173 research outputs found
Cerebrospinal Fluid YKL-40 and Neurogranin in Familial Alzheimer's Disease: A Pilot Study
BACKGROUND: YKL-40 and neurogranin are promising additional cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) which reflect different underlying disease mechanisms. OBJECTIVE: To compare the levels of CSF YKL-40 and neurogranin between asymptomatic carriers of familial AD (FAD) mutations (MC) and non-carriers (NC) from the same families. Another objective was to assess changes in YKL-40 and neurogranin, from the presymptomatic to clinical phase of FAD. METHODS: YKL-40 and neurogranin, as well as Aβ42, total tau-protein, and phospho-tau, were measured in the CSF of 14 individuals carrying one of three FAD mutations, APPswe (p.KM670/671NL), APParc (p.E693G), and PSEN1 (p.H163Y), as well as in 17 NC from the same families. Five of the MC developed mild cognitive impairment (MCI) during follow-up. RESULTS: In this pilot study, there was no difference in either CSF YKL-40 or neurogranin when comparing the presymptomatic MC to the NC. YKL-40 correlated positively with expected years to symptom onset and to age in both the MC and the NC, while neurogranin had no correlation to either variable in either of the groups. A subgroup of the participants underwent more than one CSF sampling in which half of the MC developed MCI during follow-up. The longitudinal data showed an increase in YKL-40 levels in the MC as the expected symptom onset approached. Neurogranin remained stable over time in both the MC and the NC. CONCLUSION: These findings support a positive correlation between progression from presymptomatic to symptomatic AD and levels of CSF YKL-40, but not neurogranin
The effects of different familial Alzheimer's disease mutations on APP processing in vivo
BACKGROUND:
Disturbed amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing is considered to be central to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The autosomal dominant form of the disease, familial AD (FAD), may serve as a model for the sporadic form of AD. In FAD the diagnosis of AD is reliable and presymptomatic individuals carrying FAD mutations can give valuable insights into the earliest stages of the disease where therapeutic interventions are thought to be the most effective.
METHODS:In the current cross-sectional study, products of APP processing (e.g., sAPPα, sAPPβ, Aβ38, Aβ40 and Aβ42) were measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of individuals carrying one of three FAD mutations, APPswe (p.KM670/671NL), APParc (p.E693G) and PSEN1 (p.H163Y), as well as in non-mutation carriers from the same families.
RESULTS:
We observed pathological APP processing in presymptomatic carriers of FAD mutations, with different profiles of APP and Aβ isoforms in the three mutation carrier groups, APPswe (p.KM670/671NL), APParc (p.E693G) and PSEN1 (p.H163Y), except for the well-established decrease in CSF Aβ42 that was found with all mutations.
CONCLUSIONS:
These findings add to the current evidence that AD pathophysiology differs between disease-causing mutations and can be monitored in the presymptomatic disease stage by CSF analyses. This may also be important from a therapeutic standpoint, by opening a window to monitor effects of disease-modifying drugs on AD pathophysiology
Holonomic functions of several complex variables and singularities of anisotropic Ising n-fold integrals
Lattice statistical mechanics, often provides a natural (holonomic) framework
to perform singularity analysis with several complex variables that would, in a
general mathematical framework, be too complex, or could not be defined.
Considering several Picard-Fuchs systems of two-variables "above" Calabi-Yau
ODEs, associated with double hypergeometric series, we show that holonomic
functions are actually a good framework for actually finding the singular
manifolds. We, then, analyse the singular algebraic varieties of the n-fold
integrals , corresponding to the decomposition of the magnetic
susceptibility of the anisotropic square Ising model. We revisit a set of
Nickelian singularities that turns out to be a two-parameter family of elliptic
curves. We then find a first set of non-Nickelian singularities for and , that also turns out to be rational or ellipic
curves. We underline the fact that these singular curves depend on the
anisotropy of the Ising model. We address, from a birational viewpoint, the
emergence of families of elliptic curves, and of Calabi-Yau manifolds on such
problems. We discuss the accumulation of these singular curves for the
non-holonomic anisotropic full susceptibility.Comment: 36 page
On the asymptotics of higher-dimensional partitions
We conjecture that the asymptotic behavior of the numbers of solid
(three-dimensional) partitions is identical to the asymptotics of the
three-dimensional MacMahon numbers. Evidence is provided by an exact
enumeration of solid partitions of all integers <=68 whose numbers are
reproduced with surprising accuracy using the asymptotic formula (with one free
parameter) and better accuracy on increasing the number of free parameters. We
also conjecture that similar behavior holds for higher-dimensional partitions
and provide some preliminary evidence for four and five-dimensional partitions.Comment: 30 pages, 8 tables, 4 figures (v2) New data (63-68) for solid
partitions added; (v3) published version, new subsection providing an
unbiased estimate of the leading for the leading coefficient added, some
tables delete
A Note on Computations of D-brane Superpotential
We develop some computational methods for the integrals over the 3-chains on
the compact Calabi-Yau 3-folds that plays a prominent role in the analysis of
the topological B-model in the context of the open mirror symmetry. We discuss
such 3-chain integrals in two approaches. In the first approach, we provide a
systematic algorithm to obtain the inhomogeneous Picard-Fuchs equations. In the
second approach, we discuss the analytic continuation of the period integral to
compute the 3-chain integral directly. The latter direct integration method is
applicable for both on-shell and off-shell formalisms.Comment: 61 pages, 5 figures; v2: typos corrected, minor changes, references
adde
Multiple (inverse) binomial sums of arbitrary weight and depth and the all-order epsilon-expansion of generalized hypergeometric functions with one half-integer value of parameter
We continue the study of the construction of analytical coefficients of the
epsilon-expansion of hypergeometric functions and their connection with Feynman
diagrams. In this paper, we show the following results:
Theorem A: The multiple (inverse) binomial sums of arbitrary weight and depth
(see Eq. (1.1)) are expressible in terms of Remiddi-Vermaseren functions.
Theorem B: The epsilon expansion of a hypergeometric function with one
half-integer value of parameter (see Eq. (1.2)) is expressible in terms of the
harmonic polylogarithms of Remiddi and Vermaseren with coefficients that are
ratios of polynomials. Some extra materials are available via the www at this
http://theor.jinr.ru/~kalmykov/hypergeom/hyper.htmlComment: 24 pages, latex with amsmath and JHEP3.cls; v2: some typos corrected
and a few references added; v3: few references added
Large scale analytic calculations in quantum field theories
We present a survey on the mathematical structure of zero- and single scale
quantities and the associated calculation methods and function spaces in higher
order perturbative calculations in relativistic renormalizable quantum field
theories.Comment: 25 pages Latex, 1 style fil
Galectins as immunoregulators during infectious processes: from microbial invasion to the resolution of the disease
Recent evidence has implicated galectins, a family of evolutionarily conserved carbohydrate-binding proteins, as regulators of immune cell homeostasis and host-pathogen interactions. Galectins operate at different levels of innate and adaptive immune responses, by modulating cell survival and cell activation or by influencing the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance. Furthermore, galectins may contribute to host-pathogen recognition and may serve as receptors for specific interactions of pathogens with their insect vectors. Here we will explore the influence of galectins in immunological processes relevant to microbial infection and will summarize exciting recent work related to the specific interactions between galectins and their glycoconjugate ligands as critical determinants of pathogen recognition. Understanding the role of galectin-sugar interactions during the course of microbial infections might contribute to defining novel targets for disease prevention and immune intervention.Fil: Rabinovich, Gabriel Adrián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Gruppi, Adriana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentin
- …