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Aim: Chemosensory anhedonia refers to the lack of hedonic ability to experience pleasure through the senses of smell and taste, which reduces the pleasure and comfort of food, and increases the risk of nutritional and immune deficiencies. However, there is no direct scientific evidence regarding chemosensory anhedonia in patients with late‐life depression (LLD). The aim of this study was to investigate chemosensory anhedonia in patients with LLD, and its potential association with depressive symptoms and cognitive function. Methods: A total of 114 patients with LLD and 92 normal controls were included in this study. They experienced clinical assessment, Chemosensory Pleasure Scale assessment, 17‐item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale assessment and cognitive assessments, which contain the Verbal Fluency Test. The associations between chemosensory pleasure and depressive symptoms or cognitive function in patients with LLD were explored using partial correlation analysis and mediation analysis. Results: The Chemosensory Pleasure Scale scores were lower in the LLD group than in the normal control group, and were negatively correlated with the total scores and factors' scores (retardation, cognitive bias and anxiety/somatization) of the 17‐item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and positively correlated with the Verbal Fluency Test scores. The scores for the Food and Imagination dimensions of the Chemosensory Pleasure Scale showed partial mediating effects on the differences in Cognitive bias (a factor of the 17‐item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) between patients with LLD and normal controls. Conclusions: Patients with LLD showed significant chemosensory anhedonia, and both depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment were associated with the severity of chemosensory anhedonia. Enhancing chemosensory pleasure in patients with LLD could potentially ameliorate their depressive symptoms. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 1022–1029. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline porous materials with designable topology, porosity and functionality, having promising applications in gas storage and separation, ion conduction and catalysis. It is challenging to observe MOFs with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) due to the extreme instability of MOFs upon electron beam irradiation. Here, we use a direct-detection electron-counting camera to acquire TEM images of the MOF ZIF-8 with an ultralow dose of 4.1 electrons per square ångström to retain the structural integrity. The obtained image involves structural information transferred up to 2.1 Å, allowing the resolution of individual atomic columns of Zn and organic linkers in the framework. Furthermore, TEM reveals important local structural features of ZIF-8 crystals that cannot be identified by diffraction techniques, including armchair-type surface terminations and coherent interfaces between assembled crystals. These observations allow us to understand how ZIF-8 crystals self-assemble and the subsequent influence of interfacial cavities on mass transport of guest molecules.

Mutations in fibrillin 1 (FBN1) is the main cause of Marfan syndrome (MFS) with thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) as the main complication. Activation of the complement system plays a key role in the formation of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms. However, the role of the complement system in MFS-associated aortic aneurysms remains unclear. In this study, we observed increased levels of complement C3a and C5a in the plasma of MFS patients and mouse, and the increased deposition of the activated complement system product C3b/iC3b was also observed in the elastic fiber rupture zone of 3-month-old MFS mice. The expression of C3a receptor (C3aR) was increased in MFS aortas, and recombinant C3a promoted the expression of cytokines in macrophages. The administration of a C3aR antagonist (C3aRA) attenuated the development of thoracic aortic aneurysms in MFS mice. The increased inflammation response and matrix metalloproteinases activities were also attenuated by C3aRA treatment in MFS mice. Therefore, these findings indicate that the complement C3a/C3aR inhibition alleviates the formation of aortic aneurysm in Marfan syndrome mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the development of composite materials composed of magnetic materials and MXene has attracted significant attention. However, the thickness and microwave absorption performance of the composite is still barely satisfactory. In this work, the C-N@NiFe2O4@MXene/Ni nanocomposites were successfully synthesized in situ by hydrothermal and calcination methods. Benefiting from the introduction of the carbon-nitrogen(C-N) network structure, the overall dielectric properties are improved effectively, consequently reducing the thickness of the composite while maintaining excellent absorption performance. As a result, the minimum reflection loss of C-N@NiFe2O4@MXene/Ni can reach −50.51 dB at 17.3 GHz at an ultralow thickness of 1.5 mm, with an effective absorption bandwidth of 4.95 GHz (13.02–18 GHz). This research provides a novel strategy for materials to maintain good absorption performance at an ultralow thickness level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the electromagnetic protection needs of important ground buildings, exploring the electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption performance of manganese ore powder (MOP) building materials is an effective way to overcome its low added value and difficulty in popularizing. Here, choosing filling ratios commonly used in building materials such as autoclaved bricks, MOP/paraffin samples with 20%, 40%, and 60% mass fraction of MOP were prepared, and electromagnetic properties were analyzed at 2–18 GHz using the coaxial method. The results show that 60 wt% sample has the best absorption performance, with a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of −22.06 dB at 15.04 GHz, and the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL < −10 dB) reaches 4.16 GHz at a 7.65 mm absorber thickness, covering most of the Ku-band region. The excellent microwave absorption performance of MOP is due to its multi-oxide forming multi-interface structure and rough surface, which can not only form abundant dipole and interfacial polarization under the action of EMW, but also reflect and scatter the incident EMW, prolong the transmission path, and enhanced the absorption of microwaves. This study demonstrates that MOP building materials can have excellent microwave absorption properties, thus becoming a new way to address harmful manganese residue; for example, autoclaved bricks, which can not only improve the added value of manganese residue building materials but also can be consumed on a large scale. It provides a new idea to solve the harm of manganese residue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]