an effective suggestion for AED education strategies and legislation. Method The online survey was conducted among Chinese participants of the First Aid eLearning courses in June 2020. Result A total of 2565 (95.00%) surveys were completed, only 23.46% of respondents with non-medical related respondents reported having attended previous AED training courses. Regarding the basic knowledge of AEDs, few respondents (12.28%, n = 315) could answer all four questions correctly. 95.67% (n = 2454) were willing to learn AED use. Even if without the precondition of being skilled in AEDs, the female was more likely to rescue OHCA patients than the male ( p  = 0.003). Almost all respondents (96.65%) showed a strong willingness to rescue OHCA patients with training in using AEDs. The top four barriers to rescuing OHCA patients were lack of practical performing ability (60.47%), fear of hurting patients (59.30%), inadequate knowledge of resuscitation techniques (44.19%), and worry about taking legal responsibility (26.74%). Conclusion Our study reflects a deficiency of AED knowledge among the general public in China. However, positive attitudes towards rescuing OHCA patients and learning AED use were observed, which indicates that measures need to be taken to disseminate knowledge and use of AEDs.

Background Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) leads to huge economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. The high levels of mutations of IBV render vaccines partially protective. Therefore, it is urgent to explore an effective antiviral drug or agent. The present study aimed to investigate the in vivo anti-IBV activity of a mixture of plant essential oils (PEO) of cinnamaldehyde (CA) and glycerol monolaurate (GML), designated as Jin-Jing-Zi. Results The antiviral effects were evaluated by clinical signs, viral loads, immune organ indices, antibody levels, and cytokine levels. The infection rates in the PEO-M (middle dose) and PEO-H (high dose) groups were significantly lower than those in the prevention, positive drug, and PEO-L (low dose) groups. The cure rates in the PEO-M and PEO-H groups were significantly higher than those in the prevention, positive drug, and PEO-L groups, and the PEO-M group had the highest cure rate of 92.31%. The symptom scores and IBV mRNA expression levels were significantly reduced in the PEO-M group. PEO significantly improved the immune organ indices and IBV-specific antibody titers of infected chickens. The anti-inflammatory factor levels of IL-4 and IFN-γ in the PEO-M group maintained high concentrations for a long time. The IL-6 levels in the PEO-M group were lower than those in prevention, positive drug, and PEO-L groups. Conclusion The PEO had remarkable inhibition against IBV and the PEO acts by inhibiting virus multiplication and promoting immune function, suggesting that the PEO has great potential as a novel anti-IBV agent for inhibiting IBV infection.

Graphene-like material such as functionalized carboxyl-graphene oxide (carboxyl-GO) can be intelligently tuned to achieve particular properties for biological and chemical sensing applications. In this study, we propose a method to improve interference of non-specific proteins for use in human plasma assays. The highly specific interactions between molecules are an advantage of carboxyl-GO-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) immunoassays, and this can be applied to spiked plasma samples with pregnancy-associated plasma protein A2 (PAPPA2). The experiment results showed that carboxyl-GO could be used to modulate the plasmon resonance energy, work function and conductivity properties. In addition, carboxyl groups could be used to enhance the conduction of electrons between carboxyl-GO and Au electrodes due to the excellent conductivity and electron transfer rate. The carboxyl-GO-based SPR chip exhibited high sensitivity based on the electric field amplification effects of the composite dielectric material. Therefore, the surface electric field could be enhanced by electron transfer, thereby greatly improving the sensitivity of the sensing system. Enhanced electric field intensity was generated around the carboxyl-GO of 63.58 V/m, and the measured work function was 4.95 eV. The results showed that the carboxyl-GO-based SPR biosensor had high sensitivity, affinity and selective ability for PAPPA2 protein with a high association rate constant (ka) of 3.1 ×10 M S and a limit of detection of 0.01 pg/mL in spiked human plasma. The results showed a detection accuracy of protein in spiked plasma of >90% compared to PBS buffer, suggesting that the carboxyl-GO-based SPR biosensor could be used in assays of human plasma for early and late gynecological diseases. The future of this technology will be useful for the diagnosis and evaluation of the risk of early maternal preeclampsia and potentially in clinical applications for gestational diseases.

We conducted 2D resistivity survey along nine survey lines and inverted them to 3D model by combining 2D data in the Gunshuiping mud volcano in order to understand: (1) the relationship between the resistivity image and the mud-fluid distribution, and (2) the influences of earthquakes and typhoon on mud volcanoes. The three long survey lines passed through the four craters, out of which one was active during the survey period; and the six short networked lines surrounded the crater 2 (C2). The results reveal that a vertical structure is present beneath crater 3 (C3), whom we interpret a conduit transporting the mud-fluid onto the near surface. Also, an area with low resistivity (less than 4 ohm-m) is found at a certain depth suggesting to be the mud-fluid chamber. The high resistivity (more than 4 ohm-m) distribution is found near the surface, and we suggest that the mud volcano craters communicate with each other by the 3D model. Moreover, after the Meinong earthquake of 6 February 2016, the resistivity rose obviously within about 10 m under the surface; while the resistivity of the mud-fluid conduits declined. We also found that after the earthquake, the original active crater (C3) had stopped and was replaced by another crater (C1). We inferred that when the earthquake happened, the gases escaped to the surroundings and caused the gas content of the shallow surface to increase. Besides, as the original crater collapsed, the gases needed another crack to release, which made another crater re-activate. The data also shows that after the typhoon, the resistivity of mud-fluid conduits rose with the active crater changed again from C1 to C4.

On 6 February 2018, a damaging earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale occurred off the eastern coast of Taiwan near Hualien, causing the collapse of buildings and human casualties. About 17 s after the occurrence of the earthquake, an earthquake alarm was issued by the earthquake early warning (EEW) system operated by the Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan (CWB). During the Hualien earthquake sequence (including foreshocks, mainshock, and aftershocks), the EEW system sent 44 warnings without any false alarms. However, one earthquake with magnitude larger than 5.0 was missed by the EEW system because the multiple earthquakes occurred in a short period causing the EEW system to be unable to correctly distinguish multiple P-wave arrivals. In this study, we proposed an approach that instead uses the centroid of the triggered stations as an effective epicenter and then accordingly calculates magnitude and intensity. The proposed method has been implemented in the new EEW system and was tested during the period of the Hualien earthquake sequence. The results show that the proposed method can shorten the processing time by an average of 4.7 s as compared to the existing EEW system and can detect all large events without being affected by the multiple concurrent events. In addition, the predicted intensities from the new EEW system were similar to the original intensities.

Cyperus rotundus L. (CR), a globally pervasive weed with dual agricultural and medicinal significance, undergoes vinegar‐processed (VCR) to enhance its hepatoprotective properties. This study investigated the phytochemical and functional changes induced by vinegar processing and elucidated the role of α‐cyperone, a key bioactive sesquiterpene, in modulating gut‐liver axis homeostasis. UPLC‐Q‐Exactive Orbitrap MS and HPLC analyses revealed a significant increase in α‐cyperone content post‐vinegar processing. In thioacetamide‐induced acute and chronic liver injury models, VCR significantly outperformed CR in reducing serum ALT and AST, hepatic TNF‐α and IL‐6, and oxidative stress, while restoring gut barrier integrity via up‐regulation of ZO‐1 and occludin. Molecular docking supported α‐cyperone's high‐affinity binding to the TLR4/NF‐κB pathway, corroborated by western blot and immunofluorescence. Gut microbiota analysis demonstrated VCR's capacity to reverse dysbiosis, notably enriching Bacteroidetes and improving microbial diversity. These findings highlight edible vinegar processing as a sustainable strategy to transform agricultural waste into a functional food‐grade intervention for liver health, mediated by α‐cyperone‐driven modulation of the gut‐liver axis. Cyperus rotundus L. (CR) and vinegar‐processed CR (VCR) were compared in mouse models of thioacetamide (TAA)‐induced acute and chronic liver injury. VCR exhibited better hepatoprotective effects than raw CR. Composition analysis revealed 35 components in VCR, among which α‐cyperone was present at higher levels than in raw CR. Molecular docking predicted favorable binding affinity between α‐cyperone and key proteins of the TLR4/NF‐κB pathway. These predictions were further validated by immunofluorescence and Western blotting, confirming that α‐cyperone regulates the TLR4/NF‐κB pathway. Given that this pathway is a critical axis of the gut‐liver axis, the protective effects of α‐cyperone on intestinal barriers were also evaluated. The results showed that α‐cyperone protects both the mechanical and biological barriers of the intestine. Collectively, CR and VCR alleviate TAA‐induced liver injury through α‐cyperone‐mediated suppression of TLR4/NF‐κB signaling and preservation of gut barrier integrity.

Uttarakhand Himalayas are highly sensitive to seismic hazard with possible occurrence of high-magnitude earthquakes. Fewer waveforms are available from previously recorded earthquakes, which are insufficient for carrying out seismic hazard studies. The recently installed strong motion instrumentation network (SMIN) in India, particularly, in Indian Himalayas is providing useful data. Using recorded data from SMIN, time-dependent peak ground acceleration and observed peak ground velocity shake maps are drawn for two earthquakes widely recorded by SMIN in Uttarakhand region of Indian Himalayan belt. Open-source Earthworm software with new algorithms is used for drawing these shake maps. The source mechanism is computed for April 4, 2011 earthquake using waveform inversion technique to relate it to the trend of shake maps. The computed focal mechanism shows one of the nodal planes in NW–SE, which are consistent with shake maps for the same earthquake. These time-dependent plotted shake maps provide useful information on the initial rupture, as well as the potential directivity of the rupture.