Coal waste-derived synthesis of yellow oxidized graphene quantum dots with highly specific superoxide dismutase activity: characterization, kinetics, and biological studies

The disintegration of coal-based precursors for the scalable production of nanozymes relies on the fate of solvothermal pyrolysis. Herein, we report a novel economic and scalable strategy to fabricate yellow luminescent graphene quantum dots (YGQDs) by remediating unburnt coal waste (CW). The YGQDs (size: 7-8 nm; M.W: 3157.9 Da) were produced using in situ "anion-radical" assisted bond cleavage in water (within 8 h; at 121 °C) with yields of ∼87%. The presence of exposed surface and edge groups, such as COOH, C-O-C, and O-H, as structural defects accounted for its high fluorescence with εmax ∼530 nm at pH 7. Besides, these defects also acted as radical stabilizers, demonstrating prominent anti-oxidative activity of ∼4.5-fold higher than standard ascorbic acid (AA). In addition, the YGQDs showed high biocompatibility towards mammalian cells, with 500 μM of treatment dose showing <15% cell death. The YGQDs demonstrated specific superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity wherein 15 μM YGQDs equalled the activity of 1-unit biological SOD (bSOD), measured using the pyrogallol assay. The Km for YGQDs was ∼10-fold higher than that for bSOD. However, the YGQDs retained their SOD activity in harsh conditions like high temperatures or denaturing reactions, where the activity of bSOD is completely lost. The binding affinity of YGQDs for superoxide ions, measured from isothermal calorimetry (ITC) studies, was only 10-fold lower than that of bSOD (Kd of 586 nM vs. 57.3 nM). Further, the pre-treatment of YGQDs (∼10-25 μM) increased the cell survivability to >75-90% in three cell lines during ROS-mediated cell death, with the highest survivability being shown for C6-cells. Next, the ROS-induced apoptosis in C6-cells (model for neurodegenerative diseases study), wherein YGQDs uptake was confirmed by confocal microscopy, showed ∼5-fold apoptosis alleviation with only 5 μM pretreatment. The YGQDs also restored the expression of pro-inflammatory Th1 cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6) and anti-inflammatory Th2 cytokines (IL-10) to their basal levels, with a net >3-fold change observed. This further explains the molecular mechanism for the antioxidant property of YGQDs. The high specific SOD activity associated with YGQDs may provide the cheapest alternative source for producing large-scale SOD-based nanozymes that can treat various oxidative stress-linked disorders/diseases.

Structural Covariance of Cortical Gyrification at Illness Onset in Treatment Resistance: A Longitudinal Study of First-Episode Psychoses

Treatment resistance (TR) in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) is a major cause of disability and functional impairment, yet mechanisms underlying this severe disorder are poorly understood. As one view is that TR has neurodevelopmental roots, we investigated whether its emergence relates to disruptions in synchronized cortical maturation quantified using gyrification-based connectomes. Seventy patients with FEP evaluated at their first presentation to psychiatric services were followed up using clinical records for 4 years; of these, 17 (24.3%) met the definition of TR and 53 (75.7%) remained non-TR at 4 years. Structural MRI images were obtained within 5 weeks from first exposure to antipsychotics. Local gyrification indices were computed for 148 contiguous cortical regions using FreeSurfer; each subject's contribution to group-based structural covariance was quantified using a jack-knife procedure, providing a single deviation matrix for each subject. The latter was used to derive topological properties that were compared between TR and non-TR patients using a Functional Data Analysis approach. Compared to the non-TR patients, TR patients showed a significant reduction in small-worldness (Hedges's g = 2.09, P < .001) and a reduced clustering coefficient (Hedges's g = 1.07, P < .001) with increased length (Hedges's g = -2.17, P < .001), indicating a disruption in the organizing principles of cortical folding. The positive symptom burden was higher in patients with more pronounced small-worldness (r = .41, P = .001) across the entire sample. The trajectory of synchronized cortical development inferred from baseline MRI-based structural covariance highlights the possibility of identifying patients at high-risk of TR prospectively, based on individualized gyrification-based connectomes.

Coupling 6-chloro-3-methyluracil with copper: structural features, theoretical analysis, and biofunctional properties

As nucleobases in RNA and DNA, uracil and 5-methyluracil represent a recognized class of bioactive molecules and versatile ligands for coordination compounds with various biofunctional properties. In this study, 6-chloro-3-methyluracil (Hcmu) was used as an unexplored building block for the self-assembly generation of a new bioactive copper(II) complex, [Cu(cmu)₂(H₂O)₂]·4H₂O (1). This compound was isolated as a stable crystalline solid and fully characterized in solution and solid state by a variety of spectroscopic methods (UV-vis, EPR, fluorescence spectroscopy), cyclic voltammetry, X-ray diffraction, and DFT calculations. The structural, topological, H-bonding, and Hirshfeld surface features of 1 were also analyzed in detail. The compound 1 shows a distorted octahedral {CuN₂O₄} coordination environment with two trans cmu^- ligands adopting a bidentate N,O-coordination mode. The monocopper(II) molecular units participate in strong H-bonding interactions with water molecules of crystallization, leading to structural 0D → 3D extension into a 3D H-bonded network with a tfz-d topology. Molecular docking and ADME analysis as well as antibacterial and antioxidant activity studies were performed to assess the bioactivity of 1. In particular, this compound exhibits a prominent antibacterial effect against Gram negative (E. coli, P. aeruginosa) and positive (S. aureus, B. cereus) bacteria. The obtained copper(II) complex also represents the first structurally characterized coordination compound derived from 6-chloro-3-methyluracil, thus introducing this bioactive building block into a family of uracil metal complexes with notable biofunctional properties.

Conceptual disorganization and redistribution of resting-state cortical hubs in untreated first-episode psychosis: A 7T study

Network-level dysconnectivity has been studied in positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Conceptual disorganization (CD) is a symptom subtype that predicts impaired real-world functioning in psychosis. Systematic reviews have reported aberrant connectivity in formal thought disorder, a construct related to CD. However, no studies have investigated whole-brain functional correlates of CD in psychosis. We sought to investigate brain regions explaining the severity of CD in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEPs) compared with healthy controls (HCs). We computed whole-brain binarized degree centrality maps of 31 FEPs, 25 HCs, and characterized the patterns of network connectivity in the 2 groups. In FEPs, we related these findings to the severity of CD. We also studied the effect of positive and negative symptoms on altered network connectivity. Compared to HCs, reduced centrality of a right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG) cluster was observed in the FEPs. In patients exhibiting high CD, increased centrality of a medial superior parietal (mSPL) cluster was observed, compared to patients exhibiting low CD. This cluster was strongly correlated with CD scores but not with other symptom scores. Our observations are congruent with previous findings of reduced but not increased centrality. We observed increased centrality of mSPL suggesting that cortical reorganization occurs to provide alternate routes for information transfer. These findings provide insight into the underlying neural processes mediating the presentation of symptoms in untreated FEP. Longitudinal tracking of the symptom course will be useful to assess the mechanisms underlying these compensatory changes.

Anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge with cellulose, protein, and lipids: Role of rheology and digestibility

Rheology is known to have an impact on the performance of digesters, but the effect of additional substrates (co-digestion) is poorly understood. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the addition of cellulose, protein and lipids to substrates on the rheological behaviour and biogas production of the mixture of primary sludge (PS) and waste-activated sludge (WAS) in a batch system. A mixture of PS and WAS to form the main substrate was anaerobically co-digested with different types of organic matter (cellulose, protein and lipids) as co-substrates at different co-substrate to main substrate ratios of 2-8 (wt%) under mesophilic conditions and below ammonia inhibition levels. Yield stress (τ_y) and the flow consistency index (k) of the combined feed in the case of cellulose and protein were significantly dependent on the amount of co-substrate added, while there was an insignificant impact on these properties when lipids were added. Cellulose significantly increased τ_y and k in the feed, which resulted in poor fluidity and the improper homogenisation of the digester content, and consequently decreased the biogas yield. In contrast, the biogas yield was improved through the addition of 2% to 6% protein despite an increase in τ_y and k of the feed, but the methane yield decreased at 7% and 8% levels of protein concentration. This observation indicates that the threshold for τ_y and k of the digester media depends on the organic nature and digestibility of the substrate. There was no significant impact on the flow properties of the initial mixture when lipids were added, and their addition increased the biogas yield. A first-order kinetic reaction model was used for predicting the yield of methane from these digesters. The rate constant values revealed an increasing trend, with the highest for protein then lipids then cellulose.

Glutamate and Dysconnection in the Salience Network: Neurochemical, Effective Connectivity, and Computational Evidence in Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Functional dysconnection in schizophrenia is underwritten by a pathophysiology of the glutamate neurotransmission that affects the excitation-inhibition balance in key nodes of the salience network. Physiologically, this manifests as aberrant effective connectivity in intrinsic connections involving inhibitory interneurons. In computational terms, this produces a pathology of evidence accumulation and ensuing inference in the brain. Finally, the pathophysiology and aberrant inference would partially account for the psychopathology of schizophrenia as measured in terms of symptoms and signs. We refer to this formulation as the 3-level hypothesis.

METHODS

We tested the hypothesis in core nodes of the salience network (the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex [dACC] and the anterior insula) of 20 patients with first-episode psychosis and 20 healthy control subjects. We established 3-way correlations between the magnetic resonance spectroscopy measures of glutamate, effective connectivity of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, and correlations between measures of this connectivity and estimates of precision (inherent in evidence accumulation in the Stroop task) and psychopathology.

RESULTS

Glutamate concentration in the dACC was associated with higher and lower inhibitory connectivity in the dACC and in the anterior insula, respectively. Crucially, glutamate concentration correlated negatively with the inhibitory influence on the excitatory neuronal population in the dACC of subjects with first-episode psychosis. Furthermore, aberrant computational parameters of the Stroop task performance were associated with aberrant inhibitory connections. Finally, the strength of connections from the dACC to the anterior insula correlated negatively with severity of social withdrawal.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support a link between glutamate-mediated cortical disinhibition, effective-connectivity deficits, and computational performance in psychosis.

The ORNATE India Project: United Kingdom-India Research Collaboration to tackle visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy

INTRODUCTION

The ORNATE India project is funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Global Challenges Research Fund. The aim is to build research capacity and capability in India and the UK to tackle global burden of diabetes-related visual impairment. As there are over 77 million people with diabetes in India, it is challenging to screen every person with diabetes annually for sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (DR). Therefore, alternate safe approaches need to be developed so that those at-risk of visual impairment due to DR is identified promptly and treated.

METHODS

The project team utilised diverse global health strategies and research methods to co-design work packages to build research capacity and capability to ensure effective, affordable and efficient DR services are made available for the population. The strategies and methods employed included health system strengthening; implementation science; establishing care pathways; co-designing collaborative studies on affordable technologies, developing quality standards and guidelines to decrease variations in care; economic analysis; risk modelling and stratification. Five integrated work packages have been developed to deal with all aspects of DR care. These included implementation of a DR screening programme in the public health system in a district in Kerala, evaluating regional prevalence of diabetes and DR and assessing ideal tests for holistic screening for diabetes and its complications in 20 areas in India, utilising artificial intelligence on retinal images to facilitate DR screening, exploring biomarker and biosensor research to detect people at risk of diabetes complications, estimating cost of blindness in India and risk modelling to develop risk-based screening models for diabetes and its complications. A large collaborative network will be formed to propagate research, promote shared learning and bilateral exchanges between high- and middle-income countries to tackle diabetes-related blindness.

Immunohistochemical detection of naturally occurring porcine Sapelovirus infection in Indian pigs

We investigated immunohistochemical detection of porcine Sapelovirus (PSV) in naturally infected pigs of different ages. Forty-nine fecal samples, intestinal contents and other tissue samples from dead pigs were screened in previous study using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for PSV infection. Eight animals were positive for PSV based on RT-PCR examination. Gross lesions were recorded mainly in the large and small intestines. Microscopic examination of intestines showed severe enteritis. Tissue sections of all organs from PSV positive animals were immunostained using hyperimmune serum raised in rats against PSV that had been grown in a BHK-21 cell line. Staining of PSV was found only in the large and small intestines.

Aberrant myelination of the cingulum and Schneiderian delusions in schizophrenia: a 7T magnetization transfer study

BACKGROUND

The structural integrity of the anterior cingulum has been repeatedly observed to be abnormal in patients with schizophrenia. More recently, aberrant myelination of frontal fasciculi, especially, cingulum has been proposed to underlie delayed corollary discharges that can affect sense of agency and contribute to delusions of control (Schneiderian delusions). Using the magnetization transfer phenomenon at an ultra-high field 7T MRI, we investigated the putative myelin content of cingulum bundle in patients with schizophrenia.

METHODS

Seventeen clinically stable patients with schizophrenia and 20 controls were recruited for this 7T MRI study. We used a region-of-interest method and extracted magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) from left and right dorsal cingulum bundles and estimated patients v. controls differences. We also related the cingulum MTR values to the severity of Schneiderian delusions.

RESULTS

Patients had a significant reduction in the MTR, indicating reduced myelin content, in the cingulum bundle (right cingulum Hedges' g = 0.91; left cingulum g = 0.03). The reduced MTR of left cingulum was associated with higher severity of Schneiderian delusions (τ = -0.45, p = 0.026) but no such relationship was seen for the right cingulum MTR (τ = -0.136, p = 0.50) among patients. The association between the left cingulum MTR and Schneiderian delusions was not explained by the presence of other delusions, hallucinations, disorganization or negative symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Dysmyelination of the cingulum bundle is seen in a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia and may be involved in the mechanism of Schneiderian delusions.

Impact of rheological properties of substrate on anaerobic digestion and digestate dewaterability: New insights through rheological and physico-chemical interaction

Mesophilic batch anaerobic digesters fed by different substrates were set up to identify the role of substrate rheology in anaerobic digestion performance while operating below the toxic level. Five substrates of different rheological behaviour but at the same amount of organic matters were prepared by addition of different amount of an inert material (0, 0.03, 0.07, 0.11, and 0.20 g) per g of waste activated sludge (WAS). To gain a comprehensive insight, the interactive relationship between substrate rheology, physico-chemical properties and biogas production as well as digestate dewaterability was investigated. The results proved that better access of microorganisms to organic matters improved the digester performance and led to 19.29% and 12.5% increase in biogas yield and VS removal efficiency, respectively. Moreover, the statistical analysis showed that consistency index and loss modulus of sludge could be employed as promising indications for biogas yield while yield stress could predict dewaterability of digestate as far as the other physico-chemical properties remained unchanged. During digestion measurement of consistency index and loss modulus of digestate could be performed as a reliable tool to monitor biogas production.

Recommended electron-impact excitation and ionization cross sections for Be I

Analytic fits to the recommended electron-impact excitation and ionization cross sections for Be I are presented. The lowest 19 terms of configurations 2snl (n ≤ 4) and 2p ² terms below the first ionization limit are considered. The fits are based on the accurate calculations with the convergent close coupling (CCC) method as well as the B-spline R-matrix (BSR) approach. The fitted cross sections provide rate coefficients that are believed to approximate the original data within 10% with very few exceptions. The oscillator strengths for the dipole-allowed transitions between all the considered states are calculated with the relativistic multi-configuration Dirac-Hartree-Fock (MCDHF) approach and compared with the CCC and BSR results. This comparison shows a very good agreement except for a handful of cases with likely strong cancellations.

Neural substrate of unrelenting negative symptoms in schizophrenia: a longitudinal resting-state fMRI study

Developing a mechanistic insight into the specific brain processes that underpin improvement in negative symptoms can help us design novel chemical and physical treatments against these unrelenting symptoms. The aim of the present study is to explore the longitudinal changes in the brain's regional functional efficiency that accompany improvement in negative symptoms seen in first-episode patients with schizophrenia when treated with antipsychotic for 1 year. Forty-seven first-episode patients with schizophrenia were scanned at a drug-naive baseline state and followed up for 1 year to identify negative symptom responders (Rn) and non-responders (NRn). Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and Granger analysis of effective connectivity (EC) were used to examine the different patterns of regional function and connectivity between Rn and NRn during the 1 year follow-up. Increase of fALFF in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and increase of EC from the left STG to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was found in Rn compared to NRn. We further validated that the identified changes in fALFF/EC of STG occur specifically in relation to negative symptoms only (i.e., not pseudo-specific in relation to positive, extrapyramidal or depressive symptoms), and occur irrespective of arbitrary clinical categorization of treatment response. An increase in fALFF in the precuneus and the inferior parietal lobule, and a decrease in EC from the left STG to the occipital cortex, were also found at the 1 year follow-up irrespective of improvement in negative symptoms. Interventions that improve the functional efficiency of left STG and its prefrontal connectivity may show efficacy in alleviating negative symptoms in first-episode schizophrenia.

Major venom proteins of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta: insights into possible pheromone-binding function from mass spectrometric analysis

Proteins in the venom of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta have been suggested to function in pheromone binding. Venom from queens and workers contains different isoforms of these proteins, consistent with the differing pheromones they secrete, but questions remain about the venom protein composition and glandular source. We found that the queen venom contains a previously uncharacterized pheromone-binding protein paralogue known as Sol i 2X1. Using imaging mass spectrometry, we located the main venom proteins in the poison sac, implying that pheromones might have to compete with venom alkaloids for binding. Using the known structure of the worker venom protein Sol i 2w, we generated three-dimensional homology models of the worker venom protein Sol i 4.02, and of the two main venom proteins in queens and female alates, Sol i 2q and Sol i 2X1. Surprisingly, the models show that the proteins have relatively small internal hydrophobic binding pockets that are blocked by about 10 amino acids of the C-terminal region. For these proteins to function as carriers of hydrophobic ligands, a conformational change would be required to displace the C-terminal region, somewhat like the mechanism known to occur in the silk moth pheromone-binding protein.

Disorganized Gyrification Network Properties During the Transition to Psychosis

IMPORTANCE

There is urgent need to improve the limited prognostic accuracy of clinical instruments to predict psychosis onset in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. As yet, no reliable biological marker has been established to delineate CHR individuals who will develop psychosis from those who will not.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate abnormalities in a graph-based gyrification connectome in the early stages of psychosis and to test the accuracy of this systems-based approach to predict a transition to psychosis among CHR individuals.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This investigation was a cross-sectional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study with follow-up assessment to determine the transition status of CHR individuals. Participants were recruited from a specialized clinic for the early detection of psychosis at the Department of Psychiatry (Universitäre Psychiatrische Kliniken [UPK]), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Participants included individuals in the following 4 study groups: 44 healthy controls (HC group), 63 at-risk mental state (ARMS) individuals without later transition to psychosis (ARMS-NT group), 16 ARMS individuals with later transition to psychosis (ARMS-T group), and 38 antipsychotic-free patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP group). The study dates were November 2008 to November 2014. The dates of analysis were March to November 2017.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Gyrification-based structural covariance networks (connectomes) were constructed to quantify global integration, segregation, and small-worldness. Group differences in network measures were assessed using functional data analysis across a range of network densities. The extremely randomized trees algorithm with repeated 5-fold cross-validation was used to delineate ARMS-T individuals from ARMS-NT individuals. Permutation tests were conducted to assess the significance of classification performance measures.

RESULTS

The 4 study groups comprised 161 participants with mean (SD) ages ranging from 24.0 (4.7) to 25.9 (5.7) years. Small-worldness was reduced in the ARMS-T and FEP groups and was associated with decreased integration and increased segregation in both groups (Hedges g range, 0.666-1.050). Using the connectome properties as features, a good classification performance was obtained (accuracy, 90.49%; balanced accuracy, 81.34%; positive predictive value, 84.47%; negative predictive value, 92.18%; sensitivity, 66.11%; specificity, 96.58%; and area under the curve, 88.30%).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

These findings suggest that there is poor integration in the coordinated development of cortical folding in patients who develop psychosis. These results further suggest that gyrification-based connectomes might be a promising means to generate systems-based measures from anatomical data to improve individual prediction of a transition to psychosis in CHR individuals.

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy for intermittent claudication: Medium-term outcomes from a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled pilot trial

Objectives Peripheral arterial disease most commonly presents as intermittent claudication (IC). Early evidence has suggested that extracorporeal shockwave therapy is efficacious in the short term for the management of intermittent claudication. The objective of this pilot trial was to evaluate the medium-term efficacy of this treatment. Methods This double-blind randomised placebo-controlled pilot trial randomised patients with unilateral intermittent claudication in a 1:1 fashion to receive extracorporeal shockwave therapy or a sham treatment for three sessions per week over three weeks. Primary outcomes were maximum walking distance and intermittent claudication distance using a fixed-load treadmill test. Secondary outcomes included pre- and post-exertional ankle-brachial pressure indices, safety and quality of life assessed using generic (SF36, EQ-5D-3L) and disease-specific (vascular quality of life) measures. All outcome measures were assessed at 12 months post-treatment. Results Thirty participants were included in the study (extracorporeal shockwave therapy, n = 15; sham, n = 15), with 26 followed up and analysed at 12 months (extracorporeal shockwave therapy, n = 13; sham, n = 13). Intragroup analysis demonstrated significant improvements in maximum walking distance, intermittent claudication distance and post-exertional ankle-brachial pressure indices ( p < 0.05) in the active treatment group, with no improvements in pre-exertional ankle-brachial pressure indices. Significant improvements in quality of life were observed in 3 out of 19 domains assessed in the active group. A re-intervention rate of 26.7% was seen in both groups. Conclusions These findings suggest that extracorporeal shockwave therapy is effective in improving walking distances at 12 months. Although this study provides important pilot data, a larger study is needed to corroborate these findings and to investigate the actions of this treatment.

ISRCTN

NCT02652078.

Continuous Hyperfractionated Accelerated Radiotherapy (CHART) for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): 7 Years' Experience From Nine UK Centres

AIM

Continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (CHART) remains an option to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; NICE, 2011). We have previously published treatment outcomes from 1998-2003 across five UK centres. Here we update the UK CHART experience, reporting outcomes and toxicities for patients treated between 2003 and 2009.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

UK CHART centres were invited to participate in a retrospective data analysis of NSCLC patients treated with CHART from 2003 to 2009. Nine (of 14) centres were able to submit their data into a standard database. The Kaplan-Meier method estimated survival and the Log-rank test analysed the significance.

RESULTS

In total, 849 patients had CHART treatment, with a median age of 71 years (range 31-91), 534 (63%) were men, 55% had undergone positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) and 26% had prior chemotherapy; 839 (99%) patients received all the prescribed treatment. The median overall survival was 22 months with 2 and 3 year survival of 47% and 32%, respectively. Statistically significant differences in survival were noted for stage IA versus IB (33.2 months versus 25 months; P = 0.032) and IIIA versus IIIB (20 months versus 16 months; P = 0.018). Response at 3 months and outcomes were significantly linked; complete response showing survival of 34 months against 19 months, 15 months and 8 months for partial response, stable and progressive disease, respectively (P < 0.001). Age, gender, performance status, prior chemotherapy and PET-CT did not affect the survival outcomes. Treatment was well tolerated with <5% reporting ≥grade 3 toxicity.

CONCLUSION

In routine practice, CHART results for NSCLC remain encouraging and we have been able to show an improvement in survival compared with the original trial cohort. We have confirmed that CHART remains deliverable with low toxicity rates and we are taking a dose-escalated CHART regimen forward in a randomised phase II study of sequential chemoradiotherapy against other accelerated dose-escalated schedules.

Characterization and compositional analysis of highly acidic karanja oil and its potential feedstock for enzymatic synthesis of biodiesel

In the present study, we focused on the synthesis of biodiesel fromPseudomonas cepacia, crude karanja oil by the process of enzymatic transesterification using bio-support materials, such as lipase immobilized on polyvinyl alcohol/AlgNa.

The neurobiology of transition to psychosis: clearing the cache

The prepsychotic phase of schizophrenia is not only important for indicated prevention strategies, but also crucial for developing mechanistic models of the emergence of frank psychosis (transition). This commentary highlights the work of Dukart and colleagues, published in this issue of the Journal of Psychiatry and Neurosicence, who sought to identify MRI-based anatomic endophenotypes of psychosis in a well-characterized sample of patients with at-risk mental state (ARMS) and first-episode psychosis (FEP). Conceptual and translational challenges in clarifying the neurobiology of transitional prepsychotic states are discussed. A role of intracortical myelin in the neurobiology of transition is proposed. Transition may not be an outcome of "progressive structural deficits"; it may occur due to inadequate compensatory responses in the predisposed. The need to revise our current "deficit-oriented" models of neurobiology of psychosis in the wake of burgeoning evidence indicating a dynamic process of cortical reorganization is emphasized.

Clinical utility of a short resting-state MRI scan in differentiating bipolar from unipolar depression

OBJECTIVE

Depression in bipolar disorder (BipD) requires a therapeutic approach that is from treating unipolar major depressive disorder (UniD), but to date, no reliable methods could separate these two disorders. The aim of this study was to establish the clinical validity and utility of a non-invasive functional MRI-based method to classify BipD from UniD.

METHOD

The degree of connectivity (degree centrality or DC) of every small unit (voxel) with every other unit of the brain was estimated in 22 patients with BipD and 22 age, gender, and depressive severity-matched patients with UniD and 22 healthy controls. Pattern classification analysis was carried out using a support-vector machine (SVM) approach.

RESULTS

Degree centrality pattern from 8-min resting fMRI discriminated BipD from UniD with an accuracy of 86% and diagnostic odds ratio of 9.6. DC was reduced in the left insula and increased in bilateral precuneus in BipD when compared to UniD. In this sample with a high degree of uncertainty (50% prior probability), positive predictive value of the DC test was 79%.

CONCLUSION

Degree centrality maps are potential candidate measures to separate bipolar depression from unipolar depression. Test performance reported here requires further pragmatic evaluation in regular clinical practice.

Outcome of universal newborn eye screening with wide-field digital retinal image acquisition system: a pilot study

PurposeTo evaluate the outcome of universal newborn eye screening with wide-field digital retinal imaging (WFDRI) system.MethodsIn this pilot study, we examined 1152 apparently healthy newborn infants in the obstetrics and gynecology ward of a civil hospital in Eastern India over 1.5 years. The examination included external eye examination, red reflex test and fundus imaging by WFDRI (RetCam II, Clarity medical system, Pleasanton, CA, USA) by a trained optometrist. The pathologies detected, net monetary gain and skilled manpower saved were documented. The results were compared with three similar studies thus far published in the literature.ResultsOcular abnormality of any kind was seen in 172 (14.93%) babies. Retinal hemorrhage in 153 babies (88.9% of all abnormal findings) was the most common abnormality; it was bilateral in 118 (77.12%) babies and 4 babies had foveal hemorrhage. Other abnormalities included vitreous hemorrhage (n=1), congenital glaucoma (n=2), uveal coloboma (n=2), retinopathy mimicking retinopathy of prematurity (n=2), and cystic fovea (n=3). The retinal hemorrhages resolved spontaneously in all eyes. One baby with congenital glaucoma received surgery and the other was treated medically. The benefits included savings in skilled manpower, a net monetary gain of INR 4.195 million (US$ 62,612) and skilled manpower saving by 319.4 h.ConclusionsThe universal neonatal eye screening using WFDRI detected pathologies that needed immediate care or regular follow up; saved skilled manpower with a net monetary gain. But compared to a red reflex test the benefits were marginal in terms of detecting treatment warranting ocular pathologies.

Frequency, Distribution of Congenital Anomaly and Associated Maternal Risk Factors

This study was done to find out the maternal risk factors associated with congenital anomaly. This cross-sectional observational study was carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 2011 to December 2011. During this study period 78 patients had pregnancy with congenital anomaly and delivered in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Women with ultrasound report of congenitally abnormal fetus irrespective of gestational age were included. Clinical evaluation of neonates was done by experienced neonatologist. The frequency of congenital anomaly was 3.46%. Most of the women belong to age <35 years (97.43%). Congenital anomalies more commonly were seen in the primiparas (64.10%). Most frequent associated risk factor was the history of abortions (35.89%). Maternal infections during antenatal period were also high (15.58%). There were 58 males (74.35%) and 20 females (25.64%). There was positive history of delivery of congenital abnormal babies in 6 cases (7.6%). Mothers of eight cases (10.25%) had history of drug ingestion during pregnancy. Four cases (5.12%) of mothers had hypothyroidism and 6 cases of mothers (7.69%) had diabetes mellitus respectively.

The Hausdorff and dynamical dimensions of self-affine sponges: a dimension gap result

We construct a self-affine sponge in R 3 whose dynamical dimension, i.e. the supremum of the Hausdorff dimensions of its invariant measures, is strictly less than its Hausdorff dimension. This resolves a long-standing open problem in the dimension theory of dynamical systems, namely whether every expanding repeller has an ergodic invariant measure of full Hausdorff dimension. More generally we compute the Hausdorff and dynamical dimensions of a large class of self-affine sponges, a problem that previous techniques could only solve in two dimensions. The Hausdorff and dynamical dimensions depend continuously on the iterated function system defining the sponge, implying that sponges with a dimension gap represent a nonempty open subset of the parameter space.

Medication Adherence in Kidney Transplant Recipients in an Urban Indian Setting

Medication nonadherence is a known problem after renal transplantation and can vary from one setting to another. Since it can lead to negative outcomes, it is important to develop intervention strategies to enhance adherence in a given setting using determinants identified through exploratory studies. We explored nonadherence in renal transplant recipients. A longitudinal survey was done with adult renal transplant recipients at a tertiary care public and two private hospitals of Kolkata. Subjects were followed-up for 1 year. After screening for medication adherence status by the four-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, those admitting to potential nonadherence were probed further. A patient was deemed to be nonadherent if failing to take medicines on appointed time (doses missed or delayed by more than 2 h) more than three times in any month during the observation period. A pretested questionnaire was used to explore potential determinants of nonadherence. Data of 153 patients recruited over a 2-year were analyzed. The extent of nonadherence with immunosuppressant regimens was about 31% overall; 44% in the public sector and 19% in the private sector (P < 0.001). Nonadherence with other medication was around 19% in both the sectors. Several potential demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial determinants of nonadherence were identified on univariate analysis. However, logistic regression analysis singled out only the economic status. This study had updated the issue of nonadherence in renal transplant recipients in the Indian setting. Strategies to improve medication adherence can be planned by relevant stakeholders on the basis of these findings.

Imaging Carotid Atherosclerosis Plaque Ulceration: Comparison of Advanced Imaging Modalities and Recent Developments

Atherosclerosis remains the leading cause of long-term mortality and morbidity worldwide, despite remarkable advancement in its management. Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques are principally responsible for thromboembolic events in various arterial territories such as carotid, coronary, and lower limb vessels. Carotid plaque ulceration is one of the key features associated with plaque vulnerability and is considered a notable indicator of previous plaque rupture and possible future cerebrovascular events. Multiple imaging modalities have been used to assess the degree of carotid plaque ulceration for diagnostic and research purposes. Early diagnosis and management of carotid artery disease could prevent further cerebrovascular events. In this review, we highlight the merits and limitations of various imaging techniques for identifying plaque ulceration.

The Bishop–Jones relation and Hausdorff geometry of convex-cobounded limit sets in infinite-dimensional hyperbolic space

We generalize the mass redistribution principle and apply it to prove the Bishop–Jones relation for limit sets of metrically proper isometric actions on real infinite-dimensional hyperbolic space. We also show that the Hausdorff and packing measures on the limit sets of convex-cobounded groups are finite and positive and coincide with the conformal Patterson measure, up to a multiplicative constant.

Propofol-Induced Frontal Cortex Disconnection: A Study of Resting-State Networks, Total Brain Connectivity, and Mean BOLD Signal Oscillation Frequencies

Propofol is one of the most commonly used anesthetics in the world, but much remains unknown about the mechanisms by which it induces loss of consciousness. In this resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we examined qualitative and quantitative changes of resting-state networks (RSNs), total brain connectivity, and mean oscillation frequencies of the regional blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal, associated with propofol-induced mild sedation and loss of responsiveness in healthy subjects. We found that detectability of RSNs diminished significantly with loss of responsiveness, and total brain connectivity decreased strongly in the frontal cortex, which was associated with increased mean oscillation frequencies of the BOLD signal. Our results suggest a pivotal role of the frontal cortex in propofol-induced loss of responsiveness.