Neurodevelopmental trajectories, polygenic risk, and lipometabolism in vulnerability and resilience to schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia (SZ) arises from a complex interplay involving genetic and molecular factors. Early intervention of SZ hinges upon understanding its vulnerability and resiliency factors in study of SZ and genetic high risk for SZ (GHR). METHODS: Herein, using integrative and multimodal strategies, we first performed a longitudinal study of neural function as measured by amplitude of low frequency function (ALFF) in 21 SZ, 26 GHR, and 39 healthy controls to characterize neurodevelopmental trajectories of SZ and GHR. Then, we examined the relationship between polygenic risk score for SZ (SZ-PRS), lipid metabolism, and ALFF in 78 SZ, and 75 GHR in cross-sectional design to understand its genetic and molecular substrates. RESULTS: Across time, SZ and GHR diverge in ALFF alterations of the left medial orbital frontal cortex (MOF). At baseline, both SZ and GHR had increased left MOF ALFF compared to HC (P < 0.05). At follow-up, increased ALFF persisted in SZ, yet normalized in GHR. Further, membrane genes and lipid species for cell membranes predicted left MOF ALFF in SZ; whereas in GHR, fatty acids best predicted and were negatively correlated (r = -0.302, P < 0.05) with left MOF. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings implicate divergence in ALFF alteration in left MOF between SZ and GHR with disease progression, reflecting vulnerability and resiliency to SZ. They also indicate different influences of membrane genes and lipid metabolism on left MOF ALFF in SZ and GHR, which have important implications for understanding mechanisms underlying vulnerability and resiliency in SZ and contribute to translational efforts for early intervention.

Applying dimensional psychopathology: transdiagnostic prediction of executive cognition using brain connectivity and inflammatory biomarkers.

BACKGROUND: The association between executive dysfunction, brain dysconnectivity, and inflammation is a prominent feature across major psychiatric disorders (MPDs), schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. A dimensional approach is warranted to delineate their mechanistic interplay across MPDs. METHODS: This single site study included a total of 1543 participants (1058 patients and 485 controls). In total, 1169 participants underwent diffusion tensor and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (745 patients and 379 controls completed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) assessed structural and functional connectivity, respectively. Pro-inflammatory cytokine levels [interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α] were obtained in 325 participants using blood samples collected with 24 h of scanning. Group differences were determined for main measures, and correlation and mediation analyses and machine learning prediction modeling were performed. RESULTS: Executive deficits were associated with decreased FA, increased ReHo, and elevated IL-1ß and IL-6 levels across MPDs, compared to controls. FA and ReHo alterations in fronto-limbic-striatal regions contributed to executive deficits. IL-1ß mediated the association between FA and cognition, and IL-6 mediated the relationship between ReHo and cognition. Executive cognition was better predicted by both brain connectivity and cytokine measures than either one alone for FA-IL-1ß and ReHo-IL-6. CONCLUSIONS: Transdiagnostic associations among brain connectivity, inflammation, and executive cognition exist across MPDs, implicating common neurobiological substrates and mechanisms for executive deficits in MPDs. Further, inflammation-related brain dysconnectivity within fronto-limbic-striatal regions may represent a transdiagnostic dimension underlying executive dysfunction that could be leveraged to advance treatment.

Lignin-Derived Graphene-Like Carbon Nanosheets as an Efficient Catalyst Support for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis.

Bio-renewable lignin has been used as a precursor for the preparation of various carbon materials, such as carbon fibers, ordered mesoporous carbon and graphite carbon cages. Nevertheless, up to now, there are few studies about prepare graphene-like carbon nanosheets derived from lignin. In this study, we synthesized graphene-like carbon nanosheets, using lignin as the precursor, via one-step pyrolysis route. Fortunately, physical and chemical characterization results indicate that it has high pore volume and hierarchical pore with wrinkled sheet graphene structure. Furthermore, the capability of graphene-like carbon nanosheets was investigated as a catalyst support in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The results of catalytic evaluation show that Fe2O3/GCNs has excellent catalytic activity and the selectivity of lower olefins, compared with Fe2O3/AC.

2-Amino-4-(3-fluoro-phen-yl)-6-(naphthalen-1-yl)pyridine-3-carbonitrile.

There are two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(22)H(14)FN(3), which differ slightly in the relative orientations of the naphthyl and phenyl groups with respect to the pyridyl ring framework. In one mol-ecule, the naphthyl ring system and the phenyl ring form dihedral of angles 56.50 (2) and 48.23 (3)°, respectively, with the pyridyl ring plane. In the other mol-ecule, the corresponding dihedral angles are 50.01 (2) and 51.1 (3)°, respectively. In the crystal, inter-molecular N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds connect the independent mol-ecules into dimers.