Relationship between C-reactive protein and antipsychotics levels in schizophrenic patients infected with COVID-19.

In the context of the COVID-19, inflammation emerges as a prominent characteristic. C-reactive protein (CRP) serves as a commonly employed marker for the evaluation of inflammation. This study aimed to examine the correlation between CRP levels and antipsychotic drug concentrations in patients diagnosed with SCZ during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 186 SCZ patients were included in this study, which utilized electronic medical records. The collected data encompassed SCZ diagnoses based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria, respiratory symptoms, and treatments. Laboratory assessments involved the measurement of CRP levels and monitoring of blood drug concentrations. The most prevalent symptoms observed in the patient cohort were fever (59.14%), cough (52.15%), fatigue (45.7%), sore throat (46.24%), runny nose (28.49%), and stuffy nose (25.27%). The levels of CRP during the infection period were significantly higher compared to both the prophase and anaphase of infection (all p < 0.001). The serum levels of clozapine, olanzapine, aripiprazole, quetiapine, and risperidone were elevated during the infection period (all p < 0.001). During the anaphase of infection, patients exhibited higher serum levels of clozapine, olanzapine, and risperidone (all p < 0.001) compared to the infection period, but there was no significant change in serum levels of aripiprazole and quetiapine. Multiple regression analysis revealed a statistically significant positive correlation (P < 0.0001) between CRP and clozapine concentration. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to adjust the dosage based on drug serum concentration to prevent intoxication or adverse drug reactions.

Hepatocellular carcinoma­cavernous hemangioma collision tumor: A case report.

Collision tumors consisting of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cavernous hemangioma (CH) are rare and the clinicopathological characteristics or cause of the tumors remain unclear. The present study reports the case of a 71-year-old male patient who was admitted to Sunshine Union Hospital (Weifang, China) due to a liver mass found during a routine physical examination. computed tomography scans showed a main lesion of ~4.0×4.2×3.5 cm in segment IV of the patient's liver and a nodule of ~2.4×2.2×1.3 cm in the lower-left part of the lesion, which was clearly demarcated from the main lesion. The capsule of the lesion was found to be intact during the operation performed to remove the tumor. The final patient diagnosis was of a HCC-CH collision tumor based on pathology. The patient underwent follow-up for 6 months after surgery and no recurrence was observed.

Clinicopathological significance and prognostic implications of Ube2v1 expression in colorectal cancer.

The present study aimed to investigate the expression of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 variant 1 (Ube2v1) in colorectal cancer (CRC) and its clinical significance. The differential expression of Ube2v1 in CRC tissues and normal intestinal tissues, as well as the association between Ube2v1 expression and the prognosis of patients with CRC were analyzed using bioinformatics analyses. TIMER database analysis revealed higher Ube2v1 expression in CRC tissues than in normal intestinal tissues. Cancerous and normal tissues collected retrospectively from 37 cases of CRC between July, 2022 and June, 2023 were analyzed for Ube2v1 expression using immunohistochemistry, and the associations between Ube2v1 expression and the clinical pathological features of patients with CRC were analyzed. Ube2v1 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis in patients with CRC (P<0.05). However, bioinformatics analysis using the GEPIA2 and HPA database revealed that Ube2v1 was not associated with the overall survival of patients with CRC. On the whole, the present study demonstrates that due to its high expression and association with lymph node metastasis, Ube2v1 may serve as a potential target for the treatment of CRC.

Anxiety, Depression, Perceived Stress, and Burnout Among Chinese Researchers: A Cross-Sectional Nationwide Study.

Purpose: Depression and anxiety have a significant impact on an individuals' work and personal life alike. The mental health of researchers is a significant concern worldwide. This study investigated the mental health status of Chinese researchers specifically and explored the moderating effects of perceived stress on the influence of low self-accomplishment on anxiety and depression. Methods: The online survey platform "Survey Star" was used to create a questionnaire to be distributed to researchers, with 949 questionnaires retrieved. The general information questionnaire, 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS) were used for this investigation. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to investigate correlations among the relevant variables. Model 8 of PROCESS 3.3 program was used to analyze the moderating effects of perceived stress. Results: Among the 949 participants, 570 (60.1%) reported symptoms of depression and 431 (45.4%) had symptoms of anxiety, with about one in six reporting symptoms of self-harm or suicidal ideation. Perceived stress was found to moderate the effect of low self-accomplishment on depression and anxiety. Conclusion: Here we show that researchers exhibit a high rate of depression and anxiety symptoms. Perceived stress is also shown to play a moderating role on the influence of low self-accomplishment on anxiety and depression. Thus, reducing perceived stress levels can help to improve the mental health of researchers.

Ectopic gastric mucosa in the submucosa of the stomach: A case report.

Under normal circumstances, gastric mucosa only exists within the stomach. However, in certain situations, gastric mucosal tissue may undergo ectopia, commonly occurring in the esophagus and intestine, with rare occurrences within the stomach itself. A comprehensive literature review was performed to understand the distinct characteristics of ectopic gastric mucosa (EGM) in the stomach and investigate a rare incident of this disease, providing an in-depth analysis of the clinical, histopathologic, and differential diagnostic findings. The case was a 47-year-old man with acid reflux, heartburn, abdominal distension, and diarrhea (5-10 times daily) for >10 years. A gastroscope indicated a submucosal protuberance lesion in the gastric body that felt hard with biopsy forceps. A well-defined nodule under the mucosal muscle was revealed microscopically, composed of epithelial elements and no atypia. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated similar EGM expression patterns compared with normal gastric mucosa. The present case report highlights the importance of accurate EGM diagnosis and understanding.

Glioblastoma with a primitive neuronal component: A case report.

The present study describes a rare case of glioblastoma with a primitive neuronal component (GBM-PNC), and provides an in-depth analysis of the clinical, pathological and differential diagnostic findings. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to enhance the understanding of GBM-PNC, revealing its distinct characteristics and prognostic implications. A 57-year-old woman presented with acute onset headache, nausea and vomiting, leading to the identification of an intracranial mass through magnetic resonance imaging. Surgical resection revealed the coexistence of a glial component and a PNC within the tumor. Immunohistochemical analysis detected the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein in the glial component and synaptin in the PNC. The pathological diagnosis confirmed the presence of GBM-PNC. Gene detection analysis revealed no mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)1 and IDH2, and neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor-1 (NTRK1), NTRK2 and NTRK3 genes. GBM-PNC is characterized by a propensity for recurrence and metastasis, with a low 5-year survival rate. The present case report highlights the importance of accurate diagnosis and comprehensive characterization of GBM-PNC to guide treatment decisions and improve patient outcomes.

Gastric inverted hyperplastic polyp: A case report.

Inverted hyperplastic polyp (IHP) is a rare disease characterized by the downward growth of proliferative mucosal components into the submucosal layer. It is often misdiagnosed as other submucosal tumors and accurate diagnosis requires pathological examination. Most patients with IHP have no clinical symptoms and some have non-specific symptoms, such as abdominal distension, abdominal pain and even anemia. IHP is treated via endoscopic mucosal resection or endoscopic sub-mucosal section. The present study reported a case of IHP and discussed its clinical manifestations, clinicopathological diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment to improve our understanding of the disease.

Smartphone-based colorimetric sensor array using gold nanoparticles for rapid distinguishment of multiple pesticides in real samples.

A simple, sensitive method for pesticide distinguishment based on a colorimetric sensor array using diverse gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) at room temperature is presented in this study. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) hydrolysis ability was influenced by different pesticides and produced different concentrations of thiocholine by hydrolyzing acetylthiocholine iodide (ATCh). Thiocholine could be easily linked to the AuNPs through an Au - S covalent bond, and AuNPs underwent aggregation, resulting in a visible color change due to alteration of surface plasmon resonance properties. Based on these results, we successfully distinguished eight pesticides (glyphosate, thiram, imidacloprid, tribenuron methyl, nicosulfuron, thifensulfuron methyl, dichlorprop, and fenoprop) utilizing five different AuNPs by colorimetric assay. The limit of detection (LOD) of this visual method for all pesticides was less than 1.5 × 10-7 M, which was more sensitive than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations specify (1.18 âˆ¼ 3.91 × 10-6 M). This method was further improved by combining a portable smartphone device with a color picking application using (color name AR) and RGB (red, green, blue) values. The method was successfully applied to pesticide residue distinguishment in real samples by linear discriminant analysis (LDA).

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Risk of Depression in Offspring: a Meta-Analysis.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been related to poor consequences of mental health in offspring. However, it remains unknown whether maternal alcohol drinking during pregnancy is associated with depression in the offspring. Methods: A meta-analysis was performed accordingly. Relevant observational studies were identified from Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases. A fixed-effect or a random-effect model was selected dependending on the between-study heterogeneity. Results: Eight cohort studies were included. The heterogeneity was not significant (I 2 = 14%). A meta-analysis with a fixed-effect model showed that PAE was associated with a higher risk of depression in offspring (odds ratio (OR): 2.28, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.61 to 3.25, p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that moderate (OR: 1.74, 95% CI: 1.22 to 2.49, p=0.002, I 2 = 0%) or heavy (OR: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.55 to 3.73, p < 0.001, I 2 = 0%) maternal alcohol drinking in pregnancy was associated with depression in offspring, but not for those with low maternal alcohol drinking (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 0.97 to 1.44, p=0.10, I 2 = 0%). Further subgroup analyses according to study design, timing of PAE evaluation, age at depression diagnosis, and quality scores showed consistent results. Univariate metaregression showed a dose-response association between PAE and offspring depression (coefficient: 0.073, 95% CI: 0.019 to 0.127, p=0.014). Conclusions: Current evidence suggests that PAE may be a risk factor of depression in offspring.

The Professional Identity and Career Attitude of Chinese Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey in China.

BACKGROUND: Although professional identity is a strong predictor of career choice, only a few studies have reported on medical students' career attitude during a public health emergency. This study investigates the changes in medical students' professional identity and career attitude during the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluates their mental health and social support system under stress, and explores the relationship between their career attitude and other factors. METHODS: An online survey of 6,226 Chinese medical students was conducted to collect information on demographics, professional identity, and career attitude. The collected data were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and the Social Support Rating Scale. RESULTS: The results revealed that most (80.8%) of the participants did not change their career attitude and the professional identity of most participants strengthened, and they preferred to participate on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of depression and anxiety among medical students was 22.86% and 35.43%. Low social support, depressive symptoms, male gender, and higher grades were factors that negatively affected career attitude. CONCLUSIONS: After the outbreak of the pandemic, it was necessary to conduct diversified professional identity research to support medical students, especially those with low social support and depressive symptoms.

Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation in Chinese University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has seriously threatened the global public health security and caused a series of mental health problem. Current research focuses mainly on mental health status and related factors in the COVID-19 pandemic among Chinese university students. Data from 11133 participants was obtained through an online survey. The Patient Health Question-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess depressive symptoms, the Social Support Rate Scale (SSRS) was used to assess social support. We also used 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) to assess anxiety symptoms. Totally, 37.0% of the subjects were experiencing depressive symptoms, 24.9% anxiety symptoms, 20.9% comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms, and 7.3% suicidal ideation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed an increased presence of mental health problems in female students, graduate students, and those with personal COVID-19 exposure. Awareness of COVID-19, living with family were protective factors that reduced anxiety and depression symptoms. In addition, male, personal COVID-19 exposure, depressive and anxiety symptoms were risk factors for suicidal ideation. Social support, COVID-19 preventive and control measures, prediction of COVID-19 trends, living with family and graduate students are protective factors for reducing suicidal ideation.

The Association Between Social Support, COVID-19 Exposure, and Medical Students' Mental Health.

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has halted in-person medical education worldwide. Limited studies have reported on the mental health status of medical students during this public health emergency. This study aimed to explore the association of personal virus exposure, regional epidemic condition, and social support with medical students' depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Methods: In February 2020, 5,982 medical students (60.0% females, Meanage = 21.7 years, Medianage = 22 years) completed an online survey consisting of demographics, personal virus exposure, the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and the Social Support Rating Scale. Results: The prevalence rates of mild to severe depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were 35.2 and 22.8%, respectively. Multivariate linear regression showed that students with low- or medium-level social support had a higher risk of experiencing depressive or anxiety symptoms than those with high-level social support. COVID-19 exposure was positively associated with mild to severe depressive or anxiety symptoms. Respondents living in provinces with 500-1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases had an increased risk of experiencing mild to severe depressive symptoms compared with those living in provinces with <100 cases. Other related factors were gender and years of training. Conclusions: Some medical students suffered from a poor psychological status during the COVID-19 outbreak. Low social support was a stronger factor related to poor mental status compared with COVID-19 exposure or the provincial epidemic condition. Thus, we suggest that colleges or universities provide social support and mental health screening.

Sleep problems among Chinese adolescents and young adults during the coronavirus-2019 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of insomnia symptoms among Chinese adolescents and young adults affected by the outbreak of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: This cross-sectional study included Chinese adolescents and young adults 12-29 years of age during part of the COVID-19 epidemic period. An online survey was used to collect demographic data, and to assess recognition of COVID-19, insomnia, depression, and anxiety symptoms using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaires, respectively. The Social Support Rate Scale was used to assess social support. RESULTS: Among 11,835 adolescents and young adults included in the study, the prevalence of insomnia symptoms during part of the COVID-19 epidemic period was 23.2%. Binomial logistic regression analysis revealed that female sex and residing in the city were greater risk factors for insomnia symptoms. Depression or anxiety were risk factors for insomnia symptoms; however, social support, both subjective and objective, was protective factors against insomnia symptoms. Furthermore, anxiety and depression symptoms were mediators of social support and insomnia symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study revealed a high prevalence of sleep problems among adolescents and young adults during the COVID-19 epidemic, especially senior high school and college students, which were negatively associated with students' projections of trends in COVID-19. The adverse impact of COVID-19 was a risk factor for insomnia symptoms; as such, the government must devote more attention to sleep disorders in this patient population while combating COVID-19.

Relationship between the COVID-19 exposure and depression and anxiety: mediating role of social support / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the social support of medical students during the outbreak of COVID-19 and its mediating effect on the correlation between epidemic exposure and depression with anxiety.@*Methods@#A total of 5 593 medical students were enrolled, and Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and 7-tiem Generalize Anxiety Disorder Scale were used to measure.@*Results@#The social support score of SSRS of male students was lower than that of female students (t=-4.36, P<0.05) and juniors and seniors scored lower than other grades(F=4.84, P<0.05). Epidemic exposure proportion was positively correlated with both depressive proportionand anxiety proportion(r=0.05, 0.06, P<0.01), while epidemic exposure and depressive proportion and anxiety proportion were negatively correlated with social support score(r=-0.05, -0.25, -0.19, P<0.01). After controlling for gender and grade, the mediating effect of social support in the correlation between epidemic exposure and depression accounted for 26.6% of the total effect, and the mediating effect of subjective support and supportive utilization was 32.3% and 25.7% respectively. After controlling for gender and grade, the mediating effect of social support in the correlation between epidemic exposure and depression accounted for 20.0% of the total effect, and the mediating effect of subjective support and supportive utilization was 15.9% and 12.2% respectively.@*Conclusion@#Social support has partially mediating effect in the correlation between epidemic exposure with depression and anxiety.

Size-tunable Au@Ag nanoparticles for colorimetric and SERS dual-mode sensing of palmatine in traditional Chinese medicine.

Palmatine is a protoberberine alkaloid separated from several plants and application as an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial agent in the therapy of gastrointestinal and genitourinary disorder. Thus, the fast quantification of palmatine is important in clinic medical assays. Herein, we report simple, fast and sensitive colorimetric visualization and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) dual-mode detection of palmatine basing on bimetallic size tunable silver shell capped gold nanoparticles (Au@Ag NPs). Interesting, the best signals output for dual-mode sensing of palmatine were both 5 nm Ag shell thickness of Au@Ag NPs. Meanwhile, we found that the addition of NaHSO4 significantly improves the aggregating sensitivity of Au@Ag NPs to trace palmatine. Upon exposure to 0.1 µM level palmatine, NaHSO4-optimized Au@Ag NPs solution exhibits a highly sensitive color change from orange to green and rapid aggregation kinetics within the initial 5 min, which can directly be seen with the naked eye and monitored by UV-vis absorbance spectra. In addition, we measured palmatine by SERS with the excellent enhancement effect of Au@Ag NPs for further increase the sensitivity and selectivity. More importantly, other protoberberine alkaloids do not interfere with this dual-mode sensor due to the different interaction force between Au@Ag NPs and these alkaloids, and the applicability of the sensor is well demonstrated in real samples with satisfactory results. This provide a fast and simple assay for the rapid detection of palmatine in traditional Chinese medicine, the limit of detection (LOD) is 0.13 µM by the naked eye and 0.10 µM by UV-vis spectroscopy. Therefore, the size-tunable of NaHSO4-optimized Au@Ag NPs can be used not only as a naked-eye sensor of palmatine, but also as a highly selective SERS probe.

Ratiometric determination of copper(II) using dually emitting Mn(II)-doped ZnS quantum dots as a fluorescent probe.

A ratiometric probe is described for the fluorometric determination of Cu(II) ions based on their quenching effect on the luminescence of dually-emitting quantum dots (QDs). ZnS QDs were doped with Mn(II) and subsequently modified with mercaptopropionic acid to give the QD probe which consists of a  sole fluorophore but has two emission peaks (at 430 and 590 nm under 310 nm excitation, respectively). On addition of Cu(II) ions, the 590 nm band is quenched while the 430 nm band exhibits a little change. The changes in the intensity ratios of the yellow and the purple bands increases linearly in the 0 to 3.0 µM Cu(II) concentration range, and the detection limit reached 14 nM. The QD probe was validated and successfully applied to the determination of Cu(II) in spiked real water samples. Graphical abstract Mn-doped ZnS (ZnS:Mn(II)) quantum dots were synthesized with yellow fluorescence. After the modification of 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), ZnS:Mn(II) was transferred to aqueous phase and became MPA modified Mn-doped ZnS (MPA- ZnS:Mn(II)). The fluorescence was changed to purple upon the addition of copper ions because the yellow band was largely quenched while the purple band only changed a little.