While oral antidepressants reach efficacy after weeks, single-dose intravenous (i.v.) ketamine has rapid, yet time-limited antidepressant effects. We aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of ...single-dose i.v. ketamine augmentation of escitalopram in major depressive disorder (MDD).
Thirty outpatients with severe MDD (17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression total score ⩾ 24) were randomized to 4 weeks double-blind treatment with escitalopram 10 mg/day+single-dose i.v. ketamine (0.5 mg/kg over 40 min) or escitalopram 10 mg/day + placebo (0.9% i.v. saline). Depressive symptoms were measured using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology - Self-Report (QIDS-SR). Suicidal ideation was evaluated with the QIDS-SR item 12. Adverse psychopathological effects were measured with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)-positive symptoms, Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS). Patients were assessed at baseline, 1, 2, 4, 24 and 72 h and 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Time to response (⩾ 50% MADRS score reduction) was the primary outcome.
By 4 weeks, more escitalopram + ketamine-treated than escitalopram + placebo-treated patients responded (92.3% v. 57.1%, p = 0.04) and remitted (76.9% v. 14.3%, p = 0.001), with significantly shorter time to response hazard ratio (HR) 0.04, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.01-0.22, p < 0.001 and remission (HR 0.11, 95% CI 0.02-0.63, p = 0.01). Compared to escitalopram + placebo, escitalopram + ketamine was associated with significantly lower MADRS scores from 2 h to 2 weeks (peak = 3 days-2 weeks; effect size (ES) = 1.08-1.18), QIDS-SR scores from 2 h to 2 weeks (maximum ES = 1.27), and QIDS-SR suicidality from 2 to 72 h (maximum ES = 2.24). Only YMRS scores increased significantly with ketamine augmentation (1 and 2 h), without significant BPRS or CADSS elevation.
Single-dose i.v. ketamine augmentation of escitalopram was safe and effective in severe MDD, holding promise for speeding up early oral antidepressant efficacy.
The North China Plain (NCP) is a region with high level of seismic hazard. Previous Global Positioning System measurements, however, have shown a near absence of present‐day crustal deformation. ...Using updated Global Positioning System data covering three blocks of the eastern China, we discover that interseismic deformation in the NCP takes place in an ~1,100 km wide left‐lateral shear zone of roughly east‐west orientation. The 6.0 ± 1.3 mm/yr interseismic left‐lateral shear over the NCP results in contemporary deformation that is eventually accommodated by earthquake ruptures of right‐lateral strike‐slip along the north‐northeast trending faults and anticlockwise block rotates. We suggest that rapid eastward motion of the rigid South China block, with respect to the rigid Amurian block, has created a left‐lateral shear couple to twist the nonrigid NCP to form the contemporary deformation.
Key Points
North China Plain is a region with high‐level of earthquake hazard but absence of detectable crustal deformation
Interseismic deformation of the NCP takes place in an ~1,100 km wide left‐lateral shear zone of roughly east‐west orientation
Permanent right‐lateral slips and block rotates on the NNE‐trending faults accommodate the left‐lateral transient shearing
The initial cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)-infected pneumonia (NCIP) occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 and January 2020. We analyzed data on the first 425 confirmed ...cases in Wuhan to determine the epidemiologic characteristics of NCIP.
We collected information on demographic characteristics, exposure history, and illness timelines of laboratory-confirmed cases of NCIP that had been reported by January 22, 2020. We described characteristics of the cases and estimated the key epidemiologic time-delay distributions. In the early period of exponential growth, we estimated the epidemic doubling time and the basic reproductive number.
Among the first 425 patients with confirmed NCIP, the median age was 59 years and 56% were male. The majority of cases (55%) with onset before January 1, 2020, were linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, as compared with 8.6% of the subsequent cases. The mean incubation period was 5.2 days (95% confidence interval CI, 4.1 to 7.0), with the 95th percentile of the distribution at 12.5 days. In its early stages, the epidemic doubled in size every 7.4 days. With a mean serial interval of 7.5 days (95% CI, 5.3 to 19), the basic reproductive number was estimated to be 2.2 (95% CI, 1.4 to 3.9).
On the basis of this information, there is evidence that human-to-human transmission has occurred among close contacts since the middle of December 2019. Considerable efforts to reduce transmission will be required to control outbreaks if similar dynamics apply elsewhere. Measures to prevent or reduce transmission should be implemented in populations at risk. (Funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and others.).
An 8‐week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the optimum dietary γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) level in low fishmeal diet for juvenile Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Six practical ...diets (449 g kg−1 protein, 87 g kg−1 lipid) supplemented with graded levels of GABA (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 mg kg−1) were formulated. Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate groups of 30 shrimps (approximately 0.44 g), and the shrimps were fed four times a day to apparent satiation. Weight gain and gain rate were significantly increased with the supplementation of GABA (P < 0.05). Hepatosomatic index and survival were also significantly influenced by the dietary GABA levels (P < 0.05) and show a similar trend to those of growth performance. Insulin and neuropeptide Y concentrations in blood were increased with the supplementation of GABA. In total, 150 mg GABA kg−1‐supplemented diets significantly increased the survival after 12, 24 and 36 h of NH3 stress, also increased the total antioxidant capacity, total superoxide dismutase, catalase, antihydroxyl radical and phenoloxidase activities before and after the 36 h NH3 stress compared to basic group. These results clearly indicated that GABA could improve growth performance, antioxidative capacity and resistance against NH3 stress in L. vannamei, and 150 mg kg−1 GABA supplementation was suitable for L. vannamei fed with low fishmeal diet.
Objective
Studies in rodents and humans have indicated that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) may reduce weight. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate evidence for the efficacy ...of n-3 PUFA in managing overweight and obesity.
Methods
We performed a systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials until May 2015. Two reviewers independently determined the eligibility of studies and assessed the reporting quality of included randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Results
A total of 11 RCTs involving 617 participants were included in this meta-analysis. Based on the meta-analysis of nine studies, a statistically nonsignificant difference was revealed in weight loss between n-3 PUFA and placebo (p=0.99; weighted mean difference WMD: 0.00; 95% confidence interval CI −0.42 to 0.43), whereas n-3 PUFA was superior to placebo in reducing serum triglyceride levels (p=0.0007; standard median difference Std MD: −0.59; 95% CI −0.93 to −0.25). Based on meta-analysis of seven studies, the analysis of aggregated data showed a significant reduction in waist circumference (p=0.005; WMD: −0.53; 95% CI −0.90 to −0.16). There were no significant differences in body mass index, total serum levels of cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and fasting glucose levels.
Conclusions
The evidence from RCTs showed that n-3 PUFA might effectively reduce waist circumference and triglyceride levels in overweight and obese adults, but n-3 PUFA may not effectively reduce body weight. Given the small number and poor quality of RCTs included in the meta-analysis, these results are inconclusive. A large-scale, well-designed RCT is needed to further address this issue..
Iron molybdate, Fe₂(MoO₄)₃, has been successfully prepared by a simple wet chemical process. Degradation of Acid Orange II (AOII) was studied in detail using Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ as a heterogeneous Fenton-like ...catalyst. The results show that this new catalyst is highly effective for the degradation of AOII at neutral pH. For 100mgl⁻¹ of the initial concentration with an initial pH of 6.7, the degradation efficiency of AOII reaches 94.1% within 60min. Moreover, the catalytic activity is slightly affected by the solution pH in a wide range of 3.0–9.0. This indicates that the use of Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ overcomes the low efficiency of Fenton-like reaction at neutral and even alkaline pH. Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ exhibits low iron leaching, good structural stability and no loss of performance after five recycle times. A mechanism proposed herein suggests that the high catalytic activity can be attributed to the formation of an acidic microenvironment near the surface of the solid acid Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ particles where catalysis occurs, as well as the synergistic effect of Fe³⁺ and MoO₄ ²⁻.
Age-specific incidence of acute myocarditis/pericarditis in adolescents following Comirnaty vaccination in Asia is lacking. This study aimed to study the clinical characteristics and incidence of ...acute myocarditis/pericarditis among Hong Kong adolescents following Comirnaty vaccination.
This is a population cohort study in Hong Kong that monitored adverse events following immunization through a pharmacovigilance system for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. All adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years following Comirnaty vaccination were monitored under the COVID-19 vaccine adverse event response and evaluation program. The clinical characteristics and overall incidence of acute myocarditis/pericarditis in adolescents following Comirnaty vaccination were analyzed.
Between 14 June 2021 and 4 September 2021, 33 Chinese adolescents who developed acute myocarditis/pericarditis following Comirnaty vaccination were identified. In total, 29 (87.88%) were male and 4 (12.12%) were female, with a median age of 15.25 years. And 27 (81.82%) and 6 (18.18%) cases developed acute myocarditis/pericarditis after receiving the second and first dose, respectively. All cases are mild and required only conservative management. The overall incidence of acute myocarditis/pericarditis was 18.52 (95% confidence interval CI, 11.67-29.01) per 100 000 persons vaccinated. The incidence after the first and second doses were 3.37 (95% CI, 1.12-9.51) and 21.22 (95% CI, 13.78-32.28 per 100 000 persons vaccinated, respectively. Among male adolescents, the incidence after the first and second doses were 5.57 (95% CI, 2.38-12.53) and 37.32 (95% CI, 26.98-51.25) per 100 000 persons vaccinated.
There is a significant increase in the risk of acute myocarditis/pericarditis following Comirnaty vaccination among Chinese male adolescents, especially after the second dose.
Size effect plays a major role in miniaturized thermoelectric devices. In this paper, a nonlinear contact model of a thermoelectric strip is established to reveal the thickness size effect. For the ...multi-field problem, the singular integral equations in terms of the normal electric current density, normal energy flux, and contact pressure are obtained and solved numerically with the collocation methods. The resulting integral equation for contact pressure indicates that the thermoelectric effects jointly with the thickness size effect make the problem rather complicated. Numerical results show the thickness size effects on the distribution of the normal electric current density, normal energy flux, contact pressure as well as their respective intensity factors.
The rapid development of urbanisation and the ever-changing consumers' demands are constantly changing the urban logistics industry, imposing challenges on logistics service providers to improve ...customer satisfaction which is one of the indicators for the sustainability of urban logistics. Existing customer satisfaction evaluations are based on a questionnaire survey, which is time-consuming and labour intensive. Moreover, the logistics data are confidential and can only be accessed by the stakeholders in existing logistics models, causing the problem of information non-transparency among logistics enterprises and the third authorities like banks and governments, which may hinder the sustainable development of urban logistics. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based evaluation approach for customer satisfaction in the context of urban logistics. Four criteria affecting customer satisfaction in urban logistics are identified. A machine learning algorithm Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) is adopted to predict customer satisfaction in the future period. The implementation is demonstrated to illustrate the proposed approach. A smart contract is designed for compensation and/or refund to customers when their satisfaction with the delivery services is at a low level.
Nickel smelting produces a large amount of nickel slag which contains a lot of Fe in the form of FeO. The effect of FeO content on the melting properties and structure of nickel slag is investigated ...by thermodynamic calculations and experiments, using the nickel slag of water quenching furnace as raw material, which is simplified to CaO-SiO2-FeO-MgO slag system. The results are as follows: with increasing FeO content, the precipitated primary phase changes from melilite to olivine. The liquidus temperature, softening temperature, hemispherical temperature, flow temperature, viscosity, and critical viscosity temperature of the slag system tend to decrease gradually, but the solid phase temperature tends to decrease first and then increase. The centre of the symmetric stretching vibration band of the SiO44 tetrahedron -in the slag system shifts to the low wavenumber region. The mole fraction of O0 in the slag continuously decreases, and the mole fraction of O- and O2- increases. The complex silicon-oxygen tetrahedron structure gradually disintegrates and the structural unit tends to be simple.
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