Nanophase Segregation of Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold Nanoparticles.

Nanophase segregation of a bicomponent thiol self-assembled monolayer is predicted using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and experimentally confirmed. The simulations suggest the formation of domains rich in acid-terminated chains, on one hand, and of domains rich in amide-functionalized ethylene glycol oligomers, on the other hand. In particular, within the amide-ethylene glycol oligomers region, a key role is played by the formation of interchain hydrogen bonds.

Universal Visual Features Might Be Necessary for Fluent Reading. A Longitudinal Study of Visual Reading in Braille and Cyrillic Alphabets.

It has been hypothesized that efficient reading is possible because all reading scripts have been matched, through cultural evolution, to the natural capabilities of the visual cortex. This matching has resulted in all scripts being made of line-junctions, such as T, X, or L. Our aim was to test a critical prediction of this hypothesis: visual reading in an atypical script that is devoid of line-junctions (such as the Braille alphabet read visually) should be much less efficient than reading in a "normal" script (e.

DAVID: An open-source platform for real-time transformation of infra-segmental emotional cues in running speech.

We present an open-source software platform that transforms emotional cues expressed by speech signals using audio effects like pitch shifting, inflection, vibrato, and filtering. The emotional transformations can be applied to any audio file, but can also run in real time, using live input from a microphone, with less than 20-ms latency. We anticipate that this tool will be useful for the study of emotions in psychology and neuroscience, because it enables a high level of control over the acoustical and emotional content of experimental stimuli in a variety of laboratory situations, including real-time social situations.

Genome-wide association study of glioma subtypes identifies specific differences in genetic susceptibility to glioblastoma and non-glioblastoma tumors.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have transformed our understanding of glioma susceptibility, but individual studies have had limited power to identify risk loci. We performed a meta-analysis of existing GWAS and two new GWAS, which totaled 12,496 cases and 18,190 controls. We identified five new loci for glioblastoma (GBM) at 1p31.

Diaphragmatic function is enhanced in fatty and diabetic fatty rats.

Background: Obesity is associated with a decrease in mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) (the "obesity paradox"). We hypothesized that obesity may paradoxically improve diaphragmatic function.

Methods: Diaphragm contractility was prospectively recorded in vitro in adult male Zucker lean (control), fatty, and diabetic fatty rats, at rest, after 12h mechanical ventilation and after fatigue.

Benefit of Rare-Earth "Smart Doping" and Material Nanostructuring for the Next Generation of Er-Doped Fibers.

Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) for harsh environments require to develop specific fabrication methods of Er -doped fibers (EDFs) so as to limit the impact of radiation-induced absorption. In this context, a compromise has to be found between the concentration of Erbium and the glass composition. On the one hand, high concentration of Er ions helps to reduce the length of the EDF and hence the cumulated attenuation but generally leads to luminescence quenching mechanisms that limit the performances.

BFPTool: a software tool for analysis of Biomembrane Force Probe experiments.

Background: The Biomembrane Force Probe is an approachable experimental technique commonly used for single-molecule force spectroscopy and experiments on biological interfaces. The technique operates in the range of forces from 0.1 pN to 1000 pN.

Prenatal exposure to selenium may protect against wheezing in children by the age of 3.

Introduction: It has been suggested that human in utero exposure to heavy metals such as selenium can reduce the prevalence of childhood asthma and allergic diseases. However, data on this topic are scarce. The objective of the present study was to assess the putative associations between maternal selenium level during pregnancy and the risk of asthma, wheezing, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis in children from the EDEN birth cohort by the age of 1 and 3 years.

Evidence for anionic redox activity in a tridimensional-ordered Li-rich positive electrode β-LiIrO.

Lithium-ion battery cathode materials have relied on cationic redox reactions until the recent discovery of anionic redox activity in Li-rich layered compounds which enables capacities as high as 300 mAh g. In the quest for new high-capacity electrodes with anionic redox, a still unanswered question was remaining regarding the importance of the structural dimensionality. The present manuscript provides an answer.

Morphoelasticity in the development of brown alga : from cell rounding to branching.

A biomechanical model is proposed for the growth of the brown alga Featuring ramified uniseriate filaments, this alga has two modes of growth: apical growth and intercalary growth with branching. Apical growth occurs upon the mitosis of a young cell at one extremity and leads to a new tip cell followed by a cylindrical cell, whereas branching mainly occurs when a cylindrical cell becomes rounded and swells, forming a spherical cell. Given the continuous interplay between cell growth and swelling, a poroelastic model combining osmotic pressure and volumetric growth is considered for the whole cell, cytoplasm and cell wall.

Isolated cardiac troponin rise does not modify the prognosis in elderly patients with hip fracture.

Perioperative myocardial infarction remains a life-threatening complication in noncardiac surgery and even an isolated troponin rise (ITR) is associated with significant mortality. Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of ITR in elderly patients with hip fracture.In this cohort study, all patients admitted between 2009 and 2013 in our dedicated geriatric postoperative unit after hip fracture surgery with a cardiac troponin I determination were included and divided into Control, ITR, and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) groups.

Inflammatory demyelination induces ependymal modifications concomitant to activation of adult (SVZ) stem cell proliferation.

Ependymal cells (E1/E2) and ciliated B1cells confer a unique pinwheel architecture to the ventricular surface of the subventricular zone (SVZ), and their cilia act as sensors to ventricular changes during development and aging. While several studies showed that forebrain demyelination reactivates the SVZ triggering proliferation, ectopic migration, and oligodendrogenesis for myelin repair, the potential role of ciliated cells in this process was not investigated. Using conventional and lateral wall whole mount preparation immunohistochemistry in addition to electron microscopy in a forebrain-targeted model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (tEAE), we show an early decrease in numbers of pinwheels, B1 cells, and E2 cells.

Immortalized human myotonic dystrophy muscle cell lines to assess therapeutic compounds.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) are autosomal dominant neuromuscular diseases caused by microsatellite expansions and belong to the family of RNA-dominant disorders. Availability of cellular models in which the DM mutation is expressed within its natural context is essential to facilitate efforts to identify new therapeutic compounds. Here, we generated immortalized DM1 and DM2 human muscle cell lines that display nuclear RNA aggregates of expanded repeats, a hallmark of myotonic dystrophy.

The association of admission hyperglycaemia and adverse clinical outcome in medical emergencies: the multinational, prospective, observational TRIAGE study.

Aims: The clinical relevance of hyperglycaemia in an emergency department population remains incompletely understood. We investigated the association between admission blood glucose levels and adverse clinical outcomes in a large emergency department cohort.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 7132 adult medical patients seeking emergency department care in three tertiary care hospitals in Switzerland, France and the USA.

Synthesis, Structure, and Electrochemical Properties of K-Based Sulfates KM(SO) with M = Fe and Cu.

Stabilizing new host structures through potassium extraction from K-based polyanionic materials has been proven to be an interesting approach to develop new Li/Na insertion materials. Pursuing the same trend, we here report the feasibility of preparing langbeinite "Fe(SO)" via electrochemical and chemical oxidation of KFe(SO). Additionally, we succeeded in stabilizing a new KCu(SO) phase via a solid-state synthesis approach.

Kinetic Accessibility of Porous Material Adsorption Sites Studied through the Lattice Boltzmann Method.

We present here a computational model based on the lattice Boltzmann scheme to investigate the accessibility of active adsorption sites in hierarchical porous materials to adsorbates in a flowing liquid. By studying the transport and adsorption of tracers after they enter the pore space of the virtual sample, we characterize their kinetics as they pass through the pore space and adsorb on the solid-liquid interface. The model is validated on simple geometries with a known analytical solution.