Publications by authors named "Christine Gaffney"

Article Synopsis
  • Plasma p-tau217 is identified as a promising blood-based marker for detecting Alzheimer Disease (AD) pathology, particularly in memory clinic patients undergoing lumbar punctures.
  • A study involving 108 participants found that plasma p-tau217 levels were significantly higher in those with detected amyloid (Aβ) pathology compared to those without, indicating its strong potential for diagnosis.
  • The analysis showed that plasma p-tau217 had excellent performance metrics for Aβ detection (AUC: 0.91), outperforming other biomarkers and suggesting it could be a reliable tool in Alzheimer's diagnostics.
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Introduction: Alzheimer's disease and other dementias affect >50 million individuals globally and are characterised by broad clinical and biological heterogeneity. Cohort and biobank studies have played a critical role in advancing the understanding of disease pathophysiology and in identifying novel diagnostic and treatment approaches. However, further discovery and validation cohorts are required to clarify the real-world utility of new biomarkers, facilitate research into the development of novel therapies and advance our understanding of the clinical heterogeneity and pathobiology of neurodegenerative diseases.

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A previously healthy 27-year-old man was brought to hospital after been found late at night confused, agitated and talking incoherently. He represented 12 days later with focal seizures, progressing to anarthria and encephalopathy. MR scan of brain showed diffuse cerebral oedema and his plasma ammonia was >2000 µmol/L (12-55 µmol/L).

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The computations and neural processes underpinning decision making have primarily been investigated using highly simplified tasks in which stimulus onsets cue observers to start accumulating choice-relevant information. Yet, in daily life we are rarely afforded the luxury of knowing precisely when choice-relevant information will appear. Here, we examined neural indices of decision formation while subjects discriminated subtle stimulus feature changes whose timing relative to stimulus onset ('foreperiod') was uncertain.

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The experience of critical care is stressful for both patients and their families. This is especially true when patients are not able to make their own care decisions. This article details the creation of a Family Experience Survey in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) to capture and improve overall experience.

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