BACKGROUND: As mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is typically used to identify prodromal stages of dementia, it is essential to identify MCI criteria with high diagnostic stability and prediction of dementia. Moreover, further investigation into pinpointing key factors for reversion is required to foresee future prognosis of MCI patients accurately.OBJECTIVE: To explore disparities in diagnostic sta

The mismatch of the coefficients of thermal expansion between cathode and electrolyte is one of the thorniest problems for high-performance proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (H–SOFCs). Here one strategy is applied by introducing the negative thermal expansion component, Y2Mo3O12 (YMO), on Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF) cathode to overcome this difficulty. As a result, not only the electrol

Climate change impacts on agricultural systems are intensifying. The recent IPCC report illustrates that as temperatures climb, changes in the climate are pushing systems beyond sustainable boundaries. This is the case with certain livestock production systems (e.g. climate impacts can result in devastated supply chains or crop failures). When climate impacts are, or are projected to be, so severe

Climate change is already affecting crop production, and in some cases is undermining the viability of current crop systems.Crop research and development plays a critical role in developing the technologies and practices farmers need to maximize productivity and manage the increasing risks they face. This paper investigates how transformative adaptation - long-term, systemic change to fundamental

As climate change increasingly affects agriculture around the world, reliable, timely, and targeted information about weather and climate conditions is becoming an ever more urgent requirement for adaptation decision-making.This paper considers how transformative adaptation – long-term, systemic change to fundamental aspects of systems in response to or anticipation of severe climate change impact

The CRISPR/Cas9 system offers enormous versatility for functional genomics but many applications have proven to be challenging in primary human cells compared to cell lines or mouse cells. Here, to establish a paradigm for multiplexed gene editing in primary human cord blood-derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), we used co-delivery of lentiviral sgRNA vectors expressing either E

Background: Cardiac arrest (CA) represents the third leading cause of death worldwide. Among patients resuscitated and admitted to hospital, death and severe neurological sequelae are frequent but difficult to predict. Blood biomarkers offer clinicians the potential to improve prognostication. Previous studies suggest that circulating non-coding RNAs constitute a reservoir of novel biomarkers. The

Adiabatic laminar burning velocities and post-flame NO mole fractions for flat, non-stretched, premixed dimethyl ether/air flames were experimentally determined with a heat flux burner combined with laser-induced fluorescence diagnostics, over equivalence ratios ranging from 0.7 to 1.6, at atmospheric pressure and initial temperatures from 298 to 338 K. The present burning velocity measurements we

This study developed an air-liquid interface (ALI) corneal model using explants bovine eyes for ocular toxicity assessment of ten chemicals and seven hair straightening mixtures. It was successfully maintained physiologically viable and normal for six days. Both eye damage (GHS cat. 1) and irritating (GHS cat. 2) chemicals induced corneal injury in our model. However, cat. 2 irritants triggered mo

The naturally occurring polyether ionophore salinomycin was previously found to display promising anti-proliferative activity against bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei. Here, we report the evaluation of 20-deoxysalinomycin, a naturally occurring homolog to salinomycin, for trypanocidal and cell swelling activity. The concentration of 20-deoxysalinomycin required to reduce the growth rate of

Rapid technological improvements are democratizing access to high quality, chromosome-scale genome assemblies. No longer the domain of only the most highly studied model organisms, now non-traditional and emerging model species can be genome-enabled using a combination of sequencing technologies and assembly software. Consequently, old ideas built on sparse sampling across the tree of life have re

Background: By sharing patient stories, health care professionals (HCPs) may communicate their attitudes, values and beliefs about caring and treatment. Previous qualitative research has shown that HCPs usually associate paediatric palliative care (PPC) with death or dying and that they find the concept challenging to understand and difficult to implement. Attending to HCPs’ stories may provide a

Background: Randomised clinical trials with a factorial design may assess the effects of multiple interventions in the same population. Factorial trials are carried out under the assumption that the trial interventions have no interactions on outcomes. Here, we present a protocol for a simulation study investigating the consequences of different levels of interactions between the trial interventio

Elevator evacuation is associated with several safety benefits and can be a cost-efficient evacuation strategy in many buildings or facilities. Despite the advantages, elevator evacuation is not yet a common strategy in the built environment. In this paper, a design strategy that allows the designer to consider information needs of evacuees when designing the information and guidance measures for

Background: This study aimed to evaluate whether an increasing grade of obesity is associated with inferior outcomes after lumbar disc herniation (LDH) surgery. Methods: We retrieved data from the Swedish register for spine surgery regarding patients aged 20–64 who underwent LDH surgery from 2006–2016 and had preoperative and one-year postoperative data. A total of 4156 patients were normal weight

The paper Pendulum: the partial and global approach combines a historic introduction to the theoretical treatment of pendulum motion with presentation of data from measurements on a single pendulum. This comment focuses on the presentation and analysis of experimental data, and how the use of dimensionless variables in graphs would make use of the mathematical properties, placing the single measur

Protein complex formation is encoded by specific interactions at the atomic scale, but the computational cost of modeling proteins at this level often requires use of simplified energy models and limited conformational flexibility. In particular, use of all-atom energy functions and backbone and side-chain flexibility results in rugged energy landscapes that are difficult to explore. In this study

The development of technologies to generate cell lines producing monoclonal antibodies of human origin has a great impact on the ability to study repertoires of specificities in the humoral immune response. Furthermore, it permits the generation of reagents which may be valuable for diagnostic and therapeutic applications and which lack some of the disadvantages of similar murine antibodies. In th

This essay takes a starting point in the well-known tension between the media logic and the scientific logic and the challenges when communicating science in a mediatized society. Building on the experience of engaging in research comics, both as a method for communicating science and a creative example of a meeting between science and art, we introduce a framework — a pedagogical tool — for how sThis essay takes a starting point in the well-known tension between the media logic and the scientific logic and the challenges when communicating science in a mediatized society. Building on the experience of engaging in research comics, both as a method for communicating science and a creative example of a meeting between science and art, we introduce a framework — a pedagogical tool — for how s

Limited data are available on the pathogenesis of HIV-2, and the evolution of Env molecular properties during disease progression is not fully elucidated. We investigated the intra-patient evolution of molecular properties of HIV-2 Env regions (V1–C3) during the asymptomatic, treatment-naïve phase of the infection in 16 study participants, stratified into faster or slower progressors. Most notably