Neighboring metal nanoparticles influence photovoltaic and photocatalytic behavior of semiconductor nanostructures either through Fermi level equilibration by accepting electrons or inducing localized surface plasmon effects. By employing SiO(2)- and TiO(2)-capped Au nanoparticles we have identified the mechanism with which the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) is influenced by the neighboring metal nanoparticles. The efficiency of an N719 dye-sensitized solar cell (9.3%) increased to 10.2% upon incorporation of 0.7% Au@SiO(2) and to 9.8% upon loading of 0.7% Au@TiO(2) nanoparticles. The plasmonic effect as monitored by introducing Au@SiO(2) in DSSC produces higher photocurrent. However, Au nanoparticles undergo charge equilibration with TiO(2) nanoparticles and shift the apparent Fermi level of the composite to more negative potentials. As a result, Au@TiO(2) nanoparticle-embedded DSSC exhibit higher photovoltage. A better understanding of these two effects is crucial in exploiting the beneficial aspects of metal nanoparticles in photovoltaics.

This pilot study found that botulinum toxin type A significantly reduced diabetic neuropathic pain and transiently improved sleep quality. Further large-scaled study is warranted.

A facile and reproducible approach for preparing Au-CdS core−shell nanocrystals with controllable shell thickness was successfully developed. A depression of the photoluminescence emission of CdS was observed in Au-CdS nanocrystals, demonstrating the photoinduced charge separation and the effective electron transfer from CdS shell to Au core.

The interfacial charge carrier dynamics for core-shell Au-CdS nanocrystals with various shell thicknesses were investigated and presented. Due to the difference in band structures between Au and CdS, a pronounced photoinduced charge separation took place at the interface of Au and CdS, resulting in the electron-charged Au core and the hole-enriched CdS shell. The electron-charging of Au core in Au-CdS nanocrystals was revealed with the corresponding XPS analysis and photocurrent measurement. Time-resolved PL spectra were measured to quantitatively analyze the electron transfer event between CdS shell and Au core for Au-CdS nanocrystals. An increase in the electron-transfer rate constant was observed for Au-CdS nanocrystals with increasing shell thickness, probably due to the less pronounced electron-hole interaction of thicker CdS, which enabled a fuller extent of participation of photoexcited electrons in the charge separation process. On the other hand, the hole-enriched CdS shell of Au-CdS nanocrystals upon light illumination was characterized with a photocatalytic process. The photocatalytic activity of Au-CdS nanocrystals was found to increase with increasing shell thickness, attributable to the greater capability of light absorption achieved by the extensive growth of the CdS shell. The correlation of photocatalytic activity with the shell thickness of Au-CdS nanocrystals corresponded well with that of the electron-transfer rate constant. As compared to the relevant commercial products like N-doped P-25 TiO 2 and CdS powders, the as-synthesized Au-CdS nanocrystals exhibited superior photocatalytic performance under visible light illumination, demonstrating their potential as an effective visible-light-driven photocatalyst. Furthermore, the result of performance evaluation under natural sunlight shows that the present Au-CdS nanocrystals can be used as highly efficient photocatalysts which may practically harvest energy from sunlight.

The purpose of this study of dementia screening was to obtain different cutoff scores of the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument, Chinese versions (CASI C-2.0) for subjects with different educational backgrounds. The diagnosis of dementia was based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, ed 3 revised or ed 4 criteria. To diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, the guidelines of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association was followed. The severity of dementia was determined on the Clinical Dementia Rating scale. Altogether 2,096 subjects, aged 65 years and more, were included. Of them, 1,178 were normal and 918 were demented. Their performance on CASI C-2.0 was influenced by their education and age. Gender difference on CASI C-2.0 scores was only significant in the illiterate, but not in the literate group. We recommend that the population be divided into three levels, namely those who (1) had no formal education (Edu = 0); (2) received 1–5 years of schooling (Edu = 1–5), and (3) received 6 or more years of education (Edu ≧6). The cutoff scores of CASI C-2.0 in the diagnosis of dementia in these three educational groups were as follows: Edu = 0: 49/50 (sensitivity = 0.83; specificity = 0.85); Edu = 1–5: 67/68 (sensitivity = 0.83; specificity = 0.91), and Edu ≧6: 79/80 (sensitivity = 0.89; specificity = 0.90).

Physical frailty has been recognized as a clinical syndrome resulting from declines in various physiological systems; however, the role of the central nervous system in the pathophysiology of frailty remains unclear. The I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study randomly sampled community-dwelling people aged 50 or older for a brain magnetic resonance imaging study. All participants were assessed for frailty status (robust, prefrail, and frail) based on the presence of five frailty components: slow walking speed, muscle weakness, low physical activity, exhaustion and weight loss (Fried criteria). Gray matter volume (GMV) changes associated with frailty status and individual frailty components were examined. Overall, 456 participants (64.0 ± 8.5 years, 47.6% women) were included in this study. The prefrail (n = 178, 39.0%) and frail (n = 19, 4.2%) subjects were grouped for analysis. The prefrail-frail group showed reduced GMV, compared to the robust group (n = 259, 56.8%), in the cerebellum, hippocampi, middle frontal gyri, and several other cerebral regions (corrected P < 0.05). Each frailty component was associated with GMV changes in functionally related brain areas. Hierarchical cluster analysis categorized these components into three subsets. Motor-related components, including weakness, low activity, and slowness, comprised one subset with a common cerebellar involvement. Exhaustion and weight loss were the other two subsets without cerebellar changes. To conclude, physical frailty is associated with a decreased reserve in specific brain regions, especially cerebellum. Further longitudinal studies are needed to explore if the cerebellum- and noncerebellum-based frailty components reflect a distinctive future risk for developing frailty.

Some researchers have suggested that the default mode network (DMN) plays an important role in the pathological mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To examine whether the cortical activities in DMN regions show significant difference between mild AD from mild cognitive impairment (MCI), electrophysiological responses were analyzed from 21 mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and 21 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients during an eyes closed, resting-state condition. The spectral power and functional connectivity of the DMN were estimated using a minimum norm estimate (MNE) combined with fast Fourier transform and imaginary coherence analysis. Our results indicated that source-based EEG maps of resting-state activity showed alterations of cortical spectral power in mild AD when compared to MCI. These alterations are characteristic of attenuated alpha or beta activities in the DMN, as are enhanced delta or theta activities in the medial temporal, inferior parietal, posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus. With regard to altered synchronization in AD, altered functional interconnections were observed as specific connectivity patterns of connection hubs in the precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and medial temporal regions. Moreover, posterior theta and alpha power and altered connectivity in the medial temporal lobe correlated significantly with scores obtained on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). In conclusion, EEG is a useful tool for investigating the DMN in the brain and differentiating early stage AD and MCI patients. This is a promising finding; however, further large-scale studies are needed.

Episodic migraine (EM) may evolve into the more disabling chronic migraine (CM, monthly migraine days ≥ 8 and headache days ≥ 15) with unknown mechanism. Aiming to elucidate the pathophysiology of CM and its relationship with EM, this study characterized the visual cortical responses in CM and EM. Neuromagnetic visual-evoked responses to left-hemifield checkerboard reversals were obtained in patients with EM (interictal or ictal states), CM (interictal) and age-matched controls. For each subject, the 1500 evoked responses were sequentially divided into 30 blocks and percentage changes of P100m amplitude in blocks 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 compared to the first block were computed to assess habituation. At the end of visual stimulation (block 30), P100m amplitude was decreased (habituated) in the controls (n=32) (35.2±2.6nAm vs. 41.9±2.7, p=0.005) but increased (potentiated) in the interictal state of EM (n=29) (39.7±3.8 vs. 33.5±3.0, p=0.007). In CM (n=25), P100m was habituated (46.5±2.9 vs. 51.6±3.7, p=0.013) but higher at the initial block than in those of the interictal state of EM (p=0.001). These CM features also characterized the P100m in the ictal state of EM (n=9). There was no difference of P100m between CM and ictal state of EM. In conclusion, patients with CM demonstrate a persistent ictal-like excitability pattern of the visual cortex between migraine attacks which may implicate central inhibitory dysfunction.