Exploring the Impact of Minor Water Content on Polymer Electrolytes with Molecular Dynamics.

Solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are increasingly favored over liquid electrolytes for emerging energy storage devices due to their safety features, enhanced stability, and multifunctionality. Minor solvents (such as water) are often introduced unintentionally or intentionally into SPEs. Although it can significantly affect SPEs' electrochemical and mechanical properties, the fundamental role of such solvent content has rarely been studied.

Fox Insight: Most Bothersome Symptoms in Early-Stage Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Limited evidence exists regarding the meaningfulness of symptoms experienced in early Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objectives: To identify the most bothersome symptoms experienced by people with early PD, leveraging data from the Parkinson's Disease Patient Report of Problems (PD-PROP) questionnaire within the Fox Insight Study.

Methods: Individuals with a self-reported diagnosis of PD completed the PD-PROP questionnaire, reporting up to five most bothersome symptoms.

Cross-sectional analysis of soft drinks consumption patterns post-taxation in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Sweetened soft drinks consumption contributes to the increasing prevalence of obesity in Saudi Arabia. In 2017, Saudi Arabia began imposing tax on sugar-sweetened drinks to combat obesity.

Aim: To investigate the determinants of soft drinks consumption patterns among adults in Saudi Arabia 5 years after consumer tax implementation.

Delivery vehicles for light-mediated drug delivery: microspheres, microbots, and nanoparticles: a review.

This review delves into the evolving landscape of mediated drug delivery, focusing on the versatility of a variety of drug delivery vehicles such as microspheres, microbots, and nanoparticles (NPs). The review also expounds on the critical components and mechanisms for light-mediated drug delivery, including photosensitizers and light sources such as visible light detectable by the human eye, ultraviolet (UV) light, shorter wavelengths than visible light, and near-infra-red (NIR) light, which has longer wavelength than visible light. This longer wavelength has been implemented in drug delivery for its ability to penetrate deeper tissues and highlighted for its role in precise and controlled drug release.

Tubulin sequence divergence is associated with the use of distinct microtubule regulators.

Diverse eukaryotic cells assemble microtubule networks that vary in structure and composition. While we understand how cells build microtubule networks with specialized functions, we do not know how microtubule networks diversify across deep evolutionary timescales. This problem has remained unresolved because most organisms use shared pools of tubulins for multiple networks, making it difficult to trace the evolution of any single network.

Double-Duty Caregivers' Satisfaction With Health Care Provider Communication.

Background: Double-duty caregivers are health care professionals caring for family members or friends outside the workplace. While they may communicate frequently with colleagues in their professional role, little is known about communication with health care providers in the caregiving role.

Objective: To measure double-duty caregiver satisfaction when communicating with health care providers and to identify correlates and predictors of satisfaction.

Cryo-electron tomography of eel sperm flagella reveals a molecular "minimum system" for motile cilia.

Cilia and flagella play a crucial role in the development and function of eukaryotes. The activity of thousands of dyneins is precisely regulated to generate flagellar motility. The complex proteome (600+ proteins) and architecture of the structural core of flagella, the axoneme, have made it challenging to dissect the functions of the different complexes, like the regulatory machinery.

Robust, Antifouling, and Hydrophilic Particle-Based Double-Network Hydrogel-PVDF Interpenetrating Microfiltration Membrane.

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes with highly hydrophilic and antifouling properties are desirable for oily wastewater treatment. Herein, we report (1) a strategy of bulk modification of PVDF by integration of PVDF and a particle-based double-network (PDN) hydrogel, poly-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate/polyacrylamide (PAMPS/PAAm), via a strong PDN and PVDF interpenetrating polymer network (PDN-PVDF IPN) to obtain a PVDF/PDN solution and (2) the subsequent casting of it into a microfiltration membrane via spray-assisted non-solvent-induced phase separation (SANIPS). The IPN structure modulates the surface segregation behavior of the highly hydrophilic and robust PDN hydrogel in the process of SANIPS, endowing the resulting PVDF/PDN membrane with excellent bulk mechanical properties and much enhanced wettability and thereby high oil/water emulsion separation efficiency and antifouling performance.

Serotonin 1A Receptors Modulate Serotonin 2A Receptor-Mediated Behavioral Effects of 5-Methoxy-,-dimethyltryptamine Analogs in Mice.

5-methoxy-,-dimethyltrytpamine (5-MeO-DMT) analogs are used as recreational drugs, but they are also being developed as potential medicines, warranting further investigation into their pharmacology. Here, we investigated the neuropharmacology of 5-MeO-DMT and several of its -alkyl, -allyl, and 2-methyl analogs, with three major aims: 1) to determine in vitro receptor profiles for the compounds, 2) to characterize in vitro functional activities at serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptors (5-HT) and 1A receptors (5-HT), and 3) to examine the influence of 5-HT on 5-HT-mediated psychedelic-like effects in the mouse head twitch response (HTR) model. In vitro receptor binding and functional assays showed that all 5-MeO-DMT analogs bind with high affinity and activate multiple targets (e.

"A little bit more challenging, but more rewarding": Medical-surgical nurses' perspectives on caring for adults with intellectual disabilities.

Despite their central role in hospital care, little research has explored medical-surgical nurses' perspectives on the rewarding aspects of and significant influences on caring for adults with intellectual disabilities, even though they are key to understanding this population's inequitable hospital outcomes. A qualitative descriptive design was used, and interviews were conducted with 13 medical-surgical nurses from the United States. Manifest content analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts and categorize findings.

Long-duration type 1 diabetes is associated with deficient cortical bone mechanical behavior and altered matrix composition in human femoral bone.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with an increased risk of hip fracture beyond what can be explained by reduced bone mineral density, possibly due to changes in bone material from accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) and altered matrix composition, though data from human cortical bone in T1D are limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate cortical bone material behavior in T1D by examining specimens from cadaveric femora from older adults with long-duration T1D (≥50 yr; n = 20) and age- and sex-matched nondiabetic controls (n = 14). Cortical bone was assessed by mechanical testing (4-point bending, cyclic reference point indentation, impact microindentation), AGE quantification [total fluorescent AGEs, pentosidine, carboxymethyl lysine (CML)], and matrix composition via Raman spectroscopy.

Large Scale Ultrafast Manufacturing of Wireless Soft Bioelectronics Enabled by Autonomous Robot Arm Printing Assisted by a Computer Vision-Enabled Guidance System for Personalized Wound Healing.

A Customized wound patch for Advanced tissue Regeneration with Electric field (CARE), featuring an autonomous robot arm printing system guided by a computer vision-enabled guidance system for fast image recognition is introduced. CARE addresses the growing demand for flexible, stretchable, and wireless adhesive bioelectronics tailored for electrotherapy, which is suitable for rapid adaptation to individual patients and practical implementation in a comfortable design. The visual guidance system integrating a 6-axis robot arm enables scans from multiple angles to provide a 3D map of complex and curved wounds.

Pentacyclic Triterpenoid Content in Cranberry Raw Materials and Products.

Cranberry fruit extracts have been shown to inhibit expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in THP-1 cells and reduce colonic tumor burden and tissue inflammation in a mouse model of colitis. These activities are attributed to both the triterpenoid and polyphenol constituents of the fruit. The pentacyclic triterpenoids ursolic acid (UA), oleanolic acid (OA), corosolic acid (CA), maslinic acid (MA), and esters of UA and OA occur in the waxy layer of cranberry peel, and their content in cranberry products is likely to vary with the fruit source and processing methods.

Designing Alkylammonium Cations for Enhanced Solubility of Anionic Active Materials in Redox Flow Batteries: The Role of Bulk and Chain Length.

Advancing grid-scale energy storage technologies is crucial for realizing a fully renewable energy landscape, with non-aqueous redox flow batteries (NRFBs) presenting a promising solution. One of the current challenges in NRFBs stems from the low energy density of redox active materials, primarily due to their limited solubility in non-aqueous solvents. Herein, this study explores the solubility of vanadium(IV/V) bis-hydroxyiminodiacetate (VBH) crystals in acetonitrile, aiming to use them as anionic catholytes in NRFBs.

Facilitating Health-Promoting Self-Care in Older Adults: A Theory Synthesis.

The authors describe the development of a model that focuses on how primary care providers can facilitate health promotion in older adults. The health-promoting self-care in older adults (HPSOA) model was developed through a synthesis of key concepts from the Health Promotion model and the Modeling Role Modeling Theory. Walker and Avant's strategy for theory synthesis was used in its development.

The Telehealth Education for Asthma Connecting Hospital and Home (TEACHH) pilot study.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of a novel intervention of health literacy-informed, telemedicine-enhanced asthma education and home management support for hospitalized children and caregivers, and assess caregiver perspectives of the intervention.

Methods: We conducted a pilot randomized trial of the Telehealth Education for Asthma Connecting Hospital and Home (TEACHH) intervention vs. standardized care (SC) for children (5-13 yrs) hospitalized with asthma.