3D alignment of distant patterns with deep-subwavelength precision using metasurfaces.

Measurement of the relative positions of two objects in three dimensions with sub-nanometer precision is essential to fundamental physics experiments and applications such as aligning multi-layer patterns of semiconductor chips. Existing methods, which rely on microscopic imaging and registration of distant patterns, lack the required accuracy and precision for the next generation of three-dimensional (3D) chips. Here we show that 3D misalignment between two distant objects can be measured using metasurface alignment marks, a laser, and a camera with sub-nanometer precision.

White Matter Microstructural Underpinnings of Mild Behavioral Impairment in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience changes in behavior, personality, and cognition that can manifest even in the initial stages of the disease. Previous studies have suggested that mild behavioral impairment (MBI) should be considered an early marker of cognitive decline. However, the precise neurostructural underpinnings of MBI in early- to mid-stage PD remain poorly understood.

Longitudinal Associations Between Mild Behavioral Impairment, Sleep Disturbance, and Progression to Dementia.

Background: Clinical guidelines recommend incorporating non-cognitive markers like mild behavioral impairment (MBI) and sleep disturbance (SD) into dementia screening to improve detection.

Objective: We investigated the longitudinal associations between MBI, SD, and incident dementia.

Methods: Participant data were from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center in the United States.

Accurate characterization of complex Bloch modes in optical chain waveguides using real-valued computations.

This research presents a highly accurate and easy-to-implement method to characterize the complex Bloch modes propagating along optical chain waveguides with three-dimensional (3D) layered geometries and dispersive negative-epsilon material compositions. The technique combines commercial EM solver results with analytical post-processing to avoid iterative complex root estimation on the complex plane. The proposed methodology is based on the real-valued computations that yield the complex Bloch wavevector with superior accuracy even when both radiation and material losses are present.

Effects of race, baseline cognition, and APOE on the association of affective dysregulation with incident dementia: A longitudinal study of dementia-free older adults.

Background: Affective symptoms are dementia risk factors. Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) is a neurobehavioral syndrome that refines incorporation of psychiatric symptomatology into dementia prognostication by stipulating symptoms must emerge de novo in later life and persist for ≥6 months. Here, we investigated the longitudinal association of MBI-affective dysregulation with incident dementia.

Vitamin D supplementation and incident dementia: Effects of sex, , and baseline cognitive status.

Introduction: Despite the association of vitamin D deficiency with incident dementia, the role of supplementation is unclear. We prospectively explored associations between vitamin D supplementation and incident dementia in 12,388 dementia-free persons from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center.

Methods: Baseline exposure to vitamin D was considered D+; no exposure prior to dementia onset was considered D-.

Functional connectivity and mild behavioral impairment in dementia-free elderly.

Background: Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) is a syndrome that uses later-life emergent and persistent neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) to identify a group at high risk for incident dementia. MBI is associated with neurodegenerative disease markers in advance of syndromic dementia. Functional connectivity (FC) correlates of MBI are understudied and could provide further insights into mechanisms early in the disease course.

Apathy and in mild behavioral impairment, and risk for incident dementia.

Introduction: Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) is a high-risk state for incident dementia and comprises five core domains including affective dysregulation, impulse dyscontrol, social inappropriateness, psychotic symptoms, and apathy. Apathy is among the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in dementia but can also develop in persons with normal cognition (NC) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The later-life emergence and persistence of apathy as part of the MBI syndrome may be a driving factor for dementia risk.

Plasma Phosphorylated Tau at Threonine 181 and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Preclinical and Prodromal Alzheimer Disease.

Background And Objectives: Plasma phosphorylated tau at threonine 181 (p-tau181), a well-validated marker of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathologic change, could be a more efficient way to diagnose AD than invasive or expensive biomarkers requiring CSF or PET. In some individuals, neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are the earliest manifestation of AD, observed in advance of clear cognitive decline. However, the few studies assessing AD biomarkers in association with NPS have often had imprecision in capturing behavioral symptoms that represent sequelae of neurodegenerative disease.

Multi-octave metasurface-based refractory superabsorber enhanced by a tapered unit-cell structure.

An ultra-broadband metasurface-based perfect absorber is proposed based on a periodic array of truncated cone-shaped [Formula: see text] surrounded by TiN/[Formula: see text] conical rings. Due to the refractory materials involved in the metasurface, the given structure can keep its structural stability at high temperatures. The proposed structure can achieve a broadband spectrum of 4.

Progression to Dementia or Reversion to Normal Cognition in Mild Cognitive Impairment as a Function of Late-Onset Neuropsychiatric Symptoms.

Background And Objectives: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an at-risk state for dementia; however, not all individuals with MCI transition to dementia, and some revert to normal cognition (NC). Here, we investigate whether mild behavioral impairment (MBI), the late-life onset of persistent neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), improves the prognostic specificity of MCI.

Methods: Participants with MCI from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set were included.

Anapole-assisted giant electric field enhancement for surface-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy.

The coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) techniques are recognized for their ability to detect and identify vibrational coherent processes down to the single-molecular levels. Plasmonic oligomers supporting full-range Fano-like line profiles in their scattering spectrum are one of the most promising class of substrates in the context of surface-enhanced (SE) CARS application. In this work, an engineered assembly of metallic disk-shaped nanoparticles providing two Fano-like resonance modes is presented as a highly-efficient design of SECARS substrate.

A Novel Three-Choice Touchscreen Task to Examine Spatial Attention and Orienting Responses in Rodents.

Mammalian orienting behavior consists of coordinated movements of the eyes, head, pinnae, vibrissae, or body to attend to an external stimulus. The present study aimed to develop a novel operant task using a touch-screen system to measure spatial attention. In this task, rats were trained to nose-poke a light stimulus presented in one of three locations.

Comparison of biofilm production and virulence gene distribution among community- and hospital-acquired Staphylococcus aureus isolates from northwestern Iran.

Introduction: The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant isolates among Staphylococcus aureus and their genetic variations has become a major concern worldwide. The present study aims at comparing the biofilm formation and the genes encoding adhesion molecules in methicillin-susceptible, community- and hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-intermediate and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus isolates.

Single-unit activity in marmoset posterior parietal cortex in a gap saccade task.

Abnormal saccadic eye movements can serve as biomarkers for patients with several neuropsychiatric disorders. The common marmoset () is becoming increasingly popular as a nonhuman primate model to investigate the cortical mechanisms of saccadic control. Recently, our group demonstrated that microstimulation in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of marmosets elicits contralateral saccades.

Electrical microstimulation evokes saccades in posterior parietal cortex of common marmosets.

The common marmoset () is a small-bodied New World primate increasing in prominence as a model animal for neuroscience research. The lissencephalic cortex of this primate species provides substantial advantages for the application of electrophysiological techniques such as high-density and laminar recordings, which have the capacity to advance our understanding of local and laminar cortical circuits and their roles in cognitive and motor functions. This is particularly the case with respect to the oculomotor system, as critical cortical areas of this network such as the frontal eye fields (FEF) and lateral intraparietal area (LIP) lie deep within sulci in macaques.

Intrinsic functional clustering of anterior cingulate cortex in the common marmoset.

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) has garnered recent attention as a potentially powerful preclinical model and complement to other canonical mammalian models of human brain diseases (e.g., rodents and Old World non-human primates).

Emergence of vancomycin-intermediate and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus among methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolated from clinical specimens in the northwest of Iran.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency as well as the phenotypic and molecular characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) isolates from clinical specimens at three university teaching hospitals in Urmia, Northwest Iran, from 2012-2015.

Methods: Following identification of the isolates, antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed.

Alteration in the Local and Global Functional Connectivity of Resting State Networks in Parkinson's Disease.

Objective: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that mainly leads to the impairment of patients' motor function, as well as of cognition, as it progresses. This study tried to investigate the impact of PD on the resting state functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN), as well as of the entire brain.

Methods: Sixty patients with PD were included and compared to 60 matched normal control (NC) subjects.

Evaluation of anti-bacterial effects of nickel nanoparticles on biofilm production by .

Background And Objectives: produces biofilm by extracellular polysaccharides, causing bacterial adherence to different surfaces. Anti-microbial effects of nickel nanoparticles on some bacterial strains such as and have been determined in limited studies. The aim of the present study is to examine the inhibitory effect of nickel nanoparticles on biofilm formation using clinical isolates of and its hemolytic effect on human red blood cells.

Frontoparietal Functional Connectivity in the Common Marmoset.

In contrast to the well established macaque monkey, little is known about functional connectivity patterns of common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus) that is poised to become the leading transgenic primate model. Here, we used resting-state ultra-high-field fMRI data collected from anesthetized marmosets and macaques along with awake human subjects, to examine and compare the brain's functional organization, with emphasis on the saccade system. Exploratory independent component analysis revealed eight resting-state networks in marmosets that greatly overlapped with corresponding macaque and human networks including a distributed frontoparietal network.

Association of chromosomal locus 8q24 and risk of prostate cancer: a hospital-based study of German patients treated with brachytherapy.

Background: Genetic susceptibility contributes to the risk of prostate cancer but the underlying genes are largely unknown. Polymorphic loci on chromosome 8q24 have emerged as possible risk factors for breast and prostate cancer from genome-wide association studies.

Objective: We aimed to define the risks associated with two single nucleotide polymorphisms, rs1447295 and rs13281615, in a hospital-based series of prostate cancer patients treated with brachytherapy.