Plasma biomarkers of neurodegeneration in patients and high risk subjects with Lewy body disease.

Comorbid Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology is common in Lewy body disease (LBD); however, AD comorbidity in the prodromal phase of LBD remains unclear. This study investigated AD comorbidity in the prodromal and symptomatic phases of LBD by analyzing plasma biomarkers in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and individuals at risk of LBD (NaT-PROBE cohort). Patients with PD (PD group, n = 84) and DLB (DLB group, n = 16) and individuals with LBD with ≥ 2 (high-risk group, n = 82) and without (low-risk group, n = 37) prodromal symptoms were enrolled. Plasma amyloid-beta (Aß) composite was measured using immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry assays. Plasma phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau181), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and alpha-synuclein (aSyn) were measured using a single-molecule array. Plasma p-tau181 levels were higher in the PD and DLB groups than in the low-risk group. Aß composite level was higher in the DLB group than in the high-risk group. AD-related biomarker levels were not elevated in the high-risk group. NfL levels were higher in the high-risk, PD, and DLB groups than in the low-risk group. In the PD group, Aß composite was associated with cognitive function, p-tau181 with motor function and non-motor symptoms, and NfL with cognitive and motor functions and non-motor symptoms. In the high-risk group, NfL was associated with metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy abnormalities. The PD and DLB groups exhibited comorbid AD neuropathology, though not in the prodromal phase. Elevated plasma NfL levels, even without elevated AD-related plasma biomarker levels, may indicate aSyn-induced neurodegeneration in the LBD prodromal phase.

Anodal Electrical Taste Stimulation to the Chin Enhances the Salt Taste Perception in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients.

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a critical condition associated with high mortality rates. Hypertension is a significant risk factor for SAH development and recurrence following coil embolization for a ruptured aneurysm. While reduction of salt consumption is crucial for managing hypertension, it often compromises food taste. Anodal electrical taste stimulation (ETS) has been proposed to enhance taste perception without altering salt content. We present the case of a 69-year-old female SAH patient with a ruptured aneurysm at the anterior communicating artery who underwent coil embolization and in whom we tested ETS's efficacy in enhancing the salt taste perception on day 42 after the procedure. ETS effectively enhanced the salt taste perception threshold and perceived concentration; the threshold for salt taste without electrical stimulation was 0.8% of salt-impregnated filter paper, whereas that with electrical stimulation was 0.6%. The perception of salt taste was enhanced: 0.8% and 1.0% of filter papers were perceived as 0.6% and 0.8% without electrical stimulation and 1.0% and 1.2% with electrical stimulation, respectively. This is the first report describing the salt perception-enhancing effect of ETS in an actual patient. Further studies involving actual patients are required to determine how ETS affects habitual salt intake and blood pressure trends.

Demyelinating Neuropathy with Markedly Elevated Serum IgG4 Levels and Anti-Contactin 1 IgG4 Antibody.

We herein report a 77-year-old man with a 4-month history of progressive gait and sensory disturbances of the extremities. A nerve conduction study indicated demyelinating polyneuropathy. Serum IgG4 levels and anti-contactin 1 IgG4 antibodies were markedly increased. The sural nerve biopsy specimen showed IgG4-positive plasma cell infiltration in the epineurium. Treatment with steroids resulted in an amelioration of functional status, improvement of nerve conduction parameters, decreased serum IgG4 levels, and negative conversion of anti-contactin 1 antibody. Further studies are needed to clarify the significance of IgG4-positive plasma cell infiltration in anti-contactin 1 antibody-positive neuropathies.

A Case of Treatment With Dabigatran for Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Caused by Hereditary Protein C Deficiency.

A 37-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with involuntary movements. She had no medical or family history of thromboembolism, nor was she on any medication. She showed no impaired consciousness, cranial nerve abnormalities, abnormal breathing, stiff neck or paralysis. Magnetic resonance venography exhibited poor visualization of intracranial vein. The protein C activity level reduced but the protein C antigen level was normal. Genetic analysis revealed a heterozygous mutation in exon 7 c.577-579delAAG, p.Lys193del on protein C gene. She was diagnosed with cerebral venous thrombosis and hereditary protein C deficiency type II. She received heparin in acute phase, and switched to dabigatran in chronic phase. Consequently, she had no recurrence of cerebral venous thrombosis and other complications. Dabigatran might be one of the alternative choices for patients with cerebral venous thrombosis and protein C deficiency.

Full-Azimuth Beam Steering MIMO Antenna Arranged in a Daisy Chain Array Structure.

This paper presents a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system with the ability to perform full-azimuth beam steering, and with the aim of realizing greater than 20 Gbps vehicular communications. The MIMO antenna described in this paper comprises 64 elements arranged in a daisy chain array structure, where 32 subarrays are formed by pairing elements in each subarray; the antenna yields 32 independent subchannels for MIMO transmission, and covers all communication targets regardless of their position relative to the array. Analytical results reveal that the proposed antenna system can provide a channel capacity of more than 200 bits/s/Hz at a signal-to-noise power ratio (SNR) of 30 dB over the whole azimuth, which is equivalent to 20 Gbps for a bandwidth of 100 MHz. This remarkably high channel capacity is shown to be due to two significant factors; the improved directivity created by the optimum in-phase excitation and the low correlation between the subarrays due to the orthogonal alignment of the array with respect to the incident waves. Over-the-air (OTA) experiments confirm the increase in channel capacity; the proposed antenna can maintain a constant transmission rate over all azimuth angles.