Olfactory identification ability in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

[Purpose] To examine the olfactory identification abilities and specify the difficult-to-identify odors in community-dwelling individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). [Participants and Methods] We included, 12 and 17 patients with MCI (MCI group) and AD (AD group), respectively, and 30 community-dwelling older adults with no history of MCI or a dementia diagnosis (control group). Scores on the Japanese odor stick identification test (OSIT-J), an olfactory identification ability test, were compared among the three groups with intergroup differences examined accordingly. Next, we performed intergroup comparisons of the ratios of correct responses for each odor, and the difficult-to-identify odors were examined. [Results] OSIT-J scores of the MCI and AD groups were significantly lower than those of the control group. There were no intergroup differences in the correct identification of pungent odors. No patients in the AD group could identify the odor of cooking gas. The ability to identify food-related odors was reduced in the MCI and AD groups. [Conclusion] Patients with MCI and AD had reduced olfactory identification abilities in comparison to community-dwelling older adults without cognitive decline. These findings suggest the importance of olfactory evaluation before providing patients with dementia with therapeutic interventions associated with olfactory stimuli.

Association between cognitive function and olfactory identification ability in community-dwelling older individuals.

[Purpose] We investigated whether olfactory identification ability may be useful for early detection of cognitive decline. [Participants and Methods] The study included 55 community-dwelling older individuals without a history of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, who were capable of living independently. Cognitive function was evaluated using the Japanese versions of the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment tools. The olfactory identification ability was evaluated using the Odor Stick Identification Test for the Japanese. We also investigated the association between olfactory identification ability and cognitive function. [Results] Based on the Japanese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination, all participants were categorized into the noncognitive decline group, and based on the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment tool, 21 participants were categorized into the cognitive decline group. With regard to olfactory discrimination ability, we observed a significant difference between participants with and without cognitive decline based on the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores. Furthermore, we observed a significant positive correlation between the Japanese version of the the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and the Odor Stick Identification Test for the Japanese scores, although no significant correlation was observed between the Japanese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Odor Stick Identification Test for the Japanese scores. [Conclusion] Olfactory identification ability may be useful to detect early-stage cognitive decline in community-dwelling older individuals.

High CO2 /CH4 Selectivity of a Flexible Copper(II) Porous Coordination Polymer under Humid Conditions.

Invited for this month's cover is the group of Prof. Shin-ichiro Noro from Hokkaido University, Japan. The cover picture shows a copper(II) porous coordination polymer that can adsorb CO2 over CH4 at high selectivity under CO2 /CH4 mixed gas conditions, even with the coexistence of water. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/cplu.201500278.

High CO2 /CH4 Selectivity of a Flexible Copper(II) Porous Coordination Polymer under Humid Conditions.

The development of highly efficient CO2 separation materials is very important for environmental preservation and energy conservation. Crystalline porous coordination polymers (PCPs)/metal-organic frameworks are one of a number of promising types of porous materials for CO2 separation because of their controllable pore size, shape and surface function. Simultaneously, the unique structural flexibility of PCPs affords both high CO2 selectivity and inexpensive regeneration. However, this family of materials suffers from the coexistence of water that destroys the framework of PCPs and its adsorption in the pores is greater than that of CO2 , which results in a deterioration in CO2 -separation performance. Herein, a flexible and hydrophobic CuII PCP that is stable towards water has been designed and synthesised. This PCP has extremely high adsorption selectivity for CO2 over CH4 , derived from its structural flexibility. Furthermore, the obtained water-tolerant flexible PCP, under CO2 /CH4 mixed-gas conditions, exhibits highly selective CO2 adsorption over CH4 , even in the presence of water.

Molecule-displacive ferroelectricity in organic supramolecular solids.

Ferroelectricity is essential to many forms of current technology, ranging from sensors and actuators to optical or memory devices. In this circumstance, organic ferroelectrics are of particular importance because of their potential application in tomorrow's organic devices, and several pure organic ferroelectrics have been recently developed. However, some problems, such as current leakage and/or low working frequencies, make their application prospects especially for ferroelectric memory (FeRAM) not clear. Here, we describe the molecule-displacive ferroelectricity of supramolecular adducts of tartaric acid and 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane N,N'-dioxide. The adducts show large spontaneous polarization, high rectangularity of the ferroelectric hysteresis loops even at high operation frequency (10 kHz), and high performance in polarization switching up to 1 × 106 times without showing fatigue. It opens great perspectives in terms of applications, especially in organic FeRAM.