The impact of pre-analytical factors on plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease: The ASPREE Healthy Ageing Biobank.

Background: The conditions under which samples were collected, processed, and stored in biobanks may influence Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarker levels.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate whether a range of pre-analytical factors influence plasma levels of AD biomarkers.

Methods: Data were obtained from the ASPREE Healthy Ageing Biobank, a cohort of healthy community-dwelling older individuals aged 70+ years in Australia.

Cardiometabolic Trajectories Preceding Dementia in Community-Dwelling Older Individuals.

Importance: Poor cardiometabolic health is a risk factor associated with cognitive impairment in later life, but it remains unclear whether cardiometabolic trajectories can serve as early markers associated with dementia.

Objective: To compare cardiometabolic trajectories that precede dementia diagnosis with those among individuals without dementia.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This case-control study analyzed a sample drawn from community-dwelling participants in the Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) study.

Moving beyond the prevalent exposure design for causal inference in dementia research.

As randomised trials are not always feasible or practical, observational studies remain crucial for addressing many causal questions in the dementia prevention field. Through a systematic search, we found that 84 (72%) of the 116 latest observational cohort studies that investigated factors hypothesised to reduce the risk of dementia (hearing aids, physical activity, antihypertensives, antidiabetics, and antidepressants) used a prevalent exposure design. The approach of using a prevalent exposure design, which compares dementia risk between individuals with and without prevalent exposure at the start of follow-up, has several limitations, including ill-defined interventions, selection biases, and challenges in adjusting for confounders.

Epigenetic age acceleration and cognitive performance over time in older adults.

Introduction: This study investigated whether epigenetic age acceleration (AA) is associated with the change in cognitive function and the risk of incident dementia over 9 years, separately in males and females.

Methods: Six epigenetic AA measures, including GrimAge, were estimated in baseline blood samples from 560 Australians aged ≥70 years (50.7% female).

Associations of body habitus and its changes with incident dementia in older adults.

Background: This study examined the associations of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), as well as their short- and long-term changes over time, with incident dementia in older individuals.

Methods: Data came from 18,837 community-dwelling individuals aged 65+ years from Australia and the United States, who were relatively healthy without major cognitive impairment at enrolment. Anthropometric measures were prospectively assessed at baseline, as well as change and variability from baseline to year two (three time-points).

Lifestyle Enrichment in Later Life and Its Association With Dementia Risk.

Importance: Lifestyles enriched with socially and mentally stimulating activities in older age may help build cognitive reserve and reduce dementia risk.

Objective: To investigate the association of leisure activities and social networks with dementia risk among older individuals.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This longitudinal prospective cohort study used population-based data from the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons (ALSOP) for March 1, 2010, to November 30, 2020.

Grip strength, gait speed, and trajectories of cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults: A prospective study.

Introduction: This study investigated whether grip strength and gait speed predict cognitive aging trajectories and examined potential sex-specific associations.

Methods: Community-dwelling older adults ( = 19,114) were followed for up to 7 years, with regular assessment of global function, episodic memory, psychomotor speed, and executive function. Group-based multi-trajectory modeling identified joint cognitive trajectories.

Pre-thrombectomy prognostic prediction of large-vessel ischemic stroke using machine learning: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Machine learning (ML) methods are being increasingly applied to prognostic prediction for stroke patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) treated with endovascular thrombectomy. This systematic review aims to summarize ML-based pre-thrombectomy prognostic models for LVO stroke and identify key research gaps.

Methods: Literature searches were performed in Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus.

Epigenetic aging as a biomarker of dementia and related outcomes: a systematic review.

Biological aging may be a robust biomarker of dementia or cognitive performance. This systematic review synthesized the evidence for an association between epigenetic aging and dementia, mild cognitive impairment and cognitive function. A systematic search was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Potential modifiable factors associated with late-life cognitive trajectories.

Objective: There is variability across individuals in cognitive aging. To investigate the associations of several modifiable factors with high and low cognitive performance.

Methods: Data came from 17,724 community-dwelling individuals aged 65-98 years.

Cognitive Trajectories in Community-Dwelling Older Adults and Incident Dementia, Disability and Death: A 10-Year Longitudinal Study.

Objective: The inter-individual variability in cognitive changes may be early indicators of major health events. We aimed to determine whether late-life cognitive trajectories were associated with incident dementia, persistent physical disability and all-cause mortality.

Methods: Data came from a cohort of older community-dwelling individuals aged 70 years or above in Australia and the United States.

Factors associated with brain ageing - a systematic review.

Background: Brain age is a biomarker that predicts chronological age using neuroimaging features. Deviations of this predicted age from chronological age is considered a sign of age-related brain changes, or commonly referred to as brain ageing. The aim of this systematic review is to identify and synthesize the evidence for an association between lifestyle, health factors and diseases in adult populations, with brain ageing.

Trajectories of cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults: A longitudinal study of population heterogeneity.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate cognitive aging trajectories, the associated sociodemographic characteristics, and the association of these trajectories with dementia.

Methods: Generally healthy older adults (n = 19,114) were followed for up to 7 years, with regular cognitive assessments. Group-based trajectory modeling identified distinct cognitive trajectories.

Circular RNA circPHC3 Promotes Cell Death and Apoptosis in Human BMECs After Oxygen Glucose Deprivation via miR-455-5p/TRAF3 Axis in vitro.

Objective: Brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) are involved in brain vascular dysfunction in ischemic stroke. Abnormal expression of circular RNAs regulate physiological and pathophysiological processes in the central nervous system. The aim of the present study was to investigate profile circRNAs in human BMECs after oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD), which was an in vitro model of ischemic stroke, and find promising biomarkers in ischemic stroke.

Distinct Cognitive Trajectories in Late Life and Associated Predictors and Outcomes: A Systematic Review.

Background: Cognitive aging is a dynamic process in late life with significant heterogeneity across individuals.

Objective: To review the evidence for latent classes of cognitive trajectories and to identify the associated predictors and outcomes.

Methods: A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE and EMBASE for articles that identified two or more cognitive trajectories in adults.

Stray light correction for medium wave infrared focal plane array-based compressive imaging.

With focal plane array-based (FPA) compressive imaging (CI), high-resolution medium wave infrared (MWIR) images can be reconstructed by a low-resolution FPA sensor. However, in MWIR FPA CI system, the stray light is inevitable, which reduces the image contrast and increases the blocky structural artifacts of the reconstructed images. In this work, we focus on the stray light in MWIR FPA CI system.

Association between NAFLD and risk of prevalent chronic kidney disease: why there is a difference between east and west?

Backgrounds: There is a discrepancy between west and east on the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to find out the possible reason for this and to clarify the association between NAFLD and CKD by analyzing two population-based datasets from the US and China.

Methods: Two health examination datasets from China and the US were used.

Non-uniformity correction for medium wave infrared focal plane array-based compressive imaging.

As a super-resolution imaging method, high-resolution medium wave infrared (MWIR) images can be obtained from a low-resolution focal plane array-based (FPA) sensor using compressive imaging (CI) technology. As a common problem in MWIR FPA imaging, the non-uniformity reduces image quality, which is turning worse in MWIR FPA CI. This paper investigates the source of the non-uniformity of MWIR FPA CI, both in the captured low-resolution MWIR images and in the reconstructed high-resolution ones.

DMD Mask Construction to Suppress Blocky Structural Artifacts for Medium Wave Infrared Focal Plane Array-Based Compressive Imaging.

With medium wave infrared (MWIR) focal plane array-based (FPA) compressive imaging (CI), high-resolution images can be obtained with a low-resolution MWIR sensor. However, restricted by the size of digital micro-mirror devices (DMD), aperture interference is inevitable. According to the system model of FPA CI, aperture interference aggravates the blocky structural artifacts (BSA) in the reconstructed images, which reduces the image quality.

Alpha-synuclein alterations in red blood cells of peripheral blood after acute ischemic stroke.

Post-stroke induction of alpha-synuclein (AS), a neuronal protein implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), has been demonstrated to induce secondary brain damage after cerebral ischemia. Therefore, understanding the expression and pathogenic modifications of AS is clinically meaningful for evaluating the prognosis of stroke. Here, 54 patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and 55 controls were enrolled.

Focal plane array-based compressive imaging in medium wave infrared: modeling, implementation, and challenges.

As a super-resolution imaging method, compressive imaging (CI) has become a research hotspot in recent years. However, most researchers focus on the visible light and near-infrared regime. Further, most experimental studies are confined to a single-pixel camera, and there are comparatively few reports of the experimental studies about CI in the field of focal plane array-based (FPA) CI in the medium-wave infrared (MWIR).

Social connectedness and mortality after prostate cancer diagnosis: A prospective cohort study.

Men with prostate cancer experience side effects for which a supportive social environment may be beneficial. We examined the association between four measures of social connectedness and mortality after a prostate cancer diagnosis. Male participants in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study in 1990-1994, who developed incident prostate cancer and attended follow-up in 2003-2007, were eligible for the study.

Associations between body mass index and mortality in acute-on-chronic liver failure patients.

Introduction And Objectives: The association between the level of body mass index (BMI) and the mortality of patients with critical liver disease remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between BMI and hospital mortality of patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF).

Methods: Clinical data from 146 ACLF patients were collected and analyzed.