Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: We previously discovered that Aβ accumulates in the cortical/supranuclear region of the lens in people with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) (Goldstein et al., 2003) and Down Syndrome (DS; (Moncaster et al., 2010).

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is the leading cause of dementia and a major contributor to increased mortality. Recent human datasets have revealed many LOAD genetic risk factors that are correlated with the degree of AD burden. Further, the complexity and heterogeneity of LOAD appears to be promoted by interactions between genetics and environmental factors such as diet, sedentary behavior, and exposure to toxicants, like lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As).

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) are modulated by gene-environment (GxE) interactions across the lifespan. Variants of specific genes increase AD risk and synergize with lifetime exposure to environmental toxicants ("exposome"), including neurotoxic metals (lead, Pb; cadmium, Cd) and metalloid (As). These metal/metalloid toxicants readily enter the body (e.

Fractal motor activity during wakefulness and sleep: a window into depression recency and symptom recurrence.

Background: Motor activity fluctuations in healthy adults exhibit fractal patterns characterized by consistent temporal correlations across wide-ranging time scales. However, these patterns are disrupted by aging and psychiatric conditions. This study aims to investigate how fractal patterns vary across the sleep-wake cycle, differ based on individuals' recency of depression diagnosis, and change before and after a depressive episode.

In vivo quasi-elastic light scattering detects molecular changes in the lenses of adolescents with Down syndrome.

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common chromosomal disorder in humans. DS is associated with increased prevalence of several ocular sequelae, including characteristic blue-dot cerulean cataract. DS is accompanied by age-dependent accumulation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides and amyloid pathology in the brain and comorbid early-onset Aβ amyloidopathy and colocalizing cataracts in the lens.

Individual-specific change points in circadian rest-activity rhythm and sleep in individuals tapering their antidepressant medication: an actigraphy study.

Group-level studies showed associations between depressive symptoms and circadian rhythm elements, though whether these associations replicate at the within-person level remains unclear. We investigated whether changes in circadian rhythm elements (namely, rest-activity rhythm, physical activity, and sleep) occur close to depressive symptom transitions and whether there are differences in the amount and direction of circadian rhythm changes in individuals with and without transitions. We used 4 months of actigraphy data from 34 remitted individuals tapering antidepressants (20 with and 14 without depressive symptom transitions) to assess circadian rhythm variables.

[PROM a contemporary approach to assessing the quality of life of patients with cancer].

PRO (patient reported outcomes) is a patient's subjective assessment of health and quality of life, without interpretation by a specialist. PROM (patient reported outcomes measure) questionnaires are used to analyzing this data. Assessment of the quality of life is a perspective direction, which allows to improve the quality of medical care and treatment results.

Electronic cigarette vaping with aged coils causes acute lung injury in mice.

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have been used widely as an alternative to conventional cigarettes and have become particularly popular among young adults. A growing body of evidence has shown that e-cigarettes are associated with acute lung injury and adverse effects in multiple other organs. Previous studies showed that high emissions of aldehydes (formaldehyde and acetaldehyde) in aerosols were associated with increased usage of the same e-cigarette coils.

Gadolinium Deposition in the Rat Brain Measured with Quantitative MRI versus Elemental Mass Spectrometry.

Background T1-weighted MRI and quantitative longitudinal relaxation rate (R1) mapping have been used to evaluate gadolinium retention in the brain after gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) administration. Whether MRI measures accurately reflect gadolinium regional distribution and concentration in the brain remains unclear. Purpose To compare gadolinium retention in rat forebrain measured with in vivo quantitative MRI R1 and ex vivo laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) mapping after gadobenate, gadopentetate, gadodiamide, or gadobutrol administration.

Designing daily-life research combining experience sampling method with parallel data.

Background: Ambulatory monitoring is gaining popularity in mental and somatic health care to capture an individual's wellbeing or treatment course in daily-life. Experience sampling method collects subjective time-series data of patients' experiences, behavior, and context. At the same time, digital devices allow for less intrusive collection of more objective time-series data with higher sampling frequencies and for prolonged sampling periods.

Overnight affective dynamics and sleep characteristics as predictors of depression and its development in women.

Study Objectives: We examined (1) differences in overnight affective inertia (carry-over of evening affect to the next morning) for positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) between individuals with past, current, and no depression; (2) how sleep duration and quality influence overnight affective inertia in these groups, and (3) whether overnight affective inertia predicts depression development.

Methods: We used data of 579 women from the East-Flanders Prospective Twin Survey. For aim 1 and 2, individuals with past (n = 82), current (n = 26), and without (lifetime) depression (n = 471) at baseline were examined.

Screening for Depression in Daily Life: Development and External Validation of a Prediction Model Based on Actigraphy and Experience Sampling Method.

Background: In many countries, depressed individuals often first visit primary care settings for consultation, but a considerable number of clinically depressed patients remain unidentified. Introducing additional screening tools may facilitate the diagnostic process.

Objective: This study aimed to examine whether experience sampling method (ESM)-based measures of depressive affect and behaviors can discriminate depressed from nondepressed individuals.

Level and timing of physical activity during normal daily life in depressed and non-depressed individuals.

Engaging in physical activity is known to reduce depressive symptoms. However, little is known which behavioral factors are relevant, and how patterns of activity change during depressive episodes. We expected that compared to controls, in depressed individuals the level of activity would be lower, the amplitude of 24-h-actigraphy profiles more dampened and daytime activities would start later.

In Vivo Quasi-Elastic Light Scattering Eye Scanner Detects Molecular Aging in Humans.

The absence of clinical tools to evaluate individual variation in the pace of aging represents a major impediment to understanding aging and maximizing health throughout life. The human lens is an ideal tissue for quantitative assessment of molecular aging in vivo. Long-lived proteins in lens fiber cells are expressed during fetal life, do not undergo turnover, accumulate molecular alterations throughout life, and are optically accessible in vivo.

Slow blood-to-brain transport underlies enduring barrier dysfunction in American football players.

Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury in American football players has garnered increasing public attention following reports of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive tauopathy. While the mechanisms underlying repetitive mild traumatic brain injury-induced neurodegeneration are unknown and antemortem diagnostic tests are not available, neuropathology studies suggest a pathogenic role for microvascular injury, specifically blood-brain barrier dysfunction. Thus, our main objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of a modified dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI approach we have developed to detect impairments in brain microvascular function.

Nonhomogeneous Gadolinium Retention in the Cerebral Cortex after Intravenous Administration of Gadolinium-based Contrast Agent in Rats and Humans.

Background Gadolinium retention after repeated gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) exposure has been reported in subcortical gray matter. However, gadolinium retention in the cerebral cortex has not been systematically investigated. Purpose To determine whether and where gadolinium is retained in rat and human cerebral cortex.

Spectroscopic Properties of some Hydroxylated 2-Stilbazole Derivatives.

The spectroscopic properties for a number of new hydroxylated 2-stilbazoles were studied by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. The maximum absorption and emission wavelengths, the molar extinction coefficients, and the Stokes shift values of derivatives were given. The dependence of the spectral characteristics on pH was shown.

Submicron-Sized Nanocomposite Magnetic-Sensitive Carriers: Controllable Organ Distribution and Biological Effects.

Although new drug delivery systems have been intensely developed in the past decade, no significant increase in the efficiency of drug delivery by nanostructure carriers has been achieved. The reasons are the lack of information about acute toxicity, the influence of the submicron size of the carrier and difficulties with the study of biodistribution in vivo. Here we propose, for the first time in vivo, new nanocomposite submicron carriers made of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and tannic acid (TA) and containing magnetite nanoparticles with sufficient content for navigation in a magnetic field gradient on mice.

Pathophysiology of Concussion.

Although concussion has been a subject of interest for centuries, this condition remains poorly understood. The mechanistic underpinnings and accepted definition of concussion remain elusive. To make sense of these issues, this article presents a brief history of concussion studies, detailing the evolution of motivations and experimental conclusions over time.

Amylase-Sensitive Polymeric Nanoparticles Based on Dextran Sulfate and Doxorubicin with Anticoagulant Activity.

This study looked into the synthesis and study of Dextrane Sulfate-Doxorubicin Nanoparticles (DS-Dox NP) that are sensitive to amylase and show anticoagulant properties. The particles were obtained by the method of solvent replacement. They had a size of 305 ± 58 nm, with a mass ratio of DS:Dox = 3.

Concussion, microvascular injury, and early tauopathy in young athletes after impact head injury and an impact concussion mouse model.

The mechanisms underpinning concussion, traumatic brain injury, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and the relationships between these disorders, are poorly understood. We examined post-mortem brains from teenage athletes in the acute-subacute period after mild closed-head impact injury and found astrocytosis, myelinated axonopathy, microvascular injury, perivascular neuroinflammation, and phosphorylated tau protein pathology. To investigate causal mechanisms, we developed a mouse model of lateral closed-head impact injury that uses momentum transfer to induce traumatic head acceleration.

Considerations for Experimental Animal Models of Concussion, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy-These Matters Matter.

Animal models of concussion, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) are widely available and routinely deployed in laboratories around the world. Effective animal modeling requires careful consideration of four basic principles. First, animal model use must be guided by clarity of definitions regarding the human disease or condition being modeled.

Spectrally engineered broadband photon source for two-photon quantum interferometry.

We present a new approach to engineering broadband sources of entangled photon pairs for quantum interferometry. The source is based on quasi-phase-matched spontaneous parametric down conversion in a titanium diffused periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide with a strongly-chirped poling period. The proposed non-standard asymmetric poling mitigates phase distortions associated with the process of chirping.

Utilizing heavy metal-laden water hyacinth biomass in vermicomposting.

We studied the efficiency of water treatment by water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) from heavy metals (Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu), as well as a possibility of using water hyacinth biomass obtained during treatment for vermicomposting by Eisenia fetida and the vermicompost quality in a model experiment. The results showed that the concentration of heavy metals in the trials with water hyacinth decreased within 35 days. We introduced water hyacinth biomass to the organic substrate for vermicomposting, which promoted a significant weight gain of earthworms and growth in their number, as well as a 1.