Decreased Function of Delayed Recall in Non-demented Elderly Subjects With Apolipoprotein E ε4 Allele

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the major genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Inconsistent results about the role of APOE ε4 alleles on cognitive decline of community non-dementia elderly have been reported. This study aimed to examine the relationship between APOE ε4 allele and cognitive abilities in the subjects aged 60 years or above from a community in Shanghai, China. A total of 1445 participants voluntarily accepted the analysis of APOE genotype and global cognitive assay using the Mini Mental Status Evaluation (MMSE). There were no significant differences in total MMSE scores between APOE ε4 carriers and non-carriers. In addition, the performances of orientation, registration, attention, calculation, and language had no significant differences between subjects with and without APOE ε4 allele. However, stratified analysis showed that the performance of delayed recall in subjects with APOE ε4 allele was inferior to that in non-ε4 carriers (p = 0.041). Further, the multiple linear regression analysis showed the significant correlations between the presence of APOE ε4 allele and the scores of the delayed memory subdomain if age, gender, and education were adjusted but no significant correlations if the related factors were not adjusted. The results indicate that significant impact of APOE ε4 allele only on the delay memory but not on global or other sub-domains of cognitive abilities

RuCo Alloy Nanoparticles Embedded into N-Doped Carbon for High Efficiency Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst

For large-scale and sustainable water electrolysis, it is of great significance to develop cheap and efficient electrocatalysts that can replace platinum. Currently, it is difficult for most catalysts to combine high activity and stability. To solve this problem, we use cobalt to regulate the electronic structure of ruthenium to achieve high activity, and use carbon matrix to protect alloy nanoparticles to achieve high stability. Herein, based on the zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), a novel hybrid composed of RuCo alloy nano-particles and N-doped carbon was prepared via a facile pyrolysis-displacement-sintering strategy. Due to the unique porous structure and multi-component synergy, the optimal RuCo500@NC750 material in both acidic and alkaline media exhibited eminent HER catalytic activity. Notably, the 3-RuCo500@NC750 obtained a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at 22 mV and 31 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M KOH, respectively, comparable to that of the reference Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, the Tafel slopes of the catalyst are 52 mV Dec−1 and 47 mV Dec−1, respectively, under acid and alkali conditions, and the catalyst has good stability, indicating that it has broad application prospects in practical electrolytic systems. This work contributes to understanding the role of carbon-supported polymetallic alloy in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution process, and provides some inspiration for the development of a high efficiency hydrogen evolution catalyst

Phosphorus Reduces Negative Effects of Nitrogen Addition on Soil Microbial Communities and Functions

Increased soil nitrogen (N) from atmospheric N deposition could change microbial communities and functions. However, the underlying mechanisms and whether soil phosphorus (P) status are responsible for these changes still have not been well explained. Here, we investigated the effects of N and P additions on soil bacterial and fungal communities and predicted their functional compositions in a temperate forest. We found that N addition significantly decreased soil bacterial diversity in the organic (O) horizon, but tended to increase bacterial diversity in the mineral (A) horizon soil. P addition alone did not significantly change soil bacterial diversity but mitigated the negative effect of N addition on bacterial diversity in the O horizon. Neither N addition nor P addition significantly influenced soil fungal diversity. Changes in soil microbial community composition under N and P additions were mainly due to the shifts in soil pH and NO3− contents. N addition can affect bacterial functional potentials, such as ureolysis, N fixation, respiration, decomposition of organic matter processes, and fungal guilds, such as pathogen, saprotroph, and mycorrhizal fungi, by which more C probably was lost in O horizon soil under increased N deposition. However, P addition can alleviate or switch the effects of increased N deposition on the microbial functional potentials in O horizon soil and may even be a benefit for more C sequestration in A horizon soil. Our results highlight the different responses of microorganisms to N and P additions between O and A horizons and provides an important insight for predicting the changes in forest C storage status under increasing N deposition in the future

RuCo Alloy Nanoparticles Embedded into N-Doped Carbon for High Efficiency Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst

For large-scale and sustainable water electrolysis, it is of great significance to develop cheap and efficient electrocatalysts that can replace platinum. Currently, it is difficult for most catalysts to combine high activity and stability. To solve this problem, we use cobalt to regulate the electronic structure of ruthenium to achieve high activity, and use carbon matrix to protect alloy nanoparticles to achieve high stability. Herein, based on the zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), a novel hybrid composed of RuCo alloy nano-particles and N-doped carbon was prepared via a facile pyrolysis-displacement-sintering strategy. Due to the unique porous structure and multi-component synergy, the optimal RuCo500@NC750 material in both acidic and alkaline media exhibited eminent HER catalytic activity. Notably, the 3-RuCo500@NC750 obtained a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at 22 mV and 31 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M KOH, respectively, comparable to that of the reference Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, the Tafel slopes of the catalyst are 52 mV Dec−1 and 47 mV Dec−1, respectively, under acid and alkali conditions, and the catalyst has good stability, indicating that it has broad application prospects in practical electrolytic systems. This work contributes to understanding the role of carbon-supported polymetallic alloy in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution process, and provides some inspiration for the development of a high efficiency hydrogen evolution catalyst

Thiamine diphosphate reduction strongly correlates with brain glucose hypometabolism in Alzheimer’s disease, whereas amyloid deposition does not

Abstract Background The underlying mechanism of brain glucose hypometabolism, an invariant neurodegenerative feature that tightly correlates with cognitive impairment and disease progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), remains elusive. Methods Positron emission tomography with 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG-PET) was used to evaluate brain glucose metabolism, presented as the rate of 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose standardized uptake value ratio (FDG SUVR) in patients with AD or control subjects and in mice with or without thiamine deficiency induced by a thiamine-deprived diet. Brain amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition in patients with clinically diagnosed AD was quantified by performing assays using 11C-Pittsburgh compound B PET. The levels of thiamine metabolites in blood samples of patients with AD and control subjects, as well as in blood and brain samples of mice, were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Results FDG SUVRs in frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices of patients with AD were closely correlated with the levels of blood thiamine diphosphate (TDP) and cognitive abilities, but not with brain Aβ deposition. Mice on a thiamine-deprived diet manifested a significant decline of FDG SUVRs in multiple brain regions as compared with those in control mice, with magnitudes highly correlating with both brain and blood TDP levels. There were no significant differences in the changes of FDG SUVRs in observed brain regions between amyloid precursor protein/presenilin-1 and wild-type mice following thiamine deficiency. Conclusions We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, in vivo that TDP reduction strongly correlates with brain glucose hypometabolism, whereas amyloid deposition does not. Our study provides new insight into the pathogenesis and therapeutic strategy for AD

Measurement of Blood Thiamine Metabolites for Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis

Background: Brain glucose hypometabolism is an invariant feature and has significant diagnostic value for Alzheimer's disease. Thiamine diphosphate (TDP) is a critical coenzyme for glucose metabolism and significantly reduced in brain and blood samples of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aims: To explore the diagnostic value of the measurement of blood thiamine metabolites for AD. Methods: Blood TDP, thiamine monophosphate, and thiamine levels were detected using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The study included the exploration and validation phases. In the exploration phase, the samples of 338 control subjects and 43 AD patients were utilized to establish the models for AD diagnosis assayed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, including the variable γ that represents the best combination of thiamine metabolites and age to predict the possibility of AD. In the validation phase, the values of models were further tested for AD diagnosis using samples of 861 control subjects, 81 AD patients, 70 vascular dementia patients, and 13 frontotemporal dementia patients. Results: TDP and the γ exhibited significant and consistent values for AD diagnosis in both exploration and validation phases. TDP had 0.843 and 0.837 of the areas under ROC curve (AUCs), 77.4% and 81.5% of sensitivities, and 78.1% and 77.2% of specificities respectively in the exploration and validation phases. The γ had 0.938 and 0.910 of AUCs, 81.4% and 80.2% of sensitivities, and 90.5% and 87.2% of specificities respectively in the exploration and validation phases. TDP and the γ can effectively distinguish AD from vascular dementia (64.3% for TDP, 67.1% for γ) and frontotemporal dementia (84.6% for TDP, 100.0% for γ). Interpretation. The measurement of blood thiamine metabolites by HPLC is an ideal diagnostic test for AD with inexpensive, easy to perform, noninvasive merits