First-principles molecular transport calculation for the benzenedithiolate molecule

A first-principles approach based on density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's functions is used to study the molecular transport system consisting of benzenedithiolate connected with monoatomic gold and platinum electrodes. Using symmetry arguments we explain why the conductance mechanism is different for gold and platinum electrodes. We present the charge stability diagram for the benzenedithiolate connected with monoatomic platinum electrodes including many-body effects in terms of an extended Hubbard Hamiltonian and discuss how the electrodes and the many-body effects influence the transport properties of the system

T1w/T2w ratio and cognition in 9-to-11-year-old children

202208 bckwVersion of RecordOthersThe preprocessing of the imaging data was enabled by the computational resources provided by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) at LUNARC at Lund University partially funded by the Swedish Research Council through grant agreement no. 2018-05973.;Publishe

Abnormal cerebral hemodynamics and blood-brain barrier permeability detected with perfusion MRI in systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Objective: Dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has previously shown alterations in cerebral perfusion in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the results have been inconsistent, in particular regarding neuropsychiatric (NP) SLE. Thus, we investigated perfusion-based measures in different brain regions in SLE patients with and without NP involvement, and additionally, in white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), the most common MRI pathology in SLE patients. Materials and methods: We included 3 T MRI images (conventional and DSC) from 64 female SLE patients and 19 healthy controls (HC). Three different NPSLE attribution models were used: the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) A model (13 patients), the SLICC B model (19 patients), and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) case definitions for NPSLE (38 patients). Normalized cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV) and mean transit time (MTT) were calculated in 26 manually drawn regions of interest and compared between SLE patients and HC, and between NPSLE and non-NPSLE patients. Additionally, normalized CBF, CBV and MTT, as well as absolute values of the blood-brain barrier leakage parameter (K2) were investigated in WMHs compared to normal appearing white matter (NAWM) in the SLE patients. Results: After correction for multiple comparisons, the most prevalent finding was a bilateral significant decrease in MTT in SLE patients compared to HC in the hypothalamus, putamen, right posterior thalamus and right anterior insula. Significant decreases in SLE compared to HC were also found for CBF in the pons, and for CBV in the bilateral putamen and posterior thalamus. Significant increases were found for CBF in the posterior corpus callosum and for CBV in the anterior corpus callosum. Similar patterns were found for both NPSLE and non-NPSLE patients for all attributional models compared to HC. However, no significant perfusion differences were revealed between NPSLE and non-NPSLE patients regardless of attribution model. The WMHs in SLE patients showed a significant increase in all perfusion-based metrics (CBF, CBV, MTT and K2) compared to NAWM. Conclusion: Our study revealed perfusion differences in several brain regions in SLE patients compared to HC, independently of NP involvement. Furthermore, increased K2 in WMHs compared to NAWM may indicate blood-brain barrier dysfunction in SLE patients. We conclude that our results show a robust cerebral perfusion, independent from the different NP attribution models, and provide insight into potential BBB dysfunction and altered vascular properties of WMHs in female SLE patients. Despite SLE being most prevalent in females, a generalization of our conclusions should be avoided, and future studies including all sexes are needed

First-principles molecular transport calculation for the benzenedithiolate molecule

A first-principles approach based on Density Functional Theory and Non-Equilibrium Green's functions is used to study the molecular transport system consisting of benzenedithiolate connected with monoatomic gold and platinum electrodes. Using symmetry arguments we explain why the conductance mechanism is different for gold and platinum electrodes. We present the charge stability diagram for the benzenedithiolate connected with monoatomic platinum electrodes including many-body effects in terms of an extended Hubbard Hamiltonian and discuss how the electrodes and the many-body effects influence the transport properties of the system

Cognitive performance in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: Previous research has provided evidence for cognitive dysfunction as a common symptom of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In light of this, the primary goal of this study was to investigate how cognitive impairment in this patient group develops over time. In addition, the present dataset contributes to delineating the specific abilities that are impaired in SLE patients as well as answering the question whether the disease affects the cognition of SLE patients with neuropsychiatric manifestations (NPSLE) and without (non-NPSLE) in distinct ways.METHODS: 91 female participants (33 NPSLE, 29 non-NPSLE, 29 healthy controls (HC)) underwent standardized neurocognitive testing. A total of ten different cognitive abilities were assessed, among others executive function, memory, and attention. Some of the participants (30 NPSLE patients, 22 non-NPSLE, 13 HC) were tested twice (mean time between testing sessions: 50 months) to enable longitudinal tracking of cognitive abilities. Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) were conducted to determine whether cognitive performance differed cross-sectionally between the groups. Linear mixed effects models were fit to investigate performance differences between the groups over time.RESULTS: Cross-sectional analysis at follow-up demonstrated that the cognitive performance of both NPSLE and non-NPSLE was significantly lower than that of HC for the motor speed and the psychomotor speed domain. Additionally, NPSLE patients performed significantly weaker than HC in the complex attention domain. At the same time, the cross-sectional data did not yield any support for performance differences between NPSLE and non-NPSLE patients. Weak positive correlations between disease duration and psychomotor speed, motor speed and reaction time emerged. A temporal progression of cognitive dysfunction in SLE patients was not confirmed.CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive performance is affected in both non-NPSLE and NPSLE patients. However, a linear decline in performance over time could not be verified. More in-depth longitudinal assessments of cognition in SLE patients are needed to establish how cognitive abilities in this patient population develop over time

Individualized Tourism Brochures as a Novel Approach to Mass Customization

Tourism is an information intensive business and technological advances have transformed the way in which information is stored, managed and transmitted to potential visitors. Despite the wide adoption of Internet technologies in tourism marketing, information is still largely disseminated through printed brochures that have remained unchanged and unaffected by personalization trends. This conceptual paper argues that technological innovations such as digital printing allow the creation of dynamic, customized brochures at a lower cost than that of conventional tourist brochures. The main aim of this paper is to propose a framework for cross-media customization of tourism and travel brochures. The paper concludes that empirical research is necessary to assess the optimum levelsof individualization for tourism brochures

Management of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

Funding Information: JH and CL are supported by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). TS is supported by The Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation and the Swedish Research Council. KD is supported by the South African Medical Research Council and the European Union (EDCTP) Publisher Copyright: © 2019 The Union.The emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB; defined as resistance to at least rifampicin and isoniazid) represents a growing threat to public health and economic growth. Never before in the history of mankind have more patients been affected by MDRTB than is the case today. The World Health Organization reports that MDR-TB outcomes are poor despite staggeringly high management costs. Moreover, treatment is prolonged, adverse events are common, and the majority of affected patients do not receive adequate treatment. As MDR-TB strains are often resistant to one or more second-line anti-TB drugs, in-depth genotypic and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing is needed to construct personalised treatment regimens to improve treatment outcomes. For the first time in decades, the availability of novel drugs such as bedaquiline allow us to design potent and well-tolerated personalised MDR-TB treatment regimens based solely on oral drugs. In this article, we present management guidance to optimise the diagnosis, algorithm-based treatment, drug dosing and therapeutic drug monitoring, and the management of adverse events and comorbidities, associated with MDRTB. We also discuss the role of surgery, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, palliative care and smoking cessation in patients with MDR-TB. We hope that incorporating these recommendations into patient care will be helpful in optimising treatment outcomes, and lead to more MDRTB patients achieving a relapse-free cure.publishersversionPeer reviewe