MFM‐300(Al) shows reversible uptake of NH3 (15.7 mmol g−1 at 273 K and 1.0 bar) over 50 cycles with an exceptional packing density of 0.62 g cm−3 at 293 K. In situ neutron powder diffraction and ...synchrotron FTIR micro‐spectroscopy on ND3@MFM‐300(Al) confirms reversible H/D site exchange between the adsorbent and adsorbate, representing a new type of adsorption interaction.
High storage capacity: MFM‐300(Al) shows reversible uptake of NH3 over 50 cycles with an exceptional packing density of 0.62 g cm−3 at 293 K. Neutron diffraction and FTIR micro‐spectroscopy confirm reversible H/D site exchange between the adsorbent and adsorbate, representing a new type of adsorption interaction.
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) undergo rapid expansion in response to stress stimuli. Here we investigate the bioenergetic processes which facilitate the HSC expansion in response to infection. We ...find that infection by Gram-negative bacteria drives an increase in mitochondrial mass in mammalian HSCs, which results in a metabolic transition from glycolysis toward oxidative phosphorylation. The initial increase in mitochondrial mass occurs as a result of mitochondrial transfer from the bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) to HSCs through a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent mechanism. Mechanistically, ROS-induced oxidative stress regulates the opening of connexin channels in a system mediated by phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activation, which allows the mitochondria to transfer from BMSCs into HSCs. Moreover, mitochondria transfer from BMSCs into HSCs, in the response to bacterial infection, occurs before the HSCs activate their own transcriptional program for mitochondrial biogenesis. Our discovery demonstrates that mitochondrial transfer from the bone marrow microenvironment to HSCs is an early physiologic event in the mammalian response to acute bacterial infection and results in bioenergetic changes which underpin emergency granulopoiesis.
The supplementary motor area (SMA) is frequently involved by brain tumours (particularly WHO grade II gliomas). Surgery in this area can be followed by the 'SMA syndrome', characterised by ...contralateral akinesia and mutism. Knowledge of the connections of the SMA can provide new insights on the genesis of the SMA syndrome, and a better understanding of the challenges related to operating in this region.
White matter connections of the SMA were studied with both postmortem dissection and advance diffusion imaging tractography. Postmortem dissections were performed according to the Klingler technique. 12 specimens were fixed in 10% formalin and frozen at -15°C for 2 weeks. After thawing, dissection was performed with blunt dissectors. For diffusion tractography, high-resolution diffusion imaging datasets from 10 adult healthy controls from the Human Connectome Project database were used. Whole brain tractography was performed using a spherical deconvolution approach.
Five main connections were identified in both postmortem dissections and tractography reconstructions: (1) U-fibres running in the precentral sulcus, connecting the precentral gyrus and the SMA; (2) U-fibres running in the cingulate sulcus, connecting the SMA with the cingulate gyrus; (3) frontal 'aslant' fascicle, directly connecting the SMA with the pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus; (4) medial fibres connecting the SMA with the striatum; and (5) SMA callosal fibres. Good concordance was observed between postmortem dissections and diffusion tractography.
The SMA shows a wide range of white matter connections with motor, language and lymbic areas. Features of the SMA syndrome (akinesia and mutism) can be better understood on the basis of these findings.
Shift work increases the risk for human errors, such that drowsiness due to shift work has contributed to major industrial disasters, including Space Shuttle Challenger, Chernobyl and Alaska Oil ...Spill disasters, with extraordinary socio-economical costs. Overnight operations pose a challenge because our circadian biology inhibits cognitive performance at night. Yet how the circadian system modulates cognition over multiple days under realistic shift work conditions remains to be established. Importantly, because task-specific cognitive brain regions show different 24-h circadian dynamics, we hypothesize that circadian misalignment impacts cognition task-dependently. Using a biologically-driven paradigm mimicking night shift work, with a randomized, cross-over design, we show that misalignment between the circadian pacemaker and behavioral/environmental cycles increases cognitive vulnerability on sustained attention, cognitive throughput, information processing and visual-motor performance over multiple days, compared to circadian alignment (day shifts). Circadian misalignment effects are task-dependent: while they acutely impair sustained attention with recovery after 3-days, they progressively hinder daily learning. Individuals felt sleepier during circadian misalignment, but they did not rate their performance as worse. Furthermore, circadian misalignment effects on sustained attention depended on prior sleep history. Collectively, daily circadian misalignment may provide an important biological framework for developing countermeasures against adverse cognitive effects in shift workers.
Epidemiological studies show that adverse cardiovascular events peak in the morning (i.e., between 6 AM and noon) and that shift work is associated with cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. ...The endogenous circadian timing system modulates certain cardiovascular risk markers to be highest (e.g., cortisol, nonlinear dynamic heart rate control, and platelet activation) or to respond most unfavorably to stressors such as exercise (e.g., epinephrine, norepinephrine, and vagal cardiac modulation) at an internal body time corresponding to the time of day when adverse cardiovascular events most likely occur. This indicates that the circadian timing system and its interaction with external cardiovascular stressors (e.g., physical activity) could contribute to the morning peak in adverse cardiovascular events. Moreover, circadian misalignment and simulated night work have adverse effects on cardiovascular and metabolic function. This suggests that misalignment between the behavioral cycle and the circadian timing system in shift workers contributes to that population's increased risk for cardiometabolic disease.
Aims
Depression is commonly observed even in prodromal stages of Lewy body disorders (LBD), and is associated with cognitive impairment and a faster rate of cognitive decline. Given the role of ...dopamine in the development of movement disorders, but also in motivation and reward, we investigated neurodegenerative pathology in dopaminergic circuitry in Parkinson's disease (PD), PD with dementia (PDD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) patients in relation to depressive symptoms.
Methods
α‐synuclein, hyperphosphorylated tau and amyloid‐beta pathology was assessed in 17 DLB, 14 PDD and 8 PD cases within striatal and midbrain subregions, with neuronal cell density assessed in substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. Additionally, we used a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to investigate the extent to which brain connectivity might influence the deposition of pathological proteins within dopaminergic pathways.
Results
A significantly higher α‐synuclein burden was observed in the substantia nigra (P = 0.006), ventral tegmental area (P = 0.011) and nucleus accumbens (P = 0.031) in LBD patients with depression. Significant negative correlations were observed between cell density in substantia nigra with Lewy body (LB) Braak stage (P = 0.013), whereas cell density in ventral tegmental area showed negative correlations with LB Braak stage (P = 0.026) and neurofibrillary tangle Braak stage (P = 0.007).
Conclusions
Dopaminergic α‐synuclein pathology appears to drive depression. Selective targeting of dopaminergic pathways may therefore provide symptomatic relief for depressive symptoms in LBD patients.
Glucose tolerance is lower at night and higher in the morning. Shift workers, who often eat at night and experience circadian misalignment (i.e. misalignment between the central circadian pacemaker ...and the environmental/behavioural cycles), have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. To determine the separate and relative impacts of the circadian system, behavioural/environmental cycles, and their interaction (i.e. circadian misalignment) on insulin sensitivity and β‐cell function, the oral minimal model was used to quantitatively assess the major determinants of glucose control in 14 healthy adults using a randomized, cross‐over design with two 8‐day laboratory protocols. Both protocols involved 3 baseline inpatient days with habitual sleep/wake cycles, followed by 4 inpatient days with the same nocturnal bedtime (circadian alignment) or with 12‐hour inverted behavioural/environmental cycles (circadian misalignment). The data showed that circadian phase and circadian misalignment affect glucose tolerance through different mechanisms. While the circadian system reduces glucose tolerance in the biological evening compared to the biological morning mainly by decreasing both dynamic and static β‐cell responsivity, circadian misalignment reduced glucose tolerance mainly by lowering insulin sensitivity, not by affecting β‐cell function.
The demand for xylenes is projected to increase over the coming decades. The separation of xylene isomers, particularly p- and m-xylenes, is vital for the production of numerous polymers and ...materials. However, current state-of-the-art separation is based upon fractional crystallisation at 220 K which is highly energy intensive. Here, we report the discrimination of xylene isomers via refinement of the pore size in a series of porous metal-organic frameworks, MFM-300, at sub-angstrom precision leading to the optimal kinetic separation of all three xylene isomers at room temperature. The exceptional performance of MFM-300 for xylene separation is confirmed by dynamic ternary breakthrough experiments. In-depth structural and vibrational investigations using synchrotron X-ray diffraction and terahertz spectroscopy define the underlying host-guest interactions that give rise to the observed selectivity (p-xylene < o-xylene < m-xylene) and separation factors of 4.6-18 for p- and m-xylenes.
Abstract
Background. Proton therapy offers superior low and intermediate radiation dose distribution compared with photon-based radiation for brain and skull base tumors; yet tissue within and ...adjacent to the target volume may receive a comparable radiation dose. We investigated the tolerance of the pediatric brainstem to proton therapy and identified prognostic variables.
Material and methods. All patients < 18 years old with tumors of the brain or skull base treated from 2007 to 2013 were reviewed; 313 who received > 50.4 CGE to the brainstem were included in this study. Brainstem toxicity was graded according to the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.0.
Results. The three most common histologies were ependymoma, craniopharyngioma, and low-grade glioma. Median patient age was 5.9 years (range 0.5-17.9 years) and median prescribed dose was 54 CGE (range 48.6-75.6 CGE). The two-year cumulative incidence of toxicity was 3.8% ± 1.1%. The two-year cumulative incidence of grade 3 + toxicity was 2.1% ± 0.9%. Univariate analysis identified age < 5 years, posterior fossa tumor location and specific dosimetric parameters as factors associated with an increased risk of toxicity.
Conclusion. Utilization of current national brainstem dose guidelines is associated with a low risk of brainstem toxicity in pediatric patients. For young patients with posterior fossa tumors, particularly those who undergo aggressive surgery, our data suggest more conservative dosimetric guidelines should be considered.
Night shift work can associate with an increased risk for depression. As night workers experience a 'misalignment' between their circadian system and daily sleep-wake behaviors, with negative health ...consequences, we investigated whether exposure to circadian misalignment underpins mood vulnerability in simulated shift work. We performed randomized within-subject crossover laboratory studies in non-shift workers and shift workers. Simulated night shifts were used to induce a misalignment between the endogenous circadian pacemaker and sleep/wake cycles (circadian misalignment), while environmental conditions and food intake were controlled. Circadian misalignment adversely impacted emotional state, such that mood and well-being levels were significantly decreased throughout 4 days of continuous exposure to circadian misalignment in non-shift workers, as compared to when they were under circadian alignment (interaction of "circadian alignment condition" vs. "day", mood: p < 0.001; well-being: p < 0.001; adjusted p-values). Similarly, in shift workers, mood and well-being levels were significantly reduced throughout days of misalignment, as compared to circadian alignment (interaction of "circadian alignment condition" vs. "day", mood: p = 0.002; well-being: p = 0.002; adjusted p-values). Our findings indicate that circadian misalignment is an important biological component for mood vulnerability, and that individuals who engage in shift work are susceptible to its deleterious mood effects.
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