Survival in the pre-senile dementia frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 proteinopathy:effects of genetic, demographic and neuropathological variables

Factors associated with survival were studied in 84 neuropathologically documented cases of the pre-senile dementia frontotemporal dementia lobar degeneration (FTLD) with transactive response (TAR) DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) proteinopathy (FTLD-TDP). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis estimated mean survival as 7.9 years (range: 1-19 years, SD = 4.64). Familial and sporadic cases exhibited similar survival, including progranulin (GRN) gene mutation cases. No significant differences in survival were associated with sex, disease onset, Braak disease stage, or disease subtype, but higher survival was associated with lower post-mortem brain weight. Survival was significantly reduced in cases with associated motor neuron disease (FTLD-MND) but increased with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or hippocampal sclerosis (HS) co-morbidity. Cox regression analysis suggested that reduced survival was associated with increased densities of neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions (NCI) while increased survival was associated with greater densities of enlarged neurons (EN) in the frontal and temporal lobes. The data suggest that: (1) survival in FTLD-TDP is more prolonged than typical in pre-senile dementia but shorter than some clinical subtypes such as the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), (2) MND co-morbidity predicts poor survival, and (3) NCI may develop early and EN later in the disease. The data have implications for both neuropathological characterization and subtyping of FTLD-TDP.

Medical School Donor Recognition Reception Photo 43

http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/com_images/1048/thumbnail.jpg

Data compilation on the biological response to ocean acidification: environmental and experimental context of data sets and related literature

The exponential growth of studies on the biological response to ocean acidification over the last few decades has generated a large amount of data. To facilitate data comparison, a data compilation hosted at the data publisher PANGAEA was initiated in 2008 and is updated on a regular basis (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.149999). By January 2015, a total of 581 data sets (over 4 000 000 data points) from 539 papers had been archived. Here we present the developments of this data compilation five years since its first description by Nisumaa et al. (2010). Most of study sites from which data archived are still in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of archived data from studies from the Southern Hemisphere and polar oceans are still relatively low. Data from 60 studies that investigated the response of a mix of organisms or natural communities were all added after 2010, indicating a welcomed shift from the study of individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. The initial imbalance of considerably more data archived on calcification and primary production than on other processes has improved. There is also a clear tendency towards more data archived from multifactorial studies after 2010. For easier and more effective access to ocean acidification data, the ocean acidification community is strongly encouraged to contribute to the data archiving effort, and help develop standard vocabularies describing the variables and define best practices for archiving ocean acidification data.

Dinocyst assemblages of site HM52-43

Past sea-surface conditions over the northern North Atlantic during the last glacial maximum were examined from the study of 61 deep-sea cores. The last glacial maximum time slice studied here corresponds to an interval between Heinrich layers H2 and H1, and spanning about 20-16 ka on a 14C time scale. Transfer functions based on dinocyst assemblages were used to reconstruct sea-surface temperature, salinity, and sea-ice cover. The results illustrate extensive sea-ice cover along the eastern Canadian margins and sea-ice spreading, only during winter, over most of the northern North Atlantic. On the whole, much colder winter prevailed, despite relatively mild conditions in August (10-15°C at most offshore sites), thus suggesting a larger seasonal contrast of temperatures than today. Lower salinity than at present is reconstructed, especially along the eastern Canadian and Scandinavian margins, likely because of meltwater supply from the surrounding ice sheets. These reconstructions contrast with those established by CLIMAP on the basis of planktonic foraminifera. These differences are discussed with reference to the stratigraphical frame of the last glacial maximum, which was not the coldest phase of the last glacial stage. The respective significance of dinocyst and foraminifer records is also examined in terms of the thermohaline characteristics of surface waters and the vertical structure of upper water masses, which was apparently much more stratified than at present in the northern North Atlantic, thus preventing deep-water formation.

Modulation de l'expression et de la localisation de la connexine 43 par des cytokines pro-inflammatoires dans les cellules folliculostellaires de l'hypophyse antérieure

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Desenho e Análise de Processo de Candidatura ao P.2020: estudo de caso via CTC/GP, do IPL

Melhorar o desempenho organizacional, através do (re)desenho dos processos de negócios, é uma premente e desafiadora questão para promover a eficiência e eficácia organizacional. O presente trabalho aborda a Gestão de Processos de Negócio e conceitos que lhe estão subjacente, enquanto ferramenta ao dispor da gestão para planear, modelar, executar, analisar, controlar e melhorar o operacional do processo. Para tal, recorreu-se a um estudo de caso, realizado no Centro de Transferência e Valorização de Conhecimento e Gabinete de Projetos (CTC/GP), do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria (IPL), referente ao processo de candidatura de projetos em co-promoção, no novo quadro comunitário. A escolha deste estudo de caso prendeu-se com o facto de o CTC/GP ser uma unidade orgânica do IPL que, entre outras atividades, articula a academia com o tecido empresarial da região de Leiria, contribuindo para a criação de uma economia de valor acrescentado, suportada por produtos exportáveis e competitivos ao nível da qualidade. Por outro lado, o processo de candidatura de projetos em co-promoção é um processo de grande rendibilidade para o instituto. A grande contribuição deste trabalho foi, por um lado, munir a equipa de um fluxograma do supra citado processo, numa ferramenta de fácil utilização e premiável às mudanças de paradigma e, por outro, apresentar várias questões de partida para investigações futuras.

Management of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in UK primary care: a survey of general practitioners

Background: Compared to existing literature on childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), little published adult data are available, particularly outside of the United States. Using General Practitioner (GP) questionnaires from the United Kingdom, this study aimed to examine a number of issues related to ADHD in adults, across three cohorts of patients, adults who received ADHD drug treatment in childhood/adolescence but stopped prior to adulthood; adults who received ADHD drug treatment in childhood/adolescence and continued treatment into adulthood and adults who started ADHD drug treatment in adulthood.Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of ADHD and prescribed methylphenidate, dexamfetamine or atomoxetine were identified using data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN). Dates when these drugs started and stopped were used to classify patients into the three cohorts. From each cohort, 50 patients were randomly selected and questionnaires were sent via THIN to their GPs.GPs returned completed questionnaires to THIN who forwarded anonymised copies to the researchers. Datasets were analysed using descriptive statistics.Results: Overall response rate was 89% (133/150). GPs stated that in 19 cases, the patient did not meet the criteria of that group; the number of valid questionnaires returned was 114 (76%). The following broad trends were observed: 1) GPs were not aware of the reason for treatment cessation in 43% of cases, 2) patient choice was the most common reason for discontinuation (56%), 3) 7% of patients who stopped pharmacological treatment subsequently reported experiencing ADHD symptoms, 4) 58% of patients who started pharmacological treatment for ADHD in adulthood received pharmacological treatment for other mental health conditions prior to the ADHD being diagnosed.Conclusion: This study presents some key findings relating to ADHD; GPs were often not aware of the reason for patients stopping ADHD treatment in childhood or adolescence. Patient choice was identified as the most common reason for treatment cessation. For patients who started pharmacological treatment in adulthood, many patients received pharmacological treatment for comorbidities before a diagnosis of ADHD was made.

Modulation de l'expression et de la localisation de la connexine 43 par des cytokines pro-inflammatoires dans les cellules folliculostellaires de l'hypophyse antérieure

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Performance Information and Innovation in the Canadian Government (Working Paper 43)

The presentation made at the conference addressed the issue of linkages between performance information and innovation within the Canadian federal government1. This is a three‐part paper prepared as background to that presentation. • Part I provides an overview of three main sources of performance information - results-based systems, program evaluation, and centrally driven review exercises – and reviews the Canadian experience with them. • Part II identifies and discusses a number of innovation issues that are common to the literature reviewed for this paper. • Part III examines actual and potential linkages between innovation and performance information. This section suggests that innovation in the Canadian federal government tends to cluster into two groups: smaller initiatives driven by staff or middle management; and much larger projects involving major programs, whole departments or whole-of-government. Readily available data on smaller innovation projects is skimpy but suggests that performance information does not play a major role in stimulating these initiatives. In contrast, two of the examples of large-scale innovation show that performance information plays a critical role at all stages. The paper concludes by supporting the contention of others writing on this topic: that more research is needed on innovation, particularly on its link to performance information. In that context, other conclusions drawn in this paper are tentative but suggest that the quality of performance information is as important for innovation as it is for performance management. However, innovation is likely to require its own particular performance information that may not be generated on a routine basis for purposes of performance management, particularly in the early stages of innovation. And, while the availability of performance information can be an important success factor in innovation, it does not stand alone. The commonality of a number of other factors identified in the literature surveyed for this paper strongly suggests that equal if not greater priority needs to be given to attenuating factors that inhibit innovation and to nurturing incentives.

Nanotechnology in the food industry I: applications

Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary science that is having a boom today, providing new products with attractive physicochemical properties for many applications. In agri/feed/food sector, nanotechnology offers great opportunities for obtaining products and innovative applications for agriculture and livestock, water treatment and the production, processing, storage and packaging of food. To this end, a wide variety of nanomaterials, ranging from metals and inorganic metal oxides to organic nanomaterials carrying bioactive ingredients are applied. This review shows an overview of current and future applications of nanotechnology in the food industry. Food additives and materials in contact with food are now the main applications, while it is expected that in the future are in the field of nano-encapsulated and nanocomposites in applications as novel foods, additives, biocides, pesticides and materials food contact.

Radiative rates for E1, E2, M1, and M2 transitions in Br-like ions with 43≤Z≤50

Energies and lifetimes are reported for the eight Br-like ions with 43≤Z≤50, namely Tc IX, Ru X, Rh XI, Pd XII, Ag XIII, Cd XIV, In XV, and Sn XVI. Results are listed for the lowest 375 levels, which mostly belong to the 4s²4p⁵, 4s²4p⁴4ℓ, 4s4p⁶,4s²4p⁴5ℓ, 4s²4p³4d², 4s4p⁵4ℓ, and 4s4p⁵5ℓ configurations. Extensive configuration interaction among 39 configurations (generating 3990 levels) has been considered and the general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package (grasp) has been adopted for the calculations. Radiative rates are listed for all E1, E2, M1, and M2 transitions involving the lowest 375 levels. Previous experimental and theoretical energies are available for only a few levels of three, namely Ru X, Rh XI and Pd XII. Differences with the measured energies are up to 4% but the present results are an improvement (by up to 0.3 Ryd) in comparison to other recently reported theoretical data. Similarly for radiative rates and lifetimes, prior results are limited to those involving only 31 levels of the 4s²4p⁵, 4s²4p⁴4d, and 4s4p⁶ configurations for the last four ions. Moreover, there are generally no discrepancies with our results, although the larger calculations reported here differ by up to two orders of magnitude for a few transitions.