Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Investigation of gender-driven information processing strategies and the perceptions of pictorial warning labels.

The primary purpose of this research is to determine whether there is a significant relationship between gender-driven (left or right hemispheric dominant)information processing strategies and the perception of pictorial warning labels. Data were collected from a sample of 126 male and 178 female respondents,on a quota convenience basis, from a university campus. In general, it was found that right hemispheric dominants do indeed notice the iconic warning label more than their more logical left hemispheric counterparts. Furthermore, the research also demonstrated that right dominants are also more likely to comply with warning instructions in the case of the written version. This effect is also found to be much stronger for the iconic warning label

Guaranteeing QoS using unlicensed TV white space for smart grid applications

In this article, we consider the utilization of TVWS by small CR network operators to support the communication needs of various smart grid applications. We first propose a multi-Tier communication network architecture for smart metering applications in dense urban environments. Our measurement campaign, without any competition from other CR operators, reveals that the communication architecture can achieve more than 1 Mb/s data rates using the free unlicensed TVWS spectrum. However, anticipating stiff competition for the unlicensed TVWS spectrum among CR operators and to support smart grid applications with stringent QoS requirements, we further exploit the novel idea of high priority channels (HPCs) that a CR operator can temporarily lease by paying a small fee. This poses several new challenges for CR operators, such as their economic viability while providing QoS guarantees. We develop a real-Time decision support framework with several adjustable parameters for CR operators that enables them to trade off HPC leasing cost and QoS. The developed algorithms are simple rules that provide significant opportunities to CR operators to maintain a balance between spectrum cost and QoS depending on dynamic spectrum availability and smart grid application requirements