Publications by authors named "M M Boccia"

Article Synopsis
  • Visual mental imagery (VMI) is the brain's ability to create images without actual sensory input, and it shows changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) but hasn't been studied in the earlier stage called mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
  • The study examined VMI in 14 mild AD patients, 19 with amnestic MCI, and 23 healthy controls using specific tests to measure different VMI processes.
  • Results indicated that AD patients struggled significantly with image creation and manipulation, while those with aMCI had issues mostly with creating mental images, suggesting VMI deficits appear early in the progression of Alzheimer's.
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Laser based-powder bed fusion (LB-PBF) enables fast, efficient, and cost-effective production of high-performing products. While advanced functionalities are often derived from geometric complexity, the capability to tailor material properties also offers significant opportunities for technical innovation across many fields. This study explores the optimization of the LB-PBF process parameters for producing Ti6Al4V titanium alloy parts with controlled porosity.

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The claustrum is a brain structure that remains shrouded in mystery due to the limited understanding of its cellular structure, neural pathways, functionality and physiological aspects. Significant research has unveiled connections spanning from the claustrum to the entire cortex as well as subcortical areas. This widespread connectivity has led to speculations of its role in integrating information from different brain regions, possibly contributing to processes such as attention, consciousness, learning and memory.

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plants produce two major classes of valuable sterol-derived natural products-steroidal glycoalkaloids and steroidal saponins-from a common cholesterol precursor. Attempts to heterologously produce these molecules have consistently failed, although the genes responsible for each biosynthetic step have been identified. Here we identify a cellulose synthase-like protein, an unexpected biosynthetic component that interacts with the early pathway enzymes, enabling steroidal scaffolds production in plants.

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