Cognitive mediation in people with dementia:Development, structural, and construct validity of the first dementia‐specific measure

OBJECTIVES: Anxiety and depression are common and deleterious comorbidities in people living with dementia (PLWD). Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is one of the few promising treatments; however, it is unclear whether PLWD have the necessary prerequisites to engage in this. Having an understanding of cognitive mediation, that a thought mediates the relationship between an antecedent event and its emotional consequence, is key for engaging with CBT and is also a critical component of emotion regulation. There are no measures of this construct validated for PLWD. This study aims to adapt and validate an existing measure for this population. A secondary aim is to assess its applicability in older adults (OA) without a recognised neurocognitive impairment. // METHODS: A measure of cognitive mediation was adapted via expert and service user consultation for use in PLWD. A total of 102 PLWD and 77 OA without neurocognitive impairments completed the adapted measure along with two measures of emotion recognition and reasoning. Factor structure was examined separately in both samples, and the measure reduced, with convergent validity assessed. // RESULTS: A final measure of 10 items (named the CM-Dem) was subject to factor analysis yielding a single factor solution. The measure showed good psychometric properties in PLWD, including good model fit, high internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and moderate convergent validity with related constructs. In contrast, poor validity was found in OA, especially a lack of convergent validity. // CONCLUSIONS: The CM-Dem has clinical and research utility as a measure of cognitive mediation in PLWD, but less so in OA

The effect of lattice temperature on surface damage in fused silica optics

We examine the effect of lattice temperature on the probability of surface damage initiation for 355nm, 7ns laser pulses for surface temperatures below the melting point to temperatures well above the melting point of fused silica. At sufficiently high surface temperatures, damage thresholds are dramatically reduced. Our results indicate a temperature activated absorption and support the idea of a lattice temperature threshold of surface damage. From these measurements, we estimate the temperature dependent absorption coefficient for intrinsic silica

Structure of the sporulation histidine kinase inhibitor Sda from Bacillus subtilis and insights into its solution state

The crystal structure of the DNA-damage checkpoint inhibitor of sporulation, Sda, from Bacillus subtilis, has been solved by the MAD technique using selenomethionine-substituted protein. The structure closely resembles that previously solved by NMR, as well as the structure of a homologue from Geobacillus stearothermophilus solved in complex with the histidine kinase KinB. The structure contains three molecules in the asymmetric unit. The unusual trimeric arrangement, which lacks simple internal symmetry, appears to be preserved in solution based on an essentially ideal fit to previously acquired scattering data for Sda in solution. This interpretation contradicts previous findings that Sda was monomeric or dimeric in solution. This study demonstrates the difficulties that can be associated with the characterization of small proteins and the value of combining multiple biophysical techniques. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding the physical principles behind these techniques and therefore their limitations

Downstream Intensification Effects Associated with CO2 Laser Mitigation of Fused Silica

Mitigation of 351nm laser-induced damage sites on fused silica exit surfaces by selective CO{sub 2} treatment has been shown to effectively arrest the exponential growth responsible for limiting the lifetime of optics in high-fluence laser systems. However, the perturbation to the optical surface profile following the mitigation process introduces phase contrast to the beam, causing some amount of downstream intensification with the potential to damage downstream optics. Control of the laser treatment process and measurement of the associated phase modulation is essential to preventing downstream 'fratricide' in damage-mitigated optical systems. In this work we present measurements of the surface morphology, intensification patterns and damage associated with various CO{sub 2} mitigation treatments on fused silica surfaces. Specifically, two components of intensification pattern, one on-axis and another off-axis can lead to damage of downstream optics and are related to rims around the ablation pit left from the mitigation process. It is shown that control of the rim structure around the edge of typical mitigation sites is crucial in preventing damage to downstream optics

Outer-Sphere Contributions to the Electronic Structure of Type Zero Copper Proteins

Bioinorganic canon states that active-site thiolate coordination promotes rapid electron transfer (ET) to and from type 1 copper proteins. In recent work, we have found that copper ET sites in proteins also can be constructed without thiolate ligation (called “type zero” sites). Here we report multifrequency electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic data together with density functional theory (DFT) and spectroscopy-oriented configuration interaction (SORCI) calculations for type zero Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin variants. Wild-type (type 1) and type zero copper centers experience virtually identical ligand fields. Moreover, O-donor covalency is enhanced in type zero centers relative that in the C112D (type 2) protein. At the same time, N-donor covalency is reduced in a similar fashion to type 1 centers. QM/MM and SORCI calculations show that the electronic structures of type zero and type 2 are intimately linked to the orientation and coordination mode of the carboxylate ligand, which in turn is influenced by outer-sphere hydrogen bonding