Racial/Ethnic Differences in Neuropsychological Test Performance in Frontotemporal Degeneration.

Racial disparities in neuropsychological test performance are well documented in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) but have received little attention in frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). Identification of potential disparities in neuropsychological performance is critical to identify ways to improve inclusivity in clinical research and care of representative FTD populations. We evaluated disparities in neuropsychological performance among individuals with clinically diagnosed FTD (behavioral variant FTD [bvFTD] or primary progressive aphasia [PPA]) using data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) collected between September 2005 and November 2023.

Tribological and Hygroscopic Behavior of Polybutylene Terephthalate/Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (PBT/ASA) Nanocomposites with Graphene Nanofiller.

Fogging in automotive headlamps is a significant issue that affects both aesthetics and functionality. This study investigates the use of graphene-based nanocomposites to mitigate fogging by enhancing the hygroscopic properties of polybutylene terephthalate/acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (PBT/ASA) composites commonly used in headlamps. The incorporation of functionalized graphene improved the tensile and flexural strength of the nanocomposites, though it led to a reduction in elongation and melt flow.

The roles and mechanisms of coding and noncoding RNA variations in cancer.

Functional variations in coding and noncoding RNAs are crucial in tumorigenesis, with cancer-specific alterations often resulting from chemical modifications and posttranscriptional processes mediated by enzymes. These RNA variations have been linked to tumor cell proliferation, growth, metastasis, and drug resistance and are valuable for identifying diagnostic or prognostic cancer biomarkers. The diversity of posttranscriptional RNA modifications, such as splicing, polyadenylation, methylation, and editing, is particularly significant due to their prevalence and impact on cancer progression.

Cognitive reserve in ALS: the role of occupational skills and requirements.

Objective: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative condition featuring variable degrees of motor and cognitive impairment. We assessed the impact of specific, empirically derived occupational skills and requirements on cognitive and motor functioning in ALS.

Methods: Individuals with ALS (n = 150) were recruited from the University of Pennsylvania's Comprehensive ALS Clinic.

Racial Differences in Clinical Presentation in Individuals Diagnosed With Frontotemporal Dementia.

Importance: Prior research suggests there are racial disparities in the presentation of dementia, but this has not been investigated in the context of frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Objective: To explore racial disparities in dementia severity, functional impairment, and neuropsychiatric symptoms in individuals with a diagnosis of FTD.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This exploratory cross-sectional study of National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) data collected between June 2005 to August 2021 evaluated Asian, Black, and White individuals with a diagnosis of FTD (behavioral variant FTD or primary progressive aphasia).

Control of Tire Wear Particulate Matter through Tire Tread Prescription.

This study aims to analyze tire wear particulate matter (TWP) from tread rubber with different formulations and to compare the concentration of TWP with different wear devices. The TWP generated during the abrasion of truck and bus radial (TBR) tires were examined, and the effect of using different types of rubber and carbon black (CB) were investigated. When natural rubber (NR) was solely used as the tire tread rubber material, there was a higher concentration of 5-10 µm TWP.

Reducing Moisture Absorption in Polypropylene Nanocomposites for Automotive Headlamps Using Hydrophobicity-Modified Graphene/Montmorillonite.

Polypropylene (PP) is used as a housing material in automotive headlamps but can cause fogging as a result of absorbed moisture and temperature differences between the exterior and interior of the housing. In this study, PP was combined with a graphene/montmorillonite hybrid (MMT-G) to yield a nanocomposite with reduced moisture absorption. Crucially, the modified nanofiller had low hydrophilicity and good compatibility with the PP matrix.

Enhanced primary ciliogenesis via mitochondrial oxidative stress activates AKT to prevent neurotoxicity in HSPA9/mortalin-depleted SH-SY5Y cells.

The primary cilium, an antenna-like structure on the cell surface, acts as a mechanical and chemical sensory organelle. Primary cilia play critical roles in sensing the extracellular environment to coordinate various developmental and homeostatic signaling pathways. Here, we showed that the depletion of heat shock protein family A member 9 (HSPA9)/mortalin stimulates primary ciliogenesis in SH-SY5Y cells.

Light control using vertically aligned dichroic dye films for windshield antireflection in automotive displays.

A vertically aligned dichroic dye (VA-Dye) film, whose absorption axis is perpendicular to that of its substrates, was laminated on a display panel in which the absorption axis of the top polarizer was set to 0°. In the vertical viewing angle of the display panel, the absorption axes of the top polarizer and dichroic dye are at right angles to each other, and, so, the light emitted from the display panel can be blocked. In the horizontal viewing angle of the display panel, the absorption axes of the top polarizer and dichroic dye are parallel to each other so that the light emitted from the display panel can be transmitted.

ADAR1-dependent miR-3144-3p editing simultaneously induces MSI2 expression and suppresses SLC38A4 expression in liver cancer.

Aberrant adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing, catalyzed by adenosine deaminase acting on double-stranded RNA (ADAR), has been implicated in various cancers, but the mechanisms by which microRNA (miRNA) editing contributes to cancer development are largely unknown. Our multistage hepatocellular carcinogenesis transcriptome data analyses, together with publicly available data, indicated that ADAR1 was the most profoundly dysregulated gene among RNA-editing enzyme family members in liver cancer. Targeted inactivation of ADAR1 inhibited the in vitro tumorigenesis of liver cancer cells.

Atomic-Scale Homogeneous RuCu Alloy Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction.

Ruthenium (Ru) is the most widely used metal as an electrocatalyst for nitrogen (N ) reduction reaction (NRR) because of the relatively high N adsorption strength for successive reaction. Recently, it has been well reported that the homogeneous Ru-based metal alloys such as RuRh, RuPt, and RuCo significantly enhance the selectivity and formation rate of ammonia (NH ). However, the metal combinations for NRR have been limited to several miscible combinations of metals with Ru, although various immiscible combinations have immense potential to show high NRR performance.

Impact of Denoising on Deep-Learning-Based Automatic Segmentation Framework for Breast Cancer Radiotherapy Planning.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the segmentation accuracy of organs at risk (OARs) when denoised computed tomography (CT) images are used as input data for a deep-learning-based auto-segmentation framework. Methods: We used non-contrast enhanced planning CT scans from 40 patients with breast cancer. The heart, lungs, esophagus, spinal cord, and liver were manually delineated by two experienced radiation oncologists in a double-blind manner.

Durability and Service Life Prediction of Fluorocarbon Elastomer under Thermal Environments.

This study investigated the service life prediction of fluorocarbon elastomers that are used in automotive vapor fuel hoses under thermal environments. The changes in mechanical properties such as the tensile strength, elongation, compression set (CS), and hardness according to thermal aging were investigated for two types of ternary fluoroelastomers. Destructive tests of the tensile strength and elongation showed large variations in the mechanical properties under the same condition because there is no continuity of samples.

Serum Proteins, HMMR, NXPH4, PITX1 and THBS4; A Panel of Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The high morbidity rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is mainly linked to late diagnosis. Early diagnosis of this leading cause of mortality is therefore extremely important. We designed a gene selection strategy to identify potential secretory proteins by predicting signal peptide cleavage sites in amino acid sequences derived from transcriptome data of human multistage HCC comprising chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and early and overt HCCs.

Application of Artificial Intelligence in the Intervention of Sports on Adolescent Health Risk Behavior.

Through school education to intervene in the behavior of adolescent health risk behaviors students and guide students to have a correct concept of quality and health, this paper uses artificial intelligence technology to mine students' body language to analyze students' behavior in quality education dance classes, so as to achieve effective intervention for AHRB students. Before the experimental study, AHRB students and normal students were mixed into groups in a ratio of not less than 1 : 18. The results of the study showed that the implementation of intervention strategies could reduce the recurrence of various risky behaviors in adolescents.

Tribological Properties of Polyamide 46/Graphene Nanocomposites.

Polyamide 46 (PA46) is used in various automotive parts because of its excellent heat resistance and mechanical properties. This study aims to improve the frictional properties of PA46 using the lubricating ability of graphene. Nanocomposites are prepared via two mixing methods: Graphene powder is compounded directly with PA46 pellets through a twin-screw extruder, or PA46 powder is added to graphene dispersion for self-adsorption, and subsequently, it is dried and compounded with PA46 through the twin-screw extruder.

Genetic counselor approaches to BRCA1/2 direct-to-consumer genetic testing results.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends clinical-grade genetic testing to confirm commercial results from direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTC-GT) companies and third-party interpretation (TPI) services; however, the type of confirmatory testing that genetic counselors (GCs) recommend remains uncharacterized. Therefore, we aimed to describe GCs testing strategies for patients who have already obtained DTC-GT results (23andMe) or TPI data (Promethease) that reported a BRCA1/2 pathogenic variant. We invited GCs specializing in clinical cancer genetics to complete an online survey distributed to members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors.

Synthesis of polyurethane foam from ultrasonically decrosslinked automotive seat cushions.

In this study, we have investigated the recycling of flexible polyurethane foam (PUF) using an ultrasonic reactor. Waste PUF of automotive seat cushions were subjected to ultrasonic horn oscillation of various amplitudes at different flow rate. Successful decrosslinking of ultrasonically treated waste PUF was confirmed by thorough characterizations such as gel fraction, crosslink density, and thermal property.

Automated Text Analysis Based on Skip-Gram Model for Food Evaluation in Predicting Consumer Acceptance.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate food taste, smell, and characteristics from consumers' online reviews. Several studies in food sensory evaluation have been presented for consumer acceptance. However, these studies need taste descriptive word lexicon, and they are not suitable for analyzing large number of evaluators to predict consumer acceptance.

Protective effects of guggulsterone against colitis are associated with the suppression of TREM-1 and modulation of macrophages.

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1)-expressing intestinal macrophages are significantly increased in the colons of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We focused here on the effects of guggulsterone on macrophage modulation in colitis as a potential therapeutic molecule in human IBD and explore the underlying mechanisms. Gene expression in macrophages was examined and wound-healing assay using HT-29 cells was performed.

Effect of sound generator on tinnitus and hyperacusis.

Objective: Sound generator (SG) plays a role as effective sound therapy of tinnitus retaining therapy (TRT) in patients with severe tinnitus (Category 1) or hyperacusis (Category 3). This study was performed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of SGs.

Methods: A total of 120 tinnitus patients who visited our tinnitus clinic and were treated with SG along with TRT from January 2008 to December 2016 were included.

Trans-radial Carotid Artery Stenting in a Patient with Abdominal Aortic Occlusion.

We report transradial access (TRA) for emergency carotid artery stenting (CAS) as a useful alternative when the femoral artery cannot be accessed. A 63-year-old man arrived at our emergency room 30 minutes after left hemiplegia and loss of consciousness. Brain computed tomography (CT) anigograpy showed occlusion of the right interntal carotid artery (ICA) and CT perfusion revealed delayed time-to-peak in the territory of the middle cerebral artery.

FOXC2 and CLIP4 : a potential biomarker for synchronous metastasis of ≤7-cm clear cell renal cell carcinomas.

Renal cell carcinomas (RCC) smaller than 7-cm are heterogeneous and exhibit metastatic potential in approximately 15% of cases. Although large-scale characterization of mutations in clear cell RCC (ccRCC), the most common RCC subtype, has been established, the genetic alterations related to ≤7-cm ccRCCs undergoing synchronous metastasis are poorly understood. To discover biomarkers that can be used to estimate the risk of synchronous metastasis in these ccRCC patients, we performed whole exome sequencing on the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples of 10 ccRCC patients with ≤7-cm tumors and synchronous metastasis and expanded our study using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) ccRCC dataset (n = 201).

Concurrent Mucosal Melanoma and Angiofibroma of the Nose.

Malignant melanoma rarely develops in the paranasal sinuses, and generally has a poor prognosis. However, mucosal melanoma can masquerade both clinically and histopathologically as a benign lesion, rendering accurate early diagnosis difficult. On the other hand, angiofibroma, a benign tumor, is more easily diagnosed than a mucosal melanoma, because the former exhibits specific histopathological features.

A Feasibility Study of a Tilted Head Position in Helical Tomotherapy for Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy of Intracranial Malignancies.

Herein, we evaluated the feasibility of placing patients in a tilted head position as part of routine clinical practice for fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT) of intracranial tumors using helical tomotherapy (HT), by assessing its dosimetric benefit and setup accuracy. We reviewed treatment plans of four cases that were to receive FSRT for brain lesions in normal and head-tilted positions. These patients underwent two computed tomography (CT) scans: first in the normal supine position and then in the supine position with the head tilted at a 458 angle.