This multicenter study examined 18 F-FDG PET measures in the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) from normal aging and from each other and the relation of disease-specific patterns to mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: We examined the 18 F-FDG PET scans of 548 subjects, including 110 healthy elderly individuals (''normals'' or NLs), 114 MCI, 199 AD, 98 FTD, and 27 DLB patients, collected at 7 participating centers. Individual PET scans were Z scored using automated voxelbased comparison with generation of disease-specific patterns of cortical and hippocampal 18 F-FDG uptake that were then applied to characterize MCI. Results: Standardized diseasespecific PET patterns were developed that correctly classified 95% AD, 92% DLB, 94% FTD, and 94% NL. MCI patients showed primarily posterior cingulate cortex and hippocampal hypometabolism (81%), whereas neocortical abnormalities varied according to neuropsychological profiles. An AD PET pattern was observed in 79% MCI with deficits in multiple cognitive domains and 31% amnesic MCI. 18 F-FDG PET heterogeneity in MCI with nonmemory deficits ranged from absent hypometabolism to FTD and DLB PET patterns. Conclusion: Standardized automated analysis of 18 F-FDG PET scans may provide an objective and sensitive support to the clinical diagnosis in early dementia.

Herein, we are reporting a rapid one-pot synthesis of MoS2-decorated laser-induced graphene (MoS2-LIG) by direct writing of polyimide foils. By covering the polymer surface with a layer of MoS2 dispersion before processing, it is possible to obtain an in situ decoration of a porous graphene network during laser writing. The resulting material is a three-dimensional arrangement of agglomerated and wrinkled graphene flakes decorated by MoS2 nanosheets with good electrical properties and high surface area, suitable to be employed as electrodes for supercapacitors, enabling both electric double-layer and pseudo-capacitance behaviors. A deep investigation of the material properties has been performed to understand the chemical and physical characteristics of the hybrid MoS2-graphene-like material. Symmetric supercapacitors have been assembled in planar configuration exploiting the polymeric electrolyte; the resulting performances of the here-proposed material allow the prediction of the enormous potentialities of these flexible energy-storage devices for industrial-scale production.

(polyimide and polyetherimide) [ 20 ] that cannot provide the suitable mechanical properties required for stretchable energystorage devices.Herein we report a simple method to transfer the LIG porous layer obtained onto polyimide sheet to a transparent and elastomeric substrate such as PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane). Morphology and chemical-physical properties of the obtained material were deeply characterized by electron microscopy investigation, contact angle measurements and vibrational spectroscopy analysis. The as-fabricated electrodes were assembled into symmetric electrical double-layer supercapacitors and, thanks to the intrinsic mechanical properties of PDMS, the retention of energy-storage performance under bending and stretching conditions was demonstrated.The fabrication process of the LIG/PDMS electrodes is described in the experimental section (see also Supporting Information) and schematically represented in Figure 1 a-d: porous LIG pattern was obtained by a direct writing of polyimide sheet using a nanosecond CO 2 laser (a); afterward the PDMS was poured onto the written sample and the air was evacuated by a vacuum step in order to allow the full infi ltration of PDMS into the 3D network (b); after a thermal curing at 80 °C for 1 h the LIG/PDMS slide was manually peeled off from the polyimide sheet (c,d). The resulting composite material take advantage of the unique mechanical properties typical of elastomers (Figure 1 e) and of the good electrical conductivity and high surface area intrinsically present in LIG structures. Figure 1 f,g show the transparency of a logo pattern written on polyimide foil and then transferred onto PDMS slice respectively. The preservation of the electric conduction was tested by using LIG/PDMS composite to close a circuit (powering a green LED) as shown in Figure 1 h and by electrical measurements. Current-voltage characteristics shown in Figure S1 (Supporting Information) were recorded on the LIG/PDMS sample subjected to stretching in the range 0%-50%, confi rming the good maintenance of electrical properties.FESEM characterization was used to assess the morphology of the LIG sample before and after transfer onto PDMS substrate. Figure 2 a,b show the characteristic 3D foam-like structure of the laser-written LIG sample, which is composed of multilayer graphene walls. The holey foam-like structure, which is a result of the emission of gases during the irradiation process, [ 20,21 ] is actually well suited for both infi ltration with PDMS and impregnation with the electrolyte for supercapacitor application. Figure 2 c presents a cross-sectional view of a LIG sample after it is successfully transferred onto a PDMS substrate through the cast-and-peel process. Thanks to the effective infi ltration of PDMS, the LIG shows good adhesion to the underlying fl exible substrate. Moreover, as shown in Figure 2 d-f, a 3D structure of interconnected multilayer The fi eld of wearable electronics has been evolving very rapidly in the last few years due to the increasing demand for fl exi...

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Epidemiological data show a higher prevalence of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) in women. The estrogenic deficiency in the post-menopausal period is suspected to be the cause of the gender-related risk of the disease, but studies on the estrogenic therapy and occurrence of AD were not consistent and sometimes contradicting. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a higher exposure to endogenous estrogens is associated with lower risk of dementia or not. Two hundred and four AD patients and 201 control women were considered. By interviews, we evaluated different variables, indirectly correlated to estrogenic natural exposure, as well as educational level and head trauma. These data were correlated in the AD group with the disease progression, as well as with the age at onset. Unexpectedly, we found a significant higher number of pregnancies in the AD than in the control group. Within the AD cases, the number of lifetime pregnancies is related to an earlier onset of the disease. As previously reported, we confirmed that the educational level is a protective factor and that major head trauma represents a risk factor in developing AD. The higher number of pregnancies and a less frequency of nulliparous women, indirectly relate the AD group to a higher estro-progestinic exposure. These findings suggest that it is the increase of progesterone or estrogens level--and not the estrogens decrease, as previously indicated by other authors--that could play a role in the Alzheimer's pathology.

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To our knowledge, this is the first prospective clinical study which demonstrates that high levels of participation in physical leisure activities are associated with reduced risk of dementia in subjects with MCI. In line with findings coming from community-based studies on healthy elderly, our finding suggests that the protective role of exercise against the development of dementia can be generalized to MCI subjects seen in clinical practice. Clinicians should encourage MCI subjects to participate in physical leisure activities.

The presence of episodic memory impairment is required for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia by all current diagnostic criteria. The new research criteria proposed by Dubois et al. (Lancet Neurol 6:734-746, 2007) require that the impairment should not improve significantly with cueing, recognition testing nor after the control of effective encoding. This is considered to be the core deficit of "prodromal Alzheimer's disease". The Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) is a memory test that allows in assessing these specific features of memory impairment. Here, we report normative data for an Italian version of the FCSRT. The test is based on the 12 pictorial stimuli, 6 belonging to the living domain, and 6 to the non-living domain. Six scores were derived from the performance of 227 healthy Italian adults, with age, sex and education homogenously distributed across subgroups: immediate free recall (IFR), immediate total recall (ITR), delayed-free recall (DFR), delayed total recall (DTR), Index of Sensitivity of Cueing (ISC), number of intrusions. In multiple regression analyses, age emerged as an influencing factor for both IFR and DFR, with older people obtaining lower scores. Education and gender appear to influence only IFR, with better performance by more educated subjects and females. Adjusted scores were used to determine inferential cutoff scores and to compute equivalent scores.