Multi-omics characterization of improved cognitive functions in Parkinson's disease patients after the combined metabolic activator treatment: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase II trial.

Parkinson's disease is primarily marked by mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic abnormalities. We recently reported that the combined metabolic activators improved the immunohistochemical parameters and behavioural functions in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease animal models and the cognitive functions in Alzheimer's disease patients. These metabolic activators serve as the precursors of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and glutathione, and they can be used to activate mitochondrial metabolism and eventually treat mitochondrial dysfunction.

Heterogeneous entity representation for medicinal synergy prediction.

Motivation: Forecasting the synergistic effects of drug combinations facilitates drug discovery and development, especially regarding cancer therapeutics. While numerous computational methods have emerged, most of them fall short in fully modeling the relationships among clinical entities including drugs, cell lines, and diseases, which hampers their ability to generalize to drug combinations involving unseen drugs. These relationships are complex and multidimensional, requiring sophisticated modeling to capture nuanced interplay that can significantly influence therapeutic efficacy.

Towards cell-adhesive, 4D printable PCL networks through dynamic covalent chemistry.

In recent years, the development of biodegradable, cell-adhesive polymeric implants and minimally invasive surgery has significantly advanced healthcare. These materials exhibit multifunctional properties like self-healing, shape-memory, and cell adhesion, which can be achieved through novel chemical approaches. Engineering of such materials and their scalability using a classical polymer network without complex chemical synthesis and modification has been a great challenge, which potentially can be resolved using biobased dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC).

PWWP2A/B: Prominent players in the proteomic landscape.

The PWWP domain is a conserved motif unique to eukaryotes, playing a critical role in various cellular processes. Proteins containing the PWWP domain are typically found in chromatin, where they bind to DNA and histones in nucleosomes, facilitating chromatin-associated functions. Among these proteins, PWWP-domain containing proteins 2A and 2B (PWWP2A and PWWP2B), identified during the H2A interactome analysis, are DNA methyltransferase-related proteins, that are structurally disordered, except for their PWWP domain.

Confinement-Induced Self-Assembly of Protein Nanofibrils Probed by Microfocus X-ray Scattering.

We here explore confinement-induced assembly of whey protein nanofibrils (PNFs) into microscale fibers using microfocused synchrotron X-ray scattering. Solvent evaporation aligns the PNFs into anisotropic fibers, and the process is followed in situ by scattering experiments within a droplet of PNF dispersion. We find an optimal temperature at which the order parameter of the protein fiber is maximized, suggesting that the degree of order results from a balance between the time scales of the forced alignment and the rotational diffusion of the fibrils.

Conformal Field Theory, Solitons, and Elliptic Calogero-Sutherland Models.

We construct a non-chiral conformal field theory (CFT) on the torus that accommodates a second quantization of the elliptic Calogero-Sutherland (eCS) model. We show that the CFT operator that provides this second quantization defines, at the same time, a quantum version of a soliton equation called the non-chiral intermediate long-wave (ncILW) equation. We also show that this CFT operator is a second quantization of a generalized eCS model which can describe arbitrary numbers of four different kinds of particles; we propose that these particles can be identified with solitons of the quantum ncILW equation.

Assessing the impact of energy coaching with smart technology interventions to alleviate energy poverty.

Energy poverty affects 550,000 homes in the Netherlands yet policy interventions to alleviate this issue are rare. Therefore, we test two energy coaching interventions in Amsterdam: a static information group (n = 67) which received energy efficient products and one energy-use report, and a smart information group (n = 50), which also had a display providing real-time feedback on energy-use. Results across both groups, show a 75% success rate for alleviating energy poverty.

Revealing an unexpectedly low electron injection threshold via reinforced shock acceleration.

Collisionless shock waves, found in supernova remnants, interstellar, stellar, and planetary environments, and laboratories, are one of nature's most powerful particle accelerators. This study combines in situ satellite measurements with recent theoretical developments to establish a reinforced shock acceleration model for relativistic electrons. Our model incorporates transient structures, wave-particle interactions, and variable stellar wind conditions, operating collectively in a multiscale set of processes.

Data on full stationary wave-field measurement of a suspended steel plate punctually loaded.

The dataset presented contains the experimental structural response, in the frequency domain, of a suspended steel plate to a point force excitation. The plate is excited by a mechanical point force generated by a Brüel & kJær shaker with a white noise signal input from 3.125 Hz to 2000 Hz.

Molecular Design for Dual Circularity: Polyester with Complementary Mechanical and Chemical Recyclability under Mild Conditions.

The plastic waste accumulation requires facile yet effective solutions. Currently mechanical recycling typically leads to downcycling, while the environmental footprint of chemical recycling is often unacceptable. Here, we introduce a dual circularity concept, where rational molecular design paves the way for complementary closed-loop mechanical and chemical recyclability under mild conditions.

Low impact of Zostera marina meadows on sediment and water microbiota under brackish conditions.

Background: Zostera marina is an important ecosystem engineer influencing shallow water environments and possibly shaping the microbiota in surrounding sediments and water. Z. marina is typically found in marine systems, but it can also proliferate under brackish conditions.

Personalized Federated Learning Scheme for Autonomous Driving Based on Correlated Differential Privacy.

In the era of big data, advanced data processing devices and smart sensors greatly benefit us in many areas. As for each individual user, data sharing can be an essential part of the process of data collection and transmission. However, the issue of constant attacks on data privacy arouses huge concerns among the public.

Early Prediction of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Rupture Risk Using Numerical Biomechanical Analysis.

: We aimed to predict patient-specific rupture risks and growth behaviors in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients using biomechanical evaluation with finite element analysis to establish an additional AAA repair threshold besides diameter and sex. : A total of 1219 patients treated between 2005 and 2024 (conservative and repaired AAAs) were screened for a pseudo-prospective single-center study. A total of 15 ruptured (rAAA) vs.

Stabilizing Schottky-to-Ohmic Switching in HfO-Based Ferroelectric Films via Electrode Design.

The discovery of ferroelectric phases in HfO-based films has reignited interest in ferroelectrics and their application in resistive switching (RS) devices. This study investigates the pivotal role of electrodes in facilitating the Schottky-to-Ohmic transition (SOT) observed in devices consisting of ultrathin epitaxial ferroelectric HfYO (YHO) films deposited on LaSrMnO-buffered Nb-doped SrTiO (NbSTO|LSMO) with Ti|Au top electrodes. These findings indicate combined filamentary RS and ferroelectric switching occurs in devices with designed electrodes, having an ON/OFF ratio of over 100 during about 10 cycles.

Specifying cellular context of transcription factor regulons for exploring context-specific gene regulation programs.

Understanding the role of transcription and transcription factors (TFs) in cellular identity and disease, such as cancer, is essential. However, comprehensive data resources for cell line-specific TF-to-target gene annotations are currently limited. To address this, we employed a straightforward method to define regulons that capture the cell-specific aspects of TF binding and transcript expression levels.

Probing the Self-Assembly dynamics of cellulose nanocrystals by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy.

Hypothesis: Charge-stabilized colloidal cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) can self-assemble into higher-ordered chiral nematic structures by varying the volume fraction. The assembly process exhibits distinct dynamics during the isotropic to liquid crystal phase transition, which can be elucidated using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS).

Experiments: Anionic CNCs were dispersed in propylene glycol (PG) and water spanning a range of volume fractions, encompassing several phase transitions.

Wood and Cellulose: the Most Sustainable Advanced Materials for Past, Present, and Future Civilizations.

Wood, with its constituent building block cellulose, is by far the most common biomaterial on the planet and has been the most important material used by humans to establish civilization. If there is one single biomaterial that should be studied and used by materials scientists across disciplines to achieve a sustainable future, it is cellulose. This perspective provides insights for the general materials science community about the unique properties of wood and cellulose and how they may be used in advanced sustainable materials to make a substantial societal impact.

Bridging the gap: Integrating cutting-edge techniques into biological imaging with deepImageJ.

This manuscript showcases the latest advancements in deepImageJ, a pivotal Fiji/ImageJ plugin for bioimage analysis in life sciences. The plugin, known for its user-friendly interface, facilitates the application of diverse pre-trained convolutional neural networks to custom data. The manuscript demonstrates several deepImageJ capabilities, particularly in deploying complex pipelines, three-dimensional (3D) image analysis, and processing large images.

Factors influencing surimi gelling properties and natural additive-based gel fortification strategies: A review.

Gelation and gel properties are crucial to surimi-based seafood products, and many factors significantly influence surimi gel quality. Although physical and chemical modifications can improve surimi gel performance, challenges such as high cost, difficulties in industrialization and environmental pollution pose significant barriers to their practicality. Natural additives offer a promising alternative by reinforcing and improving the characteristics of surimi gel through mechanisms such as protein conformational transformation, protein denaturation, and altered chemical forces.

Medications and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease: Cohort cluster analysis of 15,428 patients.

Background: Medications for comorbid conditions may affect cognition in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objective: To explore the association between common medications and cognition, measured with the Mini-Mental State Examination.

Methods: Cohort study including persons with AD from the Swedish Registry for Cognitive/Dementia Disorders (SveDem).

Adaptive sampling-based structural prediction reveals opening of a GABA receptor through the αβ interface.

γ-Aminobutyric acid type A (GABA) receptors are ligand-gated ion channels in the central nervous system with largely inhibitory function. Despite being a target for drugs including general anesthetics and benzodiazepines, experimental structures have yet to capture an open state of classical synaptic α1β2γ2 GABA receptors. Here, we use a goal-oriented adaptive sampling strategy in molecular dynamics simulations followed by Markov state modeling to capture an energetically stable putative open state of the receptor.

EchoTilt: An Acoustofluidic Method for the Capture and Enrichment of Nanoplastics Directed Toward Drinking Water Monitoring.

Micro- and nanoplastics have become increasingly relevant as contaminants to be monitored due to their potential health effects and environmental impact. Nanoplastics, in particular, have been shown to be difficult to detect in drinking water, requiring new capture technologies. In this work, we applied the acoustofluidic seed particle method to capture nanoplastics in an optimized, tilted grid of silica clusters even at the high flow rate of 5 mL/min.

Boson-Fermion Algebraic Mapping in Second Quantization.

We present an algebraic method to derive the structure at the basis of the mapping of bosonic algebras of creation and annihilation operators into fermionic algebras, and vice versa, introducing a suitable identification between bosonic and fermionic generators. The algebraic structure thus obtained corresponds to a deformed Grassmann-type algebra, involving anticommuting Grassmann-type variables. The role played by the latter in implementing gauge invariance in second quantization within our procedure is then discussed.

Viewpoint on 'Oscillating paramagnetic Meissner effect and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in underdoped BiSrCaCuO'.

The experimental team achieves impressive progress in detecting the signature of the local magnetic response of a system close to a phase transition.