Functional measures and AD biomarkers among Hispanic and White non-Hispanic older adults.

Introduction: Poorer baseline functioning is associated with long-term cognitive decline among Hispanic older adults, but little is known about associations of these factors with Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuroimaging biomarkers.

Methods: A total of 461 Hispanic and White non-Hispanic (NHW) older adults who are cognitively normal ( = 76), had impaired cognition without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) ( = 41), or carried a diagnosis of MCI ( = 253) or dementia ( = 91) completed neuropsychological and functional assessment, genetic testing, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine predictive associations between functional and cognitive measures of AD neuroimaging biomarkers.

Sex significantly predicts medial temporal volume when controlling for the influence of ApoE4 biomarker and demographic variables: A cross-ethnic comparison.

Objective: To explore the relationship between age, education, sex, and ApoE4 (+) status to brain volume among a cohort with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).

Method: One hundred and twenty-three participants were stratified into Hispanic ( = 75) and White non-Hispanic (WNH, = 48). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted with age, education, sex, and ApoE4 status as predictor variables and left and right combined MRI volumes of the hippocampus, parahippocampus, and entorhinal cortex as dependent variables.

Diagnostic accuracy of the repeatable battery of the assessment of neuropsychological status update, Spanish version, in predicting Alzheimer's disease among Hispanic older adults in the United States reporting memory problems.

Objectives: There are few standardized, Spanish-language diagnostic tools to help identify Hispanic persons at early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study evaluated the accuracy of the Spanish version of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status-Update (RBANS) in predicting AD in older Hispanic adults in the United States reporting memory problems.

Methods: We analyzed data from age, sex, and education level propensity score-matched Hispanic memory clinic patients with ( = 38) and without ( = 38) a clinical diagnosis of AD.

Cultural factors related to neuropsychological performance and brain atrophy among Hispanic older adults with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI): A pilot study.

Objectives: This study examined the association of cultural factors and literacy to neuropsychological performance and measures of regional brain atrophy among Hispanic elders diagnosed with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI).

Method: Acculturation and literacy levels were measured among 45 subjects tested in Spanish; their primary language. Scores for measures of memory, executive functioning, and verbal fluency, as well as volumetric analysis of MRI scans of left hemisphere structures commonly affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) were examined.

The effect of acculturation on cognitive performance among older Hispanics in the United States.

The effect of acculturation on cognition was examined among 142 older Hispanics: cognitively normal [CN;  = 70], Mild Cognitive Impairment, amnestic [aMCI;  = 27], and Dementia [D;  = 45]. Acculturation levels (high vs. low) were determined using the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH).

A novel endogenous betaretrovirus in the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) suggests multiple independent infection and cross-species transmission events.

The Desmodus rotundus endogenous betaretrovirus (DrERV) is fixed in the vampire bat D. rotundus population and in other phyllostomid bats but is not present in all species from this family. DrERV is not phylogenetically related to Old World bat betaretroviruses but to betaretroviruses from rodents and New World primates, suggesting recent cross-species transmission.

Extending reference assembly models.

The human genome reference assembly is crucial for aligning and analyzing sequence data, and for genome annotation, among other roles. However, the models and analysis assumptions that underlie the current assembly need revising to fully represent human sequence diversity. Improved analysis tools and updated data reporting formats are also required.