Update on the Cognitive Presentations of iNPH for Clinicians

This mini-review focuses on cognitive impairment in iNPH. This symptom is one of the characteristic triad of symptoms in a condition long considered to be the only treatable dementia. We present an update on recent developments in clinical, neuropsychological, neuroimaging and biomarker aspects. Significant advances in our understanding have been made, notably regarding biomarkers, but iNPH remains a difficult diagnosis. Stronger evidence for permanent surgical treatment is emerging but selection for treatment remains challenging, particularly with regards to cognitive presentations. Encouragingly, there has been increasing interest in iNPH, but more research is required to better define the underlying pathology and delineate it from overlapping conditions, in order to inform best practise for the clinician managing the cognitively impaired patient. In the meantime, we strongly encourage a multidisciplinary approach and a structured service pathway to maximise patient benefit

The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS) in frontotemporal dementia

To examine the usefulness of the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Screen (ECAS) as a cognitive screening tool for the detection of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). A secondary aim was to determine whether people with FTD combined with ALS (ALS-FTD) exhibit a similar ECAS profile to that of people with bvFTD alone. Methods: Patients with ALS-FTD and bvFTD and healthy controls were recruited. Participants were administered the ECAS, which comprises tests of language, verbal fluency, executive functions, memory, and visual-spatial functions. They also carried out analogous, full-length cognitive tests that examine naming, spelling, sentence completion, and social cognition skills. Results: The study cohort comprised 20 ALS-FTD patients, 23 with bvFTD, and 30 controls. Highly significant group differences were elicited for all cognitive domains, reflecting poorer performance in patients compared to controls. No significant differences in overall test scores were found between ALS-FTD and bvFTD patients, although ALS-FTD patients showed a higher frequency of impairment on verbal fluency. Correlative analyses revealed inter-relationships in patients (but not controls) between scores in different domains, most marked in bvFTD. There were strong correlations between performance on ECAS subtests and analogous cognitive tasks. Conclusion: The ECAS is a sensitive and valuable tool for the assessment of FTD. Executive, language and behavioral breakdown may, however, compromise performance in other cognitive domains, reducing the specificity of the ‘frontotemporal’ cognitive profile. Subtle differences observed between ALS-FTD and bvFTD raise questions regarding the precise relationship between bvFTD with and without ALS

Small changes in bone structure of female a7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor knockout mice

BACKGROUND: Recently, analysis of bone from knockout mice identified muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype M3 (mAChR M3) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunit a2 as positive regulator of bone mass accrual whereas of male mice deficient for a7-nAChR (a7KO) did not reveal impact in regulation of bone remodeling. Since female sex hormones are involved in fair coordination of osteoblast bone formation and osteoclast bone degradation we assigned the current study to analyze bone strength, composition and microarchitecture of female a7KO compared to their corresponding wild-type mice (a7WT). METHODS: Vertebrae and long bones of female 16-week-old a7KO (n = 10) and a7WT (n = 8) were extracted and analyzed by means of histological, radiological, biomechanical, cell- and molecular methods as well as time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). RESULTS: Bone of female a7KO revealed a significant increase in bending stiffness (p<0.05) and cortical thickness (p<0.05) compared to a7WT, whereas gene expression of osteoclast marker cathepsin K was declined. ToF-SIMS analysis detected a decrease in trabecular calcium content and an increase in C4H6N+ (p<0.05) and C4H8N+ (p<0.001) collagen fragments whereas a loss of osteoid was found by means of TEM. CONCLUSIONS: Our results on female a7KO bone identified differences in bone strength and composition. In addition, we could demonstrate that a7-nAChRs are involved in regulation of bone remodelling. In contrast to mAChR M3 and nAChR subunit a2 the a7-nAChR favours reduction of bone strength thereby showing similar effects as a7ß2-nAChR in male mice. nAChR are able to form heteropentameric receptors containing a- and ß-subunits as well as the subunits a7 can be arranged as homopentameric cation channel. The different effects of homopentameric and heteropentameric a7-nAChR on bone need to be analysed in future studies as well as gender effects of cholinergic receptors on bone homeostasis

EnMap In-flight Calibration Status

The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) hyperspectral satellite mission was successfully launched on 1st April 2022. The mission aims to monitor and characterise Earth’s environment in the spectral range from 420 - 2450 nm. The VNIR sensor provides 91 science channels ranging from 420 - 1000 nm with an average Spectral Sampling Distance (SSD) of 6.5 nm. While the SWIR sensor covers the range from 900 - 2450 nm with 131 channels and 10nm SSD. - The off-nadir pointing capability (up to 30 degrees) enables 5000 km to be monitored per day, with a swath width of 30 km and a spatial resolution of 30 m. The EnMAP satellite is equipped with several subsystems which allow periodic in-flight monitoring and calibration. The Full Aperture solar Diffuser Assembly (FADA) is used for absolute radiometric calibration. The On-Board Calibration Assembly (OBCA) is composed of 2 integrating spheres: one is coated with a doped diffuser material and is used for the spectral calibration; the second sphere, coated with a white spectralon, is used for Radiometric stability monitoring. Linearity LEDs are placed in front of the detector to monitor their linearity by measuring the response at constant illumination with increasing integration times. The Shutter Calibration Mechanism (SCM) allows for measurements with no light input to be performed in order to compute Dark Signal values and, in combination with Deep Space measurements, to compute any existing shutter emission in the SWIR range. This contribution will present a summary of the calibration activities performed during the EnMAP Commissioning Phase