Varenicline Attenuates Memory Impairment in Amyloid-Beta-Induced Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline. Despite extensive research, therapeutic options remain limited. Varenicline, an αβ nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, shows promise in enhancing cognitive function.

DFT study of the binary intermetallic compound NdMn in different polytypic phases.

Context: The structural stability, ground state magnetic order, electronic, elastic and thermoelectric properties of NdMn in the C15, C14 and C36 polytypic phases is investigated. The magnetic phase optimization and magnetic susceptibility reveal that NdMn is antiferromagnetic (AFM) in C36 phase; and paramagnetic (PM) in C14 and C15 phases respectively. The band profiles and electrical resistivity show the metallic nature in all these polytypic phases and reveal that the C36 phase possesses smaller resistivity.

Outcomes of electrical injuries in the emergency department: epidemiology, severity predictors, and chronic sequelae.

Introduction: Electrical injuries (EIs) represent a significant clinical challenge due to their complex pathophysiology and variable presentation, ranging from minor burns to severe internal organ damage. Despite their prevalence in both; domestic and occupational settings, there remains a rareness of systematic guidelines and comprehensive literature to aid clinicians in effectively managing these injuries. Understanding these factors is crucial for developing protocols that can mitigate the risk of delayed complications, such as cardiac arrhythmias, in patients who initially appear stable.

Exploring van der Waals Cuprate Superconductors Using a Hybrid Microwave Circuit.

The advent of two-dimensional van der Waals materials is a frontier of condensed matter physics and quantum devices. However, characterizing such materials remains challenging due to the limitations of bulk material techniques, necessitating the development of specialized methods. Here, we investigate the superconducting properties of BiSrCaCuO flakes by integrating them with a hybrid superconducting microwave resonator.

Leadless Pacemaker Implantation Following Lead Extraction in a Patient With Recent Percutaneous Tricuspid Valve Repair.

This case details the successful implantation of a leadless pacemaker following the extraction of transvenous leads in a 72-year-old female patient with a complex cardiovascular history. The patient had undergone a series of cardiac interventions, including a recent percutaneous tricuspid valve repair with a metal clip implant due to severe regurgitation. After presenting with an infection at the pacemaker site, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus hominis was identified, necessitating the removal of the entire pacing system.

High-Viability Circulating Tumor Cells Sorting From Whole Blood at Single Cell Level Using Laser-Induced Forward Transfer-Assisted Microfiltration.

The efficient isolation and molecular analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole blood at single-cell level are crucial for understanding tumor metastasis and developing personalized treatments. The viability of isolated cells is the key prerequisite for the downstream molecular analysis, especially for RNA sequencing. This study develops a laser-induced forward transfer -assisted microfiltration system (LIFT-AMFS) for high-viability CTC enrichment and retrieval from whole blood.

Natural language processing-based classification of early Alzheimer's disease from connected speech.

Introduction: The automated analysis of connected speech using natural language processing (NLP) emerges as a possible biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, it remains unclear which types of connected speech are most sensitive and specific for the detection of AD.

Methods: We applied a language model to automatically transcribed connected speech from 114 Flemish-speaking individuals to first distinguish early AD patients from amyloid negative cognitively unimpaired (CU) and then amyloid negative from amyloid positive CU individuals using five different types of connected speech.

Evaluating a Hearing Loop Implementation for Live Orchestral Music.

Objectives: Live music creates a sense of connectedness in older adults, which can help alleviate the social isolation frequently associated with hearing loss and aging. However, most hearing-aid (HA) users are dissatisfied with the sound quality of live music and rate sound quality as important to them. Assistive listening systems are frequently independent of a user's HAs and fall short in tailoring to each individual's hearing loss.

Bimetallic Sulfides CrVS with Loosely Packed Structure: Exploring the Boundary of Conversion and Intercalation Sodium-Ion Storage Mechanism.

Metal sulfide electrodes for sodium-ion batteries face trade-offs among high capacity, fast kinetics, and stability. The challenge lies in breaking and restoring metal-sulfur bonds and allowing rapid ionic transport. Here we explore the boundary of conversion- and intercalation-type metal sulfides to develop ideal sodium-ion storage materials.

Germanium nanocrystal non-volatile memory devices: fabrication, charge storage mechanism and characterization.

The widespread proliferation and increasing use of portable electronic devices and wearables, and the recent developments in artificial intelligence and internet-of-things, have fuelled the need for high-density and low-voltage non-volatile memory devices. Nanocrystal memory, an emergent non-volatile memory (NVM) device that makes use of the Coulomb blockade effect, can potentially result in the scaling of the tunnel dielectric layer to a very small thickness. Since the nanocrystals are electrically isolated, potential charge leakage paths localized defects in the thin tunnel dielectric can be substantially reduced, unlike that in a continuous polysilicon floating gate structure.

Asymmetric self-organization from a symmetric film by phase separation.

Self-organization realizes various nanostructures to control material properties such as superconducting vortex pinning and thermal conductivity. However, the self-organization of nucleation and growth is constrained by the growth geometric symmetry. To realize highly controlled three-dimensional nanostructures by self-organization, nanostructure formation that breaks the growth geometric symmetry thermodynamically and kinetically, such as tilted or in-plane aligned nanostructures, is a challenging issue.

A linearly polarized AC-driven perovskite light emitting device with nanoscale metal contact.

Electroluminescent (EL) devices consisting of a single metal-semiconductor contact and a gate effect structure have garnered significant attention in the field of perovskite light-emitting devices. This interest is largely due to the thermal stability of the active layer and the simplicity of the device structure. However, the application of these devices in large-area light-emitting applications is hindered by the inherently low carrier mobility in perovskite materials.

The development of a wearable goggle echolocation device to support people who are visually impaired with unhindered and unaided movement.

The mobility of people with severe visual impairment is limited affecting their comfort and productivity. There are about 45 million people who are blind with global financial burden and annual global cost of productivity estimated to be USD411 billion according to World Health Organization report of 2024. The contributions of the people who are visually impaired to the gross domestic product (GDP) can be enhanced deploying technology.

Multi-center benchmarking of cervical spinal cord RF coils for 7 T MRI: A traveling spines study.

Purpose: The depth within the body, small diameter, long length, and varying tissue surrounding the spinal cord impose specific considerations when designing radiofrequency coils. The optimal coil configuration for 7 T cervical spinal cord MRI is unknown and, currently, there are very few coil options. The purpose of this work was (1) to establish a quality control protocol for evaluating 7 T cervical spinal cord coils and (2) to use that protocol to evaluate the performance of 4 different coil designs.

A preparatory cranial potential for saccadic eye movements in macaque monkeys.

Response preparation is accomplished by gradual accumulation in neural activity until a threshold is reached. In humans, such a preparatory signal, referred to as the lateralized readiness potential, can be observed in the EEG over sensorimotor cortical areas before execution of a voluntary movement. Although well-described for manual movements, less is known about preparatory EEG potentials for saccadic eye movements in humans and nonhuman primates.

Modification of Non-photochemical Quenching Pathways in the C Model Plant Revealed Shared and Unique Photoprotection Mechanisms as Compared to C Plants.

Light is essential for photosynthesis; however, excess light can increase the accumulation of photoinhibitory reactive oxygen species that reduce photosynthetic efficiency. Plants have evolved photoprotective non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) pathways to dissipate excess light energy. In tobacco and soybean (C plants), overexpression of three NPQ genes, e (VDE), (PsbS), and (ZEP), hereafter VPZ, resulted in faster NPQ induction and relaxation kinetics, and increased crop yields in field conditions.

Combinatorial phenotypic landscape enables bacterial resistance to phage infection.

Success of phage therapies is limited by bacterial defenses against phages. While a large variety of anti-phage defense mechanisms has been characterized, how expression of these systems is distributed across individual cells and how their combined activities translate into protection from phages has not been studied. Using bacterial single-cell RNA sequencing, we profiled the transcriptomes of ~50,000 cells from cultures of a human pathobiont, , infected with a lytic bacteriophage.

Accurate Prediction of Protein Complex Stoichiometry by Integrating AlphaFold3 and Template Information.

Protein structure prediction methods require stoichiometry information (i.e., subunit counts) to predict the quaternary structure of protein complexes.

Dual opposing quadrature-PT symmetry.

Our recent research on type-I quadrature parity-time (PT) symmetry, utilizing an open twin-beam system, not only enables observing genuine quantum photonic PT symmetry amid phase-sensitive amplification (PSA) and loss in the presence of Langevin noise but also reveals an additional classical-to-quantum (C2Q) transition in noise fluctuations. In contrast to the previous setup, our exploration of an alternative system assuming no loss involves a type-II PSA-only scheme. This scheme facilitates dual opposing quadrature-PT symmetry, offering a comprehensive and complementary comprehension of C2Q transitions and PT-enhanced quantum sensing with optimal performance in the symmetry unbroken region.

Electrochemically grafted molecular layers as on-chip energy storage molecular junctions.

Molecular junctions (MJs) are celebrated nanoelectronic devices for mimicking conventional electronic functions, including rectifiers, sensors, wires, switches, transistors, negative differential resistance, and memory, following an understanding of charge transport mechanisms. However, capacitive nanoscale molecular junctions are rarely seen. The present work describes electrochemically (E-Chem) grown covalently attached molecular thin films of 10, 14.

A critical appraisal of advances in integrated CO capture and electrochemical conversion.

This perspective work examines the current advancements in integrated CO capture and electrochemical conversion technologies, comparing the emerging methods of (1) electrochemical reactive capture (eRCC) though amine- and (bi)carbonate-mediated processes and (2) direct (flue gas) adsorptive capture and conversion (ACC) with the conventional approach of sequential carbon capture and conversion (SCCC). We initially identified and discussed a range of cell-level technological bottlenecks inherent to eRCC and ACC including, but not limited to, mass transport limitations of reactive species, limitation of dimerization, impurity effects, inadequate generation of CO to sustain industrially relevant current densities, and catalyst instabilities with respect to some eRCC electrolytes, amongst others. We followed this with stepwise perspectives on whether these are considered intrinsic challenges of the technologies - otherwise recommendations were disclosed where appropriate.

Clinical efficacy of bladder function training combined with pelvic floor biofeedback electrical stimulation on neurogenic bladder and its impact on urodynamics.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of bladder function training combined with pelvic floor biofeedback electrical stimulation in the treatment of neurogenic bladder and its impact on urodynamics.

Methods: This was a clinical comparative study. A total of 120 patients with neurogenic bladder after spinal cord injury admitted to Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital of Capital Medical University and Beijing Shijingshan Hospital from January 2023 to December 2023 were randomly divided into two groups (n= 60/group).

Development of right ventricular electromechanical dyssynchrony following surgical repair of tetralogy of Fallot in infants.

Background: In adolescents and adults with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), right ventricle (RV) electromechanical dyssynchrony (EMD) due to right bundle branch block (RBBB) is associated with reduced exercise capacity and RV dysfunction. While the development of RBBB following surgical repair of tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) is a frequent sequela, it is not known whether EMD is present in every patient immediately following rTOF. The specific timing of the onset of RBBB following rTOF therefore provides an opportunity to assess whether acute RBBB is associated with the simultaneous acquisition of EMD.

Improving auditory attention decoding by classifying intracranial responses to glimpsed and masked acoustic events.

Listeners with hearing loss have trouble following a conversation in multitalker environments. While modern hearing aids can generally amplify speech, these devices are unable to tune into a target speaker without first knowing to which speaker a user aims to attend. Brain-controlled hearing aids have been proposed using auditory attention decoding (AAD) methods, but current methods use the same model to compare the speech stimulus and neural response, regardless of the dynamic overlap between talkers which is known to influence neural encoding.