How well do plasma Alzheimer's disease biomarkers reflect the CSF amyloid status?

Background: Can plasma biomarkers as well as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) perform in the separation of amyloid-beta-positive (Aβ+) vs amyloid-beta-negative (Aβ-) groups across an age range seen in an NHS cognitive disorder clinic?

Methods: As part of the routine diagnostic investigation of 111 clinic patients who had contemporaneous blood and CSF samples taken, patients were categorised into Aβ+ and Aβ- groups based on their CSF in an Aβ42/40 ratio. We then evaluated four single molecule array (Simoa) Quanterix assays, quantifying single plasma analytes and ratios (p-tau217, p-tau217/Aβ42 ratio, p-tau181, p-tau181/Aβ42 ratio and Aβ42/40 ratio) in their ability to distinguish between these groups and the effect of age.

Results: The median (range) age of participants was 66 (55-79) years with 48 females (43.

Novel high-stopping power scintillators for medical applications.

Development of new scintillator materials is a continuous effort, which recently has been focused on materials with higher stopping power. Higher stopping power can be achieved if the compositions include elements such as Tl (Z=81) or Lu (Z=71), as the compounds gain higher densities and effective atomic numbers. In context of medical imaging this translates into high detection efficiency (count rates), therefore, better image quality (statistics, thinner films) or lower irradiation doses to patients in addition to lowering of cost.

Transforming food environments: a global lens on challenges and opportunities for achieving healthy and sustainable diets for all.

Food environments are rapidly changing globally, both in developed and developing contexts, contributing to poor dietary habits and environmental concerns. As a result, more than 80% of countries in the world face different forms of malnutrition, while the environment faces further degradation due to unsustainable production and consumption patterns. Understanding food environments in diverse settings via a global lens is critical for facilitating the global transition to sustainable and healthy food environments.

Exome sequencing data reanalysis of 200 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients: the HYPERGEN French cohort 5 years after the initial analysis.

Background: Approximately half of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients lack a precise genetic diagnosis. The likelihood of identifying clinically relevant variants increased over time.

Methods: In this study, we conducted a gene-centric reanalysis of exome data of 200 HCM cases 5 years after the initial analysis.

Associations of life-course cardiovascular risk factors with late-life cerebral haemodynamics.

While the associations of mid-life cardiovascular risk factors with late-life white matter lesions (WMH) and cognitive decline have been established, the role of cerebral haemodynamics is unclear. We investigated the relation of late-life (69-71 years) arterial spin labelling (ASL) MRI-derived cerebral blood flow (CBF) with life-course cardiovascular risk factors (36-71 years) and late-life white matter hyperintensity (WMH) load in 282 cognitively healthy participants (52.8% female).