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Background: Inflammation has an important role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) in male patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) and chronic medicated schizophrenia (CMS), and the relationship with psychopathology. Methods: The study enrolled 31 TRS and 49 cm male patients, and 53 healthy controls. Serum MMP-2 and TNF-α levels were measured by the Luminex liquid suspension chip detection method. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores were used to evaluate symptom severity and Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status was used to assess cognitive function. Results: Serum TNF-α and MMP-2 levels differed significantly between TRS, CMS and healthy control patients (F = 4.289, P = 0.016; F = 4.682, P = 0.011, respectively). Bonferroni correction demonstrated that serum TNF-α levels were significantly elevated in CMS patients (P = 0.022) and MMP-2 levels were significantly higher in TRS patients (P = 0.014) compared to healthy controls. In TRS patients, TNF-α was negatively correlated with age (r=-0.435, P = 0.015) and age of onset (r=-0.409, P = 0.022). In CMS patients, MMP-2 and TNF-α were negatively correlated with PANSS negative and total scores, and TNF-α was negatively correlated with PANSS general psychopathology scores (all P < 0.05). MMP-2 levels were positively correlated with TNF-α levels (P < 0.05), but not with cognitive function (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The results indicate the involvement of inflammation in the etiology of TRS and CMS. Further studies are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common psychiatric disorder worldwide. Psychotic depression has been reported to be frequently under-diagnosed due to poor recognition of psychotic features. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to reveal the rate and risk factors of psychotic symptoms in young, drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder at the time of their first episode. Methods: A total of 917 patients were recruited and divided into psychotic and non-psychotic subgroups based on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) positive subscale score. Anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms were measured by the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), respectively. Several biochemical indicators such as total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), fasting blood glucose (FBG), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free thyroxine (FT4) were also measured. Results: The rate of psychotic symptoms among young adult MDD patients was 9.1%. There were significant differences in TSH (p<0.001), FBG (p<0.001), TC (p<0.0001), TG (p = 0.001), HDL-C (p = 0.049), LDL-C (p = 0.010), diastolic blood pressure (DP) (p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (SP) (p<0.001), and HAMD total score (p<0.001) between young MDD patients with and without psychotic depression. HAMD, TSH, TC, and severe anxiety were independently associated with psychotic symptoms in young adult MDD patients. In addition, among young MDD patients, the rate of suicide attempts in the psychotic subgroup was much higher than in the non-psychotic subgroup (45.8% vs. 16.9%). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that psychotic symptoms are common in young MDD patients. Several clinical variables and biochemical indicators are associated with the occurrence of psychotic symptoms in young MDD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies have reported that psychotic symptoms are common in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, few studies have reported the relationship between thyroid function, lipid metabolism and clinical profiles in female MDD patients. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of psychotic depression (PD) and its risk factors in first-episode and drug naive (FEDN) depression among the female population in China. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving a representative probability sample of 1,130 FEDN female outpatients with MDD (aged 18 years or older) in China. We collected information relating to socio-demographic characteristics, clinical data and blood samples. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 17-item version (HAMD-17), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale 14-item version (HAMA-14), and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were used to evaluate depressive, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms. Results: The prevalence of psychotic symptoms in female MDD patients was 10.97%. The findings revealed significant differences between MDD female patients with psychotic symptoms and non-PD female patients in the following areas: higher HAMD scores, higher HAMA scores, more severe anxiety and an increased risk of suicide attempts. Further logistic regression analysis showed that psychotic symptoms were associated with higher thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and an odds ratio of 1.168. Conclusions: Our findings supported the hypothesis that higher TSH levels were correlated with psychotic symptoms in female MDD patients. Therefore, serum TSH levels may be a potential biomarker of PD in female MDD patients. In addition, we found that PD was closely associated with suicide attempts and lipid levels, but did not reach statistical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bandwidth and sensitivity of traditional terahertz detection devices are limited by material properties and working temperature. Here, we proposed a four-level Rydberg atom detection method, which can realize real-time detection for the absolute strength of the terahertz electric field under room temperature with the detection bandwidth of 0-5 THz. By theoretical analysis and formula derivation, the relation among the terahertz electric field strength, excitation energy level, coupling photoelectric field strength, gas cell temperature and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) signal are studied in detailed. The NEP of this method is proven to be 10−17 W/Hz1/2 in the range of 0-1 THz, which is three orders of magnitude smaller than that of the traditional optimal thermal detection system. This research has important reference value for the later high-sensitivity detection and application development of terahertz waves [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical looping ammonia synthesis (CLAS) is a novel and energy-efficient technology to generate ammonia. The synthesis system includes dual chemical processes, namely nitridation and ammoniation. The nitrogen carrier absorbs nitrogen in the nitridation reactor, and ammonia is synthesized in the ammoniation reactor. The continuous ammonia production process is achieved depending on the capability of the nitrogen carrier. In this paper, we propose a new chemical reaction path to achieve the CLAS and the feasibility of the Fe-based nitrogen carrier (Fe4N/Fe2N) used for the reaction was investigated through the thermodynamic method. According to the analysis of Gibbs free energy change during the synthesis of ammonia (NH3), the nitridation cannot proceed spontaneously at high temperatures. The ammoniation can proceed spontaneously at a temperature not exceeding 500 °C, generating NH3 and Fe, thereby realizing the chemical looping cycle. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculation, based on Gibbs free energy minimization principle, was used to simulate the influence of several important parameters, viz. temperature, pressure, and molar ratio, on the yields of nitrogen carrier and ammonia in nitridation and ammoniation reactions, respectively. The result shows that the most suitable conditions for the nitridation reaction are at a temperature of 200–500 °C, a reaction pressure of 5–20 bar, and a molar ratio of Fe and N2 of 8:1. For the amination reaction, the optimized reaction temperature is 200–400 °C, the reaction pressures should fall below 5 bar, and the molar ratio of the nitrogen carrier and H2 is 2:3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]