Introduction: Considerable evidence suggests a pathophysiological role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders. Lumbar puncture and positron emission tomography (PET) show increased levels of inflammation in psychiatric disorders. However, the invasive nature of these techniques, as well as their expense, make them undesirable for routine use in patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) can severely impact functioning yet effective treatments are limited. Greater insight into the neurobiology underlying NDDs is critical to the development of successful treatments. Using a genetics-first approach, we investigated the potential of advanced diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) techniques to characterize the neural microstructure unique to neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and Noonan syndrome (NS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor well cementing at temperatures above 120 °C, thermal thinning depicts a major problem, promoting particle sedimentation decreasing slurry viscosities. This is partly caused by dispersing properties of common high temperature retarder systems and can lead to imperfect zonal isolation, endangering the stability of the wellbore. Counteracting additives tend to start losing their effectiveness at temperatures >140 °C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe photomodulation of the helical pitch of cholesteric liquid crystals results in dynamic and coloured canvases that can potentially be used in applications ranging from energy-efficient displays to colour filters, anti-counterfeiting tags and liquid crystal (LC) lasers. Here we report on the analysis of a series of photoswitchable chiral dopants that combine the large geometrical change and bistability of hydrazone switches with the efficient helical pitch induction of the chiral motif, triptycene. We elucidate the effects that conformational flexibility, dispersion forces and π-π interactions have on the chirality transfer ability of the dopant.
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