A Genetic Variant of the Sortilin 1 Gene is Associated with Reduced Risk of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder represented by the accumulation of intracellular tau protein and extracellular deposits of amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brain. The gene sortilin 1 (SORT1) has previously been associated with cardiovascular disease in gene association studies. It has also been proposed to be involved in AD pathogenesis through facilitating Aβ clearance by binding apoE/Aβ complexes prior to cellular uptake.

Synthesis and Properties of Bis-Porphyrin Molecular Tweezers: Effects of Spacer Flexibility on Binding and Supramolecular Chirogenesis.

Ditopic binding of various dinitrogen compounds to three bisporphyrin molecular tweezers with spacers of varying conformational rigidity, incorporating the planar enediyne (1), the helical stiff stilbene (2), or the semi-rigid glycoluril motif fused to the porphyrins (3), are compared. Binding constants Ka = 10⁴-10⁶ M(-1) reveal subtle differences between these tweezers, that are discussed in terms of porphyrin dislocation modes. Exciton coupled circular dichroism (ECCD) of complexes with chiral dinitrogen guests provides experimental evidence for the conformational properties of the tweezers.

Increased Levels of Chitotriosidase and YKL-40 in Cerebrospinal Fluid from Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers total tau, abnormally phosphorylated tau and amyloid β 1-42 are strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Apart from the pathologic hallmarks that these biomarkers represent, other processes such as inflammation and microglial activation are present in the brains of patients with AD. New biomarkers related to these processes could be valuable for the diagnosis and follow-up of AD patients and for the evaluation of inflammation-related pathologies.

PAQR-2 regulates fatty acid desaturation during cold adaptation in C. elegans.

C. elegans PAQR-2 is homologous to the insulin-sensitizing adiponectin receptors in mammals, and essential for adaptation to growth at 15°C, a low but usually acceptable temperature for this organism. By screening for novel paqr-2 suppressors, we identified mutations in genes involved in phosphatidylcholine synthesis (cept-1, pcyt-1 and sams-1) and fatty acid metabolism (ech-7, hacd-1, mdt-15, nhr-49 and sbp-1).

Synthesis and characterization of a ferrocene-linked bis-fullerene[60] dumbbell.

A new [60]fullerene dumbbell consisting of two fulleropyrrolidines connected to a central ferrocene unit by amide linkages has been prepared and fully characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H NMR, UV/Vis, fluorescence and mass spectrometry. The electrochemical properties as determined by cyclic voltammetry show ground state electronic communication between the ferrocene and the fullerene units. In addition, the preparaton of a ferrocene building block for an alternative linking approach is presented.

On the consistency of the blocked neural network estimator in time series analysis.

We describe a nonlinear regression problem, where the regression functions have an additive structure and the dependent variable is a one-dimensional time series. Multivariate time series with unknown time delay operators are used as independent variables. By fitting a feedforward neural network with block structure to the data, we estimated the additive regression function and, parallel to this, the time lags.

Quality of organically and conventionally grown potatoes: four-year study of micronutrients, metals, secondary metabolites, enzymic browning and organoleptic properties.

The quality of potatoes from organic and conventional farming was investigated in this study. Tubers of eight potato varieties, organically and conventionally produced at one or two geographical sites in controlled field trials, were collected in four consecutive harvests from 1996-1999. The parameters analysed included nitrate, trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Zn), vitamin C, potato glycoalkaloids, as well as chlorogenic acid, polyphenol oxidase and rate of tuber enzymic browning.

Two new methods of tendon repair: an in vitro evaluation of tensile strength and gap formation.

A new tendon repair design incorporating a mesh sleeve was, together with a new epitendinal suture technique (cross-stitch), tested biomechanically on sheep tendons. The mean breaking strength with a 6-0 suture was 103 N for the mesh sleeve repair and 63 N for the cross-stitch alone, both significantly greater than the 48 N recorded for the modified Kessler repair performed with a 4-0 polyester suture and reinforced with a circumferential conventional 6-0 epitendinal stitch. The cross-stitch grasp was 117% stronger than the conventional epitendinal grasp reinforced by a core stitch.