Factors determining disease duration in Alzheimer's disease:a postmortem study of 103 cases using the Kaplan-Meier estimator and Cox regression

Factors associated with duration of dementia in a consecutive series of 103 Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases were studied using the Kaplan-Meier estimator and Cox regression analysis (proportional hazard model). Mean disease duration was 7.1 years (range: 6 weeks-30 years, standard deviation = 5.18); 25% of cases died within four years, 50% within 6.9 years, and 75% within 10 years. Familial AD cases (FAD) had a longer duration than sporadic cases (SAD), especially cases linked to presenilin (PSEN) genes. No significant differences in duration were associated with age, sex, or apolipoprotein E (Apo E) genotype. Duration was reduced in cases with arterial hypertension. Cox regression analysis suggested longer duration was associated with an earlier disease onset and increased senile plaque (SP) and neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) pathology in the orbital gyrus (OrG), CA1 sector of the hippocampus, and nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM). The data suggest shorter disease duration in SAD and in cases with hypertensive comorbidity. In addition, degree of neuropathology did not influence survival, but spread of SP/NFT pathology into the frontal lobe, hippocampus, and basal forebrain was associated with longer disease duration

Development of areolae and growth of the peripheral prothallus in the crustose lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum:an image analysis study

Areolae of the crustose lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC., are present on the peripheral prothallus (marginal areolae) and also aggregate to form confluent masses in the centre of the thallus (central areolae). To determine the relationships between these areolae and whether growth of the peripheral prothallus is dependent on the marginal areolae, the density, morphology, and size frequency distributions of marginal areolae were measured in 23 thalli of R. geographicum in north Wales, UK using image analysis (Image J). Size and morphology of central areolae were also studied across the thallus. Marginal areolae were small, punctate, and occurred in clusters scattered over the peripheral prothallus while central areolae were larger and had a lobed structure. The size-class frequency distributions of the marginal and central areolae were fitted by power-law and log-normal models respectively. In 16 out of 23 thalli, central areolae close to the outer edge were larger and had a more complex lobed morphology than those towards the thallus centre. Neither mean width nor radial growth rate (RaGR) of the peripheral prothallus were correlated with density, diameter, or area fraction of marginal areolae. The data suggest central areolae may develop from marginal areolae as follows: (1) marginal areolae develop in clusters at the periphery and fuse to form central areolae, (2) central areolae grow exponentially, and (3) crowding of central areolae results in constriction and fragmentation. In addition, growth of the peripheral prothallus may be unrelated to the marginal areolae

Strumble-Preseli ancient communities and environment study (SPACES); Sixth report 2007-08

This paper reports the results of field surveys and geophysical surveys in the eastern Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire, Wales, together with petrological descriptions of rock samples taken from key outcrops and quarry sites

Lichenometric dating (lichenometry) and the biology of the lichen genus rhizocarpon:challenges and future directions

Lichenometric dating (lichenometry) involves the use of lichen measurements to estimate the age of exposure of various substrata. Because of low radial growth rates and considerable longevity, species of the crustose lichen genus Rhizocarpon have been the most useful in lichenometry. The primary assumption of lichenometry is that colonization, growth and mortality of Rhizocarpon are similar on surfaces of known and unknown age so that the largest thalli present on the respective faces are of comparable age. This review describes the current state of knowledge regarding the biology of Rhizocarpon and considers two main questions: (1) to what extent does existing knowledge support this assumption; and (2) what further biological observations would be useful both to test its validity and to improve the accuracy of lichenometric dates? A review of the Rhizocarpon literature identified gaps in knowledge regarding early development, the growth rate/size curve, mortality, regeneration, competitive effects, colonization, and succession on rock surfaces. The data suggest that these processes may not be comparable on different rock surfaces, especially in regions where growth rates and thallus turnover are high. In addition, several variables could differ between rock surfaces and influence maximum thallus size, including rate and timing of colonization, radial growth rates, environmental differences, thallus fusion, allelopathy, thallus mortality, colonization and competition. Comparative measurements of these variables on surfaces of known and unknown age may help to determine whether the basic assumptions of lichenometry are valid. Ultimately, it may be possible to take these differences into account when interpreting estimated dates

'Growth rings' in crustose lichens:comparison with directly measured growth rates and implications for lichenometry

Some species of crustose lichens, such as Ochrolechia parella (L.) Massal., exhibit concentric marginal rings, which may represent an alternative technique of measuring growth rates and potentially, a new lichenometric dating method. To examine this hypothesis, the agreement and correlation between ring widths and directly measured annual radial growth rates (RaGR, mm a-1) were studied in 24 thalli of O. parella in north Wales, UK, using digital photography and image analysis. Variation in ring width was observed at different locations around a thallus, between thalli, and from year to year. The best agreement and correlation between ring width and lichen growth rates was between mean width of the outer two rings (measured in 2011) and mean RaGR (in 2009/10). The O. parella data suggest that mean width of the youngest two growth rings, averaged over a sample of thalli, is a predictor of recent growth rates and therefore could be used in lichenometry. Potential applications include as a convenient method of comparing lichen growth rates on surfaces in different environmental settings; and as an alternative method of constructing lichen growth-rate curves, without having to revisit the same lichen thalli over many years. However, care is needed when using growth rings to estimate growth rates as: growth ring widths may not be stable; ring widths exhibit spatial and temporal variation; rings may not represent 1-year's growth in all thalli; and adjacent rings may not always represent successive year's growth

Exhumation of high-pressure rocks in northern Gondwana during the Early

The Coimbra–Córdoba shear zone (CCSZ) represents a major intra-continental shear zone of the European Variscan orogen. The shear criteria found in metamorphic rocks of the CCSZ are consistent with sinistral transcurrent movements. Isoclinal and open folds with axes parallel to the stretching lineation are responsible for dip variations in the mylonitic foliation, but are related to the same kinematics. In selected outcrops of the Campo Maior unit (SW Iberian Massif, Portugal), boudins of high-pressure mafic granulites, high-grade amphibolites and felsic gneisses with long-axes parallel to the stretching lineation in the surrounded metamorphic rocks, were sampled together with the host migmatites for petrographic, geothermobarometric and U–Th–Pb SHRIMP in-situ zircon geochronology analysis. The results show that decompression associated with shearing and partial melting in the CCSZ began under granulite facies conditions during the Variscan orogeny (early Carboniferous: c. 340 Ma.). Peak metamorphic conditions in the mafic granulites (850–880 °C and 14.5–16.5 kbar), were followed by symplectitization at 725–750 °C and 12.5–14.5 kbar. Peak P–T conditions were 615–675 °C and 9.5–11.5 kbar in the high-grade amphibolites, 750–850 °C and 11.5–15.5 kbar in the weakly deformed gneisses, and 675–725 °C and 9–11.5 kbar in the sheared migmatites. Subsequently, temperatures and pressures decreased during amphibolite facies metamorphism coeval with mylonitization. Retrograde P–T conditions were 550–700 °C and 7–9 kbar in the high-grade amphibolite, 620–640 °C and 6–8 kbar in the gneisses, and 560–610 °C and 5–6.5 kbar in the migmatites. Zircon dating of the migmatites and gneisses indicate Ediacaran (c. 590 Ma) and Ordovician (c. 488–479 Ma) ages for the protoliths, and show that these rocks were part of the northern Gondwana margin with a West Africa Craton signature dominated by Paleoproterozoic (c. 2–1.8 Ga) and Neoproterozoic (c. 664–555 Ma) ages, and a characteristic lack of Mesoproterozoic (c. 0.9–1.7 Ga) ages. These rocks were probably subducted, and subsequently exhumed during the complex processes of Pangea formation. The high temperature–high pressure rocks of the Campo Maior unit were likely displaced by large-scale transcurrent movements within the CCSZ in the early Carboniferous. The CCSZ appears to represent a major shear zone in the SW Iberian Massif connected in some way to the Variscan suture zon

Analysis of tumor as an inverse problem provides a novel theoretical framework for understanding tumor biology and therapy

We use a novel “inverse problem” technique to construct a basic mathematical model of the interacting populations at the tumor-host interface. This approach assumes that invasive cancer is a solution to the set of state equations that govern the interactions of transformed and normal cells. By considering the invading tumor edge as a traveling wave, the general form of the state equations can be inferred. The stability of this traveling wave solution imposes constraints on key biological quantities which appear as parameters in the model equations. Based on these constraints, we demonstrate the limitations of traditional therapeutic strategies in clinical oncology that focus solely on killing tumor cells or reducing their rate of proliferation. The results provide insights into fundamental mechanisms that may prevent these approaches from successfully eradicating most common cancers despite several decades of research. Alternative therapies directed at modifying the key parameters in the state equations to destabilize the propagating solution are proposed

Spinal cord injury in the emergency context: Review of program outcomes of a spinal cord injury rehabilitation program in Sri Lanka

Background: The final months of the conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 resulted in massive displacement of the civilian population and a high volume of orthopedic trauma including spinal cord injury. In response to this need, Médecins Sans Frontières implemented a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. Methods. Patients were admitted to the program if they had a spinal cord injury

Early Proterozoic zircons in Variscan gabbros from central Spain: Evidence of an Icartian magmatic event at mantle depths?

Depto. de Mineralogía y PetrologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEpu