Olfactory Dysfunction as a Marker for Cognitive Impairment in General Paresis of the Insane: A Clinical Study.

BACKGROUND General paresis of the insane (GPI) is characterized by cognitive impairment, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and brain structural abnormalities, mimicking many neuropsychiatric diseases. Olfactory dysfunction has been linked to cognitive decline and neuropsychiatric symptoms in numerous neuropsychiatric diseases. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether patients with GPI experience olfactory dysfunction and whether olfactory dysfunction is associated with their clinical manifestations.

AMP deaminase: A crucial regulator in nitrogen stress and lipid metabolism in Mucor circinelloides.

Lipid biosynthesis is a significant metabolic response to nitrogen starvation in oleaginous fungi. The oleaginous fungus Mucor circinelloides copes with nitrogen stress by degrading AMP through AMP deaminase (AMPD). However, the mechanism of AMPD in regulating lipogenesis remains largely unclear.

Role of AMP Deaminase in : Implications for Nitrogen Utilization and Lipid Biosynthesis.

Lipid accumulation in oleaginous organisms is initiated by AMP deaminase (AMPD) after nitrogen depletion because it mediates the concentration of intracellular adenosine monophosphate (AMP). However, the role of AMPD in lipogenesis in the oleaginous fungus is largely unknown. Therefore, we identified the genes ( and ) encoding AMPD and investigated the role of AMPD in lipid synthesis in this fungus by overexpressing and deleting genes.

Simultaneous overexpression of ∆6-, ∆12- and ∆9-desaturases enhanced the production of γ-linolenic acid in WJ11.

WJ11, an oleaginous filamentous fungus, produces 36% lipid of its cell dry weight when cultured in a high C/N ratio medium, however, the yield of γ-linolenic acid (GLA) is insufficient to make it competitive with other plant sources. To increase the GLA content in WJ11, this fungus was engineered by overexpression of its key genes such as Δ6-, Δ12-, and Δ9-desaturases involved in GLA production. Firstly, we tried to overexpress two Δ6-desaturase isozymes to determine which one played important role in GLA synthesis.

Homologous and Heterologous Expression of Delta(12)-Desaturase in Enhanced the Production of Linolenic Acid.

Linolenic acid (LA) is gaining more interest within the scientific community. This is because it has a potential medical role in reducing the risk of inflammation, carcinogenesis, atherosclerosis and diabetes and is a valuable nutraceutical for human health. The oleaginous fungus produces a high lipid content (36%), including valuable polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

Heterologous Expression of Two Malate Transporters From an Oleaginous Fungus Improved the Lipid Accumulation in .

The fungus, , is of great interest for microbial lipids, because of its ability to accumulate intracellular lipid using various carbon sources. The biosynthesis of fatty acid requires the reducing power NADPH, and acetyl-CoA, which is produced by the cleavage of citrate in cytosol. In this study, we employed different strategies to increase lipid accumulation in the low lipid-producing fungi via metabolic engineering technology.

Class of Solid-like Electrolytes for Rechargeable Batteries Based on Metal-Organic Frameworks Infiltrated with Liquid Electrolytes.

A new family of solid-like electrolytes was developed by infiltrating MIL-100(Al), an electrochemically stable metal-organic-framework (MOF) material, with liquid electrolytes that contain cations from the 3rd period (Na, Mg, and Al) and the 1st group (Li, Na, K, and Cs). The anions were immobilized within the MOF scaffolds upon complexing with the open metal sites, allowing effective transport of the cations in the nanoporous channels with high conductivity (up to 1 mS cm) and low activation energy (down to 0.2 eV).

Covalently Bonded Si-Polymer Nanocomposites Enabled by Mechanochemical Synthesis as Durable Anode Materials.

Silicon is one of the most promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity and low cost. However, significant capacity fading caused by severe structural degradation during cycling limits its practical implication. To overcome this barrier, we design a covalently bonded nanocomposite of silicon and poly(vinyl alcohol) (Si-PVA) by high-energy ball-milling of a mixture of micron-sized Si and PVA.

CVD-assisted fabrication of hierarchical microparticulate LiTiSiO-carbon nanospheres for ultrafast lithium storage.

Particular recent interest has been given to the LiTiSiO (LTSO) anode material owing to its low lithiation potential (0.28 V vs. Li/Li) and decent theoretical capacity (308 mA h g).

Electrolyte Membranes with Biomimetic Lithium-Ion Channels.

High-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) demand efficient and selective transport of lithium ions. Inspired by ion channels in biology systems, lithium-ion channels are constructed by chemically modifying the nanoporous channels of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with negatively charged sulfonate groups. Analogous to the biological ion channels, such pendant anionic moieties repel free anions while allowing efficient transport of cations through the pore channels.

A Powder Metallurgic Approach toward High-Performance Lithium Metal Anodes.

The development of lithium metal anodes capable of sustaining large volume changes, avoiding lithium dendrite formation, and remaining stable in ambient air is crucial for commercially viable lithium metal batteries. Toward this goal, the fabrication of porous and lithiophilic copper scaffolds via a powder metallurgy strategy is reported. Infiltrating the scaffolds with molten lithium followed by exposure to Freon R134a produces lithium metal anodes with dramatically improved rate performance and cycling stability.

Adaptive soft molecular self-assemblies.

Adaptive molecular self-assemblies provide possibility of constructing smart and functional materials in a non-covalent bottom-up manner. Exploiting the intrinsic properties of responsiveness of non-covalent interactions, a great number of fancy self-assemblies have been achieved. In this review, we try to highlight the recent advances in this field.