STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Dental enamel is the most durable mineralized tissue in the human body, which, in spite to be exposed to extreme conditions like mastication and acidic dissolution, is able to fulfill its biological function during lifetime. In this study we show that minor component magnesium can affect hardness properties of human primary dental enamel. Then, through Mg incorporation experiments we provide an additional proof for the poorly ordered Mg-containing intergranular phase which has been recently observed. Also, we report that the hardness of dental enamel can be increased by ca. 20% by Mg incorporation. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of sound primary dental enamel structure and may inspire new pathways for assisted remineralization of enamel and regenerative dentistry.

Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is emerging as a potentially powerful, non-invasive technique for focal brain stimulation. Recent animal work suggests, however, that TUS effects may be confounded by indirect stimulation of early auditory pathways.

We aimed to investigate in human participants whether TUS elicits audible sounds and if these can be masked by an audio signal.

In 18 healthy participants, T1-weighted magnetic resonance brain imaging was acquired for 3D ultrasound simulations to determine optimal transducer placements and source amplitudes. Thermal simulations ensured that temperature rises were <0.5°C at the target and <3°C in the skull. To test for non-specific auditory activation, TUS (500kHz, 300ms burst, modulated at 1kHz with 50% duty cycle) was applied to primary visual cortex and participants were asked to distinguish stimulation from non-stimulation trials. EEG was recorded throughout the task. Furthermore, ex-vivo skull experiments tested for the presence of skull vibrations during TUS.

We found that participants can hear sound during TUS and can distinguish between stimulation and non-stimulation trials. This was corroborated by EEG recordings indicating auditory activation associated with TUS. Delivering an audio waveform to participants through earphones while TUS was applied reduced detection rates to chance level and abolished the TUS-induced auditory EEG signal. Exvivo skull experiments demonstrated that sound is conducted through the skull at the pulse repetition frequency of the ultrasound.

Future studies using TUS in humans need to take this auditory confound into account and mask stimulation appropriately.

Future studies using TUS in humans need to take this auditory confound into account and mask stimulation appropriately.

The goal of working memory (WM) training is to expand capacity of this executive function. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) paired with WM training is more consistent than either alone. We have reported that tDCS targeting frontal and/or parietal regions enhanced theta phase locking, reduced alpha power, and strengthened theta-gamma phase amplitude coupling.

To determine whether tDCS to frontal or parietal sites optimized WM training gains we pre-registered a tDCS-WM training study.

80 undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of four anodal tDCS montages frontal (F4), parietal (P4), alternating (P4-F4), and sham (P4 or F4). Participants completed 5-training sessions over one week and returned for follow-up testing after 30 days of no-contact.

No group showed significant improvement in trained or transfer task performance at the end of training nor at follow-up.

This null finding marks a failure to replicate in undergraduates training benefits observed in graduate students. We argue that motivation is essential to elicit improved performance in training protocols.

This null finding marks a failure to replicate in undergraduates training benefits observed in graduate students. We argue that motivation is essential to elicit improved performance in training protocols.Driven by the clinical need for a strong tissue adhesive with elastomeric material properties, a departure from legacy crosslinking chemistries was sought as a multipurpose platform for tissue mending. A fresh approach to bonding wet substrates has yielded a synthetic biomaterial that overcomes the drawbacks of free-radical and nature-inspired bioadhesives. A food-grade liquid polycaprolactone grafted with carbene precursors yields CaproGlu. The first-of-its-kind low-viscosity prepolymer is VOC-free and requires no photoinitiators. this website Grafted diazirine end-groups form carbene diradicals upon low energy UVA (365 nm) activation that immediately crosslink tissue surfaces; no pre-heating or animal-derived components are required. The hydrophobic polymeric environment enables metastable functional groups not possible in formulations requiring solvents or water. Activated diazirine within CaproGlu is uniquely capable of crosslinking all amino acids, even on wet tissue substrates. CaproGlu undergoes rapid liquid-to-biorubber transition within seconds of UVA exposure-features not found in any other bioadhesive. The exceptional shelf stability of CaproGlu allows gamma sterilization with no change in material properties. CaproGlu wet adhesiveness is challenged against current unmet clinical needs anastomosis of spliced blood vessels, anesthetic muscle patches, and human platelet-mediating coatings. The versatility of CaproGlu enables both organic and inorganic composites for future bioadhesive platforms.Novel natural products are urgently needed to address the worldwide incidence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Extreme environments are a major source of novel compounds with unusual chemical structures. Pedobacter lusitanus NL19 is a new bacterial species that was isolated from one such environment and which produces compounds with potent activity against relevant microorganisms in the clinical, food, veterinary and aquaculture areas. The production of antimicrobials by P. lusitanus NL19 was identified in tryptic soy agar (TSA), but not in its equivalent broth (TSB). It was observed that in TSB medium a high concentration of casein peptone (PC) repressed the production of antibacterial compounds. HPLC, MS and MS/MS spectra with de novo sequencing revealed that the bioactivity of P. lusitanus NL19 was due to the production of pedopeptins. Hence, biosynthesis of pedopeptins is inhibited by high concentrations of PC in the broth medium. Furthermore, a nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene cluster was identified in the genome of NL19 encoding the biosynthesis of the peptides.