Loss of ability to work and ability to live independently in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Ability to work and live independently is of particular concern for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We studied a series of PD patients able to work or live independently at baseline, and evaluated potential risk factors for two separate outcomes: loss of ability to work and loss of ability to live independently. METHODS: The series comprised 495 PD patients followed prospectively. Ability to work and ability to live independently were based on clinical interview and examination. Cox regression models adjusted for age and disease duration were used to evaluate associations of baseline characteristics with loss of ability to work and loss of ability to live independently. RESULTS: Higher UPDRS dyskinesia score, UPDRS instability score, UPDRS total score, Hoehn and Yahr stage, and presence of intellectual impairment at baseline were all associated with increased risk of future loss of ability to work and loss of ability to live independently (P ≤ 0.0033). Five years after initial visit, for patients ≤70 years of age with a disease duration ≤4 years at initial visit, 88% were still able to work and 90% to live independently. These estimates worsened as age and disease duration at initial visit increased; for patients >70 years of age with a disease duration >4 years, estimates at 5 years were 43% able to work and 57% able to live independently. CONCLUSIONS: The information provided in this study can offer useful information for PD patients in preparing for future ability to perform activities of daily living

Layered metals as polarized transparent conductors.

Acknowledgements: We thank Liam Malone for help in the preparation of the Tl2201 samples. This project was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant no. 715730). V.P. and K.S.B. are grateful for the primary support of the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under award no. DE-SC0018675. A.C. was supported by UK EPSRC grant number EP/R011141/1. N.K. is supported by a KAKENHI Grants-in-Aids for Scientific Research (Grant Nos. 18K04715, 21H01033, and 22K19093), and Core-to-Core Program (No. JPJSCCA20170002) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and by a JST-Mirai Program (Grant No. JPMJMI18A3). Research in Dresden benefits from the environment provided by the DFG Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat (EXC 2147, project ID 390858940).The quest to improve transparent conductors balances two key goals: increasing electrical conductivity and increasing optical transparency. To improve both simultaneously is hindered by the physical limitation that good metals with high electrical conductivity have large carrier densities that push the plasma edge into the ultra-violet range. Technological solutions reflect this trade-off, achieving the desired transparencies only by reducing the conductor thickness or carrier density at the expense of a lower conductance. Here we demonstrate that highly anisotropic crystalline conductors offer an alternative solution, avoiding this compromise by separating the directions of conduction and transmission. We demonstrate that slabs of the layered oxides Sr2RuO4 and Tl2Ba2CuO6+δ are optically transparent even at macroscopic thicknesses >2 μm for c-axis polarized light. Underlying this observation is the fabrication of out-of-plane slabs by focused ion beam milling. This work provides a glimpse into future technologies, such as highly polarized and addressable optical screens

Layered metals as polarized transparent conductors.

The quest to improve transparent conductors balances two key goals: increasing electrical conductivity and increasing optical transparency. To improve both simultaneously is hindered by the physical limitation that good metals with high electrical conductivity have large carrier densities that push the plasma edge into the ultra-violet range. Technological solutions reflect this trade-off, achieving the desired transparencies only by reducing the conductor thickness or carrier density at the expense of a lower conductance. Here we demonstrate that highly anisotropic crystalline conductors offer an alternative solution, avoiding this compromise by separating the directions of conduction and transmission. We demonstrate that slabs of the layered oxides Sr2RuO4 and Tl2Ba2CuO6+δ are optically transparent even at macroscopic thicknesses >2 μm for c-axis polarized light. Underlying this observation is the fabrication of out-of-plane slabs by focused ion beam milling. This work provides a glimpse into future technologies, such as highly polarized and addressable optical screens

Layered metals as polarized transparent conductors

Abstract The quest to improve transparent conductors balances two key goals: increasing electrical conductivity and increasing optical transparency. To improve both simultaneously is hindered by the physical limitation that good metals with high electrical conductivity have large carrier densities that push the plasma edge into the ultra-violet range. Technological solutions reflect this trade-off, achieving the desired transparencies only by reducing the conductor thickness or carrier density at the expense of a lower conductance. Here we demonstrate that highly anisotropic crystalline conductors offer an alternative solution, avoiding this compromise by separating the directions of conduction and transmission. We demonstrate that slabs of the layered oxides Sr2RuO4 and Tl2Ba2CuO6+δ are optically transparent even at macroscopic thicknesses >2 μm for c-axis polarized light. Underlying this observation is the fabrication of out-of-plane slabs by focused ion beam milling. This work provides a glimpse into future technologies, such as highly polarized and addressable optical screens

The gentle art of saying NO: how nitric oxide gets things done in the hypothalamus

International audienceThe chemical signalling molecule nitric oxide (NO), which freely diffuses through aqueous and lipid environments, subserves an array of functions in the mammalian central nervous system, such as the regulation of synaptic plasticity, blood flow and neurohormone secretion. In this Review, we consider the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which NO evokes short-term and long-term changes in neuronal activity. We also highlight recent studies showing that discrete populations of neurons that synthesize NO in the hypothalamus constitute integrative systems that support life by relaying metabolic and gonadal signals to the neuroendocrine brain, and thus gate the onset of puberty and adult fertility. The putative involvement and therapeutic potential of NO in the pathophysiology of brain diseases, for which hormonal imbalances during postnatal development could be risk factors, is also discussed