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P300 wave is associated with working memory update, allocation of attention resources, and decision making. Numerous studies have consistently revealed P300 abnormalities in schizophrenia making it a promising neurophysiological state and trait marker. The aim of the current paper was to revalidate P300 meaning in schizophrenia as well as to analyze its associations with brain structure and function as revealed by neuroimaging. The findings did not support the wave anomalies. The correlations of P300 with current psychopathology, neuroleptic medication as well as with prefrontal cortex thickness and subcortical structures morphometry and diffusion parameters were non-significant. The pilot study has revealed the relationships between P300 amplitude and functional connectivity between parietal and anterior cingulate subcomponents of fronto-parietal neuronal circuit, however, the inconsistent nature of correlations requires further research.

Omniphobic and icephobic twin-scale surfaces based on the “urchin”-like fluorinated Al2O3 particles are presented. Combined effect of hierarchical topography and fluorination supplied to the surfaces omniphobic and icephobic properties. The study of the stability of the Cassie wetting state is reported. High apparent contact angles were accompanied with the low contact angle hysteresis and high stability of the Cassie air trapping wetting state. Time delay of the ice crystallization as high as \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$88\pm 5$$\end{document}88±5 min was established when compared to the ice formation on flat aluminum and non-fluorinated “urchin”-like surfaces. Crystallized water droplets formed on the reported nano-structured surfaces were easily blown out by the air jet with the velocity of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$v=3.0\pm 1.0$$\end{document}v=3.0±1.0 m/s, (which is markedly lower than that common for exploitation of aircrafts and turbines). Heated “urchin”-like surfaces completely restored their omniphobic and icephobic surfaces after thawing. Qualitative analysis of water freezing is supplied.

This paper provides insights of planning, execution and the results of the application of selective flotation or "mud over air" technique while running 9 5/8-in production liner into an extreme-extended-reach well in Sakhalin, the longest well ever drilled by RN-Sakhalinmorneftegaz to date. Extreme Reach Drilling (ERD) well has a shallow true vertical depth and a long horizontal departure imposing significant challenges of conveying 9 5/8-in liner to the required depth. When both conventional and full flotation methods cannot guarantee delivering casing to planned depth due to high torque and drag, lack of weight and string buckling, a new operational approach of selective flotation was considered. Mud over air, specifically "air cavity" technique implies running a bottom portion of the casing filled with mud, then an empty portion to reduce drag and a top portion filled with drilling fluid for additional weight to provide some additional push to overcome residual drag. This article outlines unique practices of selective flotation technique covering the job specific features, its main risks and corresponding mitigation measures. The selective flotation or "mud over air" concept together with detailed risk assessment and engineering of a single hydro-mechanical liner hanger and flotation collar system enabled successful conveyance of 9 5/8-in liner to its setting depth during drilling the longest extended reach well in the project.

This paper provides the results of the application of integrated approach to drill the longest extended reach well which has ever been drilled in Odoptu-more field (North Dome) in Sakhalin. Although many extended reach drilling (ERD) wells have been already drilled by the operator in Odoptu-more field, extreme reach wells always require new solutions. Reaching remote reservoirs by applying standard well design of Odoptu-more field was not possible due to high standpipe pressure (SPP) and equivalent circulating density (ECD) in 8 ½-in production section. Engineering study resulted in partial upsize of a well design and change 9 5/8-in casing to liner followed by remaining challenges: 9 5/8-in liner could not be delivered to required depth due to string buckling. Several key technical solutions were implemented in the project thus allowing to deliver the longest well accident-free. Those solutions included well design modification allowing to drill 8 ½-in production section to reach remote reservoirs and 9 5/8-in liner delivery to the required depth using "mud over air" flotation technique for the first time in the project. Having applied integrated approach, the project team broke a new record in drilling the longest well at Odoptu-more field with total measured depth 8699m, ERD ratio 4.89 and Directional Difficulty Index (DDI) of 7.6 (Alistair W. Oag 2000). Drilling extreme reach ERD well unlocked opportunities for the operator to reach and put into the production more distant offshore oil-bearing reservoirs from the land rig without changing existing pad facilities.

Studies using presentation of visual stimuli in a “go/no go” scheme revealed differences in saccadic responses in healthy subjects and patients at ultra high risk of developing schizophrenia. Patients showed a greater number of erroneous responses to inhibitory stimuli and shorter latent periods (LP) for correct and erroneous saccades. Opposite asymmetries were demonstrated for the LP of saccadic responses in healthy subjects and patients: the LP of saccades to the right was shorter than to the left in healthy subjects, while the LP of saccades to the right was longer than to the left in patients. These data showed that impairments to the mechanisms controlling voluntary behavior occur at the pre-manifest stage of the course of schizophrenia when there is a ultra high risk of developing this condition. The results obtained here suggest that patients at ultra high risk of developing schizophrenia have impairments to the processes of voluntary and involuntary attention, as well as to the processes of inhibitory control, which may be due to dysfunction of the right prefrontal cortex and weakening of top down influences in the attention and inhibitory control systems.

IntroductionMachine learning has increasingly been applied to classification of psychosis spectrum in neuroimaging research. However, a number of multimodal studies using MRI and electroencephalography (EEG) is quite limited.ObjectivesTo assess the power of multimodal structural MRI (sMRI) and EEG data to provide pairwise discrimination between first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients, individuals at ultra-high-risk of psychosis (UHR), and healthy controls (HC) using machine learning algorithms.Methods46 FES male patients, 39 UHR individuals, and 54 matched HC underwent sMRI (3T Philips scanner) and electroencephalography. T1-weighted images were processed via FreeSurfer to obtain cortical and subcortical measures. L2 regularized logistic regression was used to evaluate the efficacy of diagnostic prediction.ResultsThe accuracies of pairwise discriminations were: 87% for FES vs HC (specificity 83%, sensitivity 91%); 77% for FES vs UHR (specificity 76%, sensitivity 79%); 75% for UHR vs HC (specificity 77%, sensitivity 73%).ConclusionsCurrent findings suggest that the patterns of anatomical and functional variability have potential as biomarkers for discrimination between schizophrenia, UHR, and healthy subjects. Furthermore, results show that the selection and multimodality of feature types are important. Specifically, adding EEG data to morphometric measures improved accuracy rates in FES vs HC and FES vs UHR contrasts, whereas standalone EEG data provided higher accuracy compared with morphometric or multimodal data in UHR vs HC discrimination. Expectedly, predictive power for the UHR was smaller than for the FES due to its intermediate anatomical features, located between those observed in healthy controls and those found in patients. The work was supported by RFBR grant 20-013-00748

The study was aimed to the analysis of correlations between anatomic brain parameters and characteristics of neurophysiological and metabolic supportive mechanisms of cognitive functions in the patients with ultra-high risk of schizophrenia. The study comprised 30 young male patients and 30 age- and sexmatched mentally healthy subjects. We used the methods of diffusion-weighted tomography, single voxel proton MR spectroscopy, and oddball ERP recording. The statistically significant intergroup differences in the structural connectivity were confirmed in the anterior thalamic radiation of the left hemisphere. The diffusion abnormalities in this area were correlated with P300 latencies and the level of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Background Negative symptoms can be seen to represent a continuum from subclinical manifestations in the general population to severe symptoms in schizophrenia. Neuroanatomical studies show evidence of fronto-striatal structural abnormalities linked to negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia (Walton et al. 2018). However, it remains an open question whether these structural associations are also observed in ostensibly healthy individuals reporting subclinical negative symptoms. The present study used structural T1-weighted brain imaging data from the ENIGMA Schizotypy Working Group to investigate the relationship between subclinical negative symptoms and fronto-striatal structural measures. Methods We included 2,235 healthy unmedicated individuals with varying levels of schizotypy from 17 centers around the world. The complete sample had a weighted mean (range) age of 29.2 (15.9–39.6) and 59.4% (51–100) were male. Subclinical negative symptoms were assessed at each site separately using factor scores from self-report schizotypy questionnaires (i.e., the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences, or the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire). Based on prior studies in schizophrenia, we obtained cortical thickness from 22 frontal regions-of-interest (ROIs) and subcortical volumes from 6 striatal ROIs using FreeSurfer. We performed meta-analyses of effect sizes (standardized regression coefficients) from a model predicting mean cortical thickness by subclinical negative symptom scores, adjusting for age, sex, and site. The same analysis was repeated for subcortical volumes including intracranial volume as additional covariate. Results Meta-analyses revealed significant positive associations between subclinical negative symptoms and cortical thickness of the left frontal pole (βstd=0.091; pFDR=0.009), right medial orbitofrontal cortex (βstd=0.083; pFDR=0.009) and right anterior cingulate cortex (βstd=0.07; pFDR=0.011). Discussion Using a large sample of healthy unmedicated individuals with varying levels of schizotypal personality traits, this ENIGMA meta-analysis showed that subclinical negative symptoms are associated with thicker prefrontal cortex. The present data are contrary to previous findings in schizophrenia, which demonstrates a relationship between negative symptoms and lower prefrontal cortical thickness (Walton et al. 2018). These divergent neural correlates suggest that thicker cortex could be a potential compensatory mechanism preventing individuals with schizotypy from the clinical manifestation of severe negative symptoms. Alternatively, greater prefrontal cortical thickness could also be associated with pathological processes along the negative symptom continuum prior to clinical manifestation.

To determine neuroanatomical peculiarities of grey matter in some regions of the prefrontal cortex and several subcortical structures in patients with juvenile shift like schizophrenia (F20 ICD-10).Forty-three young male patients and 54 mentally healthy men without family history of mental diseases underwent structural MRI with T1 high resolution images.As compared to mentally healthy subjects, there was a decrease of grey matter thickness in all tested regions of the prefrontal cortex in patients. No between-group differences in subcortical structures volumes were found. No correlations between structural changes and psychopathological symptoms were observed.Structural abnormalities of the frontal lobes in juvenile shift like schizophrenia are not associated with severity of psychopathological symptoms.Цель исследования. Определение нейроанатомических особенностей серого вещества в отдельных областях префронтальной коры (ПФК) и ряда подкорковых образований у больных юношеской приступообразной шизофренией (F20 по МКБ-10). Материал и методы. Обследованы 43 больных и 54 психически здоровых мужчин, средний возраст которых был 22 года. Основными методами были психопатологическое исследование и магнитно-резонансная томография (МРТ) головного мозга с получением Т1-взвешенных изображений высокого разрешения. Результаты. В группе больных шизофренией по сравнению с группой здоровых выявлено снижение толщины серого вещества коры во всех исследуемых сегментах префронтальной области, но межгрупповых различий по показателям объемов подкорковых образований не было. Статистически значимых корреляций между выявленными структурными изменениями и показателями выраженности психопатологических расстройств также установлено не было. Заключение. Полученные данные показывают, что структурные аномалии лобных отделов головного мозга при юношеской приступообразной шизофрении не сопряжены с выраженностью психопатологических явлений.

Background: Neuroanatomical abnormalities have been reported along a continuum from at-risk stages, including high schizotypy, to early and chronic psychosis. However, a comprehensive neuroanatomical mapping of schizotypy remains to be established. The authors conducted the first large-scale meta-analyses of cortical and subcortical morphometric patterns of schizotypy in healthy individuals and compared these patterns with neuroanatomical abnormalities observed in major psychiatric disorders. Methods: The sample comprised 2,952 unmedicated healthy individuals (12-68 years, 46.5% male) from 26 cohorts of the worldwide ENIGMA Schizotypy working group. Cortical and subcortical effect size maps with schizotypy scores were generated using standardized methods. Pattern similarities were assessed between the schizotypy-related cortical and subcortical maps and effect size maps from comparisons of schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD) and major depression (MDD) patients with controls. Results: Cortical thickness in the right medial orbitofrontal/ventromedial prefrontal cortex (mOFC/vmPFC) showed a significant positive correlation with schizotypy scores (r=.07, pFDR=.02). The cortical thickness profile in schizotypy was positively correlated with cortical abnormalities in SZ (r=.33, pspin=.01), but not BD (r=.19, pspin=.16) or MDD (r=-.22, pspin=.10). The schizotypy-related subcortical volume pattern was negatively correlated with subcortical abnormalities in SZ (rho=-.65, pspin=.01), BD (rho=-.63, pspin=.01), and MDD (rho=-.69, pspin=.004). Conclusions: Comprehensive mapping of schizotypy-related brain morphometry in the general population revealed a significant relationship between higher schizotypy and thicker mOFC/vmPFC, in the absence of confounding effects due to antipsychotic medication or disease chronicity. The cortical pattern similarity between schizotypy and schizophrenia yields new insights into a dimensional neurobiological continuity across the extended psychosis phenotype. Matthias Kirschner acknowledges support from the Swiss National Foundation (P2SKP3_178175).

Recent advances in Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence have brought the opportunity to automate facial attractiveness evaluation. A range of studies have been addressed to the task and have achieved reasonable prediction accuracy. However, most of these methods work well only on photos with restrictions on expression, posture, illumination, but not on real-world face photos. This work is aimed to improve the attractiveness assessment state-of-the-art in both cases. To this end, an approach that employs transfer learning methodology as well as shallow machine learning was proposed for highly accurate facial attractiveness prediction. Specifically, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Facenet, originally designed and pre-trained for the face recognition task is utilized. High-level facial features were extracted by using the network and then fed into Support Vector Regression in order to predict facial attractiveness. Extensive experiments conducted on widely used facial beauty datasets Gray and SCUT-FBP5500 demonstrated that the proposed method outperformed other attractiveness prediction approaches. The experimental results also confirmed the effectiveness of the method in both constrained and unconstrained environment.

The paper addresses the issue of Russian English as a world variety used within such multicultural domain as Instagram which is an on-line social networking service. Building on an earlier idea, the paper puts forward a hypothesis regarding the existence of Instagram Russian English (IRE) which in general follows the pattern of Russian English in terms of its distinctive lexical, grammatical and pragmatic characteristics, the three-lectal continuum and the verbalization of the Russian mindset of its speakers. Therefore, IRE does reflect the Russian culture and mentality via both linguistic and pragmatic means.

Objective. Much attention in biological psychiatry in recent decades had been paid to functional and structural anomalies of the brain in groups at high risk of developing endogenous psychoses. Linkages between neurophysiological and neuroimaging parameters have been studied in cases of ultra-high risk of developing endogenous psychoses. The present report presents some results from the initial stage of this investigation. Materials and methods. A total of 56 patients aged 17–25 years with nonpsychotic mental disorders were studied. The control group consisted of 20 mentally healthy patients of comparable age and gender. Neurophysiological studies addressed measures characterizing the ability of the brain to “regulate” the volume of incoming information (sensory gating). Localizing proton MR spectroscopy was used simultaneously to determine some measures of metabolic processes in the brain (the glutamate/glutamine index and levels of N-acetylaspartate and choline-containing substances in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and thalamus of the left and right hemispheres and the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum. Results and conclusions. The results suggest impairment to the sensory filter in patients of the ultra-high risk group for developing endogenous psychoses; there was no correlation with the metabolic processes studied. These latter were normal or became normal during treatment.

Background Cortical neuroanatomical abnormalities have been reported along a continuum between individuals with chronic schizophrenia, first-episode psychosis, clinical high risk for psychosis, and healthy individuals self-reporting subclinical psychotic-like experiences (or schizotypy). Recently, the Schizophrenia Working Group within the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) consortium provided meta-analytic evidence for robust cortical thickness abnormalities in schizophrenia, while also indicating that these abnormalities are influenced by illness severity and treatment with antipsychotic medications. In this context, schizotypy research allows the investigation of cortical neuroanatomy associated with the expression of subclinical psychotic-like symptoms without the potential influence of a psychotic illness, its severity, or the use of antipsychotics. This study presents the first large-scale imaging meta-analysis of cortical thickness in schizotypy using standardized methods from 23 datasets worldwide. Methods Cortical thickness and surface area were assessed in MRI scans of 2,695 healthy individuals (mean [range] age of 29.1 [17–55.8], 46.3% male) who had also completed validated self-report schizotypy questionnaires. Each site processed their local T1-weighted MRI scans using FreeSurfer and, following the protocol outlined in the ENIGMA Schizophrenia Working Group study, extracted cortical thickness for 70 Desikan-Killiany (DK) atlas regions (34 regions per hemisphere + left and right hemisphere mean thickness). At each site, partial correlation analyses were performed between regional cortical thickness by ROI and total schizotypy scores in R, predicting the left, right and mean cortical thickness, adjusting for sex, age and site. Random-effects meta-analyses of partial correlation effect sizes for each of the DK atlas regions were performed using R’s metafor package. False discovery rate (pFDR < .05) was used to control for multiple comparisons. Results We found significant positive associations between subclinical psychotic-like experiences and mean cortical thickness of the medial orbitofrontal cortex (r = .077; pFDR = .006) and the frontal pole (r = .073; pFDR = .006). When assessed separately by hemisphere, meta-analysis revealed a significant positive association between subclinical psychotic-like experiences and cortical thickness of the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (r = .066; pFDR = .044), and at trend-level with the right medial orbitofrontal cortex (r = .062; pFDR = .053) and the left frontal pole (r = .062; pFDR = .053). No significant associations were observed for surface area. Discussion Worldwide cooperative analyses of large-scale brain imaging data support a profile of cortical thickness abnormalities involving prefrontal cortical regions positively related to schizotypy in healthy individuals. These findings are not secondary to potential influences of disease chronicity or antipsychotic medication on the neuroanatomical correlates of psychotic-like experiences. The directionality of the observed meta-analytical effects in schizotypy is opposite to those previously reported in patients with schizophrenia (i.e., thinner cortex). The present findings of increased thickness may indicate early microstructural deficits (e.g. in myelination) that contribute to vulnerability for psychosis. Alternatively, these may reflect mechanisms of resilience associated with the expression of subclinical manifestations of psychotic symptoms in otherwise healthy individuals.

The study aimed to confirm the association of the schizophrenia genome-wide association study (GWAS) hit rs2514218 located near the DRD2 gene with the risk of the disease and to investigate the relationships between rs2514218 and schizophrenia-related clinical and neuroimaging phenotypes. Genotypes at the rs2514218 site were determined for 2148 schizophrenia spectrum patients and 1273 control subjects from the Russian population. In subsets of subjects, we assessed symptomatic dimensions using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (n = 1651) and Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (n = 471). At the brain level, gray matter volumes in striatal structures and cortical thickness in the lateral prefrontal cortical regions were investigated (n = 97). Genotype frequencies did not differ between patients and controls. The allelic association analysis yielded a near-threshold p value (p = 0.054), the magnitude (OR = 0.90), and direction of the minor allele (T) effect being in accord with those in the schizophrenia GWAS. Also, patients homozygous for the risk allele C had more severe consummatory anhedonia and a thinner cortex than controls and patients carrying the T allele. The largest effect size of the genotype with diagnosis interaction was seen in the right pars opercularis area. The findings support the role of rs2514218 in schizophrenia risk and presentation and suggest rs2514218 has an influence on brain morphology and negative symptoms.

The profile of cortical neuroanatomical abnormalities in schizophrenia is not fully understood, despite hundreds of published structural brain imaging studies. This study presents the first meta-analysis of cortical thickness and surface area abnormalities in schizophrenia conducted by the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) Schizophrenia Working Group.The study included data from 4474 individuals with schizophrenia (mean age, 32.3 years; range, 11-78 years; 66% male) and 5098 healthy volunteers (mean age, 32.8 years; range, 10-87 years; 53% male) assessed with standardized methods at 39 centers worldwide.Compared with healthy volunteers, individuals with schizophrenia have widespread thinner cortex (left/right hemisphere: Cohen's d = -0.530/-0.516) and smaller surface area (left/right hemisphere: Cohen's d = -0.251/-0.254), with the largest effect sizes for both in frontal and temporal lobe regions. Regional group differences in cortical thickness remained significant when statistically controlling for global cortical thickness, suggesting regional specificity. In contrast, effects for cortical surface area appear global. Case-control, negative, cortical thickness effect sizes were two to three times larger in individuals receiving antipsychotic medication relative to unmedicated individuals. Negative correlations between age and bilateral temporal pole thickness were stronger in individuals with schizophrenia than in healthy volunteers. Regional cortical thickness showed significant negative correlations with normalized medication dose, symptom severity, and duration of illness and positive correlations with age at onset.The findings indicate that the ENIGMA meta-analysis approach can achieve robust findings in clinical neuroscience studies; also, medication effects should be taken into account in future genetic association studies of cortical thickness in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Neuroanatomical studies have provided some evidence for a neurobiological continuity between psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and subclinical psychotic-like experiences as identified via self-report questionnaires (or schizotypy) in otherwise healthy individuals. Despite a number of structural brain imaging studies published in subjects with schizotypy, these have often been limited by relatively small sample sizes. This study represents the first meta-analysis of structural MRI scans in schizotypy assessed with standardized methods at 17 centres worldwide. METHODS: The total sample included in the case-control meta-analysis involved 496 subjects with high schizotypy and 588 comparison subjects with low schizotypy as identified with validated self-report schizotypy questionnaires (i.e., the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences, or the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire). Left and right lateral ventricle, thalamus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, accumbens, hippocampus and amygdala volumes, as well as intracranial volumes (ICV), were obtained with FreeSurfer from high-resolution T1-weighted structural brain scans locally by each site. Analyses of individual subject data were also performed by the site that contributed the sample, using code created within the ENIGMA collaboration. Group differences for each ROI within each sample were examined using univariate linear regression analysis in R predicting the left, right and mean subcortical volumes with group (low or high schizotypy) controlling for age, sex, site and ICV. For each sample, Cohen’s d effect sizes for each ROI were computed based on the group contrast t-statistics. Random-effects meta-analyses of Cohen’s d effect sizes for each ROI were performed using R’s metafor package. RESULTS: For the case-control meta-analysis, mean (range) age across samples was 29.2 (19.2–44.9) years for subjects with high schizotypy and 28.5 (19.4–42.5) years for subjects with low schizotypy. High and low schizotypy samples were on average 48.6% (25–100) and 49.0% (8–100) male. Compared to low schizotypy, people with high schizotypy had smaller left nucleus accumbens volumes (Cohen’s d = -0.13, p = 0.04). No other significant meta-analytical effects were identified. DISCUSSION: Worldwide cooperative analyses of brain imaging data support a profile of subcortical abnormalities involving the ventral striatum in healthy individuals with subclinical psychotic-like experiences. Though the effect size is small, the result is consistent with findings in schizophrenia patients and suggesting that these effects are not secondary to potential influences of disease chronicity or antipsychotic medication. The lack of significant effects in other reported regions in schizophrenia research may indicate that further subcortical abnormalities may not be present or detectable in schizotypy samples and could reflect mechanisms of resilience in this population.

The intravital level of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was measured for the first time and the imbalance of the key excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain frontal lobes of patients with ultra-high risk for schizophrenia was studied. The proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) with the MEGA-PRESS pulse sequence for separating the superimposed signals was used. The area of interest was the anterior cingulate cortex with account for lateralization in the right and left brain hemispheres. A statistically significant decrease in the GABA concentration (by 25%) and in the [GABA]/[GLX] ratio (GLX is glutamate + glutamine) (by 20%) were found for the patients in the left brain hemisphere, this ratio in the right brain hemisphere remaining at the normal level.

We investigated cognitive functions of attention and decision-making in 18 healthy subjects and 15 schizophrenia patients using an experimental design with consecutive presentation of two short visual stimuli (double-step). In patients with schizophrenia, an increase in the number of errors and change in the pattern of saccadic responses have been found: an increase of the number of two-saccade responses to each stimulus and a decrease in the number of single-saccade responses to the second stimulus. In schizophrenia patients, the latent period of the first of a pair of saccades has been shorter; and the latent period of single saccade has been increased in comparison with healthy subjects. Opposite lateral differences in latent periods of saccades in healthy subjects and schizophrenia patients have been found. Our results show the deficit of cognitive oculomotor control and a decrease in prognostic processes of saccade programming in schizophrenia patients.

The effects of the Val66Met polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and levels of trait anxiety (negative emotionality) on attention were studied in 90 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective psychosis. Attention was evaluated using auditory event-related potentials (ERP) and neuropsychological testing. Genotype was found to have a significant effect (anxiety was not) on the efficiency of performing the neuropsychological test on attention and the amplitude of the ERP P300 wave in the frontal and temporal leads. Carriers of the Met allele has poorer performance of the attention task than subjects with the ValVal genotype, and also showed a lower P300 wave amplitude. Genotype combined with the level of anxiety was found to affect the N100 wave in response to the non-significant stimulus, significant differences being seen only in the group with a low level of anxiety: the Met allele was associated with lower N100 amplitudes. Among patients with high levels of anxiety, N100 wave amplitude was independent of the BDNF gene variant present. It is suggested that people with high levels of anxiety expend more effort to solve the task correctly at the early stages of signal recognition, the amplitudedecreasing effect of the “risk allele” being eliminated.

This paper will present the integrated extraordinary solutions founded during Extended-Reach Drilling (ERD) campaign on Lebedinskoye oilfield, which is located on the Northern East shelf of Sakhalin Island. As a green field, Lebedinskoye had a high level of geological uncertainty. Specifics of location made the well profiles complex - with a high Directional Difficulty Index – DDI (SPE ref. 59196) up to 7.2 and ERD ratio up to 2.94. Island logistics imposed critical constraints to the project planning. Rosneft and Schlumberger established the goal to optimize the well construction time to bring additional savings in the period of industry downturn. At the same time, a project team set ambitious goals to plan and execute operations to a safe and high quality standard. An integrated approach was deemed essential for success of such complex project. Integration provided a seamless interface bridging multi-discipline solutions and technologies to ensure high quality planning together with risk management. Several technologies in the project were implemented for first time in Russia. A "point the bit" rotary-steerable system enabled drilling the 17 ½" section in the one run of 2168m. A non-cemented liner eliminated the additional cost and time for a cement job as well as the potential impairment of the pay zone. The project team successfully run floated 9 5/8" casing to the final depth and eliminated major risks of the campaign. The Lebedinskoye was the first time the client implemented advanced LWD tools for deep reservoir mapping. In the result, 97% of 1962m horizontal section placed in the target zone, which became a new record for the Client. Finally, integrated approach, new technologies and solutions reduced well construction time by 25% as compared to similar offset extended-reach wells and made the project economical efficient in the period of downturn.

To determine neurophysiological characteristics of patients with long-term follow up (20 years) and to find correlations between neurophysiological parameters and clinical features of schizophrenia.The patients were divided into three groups: with predomination of personality changes (group 1,In group 3, the statistically significant higher frequencies of theta-rhythm and lower of alpha-rhythm were found. Also, theta frequency correlated with PANSS positive scores. The significant intergroup differences by auditory oddball P300 were lacked. The findings are discussed in view of the hypothesis of theta-rhythm as a marker of hippocampal-prefrontal connectivity.Определение нейрофизиологических особенностей шизофрении на этапе отдаленного катамнеза (более 20 лет) и установление корреляций между нейрофизиологическими показателями и клиническими характеристиками заболевания.Обследовали пациентов из трех групп: с преобладанием личностных изменений (1-я группа, 17 пациентов), негативными расстройствами (2-я группа, 23) и выраженными как позитивными, так и негативными расстройствами (3-я группа, 40). Основными методами исследования были психопатологический и нейрофизиологический с изучением вызванных потенциалов.Установлена статистически значимо большая частота тета-ритма и меньшая частота альфа-ритма в 3-й группе, при этом величина доминирующей частоты тета-ритма коррелировала (с положительным знаком) с суммарной оценкой выраженности позитивных расстройств по шкале PANSS. Статистически значимых межгрупповых различий по параметрам волны Р300 слуховых вызванных потенциалов, регистрируемых в парадигме oddball, выявлено не было. Полученные результаты рассматриваются в рамках представлений о роли тета-активности как маркера гиппокапально-префронтальных взаимодействий.

The structural-functional characteristics of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and genu of the corpus callosum were studied, along with their interaction with electrophysiological markers of selective attention processes in 18 mentally healthy subjects and 22 patients with juvenile schizophrenia at the remission onset stage and in remission. No statistically significant intergroup differences were found in terms of N-acetylaspartate and choline-containing substance levels (assayed by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy), while fractional anisotropy (measured by diffusion-tensor magnetic resonance tomography) in the genu of the corpus callosum was lower in the patients group. The absence of any statistically significant correlations between neuroimaging characteristics and assessments of the severity of psychopathological disorders, along with occasional correlational interactions with P300 parameters, suggest weak involvement of the study structures in processes determining cognitive impairments in patients with juvenile schizophrenia.

An attempt to incorporate the popular systematic of urban soils proposed by Marina Stroganova with colleagues into the new Russian soil classification system is presented. It was facilitated by the coincidence of approaches in both systems: priority of diagnostic horizons and their combinations as criteria to identify soil types being the main units in all Russian classifications. The central image of urban soils . urbanozem . in Stroganova.s system found its due place in the order of stratozems (urbostratozem type) owing to its diagnostic horizon . urbic, which combines artificial and natural properties, and to its simultaneous formation with the parent material.

Six patients in remission after first episodes of juvenile schizophrenia and seven mentally healthy subjects selected on the basis of age and gender were studied by functional magnetic resonance imaging and recording of evoked potentials, in both cases using the oddball paradigm in the auditory modality. Differences in the parameters of the P300 wave were significant, and significantly greater hemodynamic responses to test stimuli were recorded bilaterally in the supramarginal gyrus and right medial frontal gyrus in patients, pointing to pathology in these areas of the brain in their support for auditory selective attention processes.

New developments in mobile computing, wireless networking and social networking leverage opportunities to create location-based social networks (LBSNs) such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Place. Pointof-interest (POI) recommendation is a significant task in LBSNs, since it provides recommendations that respect personal preferences and capture social and environmental parameters. Moreover, employing Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) in POIs enables to improve recommendation accuracy. Most of existing POI recommendation methods deals with the only single domain, whereas the use of information available from other application domains potentially provides better POI recommendation results. This is particularly relevantforthenewlylaunchedLBSNs, wherelittlecheckin information is available. In this paper, to the best of our knowledge, we are the first to propose a crossdomainPOIrecommendationmethodinLBSNsandapply transfer learning for this purpose. To this end, we first incorporate both user and POI knowledge in auxiliary domains by discovering the principle coordinates. Next, we transfer them to the target domain and then make predictions using the transferred knowledge. The experimental results demonstrate high performance of our method and the merits of cross-domain POI recommendation in LBSNs.

IntroductionThe aim of the study was to analyze the microstructural and metabolic features of the corpus callosum in recently onset schizophrenia.Objectives13 young (17–28 years old) male patients with recently onset schizophrenia (F20, ICD-10) and 15 sex and age matched mentally healthy subjects were examined.Methods3 T Philips Achieva scanner with 8-channel SENSE coil was used. DTI was conducted with EPI SENSE (TR = 9431 ms; TE = 70 ms). The values of diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional anisotropy (FA), radial (RD) and parallel (PD) diffusivity were calculated using workstation Philips EBWS 2.6.3.4. Spectroscopic voxel (2 × 1 × 1 cm) was placed consequently in the corpus callosum genu and splenium. PRESS (TR/TE = 1500/40) was used.ResultsIn patients, increased ADC (P = 0.02) and RD (P = 0.008), decreased FA (P = 0.008) and NAA (P = 0.03) were found in the corpus callosum genu, No intergroup differences by PD, Cho, Cr, Glx were found in this area. Also, no statistically significant intergroup differences were observed for the DTI and MRS characteristics of the corpus callosum splenium.ConclusionsIt has been shown that RD increase is associated with demyelination process. So, an increase of RD in the present study could reflect demyelination in CC genu. Cells membranes abnormalities should lead to an increase of Cho which was not found. NAA reduction could be caused by reduction of axonal integrity. The latter process is considered to precede demyelination and not to be accompanied by PD rise. Thus, the present study revealed axonal integrity reduction and low demyelination in the genu of the corpus callosum in the early stages of schizophrenia.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The biochemical (proton MR spectroscopy data) and hemodynamic (fMRI data) characteristics of the functional state of the prefrontal cortex were studied in seven patients with juvenile episodic schizophrenia in the state of remission after the first episode and in eight healthy subjects of similar gender and age. There were no differences between groups in terms of the parameters studied, though parameters were related to the severity of psychopathological symptomatology in patients, as evaluated on the PANSS.

The need of developing renewable energy to reduce the impact on the global environment and climate change of the increasing industrial development has fostered the use of biological processes to produce biofuel from biohydrogen. The present work made a patent analysis of advanced hydrogen production techniques comparing it with similar prior art in China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the European Union and the United States (U.S.) The aims were to find the scope, competitiveness of prior art, as well as the technology trend on biohydrogen production methods. The patents value was assessed its geographic scope and competitiveness indicators such as green image, low cost, energy efficiency and equipment design. It was found that most of the hydrogen production methods and associated technologies are developed by academic institutions, however their patents are reduced to a local level, and few are patented at international level, which reduces their competitiveness. The China (P.R.C.) is the biggest patent contributor worldwide in terms of hydrogen production methods by academic institutions. Japan is a huge patent contributor, in terms of methods aiming rear-end products application of hydrogen by private companies. The biggest amount of prior art found that the most popular methods of pre-treatment and dark fermentation produced coincide with the time of energetic crisis and the green movement to find alternative fuels. Finally, patent analysis of this study can help to discern the current technology trend and to develop the next generation of biohydrogen processes and associated technologies.

We report here our studies of the Ser311Cys polymorphism of the D2 dopamine receptor gene in 366 patients with schizophrenia and 387 control subjects. The incidence of the Cys allele was found to be greater (p < 0.009) among patients than controls (8.5% and 3.9%, respectively). Selective attention was also studied on the basis of assessment of parameters of the P300 wave of auditory evoked potentials in 66 patients with different genotypes – SerSer and SerCys (the CysCys genotype was not seen among the patients). This revealed a significant influence of genotype (p = 0.01) on the latent period (LP) of the P300 wave in the frontal, central and temporal leads. In carriers of the Cys allele, which is associated with the risk of developing schizophrenia, LP was longer than in subjects with other genotypes, which is evidence for slowing of mental processes associated with activation of attention resources in these subjects. Thus, the results obtained here support data obtained previously for other populations showing that the Cys allele is associated with schizophrenia, and we also observed an association between this allele and degradation of selective attention in patients.

The results of preliminary analysis at the first stage of the study have demonstrated significant relationships between electrophysiological parameters and the levels of a number of metabolites (measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the left cerebral hemisphere. The observed relationships are assumed to be mediated by individual-specific characteristics of activation of this cerebral region and its contribution to information processing. The neurophysiological markers of the weakened functional state of the brain are associated with decreased levels of N-acetyl aspartate and choline-containing compounds and an increased level of creatin/phosphocreatin in the tested area of the left prefrontal cortex.

We studied the influence of catechol-O-methyl transferase gene (COMT) polymorphism on the parameters of components of auditory evoked potentials (EPs) recorded under the conditions of selective attention in mentally healthy relatives of patients with endogenous psychosis. A smaller N100 latency of the EP in response to an insignificant stimulus, smaller N100 amplitude of the EP in response to a significant stimulus, smaller N200 latency, and larger P300 amplitude were found in subjects with the Met/Met genotype (with a higher dopamine activity), and a larger P200 latency was found in Val/Val genotype carriers. There was no influence of MMN gene polymorphism on the mismatch negativity.

This report presents studies of the neurophysiological correlates of the characteristics of cognitive disorders in patients with first psychotic episodes of endogenous psychosis at juvenile age. Three groups of patients were studied: those with a predominance of catatonic symptomatology (22 patients), those with a predominance of hallucinatory-delusional symptomatology (22 patients), and those with a predominance of affective-delusional symptomatology (24 patients), along with a group of psychologically healthy subjects (15 subjects). Parameters of auditory evoked potentials were analyzed using the oddball paradigm. The group with a predominance of catatonic disorders showed the greatest differences in the latent periods (LP) of the N200 and P300 components as compared with the other groups; patients with a predominance of hallucinatory-delusional symptomatology showed the most localized anomalies in the latent period of the P300 component; the group of patients dominated by affective-delusional symptomatology showed almost no increase in the latent period of the N200 component, though the extents of anomalies in the N100 component in responses to non-target signals and deviations in the P300 component were more marked than in the other groups. These characteristics of the neurophysiological correlates of cognitive functions in each group of patients supported the significance of evaluating the psychopathological structure of manifest psychotic episodes for determining the clinical typology.

The relationships between the parameters of waves of auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in the oddball paradigm and the volumes of the hippocampus, amygdala, and caudate nuclei were analyzed in healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia. The data obtained suggest that faster mental processes and stronger activation and/or synchronization of the activity of ERP wave generators in healthy subjects correspond to smaller volumes of the structures studied. The structure of the relationships in patients with schizophrenia differed from the normal one; significant correlations were observed with the volume of the caudate nuclei, and more pronounced “normalization” of neurophysiological characteristics was associated with large volumes of these structures.

The MEGA-PRESS pulse sequence was used for determination of overlapping signals in the (1)H-MRS spectra of the human brain. For the first time, the balance of GABA glutamate/glutamine concentrations was estimated quantitatively in the human brain of patients with ultra-high risk of schizophrenia. It was found that GABA concentration and GABA/GLX ratios were significantly reduced in the left frontal lobe of UHR subjects.

Diffusion parameters of brain tracts (n=18) were studied in 27 men with ultra-high risk of endogenous attack-like psychoses and 27 mentally healthy men of the same age group (fractional anisotropy; and average, radial, and axial diffusion). Correlation analysis was performed between these parameters and severity of mental disorders (SOPS scale). The indexes of radial diffusion and axial diffusion were shown to change in the left anterior thalamic radiation and right posterior cingulum bundle, respectively. Our results are consistent with published data that disturbances in the frontal and temporal lobes play an important role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The degree of mental disorders correlated with diffusion parameters in the left and right anterior cingulum bundle.

We present a study of acoustic jets occurring in the vicinity of an orifice in a screen mounted at the end of a waveguide which conducts intense sound. The velocity field is measured by a cooling-power anemometer. We have used an impedance matching principle and demonstrated the ability to generate a strong acoustic jet and to create efficient resonant sound absorbers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of relative strength weight and skill performance in Gymnastics of physical Education Major. The sample of the study consisted of (25) students, (15) male, and (10) Female, whom they were finished Gymnastics (1) and (2). The results revealed a significant positive correlation among relative strength, weight and performance, where (R2) (0.726) the contribution of relative strength in predicting performance was (44.5%), and (28.5%) for weigh. Based on the study findings the researcher recommended to use light weigh exercise, and follow up the students’ body weight. هدفت الدراسة إلى معرفة علاقة القوة العضلية النسبية والوزن في تطوير مستوى الأداء المهاري في رياضة الجمناستك، لتحقيق ذلك أجريت الدراسة على عينة عمدية من طلبة تخصص التربية الرياضية والبالغ عددهم (15) طالبا و(10) طالبات ممن أنهوا مساق الجمناستك (1) وجمناستك (2). أظهرت النتائج وجود علاقة إيجابية بين القوة النسبية والوزن مع الأداء المهاري في رياضة الجمناستك لدى طلبة تخصص التربية الرياضية، حيث وصل معامل الارتباط بيرسون بينهما إلى (0.726). وفيما يتعلق بمساهمة القوة النسبية في الأداء المهاري، أظهرت نتائج معامل الانحدار (R2) أنها تفسر ما نسبته (44.5 %) من الأداء المهاري، وفيما يتعلق بالوزن فانه يفسر ما نسبته (28.5 %)، وكلاهما يفسر ما نسبته (73%) من الأداء المهاري. أوصى الباحثان بضرورة استخدام التمارين بالأثقال وبأوزان خفيفة بالإضافة إلى متابعة أوزان الطلبة والاهتمام بتنمية القوة الخاصة بالجمناستك.

IntroductionThe aim of this study was the analysis of dynamics of motor cortex metabolite in the norm and in early stage of schizophrenia in period of BOLD response to event related single stimulus.ObjectivesThe patients group consisted of 9 mails of 16–28 years old in initial stage of schizophrenia and in remission. The group of 9 age matched healthy mails was used as a control.MethodsPhillips Achieva 3.0 T scanner was used for the study. Volume of interest in motor cortex was localized on the base of fMRI. 1Н МR spectra were run using synchronization of FID signals acquisition (PRESS, TE = 30 ms TR = 3000 ms) with dynamics of BOLD response at the same paradigm.ResultsThe BOLD signal in both groups demonstrated maximum at the 6th s after target stimulus, however its value was reliably lover in schizophrenia in comparison with the control. The only [NAA] in normal motor cortex was changed after stimulation. The stable values of [NAA], [Cr] and [Cho] were observed in dynamic of resting state as well. [NAA] in normal cortex statistically significantly decreased at the 12th s after stimulus presentation and returned to initial value at the 15th s.ConclusionDifferent behavior of [NAA] in the norm and schizophrenia might be related with a difference in location (or activity) of aspartoacylaze (ASPA). Decreased expression of glutamate transporters in schizophrenia could also reduce consumption of NAA as a source of acetate in synthesis of AcCoA which is used for restoration of ATP.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The subjects were parents, siblings, and children of schizophrenic patients. Auditory evoked potentials (EPs) (P300) were recorded in the standard oddball paradigm with a probability of the target stimuli presentation of 0.2 and sound (tone) intensity of 60 dB. A comparison of these data with the results of the examination of reference groups (normal subjects free of a family history of mental pathology) showed significantly longer latent periods of N1, N2, and P3 in EPs to target stimuli in siblings and children of schizophrenic patients, as well as significantly decreased amplitudes of N1 and P2 in EPs to nontarget (standard) stimuli and longer latent periods of N2 in EPs to target stimuli in the parents of schizophrenic patients.