A pseudo-cubic metal-organic cage with conformationally switchable faces for dynamically adaptive guest encapsulation.

The creation of hosts capable of accommodating different guest molecules may enable these hosts to play useful roles in chemical purifications, among other applications. Metal-organic cages are excellent hosts for various guests, but they generally incorporate rigid structural units that hinder dynamic adaptation to specific guests. Here we report a conformationally adaptable pseudo-cubic cage that can dynamically increase its cavity volume to fit guests with differing sizes.

TCAD Simulation of Two Photon Absorption-Transient Current Technique Measurements on Silicon Detectors and LGADs.

Device simulation plays a crucial role in complementing experimental device characterisation by enabling deeper understanding of internal physical processes. However, for simulations to be trusted, experimental validation is essential to confirm the accuracy of the conclusions drawn. In the framework of semiconductor detector characterisation, one powerful tool for such validation is the Two Photon Absorption-Transient Current Technique (TPA-TCT), which allows for highly precise, three-dimensional spatially-resolved characterisation of semiconductor detectors.

Sustainable Alkali-Activated Self-Compacting Concrete for Precast Textile-Reinforced Concrete: Experimental-Statistical Modeling Approach.

Industrial and construction wastes make up about half of all world wastes. In order to reduce their negative impact on the environment, it is possible to use part of them for concrete production. Using experimental-statistical modeling techniques, the combined effect of brick powder, recycling sand, and alkaline activator on fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting concrete for the production of textile-reinforced concrete was investigated.

Differential Item Functioning Analysis of Likert Scales: An Overview and Demonstration of Rating Scale Tree Model.

An important psychometric property in educational and psychological testing is differential item functioning (DIF), assessing whether different subgroups respond differently to particular items within a scale, despite having the same overall ability level. In fact, DIF occurs when respondents with the same underlying trait level have different probabilities of selecting specific response categories, depending on their subgroup membership. This study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of rating scale tree (RStree) model in detecting DIF of Likert-type scales across age and gender in social sciences.

Assignment of the N-terminal domain of mouse cGAS.

Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is a DNA-sensing enzyme that is a member of the nucleotidyltransferase (NTase) family and functions as a DNA sensor. The protein is comprised of a catalytic NTase core domain and an unstructured hypervariable N-terminal domain (NTD) that was reported to increase protein activity by providing an additional DNA-binding surface. We report nearly complete H, N, and C backbone chemical-shift assignments of mouse cGAS NTD (residues 5-146), obtained with a set of 3D and 4D solution NMR experiments.

Topological confinement by a membrane anchor suppresses phase separation into protein aggregates: Implications for prion diseases.

Protein misfolding and aggregation are a hallmark of various neurodegenerative disorders. However, the underlying mechanisms driving protein misfolding in the cellular context are incompletely understood. Here, we show that the two-dimensional confinement imposed by a membrane anchor stabilizes the native protein conformation and suppresses liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) and protein aggregation.

- a large-scale dataset of 3D medical shapes for computer vision.

Objectives: The shape is commonly used to describe the objects. State-of-the-art algorithms in medical imaging are predominantly diverging from computer vision, where voxel grids, meshes, point clouds, and implicit surface models are used. This is seen from the growing popularity of ShapeNet (51,300 models) and Princeton ModelNet (127,915 models).

Myopia prevalence, refractive status and uncorrected myopia among primary and secondary school students in Germany.

Introduction: The increasing prevalence of myopia worldwide is problematic because myopia can result in severe secondary pathologies, and is associated with considerable financial burden. With plenty of prevalence data available for some regions, current data for Europe remain sparse. Yet, information on myopia prevalence and associations is essential for monitoring, preventive and interventive purposes.

Light-Activatable Ubiquitin for Studying Linkage-Specific Ubiquitin Chain Formation Kinetics.

Ubiquitination is a dynamic post-translational modification governing protein abundance, function, and localization in eukaryotes. The Ubiquitin protein is conjugated to lysine residues of target proteins, but can also repeatedly be ubiquitinated itself, giving rise to a complex code of ubiquitin chains with different linkage types. To enable studying the cellular dynamics of linkage-specific ubiquitination, light-activatable polyubiquitin chain formation is reported here.

Finding the needle in the haystack of isokinetic knee data: Random Forest modelling improves information about ACLR-related deficiencies.

The difficulties of rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, subsequent return-to-sport (RTS) let alone achieving pre-injury performance, are well known. Isokinetic testing is often used to assess strength capacities during that process. The aim of the present machine learning (ML) approach was to examine which isokinetic data differentiates athletes post ACL reconstruction (ACLR) and healthy controls.

Kynurenine pathway dysregulation as a mechanistic link between cognitive impairment and brain damage: Implications for multiple sclerosis.

Cognitive impairment is a core symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS), resulting from inflammation-related brain damage and brain network dysfunction. Inflammation also causes dysregulation of the kynurenine pathway which is the primary route of tryptophan catabolism. Kynurenine pathway dysregulation is characterised by a shift in concentrations of tryptophan catabolites, also referred to as kynurenines.

Protein-free catalysis of DNA hydrolysis and self-integration by a ribozyme.

Group II introns are ancient self-splicing ribozymes and retrotransposons. Though long speculated to have originated before translation, their dependence on intron-encoded proteins for splicing and mobility has cast doubt on this hypothesis. While some group II introns are known to retain part of their catalytic repertoire in the absence of protein cofactors, protein-free complete reverse splicing of a group II intron into a DNA target has never been demonstrated.

PSMA-Targeting Imprinted Nanogels for Prostate Tumor Localization and Imaging.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is overexpressed in prostate cancer cells and tumor vasculature, making it an important biomarker. However, conventional PSMA-targeting agents like antibodies and small molecules have limitations. Antibodies exhibit instability and complex production, while small molecules show lower specificity and higher toxicity.

Associative learning via eyeblink conditioning differs by age from infancy to adulthood.

Associative learning is a key feature of adaptive behaviour and mental health, enabling individuals to adjust their actions in anticipation of future events. Comprehensive documentation of this essential component of human cognitive development throughout different developmental periods is needed. Here, we investigated age-related changes in associative learning in key developmental stages, including infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

LDAPrototype: a model selection algorithm to improve reliability of latent Dirichlet allocation.

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is a popular method for analyzing large text corpora, but it suffers from instability due to its reliance on random initialization. This results in different outcomes for replicated runs, hindering reproducibility. To address this, we introduce LDAPrototype, a new approach for selecting the most representative LDA run from multiple replications on the same dataset.

Sportizumab - Multimodal progressive exercise over 10 weeks decreases Th17 frequency and CD49d expression on CD8 T cells in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) represents a neuroinflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by the predominance of circulating T cell subsets with proinflammatory characteristics and increased central nervous system (CNS)-homing potential. Substantial evidence confirms various beneficial effects of chronic exercise interventions in MS, but it is unknown how long-term multi-modal intense exercise affects MS-associated lymphocytes that are commonly targeted by medication in persons with relapsing remitting MS (pwRRMS).

Methods: A total of 45 participants with defined RRMS were randomized to either the exercise (n = 22) or passive waitlist-control group (n = 23).

The functional role of the task-irrelevant stimulus feature in the congruency sequence effect.

Humans have to deal with conflicting information. This is studied in conflict tasks such as the Simon task or the flanker task. For example, participants respond with the left or right hand to the color of a stimulus (task-relevant stimulus feature) which is presented in a left or right position (irrelevant feature) in the Simon task or to a letter (relevant) which is flanked by same or different letters (irrelevant) in the flanker task.

Diffusion Coefficient Analysis by Dynamic Light Scattering Enables Determination of Critical Micelle Concentration.

The critical micelle concentration is an important property of supramolecular detergents. Two dynamic light scattering approaches have been developed for critical micelle concentration analysis, i. e.

Investigating interaction effects of social risk factors and exposure to air pollution on pediatric lymphoma cancer in Georgia, United States.

Childhood cancer constitutes a major cause of death in children. In a recent study of the Georgia Cancer Registry, joint exposures to environmental and social/behavioral stressors were associated with spatial clustering of lymphomas and reticuloendothelial neoplasms among the 159 counties in Georgia, USA. The present study aims to further investigate these associations on a more granular level.