Longitudinal faster anxiety progression of GBA variant carriers in the early Parkinson’s disease cohort

ObjectiveAnxiety symptoms are prevalent neuropsychiatric manifestations in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and impact the development of motor complications. Our aim was to evaluate the association of GBA variants with the anxiety development in early PD cohort.MethodsThis cohort study used data from the Parkinson Progression Marker Initiative. The primary outcome anxiety was assessed by State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The association between GBA and longitudinal change in the STAI total score was examined using linear mixed-effects model, and the association between GBA and anxiety progression was examined using Cox survival analysis.ResultsA total of 385 patients with PD were included in this study, 39 of them were GBA variant carriers and 346 were idiopathic PD without GBA variants. Patients with GBA variants had faster annual increase in anxiety score (β = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.71; p < 0.001) and were at higher risk of anxiety progression (HR 1.87; 95% CI, 1.03 to 3.41; p = 0.03,). Higher baseline scores for Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s Disease-Autonomic (SCOPA-AUT), which indicated the autonomic dysfunction, also independently predicted faster increase in anxiety score (β = 0.48; 95%CI, 0.19 to 0.69; p < 0.001) and higher incidence of anxiety development (HR = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.08; p = 0.008).InterpretationThese findings suggest that longitudinal anxiety symptoms worsening was faster in PD patients who were GBA variant carriers and have dysautonomia, and this association was enhanced if they have both

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Facile and size-controllable preparation of graphene oxide nanosheets using high shear method and ultrasonic method

The lateral size of the graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets could be controlled by preparation method, and a simple and effective strategy to adjust the lateral size of GO nanosheets by selecting suitable method is presented. The high shear method was introduced to produce GO nanosheets, and the GO nanosheets (few micrometres) prepared by high shear method is about one order of magnitude larger than GO nanosheets (few hundred nanometres) obtained by ultrasonic method, as evidenced by atomic force microscopy. The FTIR, XPS and Raman analysis revealed that there are no distinct differences in composition and functional groups between the GO nanosheets produced by high shear method and ultrasonic method. The cavitation in the procedure of ultrasonic method is favourable for GO exfoliation, but it also could result in damage to GO nanosheets. The shearing force in the process of high shear method is effective for GO delamination with minimal fragmentation. The results indicated that the high shear method proposed in this paper is an efficient exfoliation means to produce single-layer GO nanosheets

Table_1_Longitudinal faster anxiety progression of GBA variant carriers in the early Parkinson’s disease cohort.docx

ObjectiveAnxiety symptoms are prevalent neuropsychiatric manifestations in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and impact the development of motor complications. Our aim was to evaluate the association of GBA variants with the anxiety development in early PD cohort.MethodsThis cohort study used data from the Parkinson Progression Marker Initiative. The primary outcome anxiety was assessed by State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The association between GBA and longitudinal change in the STAI total score was examined using linear mixed-effects model, and the association between GBA and anxiety progression was examined using Cox survival analysis.ResultsA total of 385 patients with PD were included in this study, 39 of them were GBA variant carriers and 346 were idiopathic PD without GBA variants. Patients with GBA variants had faster annual increase in anxiety score (β = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.71; p InterpretationThese findings suggest that longitudinal anxiety symptoms worsening was faster in PD patients who were GBA variant carriers and have dysautonomia, and this association was enhanced if they have both.</p

Sulfur-vacancy-dependent geometric and electronic structure of bismuth adsorbed on MoS2

Through Bi deposition on the single-crystalline MoS2 surface, we find that the density of the sulfur vacancy is a critical parameter for the growth of the crystalline Bi overlayer or cluster at room temperature. Also, the MoS2 band structure is significantly modified near ?? due to the orbital hybridization with an adsorbed Bi monolayer. Our experimental observations and analysis in combination with density functional theory calculation suggest the importance of controlling the sulfur vacancy concentration in realizing an exotic quantum phase based on the van der Waals interface of Bi and MoS2

Catalytic active interfacial B–C bonds of boron nanosheet/reduced graphene oxide heterostructures for efficient oxygen reduction reaction

© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The boron doped carbon nanomaterials that include in-plane B–C bonds at the local structure are considered as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, a fundamental understanding about the electrocatalytic activity of out-of-plane B–C bonds remains unclear. Herein, we synthesize a boron nanosheet/reduced graphene oxide (B@rGO) heterostructure, where out-of-plane B–C chemical bonds are formed at the heterointerfaces, greatly improving the ORR activity. As verified by the combined experimental analyses and theoretical calculations, the ORR activity is boosted because the out-of-plane B–C chemical bonds contribute to the cleavage of O–O bond of O2* intermediate. The B@rGO heterostructure composite exhibits much higher ORR activity than those of respective boron and rGO nanosheets as demonstrated by half-wave potential, Tafel slope, electron transfer number, and electrochemical active area, achieving better durability and methanol tolerance than the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst. In this context, primary Zn–air battery, using the as-synthesized B@rGO heterostructure composite as metal-free electrocatalyst, delivers high peak power density of 131 mW cm−2 and specific capacity of 639.3 mAh gZn−1. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd11Nsciescopu

A Ternary Alloy Substrate to Synthesize Monolayer Graphene with Liquid Carbon Precursor

Here we demonstrate a ternary Cu₂NiZn alloy substrate for controllably synthesizing monolayer graphene using a liquid carbon precursor cyclohexane <i>via</i> a facile CVD route. In contrast with elemental metal or bimetal substrates, the alloy-induced synergistic effects that provide an ideal metallic platform for much easier dehydrogenation of hydrocarbon molecules, more reasonable strength of adsorption energy of carbon monomer on surface and lower formation energies of carbon chains, largely renders the success growth of monolayer graphene with higher electrical mobility and lower defects. The growth mechanism is systemically investigated by our DFT calculations. This study provides a selective route for realizing high-quality graphene monolayer <i>via</i> a scalable synthetic method by using economic liquid carbon supplies and multialloy metal substrates