Assessment of disease impact through health-related quality of life measurement in primary progressive aphasia.

Introduction: Measurements of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are important for capturing disease impact beyond physical health and relative to other diseases but have rarely been assessed in primary progressive aphasia (PPA).

Methods: HRQoL was characterized overall, by sex and subtype in PPA ( = 118) using the Health Utilities Index-2/3 (HUI2/3). Multiple linear regression assessed associations between HRQoL and language severity.

Exploiting the DCAF16-SPIN4 interaction to identify DCAF16 ligands for PROTAC development.

Traditional small molecule drugs often target protein activity directly, but challenges arise when proteins lack suitable functional sites. An alternative approach is targeted protein degradation (TPD), which directs proteins to cellular machinery for proteolytic degradation. Recent studies have identified additional E3 ligases suitable for TPD, expanding the potential of this approach.

Carbon Mineralization in Fractured Mafic and Ultramafic Rocks: A Review.

Mineral carbon storage in mafic and ultramafic rock masses has the potential to be an effective and permanent mechanism to reduce anthropogenic CO. Several successful pilot-scale projects have been carried out in basaltic rock (e.g.

Differences in Gut Microbes Across Age and Sex Linked to Metabolism and Microbial Stability in a Hibernating Mammal.

The gut microbiome has a well-documented relationship with host fitness, physiology, and behavior. However, most of what is known comes from captive animals where diets and environments are more homogeneous or controlled. Studies in wild populations that experience dynamic environments and have natural life history variation are less common but are key to understanding the drivers of variation in the gut microbiome.

Repeated presentation of visual threats drives innate fear habituation and is modulated by environmental and physiological factors.

To survive predation, animals must be able to detect and appropriately respond to predator threats in their environment. Such defensive behaviors are thought to utilize hard-wired neural circuits for threat detection, sensorimotor integration, and execution of ethologically relevant behaviors. Despite being hard-wired, defensive behaviors (i.

Sustainable Production of Biomass-Derived Graphite and Graphene Conductive Inks from Biochar.

Graphite is a commonly used raw material across many industries and the demand for high-quality graphite has been increasing in recent years, especially as a primary component for lithium-ion batteries. However, graphite production is currently limited by production shortages, uneven geographical distribution, and significant environmental impacts incurred from conventional processing. Here, an efficient method of synthesizing biomass-derived graphite from biochar is presented as a sustainable alternative to natural and synthetic graphite.

Hearing loss during chemotherapy: prevalence, mechanisms, and protection.

Ototoxicity is an often-underestimated sequela for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, with an incidence rate exceeding 50%, affecting approximately 4 million individuals worldwide each year. Despite the nearly 2,000 publications on chemotherapy-related ototoxicity in the past decade, the understanding of its prevalence, mechanisms, and preventative or therapeutic measures remains ambiguous and subject to debate. To date, only one drug, sodium thiosulfate, has gained FDA approval for treating ototoxicity in chemotherapy.

Methodological Approaches for Measuring the Association Between Heat Exposure and Health Outcomes: A Comprehensive Global Scoping Review.

Objective: To synthesize the methodologies of studies that evaluate the impacts of heat exposure on morbidity and mortality.

Methods: Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched from date of inception until 1 March 2023 for English language literature on heat exposure and health outcomes. Records were collated, deduplicated and screened, and full texts were reviewed for inclusion and data abstraction.

Scalable and adaptable two-ligand co-solvent transfer methodology for gold bipyramids to organic solvents.

Large and faceted nanoparticles, such as gold bipyramids, presently require synthesis using alkyl ammonium halide ligands in aqueous conditions to stabilize the structure, which impedes subsequent transfer and suspension of such nanoparticles in low polarity solvents despite success with few nanometer gold nanoparticles of shapes such as spheres. Phase transfer methodologies present a feasible avenue to maintain colloidal stability of suspensions and move high surface energy particles into organic solvent environments. Here, we present a method to yield stable suspensions of gold bipyramids in low-polarity solvents, including methanol, dimethylformamide, chloroform, and toluene, through the requisite combination of two capping agents and the presence of a co-solvent.

Real-time capture of nuclear motions influencing photoinduced electron transfer.

Although vibronic coupling phenomena have been recognized in the excite state dynamics of transition metal complexes, its impact on photoinduced electron transfer (PET) remains largely unexplored. This study investigates coherent wavepacket (CWP) dynamics during PET processes in a covalently linked electron donor-acceptor complex featuring a cyclometalated Pt(ii) dimer as the donor and naphthalene diimide (NDI) as the acceptors. Upon photoexciting the Pt(ii) dimer electron donor, ultrafast broadband transient absorption spectroscopy revealed direct modulation of NDI radical anion formation through certain CWP motions and correlated temporal evolutions of the amplitudes for these CWPs with the NDI radical anion formation.

Coherent spin-control of = 1 vanadium and molybdenum complexes.

The burgeoning field of quantum sensing hinges on the creation and control of quantum bits. To date, the most well-studied quantum sensors are optically active, paramagnetic defects residing in crystalline hosts. We previously developed analogous optically addressable molecules featuring a ground-state spin-triplet centered on a Cr ion with an optical-spin interface.

Conformational modulation and polymerization-induced folding of proteomimetic peptide brush polymers.

Peptide-brush polymers generated by graft-through living polymerization of peptide-modified monomers exhibit high proteolytic stability, therapeutic efficacy, and potential as functional tandem repeat protein mimetics. Prior work has focused on polymers generated from structurally disordered peptides that lack defined conformations. To obtain insight into how the structure of these polymers is influenced by the folding of their peptide sidechains, a set of polymers with varying degrees of polymerization was prepared from peptide monomers that adopt α-helical secondary structure for comparison to those having random coil structures.

Developments and applications of the OPTIMADE API for materials discovery, design, and data exchange.

The Open Databases Integration for Materials Design (OPTIMADE) application programming interface (API) empowers users with holistic access to a growing federation of databases, enhancing the accessibility and discoverability of materials and chemical data. Since the first release of the OPTIMADE specification (v1.0), the API has undergone significant development, leading to the v1.

Advancements in nanomaterials for nanosensors: a comprehensive review.

Nanomaterials (NMs) exhibit unique properties that render them highly suitable for developing sensitive and selective nanosensors across various domains. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of nanomaterial-based nanosensors, highlighting their applications and the classification of frequently employed NMs to enhance sensitivity and selectivity. The review introduces various classifications of NMs commonly used in nanosensors, such as carbon-based NMs, metal-based NMs, and others, elucidating their exceptional properties, including high thermal and electrical conductivity, large surface area-to-volume ratio and good biocompatibility.

Structure-enabled long-lived charge separation in single crystals of an asymmetric donor-acceptor perylenediimide cyclophane.

We report the synthesis and characterization of a covalently linked asymmetric cyclophane comprising a 1,7-di(pyrrolidin-1'-yl)perylene-3,4,9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (pyrPDI) and 1,6,7,12-tetra(4'--butylphenoxy)perylene-3,4,9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (tpPDI), which absorbs light from 400-750 nm. Single crystals of pyrPDI-tpPDI were analyzed by using X-ray diffraction and transient absorption microscopy. The crystal structure contains several types of intermolecular donor-acceptor interactions (pyrPDI-pyrPDI, tpPDI-tpPDI, and pyrPDI-tpPDI) in addition to the covalently installed intramolecular interaction.

Mechanisms of controlled stabilizer-free synthesis of gold nanoparticles in liquid aerosol containing plasma.

The interaction between low-temperature plasma and liquid enables highly reactive solution phase chemistry and fast reaction kinetics. In this work, we demonstrate the rapid synthesis of stabilizer-free, spherical and crystalline gold nanoparticles (AuNP). More than 70% of gold ion complex (AuCl ) conversion is achieved within a droplet residence time in the plasma of ∼10 ms.

Sodium-enriched nectar shapes plant-pollinator interactions in a subalpine meadow.

Many plants have evolved nutrient rewards to attract pollinators to flowers, but most research has focused on the sugar content of floral nectar resources. Concentrations of sodium in floral nectar (a micronutrient in low concentrations in nectar) can vary substantially both among and within co-occurring species. It is hypothesized that sodium concentrations in floral nectar might play an important and underappreciated role in plant-pollinator interactions, especially because many animals, including pollinators, are sodium limited in nature.

Developing, characterizing and modeling CRISPR-based point-of-use pathogen diagnostics.

Recent years have seen intense interest in the development of point-of-care nucleic acid diagnostic technologies to address the scaling limitations of laboratory-based approaches. Chief among these are combinations of isothermal amplification approaches with CRISPR-based detection and readouts of target products. Here, we contribute to the growing body of rapid, programmable point-of-care pathogen tests by developing and optimizing a one-pot NASBA-Cas13a nucleic acid detection assay.

Conservation genomics assessment of Tharp's bluestar () with comparisons to widespread () and narrowly endemic () congeners.

Land-use change and habitat fragmentation are threats to biodiversity. The decrease in available habitat, increase in isolation, and mating within populations can lead to elevated inbreeding, lower genetic diversity, and poor fitness. Here we investigate the genetics of two rare and threatened plant species, and , and we compare them to a widespread congener .

Assessing mechanisms for microbial taxa and community dynamics using process models.

Disentangling the assembly mechanisms controlling community composition, structure, distribution, functions, and dynamics is a central issue in ecology. Although various approaches have been proposed to examine community assembly mechanisms, quantitative characterization is challenging, particularly in microbial ecology. Here, we present a novel approach for quantitatively delineating community assembly mechanisms by combining the consumer-resource model with a neutral model in stochastic differential equations.

Adaptive generalization in pollination systems: Hawkmoths increase fitness to long-tubed flowers, but secondary pollinators remain important.

Selection on floral traits by animal pollinators is important in the evolution of flowering plants, yet whether floral divergence requires specialized pollination remains uncertain. Longer floral tubes, a trait associated with long-tongued pollinators, can also exclude other pollinators from accessing rewards, a potential mechanism for specialization. Across most of its range, displays much longer corollas than most species, though tube length varies geographically and correlates partially with hawkmoth visitation.

In Vivo Mapping of Myocardial Injury Outside the Infarct Zone: Tissue at an Intermediate Pathological State.

Background: The goal was to determine the feasibility of mapping the injured-but-not-infarcted myocardium using Tc-duramycin in the postischemic heart, with spatial information for its characterization as a pathophysiologically intermediate tissue, which is neither normal nor infarcted.

Methods And Results: Coronary occlusion was conducted in Sprague Dawley rats with preconditioning and 30-minute ligation. In vivo single-photon emission computed tomography was acquired after 3 hours (n=6) using Tc-duramycin, a phosphatidylethanolamine-specific radiopharmaceutical.

Demography and threats to population growth of , a threatened dune plant, in Wisconsin.

Multi-year and multi-site demographic data for rare plants allow researchers to observe threats and project population growth rates and thus long-term persistence of the species, generating knowledge, which allows for effective conservation planning. Demographic studies across more than a decade are extremely rare but allow for the effects of threats to be observed and assessed within the context of interannual environmental variation. We collected demographic data on the Threatened plant in two sites from 2011-2022.

Effects of leaf herbivory and autumn seasonality on plant secondary metabolites: A meta-analysis.

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are produced by plants to overcome environmental challenges, both biotic and abiotic. We were interested in characterizing how autumn seasonality in temperate and subtropical climates affects overall PSM production in comparison to herbivory. Herbivory is commonly measured between spring to summer when plants have high resource availability and prioritize growth and reproduction.