Temporal evolution of primary angiitis of the central nervous system (PACNS) on MRI following immunosuppressant treatment.

Purpose: To systematically analyse the time course of vessel wall enhancement and associated stenosis in patients with primary angiitis of the central nervous system (PACNS) following immunosuppressive therapy.

Material And Methods: Two neuroradiologists retrospectively analysed MRIs of patients with PACNS seen at the Bern University Hospital and the St. Gallen Cantonal Hospital between 2015 and 2020.

Combining reverse Monte Carlo analysis of X-ray scattering and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra of very small nanoparticles.

Finite size effects in partial pair distribution functions generate artefacts in the scattering structure factor and scattering intensity. It is shown how they can be overcome using a binned version of the Debye scattering equation. Accordingly, reverse Monte Carlo simulations are used for very small nanoparticles of LaFeO with diameters below 10 nm to simultaneously analyse X-ray scattering data and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra at the La and Fe edges.

Oral administration of lutein attenuates ethanol-induced memory deficit in rats by restoration of acetylcholinesterase activity.

The excessive consumption of alcohol affects the central nervous system, resulting in memory and learning deficits. Lutein is a carotenoid known for its antioxidant properties, which can be able to prevent neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive deficits. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of lutein on ethanol-induced memory deficits in the object recognition task in adult rats, as well as the possible involvement of oxidative stress and cholinergic system.

Development of a selective and highly sensitive fluorescence assay for nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase1 (NTPDase1, CD39).

Ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase1 (NTPDase1, CD39) is a major ectonucleotidase that hydrolyzes proinflammatory ATP via ADP to AMP, which is subsequently converted by ecto-5'-nucleotidase (CD73) to immunosuppressive adenosine. Activation of CD39 has potential for treating inflammatory diseases, while inhibition was suggested as a novel strategy for the immunotherapy of cancer. In the present study, we developed a selective and highly sensitive capillary electrophoresis (CE) assay using a novel fluorescent CD39 substrate, a fluorescein-labelled ATP (PSB-170621A) that is converted to its AMP derivative.

Nanoencapsulation of lutein and its effect on mice's declarative memory.

Lutein is a xanthophyll carotenoid widely known by its biological properties and low toxicity. When located in the brain, lutein may inhibit damage mechanisms, acting in neural cells maintenance. However, this carotenoid is very sensitive to external agents such as heat, light, pH and oxidation, besides presenting low absorption in gastrointestinal tract due its low solubility in water.

Analytical validation of an ultraviolet-visible procedure for determining lutein concentration and application to lutein-loaded nanoparticles.

Lutein is a carotenoid presenting known anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Lutein-rich diets have been associated with neurological improvement as well as reduction of the risk of vision loss due to Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Micro and nanoencapsulation have demonstrated to be effective techniques in protecting lutein against degradation and also in improving its bioavailability.

, a Mutant, Defines a Neuronal Population Underlying Epileptogenesis.

Epilepsy is a neural disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. Bang-sensitive represent an important model for studying epilepsy and neuronal excitability. Previous work identified the bang-sensitive gene () as an allele of the gene.

The structural architecture of adult mammalian articular cartilage evolves by a synchronized process of tissue resorption and neoformation during postnatal development.

Objective: During postnatal development, mammalian articular cartilage acts as a surface growth plate for the underlying epiphyseal bone. Concomitantly, it undergoes a fundamental process of structural reorganization from an immature isotropic to a mature (adult) anisotropic architecture. However, the mechanism underlying this structural transformation is unknown.

Chemomechanical nanolithography: nanografting on silicon and factors impacting linewidth.

We present a two-fold extension of previous work on Atomic Force Microscope-based chemomechanical functionalization: (1) chemomechanical nanografting, which extends chemomechanical functionalization to a more stable initial surface, and (2) linewidth studies that show the impact of force and Atomic Force Microscope probe tip wear on patterning resolution. Alkene, alcohol, and alkyl halide molecules were nanografted to silicon and imaged with in situ atomic force microscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry with Automated eXpert Spectrum Image Analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Chemomechanical nanografting demonstrated linewidths down to 50 nm.

The sun and heliosphere at solar maximum.

Recent Ulysses observations from the Sun's equator to the poles reveal fundamental properties of the three-dimensional heliosphere at the maximum in solar activity. The heliospheric magnetic field originates from a magnetic dipole oriented nearly perpendicular to, instead of nearly parallel to, the Sun's rotation axis. Magnetic fields, solar wind, and energetic charged particles from low-latitude sources reach all latitudes, including the polar caps.

["Nursing care visit: possibilities and limits". An empirical study in Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein].

This study examines the distribution, understanding and objectives of nursing visits as well as the implementation and the experience with nursing visits in 87 hospitals in North Germany (Bremen, Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). The survey was conducted using a questionnaire. It was found that nursing visits are implemented in 31% of the departments.

Interception of comet Hyakutake's ion tail at a distance of 500 million kilometres.

Remote sensing observations and the direct sampling of material from a few comets have established the characteristic composition of cometary gas. This gas is ionized by solar ultraviolet radiation and the solar wind to form 'pick-up' ions, ions in a low ionization state that retain the same compositional signatures as the original gas. The pick-up ions are carried outward by the solar wind, and they could in principle be detected far from the coma (Sampling of pick-up ions has also been used to study interplanetary dust, Venus' tail and the interstellar medium.

The southern high-speed stream: results from the SWICS instrument on Ulysses.

The high-speed solar wind streaming from the southern coronal hole was remarkably uniform and steady and was confined by a sharp boundary that extended to the corona and chromosphere. Charge state measurements indicate that the electron temperature in this coronal hole reached a maximum of about 1.5 million kelvin within 3 solar radii of the sun.

Detection of interstellar pick-up hydrogen in the solar system.

Interstellar hydrogen ionized primarily by the solar wind has been detected by the SWICS instrument on the Ulysses spacecraft at a distance of 4.8 astronomical units from the sun. This "pick-up" hydrogen is identified by its distinct velocity distribution function, which drops abruptly at twice the local solar wind speed.

Full-thickness mucous membrane grafts from the vestibular (oral labial) mucosa of the lip.

Background: Full thickness mucous membrane coverage is desired for a variety of reconstructive tasks involving the oral cavity and vermilion area of the lips.

Objective: This article will inform the readership that the vestibular (oral labial) mucosal area of the lower lip close to the sulcus may provide adequate full-thickness mucous membrane graft tissue for such purposes.

Method: A series of photographs from a number of representative cases with accompanying commentary will enable the surgeon to easily incorporate this technique into his/her practice.

Plasma Composition in Jupiter's Magnetosphere: Initial Results from the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer.

The ion composition in the Jovian environment was investigated with the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer on board Ulysses. A hot tenuous plasma was observed throughout the outer and middle magnetosphere. In some regions two thermally different components were identified.

Evidence for methane and ammonia in the coma of comet P/Halley.

Methane and ammonia abundances in the coma of Halley are derived from Giotto IMS data using an Eulerian model of chemical and physical processes inside the contact surface to simulate Giotto HIS ion mass spectral data for mass-to-charge ratios (m/q) from 15 to 19. The ratio m/q = 19/18 as a function of distance from the nucleus is not reproduced by a model for a pure water coma. It is necessary to include the presence of NH3, and uniquely NH3, in coma gases in order to explain the data.