Background/aims
Pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome is an age-related disorder characterized by the accumulation of extracellular material in the anterior eye segment. PEX pathogenesis is not fully understood, but amyloid which accumulates in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a PEX component. PEX deposition shares features with amyloid aggregation in AD, and brain atrophy is a common AD feature, with β-amyloid accumulation among contributing factors. This study investigated whether PEX syndrome is associated with AD-related brain atrophy.
Methods
We reviewed the medical records of patients diagnosed with PEX at the Veterans Health Service Medical Center between January 2015 and August 2021. This retrospective cohort study included 48 patients with PEX and 48 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. Patients with PEX were divided into two groups: with and without glaucoma. The main outcome measure was brain atrophy, using a visual rating scale, and AD incidence. Brain atrophy was measured using the Scheltens scale for medial temporal atrophy, the posterior cortical atrophy scale for parietal atrophy, and the Pasquier scale for global cortical atrophy.
Results
The percentage of participants with medial temporal atrophy was 56.3% in the PEX group and 35.4% in the control group. The global cortical atrophy and parietal atrophy scores were significantly higher in the PEX group (P<0.05), whereas the PEX and PEX glaucoma groups showed no difference. Among the 96 participants, 16 and 5 participants in the PEX and control groups, respectively, were diagnosed with dementia. Patients with PEX glaucoma tended to have lower Mini-Mental State Examination scores, indicating impaired cognitive function, than those without glaucoma.
Conclusion
PEX is associated with brain atrophy, reflecting the risk of developing AD. Patients with PEX glaucoma may present with advanced AD stages. Our results suggest that PEX may be a predictor of AD.
In order to control the crystallinity of sputter-deposited NiFe/Cu/Co spin valve thin films, surface topology of 4°tilt-cut Si(111) substrates was modified in various ways prior to formation of the spin valves. In case of the mirror polished substrate, NiFe and Co showed fcc (110) preferred orientation with in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. The easy axes of these magnetic layers were aligned in 90° to each other and giant magnetoresistance (GMR) was measured to be 4.5% at room temperature. The spin valves formed on the amorphized substrate by Ar ion mass doping, however, did not show magnetic anisotropy due to the loss of crystallinity and no appreciable GMR could be observed. The spin valves deposited on the unpolished substrate, of which the average surface roughness was measured to be a few microns, turned out to show a sound multilayeredness as well as crystallinity, but GMR was reduced to 3.5%. Tailing in the magnetoresistance (R–H) curve occurred in the spin valves formed on the unpolished substrate, and it was thought to be attributed to the shape anisotropy related to the interface roughness of the films. Detailed discussion on the relationship between GMR and crystallinity of the magnetic layers has been made with the results of simple simulation.
To investigate the flame dynamics in an annular combustor with single swirl injector, a 3D large-eddy simulation (LES) and a level-set flamelet turbulent combustion model have been implemented. The LM6000 developed by GEAE has been used as the combustor of concern and boundary conditions are based on experimental data. The strong central toroidal recirculation zone induced by the volume expansion of the combustion gas and the vortex breakdown continuously occurred through the procession of the vortex with decreasing strength, are observed.
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