Assay of Plasma Phosphorylated Tau Protein (Threonine 181) and Total Tau Protein in Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease.

The feasibility of assaying plasma phosphorylated tau protein (threonine 181), denoted p-tau181, using immunomagnetic reduction (IMR) is explored. The reagent for assaying p-tau181 with IMR was synthesized, and its analytic performances were characterized. Seventy-three subjects were recruited.

Gateway-Assisted Retransmission for Lightweight and Reliable IoT Communications.

Message Queuing Telemetry Transport for Sensor Networks (MQTT-SN) and Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) are two protocols supporting publish/subscribe models for IoT devices to publish messages to interested subscribers. Retransmission mechanisms are introduced to compensate for the lack of data reliability. If the device does not receive the acknowledgement (ACK) before retransmission timeout (RTO) expires, the device will retransmit data.

Subjective sleep inadequacy and self-rated health among homeless adults.

Objective: To examine the association between subjective sleep inadequacy and self-rated health in a sample of 244 homeless adults.

Methods: Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess associations among 4 sleep inadequacy items (days of inadequate rest or sleep, hours of sleep, days unintentionally falling asleep during daytime, and snoring) and self-rated health in analyses adjusted for age, sex, race, education, lifetime homelessness, lifetime serious mental illness, and current depression.

Results: Days of inadequate rest or sleep, fewer hours of sleep, and days unintentionally falling asleep were each significantly associated with higher odds of poor/fair self-rated health.

Effects of motorcycle exhaust inhalation exposure on cytochrome P-450 2B1, antioxidant enzymes, and lipid peroxidation in rat liver and lung.

The effects of motorcycle exhaust (ME) on metabolic and antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation were determined using male rats exposed to 1:10 diluted ME by inhalation 2 h daily for 4 wk. For microsomal cytochrome P-450 enzymes, ME resulted in threefold increases of 7-ethoxyresorufin and pentoxyresorufin O-deethylase activities in liver and a sixfold increase of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity and an 80% decrease of pentoxyresorufin O-dealkylase activity in lung. The results of immunoblot analysis of microsomal proteins revealed that ME increased liver and lung cytochrome P-450 1A1 with minimal effects on cytochrome P-450 2E1.

Taste quality of monascal adlay.

Monascus purpureus was inoculated into cooked adlay, and a new product was produced after fungal fermentation. Contents of crude ash, fat, fiber, and protein in the inoculated products [monascal polished adlay (MPA) and monascal dehulled adlay (MDA)] were much higher than those in the uninoculated controls [polished adlay (PA) and dehulled adlay (DA)]. Only carbohydrate content was notably higher in DA and PA.

Using structural equation model to explore occupational lead exposure pathways.

The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the use of a structural equation model to explore the complicated lead exposure pathways in a lead battery plant. A total of 96 out of 113 assembly workers were recruited in this study. Lead measurements included blood lead, respirable airborne lead, and body surface lead loadings.