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In natural language processing, fact verification is a very challenging task, which requires retrieving multiple evidence sentences from a reliable corpus to verify the authenticity of a claim. Although most of the current deep learning methods use the attention mechanism for fact verification, they have not considered imposing attentional constraints on important related words in the claim and evidence sentences, resulting in inaccurate attention for some irrelevant words. In this paper, we propose a syntactic evidence network (SENet) model which incorporates entity keywords, syntactic information and sentence attention for fact verification. The SENet model extracts entity keywords from claim and evidence sentences, and uses a pre-trained syntactic dependency parser to extract the corresponding syntactic sentence structures and incorporates the extracted syntactic information into the attention mechanism for language-driven word representation. In addition, the sentence attention mechanism is applied to obtain a richer semantic representation. We have conducted experiments on the FEVER and UKP Snopes datasets for performance evaluation. Our SENet model has achieved 78.69% in Label Accuracy and 75.63% in FEVER Score on the FEVER dataset. In addition, our SENet model also has achieved 65.0% in precision and 61.2% in macro F1 on the UKP Snopes dataset. The experimental results have shown that our proposed SENet model has outperformed the baseline models and achieved the state-of-the-art performance for fact verification., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This paper introduces a practice framework for individualised positive behaviour support (PBS). The framework incorporates existing function-based PBS principles and integrates contemporary research and Australian legislation to frame practice elements through a human rights lens. It is designed to support people with disability of varied aetiologies across the lifespan in various settings (e.g. home, schools, and aged care)., Methods: Existing research and literature have been reviewed, including key theories and current formulations to inform a new practice framework that reflects recommendations for applications in community settings., Results: The PBS Pathway (PBS-P) framework promotes culturally sensitive and socially valid strategies for empowering the person and their supporters via a clear practice framework. It emphasises evidence-based practices while acknowledging the need for flexibility to meet individual needs., Conclusions: The PBS-P framework offers a pragmatic approach and focused lens for critical thinking and reflective applications within PBS. It promotes a universal approach across the lifespan and service settings, contributing to a shared understanding of PBS as a rights-based practice. The framework's alignment with current legislation supports adoption within existing systems; however, successful implementation requires skilled practitioners, adequate funding, and policies to support knowledge translation.

Acyl-CoA-Binding Proteins (ACBPs) bind acyl-CoA esters and function in lipid metabolism. Although acbp3-1, the ACBP3 mutant in Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Col-0, displays normal floral development, the acbp3-2 mutant from ecotype Ler-0 characterized herein exhibits defective adaxial anther lobes and improper sporocyte formation. To understand these differences and identify the role of ERECTA in ACBP3 function, the acbp3 mutants and acbp3-erecta (er) lines were analyzed by microscopy for anther morphology and high-performance liquid chromatography for lipid composition. Defects in Landsberg anther development were related to the ERECTA-mediated pathway because the progenies of acbp3-2 × La-0 and acbp3-1 × er-1 in Col-0 showed normal anthers, contrasting to that of acbp3-2 in Ler-0. Polymorphism in the regulatory region of ACBP3 enabled its function in anther development in Ler-0 but not Col-0 which harbored an AT-repeat insertion. ACBP3 expression and anther development in acbp3-2 were restored using ACBP3pro (Ler)::ACBP3 not ACBP3pro (Col)::ACBP3. SPOROCYTELESS (SPL), a sporocyte formation regulator activated ACBP3 transcription in Ler-0 but not Col-0. For anther development, the ERECTA-related role of ACBP3 is required in Ler-0, but not Col-0. The disrupted promoter regulatory region for SPL binding in Col-0 eliminates the role of ACBP3 in anther development., (© 2024 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.)

Objective: This study investigated the visuospatial working memory profiles of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) using a novel computerised test of visuospatial working memory: the Box Task., Methods: Twenty-eight bvFTD and 28 AD patients, as well as 32 age-matched control participants were recruited. All participants completed the Box Task and conventional neuropsychological tests of working memory, episodic memory, and visuospatial function., Results: Both the bvFTD and AD groups exhibited significantly more Box Task between-search errors than the control group across all set sizes. Notably, the AD group demonstrated a significantly higher error rate compared to the bvFTD group. Regression analysis revealed that whilst episodic memory impairment significantly predicted Box Task error performance in AD, this was not the case for bvFTD. Additionally, a noticeable trend was observed for attention in predicting Box Task errors in both bvFTD and AD groups. The Box Task demonstrated high utility in differentiating between bvFTD and AD, with a decision tree correctly classifying 82.1% of bvFTD patients and 75% of AD patients., Conclusions: Our findings reveal significant visuospatial working memory impairments in bvFTD, albeit of lesser severity compared to disease-matched AD patients. The Box Task, a novel measure of visuospatial working memory, proved effective in differentiating between bvFTD and AD, outperforming many traditional neuropsychological measures. Overall, our findings highlight the utility of assessing visuospatial memory when differentiating between bvFTD and AD in the clinical setting., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Detecting event triggers in biomedical texts, which contain domain knowledge and context-dependent terms, is more challenging than in general-domain texts. Most state-of-the-art models rely mainly on external resources such as linguistic tools and knowledge bases to improve system performance. However, they lack effective mechanisms to obtain semantic clues from label specification and sentence context. Given its success in image classification, label representation learning is a promising approach to enhancing biomedical event trigger detection models by leveraging the rich semantics of pre-defined event type labels., Results: In this paper, we propose the Biomedical Label-based Synergistic representation Learning (BioLSL) model, which effectively utilizes event type labels by learning their correlation with trigger words and enriches the representation contextually. The BioLSL model consists of three modules. Firstly, the Domain-specific Joint Encoding module employs a transformer-based, domain-specific pre-trained architecture to jointly encode input sentences and pre-defined event type labels. Secondly, the Label-based Synergistic Representation Learning module learns the semantic relationships between input texts and event type labels, and generates a Label-Trigger Aware Representation (LTAR) and a Label-Context Aware Representation (LCAR) for enhanced semantic representations. Finally, the Trigger Classification module makes structured predictions, where each label is predicted with respect to its neighbours. We conduct experiments on three benchmark BioNLP datasets, namely MLEE, GE09, and GE11, to evaluate our proposed BioLSL model. Results show that BioLSL has achieved state-of-the-art performance, outperforming the baseline models., Conclusions: The proposed BioLSL model demonstrates good performance for biomedical event trigger detection without using any external resources. This suggests that label representation learning and context-aware enhancement are promising directions for improving the task. The key enhancement is that BioLSL effectively learns to construct semantic linkages between the event mentions and type labels, which provide the latent information of label-trigger and label-context relationships in biomedical texts. Moreover, additional experiments on BioLSL show that it performs exceptionally well with limited training data under the data-scarce scenarios., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The delivery of a dementia diagnosis, the information provided, and the practical advice and support arranged can have a long-lasting impact on patients and their families and deserves attention equal to that given to the assessment and investigation process. Patients and their families need a constructive yet sensitive conversation about the nature and cause of their difficulties, communicated in plain language, and tailored to their main concerns and needs. This conversation should lead to the provision of high-quality, easily accessible information. Following this, clinicians may wish to consider broaching the following dementia topics: (1) pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, (2) connection and integration with relevant organisations, (3, 4) application for formal support services and engagement with support teams, (5) safety in the home, (6, 7) financial planning, guardianship and legal matters, (8) driving eligibility, (9) support and education resources to family carers and (10) research initiatives and genetic information. Addressing these topics will contribute to improved disease management, which is likely to improve the dementia journey for the patient, their carer(s), and family., (© 2024 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AJA Inc’.)

Plant acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) function in plant development and stress responses, with some ACBPs interacting with protein partners. This study tested the interaction between two Class II GmACBPs ( Glycine max ACBPs) and seven kinases, using yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). The results revealed that both GmACBP3.1 and GmACBP4.1 interact with two soybean kinases, a mitogen-activated protein kinase MPK2, and a serine/threonine-protein kinase SAPK2, highlighting the significance of the ankyrin-repeat (ANK) domain in facilitating protein-protein interactions. Moreover, an in vitro kinase assay and subsequent Phos-tag SDS-PAGE determined that GmMPK2 and GmSAPK2 possess the ability to phosphorylate Class II GmACBPs. Additionally, the kinase-specific phosphosites for Class II GmACBPs were predicted using databases. The HDOCK server was also utilized to predict the binding models of Class II GmACBPs with these two kinases, and the results indicated that the affected residues were located in the ANK region of Class II GmACBPs in both docking models, aligning with the findings of the Y2H and BiFC experiments. This is the first report describing the interaction between Class II GmACBPs and kinases, suggesting that Class II GmACBPs have potential as phospho-proteins that impact signaling pathways.

Background: It has been a long-standing tradition of using herbal tea for preventive and therapeutic healthcare in Hong Kong and South China and Five Flowers Tea is one of the most popular herbal teas. Based on the principle of traditional Chinese medicine, the pharmacological functions are to clear heat and dispel dampness in the body. Heat and dampness are thought to contribute to a range of health problems, especially during the hot and humid season in South China and Hong Kong. The most prevalent herbs in the formula contain bioactive compounds including flavonoids, alkaloids and terpenoids, which have a wide range of pharmacological properties including anti-inflammation, antivirus, antidiarrhoea, antibacteria, and antioxidation. However, with the composition varies widely, the ethnopharmacological benefits described may not be delivered uniformly. This study is to provide a comprehensive analysis on the composition of the Five Flowers Tea sold in Hong Kong and investigate the rationale behind the selection of herbs used in the formula. This study also provides information on the variation and quality of the Five Flowers Tea in the market., Methods: Thirty-three Five Flowers Tea samples were collected from various locations in Hong Kong. The size, texture, colour and organoleptic properties were documented. Macroscopic and molecular authentication methods were employed to identify the individual components., Results: Macroscopic identification revealed there were 23 herbs belonging to 18 plant families. The most prevalent herb was Bombax ceiba L., followed by Chrysanthemum morifolium. Ten adulterants and the existence of insect Lasioderma serricorne were confirmed by DNA barcoding techniques., Conclusion: This study employed a comprehensive approach to authenticate the herbs in Five Flowers Tea samples collected from various locations in Hong Kong. Macroscopic and molecular methods were used to identify the herbs and adulterants. The findings revealed the varied composition in Five Flowers Tea and the occurrence of adulterants in some samples. This shows that quality assurance of Five Flowers Tea is essential for the effective use of this popular folk medicine., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The AtriClip device enables the safe and reproducible epicardial clipping of the left atrial appendage. Transapical off-pump beating heart mitral valve repair using NeoChord DS100 Artificial Chordae Delivery System has matured and become more standardized. We aim to evaluate the feasibility of combining NeoChord repair and left atrial appendage exclusion in a single procedure through the same minithoracotomy in patients with mitral valve prolapse and atrial fibrillation. From 2018 to 2019, seven patients with severe mitral regurgitation and atrial fibrillation underwent transesophageal echocardiography-guided transapical off-pump mitral valve repair with the novel NeoChord DS 1000 system and concomitant left atrial appendage exclusion using the AtriClip Pro II device. Both procedures were performed via left mini-thoracotomy. The AtriClip device was applied after the NeoChord repair was done. All seven patients had less than moderate mitral regurgitation after the NeoChord repair and successful left atrial appendage occlusion. There were no device or procedure-related complications. Clinical follow-up revealed significant symptomatic improvement, and no cardiovascular complications were reported. Transesophageal echocardiography at 6-12 months post-procedure showed stable left atrial appendage occlusion with no residual flow between the left atrium and the left atrial appendage and a stump of less than 5 mm. Beating heart epicardial clipping of the left atrial appendage using AtriClip concomitant with transapical mitral valve repair using Neochord DS 1000 system is a feasible and safe treatment option in mitral valve prolapse and atrial fibrillation in patients with limited indications. However, its safety needs to be confirmed in a larger series of patients., (© 2023. The Japanese Society for Artificial Organs.)

A new class of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) pyridine-/pyrazine-containing tetradentate C^C^N^N gold(III) complexes have been designed and synthesized. Displaying photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) of up to 0.77 in solid-state thin films, these complexes showed at-least a six-fold increase in the radiative decay rate constant ( k r ) in toluene upon increasing temperature from 210 to 360 K. Using variable-temperature (VT) ultrafast transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, the reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) processes were directly observed and the activation parameters were determined, in line with the results of the Boltzmann two-level model fittings, in which the energy separation values between the lowest-lying singlet excited state (S 1 ) and the lowest-lying triplet excited state (T 1 ), Δ E (S 1 -T 1 ), of these complexes were estimated to be in the range of 0.16-0.18 eV. Through strategic modification of the position of the electron-donating - t Bu substituent in the cyclometalating ligand, the permanent dipole moments (PDMs) of these tetradentate gold(III) emitters could be manipulated to enhance their horizontal alignment in the emitting layer of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). Consequently, the resulting vacuum-deposited OLEDs demonstrated a 30% increase in the theoretical out-coupling efficiency ( η out ), as well as promising electroluminescence (EL) performance with maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of up to 15.7%.

Introduction: Mounting evidence indicates distinct memory profiles among the primary progressive aphasia (PPA) variants. Neuropsychological tests reveal disproportionate memory impairments in the logopenic variant PPA (lv-PPA) relative to the non-fluent variant PPA (nfv-PPA) and semantic variant PPA (sv-PPA). The real-world experience of day-to-day memory disturbances in PPA, however, remains poorly understood., Methods: Everyday expressions of memory in 26 lv-PPA, 24 nfv-PPA, and 40 sv-PPA patients, and 70 healthy controls were examined using the Cambridge Behavioural Inventory-Revised (CBI-R) carer questionnaire. Kruskal-Wallis tests compared CBI-R Memory items (1-8) across groups. Receiver operating characteristic curves evaluated the most discriminative items to distinguish lv-PPA from nfv-PPA., Results: Compared to controls, lv-PPA and sv-PPA patients were reported to experience more day-to-day memory issues (item 1), increased repetition of questions (2), forgetting the names of familiar people and objects (4, 5), and poor concentration (6). lv-PPA patients were also reported to exhibit more occurrences of losing or misplacing items (3) and forgetting the day (7). All PPA groups experienced more confusion in unfamiliar environments (8) than controls. Direct comparisons among PPA groups revealed distinct profiles, with lv-PPA and sv-PPA patients exhibiting more frequent forgetting of names and objects (3, 4) than nfv-PPA, and sv-PPA demonstrating greater day-to-day memory impairment (1), repeated questions (2), and poor concentration (6) compared to nfv-PPA. Forgetting the names of familiar objects (5) was the most sensitive and specific item to distinguish lv-PPA from nfv-PPA., Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate distinct day-to-day memory profiles in PPA. Future research should explore the influence of language impairments on these profiles., (© 2024 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is critical to students' academic success and lifelong learning. Although the benefits of SRL have been examined in many studies, few have explored it in a broader educational context. This study presents an eight-month institutional case study that demonstrates how SRL has been developed as a pedagogy through the collective endeavours of teachers, researchers, and experts at a university in Hong Kong. A case study method protocol was followed. Data were obtained from multiple sources, including surveys of teachers ( N  = 93) and students ( N  = 215), interviews with teachers (n  = 5) and students ( n  = 19), archived course documents, videos, and project reports. T -tests, coding, and document analysis were applied to analyse the collected data. The results showed that the teachers had good knowledge of SRL strategies but some students struggled to apply them effectively. Our study's findings have various implications for the effective promotion of SRL at the university level, and include the importance of developing a collective approach involving various members of the university, integrating responsive pedagogy, and adapting SRL strategies to students' individual needs. Future research can follow our methodology to replicate the study in different educational contexts., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

The reaction of a triazole ligand, 2-(1 H -1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)pyridine (L1), with 2-bromopyridine afforded three new ligands, 2,2'-(1 H -1,2,3-triazole-1,4-diyl)dipyridine (L2), 2,2'-(2 H -1,2,3-triazole-2,4-diyl)dipyridine (L3) and 2,2'-(1 H -1,2,3-triazole-1,5-diyl)dipyridine (L4). A series of luminescent mononuclear copper(I) complexes of these ligands [Cu(Ln)(P^P)](ClO 4 ) [ n = 1, P^P = (PPh 3 ) 2 (1); n = 1, P^P = POP (2); n = 2, P^P = (PPh 3 ) 2 (3); n = 2, P^P = POP (4); n = 3, P^P = (PPh 3 ) 2 (5); n = 3, P^P = POP (6); n = 4, P^P = (PPh 3 ) 2 (9); n = 4, P^P = POP (10)] have been obtained from the reaction of Ln with [Cu(MeCN) 4 ]ClO 4 in the presence of PPh 3 and POP. L3 was also found to form dinuclear compounds [Cu 2 (L3)(PPh 3 ) 4 ](ClO 4 ) 2 (7) and [Cu 2 (L3)(POP) 2 ](ClO 4 ) 2 (8). All of the Cu(I) compounds have been characterized by IR, UV/vis, CV, 1 H NMR, and 31 P{ 1 H} NMR. The molecular structures of 1-3, 5, and 7 have been further determined by X-ray crystallography. In CH 2 Cl 2 solutions, these Cu(I) complexes exhibit tunable green to orange emissions (563-621 nm) upon excitation at λ ex = 380 nm. In the solid state, these complexes show intense emissions and it is interesting to note that 1 and 3 are blue-light emitters. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the lowest energy electronic transition associated with these complexes predominantly originates from metal-to-ligand charge transfer transitions (MLCT).

A luminescent trimethylamine (TMA) sensor, PTMA-Ir, has been designed and synthesized through immobilizing a phosphorescent iridium(III) complex on a TMA-imprinted polymer. Detailed study shows that the quenching of phosphorescence of PTMA-Ir can serve as a reporter for the binding of TMA on the imprinting sites, thus providing a sensitive, selective, and rapid detection of TMA in both aqueous solutions and gaseous states. Loading PTMA-Ir on filter paper produced a deposition T-Ir, the phosphorescence of which is quenched within 5 s upon exposure to TMA vapor with detection limits of 9.0 ± 0.1 ppm under argon and 15.0 ± 0.1 ppm in an air atmosphere. This work provided an effective method for establishing an imprinting polymer-immobilized luminescent amine sensor.

Aim: We investigated the prevalence of incidental coronary artery calcifications (CAC) from non-electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated computed tomography (CT) chest (both contrast and non-contrast) for inpatients. We also assessed for downstream investigation and statin prescription from the inpatient teams. Incidental CAC are frequent findings on non-ECG-gated CT chest. It is associated with adverse prognosis in multiple patient cohorts., Method: All non-ECG-gated CT chest done as inpatients from a single centre referred from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 with reported incidental CAC were reviewed for inclusion. Patients who had a history of known coronary artery disease, history of coronary stent or bypass, and presence of cardiac devices were excluded., Results: Total of 123 patients were included, making the prevalence 6.2% (123/1,980). The median age is 76 years (interquartile range 69-85) and predominantly male at 54.5%. The majority of CT chest done were contrasted scans (91.1%). Only 26.8% of CAC were reported on severity with visual quantification, with 7.3% each reported for both moderate and severe CAC. Only 2.4% of CAC were reported in the conclusion of the CT report. Most of these patients were asymptomatic (34.1%). A total of 20.3% of patients had further tests done. Inpatient hospital mortality was 8.1%. About 23.6% and 34.1% of patients were on aspirin and statin therapy respectively at baseline. There was only 1 patient (1.2%) who was prescribed with new statin therapy on discharge., Conclusion: Incidental CAC is prevalent in inpatient settings and remains under-recognised by ordering clinicians, with low prescription rate of statin therapy. Practice-changing measures to standardise reporting of incidental CAC is needed to identify patients with subclinical coronary disease and initiate preventive interventions., (Copyright © 2023 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: This trial aimed to evaluate oral cinacalcet versus total parathyroidectomy (PTx) with forearm autografting on cardiovascular surrogate outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures in dialysis patients with advanced secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT)., Design: In this pilot prospective randomized trial conducted in two university-affiliated hospitals, 65 adult peritoneal dialysis patients with advanced SHPT were randomized to receive either oral cinacalcet or PTx. Primary endpoints were changes in left ventricular (LV) mass index by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and coronary artery calcium scores (CACS) over 12 months. Secondary endpoints included changes in heart valves calcium scores, aortic stiffness, biochemical parameters of chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disease (CKD-MBD) and HRQOL measures over 12 months., Results: Changes in LV mass index, CACS, heart valves calcium score, aortic pulse wave velocity and HRQOL did not differ between groups or within groups, despite significant reductions in plasma calcium, phosphorus and intact parathyroid hormone in both groups. Cinacalcet-treated patients experienced more cardiovascular-related hospitalizations than those who underwent PTx (P = .008) but the difference became insignificant after adjusting for baseline difference in heart failure (P = .43). With the same monitoring frequency, cinacalcet-treated patients had fewer hospitalizations due to hypercalcemia (1.8%) than patients who underwent PTx (16.7%) (P = .005). No significant changes were observed in HRQOL measures in either group., Conclusions: Both cinacalcet and PTx effectively improved various biochemical abnormalities of CKD-MBD and stabilized but did not reduce LV mass, coronary artery and heart valves calcification, or arterial stiffness, or improve patient-centered HRQOL measures in PD patients with advanced SHPT. Cinacalcet may be used in place of PTx for treating advanced SHPT. Long-term and powered studies are required to evaluate PTx versus cinacalcet on hard cardiovascular outcomes in dialysis patients. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01447368., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the ERA.)

Excitons in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides have a valley degree of freedom that can be optically manipulated for quantum information processing. Here, we integrate MoS 2 monolayers with achiral silicon disk array metasurfaces to enhance and control valley-specific absorption and emission. Through the coupling to the metasurface electric and magnetic Mie modes, the intensity and lifetime of the emission of neutral excitons, trions, and defect bound excitons can be enhanced and shortened, respectively, while the spectral shape can be modified. Additionally, the degree of polarization (DOP) of exciton and trion emission from the valley can be symmetrically enhanced at 100 K. The DOP increase is attributed to both the metasurface-enhanced chiral absorption of light and the metasurface-enhanced exciton emission from the Purcell effect. Combining Si-compatible photonic design with large-scale 2D materials integration, our work makes an important step toward on-chip valleytronic applications approaching room-temperature operation.

Background: Few studies have evaluated the impact of subclinical microstructural changes and psychosocial factors on cognitive function in patients with haemophilia., Objectives: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of cognitive impairment in patients with haemophilia, and identify associated risk factors., Methods: We recruited haemophilia A or B patients who were aged ≥10 years old from three public hospitals in Hong Kong. A neurocognitive battery was administered to evaluate their attention, memory, processing speed and cognitive flexibility performances. They also underwent magnetic resonance imaging to identify cerebral microbleeds. Validated self-reported questionnaires were administered to assess their mental health status and adherence to prophylactic treatment. General linear modelling was used to investigate the association of neurocognitive outcomes with risks factors, adjusting for age and education attainment., Results: Forty-two patients were recruited (median age 32.0 years; 78.6% haemophilia A; 80.9% moderate-to-severe disease). Six patients (14.3%) had developed cerebral microbleeds. A subgroup of patients demonstrated impairments in cognitive flexibility (30.9%) and motor processing speed (26.2%). Hemarthrosis in the previous year was associated with worse attention (Estimate = 7.62, 95% CI: 1.92-15.33; p = .049) and cognitive flexibility (Estimate = 8.64, 95% CI: 2.52-13.29; p = .043). Depressive (Estimate = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.10-0.55; p = .023) and anxiety (Estimate = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.19-0.41; p = .0069) symptoms were associated with inattentiveness. Among patients receiving prophylactic treatment (71.4%), medication adherence was positively correlated with cognitive flexibility (p = .037)., Conclusion: A substantial proportion of patients with haemophilia demonstrated cognitive impairment, particularly higher-order thinking skills. Screening for cognitive deficits should be incorporated into routine care. Future studies should evaluate the association of neurocognitive outcomes with occupational/vocational outcomes., (© 2023 The Authors. Haemophilia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

A new class of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) tetradentate C ∧ C ∧ N ∧ N ligand-containing gold(III) complexes containing acridinyl moieties has been designed and synthesized. These complexes exhibit orange-red to deep-red emission with photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) of up to 0.76 in solid-state thin films. Short excited-state lifetimes of ≤2.0 μs and large radiative decay rate constants ( k r ) in the order of 10 5 s -1 have also been found in the complexes. High-performance solution-processed and vacuum-deposited organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) based on these complexes have been fabricated, demonstrating high maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 12.2 and 12.7%, respectively, which are among the best values ever reported for red-emitting gold(III)-based OLEDs. In addition, satisfactory operational half-lifetime (LT 50 ) values of up to 34,058 h have been attained in these red-emitting devices. It is found that the operational stability is strongly dependent on the choice of functional groups on the acridinyl moieties, of which the incorporation of -O- and -S- linkers can effectively prolong the LT 50 value by an order of magnitude. The TADF properties of the complexes are substantiated by the hypsochromic shift in emission energies and the remarkable enhancement in the emission intensity upon increasing temperature. The TADF properties have also been supported by temperature-dependent ultrafast transient absorption studies, with the direct observation of reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) and the determination of the activation parameters for the very first time, together with their excited-state dynamics.

Although alcohols are readily oxidized by a variety of oxidants, their oxidation by metal nitrido complexes is yet to be studied. We report herein visible-light-induced oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to carbonyl compounds by a strongly luminescent osmium(VI) nitrido complex ( OsN ). The proposed mechanism involves initial rate-limiting hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) from the α-carbon of the alcohol to OsN* . Attempts to develop catalytic oxidation of alcohols by OsN* using PhIO as the terminal oxidant resulted in the formation of novel osmium(IV) iminato complexes in which the nitrido ligand is bonded to a δ-carbon of the alcohol. Experimental and theoretical studies suggest that OsN* is reductively quenched by PhIO to generate PhIO + , which is a highly active oxidant that readily undergoes α- and δ-C-H activation of alcohols.

Aim: This pilot study investigated the acceptability and usefulness of 4 weekly Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) education sessions (delivered face-to-face and online) for family carers of individuals diagnosed with behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). These sessions were adapted from the Family-directed Approach to Brain injury (FAB)-PBS program to the FTD population., Methods: A pre-test post-test mixed-methods design was utilized. Primary outcome measures included a Carer Confidence questionnaire and post-intervention Feedback Questionnaire. Assessments were conducted prior to the 4-week education program, immediately following the final session and a 3 months follow-up., Results: Ten family carers completed the 4 PBS education sessions and indicated that the program was helpful in providing behaviour support. No significant changes in confidence ratings were found before and following the education sessions. A majority of participants, however, reported positive changes to their approach in providing behaviour support, with key themes including 'recognising the function of behaviour', 'changing their own behaviour' and 'promoting a calmer approach'., Conclusions: The FAB-PBS education sessions demonstrate to be an acceptable approach to increasing the capability of family carers in providing behaviour support to individuals with FTD, which will need to be confirmed in a larger feasibility study.

Objectives: Almost 10% of people with dementia experience a younger-onset of disease (before 65 years). Changes in behaviour are common, as are delays in diagnosis and limited access to appropriate support and services. This study aimed to explore the specific behaviour support needs of families living with younger-onset dementia., Methods: Seventy-one families of people with younger-onset dementia were surveyed to understand the experience of family carers regarding difficult-to-manage behaviour changes, confidence in identifying and implementing behaviour support strategies, use of specific behaviour support strategies, and use of formal and informal support services regarding behaviour changes., Results: Survey responses were received from family members of people living with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia ( n  = 28), semantic dementia ( n  = 17), and Alzheimer's disease ( n  = 23). Over 90% of family carers reported difficult-to-manage behaviours which fell into four main domains: (1) aggression, (2) compulsive behaviour, (3) disinhibition and inappropriate social behaviour, and (4) apathy. A range of preventative and responsive strategies, with an emphasis on de-escalation strategies were identified and carers reported variable confidence in managing behaviour changes or in accessing formal support strategies., Conclusions: Difficult-to-manage behaviour changes in community-dwelling people with younger-onset dementia are common. The existing agency of families should be recognised and built upon with better access to specific behaviour support services to increase competence and confidence in providing behaviour support and ultimately improve quality of life for them and their family member with dementia.

A series of luminescent Pb 2+ complexes, [Pb( L 1 ) 2 ] n ( 1 ), [Pb( L 2 ) 2 ] n ( 2 ), [Pb( L 3 )(NO 3 )(H 2 O) 2 ] n ( 3 ), [Pb( L 3 )(Br)(H 2 O)] n ( 4 ), [Pb( L 3 )(Cl)(H 2 O)] n ( 5 ), and [Pb( L 4 )(H 2 O) 2 ] ( 6 ) have been synthesized by treatment of polydentate tetrazolato ligands with various hydrated Pb 2+ salts ( HL 1 = 2-(1 H -tetrazol-5-yl)pyridine, HL 2 = 3-(1 H -tetrazol-5-yl)isoquinoline, HL 3 = 6-(1 H -tetrazol-5-yl)-2,2'-bipyridine, and H 2 L 4 = 6,6'-bis(1 H -tetrazol-5-yl)-2,2'-bipyridine). These complexes have been characterized by IR, TGA, and elemental analysis. Their crystal structures have been determined by X-ray crystallography, and the phase purity of bulk samples were further confirmed by PXRD. Their luminescence properties have been investigated in detail, and their emission origin may involve ligand-centered π-π* transition, metal-centered s-p transition and charge-transfer character. It is interesting to note that 5 exhibits obviously enhanced red-shifted emission, whose photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY = 16.5%) is much higher than the other compounds (≤2%). Most importantly, the emission property of 5 was strongly affected by temperature. When the temperature rises from 295 to 493 K, the emission maximum gradually shifts to high energy due to the loss of the aqua ligand. In contrast, when the temperature is lowered from 295 to 13 K, two emission bands were observed. The low-energy emission band exhibits a slight blue shift, while a new high-energy emission band appears at around 520 nm, which is assigned to ligand-centered phosphorescence. After removal of the coordinated aqua ligand, the emission of 5 - H 2 O is very sensitive to the vapors of volatile primary amines and acids, although they have different response mechanisms. This result indicates that 5 - H 2 O may be a potential multifunctional sensor for temperature, volatile amines, and acids. To decipher the emission origin, DFT calculations have also been carried out based on the structure units of these compounds.

Alternative assessment aims to increase the practicality and authenticity of assessment in university education and has been increasingly used during the pandemic. The implementation can be ineffective without considering students' needs and concerns in adapting to new assessment practices. This mixed-methods study applied an attitude-behaviour-context model to examine students' perceptions about the implementation of alternative assessment. One hundred and thirteen questionnaires were collected from students who experienced alternative assessment before the survey. Six students were interviewed about their learning experience. The quantitative results revealed that the students' perceived context of alternative assessment directly influenced their learning behaviour. The students' attitudes towards alternative assessment partially mediated the relationship between their perceived context of alternative assessment and their learning behaviour. The qualitative data were analysed using a deductive thematic approach, providing an in-depth interpretation of students' understanding and awareness of perceived teacher support and expectations about alternative assessment at the university. The semi-structured interview found that although students positively viewed the alternative assessment as an authentic task that help developing their higher-level thinking skills, the effectiveness of the assessment was weakened by the insufficient support and monotonous types of the assessment. This study's findings provide practical suggestions for teachers and universities to improve alternative assessment., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

A 71-year-old lady with dextrocardia and pure aortic regurgitation was treated with transcatheter aortic valve replacement using the transapical J-valve system. Good clinical and echocardiographic results were demonstrated at one-year follow-up. Herewith we describe this simple, safe, and a minimally invasive aortic valve replacement option for this condition.

The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III is a brief cognitive screening tool that is widely used for the detection and monitoring of dementia. Recent findings suggest that the three variants of primary progressive aphasia can be distinguished based on their distinct profiles on the five subdomain scores of this test. Here, we investigated the utility of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III to differentiate the primary progressive aphasia variants based on their item-by-item performance profiles on this test. From these results, we created an interactive primary progressive aphasia Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III calculator which predicts the variant based on a patient's unique item-by-item profile. Twenty-eight logopenic variant, 25 non-fluent variant and 37 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia patients and 104 healthy controls completed the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III at first clinical presentation. Multinomial regression analyses were conducted to establish performance profiles among groups, and R Shiny from RStudio was used to create the interactive Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III diagnostic calculator. To verify its accuracy, probability values of the regression model were derived based on a 5-fold cross-validation of cases. The calculator's accuracy was then verified in an independent sample of 17 logopenic, 19 non-fluent and 13 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia patients and 68 Alzheimer's disease patients who had completed the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (or an older version of this test: Revised) and had in vivo amyloid-PET imaging and/or brain autopsy pathological confirmation. Cross-validation of cases in the calculator model revealed different rates of sensitivity in classifying variants: semantic = 100%, non-fluent = 80.6% and logopenic = 79.9%; healthy controls were distinguished from primary progressive aphasia patients with 100% sensitivity. Verification of in vivo amyloid and/or autopsy-confirmed patients showed that the calculator correctly classified 10/13 (77%) semantic variant, 3/19 (16%) non-fluent variant and 4/17 (24%) logopenic variant patients. Importantly, for patients who were not classified, diagnostic probability values mostly pointed toward the correct clinical diagnosis. Furthermore, misclassified diagnoses of the primary progressive aphasia cohort were rare (1/49; 2%). Although 22 of the 68 Alzheimer's disease patients (32%) were misclassified with primary progressive aphasia, 19/22 were misclassified with the logopenic variant (i.e. falling within the same neuropathological entity). The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III primary progressive aphasia diagnostic calculator demonstrates sound accuracy in differentiating the variants based on an item-by-item Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III profile. This calculator represents a new frontier in using data-driven approaches to differentiate the primary progressive aphasia variants., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.)

Acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) constitute a well-conserved family of proteins in eukaryotes that are important in stress responses and development. Past studies have shown that ACBPs are involved in maintaining, transporting and protecting acyl-CoA esters during lipid biosynthesis in plants, mammals, and yeast. ACBPs show differential expression and various binding affinities for acyl-CoA esters. Hence, ACBPs can play a crucial part in maintaining lipid homeostasis. This review summarizes the functions of ACBPs during the stages of reproduction in plants and other organisms. A comprehensive understanding on the roles of ACBPs during plant reproduction may lead to opportunities in crop improvement in agriculture., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Lipids participate in diverse biological functions including signal transduction, cellular membrane biogenesis and carbon storage. Following de novo biosynthesis in the plastids, fatty acids (FAs) are transported as acyl-CoA esters to the endoplasmic reticulum where glycerol-3-phosphate undergoes a series of acyl-CoA-dependent acylation via the Kennedy pathway to form triacylglycerols for subsequent assembly into oils. Alternatively, newly synthesized FAs are incorporated into phosphatidylcholine (PC) by a PC:acyl-CoA exchange process defined as "acyl editing". Acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) at various subcellular locations can function in lipid transfer by binding and transporting acyl-CoA esters and maintaining intracellular acyl-CoA pools. Widely distributed in the plant kingdom, ACBPs are found in all eukaryotes and some eubacteria. In both rice and Arabidopsis, six forms of ACBPs co-exist and are classified into four groups based on their functional domains. Their conserved four-helix structure facilitates interaction with acyl-CoA esters. ACBPs also interact with phospholipids as well as protein partners and function in seed oil regulation, development, pathogen defense and stress responses. Besides the ACBPs, other proteins such as the lipid transfer proteins (LTPs), annexins and lipid droplet-associated proteins are also important lipid-binding proteins. While annexins bind Ca 2+ and phospholipids, LTPs transport lipid molecules including FAs, acyl-CoA esters and phospholipids., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Plant lipoxygenases (LOXs) oxygenate linoleic and linolenic acids, creating hydroperoxy derivatives, and from these, jasmonates and other oxylipins are derived. Despite the importance of oxylipin signaling, its activation mechanism remains largely unknown. Here, we show that soybean ACYL-COA-BINDING PROTEIN3 (ACBP3) and ACBP4, two Class II acyl-CoA-binding proteins, suppressed activity of the vegetative LOX homolog VLXB by sequestering it at the endoplasmic reticulum. The ACBP4-VLXB interaction was facilitated by linoleoyl-CoA and linolenoyl-CoA, which competed with phosphatidic acid (PA) for ACBP4 binding. In salt-stressed roots, alternative splicing produced ACBP variants incapable of VLXB interaction. Overexpression of the variants enhanced LOX activity and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis and soybean hairy roots, whereas overexpressors of the native forms exhibited reciprocal phenotypes. Consistently, the differential alternative splicing pattern in two soybean genotypes coincided with their difference in salt-induced lipid peroxidation. Salt-treated soybean roots were enriched in C32:0-PA species that showed high affinity to Class II ACBPs. We conclude that PA signaling and alternative splicing suppress ligand-dependent interaction of Class II ACBPs with VLXB, thereby triggering lipid peroxidation during salt stress. Hence, our findings unveil a dual mechanism that initiates the onset of oxylipin signaling in the salinity response., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists.)

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of berberine as an adjuvant in treating antipsychotic-associated weight gain and metabolic syndrome., Methods: One hundred thirteen participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders who had developed metabolic syndrome were recruited. They were randomly assigned to berberine (600 mg/d, n = 58) or placebo (n = 55) groups for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the change from baseline to week 12 in net weight. Secondary outcomes included body mass index, waist circumference, serum glucose and lipid profiles, and the severity of psychotic symptoms., Results: Compared with the placebo group, the berberine group showed a significantly greater reduction in weight gain at 9 weeks (mean difference [MD], -0.75; 95% CI, -1.42 to -0.07 [P = 0.031, d = 0.41]) and 12 weeks (MD, -1.08; 95% CI, -1.76 to -0.40 [P = 0.002, d = 0.59]). Patients who received berberine also showed statistically significant improvements in end point in body mass index (MD, -0.41; 95% CI, -0.65 to -0.17 [P = 0.001, d = 0.64]), total cholesterol (MD, -0.58; 95% CI, -0.74 to -0.41 [P < 0.001, d = 1.31]), low-density lipoprotein (MD, -0.52; 95% CI, -0.68 to -0.35 [P < 0.001, d = 1.19]), and glycated hemoglobin (MD, -0.09; 95% CI, -0.18 to 0 [P = 0.05, d = 0.37]). Berberine was well tolerated without serious adverse events and aggravation of psychotic symptoms compared with placebo., Conclusion: The findings suggest that berberine is effective in attenuating antipsychotic-associated weight gain and metabolic syndrome., (© 2021 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2021 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.)

We have developed an optimized protocol for isolating protoplasts from chlorenchyma cells of the single-cell C 4 species Bienertia sinuspersici. The isolated protoplasts maintained the integrity of the unique single-cell C 4 intracellular compartmentation of organelles as observed in chlorenchyma cells after cell wall digestion. Approximately over 80% of isolated protoplasts expressed the fusion reporter gene following the polyethylene glycol-mediated transfection procedures. Overall, fluorescent protein fusion tagged with various intraorganellular sorting signals validated the potential use of the transient gene expression system in subcellular localization and organelle dynamics studies., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

As neurodegenerative disease pathological hallmarks have been reported in both grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) with different density distributions, automating the segmentation process of GM/WM would be extremely advantageous for aiding in neuropathologic deep phenotyping. Standard segmentation methods typically involve manual annotations, where a trained researcher traces the delineation of GM/WM in ultra-high-resolution Whole Slide Images (WSIs). This method can be time-consuming and subjective, preventing a scalable analysis on pathology images. This paper proposes an automated segmentation pipeline (BrainSec) combining a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) module for segmenting GM/WM regions and a post-processing module to remove artifacts/residues of tissues. The final output generates XML annotations that can be visualized via Aperio ImageScope. First, we investigate two baseline models for medical image segmentation: FCN, and U-Net. Then we propose a patch-based approach, BrainSec, to classify the GM/WM/background regions. We demonstrate BrainSec is robust and has reliable performance by testing it on over 180 WSIs that incorporate numerous unique cases as well as distinct neuroanatomic brain regions. We also apply gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) to interpret the segmentation masks and provide relevant explanations and insights. In addition, we have integrated BrainSec with an existing Amyloid- β pathology classification model into a unified framework (without incurring significant computation complexity) to identify pathologies, visualize their distributions, and quantify each type of pathologies in segmented GM/WM regions, respectively.

Unsupervised image-to-image translation aims to learn the mapping from an input image in a source domain to an output image in a target domain without paired training dataset. Recently, remarkable progress has been made in translation due to the development of generative adversarial networks (GANs). However, existing methods suffer from the training instability as gradients passing from discriminator to generator become less informative when the source and target domains exhibit sufficiently large discrepancies in appearance or shape. To handle this challenging problem, in this paper, we propose a novel multi-constraint adversarial model (MCGAN) for image translation in which multiple adversarial constraints are applied at generator's multi-scale outputs by a single discriminator to pass gradients to all the scales simultaneously and assist generator training for capturing large discrepancies in appearance between two domains. We further notice that the solution to regularize generator is helpful in stabilizing adversarial training, but results may have unreasonable structure or blurriness due to less context information flow from discriminator to generator. Therefore, we adopt dense combinations of the dilated convolutions at discriminator for supporting more information flow to generator. With extensive experiments on three public datasets, cat-to-dog, horse-to-zebra, and apple-to-orange, our method significantly improves state-of-the-arts on all datasets.

Automated segmentation of grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) in gigapixel histopathology images is advantageous to analyzing distributions of disease pathologies, further aiding in neuropathologic deep phenotyping. Although supervised deep learning methods have shown good performance, its requirement of a large amount of labeled data may not be cost-effective for large scale projects. In the case of GM/WM segmentation, trained experts need to carefully trace the delineation in gigapixel images. To minimize manual labeling, we consider semi-surprised learning (SSL) and deploy one state-of-the-art SSL method (FixMatch) on WSIs. Then we propose a two-stage scheme to further improve the performance of SSL: the first stage is a self-supervised module to train an encoder to learn the visual representations of unlabeled data, subsequently, this well-trained encoder will be an initialization of consistency loss-based SSL in the second stage. We test our method on Amyloid-β stained histopathology images and the results outperform FixMatch with the mean IoU score at around 2% by using 6,000 labeled tiles while over 10% by using only 600 labeled tiles from 2 WSIs.Clinical relevance- this work minimizes the required labeling efforts by trained personnel. An improved GM/WM segmentation method could further aid in the study of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.

N -Dealkylation of amines by metal oxo intermediates (M[double bond, length as m-dash]O) is related to drug detoxification and DNA repair in biological systems. In this study, we report the first example of N -dealkylation of various alkylamines by a luminescent osmium(vi) nitrido complex induced by visible light., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

A new class of luminescent bis(bipyridyl) Ru(ii) pyridyl acyclic carbene complexes with environmentally-sensitive dimerization equilibrium have been developed. Owing to the involvement of the orbitals of the diaminocarbene ligand in the emissive excited state, the phosphorescence properties of these complexes are strongly affected by H-bonding interactions with various H-bonding donor/acceptor molecules. With the remarkable differences in the emission properties of the monomer, dimer, and H-bonded amine adducts together with the change of the dimerization equilibrium, these complexes can be used as luminescent gas sensors for humidity, ammonia, and amine vapors. With the responses to amines and humidity and the corresponding change in the luminescence properties, a proof-of-principle for binary optical data storage with a reversible concealment process has been described., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Silanization processes with perfluoroalkyl silanes have been demonstrated to be effective in developing advanced materials with many functional properties, including hydrophobicity, water repellency, and self-cleaning properties. However, practical industrial applications of perfluoroalkyl silanes are limited by their extremely high cost. On the basis of our recent work on photoredox catalysis for amidation with perfluoroalkyl iodides, its application for surface chemical modification on filter paper, as an illustrative example, has been developed and evaluated. Before photocatalytic amidation, the surface is functionalized with amine functional groups by silanization with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propylamine. All chemically modified surfaces have been fully characterized by attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and three-dimensional (3D) profiling to confirm the successful silanization and photocatalytic amidation. After surface modification of the filter papers with perfluoroalkanamide, they show high water repellency and hydrophobicity with contact angles over 120°. These filter papers possess high wetting selectivity, which can be used to effectively separate the organic and aqueous biphasic mixtures. The perfluoroalkanamide-modified filter papers can be used for separating organic/aqueous biphasic mixtures over many cycles without lowering the separating efficiency, indicating their reusability and excellent durability.

The need for manual and detailed annotations limits the applicability of supervised deep learning algorithms in medical image analyses, specifically in the field of pathology. Semi-supervised learning (SSL) provides an effective way for leveraging unlabeled data to relieve the heavy reliance on the amount of labeled samples when training a model. Although SSL has shown good performance, the performance of recent state-of-the-art SSL methods on pathology images is still under study. The problem for selecting the most optimal data to label for SSL is not fully explored. To tackle this challenge, we propose a semi-supervised active learning framework with a region-based selection criterion. This framework iteratively selects regions for annotation query to quickly expand the diversity and volume of the labeled set. We evaluate our framework on a grey-matter/white-matter segmentation problem using gigapixel pathology images from autopsied human brain tissues. With only 0.1% regions labeled, our proposed algorithm can reach a competitive IoU score compared to fully-supervised learning and outperform the current state-of-the-art SSL by more than 10% of IoU score and DICE coefficient.

Impaired verbal 'phonological' short-term memory is considered a cardinal feature of the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lv-PPA) and is assumed to underpin most of the language deficits in this syndrome. Clinically, examination of verbal short-term memory in individuals presenting with PPA is common practice and serves two objectives: (i) to help understand the possible mechanisms underlying the patient's language profile and (ii) to help differentiate lv-PPA from other PPA variants or from other dementia syndromes. Distinction between lv-PPA and the non-fluent variant of PPA (nfv-PPA), however, can be especially challenging due to overlapping language profiles and comparable psychometric performances on verbal short-term memory tests. Here, we present case vignettes of the three PPA variants (lv-PPA, nfv-PPA, and the semantic variant (sv-PPA)) and typical Alzheimer's disease (AD). These vignettes provide a detailed description of the short-term and working memory profiles typically found in these patients and highlight how speech output and language comprehension deficits across the PPA variants differentially interfere with verbal memory performance. We demonstrate that a combination of verbal short-term and working memory measures provides crucial information regarding the cognitive mechanisms underlying language disturbances in PPA. In addition, we propose that analogous visuospatial span tasks are essential for the assessment of PPA as they measure memory capacity without language contamination.

In an effort to synthesize cyclometalated iridium complexes containing a tridentate C^N^C ligand, transmetallation of [Hg(HC^N^C)Cl] (1) (H2C^N^C = 2,6-bis(4-tert-butylphenyl)pyridine) with various organoiridium starting materials has been studied. The treatment of 1 with [Ir(cod)Cl]2 (cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) in acetonitrile at room temperature afforded a hexanuclear Ir4Hg2 complex, [Cl(κ2C,N-HC^N^C)(cod)IrHgIr(cod)Cl2]2 (2), which features Ir-Hg-Ir and Ir-Cl-Ir bridges. Refluxing 2 with sodium acetate in tetrahydrofuran (thf) resulted in cyclometalation of the bidentate HC^N^C ligand and formation of trinuclear [(C^N^C)(cod)IrHgIr(cod)Cl2] (3). On the other hand, refluxing [Ir(cod)Cl]2 with 1 and sodium acetate in thf yielded [Ir(C^N^C)(cod)(HgCl)] (4). Chlorination of 4 with PhICl2 gave [Ir(C^N^C)(cod)Cl]·HgCl2 (5·HgCl2) that reacted with tricyclohexylphosphine to yield Hg-free [Ir(C^N^C)(cod)Cl] (5). Chloride abstraction of 5 with silver(i) triflate (AgOTf) gave [Ir(C^N^C)(cod)(H2O)](OTf) (6) that can catalyze the cyclopropanation of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate. Reaction of 1 and [Ir(CO)2Cl(py)] (py = pyridine) with sodium acetate in refluxing thf afforded [Ir(C^N^C)(HgCl)(py)(CO)] (7), in which the carbonyl ligand is coplanar with the C^N^C ligand. On the other hand, refluxing 1 with (PPh4)[Ir(CO)2Cl2] and sodium acetate in acetonitrile gave [Ir(C^N^C)(κ2C,N-HC^N^C)(CO)] (8), the carbonyl ligand of which is trans to the pyridyl ring of the bidentate HC^N^C ligand. Upon irradiation with UV light 8 in thf was isomerized to 8', in which the carbonyl is trans to a phenyl group of the bidentate HC^N^C ligand. The isomer pair 8 and 8' exhibited emission at 548 and 514 nm in EtOH/MeOH at 77 K with lifetime of 84.0 and 64.6 μs, respectively. Protonation of 8 with p-toluenesulfonic acid (TsOH) afforded the bis(bidentate) tosylate complex [Ir(κ2C,N-HC^N^C)2(CO)(OTs)] (9) that could be reconverted to 8 upon treatment with sodium acetate. The electrochemistry of the Ir(C^N^C) complexes has been studied using cyclic voltammetry. Reaction of [Ir(PPh3)3Cl] with 1 and sodium acetate in refluxing thf led to isolation of the previously reported compound [Ir(κ2P,C-C6H4PPh2)2(PPh3)Cl] (10). The crystal structures of 2-5, 8, 8', 9 and 10 have been determined.

Plant acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) form a highly conserved protein family that binds to acyl-CoA esters as well as other lipid and protein interactors to function in developmental and stress responses. This protein family had been extensively studied in non-leguminous species such as Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress), Oryza sativa (rice), and Brassica napus (oilseed rape). However, the characterization of soybean ( Glycine max ) ACBPs, designated GmACBPs, has remained unreported although this legume is a globally important crop cultivated for its high oil and protein content, and plays a significant role in the food and chemical industries. In this study, 11 members of the GmACBP family from four classes, comprising Class I (small), Class II (ankyrin repeats), Class III (large), and Class IV (kelch motif), were identified. For each class, more than one copy occurred and their domain architecture including the acyl-CoA-binding domain was compared with Arabidopsis and rice. The expression profile, tertiary structure and subcellular localization of each GmACBP were predicted, and the similarities and differences between GmACBPs and other plant ACBPs were deduced. A potential role for some Class III GmACBPs in nodulation, not previously encountered in non-leguminous ACBPs, has emerged. Interestingly, the sole member of Class III ACBP in each of non-leguminous Arabidopsis and rice had been previously identified in plant-pathogen interactions. As plant ACBPs are known to play important roles in development and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses, the in silico expression profiles on GmACBPs, gathered from data mining of RNA-sequencing and microarray analyses, will lay the foundation for future studies in their applications in biotechnology., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer JH declared a past co-authorship with one of the authors M-LC to the handling editor., (Copyright © 2021 Azlan, Guo, Yung, Wang, Lam, Lung and Chye.)