Using cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer's disease: an Australian perspective.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers are currently the only clinically validated biofluid diagnostic test for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) available in Australia. Testing of CSF biomarkers via lumbar puncture (LP), including quantification of amyloid-β peptide, total tau protein, and phosphorylated tau, can give insight into underlying pathophysiological changes and provide greater certainty in confirming or excluding the presence of Alzheimer's disease changes compared to standard clinical and radiological assessments. Despite CSF analysis being a safe and cost-effective diagnostic method, the use of CSF biomarkers in the evaluation of potential AD remains limited in Australian clinical practice due to a variety of factors, including regional access challenges, concerns over the perceived invasiveness of LP and a lack of confidence among clinicians in interpreting the results.

GaAs Solar Cells Grown Directly on V-Groove Si Substrates.

The direct epitaxial growth of high-quality III-V semiconductors on Si is a challenging materials science problem with a number of applications in optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells and on-chip lasers. We report the reduction of dislocation density in GaAs solar cells grown directly on nanopatterned V-groove Si substrates by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy. Starting from a template of GaP on V-groove Si, we achieved a low threading dislocation density (TDD) of 3 × 10 cm in the GaAs by performing thermal cycle annealing of the GaAs followed by growth of InGaAs dislocation filter layers.

Virus replication is not required for oncolytic bovine herpesvirus-1 immunotherapy.

Oncolytic viruses are a promising approach for cancer treatment where viruses selectively target and kill cancer cells while also stimulating an immune response. Among viruses with this ability, bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1) has several advantages, including observations suggesting it may not require viral replication for its anti-cancer effects. We previously demonstrated that binding and penetration of enveloped virus particles are sufficient to trigger intrinsic and innate immune signaling in normal cells, while other groups have published the efficacy of non-replicating viruses as viable immunotherapies in different cancer models.

Effect of Vaginal Prolapse Repair and Midurethral Sling on Urgency Incontinence Symptoms.

Importance: Limited evidence exists on the effect of combined native tissue vaginal prolapse repair with midurethral sling on urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) symptoms.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of combined native tissue vaginal prolapse repair with midurethral sling on UUI symptoms at 12 months postoperatively and identify risk factors for persistent UUI.

Study Design: This secondary analysis utilized data from a randomized trial comparing retropubic versus single-incision slings in women undergoing treatment of stress incontinence and vaginal prolapse with native tissue vaginal repair and midurethral sling.

Impact of body posture on pulmonary diffusing capacity at rest and during exercise in endurance-trained and untrained individuals.

Endurance-trained athletes exhibit greater diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) at rest and during exercise as compared to untrained individuals; however, the mechanism(s) are unclear. The supine position translocates blood centrally and can be used to investigate DLCO responses independent of metabolic rate. We hypothesized that endurance-trained individuals would have a greater DLCO response to postural change at rest as compared to untrained and that the supine position would elicit a greater DLCO response as compared to the upright position during exercise in both groups.