Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases are typified by a robust microglial-mediated immune response. Genetic studies have demonstrated that variants in microglial genes are linked to risk for AD. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) originally identified Phospholipase C gamma 2 (PLCγ2) as a novel risk gene of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) research has been historically dominated with studies in mouse models expressing familial AD mutations; however, the majority of AD patients have the sporadic, late-onset form of AD (LOAD). To address this gap, the IU/JAX/PITT MODEL-AD Consortium has focused on development of mouse models that recapitulate LOAD by combining genetic risk variants with environmental risk factors and aging to enable more precise models to evaluate potential therapeutics. The present studies were undertaken to characterize cognitive and neurophysiological phenotypes in LOAD mice.

Inpp5d haplodeficiency alleviates tau pathology in the PS19 mouse model of Tauopathy.

Introduction: A noncoding variant (rs35349669) within INPP5D, a lipid and protein phosphatase restricted to microglia in the brain, is linked to increased susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease (AD). While Inpp5d is well-studied in amyloid pathology, its role in tau pathology remains unclear.

Methods: PS19 Tauopathy mice were crossed with Inpp5d-haplodeficient (Inpp5d+/-) mice to examine the impact of Inpp5d in tau pathology.

Population Grids for Analysing Long-Term Change in Ethnic Diversity and Segregation.

Changes in the spatial patterns of ethnic diversity and residential segregation are often highly localized, but inconsistencies in geographical data units across different time points limit their exploration. In this paper, we argue that, while they are often over-looked, population grids provide an effective means for the study of long-term fine-scale changes. Gridded data represent population structures: there are gaps where there are no people, and they are not (unlike standard zones) based on population distributions at any one time point.

A spatial analysis of health status in Britain, 1991-2011.

Using Census-derived data for consistent spatial units, this paper explores how the population of Britain in 1991, 2001 and 2011 was spatially structured by self-reported health including exploring the trajectories of change. This paper uses consistent small area units to examine the changing spatial structure of census-derived Limiting, Long-Term Illness (LLTI) in Britain over the twenty year period and utilises the 2011 Office for National Statistics Output Area Classification (OAC) as a geodemographic indicator. The results allow the geography of change to be captured, highlighting how health is inextricably linked to geography, demonstrating quantitatively a complex, yet distinctive, spatial organisation of health inequalities within Britain.