Search

GuiSen Wu,1 RanPiao Gan,1 ZhiXing Li,1 LiHua Xu,1 XiaoChen Tang,1 YanYan Wei,1 YeGang Hu,1 HuiRu Cui,1 HuiJun Li,2 YingYing Tang,1 Li Hui,3 XiaoHua Liu,1 ChunBo Li,1 JiJun Wang,1,4,5 TianHong Zhang1 1Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China; 2Florida a & M University, Department of Psychology, Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA; 3Institute of Mental Health, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow University, Suzhou 215137, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 4Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 5Brain Science and Technology Research Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: TianHong Zhang; JiJun WangShanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders (No.13dz2260500), Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 600 Wanping Nan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-21-34773065Fax +86-21-64387986Email jijunwang27@163.comBackground: The clinical high-risk (CHR) state is identified as a critical period for early prevention and intervention during the development of psychosis and early treatment may reduce the risk of conversion to psychosis. However, it remains controversial whether antipsychotics are effective in CHR populations. Limited previous randomised controlled trials of antipsychotic treatment of CHR individuals indicated possible short-term efficacy on psychotic symptoms with unclear long-term effects. To answer this question, it is necessary to establish a high-quality real-world cohort study with large sample size to explore the effectiveness and safety of antipsychotics in CHR individuals.Methods: We plan to consecutively recruit 600 CHR individuals from Shanghai Mental Health Centre in the ongoing SHARP-2 (ShangHai At Risk for Psychosis-Phase 2) project between 2019 and 2022. At baseline, participants will be assessed by the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes, the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, demographic information, and clinical medication history. They will be followed up in a naturalistic way in which the research team will not prescribe antipsychotics or provide pharmacological consultation. First, CHR participants and their families will be trained to record their medication daily and self-evaluate symptoms through smart-phone application-based assessment and report their information weekly. Second, telephone calls will be arranged monthly so that the researchers are informed about the participants’ symptoms, medications and daily functions. Third, face-to-face interviews will be conducted annually for repeating assessment of baseline. The primary outcomes will include conversion to psychosis and functional outcome (scored with less than 60 in the Global Assessment of Function) at the end of the follow-up period.Conclusion: The current study will improve our knowledge on the effectiveness and safety of the use of antipsychotics at the prodromal phase, and will eventually facilitate optimisation of individualised interventions for psychosis prevention and treatment.Keywords: clinical high-risk, early interventions, antipsychotics, subgroup

Abstract Background Connexin 43 (Cx43) plays a central role in the inflammatory response and wound healing. Targeting Cx43 expression reduces inflammation in a variety of injuries. The expression pattern of Cx43 has not been described for many inflammatory skin diseases. Objectives To describe the expression patterns of Cx43 in eczema, psoriasis, Steven‐Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis. Methods Archival skin biopsies from patients with eczema, psoriasis, and Steven‐Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrosis were identified and examined, with sister sections stained for Cx43 and imaged by confocal microscopy. All samples were compared to age and site‐matched normal skin controls. Results Epidermal Cx43 is reduced in acute eczema, absent in regions of spongiosis, and is highly elevated in subacute and chronic eczema. In plaque psoriasis, Cx43 is overexpressed in areas with psoriasiform hyperplasia with a fish‐scale‐like appearance but is lost in regions surrounding neutrophil microabscesses. Cx43 staining is strong in the neutrophils within these microabscesses. In SJS/TEN, Cx43 expression is elevated in areas bordering normal tissue but is rapidly lost in areas of keratinocyte necrosis. Conclusions Dynamic changes in Cx43 levels are seen in inflammatory skin diseases and may represent future potential therapeutic targets.

Introduction We investigated the prevalence of children’s exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) in the car of their parents/guardians and the associated factors. Methods A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to obtain data from the nationally representative samples of school-going adolescents aged 11–19 years in Malaysia. Prevalence rates were computed and chi-squared tests and multiple logistic regression were conducted. Results Of the participants, 23.3% reported exposure to SHS at least once in the car of their parents/guardians during the last 7 days before the survey. The prevalence and likelihood of SHS exposure were significantly higher in Malays, descendants of natives of Sabah and Sarawak, schools in rural areas, females, and current smokers. However, age group and knowledge on the harmful effects of SHS were not significant after adjusting for confounding effects. Conclusions A substantial proportion of school-going adolescents were exposed to secondhand smoke in the car of their parents/guardians. This highlights the need for effective tobacco control measures to include health promotion and smoke-free car regulations to be introduced to prevent severe health hazards and to reduce smoking initiation among non-smoking adolescents.

This research is a preliminary study on the preparation of wood plastic composites (WPC) from corn husk fiber (CHF) and recycled polystyrene foam (rPS). The effects of fiber content and alkaline treatment on tensile, thermal, water absorption and morphological properties of the composites were investigated. The rPS/CHF composites were prepared using melt compounding and compression moulding processes. The results showed that an increase of fiber content increased the tensile strength, modulus, and thermal stability (Td50%) of composites. However, the water absorption of composites increased vastly as the fiber content increases. The addition of more fiber also caused an earlier thermal degradation to composites. Alkaline treatment has improved the tensile strength, modulus, thermal stability (Td10%), and also reduced water absorption of rPS/CHF composites. The WPS prepared from rPS and treated CHF shows better tensile and thermal properties with lower water absorption.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine correlations between lumbar kinematics, functional disability and fear avoidance beliefs among adults with nonspecific chronic low back pain (LBP). Methods: This crosssectional study was conducted between March and December 2014. A total of 32 adults diagnosed with nonspecific chronic LBP were recruited from outpatients attending either an orthopaedic clinic at a university hospital or a private physiotherapy clinic in Malaysia. Lumbar kinematics were measured using sensors attached at the first lumbar (L1) and second sacral (S2) vertebrae levels. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) were used to assess degree of functional disability and fear avoidance beliefs, respectively. Results: For maximum range of motion, positive correlations were observed between ODI scores and right lateral flexion and right rotation (P = 0.01 each), although there was a negative correlation with left rotation (P = 0.03). With maximum angular velocity, ODI scores were positively correlated with right and left lateral flexion L1 (P = 0.01 and