Publications by authors named "Aubrey Johnson"

Introduction: Clinical research is critical for healthcare advancement, but participant recruitment remains challenging. Clinical research professionals (CRPs; e.g.

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Purpose: The National Institute of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) is increasingly used in Alzheimer disease (AD) research. We examined the relation of AD biomarkers with performance in the NIHTB-CB in late middle age.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of 334 Hispanic participants aged 64.

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Introduction: Evidence suggests microglial activation precedes regional tau and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We characterized microglia with translocator protein (TSPO) positron emission tomography (PET) within an AD progression model where global amyloid beta (Aβ) precedes local tau and neurodegeneration, resulting in cognitive impairment.

Methods: Florbetaben, PBR28, and MK-6240 PET, T1 magnetic resonance imaging, and cognitive measures were performed in 19 cognitively unimpaired older adults and 22 patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild AD to examine associations among microglia activation, Aβ, tau, and cognition, adjusting for neurodegeneration.

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Background: Psychosis in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with worse outcomes, yet no established biomarkers exist for early diagnosis and intervention. We compared tau PET burden across older individuals with and without psychotic symptoms.

Methods: [F]AV1451 tau PET binding was compared between 26 Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) subjects with psychotic symptoms (delusions and/or hallucinations) and 26 ADNI subjects without psychotic symptoms, matched for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and clinical severity.

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Background: The association between cigarette smoking and the increased risk of many cancers is well established. Conversely, epidemiological studies of smokeless tobacco demonstrate decreased risk, or no elevated risk, of certain cancers versus smoking. However, it is unclear what role, if any, nicotine plays in these associations.

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Background: Aging is associated with gut dysbiosis, low-grade inflammation, and increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Prediabetes, which increases T2D and cardiovascular disease risk, is present in 45-50% of mid-life adults. The gut microbiota may link ultra-processed food (UPF) with inflammation and T2D risk.

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Associations between cigarette smoking and increased risk of cardiovascular disease are well established. However, it is unclear whether the association is mediated by exposure to nicotine and/or to other constituents in cigarette smoke. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials (RCTs) was to identify any potential associations between exposure to nicotine and the risk of clinically diagnosed adverse cardiovascular events in adult current users and nonusers of tobacco products.

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Article Synopsis
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can cause gastrointestinal (GI) inflammatory side effects, known as immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which are typically treated with steroids, but some cases do not respond.
  • This study analyzed the effectiveness of second-line treatments, like infliximab, vedolizumab, and adalimumab, in patients with steroid-refractory GI irAEs from 2011 to 2019.
  • Findings show that most patients (89.7%) responded positively to these treatments, with an even higher resolution rate (94.4%) in those who started infliximab within 14 days of steroid treatment, typically resolving symptoms within about 17 days.
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Introduction: Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging targeting neurofibrillary tau tangles is increasingly used in the study of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but its utility may be limited by conventional quantitative or qualitative evaluation techniques in earlier disease states. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are effective in learning spatial patterns for image classification.

Methods: 18F-MK6240 (n = 320) and AV-1451 (n = 446) PET images were pooled from multiple studies.

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From the anti-tobacco and anti-marijuana campaigns of the twentieth century to the current controversies surrounding vaporizer use and the opioid epidemic, substances and substance use have been at the forefront of cultural, public health, and legal debates for decades. This work explores treatment outcomes among those with substance use disorders (SUD) by 1) comparing legal, semi-legal, and illegal drug types and their impact on treatment outcomes and 2) evaluating the extent that there exist discrepancies between those who need and those who receive treatment. Binary logistic regression models were employed with data from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to examine the relationship between type of SUD and treatment outcomes.

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Introduction: Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for neurofibrillary tau allows investigation of the in vivo spatiotemporal progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. We evaluated the suitability of F-MK-6240 in a clinical sample and determined the relationships among F-MK-6240 binding, age, cognition, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-based AD biomarkers.

Methods: Participants (n = 101, 72 ± 9 years, 52% women) underwent amyloid PET, tau PET, structural T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, and neuropsychological evaluation.

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It is unclear whether women have higher brain tau pathology. The objective of this study was to examine whether women have higher tau burden than men, and whether tau differences are independent of amyloid β (Aβ) burden. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a multiethnic sample of 252 nondemented late middle-aged (mean age: 64.

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Introduction: Intravenous and subcutaneous hypomethylating agents have held a key role in myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia treatment. Following the approval of the cedazuridine/decitabine combination, ASTX727, as well as development of an oral formulation of azacitidine, CC-486, in the USA in 2020, these agents could gradually replace their injectable counterparts.

Areas Covered: ASTX727 is approved for the treatment of adult patients with intermediate 1 or high-risk MDS as well as those with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia based on the findings from the ASTX727-01-B and ASCERTAIN trials.

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Background: Olfactory impairment is evident in Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, its precise relationships with clinical biomarker measures of tau pathology and neuroinflammation are not well understood.

Objective: To determine if odor identification performance measured with the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) is related to in vivo measures of tau pathology and neuroinflammation.

Methods: Cognitively normal and cognitively impaired participants were selected from an established research cohort of adults aged 50 and older who underwent neuropsychological testing, brain MRI, and amyloid PET.

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Purpose: Fluorescently labeled epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies have successfully identified microscopic tumors in multiple in vivo models of human cancers with limited toxicity. The present study sought to demonstrate the ability of fluorescently labeled anti-EGFR, cetuximab-IRDye800, to localize to ameloblastoma (AB) tumor cells in vitro and in vivo.

Material And Methods: EGFR expression in AB cells was confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry.

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Contrary to popular media claims that college hookup culture has made romantic relationships obsolete, research indicates many college students see hookups as a pathway to relationships. However, relatively few college hookups actually produce relationships. This study used a sex market framework to explore correlates of college students' interest in future hookups and relationships with hookup partners across other-sex and same-sex hookup markets.

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Background: Females may have a higher risk of dementia than males. It is not clear if sex differences in Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology explain the higher risk of dementia in females. Sex differences in AD neuropathology might begin in middle age, decades before the sex differences in dementia are apparent.

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Spinal cord atrophy measurements obtained from structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are associated with disability in many neurological diseases and serve as in vivo biomarkers of neurodegeneration. Longitudinal spinal cord atrophy rate is commonly determined from the numerical difference between two volumes (based on 3D surface fitting) or two cross-sectional areas (CSA, based on 2D edge detection) obtained at different time-points. Being an indirect measure, atrophy rates are susceptible to variable segmentation errors at the edge of the spinal cord.

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We sought to determine if upstream amyloid accumulation and downstream cognitive impairment have independent relationships with microglial activation and tau pathology. Fifty-eight older adults were stratified by amyloid and cognitive status based on F-florbetaben PET, history, and neuropsychological testing. Of these, 57 had C-PBR28 PET to measure microglial activation and 43 had F-MK-6240 PET to measure tau pathology.

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Objective: The objective of the study was to determine factors predicting outcome in newborns with gastroschisis.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 155 consecutive cases admitted from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2007 was performed. Prenatal ultrasound findings were available for 89 of 155 (57%) patients and were compared with final outcome.

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