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The variation in experiences between high and low-socioeconomic status contexts are posited to play a crucial role in shaping the developing brain and may explain differences in child outcomes. Yet, examinations of SES and brain development have largely been limited to distal proxies of these experiences (e.g., income comparisons). The current study sought to disentangle the effects of multiple socioeconomic indices and dimensions of more proximal experiences on resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in a sample of 7834 youth (aged 9-10 years) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. We applied moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA) to establish measurement invariance among three latent environmental dimensions of experience (material/economic deprivation, caregiver social support, and psychosocial threat). Results revealed measurement biases as a function of child age, sex, racial group, family income, and parental education, which were statistically adjusted in the final MNLFA scores. Mixed-effects models demonstrated that socioeconomic indices and psychosocial threat differentially predicted variation in frontolimbic networks, and threat statistically moderated the association between income and connectivity between the dorsal and ventral attention networks. Findings illuminate the importance of reducing measurement biases to gain a more socioculturally-valid understanding of the complex and nuanced links between socioeconomic context, children’s experiences, and neurodevelopment.

Polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) consisting of the polysaccharides hyaluronic acid (HA) as the polyanion and chitosan (Chi) as the polycation were prepared with layer-by-layer technique (LbL). The [Chi/HA]5 multilayers were exposed to solutions of metal ions (Ca2+, Co2+, Cu2+ and Fe3+). Binding of metal ions to [Chi/HA]5 multilayers by the formation of complexes with functional groups of polysaccharides modulates their physical properties and the bioactivity of PEMs with regard to the adhesion and function of multipotent murine C3H10T1/2 embryonic fibroblasts. Characterization of multilayer formation and surface properties using different analytical methods demonstrates changes in the wetting, surface potential and mechanical properties of multilayers depending on the concentration and type of metal ion. Most interestingly, it is observed that Fe3+ metal ions greatly promote adhesion and spreading of C3H10T1/2 cells on the low adhesive [Chi/HA]5 PEM system. The application of intermediate concentrations of Cu2+, Ca2+ and Co2+ as well as low concentrations of Fe3+ to PEMs also results in increased cell spreading. Moreover, it can be shown that complex formation of PEMs with Cu2+ and Fe3+ ions leads to increased metabolic activity in cells after 24 h and induces cell differentiation towards adipocytes in the absence of any additional adipogenic media supplements. Overall, complex formation of [Chi/HA]5 PEM with metal ions like Cu2+ and Fe3+ represents an interesting and cheap alternative to the use of growth factors for making cell-adhesive coatings and guiding stem cell differentiation on implants and scaffolds to regenerate connective-type of tissues.

Background and Purpose: Tandem lesions in the anterior circulation account for up to 30% of all large vessel occlusion strokes. The optimal periprocedural approach in these lesions is still a matter of debate. Methods: Data from the German Stroke Registry - Endovascular Treatment between June 2015 and December 2019 were analyzed. The German Stroke Registry - Endovascular Treatment is an academic, independent, prospective, multicenter, observational registry study with 25 participating stroke centers from all over Germany enrolling consecutive mechanical thrombectomy patients. Tandem lesions were defined as a combination of a relevant extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) pathology (ipsilateral stenosis >70% or occlusion) and concomitant intracranial large vessel occlusion. Successful reperfusion was defined as modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score of 2b-3. The modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2 at 3 months indicated good outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of different technical strategies in tandem lesions. Results: Out of 6635 patients, 874 (13.2%) presented with tandem lesions. Of these, 607 (69.5%) underwent acute treatment of the extracranial ICA. Acute treatment of the extracranial ICA lesion led to a higher probability of successful reperfusion (odds ratio, 40.63 [95% CI, 30.03-70.06]) compared with patients who did not undergo acute treatment of the extracranial ICA lesion and was associated with good clinical outcome (39.5% versus 29.3%, P

Reverse Osmosis is the dominant technology in water desalination. However, some critical issues remain open: improvement of water quality, enhancement of the recovery factor, reduction of the unit water cost, minimizing the brine disposal impact. This book aims to solve these problems with an innovative approach based on the integration of different membrane operations in pre-treatment and post-treatment stages. Membrane-Based Desalination: An Integrated Approach (acronym MEDINA) has been a three years project funded by the European Commission within the 6th Framework Program. The project team has developed a work programme aiming to improve the current design and operation practices of membrane systems used for water desalination, trying to solve or, at least, to decrease the critical issues of sea and brackish water desalination systems. In the book, the main results achieved in the nine Work Packages constituting the project will be described, and dismissed by the leaders of the various WPs. The following areas are explored in the book: * the development of advanced analytical methods for feed water characterization, appropriate fouling indicators and prediction tools, procedures and protocols at full-scale desalination facilities; * the identification of optimal seawater pre-treatment strategies by designing advanced hybrid membrane processes (submerged hollow fibre filtration/reaction, adsorption/ion exchange/ozonation) and comparison with conventional methods; * the optimisation of RO membrane module configuration, cleaning strategies, reduction of scaling potential by NF; * the development of strategies aiming to approach the concept of Zero Liquid Discharge (increasing the water recovery factor up to 95% by using Membrane Distillation - MD; bringing concentrates to solids by Membrane Crystallization or Wind Intensified Enhanced Evaporation) and to reduce the brine disposal environmental impact and cost; * increase the sustainability of desalination process by reducing energy consumption(evaluation of MD, demonstration of a new energy recovery device for SWRO installations)and u se of renewable energy (wind and solar).