Plasma cell-free DNA methylation marks for episodic memory impairment : a pilot twin study

Decline in episodic memory performance usually causes the first clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. At present, Alzheimer's disease can only be diagnosed at a very late stage when neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment is already irreversible. New early disease markers are needed for earlier and more efficient Alzheimer's disease intervention. To identify early disease markers, we implemented a genome-wide bisulphite sequencing method for the analysis of plasma cell-free DNA methylation profiles and compared differences associated with episodic memory performance in Finnish twin pairs. A noticeable amount of cell-free DNA was present in plasma, however, the amounts as well as the genomic coverage of these fragments varied substantially between individuals. We found no significant markers associated with episodic memory performance in the twins' plasma cell-free DNA methylation profiles. Furthermore, our results indicate that due to the low genomic coverage of cell-free DNA fragments and the variety in these fragments between individuals, the implemented genome-wide bisulphite sequencing method is not optimal for comparing cell-free DNA methylation differences between large groups of individuals.Peer reviewe

Commissioning of the spede spectrometer with stable beams

The SPectrometer for Electron DEtection (SPEDE) has been constructed for in-beam nuclear structure studies using radioactive ion beams. SPEDE employs a silicon detector for detecting conversion electrons. It is designed to be used in conjunction with the MINIBALL spectrometer at HIE-ISOLDE, CERN.Peer reviewe

Study of bound states in 12Be through low-energy 11Be(d,p)-transfer reactions

The bound states of 12Be have been studied through a 11Be(d,p)12Be transfer reaction experiment in inverse kinematics. A 2.8 MeV/u beam of 11Be was produced using the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN. The outgoing protons were detected with the T-REX silicon detector array. The MINIBALL germanium array was used to detect gamma rays from the excited states in 12Be. The gamma-ray detection enabled a clear identification of the four known bound states in 12Be, and each of the states has been studied individually. Differential cross sections over a large angular range have been extracted. Spectroscopic factors for each of the states have been determined from DWBA calculations and have been compared to previous experimental and theoretical results

Plasma cell-free DNA methylation marks for episodic memory impairment: a pilot twin study

Decline in episodic memory performance usually causes the first clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. At present, Alzheimer’s disease can only be diagnosed at a very late stage when neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment is already irreversible. New early disease markers are needed for earlier and more efficient Alzheimer’s disease intervention. To identify early disease markers, we implemented a genome-wide bisulphite sequencing method for the analysis of plasma cell-free DNA methylation profiles and compared differences associated with episodic memory performance in Finnish twin pairs. A noticeable amount of cell-free DNA was present in plasma, however, the amounts as well as the genomic coverage of these fragments varied substantially between individuals. We found no significant markers associated with episodic memory performance in the twins’ plasma cell-free DNA methylation profiles. Furthermore, our results indicate that due to the low genomic coverage of cell-free DNA fragments and the variety in these fragments between individuals, the implemented genome-wide bisulphite sequencing method is not optimal for comparing cell-free DNA methylation differences between large groups of individuals.</p

In-beam spectroscopic study of 244Cf

The ground-state rotational band of the neutron-deficient californium (Z = 98) isotope 244Cf was identified for the first time and measured up to a tentative spin and parity of I = 20+. The observation of the rotational band indicates that the nucleus is deformed. The kinematic and dynamic moments of inertia were deduced from the measured gamma-ray transition energies. The behavior of the dynamic moment of inertia revealed an up-bend due to a possible alignment of coupled nucleons in high-j orbitals starting at a rotational frequency of about hw = 0.20 MeV. The results were compared with the systematic behavior of the even-even N = 146 isotones as well as with available theoretical calculations that have been performed for nuclei in the region

Lifetime measurements of lowest states in the πg_7/2⊗νh_11/2 rotational band in ¹¹²I

A differential-plunger device was used to measure the lifetimes of the lowest states in the πg7/2 ⊗ νh11/2 rotational band in doubly odd 112I with the 58Ni(58Ni, 3pn) reaction. A differential decay curve method was performed using the fully shifted and degraded γ -ray intensity measurements as a function of target-to-degrader distance. The lifetimes of the lowest three states in the πg7/2 ⊗ νh11/2 band in 112I were measured to be 124(30), 130(25), and 6.5(5) ps, respectively. As the lifetimes of successive excited states in a rotational band are expected to decrease with increasing excitation energy, these measurements suggest that the order of the transitions in the established band in 112I may need revising and that the state tentatively assigned to be (7−) may not belong to the rotational band.peerReviewe

Study of bound states in Be-10 by one neutron removal reactions of Be-11

The bound states of Be-10 have been studied by removing single neutrons from Be-11 nuclei. A 2.8 MeV u(-1) beam of Be-11 was produced at ISOLDE, CERN and directed on to both proton and deuteron targets inducing one-neutron removal reactions. Charged particles were detected to identify the two reaction channels (d, t) and (p, d), and the individual states in Be-10 were identified by gamma detection. All bound states but one were populated and identified in the (d, t) reaction. The combination of REX-ISOLDE and MINIBALL allowed for a clean separation of the high-lying states in Be-10. This is the first time these states have been separated in a reaction experiment. Differential cross sections have been calculated for all the reaction channels and compared to DWBA calculations. Spectroscopic factors are derived and compared to values from the litterature. While the overall agreement between the spectrocopic factors is poor, the ratio between the ground state and the first excited state is in agreement with the previous measured ones. Furthermore, a significant population of the 2(2)(+) state is observed, which which may indicate the presence of multi-step processes at our beam energy.Peer reviewe

In-beam spectroscopic study of Cf-244

The ground-state rotational band of the neutron-deficient californium (Z = 98) isotope 244Cf was identified for the first time and measured up to a tentative spin and parity of I I-pi = 20(+). The observation of the rotational band indicates that the nucleus is deformed. The kinematic and dynamic moments of inertia were deduced from the measured gamma-ray transition energies. The behavior of the dynamic moment of inertia revealed an up-bend due to a possible alignment of coupled nucleons in high-j orbitals starting at a rotational frequency of about (h) over bar (omega) = 0.20 MeV. The results were compared with the systematic behavior of the even-even N = 146 isotones as well as with available theoretical calculations that have been performed for nuclei in the region.Peer reviewe

Shape coexistence in Hg-178

Lifetime measurements of excited states in Hg-178 have been performed using the Rh-103(Kr-78, p2n) reaction at a beam energy of 354 MeV. The recoil-decay tagging (RDT) technique was applied to select the Hg-178 nuclei and associate the prompt gamma rays with the correlated characteristic ground-state alpha decay. Lifetimes of the four lowest yrast states of Hg-178 have been determined using the recoil distance Doppler-shift (RDDS) method. The experimental data are compared to theoretical predictions with focus on shape coexistence. The results confirm the shift of the deformed prolate structures to higher lying states but also indicate their increasing deformation with decreasing neutron number.Peer reviewe