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Complexins play a critical role in regulating SNARE-mediated exocytosis of synaptic vesicles. Evolutionary divergences in complexin function have complicated our understanding of the role these proteins play in inhibiting the spontaneous fusion of vesicles. Previous structural and functional characterizations of worm and mouse complexins have indicated the membrane curvature-sensing C-terminal domain of these proteins is responsible for differences in inhibitory function. We have characterized the structure and dynamics of the mCpx1 CTD in the absence and presence of membranes and membrane mimetics using NMR, ESR, and optical spectroscopies. In the absence of lipids, the mCpx1 CTD features a short helix near its N-terminus and is otherwise disordered. In the presence of micelles and small unilamellar vesicles, the mCpx1 CTD forms a discontinuous helical structure in its C-terminal 20 amino acids, with no preference for specific lipid compositions. In contrast, the mCpx1 CTD shows distinct compositional preferences in its interactions with large unilamellar vesicles. These studies identify structural divergences in the mCpx1 CTD relative to the wCpx1 CTD in regions that are known to be critical to the wCpx1 CTD's role in inhibiting spontaneous fusion of synaptic vesicles, suggesting a potential structural basis for evolutionary divergences in complexin function.

Objective: Sensory deficits are important risk factors for delirium but have been investigated in single-center studies and single clinical settings. This multicenter study aims to evaluate the association between hearing and visual impairment or bi-sensory impairment (visual and hearing impairment) and delirium. Design: Cross-sectional study nested in the 2017 "Delirium Day" project. Setting and participants: Patients 65 years and older admitted to acute hospital medical wards, emergency departments, rehabilitation wards, nursing homes, and hospices in Italy. Methods: Delirium was assessed with the 4AT (a short tool for delirium assessment) and sensory deficits with a clinical evaluation. We assessed the association between delirium, hearing and visual impairment in multivariable logistic regression models, adjusting for: Model 1, we included predisposing factors for delirium (ie, dementia, weight loss and autonomy in the activities of daily living); Model 2, we added to Model 1 variables, which could be considered precipitating factors for delirium (ie, psychoactive drugs and urinary catheters). Results: A total of 3038 patients were included; delirium prevalence was 25%. Patients with delirium had a higher prevalence of hearing impairment (30.5% vs 18%; P < .001), visual impairment (24.2% vs 15.7%; P < .01) and bi-sensory impairment (16.2% vs 7.5%) compared with those without delirium. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, the presence of bi-sensory impairment was associated with delirium in Model 1 [odds ratio (OR) 1.5, confidence interval (CI) 1.2-2.1; P = .00] and in Model 2 (OR 1.4; CI 1.1-1.9; P = .02), whereas the presence of visual and hearing impairment alone was not associated with delirium either in Model 1 (OR 0.8; CI 0.6-1.2, P = .36; OR 1.1; CI 0.8-1.4; P = .42) or in Model 2 (OR 0.8, CI 0.6-1.2, P = .27; OR 1.1, CI 0.8-1.4, P = .63). Conclusions and implications: Our findings support the importance of routine screening and specific interventions by a multidisciplinary team to implement optimal management of sensory impairments and hence prevention and the management of the patients with delirium.

Anomia is an early and prominent feature of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and other neurodegenerative disorders. Research investigating treatment for lexical retrieval impairment in individuals with progressive anomia has focused primarily on monolingual speakers, and treatment in bilingual speakers is relatively unexplored. In this series of single-case experiments, 10 bilingual speakers with progressive anomia received lexical retrieval treatment designed to engage relatively spared cognitive-linguistic abilities and promote word retrieval. Treatment was administered in two phases, with one language targeted per phase. Cross-linguistic cognates (e.g., rose and rosa) were included as treatment targets to investigate their potential to facilitate cross-linguistic transfer. Performance on trained and untrained stimuli was evaluated before, during, and after each phase of treatment, and at 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment. Participants demonstrated a significant treatment effect in each of their treated languages, with maintenance up to one year post-treatment for the majority of participants. Most participants showed a significant cross-linguistic transfer effect for trained cognates in both the dominant and nondominant language, with fewer than half of participants showing a significant translation effect for noncognates. A gradual diminution of translation and generalization effects was observed during the follow-up period. Findings support the implementation of dual-language intervention approaches for bilingual speakers with progressive anomia, irrespective of language dominance.

Semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a loss of semantic knowledge in the context of anterior temporal lobe atrophy (left right). Core features of svPPA include anomia and single-word comprehension impairment. Despite growing evidence supporting treatment for anomia in svPPA, there is a paucity of research investigating neural mechanisms supporting treatment-induced gains and generalization to untrained items. In the current study, we examined the relation between the structural integrity of brain parenchyma (tissue inclusive of gray and white matter) at pre-treatment and treatment outcomes for trained and untrained items in a group of 19 individuals with svPPA who completed lexical retrieval treatment. Two structural neuroimaging approaches were used: an exploratory, whole-brain, voxel-wise approach and an a priori region of interest (ROI) approach. Based on previous research, bilateral temporal (inferior, middle, and superior temporal gyri), parietal (supramarginal and angular gyri), frontal (inferior and middle frontal gyri) and medial temporal (hippocampus and parahippocampal gyri) ROIs were selected from the Automated Anatomical Labeling (AAL) atlas. Analyses revealed improved naming of trained items and generalization to untrained items following treatment, providing converging evidence that individuals with svPPA can benefit from treatment for anomia. Better post-treatment naming accuracy was associated with the structural integrity of inferior parietal cortex and the hippocampus. Specifically, improved naming of trained items was related to the left supramarginal (phonological processing) and angular gyri (phonological and semantic processing), and improved naming of trained and untrained items was related to the left hippocampus (episodic, context-based memory). Future research should examine treatment outcomes in relation to pre-treatment functional and structural connectivity as well as changes in network dynamics following speech-language intervention to further elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying treatment response in svPPA and related disorders.

Clinical understanding of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) has been established based on English-speaking population. The lack of linguistic diversity in research hinders the diagnosis of PPA in non-English speaking patients. This case report describes the tonal and orthographic deficits of a multilingual native Cantonese-speaking woman with nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA (nfvPPA) and progressive supranuclear palsy. Our findings suggest that Cantonese-speaking nfvPPA patients exhibit tone production impairments, tone perception deficits at the lexical selection processing, and linguistic dysgraphia errors unique to logographic script writer. These findings suggest that linguistic tailored approaches offer novel and effective tools in identifying non-English speaking PPA individuals.

Influenza A viruses cause widespread human respiratory disease. The viral multifunctional NS1 protein inhibits host antiviral responses. This inhibition results from the binding of specific cellular antiviral proteins at various positions on the NS1 protein. Remarkably, binding of several proteins also requires the two amino-acid residues in the NS1 N-terminal RNA-binding domain (RBD) that are required for binding double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Here we focus on the host restriction factor DHX30 helicase that is countered by the NS1 protein, and establish why the dsRNA-binding activity of NS1 is required for its binding to DHX30. We show that the N-terminal 152 amino-acid residue segment of DHX30, denoted DHX30N, possesses all the antiviral activity of DHX30 and contains a dsRNA-binding domain, and that the NS1-DHX30 interaction in vivo requires the dsRNA-binding activity of both DHX30N and the NS1 RBD. We demonstrate why this is the case using bacteria-expressed proteins: the DHX30N-NS1 RBD interaction in vitro requires the presence of a dsRNA platform that binds both NS1 RBD and DHX30N. We propose that a similar dsRNA platform functions in interactions of the NS1 protein with other proteins that requires these same two amino-acid residues required for NS1 RBD dsRNA-binding activity.

Purpose Recent studies confirm the utility of speech-language intervention in primary progressive aphasia (PPA); however, long-term outcomes, ideal dosage parameters, and relative benefits of intervention across clinical variants warrant additional investigation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether naming treatment affords significant, lasting, and generalized improvement for individuals with semantic and logopenic PPA and whether dosage manipulations significantly affect treatment outcomes. Method Eighteen individuals with PPA (9 semantic and 9 logopenic variant) underwent lexical retrieval treatment designed to leverage spared cognitive–linguistic domains and develop self-cueing strategies to promote naming. One group ( n = 10) underwent once-weekly treatment sessions, and the other group ( n = 8) received the same treatment with 2 sessions per week and an additional “booster” treatment phase at 3 months post-treatment. Performance on trained and untrained targets/tasks was measured immediately after treatment and at 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment. Results Outcomes from the full cohort of individuals with PPA showed significantly improved naming of trained items immediately post-treatment and at all follow-up assessments through 1 year. Generalized improvement on untrained items was significant up to 6 months post-treatment. The positive response to treatment was comparable regardless of session frequency or inclusion of a booster phase. Outcomes were comparable across PPA subtypes, as was maintenance of gains over the post-treatment period. Conclusion This study documents positive naming treatment outcomes for a group of individuals with PPA, demonstrating strong direct treatment effects, maintenance of gains up to 1 year post-treatment, and generalization to untrained items. Lexical retrieval treatment, in conjunction with daily home practice, had a strong positive effect that did not require more than 1 clinician-directed treatment session per week. Findings confirm that strategic training designed to capitalize on spared cognitive–linguistic abilities results in significant and lasting improvement, despite ongoing disease progression, in PPA.

Q (1) 1Will individuals with chronic aphasia demonstrate less decline (over time) in naming accuracy of recently treated nouns and verbs by participating in an unsupervised home practice program wi...

Introduction Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive deterioration of speech and language. A growing body of research supports the utility of speech and language intervention in individuals with PPA, although access to these services remains limited. One potential means of increasing treatment accessibility is the delivery of treatment via telemedicine. Evidence supports the use of teletherapy in stroke-induced aphasia, but research examining the application of teletherapy in PPA is limited. In the current study, a non-randomized group comparison design was used to evaluate the feasibility and utility of treatment delivered via teletherapy relative to treatment administered in person for individuals with PPA. Methods Two treatment protocols were administered as part of a larger study investigating treatment for speech and language deficits in PPA. Participants with semantic (n=10) and logopenic (n=11) PPA received lexical retrieval treatment and individuals with nonfluent/agrammatic PPA (n=10) received video-implemented script training for aphasia designed to promote speech production and fluency. Treatment was administered via teletherapy for approximately half of the participants receiving each intervention. Treatment outcomes and performance on standardized tests were assessed at pre-treatment and post-treatment, as well as 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment. Results Overall, both treatment approaches resulted in significant gains for primary outcome measures. Critically, comparison of in-person and teletherapy groups revealed comparable outcomes. Generalization to untrained targets and tasks and maintenance of treatment-induced gains were also comparable for traditional vs teletherapy participants. Conclusion Overall, treatment outcomes were largely equivalent for individuals receiving treatment via teletherapy vs traditional, in-person delivery. Results support the application of teletherapy for administering restitutive interventions to individuals with mild-to-moderate PPA. Potential implications for using teletherapy in the treatment of cognitive-linguistic and motoric impairments in other disorders and suggestions for administering treatment via telemedicine are discussed.

The 1915 women’s suffrage issues of two periodicals, the Crisis, the NAACP magazine, and the Masses, an irreverent outlet for left-wing political eclecticism, compel a reassessment of what constitu...

Shipping contributions to atmospheric particulate matter were estimated by an approach based on high temporal resolution measurements of mass and number size distribution, correlated with meteorological and ship movements data, in two Adriatic harbours. Trends of contributions are discussed. Contribution to particle number concentrations (PNC) was 3–4 times larger than that to PM2.5. In Venice, strategies for reduction of shipping emissions were effective in lowering the PM2.5 primary impact, while PNC contribution was significant in Brindisi. The maximum contribution was found to ultrafine particles (UFP), followed by a minimum at diameters between 1 and 1.5 µm and a growth in the coarse range.

Defining the role of intrinsic disorder in proteins in the myriad of biological processes with which it is involved represents a significant goal in modern biophysics. Toward this end, NMR is uniquely suited for molecular studies of dynamic and disordered regions, but studying these regions in concert with their more structured domains and binding partners presents spectroscopic challenges. Here, we investigate the interactions between the structured and disordered regions of the human glucocorticoid receptor (GR). To do this, we developed an NMR strategy that relies on a novel relaxation filter for the simultaneous study of structured and unstructured regions. Using this approach, we conducted a comparative analysis of three translational isoforms of GR containing a folded DNA-binding domain (DBD) and two disordered regions that flank the DBD, one of which varies in size in the different isoforms. Notably, we were able to assign resonances that had previously been inaccessible because of the spectral complexity of the translational isoforms, which in turn allowed us to 1) identify a region of the structured DBD that undergoes significant changes in the local chemical environment in the presence of the disordered region and 2) determine differences in the conformational ensembles of the disordered regions of the translational isoforms. Furthermore, an ensemble-based thermodynamic analysis of the isoforms reveals conserved patterns of stability within the N-terminal domain of GR that persist despite low sequence conservation. These studies provide an avenue for further investigations of the mechanistic underpinnings of the functional relevance of the translational isoforms of GR while also providing a general NMR strategy for studying systems containing both structured and disordered regions.

Gulf War veterans (GWVs) were exposed to neurotoxicants, including sarin nerve gas, anti-nerve agent pills, pesticides, oil well fires, and fumes from unvented tent heaters, all of which have been associated with subsequent adverse health. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have also been associated with GW deployment; however, associations between exposures and PTSD symptoms have not been investigated. We assessed PTSD symptom trajectories and associations with neurotoxicant exposures in Ft. Devens Cohort (FDC) veterans (N = 259) who endorsed trauma exposure during deployment and completed the PTSD Checklist at three follow-ups (1992-1993, 1997-1998, 2013-2017). Results indicate that among veterans with more severe initial PTSD symptoms, symptoms remained significantly higher across follow-ups, Bs = -1.489-1.028, whereas among those with low initial PTSD symptoms, symptom severity increased significantly over time, Bs = 1.043-10.304. Additionally, neurotoxicant exposure was associated with a significant increase in PTSD symptoms, Bs = -1.870-9.003. Significant interactions between time and exposures were observed for PTSD symptom clusters, suggesting that among participants with high initial PTSD symptom, unexposed veterans experienced symptom alleviation, whereas exposed veterans' PTSD symptoms remained high. In GWVs with low initial PTSD symptoms, both unexposed and exposed veterans experienced PTSD symptom exacerbations over time; however, this occurred at a faster rate among exposed veterans. These findings suggest that in the years following deployment, GWVs who were exposed to both traumatic events and neurotoxicants may experience more severe and chronic PTSD symptoms than those without neurotoxicant exposures.

The use of baking ovens as a microbial kill step should be validated based on results of thermal inactivation models. Although traditional isothermal models may not be appropriate for these dynamic processes, they are being used by the food industry. Previous research indicates that the impact of additional process conditions, such as humidity, should be considered when validating thermal processes for the control of microbial hazards in low-moisture foods. In this study, the predictive performance of traditional and modified thermal inactivation kinetic models accounting for process humidity were assessed for predicting inactivation of Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 in a multi-ingredient composite food during baking. Ingredients (milk powder, protein powder, peanut butter, and whole wheat flour) were individually inoculated to achieve ∼6 log CFU/g, equilibrated to a water activity of 0.25, and then mixed to form a cookie dough. An isothermal inactivation study was conducted for the dough to obtain traditional D- and z-values (n = 63). In a separate experiment, cookies were baked under four dynamic heating conditions: 135°C, high humidity; 135°C, low humidity; 150°C, high humidity; and 150°C, low humidity. Process humidity measurements; time-temperature profiles for the product core, surface, and bulk air; and microbial survivor ratios were collected for the four conditions at six residence times (n = 144). The traditional isothermal model had a high root mean square error (RMSE) of 856.51 log CFU/g, significantly overpredicting bacterial inactivation during the process. The modified model accounting for the dynamic time-temperature profile and process humidity data was a better predictor with an RMSE of 0.55 log CFU/g. These results indicate the importance of accounting for additional process parameters in baking inactivation models and that model performance can be improved by utilizing model parameters obtained directly from industrial-scale experimental data. HIGHLIGHTS

POST-PRINT VERSION The sources impacting size-segregated aerosol were studied in Venice (Italy), in the framework of the ECOMOBILITY project (ECOlogical supporting for traffic Management in cOastal areas By using an InteLlIgenT sYstem, Interreg Italy-Croatia). The importance of this work lies in the fact that aerosol can have a different impact on human health, based on the particle size: nanoparticles could be potentially more dangerous with respect to coarse and fine particles; at the same time, they are poorly studied. The aim of this work is to perform an overview of the chemical composition of size-segregated aerosol, for carrying out a size-dependent source apportionment of aerosol in the urban area of Venice. Aerosol was collected with a MOUDI 110 cascade impactor. After the gravimetric analysis, filters were divided in three parts and each piece underwent a different analytical procedure, for the analysis of trace metals, carbonaceous and ionic species. Source apportionment was conducted using two different approaches: i) approximate formulae; ii) Positive Matrix Factorization. Sea spray aerosol was found mainly in the coarse fraction. The fine fraction was dominated by secondary inorganic aerosol and organic aerosol. Primary anthropogenic aerosol increased as particle dimension decreased. For the first time, the contribution of shipping emission was investigated using chemical tracers on different size ranges below 1 µm and reaching nanoparticles (

As older populations around the world continue to increase, so does the number of individuals living with dementia (Prince et al., 2008; Prince, Ali, et al., 2016). Growth in older populations, and hence in likely numbers of persons living with dementia, is particularly rapid for persons of Mexican origin on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border. In Mexico, the population 60 years and older is projected to increase from 8.9% to 21.5% of the total population between the years 2010 and 2050 (CONAPO, 2012). In the United States, Hispanics are the fastest-growing group among older adults (CDC, 2020), and are expected to increase from 7.1% to 19.8% of the U.S. population 65 or older between 2010 and 2050 (Vincent & Velkoff, 2010). U.S. Hispanics are a diverse population with subgroups defined by nativity, country of origin, and time spent in the United States (Andrade & Viruell-Fuentes, 2011). Among U.S. Hispanics, individuals of Mexican descent comprise a majority, accounting for more than 60% of the total U.S. Hispanic population (Markides et al., 1997; Garcia et al., 2018).

The increasing exposure to air pollutants associated with the world-wide process of urbanization is among the most important risk factors for human health. In this context, the development of green infrastructures has gained interest for providing new win-win solutions for improving air quality and urban climate. In the present work, we have characterized an innovative, engineered green infrastructure, the CityTree (CT), in a real urban setting. Abatement rate of priority pollutants (PMx, NOx, black carbon) by a CT unit was determined, during three intensive field campaigns in the city of Modena (Italy). The measurements of the air filtered through the CT (active mode) showed significant reductions in particulate matter concentration: 19–23% for PM10 aerosol mass, 15–20% for PM2.5, 11–13% for PM1, 38% for ultrafine particle number concentration and 17% for black carbon concentration. The measurements in passive mode (with ventilation off) enabled the estimation of the deposition velocities of aerosol particles and gases onto the device surface. The average deposition velocities for PM10 and NOx observed for the CT mosses fall in the range reported in the scientific literature for other types of green surfaces (e.g., grass lawns, hedges). A comparison of the pollutant removal efficiency between passive and active CT mode was performed. The aerosol removal efficiency of the CT resulted from ~3 to almost 20 times higher in filtration than in deposition mode, according to the selected aerosol parameter. These results indicate that moss bio-filters can be more effective in removing air pollutants than standard green infrastructures for in situ applications.

We develop a fully self-consistent subtracted second random-phase approximation for charge-exchange processes with Skyrme energy-density functionals. As a first application, we study Gamow-Teller excitations in the doubly magic nucleus $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$, the lightest double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ emitter that could be used in an experiment, and in $^{78}\mathrm{Ni}$, the single-beta-decay rate of which is known. The amount of Gamow-Teller strength below 20 or 30 MeV is considerably smaller than in other energy-density-functional calculations and agrees better with experiment in $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$, as does the beta-decay rate in $^{78}\mathrm{Ni}$. These important results, obtained without ad hoc quenching factors, are due to the presence of two-particle--two-hole configurations. Their density progressively increases with excitation energy, leading to a long high-energy tail in the spectrum, a fact that may have implications for the computation of nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay in the same framework.

Gulf War veterans (GWVs) were exposed to numerous neurotoxicants during deployment. Upon returning home, many reported a multitude of symptoms including fatigue, pain, gastrointestinal and respiratory issues, and neurological, cognitive, and mood complaints, collectively termed “Gulf War Illness (GWI).” Now, nearly 30 years post-war, many GWVs continue to suffer from these symptoms, in addition to health concerns associated with normal aging. While most research on GWVs has been cross-sectional, it is important to evaluate the progression and onset of new GWI symptoms longitudinally. The current study investigated the health of GWVs 25+ years after the war by resurveying the Ft. Devens Cohort and comparing their current health to their health reported 15 to 20 years earlier. The sample consists of 317 GWVs (~54 years old at the latest survey, 38 women) who responded to both surveys (1997-1998 and 2013-2017). Multivariable regression analyses were used to assess changes in GWI symptomatology and prevalence of medical conditions. The rates of 12 of 25 health symptoms increased significantly from the prior 1997-1998 survey. Anxiety, numbness in extremities, depressed mood, and joint pain had the greatest increase in endorsement. The rates of 7 of 16 medical conditions increased significantly from the prior 1997-1998 survey. High blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer had the greatest increase in prevalence. In summary, this study demonstrates that both symptoms and physician-diagnosed medical conditions associated with GW deployment/exposure increased in prevalence. For GWVs, focus by providers on the treatment of cognitive and mental health issues as well as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk factors is warranted. Targeting symptom alleviation would help improve the quality of life in these veterans until treatments addressing the entire illness become available.

We develop a fully self-consistent subtracted second random-phase approximation for charge-exchange processes with Skyrme energy-density functionals. As a first application, we study Gamow-Teller excitations in the doubly magic nucleus ^{48}Ca, the lightest double-β emitter that could be used in an experiment, and in ^{78}Ni, the single-beta-decay rate of which is known. The amount of Gamow-Teller strength below 20 or 30 MeV is considerably smaller than in other energy-density-functional calculations and agrees better with experiment in ^{48}Ca, as does the beta-decay rate in ^{78}Ni. These important results, obtained without ad hoc quenching factors, are due to the presence of two-particle-two-hole configurations. Their density progressively increases with excitation energy, leading to a long high-energy tail in the spectrum, a fact that may have implications for the computation of nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double-β decay in the same framework.

This chapter compares two 1915 issues of The Crisis and The Masses that focused on women’s suffrage as a way of identifying similarities, differences, and cross-periodical dialogues between black and white justice-seeking communities, both of which deemed advocating women’s suffrage important to their projects and audiences. The Crisis and The Masses spoke to gender-integrated audiences, included women as editors and contributors, and created public spaces for protest, outrage, and affirmation that countered dominant culture beliefs. Focusing on their words, images, argumentation, and advertisements, this study situates these two special issues in the contexts of debates about women’s suffrage, women’s rights, and feminism, as well as within the fraught conflicts between the nineteenth-century abolitionist and Black freedom movements and the women’s rights movement. Comparing the contents of both issues makes clear that considering race in gendered radicalism and gender in race radicalism are essential when examining suffrage media rhetoric.

The ELYO functional proposed in [M. Grasso, D. Lacroix, and C. J. Yang, Phys. Rev. C \textbf{95}, 054327 (2017)] belongs to the family of energy-density functionals (EDFs) inspired by effective-field theories (EFTs) and constrained by \textit{ab--initio} pseudo-data. We present here an extension of this EDF which also accounts for the first $p$-wave term appearing in the low-density expansion from which it derives. It is shown that this enrichment of the ansatz on which the functional is based leads to a significant improvement of the description of neutronic systems, especially in regimes besides the pseudo--data set employed to adjust the parameters. As an illustrative application, the mass-radius relation of neutron stars is considered. In contrast to its initial version, the new functional predicts values which are qualitatively consistent with recent observations., 10 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables

Introduction Substantial gaps in research remain across oldest‐old ethnic populations while the burden of dementia increases exponentially with age among Mexican and Mexican American older adults. Methods Prevalence and correlates of dementia among individuals ≥82 years of age were examined using two population‐based cohort studies: The Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS, n = 1078, 2012) and the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE, n = 735, 2012–2013). The analytic MHAS and HEPESE samples had an average age of 86.4 and 88.0 years, 1.2 and 1.8 women to men, and 2.7 and 5.1 average years of education, respectively. Results We identified 316 (29.2%) and 267 (36.3%) cases of likely dementia in the MHAS and HEPESE cohorts, respectively. For Mexicans but not Mexican Americans, age‐adjusted prevalence rates of likely dementia were higher in women than men. For both populations prevalence rates increased with age and decreased with education for Mexican Americans but not for Mexicans. In both populations, odds of likely dementia increased with age. Health insurance for the low‐income was significantly associated with higher odds of likely dementia for Mexican American men and women and Mexican women but not men. Living in extended households increased the odds of likely dementia in women, but not in men for both studies. Multiple cardiovascular conditions increased the odds of likely dementia for Mexicans but not for Mexican Americans. Discussion Our study provides evidence of the high burden of dementia among oldest‐old Mexicans and Mexican Americans and its association with health and social vulnerabilities.

We study low-energy dipole excitations in the unstable nucleus $^{68}$Ni with the beyond-mean-field (BMF) subtracted second random-phase-approximation (SSRPA) model based on Skyrme interactions. First, strength distributions are compared with available experimental data and transition densities of some selected peaks are analyzed. The so-called isospin splitting is also discussed by studying the isoscalar/isovector character of such excitations. We estimate then in an indirect way BMF effects on the symmetry energy of infinite matter and on its slope starting from the BMF SSRPA low-lying strength distribution. For this, several linear correlations are used, the first one being a correlation existing between the contribution (associated with the low-energy strength) to the total energy-weighted sum rule (EWSR) and the slope of the symmetry energy. BMF estimates for the slope of the symmetry energy can be extracted in this way. Correlations between such a slope and the neutron-skin thickness of $^{68}$Ni and correlations between the neutron-skin thickness of $^{68}$Ni and the electric dipole polarizability times the symmetry energy are then used to deduce BMF effects on the symmetry energy., Comment: 10 figures

Although biogas production can have some benefits, there is a research gap on potential influence of biogas plant emissions on local air quality, thus an accurate and comprehensive evaluation of impacts of this technology is needed. This study deals with this issue by means of a characterisation of air pollution near an industrial area including a biogas production (from biomass) and combustion plant located in South Italy. The methodology consists in advanced statistical analysis on concentration of gaseous pollutants, particles concentration and size distribution in number and mass, and PM2.5 chemical composition. High-temporal resolution measurements, supported by ancillary meteorological parameters, and source apportionment of PM2.5 using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) receptor model, are performed. The integrated approach provides the emissive picture consisting in different anthropogenic sources (i.e. traffic, biomass burning, and industrial facilities) with particular focus on biogas plant emissions. Results showed that CO and nitrogen oxides were influenced by vehicular traffic and biomass combustion, however, a contribution of the plant to NO was observed. SO2 was influenced mainly by transport from the industrial zone, but a second local contribution compatible with the emissions of the biogas plant was detected. Number particle concentrations were analysed in four size ranges: nanoparticles (D < 0.05 ?m), ultrafine particles (D < 0.3 ?m), accumulation (0.3 < D < 1 ?m) and coarse particles (D > 1 ?m). Nanoparticles and ultrafine particles were mainly influenced by vehicular traffic and biomass burning, instead, a contribution of the plant was individuated in the accumulation mode. PMF5 identified the contribution of six sources: crustal (14.7% ± 2.1% of measured PM2.5); marine aerosol (aged) (12.9% ± 2.3%); biomass burning (32.8% ± 1.4%); secondary sulphate (19.7% ± 2.4%); primary industrial emissions (5.4% ± 2.3%); traffic and secondary nitrate (17.0% ± 3.9%). The plant is likely to contribute to both sources, the industrial and the traffic plus secondary nitrate. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.

Saharan dust (SD) is a relevant source of mineral particles (PM) for the Mediterranean region with potential impacts on air quality and climate. In this work, a long-term analysis of 56 SD events recorded between 2013 and 2018 at the Environmental-Climate Observatory of Lecce (SE Italy) was performed to investigate the effects and the seasonality of dust advection on PM2.5 and PM10, on carbon content, and on number and mass size distributions. The average duration of events was 2.6 days (10% of days) with a pronounced seasonality, 12.5% during warm seasons and 7.5% during cold seasons. The average contribution to PM10 was 1.5 μg/m3, between 1.4 μg/m3 (cold seasons) and 1.8 μg/m3 (warm seasons). Contribution to PM2.5 was significantly lower and not negligible during warm seasons (0.5 μg/m3). The impact of SD in south-eastern Italy is comparable with that in central Italy rather than to that observed in south-western Italy. Looking at PM10, 70 days exceeding legislation threshold were observed (4.8% of days), 22.9% of these exceedances were during SD. Extreme SD events (contributions > 100 μg/m3) cover 2% of the cases. Comparison of carbon content between SD and non-SD days shows that SD does not influence EC and eBC concentrations; however, SD contributes to secondary organic aerosol in the coarse fraction (PM10-2.5). Size distributions (in number and mass) measured during SD and non-SD days show that SD increases the particle number concentrations for diameters (Dp) larger than about 0.9–1 μm. Maximum increase was for Dp 2.5–3 μm.

Campioni di particolato atmosferico in dodici diverse classi dimensionali sono stati raccolti nel periodo agosto-novembre 2018 a Sacca Fisola (Venezia), utilizzando un impattore multistadio MOUDI 110. Dopo la pesata, ciascun filtro è stato suddiviso in porzioni, che sono state trattate ed analizzate separatamente. Gli ioni maggiori ed alcuni acidi carbossilici sono stati analizzati in IC- MS dopo estrazione con ultrasuoni in acqua ultrapura; per l'analisi dei metalli le porzioni di filtro sono state digerite in microonde ed analizzate in ICP-MS; la frazione di carbonio organico ed elementare è state quantificata con metodo termo-ottico usando un Sunset analyser. Dalle analisi effettuate sono state ottenute le distribuzioni dimensionali sia della concentrazione di particolato che di tutte le specie selezionate. Il confronto tra le distribuzioni dimensionali, il calcolo di coefficienti diagnostici e l'applicazione di specifiche equazioni ha permesso di effettuare delle valutazioni sulle sorgenti presenti nella zona ed in particolare sull'impatto delle sorgenti nelle diverse classi dimensionali. E' stato infine applicato il modello a recettore Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF5) per ottenere informazioni sui contributi size-resolved delle sorgenti.

Speech–language pathologists play a crucial role in the assessment and treatment of individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The speech–language evaluation is a critical aspect of the diagnostic and rehabilitative process, informing differential diagnosis as well as intervention planning and monitoring of cognitive-linguistic status over time. The evaluation should include a thorough case history and interview and a detailed assessment of speech–language and cognitive functions, with tasks designed to detect core and associated deficits outlined in current diagnostic criteria. In this paper, we review assessments that can be utilized to examine communication and cognition in PPA, including general aphasia batteries designed for stroke and/or progressive aphasia as well as tests of specific cognitive-linguistic functions, including naming, object/person knowledge, single-word and sentence comprehension, repetition, spontaneous speech/language production, motor speech, written language, and nonlinguistic cognitive domains. The comprehensive evaluation can inform diagnostic decision making and facilitate planning of interventions that are tailored to the patient's current status and likely progression of deficits. As such, the speech–language evaluation allows the medical team to provide individuals with PPA and their families with appropriate recommendations for the present and the future.

The non-fluent/agrammatic variant of primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA) presents with a gradual decline in grammar and motor speech resulting from selective degeneration of speech-language regions in the brain. There has been considerable progress in identifying treatment approaches to remediate language deficits in other primary progressive aphasia variants; however, interventions for the core deficits in nfvPPA have yet to be systematically investigated. Further, the neural mechanisms that support behavioural restitution in the context of neurodegeneration are not well understood. We examined the immediate and long-term benefits of video implemented script training for aphasia (VISTA) in 10 individuals with nfvPPA. The treatment approach involved repeated rehearsal of individualized scripts via structured treatment with a clinician as well as intensive home practice with an audiovisual model using 'speech entrainment'. We evaluated accuracy of script production as well as overall intelligibility and grammaticality for trained and untrained scripts. These measures and standardized test scores were collected at post-treatment and 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up visits. Treatment resulted in significant improvement in production of correct, intelligible scripted words for trained topics, a reduction in grammatical errors for trained topics, and an overall increase in intelligibility for trained as well as untrained topics at post-treatment. Follow-up testing revealed maintenance of gains for trained scripts up to 1 year post-treatment on the primary outcome measure. Performance on untrained scripts and standardized tests remained relatively stable during the follow-up period, indicating that treatment helped to stabilize speech and language despite disease progression. To identify neural predictors of responsiveness to intervention, we examined treatment effect sizes relative to grey matter volumes in regions of interest derived from a previously identified speech production network. Regions of significant atrophy within this network included bilateral inferior frontal cortices and supplementary motor area as well as left striatum. Volumes in a left middle/inferior temporal region of interest were significantly correlated with the magnitude of treatment effects. This region, which was relatively spared anatomically in nfvPPA patients, has been implicated in syntactic production as well as visuo-motor facilitation of speech. This is the first group study to document the benefits of behavioural intervention that targets both linguistic and motoric deficits in nfvPPA. Findings indicate that behavioural intervention may result in lasting and generalized improvement of communicative function in individuals with neurodegenerative disease and that the integrity of spared regions within the speech-language network may be an important predictor of treatment response.

International audience; The second random–phase–approximation model corrected by a subtraction procedure designed to cure double counting, instabilities, and ultraviolet divergences, is employed for the first time to analyze the dipole strength and polarizability in 48 Ca. All the terms of the residual interaction are included, leading to a fully self-consistent scheme. Results are illustrated with two Skyrme parametrizations, SGII and SLy4. Those obtained with the SGII interaction are particularly satisfactory. In this case, the low-lying strength below the neutron threshold is well reproduced and the giant dipole resonance is described in a very satisfactory way especially in its spreading and fragmentation. Spreading and fragmentation are produced in a natural way within such a theoretical model by the coupling of 1 particle-1 hole and 2 particle-2 hole configurations. Owing to this feature, we may provide for the electric polarizability as a function of the excitation energy a curve with a similar slope around the centroid energy of the giant resonance compared to the corresponding experimental results. This represents a considerable improvement with respect to previous theoretical predictions obtained with the random–phase approximation or with several ab-initio models. In such cases, the spreading width of the excitation cannot be reproduced and the polarizability as a function of the excitation energy displays a stiff increase around the predicted centroid energy of the giant resonance.

Ionizable residues buried in hydrophobic environments in proteins are essential for many fundamental biochemical processes. These residues titrate with anomalous pKa values that are challenging to reproduce with structure-based calculations owing to the conformational reorganization coupled to their ionization. Detailed characterization of this conformational reorganization is of interest; unfortunately, the properties of buried Lys residues are difficult to study experimentally. Here we demonstrate the utility of 15N NMR spectroscopy to gain insight into the protonation state, state of hydration and conformational dynamics of the Nζ amino group of buried Lys residues. The experiments were applied to five variants of staphylococcal nuclease, with internal Lys residues that titrate with pKa values ranging from 6.2 to 8.1. Direct detection of buried Lys residues with these NMR spectroscopy methods will enable correlation between thermodynamic and structural data as well as unprecedented examination of how c...

Comparison of fine and coarse fractions in terms of sources and dynamics is scarce in southeast Mediterranean countries; differences are relevant because of the importance of natural sources like sea spray and Saharan dust advection, because most of the monitoring networks are limited to PM10. In this work, the main seasonal variabilities of sources and processes involving fine and coarse PM (particulate matter) were studied at the Environmental-Climate Observatory of Lecce (Southern Italy). Simultaneous PM2.5 and PM10 samples were collected between July 2013 and July 2014 and chemically analysed to determine concentrations of several species: OC (organic carbon) and EC (elemental carbon) via thermo-optical analysis, 9 major ions via IC, and 23 metals via ICP-MS. Data was processed through mass closure analysis and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) receptor model characterizing seasonal variabilities of nine sources contributions. Organic and inorganic secondary aerosol accounts for 43% of PM2.5 and 12% of PM2.5–10 with small seasonal changes. SIA (secondary inorganic aerosol) seasonal pattern is opposite to that of SOC (secondary organic carbon). SOC is larger during the cold period, sulphate (the major contributor to SIA) is larger during summer. Two forms of nitrate were identified: NaNO3, correlated with chloride depletion and aging of sea-spray, mainly present in PM2.5–10; NH4NO3 more abundant in PM2.5. Biomass burning is a relevant source with larger contribution during autumn and winter because of the influence of domestic heating, however, is not negligible in spring and summer, because of the contributions of fires and agricultural practices. Mass closure analysis and PMF results identify two soil sources: crustal associated to long range transport and carbonates associated to local resuspended dust. Both sources contributes to the coarse fraction and have different dynamics with crustal source contributing mainly in high winds from SE conditions and carbonates during high winds from North direction.

In this paper we propose a C++-software package implementing the algorithm EKF-AUS-NL (Extended Kalman Filter with Assimilation in the Unstable Space with NonLinear evolution) designed to perform data assimilation in the unstable space when the Jacobian of the differential equation cannot be calculated. We also propose a simple approach to take into account the presence of the model error in the framework of the EKF-AUS-NL. The software performs the data assimilation using the EKF-AUS-NL algorithm with a dynamical systems defined as a generic time evolution routine separately implemented. We present two illustrative examples based on the Lorenz96 and SLAM systems. Keywords: Kalman-Filter, AUS, Lorenz96, SLAM