Sex differences found in insomnia goes beyond simple explanations and have been proven to be a complicated interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors that play different roles throughout the life span. This paper will review sex differences in insomnia based on risk factors, mechanisms, and consequences, as well as treatment response. In addition, we will also discuss treatment recommendations when working with female populations at different stages in the life span that may be more vulnerable to insomnia. Future studies utilizing prospective, longitudinal designs are needed to understand the interactions of various factors that can explain existing sex differences in insomnia.

Molecular thermoelectrics is relatively unexplored compared with its analogous research field, molecular electronics. This is surprising considering that the two research fields share an identical energy landscape across molecular junctions and similar quantum-chemical mechanisms. This paper describes the length dependence of thermopower in self-assembled monolayers comprising structurally simple wide band gap molecules, n-alkanethiolates (SC n ; n = 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18) chemisorbed on gold. Thermovoltage measurements at zero bias have enabled the determination of the Seebeck coefficient of n-alkanethiolates for the first time. A plot of the Seebeck coefficient versus the length of the n-alkane chain reveals the presence of two different length-dependent regimes. The rate of the decrease of the Seebeck coefficient as the molecular length increases changes at SC10 from −0.54 to −0.10 μV­(K·nC)−1. The theoretically proposed presence of metal-induced gap states (MIGS) in the short but not in the long n-alkanethiolates accounts for the two observed length-dependent regimes. Owing to the length dependence of the transmission function coefficient of MIGS in short n-alkanethiolates, the Seebeck coefficient decreases linearly as the length increases. The nearly zero rate of decrease in the long n-alkanethiolates mirrors the insignificant MIGS in the long n-alkanethiolates.

To develop thermoelectric devices, it is of the utmost importance to design organic building blocks to have efficient thermopower. Whereas conjugated and aromatic molecules with intrinsic narrow band gaps are attractive candidates to achieve efficient thermoelectric properties, saturated molecules are usually avoided owing to intrinsically poor thermopower. Here we demonstrate that thermopower of saturated molecules can be enhanced by superexchange coupling. Specifically, thermoelectric properties of large-area junctions that contain self-assembled monolayers of oligo­(ethylene glycol) thiolates and alkanethiolates are compared. Through large-area thermopower measurements using a liquid metal top electrode, we show that the superexchange coupling enhances the Seebeck coefficient and counterintuitively leads to an increase in the Seebeck coefficient with increasing the length in a certain conformation. The improved thermoelectric performance is attributed to the superexchange-induced enhanced ability to mediate metal wave function in junctions. Our work offers new insights for improving the thermoelectric performance of nonconjugated, saturated molecules.

BackgroundAlthough transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is known to be a promising therapeutic modality for unipolar depression, the efficacy and safety of tDCS for bipolar depressive episodes (BD) are still unknown and clinical trials of home-based tDCS treatment are scarce. As a result, we set out to investigate the efficacy and safety of home-based tDCS for the treatment BD.MethodsParticipants (n = 64), diagnosed as bipolar disorder as per the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5), were randomly assigned to receive tDCS. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17) scores were measured at the baseline, week 2, 4, and 6, and home-based tDCS (for 30 min with 2 mA) was self-administered daily.ResultsOf the 64 patients (15.6% bipolar disorder I, 84.4% bipolar disorder II), 41 patients completed the entire assessment. In the intention-to-treat analysis, time-group interaction for the HDRS-17 [F(3, 146.36) = 2.060; p = 0.108] and adverse effect differences between two groups were not statistically significant, except the pain score, which was higher in the active group than the sham group (week 0–2: p < 0.01, week 2–4: p < 0.05, and week 4–6: p < 0.01).ConclusionEven though we found no evidence for the efficacy of home-based tDCS for patients with BD, this tool was found to be a safe and tolerable treatment modality for BD.Clinical trial registration[https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT03974815], identifier [NCT03974815].

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