New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Links between energy and food markets: a preliminary assessment

This report addresses the links between energy and food markets, and the long-term trends and large short-term fluctuations they have undergone. The ways in which these markets are related and which feedback mechanisms must be taken into account in scenario analyses were investigated. On the basis of international studies and prognoses, three links connecting energy and food markets were identified. The first link is formed by the common drivers on the demand side, namely demographic and economic developments, the second link is related to the energy costs of agricultural and food production and distribution, and the third link comprises the role of agriculture as a producer of energy