A 1H MRS study of probable Alzheimer's disease and normal aging: Implications for longitudinal monitoring of dementia progression

In order to evaluate the capability of 1H MRS to monitor longitudinal changes in subjects with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), the temporal stability of the metabolite measures N-acetylaspartate and N- acetylaspartylglutamate (NA), total Creatine (Cr), myo-Inositol (mI), total Choline (Chol), NA/Cr, mI/Cr, Chol/Cr and NA/mI were investigated in a cohort of normal older adults. Only the metabolite measures NA, mI, Cr, NA/Cr, mI/Cr, and NA/mI were found to be stable after a mean interval of 260 days. Relative and absolute metabolite measures from a cohort of patients with probable AD were subsequently compared with data from a sample of normal older adult control subjects, and correlated with mental status and the degree of atrophy in the localized voxel. Concentrations of NA, NA/Cr, and NA/mI were significantly reduced in the AD group with concomitant significant increases in mI and mI/Cr. There were no differences between the two groups in measures of Cr, Chol, or Chol/Cr. Significant correlations between mental status as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination and NA/mI, mI/Cr and NA were found. These metabolite measures were also significantly correlated with the extent of atrophy (as measured by CSF and GM composition) in the spectroscopy voxel.

Mrs Curly and the Norwegian Smoking Pipe

Research background: Mrs Curly and the Norwegian Smoking Pipe is a full-length album and book release, produced in collaboration with renowned multi-instrumentalist Linsey Pollak. The project involved the recording and production of Pollak’s original compositions and arrangements of traditional works, drawing on hybrid digital-analog production techniques. The recording of the album was informed by prior scholarly work by Taylor, Feld, Wong and others. These existing studies have discussed the complexities of intercultural collaboration, and the types of cultural politics that are involved in the recording and distribution of what has been known by the term ‘World Music.’ Aspects of applied ethnomusicology have informed the creative work, as a means of interpreting the implicit and explicit complexities that arise through the recording and dissemination of intercultural creative practice. The project asked the research question, in what ways is intercultural music making effected by collaborative practices in the recording studio? Research contribution: This project has identified that the recording and production of intercultural music making involves a complex amalgam of aspects of live or ‘authentic’ performance practices, alongside highly mediated production practices that are influenced by new forms of digital recording technology. Research significance: The compact disc and book was released and promoted on the Marata Music label. The song ‘Plačam za’ was nominated in the World category of the 2015 Queensland Music Awards. The research context of the work is detailed in Gavin Carfoot, 2015 (in press), ‘Musical discovery, colonialism and the possibilities of intercultural communication through music’ in Popular Communication.

Mr. and Mrs. Fuerst Berlin, Hans Frankenbach, Wronker Slogau? and Lilienthal Berlin seated at an outdoor table; Brambach, Germany Portraits Goups

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Albert and Elsa Einstein at the Shanghai home of Chinese painter and calligrapher Wang Yiting; with Shanghai University President Yu Youren, former Beijing University professor Zhang Junmai, the Einstein's Japanese hosts Mr. and Mrs. Inagaki, and Einstein's colleague Mr. Pfister and his wife (and daughter?) Portraits Groups

Dedication: Freundlichste Erinnerung an Herrn Prof. Einstein und seine Frau Gemahlin. I-Jing Wang, Shanghai, China

Arthur Liebert, Albert Einstein, Franz Oppenheimer, Mrs. Kurt Goldstein, Fritz Medicus and Arthur Liebert's son walking outside the Grand Hotel Curhaus during the Davoser Hochschulkurse; Davos, Switzerland Portraits Groups

The Davoser Hochschulkurse took place for the first time in 1928. Mainly university teachers from Germany, France, Switzerland (perhaps elsewhere) offered lectures to students recovering from tuberculosis at the health resort in the Swiss mountains. The lecturers were accommodated at the Grand Hotel Curhaus, where the lectures also took place.

Lucien Levy-Bruehl, Albert Einstein, Franz Oppenheimer, Arthur Liebert and his son, Paul Tillich, unidentified woman and Mrs. Charles Blondel outside the Grand Hotel Curhaus during the Davoser Hochschulkurse; Davos, Switzerland Portraits Groups

The Davoser Hochschulkurse took place for the first time in 1928. Mainly university teachers from Germany, France, Switzerland (perhaps elsewhere) offered lectures to students recovering from tuberculosis at the health resort in the Swiss mountains. The lecturers were accommodated at the Grand Hotel Curhaus, where the lectures also took place.

Hannah Karminski speaking with Mrs. Neuhaus; Conference of Juedisches Frauenbundes; Duerkheim Portraits Groups Women

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Reproduction of painted portrait by Eduard Magnus of Mrs. Karl Steffeck Portraits Women

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