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- Franzmeier, Nicolai, et al.
(författare)
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Patient-centered connectivity-based prediction of tau pathology spread in Alzheimer's disease
- 2020
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 6:48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Alzheimer's disease (AD), the Braak staging scheme suggests a stereotypical tau spreading pattern that does, however, not capture interindividual variability in tau deposition. This complicates the prediction of tau spreading, which may become critical for defining individualized tau-PET readouts in clinical trials. Since tau is assumed to spread throughout connected regions, we used functional connectivity to improve tau spreading predictions over Braak staging methods. We included two samples with longitudinal tau-PET from controls and AD patients. Cross-sectionally, we found connectivity of tau epicenters (i.e., regions with earliest tau) to predict estimated tau spreading sequences. Longitudinally, we found tau accumulation rates to correlate with connectivity strength to patient-specific tau epicenters. A connectivity-based, patient-centered tau spreading model improved the assessment of tau accumulation rates compared to Braak stage-specific readouts and reduced sample sizes by ~40% in simulated tau-targeting interventions. Thus, connectivity-based tau spreading models may show utility in clinical trials.
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| 2. |
- Huber, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Metabolic correlates of dopaminergic loss in dementia with lewy bodies
- 2020
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Ingår i: Movement Disorders. - : WILEY. - 0885-3185 .- 1531-8257. ; 35, s. 595-605
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Striatal dopamine deficiency and metabolic changes are well-known phenomena in dementia with Lewy bodies and can be quantified in vivo by I-123-Ioflupane brain single-photon emission computed tomography of dopamine transporter and F-18-fluorodesoxyglucose PET. However, the linkage between both biomarkers is ill-understood. Objective We used the hitherto largest study cohort of combined imaging from the European consortium to elucidate the role of both biomarkers in the pathophysiological course of dementia with Lewy bodies. Methods We compared striatal dopamine deficiency and glucose metabolism of 84 dementia with Lewy body patients and comparable healthy controls. After normalization of data, we tested their correlation by region-of-interest-based and voxel-based methods, controlled for study center, age, sex, education, and current cognitive impairment. Metabolic connectivity was analyzed by inter-region coefficients stratified by dopamine deficiency and compared to healthy controls. Results There was an inverse relationship between striatal dopamine availability and relative glucose hypermetabolism, pronounced in the basal ganglia and in limbic regions. With increasing dopamine deficiency, metabolic connectivity showed strong deteriorations in distinct brain regions implicated in disease symptoms, with greatest disruptions in the basal ganglia and limbic system, coincident with the pattern of relative hypermetabolism. Conclusions Relative glucose hypermetabolism and disturbed metabolic connectivity of limbic and basal ganglia circuits are metabolic correlates of dopamine deficiency in dementia with Lewy bodies. Identification of specific metabolic network alterations in patients with early dopamine deficiency may serve as an additional supporting biomarker for timely diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies. (c) 2019 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
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| 3. |
- Muscarella, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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The global abundance of tree palms
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 29:9, s. 1495-1514
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AimPalms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change.LocationTropical and subtropical moist forests.Time periodCurrent.Major taxa studiedPalms (Arecaceae).MethodsWe assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure.ResultsOn average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work.ConclusionsTree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests.
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