Role of Monovalent Ions in the NKCC1 Inhibition Mechanism Revealed through Molecular Simulations.

The secondary active Na-K-Cl cotransporter 1 (NKCC1) promotes electroneutral uptake of two chloride ions, one sodium ion and one potassium ion. NKCC1 regulates Cl homeostasis, thus being implicated in transepithelial water transport and in neuronal excitability. Aberrant NKCC1 transport is linked to a variety of human diseases.

Assessing the Efficacy of Whole-Body Titanium Dental Implant Surface Modifications in Inducing Adhesion, Proliferation, and Osteogenesis in Human Adipose Tissue Stem Cells.

Background: Although the influence of titanium implants' micro-surface properties on titanium discs has been extensively investigated, the research has not taken into consideration their whole-body effect, which may be considered possible using a combinatorial approach.

Methods: Five titanium dental implants with a similar moderate roughness and different surface textures were thoroughly characterized. The cell adhesion and proliferation were assessed after adipose-tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) were seeded on whole-body implants.

Gauge-Theoretic Origin of Rydberg Quantum Spin Liquids.

Recent atomic physics experiments and numerical works have reported complementary signatures of the emergence of a topological quantum spin liquid in models with blockade interactions. However, the specific mechanism stabilizing such a phase remains unclear. Here, we introduce an exact relation between an Ising-Higgs lattice gauge theory on the kagome lattice and blockaded models on Ruby lattices.

Influence of the coiling porosity on the risk reduction of the cerebral aneurysm rupture: computational study.

The formation and progress of cerebral aneurysm is highly associated with hemodynamic factors and blood flow feature. In this study, comprehensive efforts are done to investigate the blood hemodynamic effects on the creation and growth of the Internal Carotid Artery. The computational fluid dynamic method is used for the visualization of the bloodstream inside the aneurysm.

Subjective time is predicted by local and early visual processing.

Time is as pervasive as it is elusive to study, and how the brain keeps track of millisecond time is still unclear. Here we addressed the mechanisms underlying duration perception by looking for a neural signature of subjective time distortion induced by motion adaptation. We recorded electroencephalographic signals in human participants while they were asked to discriminate the duration of visual stimuli after different types of translational motion adaptation.

Relation between interfacial shear and friction force in 2D materials.

Understanding the interfacial properties between an atomic layer and its substrate is of key interest at both the fundamental and technological levels. From Fermi level pinning to strain engineering and superlubricity, the interaction between a single atomic layer and its substrate governs electronic, mechanical and chemical properties. Here, we measure the hardly accessible interfacial transverse shear modulus of an atomic layer on a substrate.

A critical analysis of the CFD-DEM simulation of pharmaceutical aerosols deposition in extra-thoracic airways.

Recent advances in the characterization of the human respiratory system and in multi-phase flow dynamics in complex geometries have led numerical simulations to play an expanding role for exploring aerosol deposition mechanisms in the lungs. However, the development of an efficient numerical and mathematical description is far from unique, and determining which aspects of the modelling are critical and which details are essentially irrelevant is indeed a difficult task. With the aim of addressing this lack of a rationalized framework, we propose a systematic analysis of pharmaceutical aerosols deposition in the extra-thoracic airways, focusing on several important modelling aspects whose related assumptions and approximations have not always been sufficiently discussed and clarified.

DADApy: Distance-based analysis of data-manifolds in Python.

DADApy is a Python software package for analyzing and characterizing high-dimensional data manifolds. It provides methods for estimating the intrinsic dimension and the probability density, for performing density-based clustering, and for comparing different distance metrics. We review the main functionalities of the package and exemplify its usage in a synthetic dataset and in a real-world application.

TEGylated Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as Platforms to Engineer Neuronal Networks.

In the past two decades, important results have been obtained on the application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as components of smart interfaces promoting neuronal growth and differentiation. Different forms of CNTs have been employed as scaffolds, including raw CNTs and functionalized CNTs, characterized by a different number of walls, mainly single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) or multiwalled CNTs (MWCNTs). However, double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs), which present interesting electronic and transport properties, have barely been studied in the field.

Is decision-making impairment an endophenotype of anorexia nervosa?

Background: Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) show impaired decision-making ability, but it is still unclear if this is a trait marker (i.e., being associated with AN at any stage of the disease) or a state parameter of the disease (i.

The nature of magnitude integration: Contextual interference versus active magnitude binding.

Magnitude dimensions such as duration and numerosity have been shown to systematically interact, biasing each other in a congruent fashion: the more numerous a set of items is, the longer it is perceived to last in time. This integration between dimensions plays an important role in defining how we perceive magnitude. So far, however, the nature of magnitude integration remains unclear.

Sliding Friction and Superlubricity of Colloidal AFM Probes Coated by Tribo-Induced Graphitic Transfer Layers.

Colloidal probe atomic force microscopy (AFM) allows us to explore sliding friction phenomena in graphite contacts of nominal lateral size up to hundreds of nanometers. It is known that contact formation involves tribo-induced material transfer of graphite flakes from the graphitic substrate to the colloidal probe. In this context, sliding states with nearly vanishing friction, i.

Regenerative and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Regularly Fed, Starved Cells and Extracellular Vesicles In Vivo.

Background: Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) have been employed successfully in immunotherapy and regenerative medicine, but their therapeutic potential is reduced considerably by the ischemic environment that exists after transplantation. The assumption that preconditioning MSC to promote quiescence may result in increased survival and regenerative potential upon transplantation is gaining popularity.

Methods: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects of human bone marrow MSC (hBM-MSC) and their extracellular vesicles (EVs) grown and isolated in a serum-free medium, as compared to starved hBM-MSC (preconditioned) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic fractured male C57BL/6J mice.

Masked Morphological Priming and Sensitivity to the Statistical Structure of Form-to-Meaning Mapping in L2.

In one's native language, visual word identification is based on early morphological analysis and is sensitive to the statistical structure of the mapping between form and meaning (Orthography-to-Semantic Consistency, OSC). How these mechanisms apply to a second language is much less clear. We recruited L1 Italian-L2 English speakers for a masked priming task where the relationship between prime and target was morphologically transparent, e.

Evolution of astrocytes: From invertebrates to vertebrates.

The central nervous system (CNS) shows incredible diversity across evolution at the anatomical, cellular, molecular, and functional levels. Over the past decades, neuronal cell number and heterogeneity, together with differences in the number and types of neuro-active substances, axonal conduction, velocity, and modes of synaptic transmission, have been rigorously investigated in comparative neuroscience studies. However, astrocytes, a specific type of glial cell in the CNS, play pivotal roles in regulating these features and thus are crucial for the brain's development and evolution.

All-Atom Simulations Elucidate the Impact of U2AF2 Cancer-Associated Mutations on Pre-mRNA Recognition.

The U2AF2 splicing factor, made of two tandem RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) joined by a flexible linker, selects the intronic polypyrimidine sequence of premature mRNA, thus ensuring splicing fidelity. Increasing evidence links mutations of key splicing factors, including U2AF2, to a variety of cancers. Nevertheless, the impact of U2AF2 cancer-associated mutations on polypyrimidine recognition remains unclear.

The dual action of glioma-derived exosomes on neuronal activity: synchronization and disruption of synchrony.

Seizures represent a frequent symptom in gliomas and significantly impact patient morbidity and quality of life. Although the pathogenesis of tumor-related seizures is not fully understood, accumulating evidence indicates a key role of the peritumoral microenvironment. Brain cancer cells interact with neurons by forming synapses with them and by releasing exosomes, cytokines, and other small molecules.

Distributed interfacing by nanoscale photodiodes enables single-neuron light activation and sensory enhancement in 3D spinal explants.

Among emerging technologies developed to interface neuronal signaling, engineering electrodes at the nanoscale would yield more precise biodevices opening to progress in neural circuit investigations and to new therapeutic potential. Despite remarkable progress in miniature electronics for less invasive neurostimulation, most nano-enabled, optically triggered interfaces are demonstrated in cultured cells, which precludes the studies of natural neural circuits. We exploit here free-standing silicon-based nanoscale photodiodes to optically modulate single, identified neurons in mammalian spinal cord explants.

Understanding How Heart Metabolic Derangement Shows Differential Stage Specificity for Heart Failure with Preserved and Reduced Ejection Fraction.

Heart failure (HF) is a clinical condition defined by structural and functional abnormalities in the heart that gradually result in reduced cardiac output (HFrEF) and/or increased cardiac pressures at rest and under stress (HFpEF). The presence of asymptomatic individuals hampers HF identification, resulting in delays in recognizing patients until heart dysfunction is manifested, thus increasing the chance of poor prognosis. Given the recent advances in metabolomics, in this review we dissect the main alterations occurring in the metabolic pathways behind the decrease in cardiac function caused by HF.

2D MXene interfaces preserve the basal electrophysiology of targeted neural circuits.

Neural interfaces enable the monitoring of the state of the brain and its composite cell networks, as well as stimulate them to treat nervous disorders. In addition to their highly efficient charge transduction and stability during operation, the neural electrodes should avoid altering the physiological properties of targeted neuronal tissues. Two-dimensional (2D) MXene materials integrate the advantages of metallic conductivity, high specific-surface area and surface functionality in aqueous dispersions, showing promising potential in neural interface applications.

Disentangling Structural and Electronic Properties in VO Thin Films: A Genuine Nonsymmetry Breaking Mott Transition.

Phase transitions are key in determining and controlling the quantum properties of correlated materials. Here, by using the combination of material synthesis and photoelectron spectroscopy, we demonstrate a genuine Mott transition undressed of any symmetry breaking side effects in the thin films of VO. In particular and in contrast with the bulk VO, we unveil the purely electronic dynamics approaching the metal-insulator transition, disentangled from the structural transformation that is prevented by the residual substrate-induced strain.