Molecular Aharonov-Bohm-type interferometers based on porphyrin nanorings.

A goal of molecular electronics and spintronics is to create molecular devices that change their conductance in response to external stimuli. The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect implies that an electronic device formed from a quantum ring and metallic leads will exhibit such behavior under external magnetic fields. At first sight, it appears that unrealistically large fields would be required to significantly alter the conductance of a molecular ring.

Positive impact of cladribine tablets on reducing brain atrophy in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A longitudinal study.

Background: Measuring brain volume changes over time is an objective and dependable surrogate marker for the pathological processes that damage the brain in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). These measures are particularly valuable for monitoring the long-term impact of immunomodulatory treatments such as cladribine.

Objectives: To evaluate the long-term impact of oral cladribine treatment on brain volume loss in patients with RRMS.

Bifurcations in a Model of Criminal Organizations and a Corrupt Judiciary.

Let a population be composed of members of a criminal organization and judges of the judicial system, in which the judges can be co-opted by this organization. In this article, a model written as a set of four nonlinear differential equations is proposed to investigate this population dynamics. The impact of the rate constants related to judges' co-optation and ex-convicts' recidivism on the population composition is explicitly examined.

Variation in social media sensitivity across people and contexts.

Social media impacts people's wellbeing in different ways, but relatively little is known about why this is the case. Here we introduce the construct of "social media sensitivity" to understand how social media and wellbeing associations differ across people and the contexts in which these platforms are used. In a month-long large-scale intensive longitudinal study (total n = 1632; total number of observations = 120,599), we examined for whom and under which circumstances social media was associated with positive and negative changes in social and affective wellbeing.

The potential of generative AI for personalized persuasion at scale.

Matching the language or content of a message to the psychological profile of its recipient (known as "personalized persuasion") is widely considered to be one of the most effective messaging strategies. We demonstrate that the rapid advances in large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, could accelerate this influence by making personalized persuasion scalable. Across four studies (consisting of seven sub-studies; total N = 1788), we show that personalized messages crafted by ChatGPT exhibit significantly more influence than non-personalized messages.

Psychological well-being in Europe after the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has had devastating effects on the Ukrainian population and the global economy, environment, and political order. However, little is known about the psychological states surrounding the outbreak of war, particularly the mental well-being of individuals outside Ukraine. Here, we present a longitudinal experience-sampling study of a convenience sample from 17 European countries (total participants = 1,341, total assessments = 44,894, countries with >100 participants = 5) that allows us to track well-being levels across countries during the weeks surrounding the outbreak of war.

Situating smartphones in daily life: Big Five traits and contexts associated with young adults' smartphone use.

We examine individual differences in smartphone behavior to understand the independent effects of Big Five traits and four different contextual factors (places, people, co-occurring activities, and psychological situations) on the frequency and duration of smartphone use in daily life. Using survey, experience sampling, and mobile sensing data collected over the span of 2 weeks from two samples of college students (Sample 1, N = 634; Sample 2, N = 211), we conducted a series of multilevel Bayesian gamma hurdle and negative binomial hurdle models to explain smartphone use (vs. nonuse) and the degree of use.

Accurate age prediction from blood using a small set of DNA methylation sites and a cohort-based machine learning algorithm.

Chronological age prediction from DNA methylation sheds light on human aging, health, and lifespan. Current clocks are mostly based on linear models and rely upon hundreds of sites across the genome. Here, we present GP-age, an epigenetic non-linear cohort-based clock for blood, based upon 11,910 methylomes.

Bioavailability of calcium in an enriched postbiotic system compared to calcium citrate in healthy postmenopausal females; A randomized, double-blind, comparator-controlled, crossover study.

Introduction: Bioavailability of calcium is an important consideration when designing supplements for achieving adequate calcium intake, mainly in high-risk, and aged populations. Alternative supplementation strategies may be able to circumvent absorption issues commonly seen with calcium supplements. The objective of this study was to assess the bioavailability of a single serving of two calcium formulations vs.

In-depth characterization of long-term humoral and cellular immune responses to COVID-19m-RNA vaccination in multiple sclerosis patients treated with teriflunomide or alemtuzumab.

Background: The impact of disease-modifying therapies on the efficacy to mount appropriate immune responses to COVID-19 vaccination in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) is currently under investigation.

Objective: To characterize long-term humoral and cellular immunity in mRNA-COVID-19 MS vaccinees treated with teriflunomide or alemtuzumab.

Methods: We prospectively measured SARS-COV-2 IgG, memory B-cells specific for SARS-CoV-2 RBD, and memory T-cells secreting IFN-γ and/or IL-2, in MS patients vaccinated with BNT162b2-COVID-19 vaccine before, 1, 3 and 6 months after the second vaccine dose, and 3-6 months following vaccine booster.

Influence of late pruning practice on two red skin grapevine cultivars in a semi-desert climate.

Continually increasing global temperature could severely affect grape berry metabolite accumulation and ultimately wine polyphenol concentration and color intensity. To explore the effect of late shoot pruning on grape berry and wine metabolite composition, field trials were carried out on cv. Malbec and cv.

Faster progression to multiple sclerosis disability is linked to neuronal pathways associated with neurodegeneration: An ethnicity study.

Although the causes of multiple sclerosis are largely unknown, genetic and environmental components play an important role. Geographic distribution, varying with latitude, reflects both genetic and environmental influences. We conducted a retrospective exploratory observational study to characterize the disability progression of 2396 Jewish patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, followed at the Sheba Multiple Sclerosis Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel; 188 patients who originated in Iraq and 2207 patients who originated in northern Europe.

Radiological Disease Activity in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.

Introduction: MRI activity is less frequent among secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) patients. In the current study, we aimed to identify SPMS patients with higher radiological disease activity (RDA) and determine their clinical characteristics.

Methods: We evaluated the occurrence of RDA in SPMS patients followed at the Sheba Multiple Sclerosis Center between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2020.

Who benefits from which activity? On the relations between personality traits, leisure activities, and well-being.

Leisure activities have been emphasized as an important predictor of well-being. However, little research has examined the effects of leisure activity enactment on well-being over time. Moreover, it is unknown which activities are most beneficial for whom.

Monocular kilometer-scale passive ranging by point-spread function engineering.

Standard imaging systems are designed for 2D representation of objects, while information about the third dimension remains implicit, as imaging-based distance estimation is a difficult challenge. Existing long-range distance estimation technologies mostly rely on active emission of signal, which as a subsystem, constitutes a significant portion of the complexity, size and cost of the active-ranging apparatus. Despite the appeal of alleviating the requirement for signal-emission, passive distance estimation methods are essentially nonexistent for ranges greater than a few hundreds of meters.

Cladribine treatment for highly active multiple sclerosis: Real-world clinical outcomes for years 3 and 4.

Introduction: Cladribine is an effective immunomodulatory treatment used for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objectives: To describe the clinical outcomes and rates of no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) in patients with highly-active disease treated with 2 years cumulative dose of cladribine, for years 3 and 4.

Methods: We used the Sheba Multiple Sclerosis computerized data registry to retrospectively evaluate year-3 and year-4 clinical outcomes and NEDA-2 rates in highly active RRMS patients who completed the 2-dose 2-year cladribine treatment protocol (3.

Well-being in social interactions: Examining personality-situation dynamics in face-to-face and computer-mediated communication.

Decades of research show that people's social lives are linked to their well-being. Yet, research on the relationship between social interactions and well-being has been largely inconclusive with regard to the effects of person-situation interactions, such as the interplay between contextual factors (e.g.

An Epidemic Model with Pro and Anti-vaccine Groups.

Here, an epidemiological model considering pro and anti-vaccination groups is proposed and analyzed. In this model, susceptible individuals can migrate between these two groups due to the influence of false and true news about safety and efficacy of vaccines. From this model, written as a set of three ordinary differential equations, analytical expressions for the disease-free steady state, the endemic steady state, and the basic reproduction number are derived.

Immune response to the third COVID-19 vaccine dose is related to lymphocyte count in multiple sclerosis patients treated with fingolimod.

Background: The majority of multiple sclerosis [MS] patients treated with fingolimod fail to develop a protective level of IgG humoral and adaptive cellular immune responses following full BNT162b2 SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of the third COVID-19 vaccine dose in vaccine non-responders fingolimod-treated MS patients.

Study Design: This is a prospective 3-month, single-center, randomized clinical trial.

Targeted cognitive game training enhances cognitive performance in multiple sclerosis patients treated with interferon beta 1-a.

Background: Prevention of cognitive decline in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is of major importance. We explored the effect of a 6 months computerized game training program on cognitive performance in MS patients with mild cognitive impairment.

Methods: This was a single-center, randomized prospective study.

Humoral immune response in multiple sclerosis patients following PfizerBNT162b2 COVID19 vaccination: Up to 6 months cross-sectional study.

Appropriate immune response following COVID-19 vaccination is important in the context of disease-modifying treatments (DMTs). In a prospective cross-sectional study, we determined SARS-COV-2 IgG response up to 6 months following PfizerBNT162b2 vaccination in 414 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 89 healthy subjects. Protective response was demonstrated in untreated MS patients (N = 76, 100%), treated with Cladribine (N = 48, 100%), Dimethyl fumarate (N = 35, 100%), Natalizumab (N = 32, 100%), and Teriflunomide (N = 39, 100%), similarly to healthy subjects (N = 89, 97.