Measuring acute effects of subanesthetic ketamine on cerebrovascular hemodynamics in humans using TD-fNIRS.

Quantifying neural activity in natural conditions (i.e. conditions comparable to the standard clinical patient experience) during the administration of psychedelics may further our scientific understanding of the effects and mechanisms of action.

Lysine-Derived Charge-Altering Releasable Transporters: Targeted Delivery of mRNA and siRNA to the Lungs.

Targeted delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics to the lungs could transform treatment options for pulmonary disease. We have previously developed oligomeric charge-altering releasable transporters (CARTs) for in vivo mRNA transfection and demonstrated their efficacy for use in mRNA-based cancer vaccination and local immunomodulatory therapies against murine tumors. While our previously reported glycine-based CART-mRNA complexes (mRNA) show selective protein expression in the spleen (mouse, >99%), here, we report a new lysine-derived CART-mRNA complex mRNA that, without additives or targeting ligands, shows selective protein expression in the lungs (mouse, >90%) following systemic IV administration.

Kernel Flow: a high channel count scalable time-domain functional near-infrared spectroscopy system.

Significance: Time-domain functional near-infrared spectroscopy (TD-fNIRS) has been considered as the gold standard of noninvasive optical brain imaging devices. However, due to the high cost, complexity, and large form factor, it has not been as widely adopted as continuous wave NIRS systems.

Aim: Kernel Flow is a TD-fNIRS system that has been designed to break through these limitations by maintaining the performance of a research grade TD-fNIRS system while integrating all of the components into a small modular device.

Synthesis and mechanistic investigations of pH-responsive cationic poly(aminoester)s.

The synthesis and degradation mechanisms of a class of pH-sensitive, rapidly degrading cationic poly(α-aminoester)s are described. These reactive, cationic polymers are stable at low pH in water, but undergo a fast and selective degradation at higher pH to liberate neutral diketopiperazines. Related materials incorporating oligo(α-amino ester)s have been shown to be effective gene delivery agents, as the charge-altering degradative behavior facilitates the delivery and release of mRNA and other nucleic acids and .

Verbal Memory Performance and Reduced Cortical Thickness of Brain Regions Along the Uncinate Fasciculus in Young Adult Cannabis Users.

Memory impairment is one of the most commonly reported effects of cannabis use, especially among those who initiate use earlier, perhaps due to the effects of delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol on cannabinoid (CB1) receptors in the brain. Studies have increasingly investigated whether cannabis use is associated with impairments in verbal memory, and with alterations in brain structures underlying verbal memory. The uncinate fasciculus (UF), a long-range white matter tract, connects regions with densely localized CB1 receptors that are important in verbal memory.

Pd-Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidation Reactions: Strategies To Increase Catalyst Lifetimes.

The palladium complex [(neocuproine)Pd(μ-OAc)][OTf] (1, neocuproine = 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline) is an effective catalyst precursor for the selective oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols, vicinal diols, polyols, and carbohydrates. Both air and benzoquinone can be used as terminal oxidants, but aerobic oxidations are accompanied by oxidative degradation of the neocuproine ligand, thus necessitating high Pd loadings. Several strategies to improve aerobic catalyst lifetimes were devised, guided by mechanistic studies of catalyst deactivation.