The sequence of cellular dysfunctions in preclinical Alzheimer's disease must be understood if we are to plot new therapeutic routes. Hippocampal neuronal hyperactivity is one of the earliest events occurring during the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease in both humans and mouse models. The most common hypothesis describes amyloid-β accumulation as the triggering factor of the disease but the effects of this accumulation and the cascade of events leading to cognitive decline remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPowering and communicating with sensors placed behind metal walls is required in various applications such as submarine hulls, pressurized tanks or pipes. Acoustic power transfer (APT) is an excellent option to supply these sensors without making through holes. However, the power transfer performances of APT systems can be strongly degraded by the destructive interferences of emitted waves, typically when the receiver diameter is smaller than the transmitter's one.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe low-power sensing platform proposed by the Convergence project is foreseen as a wireless, low-power and multifunctional wearable system empowered by energy-efficient technologies. This will allow meeting the strict demands of life-style and healthcare applications in terms of autonomy for quasi-continuous collection of data for early-detection strategies. The system is compatible with different kinds of sensors, able to monitor not only health indicators of individual person (physical activity, core body temperature and biomarkers) but also the environment with chemical composition of the ambient air (NO, CO, NH particles) returning meaningful information on his/her exposure to dangerous (safety) or pollutant agents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Reducing the risk of exacerbation is a long-term goal of managing moderate-to-severe asthma. The use of fluticasone propionate/formoterol fumarate dihydrate (FP/FORM) pressurized metered-dose (pMDI, Flutiform), a type of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and long-acting β2 agonist (LABA) fixed-dose combination, has been associated with lower oral corticosteroid-requiring exacerbation rates than other ICS/LABA fixed-dose combinations, fluticasone propionate/salmeterol xinafoate (FP/SAL) and budesonide/formoterol fumarate (BUD/FORM). This study presents the first budget impact analysis of drug and exacerbation management cost savings associated with the increased access to FP/FORM compared to the currently available ICS/LABAs for treating moderate-to-severe asthma in Singapore.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlterations of excitatory synaptic function are the strongest correlate to the pathologic disturbance of cognitive ability observed in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This pathologic feature is driven by amyloid-β oligomers (Aβos) and propagates from neuron to neuron. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which Aβos affect the function of synapses and how these alterations propagate to surrounding healthy neurons.
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