Abnormal cortical atrophy and functional connectivity are associated with depression in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association of altered cortical thickness and functional connectivity (FC) with depression in Parkinson's disease (PD). Materials and methods: A total of 26 non-depressed PD patients (PD-ND), 30 PD patients with minor depression (PD-MnD), 32 PD patients with major depression (PD-MDD), and 30 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. Differences in cortical thickness among the four groups were assessed, and the results were used to analyze FC differences in regions of cortical atrophy. Binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were also performed to identify clinical features and neuroimaging biomarkers that might help in the prediction of PD-MDD. Results: Patients with PD-MDD showed decreased cortical thickness compared to patients with PD-ND in the left superior temporal and right rostral middle frontal gyri (RMFG), as well as weak FC between the left superior temporal gyrus and right cerebellum posterior lobe and between right RMFG and right inferior frontal gyrus and insula. The combination of cortical thickness, FC, and basic clinical features showed strong potential for predicting PD-MDD based on the area under the ROC curve (0.927, 95% CI 0.854-0.999, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with PD-MDD show extensive cortical atrophy and FC alterations, suggesting that cortical thickness and FC may be neuroimaging-based diagnostic biomarkers for PD-MDD.

In situ modification of cobalt on MXene/TiO2 as composite photocatalyst for efficient nitrogen fixation.

Modulation of the binding of the reactant or product species with catalysts is an effective approach to optimize the photocatalytic activity. Herein, we explored the relationship between the binding of reactant (N2) and product (NH3) with catalyst and the photocatalytic nitrogen fixation activity. The surface reactivity of nitrogen with water was tuned by introducing Co into the MXene@TiO2 catalysts, which the TiO2 nanoparticle derived from the in-situ growth on the surface of MXene nanosheets. Co modified adjusted the chemisorption equilibrium of the catalyst for reactant (N2) and product (NH3), thus promoted product desorption and efficiency of the active site. Remarkably, the optimal catalyst (MXene/TiO2/Co-0.5%) exhibited outstanding NH4+ production rate (110 µmol g-1 h-1) and excellent stability in pure water without any hole sacrificial agent under Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-vis) light in N2 and air ambient.

MOF-Derived Co3O4@NC with Core-Shell Structures for N2 Electrochemical Reduction under Ambient Conditions.

We report the development of MOF-derived nitrogen-doped carbon/Co3O4 nanocomposites (Co3O4@NCs) with core-shell structures as an efficient electrocatalyst for the artificial nitrogen fixation at room temperature and atmospheric pressure in 0.05 M H2SO4. It exhibits a high NH3 yield of 42.58 µg h-1 mgcat.-1 and a faradaic efficiency of 8.5% at -0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Experimental results show that the great N2 reduction reaction performance of Co3O4@NCs originates from the synergistic effects of N-doped carbon and Co3O4 with significant oxygen vacancy. In addition, we speculate that the core-shell structure can further enhance the electrochemical activity for producing NH3.