Insulin resistance predicts brain amyloid deposition in late middle-aged adults.

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance (IR) increases Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. IR is related to greater amyloid burden post-mortem and increased deposition within areas affected by early AD. No studies have examined if IR is associated with an in vivo index of amyloid in the human brain in late middle-aged participants at risk for AD. METHODS: Asymptomatic, late middle-aged adults (N = 186) from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention underwent [C-11]Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography. The cross-sectional design tested the interaction between insulin resistance and glycemic status on PiB distribution volume ratio in three regions of interest (frontal, parietal, and temporal). RESULTS: In participants with normoglycemia but not hyperglycemia, higher insulin resistance corresponded to higher PiB uptake in frontal and temporal areas, reflecting increased amyloid deposition. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first human study to demonstrate that insulin resistance may contribute to amyloid deposition in brain regions affected by AD.

Cytokeratin 7, GATA3, and SOX-10 is a Comprehensive Panel in Diagnosing Triple Negative Breast Cancer Brain Metastases.

Following lung cancer, breast cancer is the second most common metastatic tumor to the brain, of which triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2+ (HER2+) breast cancer are the most common subtypes. TNBC does not have standard immunoprofiles and can be difficult to distinguish from other metastases. A tissue microarray was created from 47 patients with breast cancer metastases to the brain and 12 paired breast primaries. Of 47 breast cancer metastases, 24 were HER2+, 14 were TNBC, and 9 were luminal. Forty-five were cytokeratin 7 (CK7) positive, 36 were GATA-binding protein 3 (GATA3) positive, 7 were Sry-related HMg-Box gene 10 (SOX-10) positive, 20 were mammaglobin positive, and 19 were gross cystic disease fluid protein 15 positive. At least one of the CK7, GATA3, or SOX-10 was positive in all TNBC metastases. A panel of CK7, GATA3, and SOX-10 is complementary in the diagnosis of breast cancer brain metastasis. SOX-10 appears to be a specific but not particularly sensitive marker in this context.

Direct Visualization of a Polariton Resonator in the THz Regime.

We report fabrication of a THz phonon-polariton resonator in a single crystal of LiNbO3 using femtosecond laser machining with high energy pulses. Fundamental and overtone resonator modes are excited selectively and monitored through spatiotemporal imaging. The resonator is integrated into a single solid-state platform that can include THz generation, manipulation, readout and other functionalities.

Coherent control of phonon-polaritons in a terahertz resonator fabricated with femtosecond laser machining.

Using femtosecond laser machining, we fabricated a terahertz resonant cavity in LiNbO3. Optical pulse sequences with variable repetition rates, generated through a novel pulse-shaping method, are used for characterization of the cavity resonances and for amplification of terahertz phonon-polaritons in the cavity.