Objective To explore the activation on occipital lobe in children with and without abacus mental calculation training when they engaged in different calculation tasks with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).Then approach the laterality of occipital lobe in abacus mental calculation.Methods fMRI was performed in children trained with( trained group)and without( untrained group) abacus mental calculation( seventeen in each group) when they engaged in addition,subtraction,multiplication,division,and number-object control judging tasks.The data processing and statistical analysis of original image were performed on SPM 2.0 ( statistical parametric mapping 2.0) and the related-brain functional areas were obtained.The laterality index (LI) was used to assess the laterality of occipital lobe.Results The performance of the trained group with better correctness and shorter reaction time was much better than that of the untrained group (P＜0.01).The laterality degree of occipital lobe in the trained group (-0.15,0.22,0.24,-0.06 ) was lower than that of the untrained group (0.35,0.75,0.75,0.29).Conclusion Abacus mental calculation can obviously enhance the capacity of mental calculation.The laterality degree of occipital lobe in the trained group is lower than that of untrained group.It is conducive to the balanced development of bilateral cerebral hemisphere.

Background Schizophrenia and the use of antipsychotic medications are identified to be the likely contributors to the development of metabolic syndrome(MS)and cardiovascular disease,and jeopardize the prognosis of schizophrenia.Therefore,effectively preventing or reducing the risk of developing MS in patients with schizophrenia is critical.Objective To explore the efficacy of aripiprazole combined with olanzapine for male schizophrenia patients and its effect on MS,so as to provide a certain reference for the selection of antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia patients.Methods Male patients(n=80)who were hospitalized in The Third People's Hospital of Meizhou from February to June 2023 and fulfilling the International Classification of Diseases,tenth edition(ICD-10)diagnostic criteria for the schizophrenia were enrolled,and grouped using random number table method,each with 40 cases.Study group was treated with aripiprazole combined with olanzapine,while control group was given aripiprazole monotherapy.The treatment lasted for 6 continuous weeks in both groups.At the baseline,Positive and Negative Symptom Scale(PANSS)score,MS-related indices[fasting plasma glucose(FPG),hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c),body mass index(BMI),waist-to-hip ratio(WHR),lipid profile],S100 calcium-binding protein B(S100B)and high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP)were recorded.Then the PANSS scores at the end of the 2nd,4th and 6th week of treatment,the Clinical Global Impression(CGI)scores at the end of the 2nd and 6th week of treatment,as well as the MS-related indices,S100B,hs-CRP,Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale(TESS)score and Rating Scale for Extrapyramidal Side Effects(RSESE)score at the end of the 6th week of treatment were recorded in all participants.Results Analysis on PANSS score revealed a significant group effect,time effect and group×time interaction effect(F=18.092,634.780,2.917,P<0.05 or 0.01).Analysis on CGI score revealed a significant group effect and time effect(F=20.492,99.190,P<0.01).At the end of the 6th week of treatment,study group detected lower serum concentrations of HbA1c and triglyceride(TG)compared with control group(t=-3.495,-3.293,P<0.05).The post-treatment hs-CRP level was lower in study group than that in control group(t=-3.916,P<0.05).Study group scored lower on TESS compared with control group(t=-4.684,P<0.01).Conclusion Aripiprazole combined with olanzapine can effectively alleviate psychotic states in male schizophrenia patients,and the combination therapy yields less impact on MS-related indices than olanzapine monotherapy.

OBJECTIVETo establish a diet-induced obesity model in zebrafish larvae.

METHODSAt 7 days post-fertilization (dpf), 200 zebrafish larvae with normal development were randomly allocated to two groups with the feeding quantity of 30 mg per day (normal feeding group) or 180 mg per day (overfed group) for 20 days. The weight, length, BMI, triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TCH) of each group were measured. Whole-mount Oil Red O staining, frozen Oil Red O staining and hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining were used to estimate the rate of hepatic steatosis and liver histology of the zebrafish. The dynamic change of hepatic lipid droplets and distribution of adipose tissue were observed with Nile Red staining in overfed zebrafish in vivo.

RESULTSThe weight, length, BMI and TG of overfed zebrafish were significantly increased compared with those in normal feeding group. Whole-mount Oil Red O staining showed that the percent of hepatic steatosis in overfed group (89.4%) was markedly higher than that in normal feeding group (20.7%). Macrovesicular steatosis was observed in the liver of the overfed larvae. Nile Red staining visualized hepatic lipid droplets and the distribution of larval adipose tissue, which increased with feeding time in the overfed zebrafish. Starving larvae showed depletion of fat and hepatic lipid, and adipose tissue was induced after refeeding.

CONCLUSIONSWe successfully established an diet-induced obesity model in zebrafish larva, in which Nile Red staining allows in vivo observation of the adipocytes and hepatic lipid droplets.

Adipose Tissue ; Animals ; Cholesterol ; Diet ; adverse effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Fatty Liver ; Larva ; Lipids ; Obesity ; pathology ; Triglycerides ; Zebrafish