Optimal blood tau species for the detection of Alzheimer's disease neuropathology: an immunoprecipitation mass spectrometry and autopsy study.

Plasma-to-autopsy studies are essential for validation of blood biomarkers and understanding their relation to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Few such studies have been done on phosphorylated tau (p-tau) and those that exist have made limited or no comparison of the different p-tau variants. This study is the first to use immunoprecipitation mass spectrometry (IP-MS) to compare the accuracy of eight different plasma tau species in predicting autopsy-confirmed AD.

Roles and Responsibilities of Community Health Workers in Louisiana Medicaid Managed Care Organizations.

We explored the roles of community health workers (CHWs) working in Medicaid Managed Care Organizations in Louisiana by conducting 10 interviews with CHWs, supervisors, and administrators. We identified 6 themes: CHWs' backgrounds and training; roles as they related to nationally recognized competencies; team integration; who CHWs serve and how members are identified; metrics for success; and the effects of COVID. CHWs are hired for their community connections.

Ante-mortem plasma phosphorylated tau (181) predicts Alzheimer's disease neuropathology and regional tau at autopsy.

Blood-based biomarkers such as tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (phosphorylated-tau181) represent an accessible, cost-effective and scalable approach for the in vivo detection of Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology. Plasma-pathological correlation studies are needed to validate plasma phosphorylated-tau181 as an accurate and reliable biomarker of Alzheimer's disease neuropathological changes. This plasma-to-autopsy correlation study included participants from the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center who had a plasma sample analysed for phosphorylated-tau181 between 2008 and 2018 and donated their brain for neuropathological examination.

Decision rules for an abbreviated administration of the Test of Memory Malingering.

The present study investigated abbreviation methods for the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) in relation to traditional manual-based test cutoffs and independently derived more stringent cutoffs suggested by recent research (≤48 on Trial 2 or 3). Consecutively referred outpatient U.S.

Plasma p-tau shows stronger network association to Alzheimer's disease dementia than neurofilament light and total tau.

Introduction: We examined the ability of plasma hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) to detect cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) independently and in combination with plasma total tau (t-tau) and neurofilament light (NfL).

Methods: Plasma samples were analyzed using the Simoa platform for 235 participants with normal cognition (NC), 181 with mild cognitive impairment due to AD (MCI), and 153 with AD dementia. Statistical approaches included multinomial regression and Gaussian graphical models (GGMs) to assess a network of plasma biomarkers, neuropsychological tests, and demographic variables.

'You have to be almost dead before they ever really work on you in prison': A qualitative study of formerly incarcerated women's health care experiences during incarceration in Louisiana, U.S.

Globally, the rate of incarceration among women is rising, and in the U.S., women's incarceration has grown at twice the rate for men over the last four decades.

Processes for Implementing Community Health Worker Workforce Development Initiatives.

The objective of this observational, cross-sectional study was to identify, document, and assess the progress made to date in implementing various processes involved in statewide community health worker (CHW) workforce development initiatives. From September 2017 to December 2020, we developed and applied a conceptual model of processes involved in implementing statewide CHW initiatives. One or more outputs were identified for each model process and assessed across the 50 states, D.

Predicting Mental Health Treatment Access Among Adolescents With Elevated Depressive Symptoms: Machine Learning Approaches.

A large proportion of adolescents experiencing depression never access treatment. To increase access to effective mental health care, it is critical to understand factors associated with increased versus decreased odds of adolescent treatment access. This study used individual depression symptoms and sociodemographic variables to predict whether and where adolescents with depression accessed mental health treatments.

"Nothing About Us Without Us": Insights from State-level Efforts to Implement Community Health Worker Certification.

As community health workers (CHWs) have increasingly become recognized as members of health care teams, several states have considered or implemented processes to certify them. Between April and September 2017, we interviewed 41 stakeholders (e.g.

Implementation of the 'TAKE STOCK' Hot Debrief Tool in the ED: a quality improvement project.

Hot debriefing (HoD) describes a structured team-based discussion which may be initiated following a significant event. Benefits may include improved teamwork, staff well-being and identification of learning opportunities. Existing literature indicates that while staff value HoD following significant events, it is infrequently undertaken in practice.

A longitudinal examination of plasma neurofilament light and total tau for the clinical detection and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease.

We examined baseline and longitudinal associations between plasma neurofilament light (NfL) and total tau (t-tau), and the clinical presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A total of 579 participants (238, normal cognition [NC]; 185, mild cognitive impairment [MCI]; 156, AD dementia) had baseline blood draws; 82% had follow-up evaluations. Plasma samples were analyzed for NfL and t-tau using Simoa technology.

Promoting Community Health Worker Leadership in Policy Development: Results from a Louisiana Workforce Study.

Community health workers (CHWs) are effective in improving public health, and many states are developing policy to support the workforce. In 2019, the Louisiana legislature created the CHW Workforce Study Committee (Committee) of at least half CHWs to study the workforce and provide the state with policy recommendations. The Committee followed national best practices in CHW engagement.

RBCK1-related disease: A rare multisystem disorder with polyglucosan storage, auto-inflammation, recurrent infections, skeletal, and cardiac myopathy-Four additional patients and a review of the current literature.

In this article, we report four new patients, from three kindreds, with pathogenic variants in RBCK1 and a multisystem disorder characterised by widespread polyglucosan storage. We describe the clinical presentation of progressive skeletal and cardiac myopathy, combined immunodeficiencies and auto-inflammation, illustrate in detail the histopathological findings in multiple tissue types, and report muscle MRI findings.

Placebo Response in Chronic Idiopathic Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objectives: Chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC), like other functional gastrointestinal disorders, has been associated with a high placebo response rate. However, the placebo response in randomized controlled trials has not been described.

Methods: We conducted a search of the medical literature following the protocol outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement using MEDLINE, EMBASE and EMBASE Classic, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for all drugs used for the treatment of CIC.

Independent effects of white matter hyperintensities on cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and functional decline: a longitudinal investigation using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set.

Background: Longitudinal investigations are needed to improve understanding of the contributions of cerebral small vessel disease to the clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease, particularly in the early disease stages. This study leveraged the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set to longitudinally examine the association between white matter hyperintensities and neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric, and functional decline among participants with normal cognition.

Methods: The sample included 465 participants from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set who had quantitated volume of white matter hyperintensities from fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI, had normal cognition at the time of their MRI, and were administered the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set neuropsychological test battery within 1 year of study evaluation and had at least two post-MRI time points of clinical data.

Failure to detect an association between self-reported traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease neuropathology and dementia.

Introduction: Recent research with neuropathologic or biomarker evidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) casts doubt on traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a risk factor for AD. We leveraged the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center to examine the association between self-reported TBI with loss of consciousness and AD neuropathologic changes, and with baseline and longitudinal clinical status.

Methods: The sample included 4761 autopsy participants (453 with remote TBI with loss of consciousness; 2822 with AD neuropathologic changes) from National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center.

Creating Safe Spaces: A Community Health Worker-Academic Partnered Approach to Addressing Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a persistent public health problem in the United States, with an estimated one in three women experiencing rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner within her lifetime. Non-Hispanic Black women disproportionately experience IPV, but there has been limited success in implementing culturally appropriate prevention programs and services for members of this population. Community health workers (CHWs) are trusted members of under-resourced communities who provide reliable health information and improve the cultural appropriateness of service delivery and may be a vital resource for developing new IPV interventions.

An atypical p.N215S variant of Fabry disease with end-stage renal failure.

Fabry disease is an X-linked metabolic disorder resulting in widespread deposition of Globotriaosylceramide within a variety of human tissues. The classical Fabry phenotype is one of early onset disease, with extensive tissue involvement resulting in acroparaesthesia, gastrointestinal disturbances, angiokeratoma, cornea verticillata renal failure, and cardiovascular disease. We describe two brothers exhibiting the GLA p.

A Clinicopathological Investigation of White Matter Hyperintensities and Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been postulated to be a core feature of Alzheimer's disease. Clinicopathological studies are needed to elucidate and confirm this possibility.

Objective: This study examined: 1) the association between antemortem WMH and autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer's disease neuropathology (ADNP), 2) the relationship between WMH and dementia in participants with ADNP, and 3) the relationships among cerebrovascular disease, WMH, and ADNP.

Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and the Diagnostic Stability of Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate diagnosis between normal cognition (NC) and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. However, MCI is heterogeneous; many individuals subsequently revert to NC while others remain stable at MCI for several years. Identifying factors associated with this diagnostic instability could assist in defining clinical populations and determining cognitive prognoses.

Efficacy of Treatments for Opioid-Induced Constipation: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background & Aims: Opioid-induced constipation (OIC) is a common problem in patients on chronic opioid therapy for cancer-related and non-cancer-related pain. Approved treatments for OIC are methylnaltrexone, naloxone, naloxegol, alvimopan, naldemedine, and lubiprostone. Since a meta-analysis performed in 2014, 2 new agents have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of OIC (naloxegol and naldemedine).

The Aging Well through Interaction and Scientific Education (AgeWISE) Program.

Objective: We conducted a randomized controlled trial of the Aging Well through Interaction and Scientific Education (AgeWISE) program, a 12-week manualized cognitive rehabilitation program designed to provide psychoeducation to older adults about the aging brain, lifestyle factors associated with successful brain aging, and strategies to compensate for age related cognitive decline.

Methods: Forty-nine cognitively intact participants ≥ 60 years old were randomly assigned to the AgeWISE program (n = 25) or a no-treatment control group (n = 24). Questionnaire data were collected prior to group assignment and post intervention.