Impact of early negative symptom patterns on the long-term outcomes of patients with first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: A 12-year follow up study.

Given the strong prognostic value of early negative symptoms (NS), understanding their associations with long-term outcomes of schizophrenia is essential. The study examined early NS patterns in trajectory, severity and variability and their association with 12-year outcomes. NS in the first 36 months after onset and the symptomatology, cognitive function, and functioning at 12 years were examined in 330 patients with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The relationships and pathways between the outcomes at 12 years and the trajectory, severity, and variability of early NS were examined. We found that the prediction of trajectory of early NS to long-term outcomes was limited, whereas variability was negatively associated with the patient's long-term executive function, and severity was positively associated with long-term symptomatology and negatively associated with long-term functioning. Path modelling revealed that the severity and variability of early NS influenced patients' long-term functioning via cognitive function and/or clinical symptom pathways. Our findings support the notion that severity of early NS influences the prognosis of schizophrenia and the closer examination revealed that the severity and variability of early NS are differentially associated with long-term clinical symptoms, executive function, and functional outcomes via distinct pathways.

A multifaceted approach in promoting positive mental health culture in Hong Kong secondary schools: The Mindshift educational networking programme.

AIM: Many young people with mental health problems refuse to seek help because of stigma and leave the problem untreated. Previous research suggests that contact interventions with education could improve the stigma of mental illness in young people, thereby encouraging help-seeking in distress. The current study examined the effectiveness of a multifaceted programme, the Mindshift educational networking programme (MENP), in promoting a positive mental health culture in Hong Kong secondary schools. METHODS: The MENP provided activities at school, teacher and student levels to 14 Hong Kong secondary schools. School activities included visits, mental health talks and support for capstone projects. While teachers participated in workshops and regional seminars, students received ambassador training workshops, contact opportunities with people with psychosis and attachment programmes. The impact of MENP was evaluated by changes in students' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours toward people with psychosis and mental illness before and after the programme, as well as by teachers' feedback on the programme. RESULTS: This study analysed data from 55 students and 20 teachers. It was found that the MENP improved students' knowledge of mood symptoms (p = .03), acceptance of people with psychosis (p = .04) and intended behaviour toward people with mental illness (p = .02). The feedback of the teachers on the programme was positive. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the application of the multifaceted approach to promote a positive mental health culture in schools. The findings call on the government to implement the programme in schools in Hong Kong by providing financial support to relevant organizations.

Relationship between stressful life events, stigma and life satisfaction with the willingness of disclosure of psychotic illness: A community study in Hong Kong.

AIM: The preference of and potential barriers to disclosure of psychotic illness vary across cultures. Studying its patterns and correlates can guide the design of future culture-specific intervention and public education approaches to improve willingness to disclose and thereby reducing the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). METHODS: A population-based, random telephone survey was conducted with a total of 1514 respondents in Hong Kong in January 2018. Cross-sectional data on willingness to disclose psychotic illness, life satisfaction, stigmatizing attitude and recent experience of stressful life events (SLEs) were analysed against age and gender using structural equation modelling (SEM). RESULTS: Unwillingness to disclose to anyone was reported by 12% of the participants. Family was reported as the preferred disclosure candidate by most respondents. Our model, which showed a good fit to the data demonstrated that stigmatizing attitude and life satisfaction were directly associated with willingness to disclose illness. Younger age was correlated with more recent experience of SLEs, lower life satisfaction and less willingness to disclose illness. Women's disclosure willingness was positively associated with their life satisfaction, which was sensitive to recent exposure to single SLE. In contrast, men's was negatively associated with their stigmatizing attitude, which increased significantly upon exposure to two or more recent SLEs. CONCLUSION: Encouraging the public to help their family to seek treatment should be a focal point of a successful mental health public education campaign. Cultural-specific and integrated interventions should be developed targeting the vulnerable groups including people with high recent life stress, particularly woman and those with younger age.

The role of dopamine dysregulation and evidence for the transdiagnostic nature of elevated dopamine synthesis in psychosis: a positron emission tomography (PET) study comparing schizophrenia, delusional disorder, and other psychotic disorders.

There have been few studies performed to examine the pathophysiological differences between different types of psychosis, such as between delusional disorder (DD) and schizophrenia (SZ). Notably, despite the different clinical characteristics of DD and schizophrenia (SZ), antipsychotics are deemed equally effective pharmaceutical treatments for both conditions. In this context, dopamine dysregulation may be transdiagnostic of the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders such as DD and SZ. In this study, an examination is made of the dopamine synthesis capacity (DSC) of patients with SZ, DD, other psychotic disorders, and the DSC of healthy subjects. Fifty-four subjects were recruited to the study, comprising 35 subjects with first-episode psychosis (11 DD, 12 SZ, 12 other psychotic disorders) and 19 healthy controls. All received an 18F-DOPA positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) scan to measure DSC (Kocc;30-60 value) within 1 month of starting antipsychotic treatment. Clinical assessments were also made, which included Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) measurements. The mean Kocc;30-60 was significantly greater in the caudate region of subjects in the DD group (ES = 0.83, corrected p = 0.048), the SZ group (ES = 1.40, corrected p = 0.003) and the other psychotic disorder group (ES = 1.34, corrected p = 0.0045), compared to that of the control group. These data indicate that DD, SZ, and other psychotic disorders have similar dysregulated mechanisms of dopamine synthesis, which supports the utility of abnormal dopamine synthesis in transdiagnoses of these psychotic conditions.

Prevalence and correlates of antipsychotic polypharmacy in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: Antipsychotic polypharmacy (APP) remains a common practice despite inconclusive empirical evidence of additional efficacy and potential exacerbation of side effects. Previous studies suggest APP rate is notably high in East Asia. This paper aims to investigate the prevalence and correlates of APP in Hong Kong. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study of 728 patients with psychosis. The demographics and clinical information, including age, gender, diagnosis, hospitalization history, and medication were collected. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were used to study correlates of APP. RESULTS: The APP rate for psychosis was 24.2% (n = 728) and that for schizophrenia was 26.0% (n = 611), both considerably lower than our previous local data and that from East Asian regions. The most widely used APP prescription fell within the atypical/atypical combination (i.e., Amisulpride/Clozapine and Paliperidone/Olanzapine), and Olanzapine was the most commonly prescribed antipsychotic. At least 75% of APP patients with psychosis took at least one type of atypical antipsychotics in their medical regimen. Typical/typical polypharmacy was associated with older age and use of antiparkinson drugs. Typical/atypical polypharmacy was associated with the use of antiparkinson drugs and anxiolytics, as well as inpatient status. Atypical/atypical polypharmacy was associated with younger age, inpatient status, and the use of mood stabilizers. CONCLUSION: Overall, our study highlights a relatively low APP rate in Hong Kong when compared to other countries in East Asia. Age, inpatient status and use of antiparkinson drugs, anxiolytics and mood stabilizers were associated with use of APP.

[Effects of irrigation and planting patterns on photosynthetic characteristics of flag leaf and yield at late growth stages of winter wheat].

High-yield winter wheat cultivar Jimai 22 was used to study effects of irrigation and planting patterns on water consumption characteristics and photosynthetic characteristics of winter wheat in field from 2009 to 2011. Three different planting patterns (uniform row, wide-narrow row and furrow) and four irrigation schedules (W0, no irrigation; W1, irrigation at jointing stage; W2, irrigations at jointing and anthesis stages; W3, irrigation at jointing, anthesis and milking stages. Each irrigation rate was 60 mm) were designed in the experiment. Results showed that, with the increasing of irrigation amount, flag leaf area, net photosynthesis rate, maximum photochemical efficiency and actual light transformation efficiency at late growth stages of winter wheat increased. Compared with W0 treatment, the other irrigation treatments had higher grain yields, but lower water use efficiencies. Under the same irrigation condition, the flag leaf net photosynthesis, maximum photochemical efficiency and actual light transformation efficiency were much higher in furrow pattern. Grain yields of winter wheat under furrow pattern and W2 treatment were significantly higher than that of the other treatments. Taking grain yield and WUE into consideration, furrow pattern combined with irrigation at jointing and anthesis stages might be the optimal water-saving and planting mode for the winter wheat production in North China Plain.

Medication adherence, knowledge about psychosis, and insight among patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between knowledge about psychosis, insight, and medication adherence among patients at an early stage of a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. Eighty patients were recruited from a specialized outpatient clinic. Knowledge was assessed with the modified Knowledge About Schizophrenia Test (KAST). Medication adherence was determined with the Chinese abridged Medication Adherence Ratings Scale. Insight was measured with the abridged Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD). The KAST total score was correlated with the SUMD. A trend correlation between KAST subscores of cause and SUMD was found. The nonadherence rate was 43.8%. The medication-adherent patients had lower SUMD (z = -4.338, p < 0.0001) and higher KAST subscore of cause (z = -2.767, p = 0.006). These two variables explained 38.9% of the variance in adherence behavior, with SUMD being the mediator. This study highlights the importance of patients' understanding of etiology of the illness and its relationship with insight and medication adherence.

[Effects of irrigation and planting pattern on winter wheat water consumption characteristics and dry matter production].

Taking high-yield winter wheat cultivar 'Jimai 22' as test material, a field experiment was conducted in 2008-2010 to study the effects of different irrigation and planting modes on the water consumption characteristics and dry matter accumulation and distribution of winter wheat. Three planting patterns (uniform row, wide-narrow row, and furrow) and four irrigation schedules (no irrigation, W0; irrigation at jointing stage, W1; irrigation at jointing and anthesis stages, W2; and irrigation at jointing, anthesis, and milking stages, W3; with 60 mm per irrigation) were installed. With increasing amount of irrigation, the total water consumption and the ratio of irrigation water to total water consumption under different planting patterns all increased, while the soil water consumption and its ratio to total water consumption decreased significantly. As compared with W0, the other three irrigation schedules had a higher dry matter accumulation after anthesis and a higher grain yield, but a lower water use efficiency (WUE). Under the same irrigation schedules, furrow pattern had higher water consumption ratio, grain yield, and WUE. Taking the grain yield and WUE into consideration, furrow pattern combined with irrigation at jointing and anthesis stages would be the optimal water-saving and planting modes for the winter wheat production in North China Plain.

[Effects of population distribution pattern and irrigation schedule on radiation utilization in winter wheat farmland].

A field experiment was conducted in 2006-2008 to study the effects of different population distribution pattern and irrigation schedule on the radiation utilization in a winter wheat farmland at the same population density (2.04 x 10(6) plant x hm(-2)). Four population distribution patterns were designed, i.e., row spacing (cm) x plant spacing (cm) 7 x 7 (A), 14 x 3.5 (B), 24.5 x 2 (C), and 49 x 1 (D), and each pattern had four irrigation schedules, i. e., no-irrigation, irrigation at jointing stage, irrigation at jointing and heading stages, and irrigation at jointing, heading and filling stages. The irrigation amount was 0.60 m3 each time. In the patterns A and B, the tiller number and leaf area index (LIA) were significantly higher than those in C and D (P< 0.05). With the increase of row spacing, the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) transmittance ratio increased gradually, while the PAR capture ratio had a decreasing trend. Increasing irrigation times increased the tiller number and LAI, but decreased the transmittance ratio of PAR, resulting in a significant increase of PAR capture ratio (P<0.05). The PAR capture ratio in the crop canopy was higher in upper layers, compared with that in lower layers. Relatively uniform population distribution and irrigation increased the PAR capture ratio in the upper 40 cm canopy layers significantly. The radiation use efficiency (RUE) decreased with increasing row spacing, with the two year's average total RUE in A, B, C, and D being 1.24%, 1.27%, 1.21% and 1.06%, respectively, and that in B was 5.21% and 19.56% higher than that in C and D, respectively, with the difference being significant. It was suggested that relatively uniform population distribution improved the winter wheat population structure and PAR capture, being beneficial to the fully use of radiation, and irrigation also had positive effects on the population structure, being helpful to the increase of crop RUE.

[Effect of source-sink ratio changing on yield formation of Cynanchum bungei].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of changing source-sink ratio on dry matter accumulation yield, distribution and interrelated physiological index of Cynanchum bungei. METHOD: Bud, fruit or side tress of C. bungei were picked artificially in the development stage. LAI, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis of single leaf, accumulation and distribution of dry matter at different and treatments were measured. The untreated plant was used as the control. RESULT: Although leaf decrease can be compensated by the increasing photosynthesis rate of single leaf, the LAI was small, chlorophyll decomposes quickly and these leaves showed the signs of early ageing. The matter accumulation was lower than that of control. Picking bud and fruit made photosynthesis rate of single leaf descend, chlorophyll decomposes slowly and its content keeps high, that inhibited ageing of the plant obviously. The LAI keeps larger, photosynthate was abundant. Dry matter accumulation and distribution to the root were higher than that of control and that of side tress picked. So, the yield with this treatment increased. CONCLUSION: Picking bud can increase LAI, postpone the decomposition of chlorophyll, and protract the functional leaves. Consequently, picking bud can add the accumulation of dry matter, increase proportion to radix and improve the yield and economy benefit.