Comparison of sample characteristics of Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center participants with the Wisconsin state population-An evaluation of the recruitment effort.

Introduction: Understanding how a research sample compares to the population from which it is drawn can help inform future recruitment planning. We compared the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (WADRC) participant sample to the Wisconsin state population (WI-pop) on key demographic, social exposome, and vascular risk measures.

Methods: The WADRC sample included 930 participants.

Communicating Alzheimer's biomarker results to cognitively unimpaired research participants: Satisfaction, utility, and impact on research attitudes.

Introduction: Recruitment and retention pose a significant challenge to Alzheimer's disease (AD) research. Returning AD biomarker results to participants has been proposed as a means to improve recruitment and retention. We present findings related to participant satisfaction, utility, and impact on research attitudes from the amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) disclosure sub-study within the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP).

A low-burden, self-weighing intervention to prevent weight gain in adults with obesity who do not enroll in comprehensive treatment.

Background: For individuals who are eligible but unlikely to join comprehensive weight loss programs, a low burden self-weighing intervention may be a more acceptable approach to weight management.

Methods: This was a single-arm feasibility trial of a 12-month self-weighing intervention. Participants were healthcare patients with a BMI ≥25 kg/m with a weight-related comorbidity or a BMI >30 kg/m who reported lack of interest in joining a comprehensive weight loss program, or did not enroll in a comprehensive program after being provided program information.

The importance of the dyad: Participant perspectives on sharing biomarker results in Alzheimer's disease research.

Background: In the asymptomatic "preclinical" phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD), abnormal biomarkers indicate risk for developing cognitive impairment. Biomarker information is increasingly being disclosed to participants in research settings, and biomarker testing and results disclosure will be implemented in clinical settings in the future. Biomarker disclosure has potential psychosocial benefits and harms, impacting affected individuals and their support person(s).

Feasibility of virtual Alzheimer's biomarker disclosure: Findings from an observational cohort.

Introduction: Increased availability of Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarker tests provides older adults with opportunities to seek out and learn results. We evaluated the feasibility of virtually returning AD biomarker results.

Methods: Trained study clinicians disclosed amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) results and provided dementia risk-reduction counseling via televideo to cognitively unimpaired participants already enrolled in AD research ( = 99; mean age ± SD: 72.

Race, Sex, and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disparities in Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia Within a National Medicare Cohort.

Background Ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation significantly improves our ability to control VT, yet little is known about whether disparities exist in delivery of this technology. Methods and Results Using a national 100% Medicare inpatient data set of beneficiaries admitted with VT from January 1, 2014, through November 30, 2014, multivariable logistic regression techniques were used to examine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with receiving ablation. Census block group-level neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was measured for each patient by the Area Deprivation Index, a composite measure of socioeconomic disadvantage consisting of education, income, housing, and employment factors.

Interrater Reliability of Expert Electroencephalographers Identifying Seizures and Rhythmic and Periodic Patterns in EEGs.

Background And Objectives: The validity of brain monitoring using electroencephalography (EEG), particularly to guide care in patients with acute or critical illness, requires that experts can reliably identify seizures and other potentially harmful rhythmic and periodic brain activity, collectively referred to as "ictal-interictal-injury continuum" (IIIC). Previous interrater reliability (IRR) studies are limited by small samples and selection bias. This study was conducted to assess the reliability of experts in identifying IIIC.

Implications of preclinical Alzheimer's disease biomarker disclosure for US policy and society.

Disclosure of Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers to cognitively unimpaired adults are currently conducted only in research settings. Yet, US Food and Drug Administration approval of a disease-modifying treatment for symptomatic individuals, improved understanding of the "preclinical" phase of disease, and advancements toward more accessible biomarker tests suggest such disclosure will increase in frequency, eventually becoming routine in clinical practice. The changing landscape in AD research to focus on biomarkers has generated debate on the validity and clinical utility of disclosure to cognitively unimpaired adults.

Cardiorespiratory fitness and cognition in persons at risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: This study examined the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and longitudinal cognitive functioning in a cohort enriched with risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: A total of 155 enrollees in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention completed repeat comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations that assessed six cognitive domains. Peak oxygen consumption (VOpeak) was the primary measure of CRF.

Clinical application of CSF biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease: From rationale to ratios.

Unlabelled: Biomarker testing is recommended for the accurate and timely diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using illustrative case narratives we consider how cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker tests may be used in different presentations of cognitive impairment to facilitate timely and differential diagnosis, improving diagnostic accuracy, providing prognostic information, and guiding personalized management in diverse scenarios. Evidence shows that (1) CSF ratios are superior to amyloid beta (Aβ)1-42 alone; (2) concordance of CSF ratios to amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) is better than Aβ1-42 alone; and (3) phosphorylated tau (p-tau)/Aβ1-42 ratio is superior to p-tau alone.

Cerebrovascular stiffness and flow dynamics in the presence of amyloid and tau biomarkers.

Introduction: This work investigated the relationship between cerebrovascular disease (CVD) markers and Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers of amyloid beta deposition, and neurofibrillary tau tangles in subjects spanning the AD clinical spectrum.

Methods: A total of 136 subjects participated in this study. Four groups were established based on AD biomarker positivity from positron emission tomography (amyloid [A] and tau [T]) and clinical diagnosis (cognitively normal [CN] and impaired [IM]).

Cardiorespiratory fitness mitigates brain atrophy and cognitive decline in adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) may mitigate Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. This study examined the longitudinal associations of CRF with brain atrophy and cognitive decline in a late-middle-aged cohort of adults at risk for AD.

Methods: One hundred ten cognitively unimpaired adults (66% female, mean age at baseline 64.

Two-year weight trajectories following completion of a behavioral weight loss maintenance intervention.

Introduction: Long-term effects of behavioral weight loss maintenance interventions need to be assessed in order to understand their durability of effects. This can be evaluated with the use of weights recorded in the electronic medical record. The goal of this study was to use electronic health record (EHR)-recorded weight to examine outcomes 2 years beyond the completion of a trial in which participants were randomized to receive a weight maintenance intervention or usual care after required initial weight loss.

Amyloid beta associations with connected speech in cognitively unimpaired adults.

Introduction: Connected speech and language (CSL) decline has been associated with early cognitive decline, but associations between CSL and Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers remain a gap in the literature. Our goal was to examine associations with amyloid beta (Aβ) and longitudinal CSL trajectories in cognitively unimpaired adults at increased AD risk.

Methods: Using data from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention, CSL measures were automatically extracted from digitally recorded picture descriptions.

Measurement batch differences and between-batch conversion of Alzheimer's disease cerebrospinal fluid biomarker values.

Introduction: Batch differences in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker measurement can introduce bias into analyses for Alzheimer's disease studies. We evaluated and adjusted for batch differences using statistical methods.

Methods: A total of 792 CSF samples from 528 participants were assayed in three batches for 12 biomarkers and 3 biomarker ratios.

Transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy performed by supervised junior and senior residents is safe and does not result in inferior outcomes.

Purpose: To compare transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy (TRUSBx) cancer detection and complication rates between residents at different levels of training and attending physicians at a single academic center.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of consecutive series of 623 men undergoing TRUSBx from June 2014 to February 2017. The procedure was performed either by resident physicians under direct supervision by an attending physician or by an attending physician.

Disclosure of preclinical Alzheimer's disease biomarker results in research and clinical settings: Why, how, and what we still need to know.

Disclosure of personal disease-related information to asymptomatic adults has been debated over the last century in medicine and research. Recently, Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been conceptualized as a continuum that begins with a "preclinical" stage in which biomarkers are present in the absence of cognitive impairment. Studies have begun assessing the safety, psychological, and behavioral effects of disclosing both AD-related genetic and biomarker information to cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Unleashing the power of immunotherapy and targeted therapy combinations: Advancing cancer care or discovering unknown toxicities?

Objective: The purpose of this review was to summarize the triumphs and pitfalls of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) combinations. A literature review of PubMed was conducted and studies were included if they were classified as a clinical trial and assessed TKI and ICI combinations for solid tumor malignancies. Dates of literature search included January 1, 1988 through September 22, 2019.

Collective effects of age, sex, genotype, and cognitive status on fitness outcomes.

Introduction: Individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) broadly exhibit lower cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) compared to cognitively healthy older adults. Other factors, such as increasing age and female sex, are also known to track with lower CRF levels. However, it is unclear how these factors together with AD diagnosis and genetic risk (apolipoprotein e4 ; ) collectively affect CRF.

Amyloid duration is associated with preclinical cognitive decline and tau PET.

Introduction: This study applies a novel algorithm to longitudinal amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to identify age-heterogeneous amyloid trajectory groups, estimate the age and duration (chronicity) of amyloid positivity, and investigate chronicity in relation to cognitive decline and tau burden.

Methods: Cognitively unimpaired participants ( = 257) underwent one to four amyloid PET scans (Pittsburgh Compound B, PiB). Group-based trajectory modeling was applied to participants with longitudinal scans ( = 171) to identify and model amyloid trajectory groups, which were combined with Bayes theorem to estimate age and chronicity of amyloid positivity.

Effects of Simvastatin on Augmentation Index Are Transient: Outcomes From a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background Statins improve endothelial function, but their effects on arterial stiffness and aortic blood pressure in middle-aged adults are uncertain. Methods and Results This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of middle-aged (40-72 years old) adults who were randomly assigned to receive simvastatin 40 mg (n=44) or placebo (n=44) daily for 18 months to evaluate impact on dementia-related biomarkers (primary end points) and measures of vascular health (secondary end points). This analysis focuses on the predetermined secondary end points of changes in central aortic blood pressure, aortic augmentation index, and brachial artery flow-mediated dilation.

Carotid Artery Echolucency, Texture Features, and Incident Cardiovascular Disease Events: The MESA Study.

Background We hypothesized that measures of common carotid artery echolucency and grayscale texture features were associated with cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) risk factors and could predict CVD events. Methods and Results Using a case-cohort design, we measured common carotid artery ultrasound images from 1788 participants in Exam 1 of the MESA study (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) to derive 4 grayscale features: grayscale median, entropy, gray level difference statistic-contrast, and spatial gray level dependence matrices-angular second moment. CVD risk factor associations were determined by linear regression.