Subtle memory and attentional deficits revealed in an Irish stroke patient sample using domain-specific cognitive tasks

Stroke disrupts motor, sensory, and cognitive systems in survivors. Unlike in physical impairments, assessment of cognitive function is often inadequate, as no standardized procedure to monitor cognitive recovery post stroke exists. We evaluated a number of novel task-orientated tools designed to assess subtle cognitive deficits (including memory, attention, and executive functioning) in a sample of stroke patients. Although unimpaired on MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination)-based indices of cognition, memory, and intelligence, stroke survivors were significantly impaired on tasks testing visual attention, spatial/relational processing, and associative memory. We recommend a standardized multidomain cognitive assessment and propose that cognitive deficits post stroke require in-depth assessment to inform patient-orientated rehabilitation

Employer, Industry and Policymaker views on Doctorate Education

As society undergoes green and digital transitions, various policymakers such as the European Commission expect universities to contribute to innovation and progress. As education’s highest achieving graduates, the doctorate holder may be key in this era of innovation and problem-solving. As academic career prospects dwindle, and PhD graduates increasingly enter industry, academic research has highlighted that traditional PhD programmes may not provide the required skills and knowledge for the workforce today. To learn how best to address such issues, we consulted thirteen EU policy documents and industry-led reports; and interviewed thirteen employers to add their voice to the discussion. Findings align with previous reports of a lack of transferable skills, but also introduce new concerns such as the desire for adaptability, experience, and redefining skills with regards to self-presentation. We discuss interdisciplinarity and intersectorality as potential solutions to addressing these needs

Multiple indices of diffusion identifies white matter damage in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

The study of multiple indices of diffusion, including axial (DA), radial (DR) and mean diffusion (MD), as well as fractional anisotropy (FA), enables WM damage in Alzheimer's disease (AD) to be assessed in detail. Here, tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) were performed on scans of 40 healthy elders, 19 non-amnestic MCI (MCIna) subjects, 14 amnestic MCI (MCIa) subjects and 9 AD patients. Significantly higher DA was found in MCIna subjects compared to healthy elders in the right posterior cingulum/precuneus. Significantly higher DA was also found in MCIa subjects compared to healthy elders in the left prefrontal cortex, particularly in the forceps minor and uncinate fasciculus. In the MCIa versus MCIna comparison, significantly higher DA was found in large areas of the left prefrontal cortex. For AD patients, the overlap of FA and DR changes and the overlap of FA and MD changes were seen in temporal, parietal and frontal lobes, as well as the corpus callosum and fornix. Analysis of differences between the AD versus MCIna, and AD versus MCIa contrasts, highlighted regions that are increasingly compromised in more severe disease stages. Microstructural damage independent of gross tissue loss was widespread in later disease stages. Our findings suggest a scheme where WM damage begins in the core memory network of the temporal lobe, cingulum and prefrontal regions, and spreads beyond these regions in later stages. DA and MD indices were most sensitive at detecting early changes in MCIa

Generation of an international standard serum to measure influenza virus hemagglutinin stalk-reactive antibodies

Current efforts towards the development of a universal influenza virus vaccine rely on induction of effective long-term antibody responses against conserved regions of the influenza virus glycoproteins. The stalk domain of the hemagglutinin has been targeted for this purpose due to its high degree of conservation among numerous influenza subtypes and strains. Several vaccine candidates targeting this domain are in late pre-clinical or early clinical stage of development. Currently assays to measure stalk-based immunity are not standardized and no international standard is available. As various vaccine developers are generating data from pre-clinical and clinical studies, harmonization of assay read-outs will help in the comparison of experiments conducted in different laboratories and increase confidence in results. Moreover, researchers will aim to define correlates of protection for new vaccines targeting the hemagglutinin stalk domain. Joint efforts between the Krammer Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) led to a collaborative project to generate an international standard human serum to measure hemagglutinin stalk-reactive antibodies. The WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization (ECBS) is currently evaluating this project for its endorsement to generate the first international standard for antibodies to the influenza virus hemagglutinin stalk domain. Please click Download on the upper right corner to see the full abstract

Using Support Vector Machines with Multiple Indices of Diffusion for Automated Classification of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Few studies have looked at the potential of using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in conjunction with machine learning algorithms in order to automate the classification of healthy older subjects and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Here we apply DTI to 40 healthy older subjects and 33 MCI subjects in order to derive values for multiple indices of diffusion within the white matter voxels of each subject. DTI measures were then used together with support vector machines (SVMs) to classify control and MCI subjects. Greater than 90% sensitivity and specificity was achieved using this method, demonstrating the potential of a joint DTI and SVM pipeline for fast, objective classification of healthy older and MCI subjects. Such tools may be useful for large scale drug trials in Alzheimer's disease where the early identification of subjects with MCI is critical

Defining extreme wildfire events: difficulties, challenges, and impacts

Every year worldwide some extraordinary wildfires occur, overwhelming suppressioncapabilities, causing substantial damages, and often resulting in fatalities. Given their increasingfrequency, there is a debate about how to address these wildfires with significant social impacts,but there is no agreement upon terminology to describe them. The concept of extreme wildfire event(EWE) has emerged to bring some coherence on this kind of events. It is increasingly used, often asa synonym of other terms related to wildfires of high intensity and size, but its definition remainselusive. The goal of this paper is to go beyond drawing on distinct disciplinary perspectives todevelop a holistic view of EWE as a social-ecological phenomenon. Based on literature review andusing a transdisciplinary approach, this paper proposes a definition of EWE as a process and anoutcome. Considering the lack of a consistent scale of gravity to leverage extreme wildfire eventssuch as in natural hazards (e.g., tornados, hurricanes and earthquakes) we present a proposal ofwildfire classification with seven categories based on measurable fire spread and behavior parametersand suppression difficulty. The categories 5 to 7 are labeled as EWE

Development and Assessment of a Pooled Serum as Candidate Standard to Measure Influenza A Virus Group 1 Hemagglutinin Stalk-Reactive Antibodies

The stalk domain of the hemagglutinin has been identified as a target for induction of protective antibody responses due to its high degree of conservation among numerous influenza subtypes and strains. However, current assays to measure stalk-based immunity are not standardized. Hence, harmonization of assay readouts would help to compare experiments conducted in different laboratories and increase confidence in results. Here, serum samples from healthy individuals (n = 110) were screened using a chimeric cH6/1 hemagglutinin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that measures stalk-reactive antibodies. We identified samples with moderate to high IgG anti-stalk antibody levels. Likewise, screening of the samples using the mini-hemagglutinin (HA) headless construct #4900 and analysis of the correlation between the two assays confirmed the presence and specificity of anti-stalk antibodies. Additionally, samples were characterized by a cH6/1N5 virus-based neutralization assay, an antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) assay, and competition ELISAs, using the stalk-reactive monoclonal antibodies KB2 (mouse) and CR9114 (human). A “pooled serum” (PS) consisting of a mixture of selected serum samples was generated. The PS exhibited high levels of stalk-reactive antibodies, had a cH6/1N5-based neutralization titer of 320, and contained high levels of stalk-specific antibodies with ADCC activity. The PS, along with blinded samples of varying anti-stalk antibody titers, was distributed to multiple collaborators worldwide in a pilot collaborative study. The samples were subjected to different assays available in the different laboratories, to measure either binding or functional properties of the stalk-reactive antibodies contained in the serum. Results from binding and neutralization assays were analyzed to determine whether use of the PS as a standard could lead to better agreement between laboratories. The work presented here points the way towards the development of a serum standard for antibodies to the HA stalk domain of phylogenetic group 1

Sexual Dimorphism in Healthy Aging and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A DTI Study

Previous PET and MRI studies have indicated that the degree to which pathology translates into clinical symptoms is strongly dependent on sex with women more likely to express pathology as a diagnosis of AD, whereas men are more resistant to clinical symptoms in the face of the same degree of pathology. Here we use DTI to investigate the difference between male and female white matter tracts in healthy older participants (24 women, 16 men) and participants with mild cognitive impairment (21 women, 12 men). Differences between control and MCI participants were found in fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusion (DR), axial diffusion (DA) and mean diffusion (MD). A significant main effect of sex was also reported for FA, MD and DR indices, with male control and male MCI participants having significantly more microstructural damage than their female counterparts. There was no sex by diagnosis interaction. Male MCIs also had significantly less normalised grey matter (GM) volume than female MCIs. However, in terms of absolute brain volume, male controls had significantly more brain volume than female controls. Normalised GM and WM volumes were found to decrease significantly with age with no age by sex interaction. Overall, these data suggest that the same degree of cognitive impairment is associated with greater structural damage in men compared with women

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio