A 6-items questionnaire (6-QMD) captures a Mediterranean like dietary pattern and is associated with memory performance and hippocampal volume in elderly and persons at risk for Alzheimer’s disease

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that adherence to Mediterranean-like diet reduces cognitive decline and brain atrophy in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, lengthy dietary assessments, such as food frequency questionnaires (FFQs), discourage more frequent use. OBJECTIVE: Here we aimed to validate a 6-items short questionnaire for a Mediterranean-like diet (6-QMD) and explore its associations with memory performance and hippocampal atrophy in healthy elders and individuals at risk for AD. METHODS: We analyzed 938 participants (N = 234 healthy controls and N = 704 participants with an increased AD risk) from the DZNE-Longitudinal Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Study (DELCODE). The 6-QMD was validated against the Mediterranean Diet (MeDi) score and the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) score, both derived from a detailed FFQ. Furthermore, associations between the 6-QMD and memory function as well as hippocampal atrophy were evaluated using linear regressions. RESULTS: The 6-QMD was moderately associated with the FFQ-derived MeDi adherence score (ρ = 0.25, p < 0.001) and the MIND score (ρ = 0.37, p= < 0.001). Higher fish and olive oil consumption and lower meat and sausage consumption showed significant associations in a linear regression, adjusted for diagnosis, age, sex and education, with memory function (β = 0.1, p = 0.008) and bilateral hippocampal volumes (left: β = 0.15, p < 0.001); (right: β = 0.18, p < 0.001)). CONCLUSIONS: The 6-QMD is a useful and valid brief tool to assess the adherence to MeDi and MIND diets, capturing associations with memory function and brain atrophy in healthy elders and individuals at increased AD dementia risk, making it a valid alternative in settings with time constraints

Alkoxyallene anion in the synthesis of natural products and their analogues

Among diverse systems containing multiple bonds, cumulenes are recognized as the most reactive derivatives towards both nucleophilic and electrophilic agents, and for this reason, they are considered as important class of substrates for organic synthesis. Over the last three decades alkoxyallenes have been demonstrated as highly useful C3-building blocks for the construction of numerous N-, O-, and S-containing heterocycles, including enantiomerically pure compounds. Special attention has been paid to lithiated alkoxyallenes as suitable nucleophiles for the reactions with alkyl halides, strained heterocycles, carbonyl compounds and their derivatives. The presence of the allene unit in the initially formed adducts opens up several possibilities in the preparation of more complex systems. In this review, selected applications of lithiated alkoxyallenes in the synthesis of natural products and their analogues are discussed

Inventive Output of Academic Research: A Comparison of two Science Systems

This paper compares the inventive output of two science systems in small European countries. More specifically, we examine patented inventions of Finnish and Flemish university researchers. The comparison includes inventive output as such and its concentration on organizations, inventors, and corporate owners as well as foreign assignations and the degree to which individual inventors have retained the ownership of the patents. While there are commonalities between the Finnish and Flemish systems in terms of patent concentration on key institutions and corporate assignees, there are also pronounced differences with respect to the ownership structure of academic patents, which was expected in light of the different intellectual property regulations. Our observations seem to suggest that the total inventive output of a research system is not a function of the prevailing intellectual property system but rather in correspondence to overall national inventiveness thereby pointing to more general (national, cultural) drivers of academic inventive activity. From a methodological viewpoint, this research illustrates that tracing university-owned patents alone would leave considerable technological contributions of academics unidentified - also in countries where universities own the rights to their researchers’ patents. Another finding with potential methodological implications is that patents are highly concentrated on institutions. If such a distribution law applies to large countries as well, analysts could cover most of the national academic patent output by an intelligent selection of universities

Strategies for the reduction of Legionella in biological treatment systems

A community-wide outbreak of Legionnaire's disease occurred in Warstein, Germany, in August 2013. The epidemic strain, Legionella pneumophila Serogruppe 1, was isolated from an industrial wastewater stream entering the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Wartein, the WWTP itself, the river Waster and air/water samples from an industrial cooling system 3 km downstream of the WWTP. The present study investigated the effect of physical-chemical disinfection methods on the reduction of the concentration of Legionella in the biological treatment and in the treated effluent entering the river Waster. Additionally, to gain insight into the factors that promote the growth of Legionella in biological systems, growth experiments were made with different substrates and temperatures. The dosage rates of silver micro-particles, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide and ozone and pH stress to the activated sludge were not able to decrease the number of culturable Legionella spp. in the effluent. Nevertheless, the UV treatment of secondary treated effluent reduced Legionella spp. on average by 1.6-3.4 log units. Laboratory-scale experiments and full-scale measurements suggested that the aerobic treatment of warm wastewater (30-35 degrees C) rich in organic nitrogen (protein) is a possible source of Legionella infection

ortho-​Fluoroazobenzenes: Visible Light Switches with Very Long-​Lived Z Isomers

Improving the photochemical properties of molecular photoswitches is crucial for the development of light-​responsive systems in materials and life sciences. ortho-​Fluoroazobenzenes are a new class of rationally designed photochromic azo compounds with optimized properties, such as the ability to isomerize with visible light only, high photoconversions, and unprecedented robust bistable character. Introducing σ-​electron-​withdrawing F atoms ortho to the N = N unit leads to both an effective separation of the n→π* bands of the E and Z isomers, thus offering the possibility of using these two transitions for selectively inducing E​/Z isomerizations, and greatly enhanced thermal stability of the Z isomers. Additional para-​electron-​withdrawing groups (EWGs) work in concert with ortho-​F atoms, giving rise to enhanced separation of the n→π* transitions. A comprehensive study of the effect of substitution on the key photochemical properties of ortho-​fluoroazobenzenes is reported herein. In particular, the position, number, and nature of the EWGs have been varied, and the visible light photoconversions, quantum yields of isomerization, and thermal stabilities have been measured and rationalized by DFT calculations