Evaluating combinations of diagnostic tests to discriminate different dementia types.

Introduction: We studied, using a data-driven approach, how different combinations of diagnostic tests contribute to the differential diagnosis of dementia.

Methods: In this multicenter study, we included 356 patients with Alzheimer's disease, 87 frontotemporal dementia, 61 dementia with Lewy bodies, 38 vascular dementia, and 302 controls. We used a classifier to assess accuracy for individual performance and combinations of cognitive tests, cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, and automated magnetic resonance imaging features for pairwise differentiation between dementia types.

Photoresponse of Graphene-Gated Graphene-GaSe Heterojunction Devices.

Because of their extraordinary physical properties, low-dimensional materials including graphene and gallium selenide (GaSe) are promising for future electronic and optoelectronic applications, particularly in transparent-flexible photodetectors. Currently, the photodetectors working at the near-infrared spectral range are highly indispensable in optical communications. However, the current photodetector architectures are typically complex, and it is normally difficult to control the architecture parameters.

Performance of Leuconostoc citreum FDR241 during wheat flour sourdough type I propagation and transcriptional analysis of exopolysaccharides biosynthesis genes.

This study focused on the performance of the dextran producer Leuconostoc citreum as starter culture during 30 days of wheat flour type I sourdough propagation (back-slopping). As confirmed by RAPD-PCR analysis, the strain dominated throughout the propagation procedure, consisting of daily fermentations at 20 °C. The sourdoughs were characterized by consistent lactic acid bacteria cell density and acidification parameters, reaching pH values of 4.

Cellulases adsorb reversibly on biomass lignin.

Adsorption of cellulases onto lignin is considered a major factor in retarding enzymatic cellulose degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. However, the adsorption mechanisms and kinetics are not well understood for individual types of cellulases. This study examines the binding affinity, kinetics of adsorption, and competition of four monocomponent cellulases of Trichoderma reesei during adsorption onto lignin.

Digital Technologies for Forest Supply Chain Optimization: Existing Solutions and Future Trends.

The role of digital technologies for fostering sustainability and efficiency in forest-based supply chains is well acknowledged and motivated several studies in the scope of precision forestry. Sensor technologies can collect relevant data in forest-based supply chains, comprising all activities from within forests and the production of the woody raw material to its transformation into marketable forest-based products. Advanced planning systems can help to support decisions of the various entities in the supply chain, e.

Validation and Automation of a High-Throughput Multitargeted Method for Semiquantification of Endogenous Metabolites from Different Biological Matrices Using Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

The use of metabolomics profiling to understand the metabolism under different physiological states has increased in recent years, which created the need for robust analytical platforms. Here, we present a validated method for targeted and semiquantitative analysis of 102 polar metabolites that cover major metabolic pathways from 24 classes in a single 17.5-min assay.

Recommendations for characterization and reporting of dietary fibers in nutrition research.

Dietary fiber (DF) comprises a wide range of naturally occurring and modified materials with substantial variations in physical and chemical properties and potential physiologic effects. Although nutrition studies testing the effects of DF usually provide extensive detail on the physiologic responses, many still fail to adequately report the type and properties of the DF itself. This weakens the ability to directly replicate and compare studies and to establish structure-function relations.

A new crystal form of Aspergillus oryzae catechol oxidase and evaluation of copper site structures in coupled binuclear copper enzymes.

Coupled binuclear copper (CBC) enzymes have a conserved type 3 copper site that binds molecular oxygen to oxidize various mono- and diphenolic compounds. In this study, we found a new crystal form of catechol oxidase from Aspergillus oryzae (AoCO4) and solved two new structures from two different crystals at 1.8-Å and at 2.

Disease-related determinants are associated with mortality in dementia due to Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Survival after dementia diagnosis varies considerably. Previous studies were focused mainly on factors related to demographics and comorbidity rather than on Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related determinants. We set out to answer the question whether markers with proven diagnostic value also have prognostic value.

Cellulose Nanofiber Alignment Using Evaporation-Induced Droplet-Casting, and Cell Alignment on Aligned Nanocellulose Surfaces.

This work investigates droplet-evaporated cellulose nanofiber (CNF) alignment and cell responses on CNF surfaces. Surfaces of unmodified (u-), anionic (a-), and cationic (c-) CNFs were fabricated using an evaporation-induced droplet-casting method and characterized in terms of degree of orientation. Circular variance (CV) values obtained using Cytospectre software to analyze the degree of orientation from AFM images showed a significantly higher degree of orientation on c- and u-CNF surfaces (average CV 0.

Enzymatic synthesis of fucose-containing galacto-oligosaccharides using β-galactosidase and identification of novel disaccharide structures.

Fucosylated oligosaccharides have an important role in maintaining a healthy immune system and homeostatic gut microflora. This study employed a commercial β-galactosidase in the production of fucose-containing galacto-oligosaccharides (fGOS) from lactose and fucose. The production was optimized using experiment design and optimal conditions for a batch production in 3-liter scale.

Interfacial Mechanisms of Water Vapor Sorption into Cellulose Nanofibril Films as Revealed by Quantitative Models.

Humidity is an efficient instrument for facilitating changes in local architectures of two-dimensional surfaces assembled from nanoscaled biomaterials. Here, complementary surface-sensitive methods are used to collect explicit and precise experimental evidence on the water vapor sorption into (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO) oxidized cellulose nanofibril (CNF) thin film over the relative humidity (RH) range from 0 to 97%. Changes in thickness and mass of the film due to water vapor uptake are tracked using spectroscopic ellipsometry and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, respectively.

A review of the characteristics of dietary fibers relevant to appetite and energy intake outcomes in human intervention trials.

Many intervention studies have tested the effect of dietary fibers (DFs) on appetite-related outcomes, with inconsistent results. However, DFs comprise a wide range of compounds with diverse properties, and the specific contribution of these to appetite control is not well characterized. The influence of specific DF characteristics [i.

Viscoelastic Properties of Core-Shell-Structured, Hemicellulose-Rich Nanofibrillated Cellulose in Dispersion and Wet-Film States.

We report the viscoelastic properties of core-shell-structured, hemicellulose-rich nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) in dispersion and wet-film states. The hemicellulose-rich NFC (hemicellulose neutral sugars 23%, carboxylate 0.2 mmol g(-1)), prepared from Japanese persimmons, had a core crystallite thickness of 2.

Continuous manufacturing of tablets with PROMIS-line - Introduction and case studies from continuous feeding, blending and tableting.

Drug manufacturing technology is in the midst of modernization and continuous manufacturing of drug products is especially the focus of great interest. The adoption of new manufacturing approaches requires extensive cooperation between industry, regulatory bodies, academics and equipment manufacturers. In this paper we introduce PROMIS-line which is a continuous tableting line built at the University of Eastern Finland, School of Pharmacy, PROMIS-centre.

Mimicking the Humidity Response of the Plant Cell Wall by Using Two-Dimensional Systems: The Critical Role of Amorphous and Crystalline Polysaccharides.

Of the composite materials occurring in nature, the plant cell wall is among the most intricate, consisting of a complex arrangement of semicrystalline cellulose microfibrils in a dissipative matrix of lignin and hemicelluloses. Here, a biomimetic, two-dimensional cellulose system of the cell wall structure is introduced where cellulose nanocrystals compose the crystalline portion and regenerated amorphous cellulose composes the dissipative matrix. Spectroscopic ellipsometry and QCM-D are used to study the water vapor uptake of several two-layer systems.

Direct Interfacial Modification of Nanocellulose Films for Thermoresponsive Membrane Templates.

This letter proposes a strategy to construct tunable films combining the physical characteristics of cellulose nanofibrils and smart polymers for membrane applications. A functional membrane template was obtained by first fabricating a water stable film from cellulose nanofibrils and subsequently surface grafting it with a thermoresponsive polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). The behavior of the membrane template was dependent on temperature.

Experimental Validation of a Filament Transport Model in Turbulent Magnetized Plasmas.

In a wide variety of natural and laboratory magnetized plasmas, filaments appear as a result of interchange instability. These convective structures substantially enhance transport in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field. According to filament models, their propagation may follow different regimes depending on the parallel closure of charge conservation.

The biophysical properties of ethanolamine plasmalogens revealed by atomistic molecular dynamics simulations.

Given the importance of plasmalogens in cellular membranes and neurodegenerative diseases, a better understanding of how plasmalogens affect the lipid membrane properties is needed. Here we carried out molecular dynamics simulations to study a lipid membrane comprised of ethanolamine plasmalogens (PE-plasmalogens). We compared the results to the PE-diacyl counterpart and palmitoyl-oleyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) bilayers.

Water Vapor Uptake of Ultrathin Films of Biologically Derived Nanocrystals: Quantitative Assessment with Quartz Crystal Microbalance and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry.

Despite the relevance of water interactions, explicit analysis of vapor adsorption on biologically derived surfaces is often difficult. Here, a system was introduced to study the vapor uptake on a native polysaccharide surface; namely, cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) ultrathin films were examined with a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). A significant mass uptake of water vapor by the CNC films was detected using the QCM-D upon increasing relative humidity.

Interfacial Properties of Organic Semiconductor-Inorganic Magnetic Oxide Hybrid Spintronic Systems Fabricated Using Pulsed Laser Deposition.

We report fabrication of a hybrid organic semiconductor-inorganic complex oxide interface of rubrene and La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) for spintronic devices using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and investigate the interface structure and chemical bonding-dependent magnetic properties.

Biogenesis of Nascent High Density Lipoprotein Particles.

In this issue of Structure, Segrest et al. (2015) present a novel picture for the ABCA1-mediated lipid loading of lipid-poor apoA-I.

Estimation of Young's modulus of pharmaceutical tablet obtained by terahertz time-delay measurement.

In this paper, it is suggested that Young's modulus of pharmaceutical tablets with different porosity can be estimated from terahertz (THz) pulse time delay. We demonstrate such a possibility using a training set of tablets compressed from starch acetate. Once the mechanical properties are taught to the THz measurement system, using an ideal tablet as a reference, it is possible to get information about the Young's modulus of the tablet.