High Catalytic Activity of Heteropolynuclear Cyanide Complexes Containing Cobalt and Platinum Ions: Visible-Light Driven Water Oxidation

A near-stoichiometric amount of O_2 was evolved as observed in the visible-light irradiation of an aqueous buffer (pH 8) containing [Ru^(II)(2,2′-bipyridine)_3] as a photosensitizer, Na_2S_2O_8 as a sacrificial electron acceptor, and a heteropolynuclear cyanide complex as a water-oxidation catalyst. The heteropolynuclear cyanide complexes exhibited higher catalytic activity than a polynuclear cyanide complex containing only Co^(III) or Pt^(IV) ions as C-bound metal ions. The origin of the synergistic effect between Co and Pt ions is discussed in relation to electronic and local atomic structures of the complexes

Unequal Playing Time

Unequal Playing Time In his book The American College Town, Blake Gumprecht claims one of the defining features of college towns is that they are more progressive, liberal-minded, and socially-blended spaces. However, this is not the type of college town that appears in Marshall University’s collection of archives. Throughout the years, many groups of students were often overlooked due to minority population status. This presentation examines the lack of recognition for one such group, in particular, women’s athletics during the 1920’s. Student yearbooks published between 1920 and 1930 were analyzed for content featuring men versus women’s athletics. At the start of the decade in 1920, female athletes were given a one-page segment placed at the end of the athletics section which discussed the athletic classes offered to women. During that same year, there happened to be nine women and seven men on the yearbook’s editorial board. In the following years, the number of women on the editorial board decreased and despite the girl’s athletic association being the largest student organization on campus, so did the amount of recognition for the association. One could easily surmise that the men on the yearbook staff often overlooked women when it came to athletics. However, when men were the bulk of the yearbook editors, women were often most noted for their beauty and popularity, rather than their athletic achievements. Such inconsistencies directly contrast with Gumprecht’s definition of a college town being broadminded and socially incorporated

A national survey of services for the prevention and management of falls in the UK

Background: The National Health Service (NHS) was tasked in 2001 with developing service provision to prevent falls in older people. We carried out a national survey to provide a description of health and social care funded UK fallers services, and to benchmark progress against current practice guidelines. Methods: Cascade approach to sampling, followed by telephone survey with senior member of the fall service. Characteristics of the service were assessed using an internationally agreed taxonomy. Reported service provision was compared against benchmarks set by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Results: We identified 303 clinics across the UK. 231 (76%) were willing to participate. The majority of services were based in acute or community hospitals, with only a few in primary care or emergency departments. Access to services was, in the majority of cases, by health professional referral. Most services undertook a multi-factorial assessment. The content and quality of these assessments varied substantially. Services varied extensively in the way that interventions were delivered, and particular concern is raised about interventions for vision, home hazard modification, medication review and bone health. Conclusion: The most common type of service provision was a multi-factorial assessment and intervention. There were a wide range of service models, but for a substantial number of services, delivery appears to fall below recommended NICE guidance

Lyplal1 is dispensable for normal fat deposition in mice.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have detected association between variants in or near the Lysophospholipase-like 1 (LYPLAL1) locus and metabolic traits, including central obesity, fatty liver and waist-to-hip ratio. LYPLAL1 is also known to be upregulated in the adipose tissue of obese patients. However, the physiological role of LYPLAL1 is not understood. To investigate the function of Lyplal1 in vivo we investigated the phenotype of the Lyplal1tm1a(KOMP)Wtsi homozygous mouse. Body composition was unaltered in Lyplal1 knockout mice as assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scanning, both on normal chow and on a high-fat diet. Adipose tissue distribution between visceral and subcutaneous fat depots was unaltered, with no change in adipocyte cell size. The response to both insulin and glucose dosing was normal in Lyplal1tm1a(KOMP)Wtsi homozygous mice, with normal fasting blood glucose concentrations. RNAseq analysis of liver, muscle and adipose tissue confirmed that Lyplal1 expression was ablated with minimal additional changes in gene expression. These results suggest that Lyplal1 is dispensable for normal mouse metabolic physiology and that despite having been maintained through evolution Lyplal1 is not an essential gene, suggesting possible functional redundancy. Further studies will be required to clarify its physiological role

Mining Disaggregase Sequence Space to Safely Counter TDP-43, FUS, and α-Synuclein Proteotoxicity.

Hsp104 is an AAA+ protein disaggregase, which can be potentiated via diverse mutations in its autoregulatory middle domain (MD) to mitigate toxic misfolding of TDP-43, FUS, and α-synuclein implicated in fatal neurodegenerative disorders. Problematically, potentiated MD variants can exhibit off-target toxicity. Here, we mine disaggregase sequence space to safely enhance Hsp104 activity via single mutations in nucleotide-binding domain 1 (NBD1) or NBD2. Like MD variants, NBD variants counter TDP-43, FUS, and α-synuclein toxicity and exhibit elevated ATPase and disaggregase activity. Unlike MD variants, non-toxic NBD1 and NBD2 variants emerge that rescue TDP-43, FUS, and α-synuclein toxicity. Potentiating substitutions alter NBD1 residues that contact ATP, ATP-binding residues, or the MD. Mutating the NBD2 protomer interface can also safely ameliorate Hsp104. Thus, we disambiguate allosteric regulation of Hsp104 by several tunable structural contacts, which can be engineered to spawn enhanced therapeutic disaggregases with minimal off-target toxicity

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Risk of Degenerative Synucleinopathies: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: A systematic review was conducted to answer whether adult-onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased risk of Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) and related synucleinopathies. DESIGN: A systematic search of Medline (Ovid), Embase (Elsevier), PsycInfo (Ovid), Cochrane Library (Wiley), and Web of Science (Clarivate) was performed using MeSH headings and equivalent terms for PTSD, PD, DLB, and related disorders. SETTING: No restrictions. PARTICIPANTS: Eligible articles were published in peer-reviewed journals, sampled adult human populations, and treated PTSD and degenerative synucleinopathies as exposures and outcomes, respectively. MEASUREMENTS: Extracted data included diagnostic methods, sample characteristics, matching procedures, covariates, and effect estimates. Bias assessment was performed with the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Hazard ratios were pooled using the random effects model, and the Hartung-Knapp adjustment was applied due to the small number of studies. RESULTS: A total of six articles comprising seven unique samples (total n = 1,747,378) met eligibility criteria. The risk of PD was reported in three retrospective cohort studies and one case-control study. Risk of DLB was reported in one retrospective cohort, one case-control, and one prospective cohort study. No studies addressed potential relationships with multiple system atrophy or pure autonomic failure. Meta-analysis of hazard ratios from four retrospective cohort studies supported the hypothesis that incident PTSD was associated with PD and DLB risk (pooled HR 1.88, 95% C.I. 1.08-3.24; p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: The sparse literature to-date supports further investigations on the association of mid- to late-life PTSD with Parkinson\u27s and related neurodegenerative disorders

The effects of adrenaline in out of hospital cardiac arrest with shockable and non-shockable rhythms : findings from the PACA and PARAMEDIC-2 randomised controlled trials

Introduction Previous research suggests there may be differences in the effects of adrenaline related to the initial cardiac arrest rhythm. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of adrenaline compared with placebo according to whether the initial cardiac arrest rhythm was shockable or non-shockable. Methods Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), survival and neurological outcomes according to the initial arrest rhythm were compared amongst patients enrolled in the PARAMEDIC-2 randomised, placebo controlled trial. The results of the PARAMEDIC-2 and PACA out of hospital cardiac arrest trials were combined and meta-analysed. Results The initial rhythm was known for 3,929 (98.2%) in the placebo arm and 3,919 (97.6%) in the adrenaline arm. The effect on the rate of ROSC of adrenaline relative to placebo was greater in patients with non-shockable cardiac rhythms (1002/3003 (33.4%) versus 222/3005 (7.4%), adjusted OR: 6.5, (95% CI 5.6-7.6)) compared with shockable rhythms 349/716 (48.7%) versus (208/702 (29.6%), adjusted OR: 2.3, 95%CI: 1.9-2.9)). The adjusted odds ratio for survival at discharge for non-shockable rhythms was 2.5 (1.3, 4.8) and 1.3 (0.9, 1.8) for shockable rhythms (P value for interaction 0.065) and 1.8(0.8-4.1) and 1.1 (0.8-1.6) respectively for neurological outcome at discharge (P value for interaction 0.295). Meta-analysis found similar results. Conclusion Relative to placebo, the effects of adrenaline ROSC are greater for patients with an initially non-shockable rhythm than those with a shockable rhythms. Similar patterns are observed for longer term survival outcomes and favourable neurological outcomes, although the differences in effects are less pronounced