Tailoring Phonon Dispersion of a Genetically Designed Nanophononic Metasurface.

Phonon engineering at the nanoscale holds immense promise for a myriad of applications. However, the design of phononic devices continues to rely on regular shapes chosen according to long-established simple rules. Here, we demonstrate an inverse design approach to create a two-dimensional phononic metasurface exhibiting a highly anisotropic phonon dispersion along the main axes of the Brillouin zone.

Determinants of Carotid Wall Echolucency in a Cohort of European High Cardiovascular Risk Subjects: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of IMPROVE Baseline Data.

Echolucency, a measure of plaque instability associated with increased cardiovascular risk, can be assessed in both the carotid plaque and the plaque-free common carotid intima-media (IM) complex as a gray-scale median (plaque-GSM and IM-GSM, respectively). The impact of specific vascular risk factors on these two phenotypes remains uncertain, including the nature and extent of their influence. This study aims to seek the determinants of plaque-GSM and IM-GSM.

Different glycosylation profiles of cystatin F alter the cytotoxic potential of natural killer cells.

Cystatin F, a cysteine peptidase inhibitor, is a potent modulator of NK cytotoxicity. By inhibiting granule-mediated cytotoxicity pathway, cystatin F induces formation of non-functional NK cell stage, called split-anergy. We show that N-glycosylation determines the localization and cellular function of cystatin F.

[How to overcome barriers to implementation of prevention and management strategies of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease through lipid-lowering therapy].

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases remain the main cause of mortality worldwide, due to a poor control of modifiable risk factors for atherosclerosis. High levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol represent the most relevant actor in the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, as well as the main target of prevention strategies. Although lipid-lowering treatments were shown to be effective for cardiovascular prevention, several barriers (e.