In this paper, we present and evaluate a novel Bayesian regime-switching zero-inflated multilevel Poisson (RS-ZIMLP) regression model for forecasting alcohol use dynamics. The model partitions individuals’ data into two phases, known as regimes, with: (1) a zero-inflation regime that is used to accommodate high instances of zeros (non-drinking) and (2) a multilevel Poisson regression regime in which variations in individuals’ log-transformed average rates of alcohol use are captured by means of an autoregressive process with exogenous predictors and a person-specific intercept. The times at which individuals are in each regime are unknown, but may be estimated from the data. We assume that the regime indicator follows a first-order Markov process as related to exogenous predictors of interest. The forecast performance of the proposed model was evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulation study and further demonstrated using substance use and spatial covariate data from the Colorado Online Twin Study (CoTwins). Results showed that the proposed model yielded better forecast performance compared to a baseline model which predicted all cases as non-drinking and a reduced ZIMLP model without the RS structure, as indicated by higher AUC (the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve) scores, and lower mean absolute errors (MAEs) and root-mean-square errors (RMSEs). The improvements in forecast performance were even more pronounced when we limited the comparisons to participants who showed at least one instance of transition to drinking.

China's healthcare is improving together with rapid economic growth. Yet, mental healthcare is lagging behind. Prevalence of perinatal depression is high among women of the one-child generation, but access to qualified care is limited. Chinese healthcare professionals, policy makers and patients alike express concerns about insufficient knowledge among the public as well as healthcare providers regarding mental disorders. There appears to be a general lack of help-seeking behaviour for mental disorders owing to perceived risk of social stigmatisation. Social support through family and friends, use of online resources and community healthcare services are preferred, rather than seeking help from mental health specialists.

The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of dietary supplementation with epidermal growth factor (EGF)-expressing Saccharomyces cerevisiae on duodenal development in weaned piglets. In total, forty piglets weaned at 21–26 d of age were assigned to one of the five groups that were provided basic diet (control group) or diet supplemented with S. cerevisiae expressing either empty-vector (INVSc1(EV) group), tagged EGF (T-EGF) (INVSc1-TE(−) group), extracellular EGF (EE-EGF) (INVSc1-EE(+) group) or intracellular EGF (IE-EGF) (INVSc1-IE(+) group). All treatments were delivered as 60·00 μg/kg body weight EGF/d. On 0, 7, 14 and 21 d, eight piglets per treatment were sacrificed to analyse the morphology, activities and mRNA expressions of digestive enzymes, as well as Ig levels (IgA, IgM, IgG) in duodenal mucosa. The results showed significant improvement on 7, 14 and 21 d, with respect to average daily gain (P<0·05), mucosa morphology (villus height and crypt depth) (P<0·05), Ig levels (P<0·01), activities and mRNA expressions of digestive enzymes (creatine kinase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase and sucrase) (P<0·05) and the mRNA expression of EGF-receptor (P<0·01) in NVSc1-TE(−), INVSc1-EE(+) and INVSc1-IE(+) groups compared with control and INVSc1(EV) groups. In addition, a trend was observed in which the INVSc1-IE(+) group showed an improvement in Ig levels (0·05<P<0·10), mRNA expressions of digestive enzymes and EGF-receptor (P<0·05) compared with NVSc1-TE(−) and INVSc1-EE(+) groups. These results indicate that supplementing recombinant EGF-expressing S. cerevisiae to the diet of weaned piglets enhanced duodenal development. Moreover, biological activity (Ig levels, mRNA expressions of digestive enzymes and EGF-receptor) of IE-EGF was better than either EE-EGF or T-EGF.

We investigated cognitive and metalinguistic correlates of Chinese word reading in children with L2 Chinese learning experience and compared these to those in L1 Chinese speaking children. In total, 102 third and fourth grade children were recruited for the study. We examined a range of Chinese and English word reading related cognitive and metalinguistic skills. Compared to the native Chinese speaking group (NCSS), the non-native Chinese speaking group (NNCS) only performed better in English vocabulary knowledge and English working memory. On Chinese word reading related skills the NNCS group performed significantly worse than the NCS group. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the unique correlates of Chinese word reading for both groups were Chinese vocabulary, working memory, lexical tone awareness, and orthographic skills. For the NNCS group only, visual skills were also unique correlates of word reading skills. The results suggest cognitive similarities and differences in reading among native and non-native Chinese speakers.

In this study, thermodynamic properties of BC2N under extreme conditions have been reported by using first-principle calculations and quasi-harmonic Debye model. Isochoric heat capacity (Cv) of BC2N at normal temperature and pressure is 23.15 kJ mol−1 K−1 and it increases with the temperature and decreases with the pressure. In the low temperature region, pressure has no obvious influence on phonons and thus the decrease of Cv is very slow. In the medium temperature region, the decrease of Cv becomes steep. The reason is that high pressure plays an important role in controlling the vibration of atoms. In the high temperature region, the decrease of Cv becomes slow. Debye temperature (θ) decreases with the temperature. However, the tendency is not obvious in the low temperature region but very clear in high temperature. Moreover, θ increases with pressure and the amplitude is larger in higher temperature. Because of the four covalent bonds with different strength and distribution asymmetric thermal expansion along different axes occurs. The value of thermal expansion coefficient along c axis is more than that of along a and b axes.