There Is No Direct Causal Relationship Between Coronary Artery Disease and Alzheimer Disease: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study.

Background: The association between poor cardiovascular health and cognitive decline as well as dementia progression has been inconsistent across studies. This study used Mendelian randomization (MR) to investigate the causal relationship between Alzheimer disease (AD), circulating levels of total-tau, and coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods And Results: This study used MR to investigate the causal relationship between AD or circulating levels of total-tau and CAD, including ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, coronary atherosclerosis, and heart failure.

Enrichment of homoacetogens converting H/CO into acids and ethanol and simultaneous methane production.

An anaerobic granular sludge was enriched to utilize H/CO in a continuous gas-fed up-flow anaerobic sludge reactor by applying operating conditions expected to produce acetic acid, butyric acid, and ethanol. Three stages of fermentation were found: Stage I with acetic acid accumulation with the highest concentration of 35 mM along with a pH decrease from initial 6 to 4.5.

Alzheimer's disease classification using cluster-based labelling for graph neural network on heterogeneous data.

Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis do not always correlate reliably with cognitive symptoms, making clinical diagnosis inconsistent. In this study, the performance of a graphical neural network (GNN) classifier based on data-driven diagnostic classes from unsupervised clustering on heterogeneous data is compared to the performance of a classifier using clinician diagnosis as an outcome. Unsupervised clustering on tau-positron emission tomography (PET) and cognitive and functional assessment data was performed.

Effect of a Run-In Period on Estimated Treatment Effects in Cardiovascular Randomized Clinical Trials: A Meta-Analytic Review.

Background A run-in period may increase adherence to intervention and reduce loss to follow-up. Whether use of a run-in period affects the magnitude of treatment effects is unknown. Methods and Results We conducted a meta-analysis comparing treatment effects from 11 systematic reviews of cardiovascular prevention trials using a run-in period with matched trials not using a run-in period.

Conserving diversity in Irish plant-pollinator networks.

Beneficial insects provide valuable services upon which we rely, including pollination. Pollinator conservation is a global priority, and a significant concern in Ireland, where over half of extant bee species have declined significantly in recent decades. As flower-visiting insects rely on flowering plants, one way to conserve and promote pollinator populations is to protect high-quality habitat.

Needle to needle robot-assisted manufacture of cell therapy products.

Advanced therapeutic medicinal products (ATMPs) have emerged as novel therapies for untreatable diseases, generating the need for large volumes of high-quality, clinically-compliant GMP cells to replace costly, high-risk and limited scale manual expansion processes. We present the design of a fully automated, robot-assisted platform incorporating the use of multiliter stirred tank bioreactors for scalable production of adherent human stem cells. The design addresses a needle-to-needle closed process incorporating automated bone marrow collection, cell isolation, expansion, and collection into cryovials for patient delivery.

An assessment of potential pesticide transmission, considering the combined impact of soil texture and pesticide properties: A meta-analysis.

Pesticides are widely employed as a cost-effective means of reducing the impacts of undesirable plants and animals. The aim of this paper is to develop a risk ranking of transmission of key pesticides through soil to waterways, taking into account physico-chemical properties of the pesticides (soil half-life and water solubility), soil permeability, and the relationship between adsorption of pesticides and soil texture. This may be used as a screening tool for land managers, as it allows assessment of the potential transmission risks associated with the use of specified pesticides across a spectrum of soil textures.

Phytoplankton Impact on Marine Cloud Microphysical Properties Over the Northeast Atlantic Ocean.

The current understanding of the impact of natural cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) variability on cloud properties in marine air is low, thus contributing to climate prediction uncertainty. By analyzing cloud remote sensing observations (2009-2015) at Mace Head (west coast of Ireland), we show the oceanic biota impact on the microphysical properties of stratiform clouds over the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. During spring to summer (seasons of enhanced oceanic biological activity), clouds typically host a higher number of smaller droplets resulting from increased aerosol number concentration in the CCN relevant-size range.

Contextualizing National Policies Regulating Access to Low-Dose Aspirin in America and Europe Using the Full Report of a Transatlantic Patient Survey of Aspirin in Preventive Cardiology.

Background Aspirin is widely administered to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, appropriate use of aspirin depends on patient understanding of its risks, benefits, and indications, especially where aspirin is available over the counter (OTC). Methods and Results We did a survey of patient-reported 10-year cardiovascular risk; aspirin therapy status; form of aspirin access (OTC versus prescription); and knowledge of the risks, benefits, and role of aspirin in CVD prevention.

Ticagrelor Monotherapy or Dual Antiplatelet Therapy After Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation: Per-Protocol Analysis of the GLOBAL LEADERS Trial.

Background In the GLOBAL LEADERS trial, ticagrelor monotherapy beyond 1 month compared with standard antiplatelet regimens after coronary stent implantation did not improve outcomes at intention-to-treat analysis. Considerable differences in treatment adherence between the experimental and control groups may have affected the intention-to-treat results. In this reanalysis of the GLOBAL LEADERS trial, we compared the experimental and control treatment strategies in a per-protocol analysis of patients who did not deviate from the study protocol.

Drug-Eluting or Bare-Metal Stents for Left Anterior Descending or Left Main Coronary Artery Revascularization.

Background New-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) reduce target-vessel revascularization compared with bare-metal stents (BMS), and recent data suggest that DES have the potential to decrease the risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular mortality. We evaluated the treatment effect of DES versus BMS according to the target artery (left anterior descending [LAD] and/or left main [LM] versus other territories [no-LAD/LM]). Methods and Results The Coronary Stent Trialist (CST) Collaboration gathered individual patient data of randomized trials of DES versus BMS for the treatment of coronary artery disease.

Modelling the relationship between continuously measured glucose and electrocardiographic data in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is associated with earlier onset of cardiovascular disease. Recent evidence has found hyperglycaemia appears to play a greater role in this association among T1DM compared to T2DM. This study investigates the relationship between glucose and QTc (a key cardiovascular measure) using data from continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) and glucose monitors.

Gold(I) Complexes with a Quinazoline Carboxamide Alkynyl Ligand: Synthesis, Cytotoxicity, and Mechanistic Studies.

A series of gold(I) complexes with the general formula [Au()()] (=4-phenyl--(prop-2-yn-1-yl)quinazoline-2-carboxamide, =PPh (triphenylphosphine), ; TPA (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane), , and Me-imy (1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene), ) were synthesized and fully characterized by spectroscopic methods. The alkynyl ligand belongs to the quinazoline carboxamide class of ligands that are known to bind to the translocator protein (TSPO) at the outer mitochondrial membrane. and exert cytotoxic effects in bladder cancer cells with IC values in the low micromolar range.

Nidogen-1 Mitigates Ischemia and Promotes Tissue Survival and Regeneration.

Ischemia impacts multiple organ systems and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. Ischemia disrupts tissue homeostasis, driving cell death, and damages tissue structure integrity. Strategies to heal organs, like the infarcted heart, or to replace cells, as done in pancreatic islet -cell transplantations, are often hindered by ischemic conditions.

Targeting abnormal metabolism in Alzheimer's disease: The Drug Repurposing for Effective Alzheimer's Medicines (DREAM) study.

Drug discovery for disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) based on the traditional paradigm of experimental animal models has been disappointing. We describe the rationale and design of the Drug Repurposing for Effective Alzheimer's Medicines (DREAM) study, an innovative multidisciplinary alternative to traditional drug discovery. First, we use a systems biology perspective in the "hypothesis generation" phase to identify metabolic abnormalities that may either precede or interact with the accumulation of ADRD neuropathology, accelerating the expression of clinical symptoms of the disease.

Potentially handicapped but otherwise functional: Malformations in prey capture tools show no impacts on octopus life.

Larval mortality is a keystone ecological factor for many benthic octopus since it mostly occurs before their settlement in the sea bottom as benthic juveniles. The literature had revealed that records of adult animals with morphological abnormalities (teratologies) are fewer in species with complex life cycle than in those with direct development. This is a direct consequence of the morphological, physiological, and development challenges that the transition from the larval to the adult morphology represents.

Anticancer therapeutics: a brief account on wide refinements.

The flustering rise in cancer incidence along with treatment anomalies has made cancer the second leading cause of death globally. The total annual economic impact of cancer is pronounced and is increasing. Besides the lack of proper curative therapy, treatment associated adverse effects, drug resistance, and tumor relapse are the instigations behind increased morbidity and mortality.

Growth Differentiation Factor 15 and NT-proBNP as Blood-Based Markers of Vascular Brain Injury and Dementia.

Background GDF15 (growth differentiation factor 15) and NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) may offer promise as biomarkers for cognitive outcomes, including dementia. We determined the association of these biomarkers with cognitive outcomes in a community-based cohort. Methods and Results Plasma GDF15 (n=1603) and NT-proBNP levels (n=1590) (53% women; mean age, 68.

Counter-narratives for the prevention of violent radicalisation: A systematic review of targeted interventions.

Background: In the field of terrorism research, the violent radicalisation of individuals towards perpetrating acts of terror has been the subject of academic enquiry for some time. One core focus by social scientists has been the role of narratives in this process. Narratives have the ability to present a socially constructed version of reality which serves the interest of the narrator(s).

Bone Mineral Is More Heterogeneously Distributed in the Femoral Heads of Osteoporotic and Diabetic Patients: A Pilot Study.

Osteoporosis is associated with systemic bone loss, leading to a significant deterioration of bone microarchitecture and an increased fracture risk. Although recent studies have shown that the distribution of bone mineral becomes more heterogeneous because of estrogen deficiency in animal models of osteoporosis, it is not known whether osteoporosis alters mineral distribution in human bone. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) can also increase bone fracture risk and is associated with impaired bone cell function, compromised collagen structure, and reduced mechanical properties.

Molecular modeling provides a structural basis for PERK inhibitor selectivity towards RIPK1.

Protein kinases are crucial drug targets in cancer therapy. Kinase inhibitors are promiscuous in nature due to the highly conserved nature of the kinase ATP binding pockets. PERK has emerged as a potential therapeutic target in cancer.

A guidance framework to aid in the selection of nursing and midwifery care process metrics and indicators.

Aim: To describe the development of a guidance framework to assist nurses and midwives in selecting nursing and midwifery care process metrics and indicators for use in practice.

Background: Process metrics are measures of care provision activities by nurses and midwives.

Methods: Phase 1 was a rapid review assessment of the literature conducted to identify an initial framework.

Lectin microarray profiling and monosaccharide analysis of bovine milk immunoglobulin G oligosaccharides during the first 10 days of lactation.

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) in bovine milk is credited with ensuring efficient passive immunity for newborn calves. Bovine milk IgG glycosylation may also have positive impacts on the health of nonbovine consumers of cow's milk. Milk IgG's glycosylation contributes to effector function and may also protect it from protease digestion, allowing IgG to reach the intestine for absorption.