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Introduction: The number of older, long-term cancer survivors is increasing. However, little is known about how cancer and aging affect the health trajectories of older adults differently. In addition, the impact of race, sex, and education on the processes of aging and the cancer experience needs further investigation. The current study aims to address this knowledge gap by combining two National Cancer Institute (NIC)-funded longitudinal studies conducted in Cleveland from 1998 to 2010., Materials and Methods: The unique cross-sequential design facilitates a comparison between the health changes in long-term (five years +) older cancer survivors (breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer) and demographically matched older adults without a history of cancer in the same geographic area within the same period. The study also captured comprehensive information on how socioeconomic status interacts with cancer and aging over time. General linear models were employed in the data analysis., Results: The findings showed that early cancer experience did not affect long-term cancer survivors' health status in later life. Conversely, comorbidities, being an African American, being female, and having education less than a college degree significantly decreased the health trajectory in later life for all older adults. Moreover, compared to other groups, older African American cancer survivors reported a dramatic decrease in self-reported health after controlling for other conditions., Discussion: Study findings can inform public policy and social services to offer comprehensive treatment plans and help individuals overcome their diseases and lead longer and healthier lives., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The original data was funded by National Cancer Institute (R01CA098966; R01CA078975), The authors have declared no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is characterized by diffuse abnormal activity, although lateralization to one hemisphere has been described in the first stages of the disease. This study aimed to determine whether abnormal EEG activity predominantly occurs in anterior versus posterior brain regions., Methods: As part of a prospective study, the demographics, clinical features and MRI findings of genetic E200K CJD patients were collected. EEG was performed and the recordings reviewed for the typical periodic sharp wave complex (PSWC) and non-specific slow activity. Data were analyzed using the qEEG tool, and the activity in anterior and posterior regions of the brain compared., Results: Eleven genetic E200K CJD patients were included in the study (67% women). The average age was 59.1 ± 8.4 SD years and the average disease duration was 2.4 ± 2.1 months. EEG showed the classic PSWC pattern in 5/11 (45%) of the patients, and slow activity was seen in 9/11 (82%). EEG was normal in 2 patients. PSWC activity was diffuse in 2/5 patients and unilateral in 3/5 patients; slow activity was diffuse in 9 patients. Quantitative analysis of PSWC and slow activity showed no significant difference between anterior and posterior distribution., Conclusion: The abnormal EEG activity in CJD is diffuse with no clear spatial predominance in anterior or posterior brain regions., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system characterized by relapses and remissions. The risk of acquiring this complex disease is associated with exposure to environmental factors in genetically susceptible individuals. The epidemiology of MS has been extensively studied. We review the geographic epidemiology of the disease, the influence of immigration, age at immigration, clustering and epidemics. Various presumptive risk factors are discussed such as ultraviolet radiation, vitamin D, Epstein-Barr virus and infectious mononucleosis, other infectious agents and non-infectious factors. Two different hypotheses, the hygiene hypothesis and the prevalence hypothesis, were proposed to explain these environmental risk factors for MS. The epidemiological data, combined with pathological and immunological data, may contribute to the debate whether MS is an autoimmune disease, a latent or persistent viral disease, or a neurodegenerative disease., (2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The E200K mutation on chromosome 20 can cause familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Patients with this mutation are clinically similar to those with sporadic CJD, but their imaging features are not well documented. We report here the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging characteristics of this unique group of patients using three-dimensional spoiled gradient recalled (SPGR) echo images, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements, MR spectroscopy and a fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequence. The SPGR and ADC data were analyzed with SPM99. ANCOVA and regression models were used for a region-of-interest (ROI) analysis of ADC and metabolic ratios. CJD patients had a decreased fraction of gray matter and an increased fraction of cerebrospinal fluid (P=.001) in the cortex and cerebellum and increased ADC values in the cortex (P<.001). Focal decreases of ADC were found in the putamen via ROI analysis (548+/-83 vs. 709+/-9 microm(2)/s, P=.02). N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) was generally reduced, with the NAA/Cho ratio lowest in the cingulate gyrus. Qualitative assessment revealed hyperintensities on FLAIR, DWI or both in the putamen (three out of four patients), caudate (three out of four patients) and thalamus. These results provide a framework for future study of patients with genetically defined familial CJD.

The various models proposed for protein folding transition differ in their order of appearance of the basic steps during this process. In this study, steady state and time-resolved dynamic non-radiative excitation energy transfer (FRET and trFRET) combined with site specific labeling experiments were applied in order to characterize the initial transient ensemble of Escherichia coli adenylate kinase (AK) molecules upon shifting conditions from those favoring denaturation to refolding and from folding to denaturing. Three sets of labeled AK mutants were prepared, which were designed to probe the equilibrium and transient distributions of intramolecular segmental end-to-end distances. A 176 residue section (residues 28-203), which spans most of the 214 residue molecule, and two short secondary structure chain segments including an alpha-helix (residues 169-188) and a predominantly beta-strand region (residues 188-203), were labeled. Upon fast change of conditions from denaturing to folding, the end-to-end distance of the 176 residue chain section showed an immediate collapse to a mean value of 26 A. Under the same conditions, the two short secondary structure elements did not respond to this shift within the first ten milliseconds, and retained the characteristics of a fully unfolded state. Within the first 10 ms after changes of the solvent from folding to denaturing, only minor changes were observed at the local environments of residues 203 and 169. The response of these same local environments to the shift of conditions from denaturing to folding occurred within the dead time of the mixing device. Thus, the response of the CORE domain of AK to fast transfer from folding to unfolding conditions is slow at all three conformational levels that were probed, and for at least a few milliseconds the ensemble of folded molecules is maintained under unfolding conditions. A different order of the changes was observed upon initiation of refolding. The AK molecules undergo fast collapse to an ensemble of compact structures where the local environment of surface probes seems to be native-like but the two labeled secondary structure elements remain unfolded.

This paper presents a comprehensive conceptual model of health care communication involving three key health care partners: patients, physicians, and significant family members (health significant other, HSOs). A unique feature of this model is its focus on proactive roles played by elderly patients in information gathering and communication with health care partners regarding both cancer prevention and cancer care. We outline how proactive initiatives by health care consumers and involvement of their HSOs can enhance patient outcomes (satisfaction with physician, adherence to preventive and corrective practice recommendations, and quality of life). Finally, we also note primary antecedents of health care partner communication in terms of both medical care context and patient characteristics. We hope that this testable causal model will inform future research in the field of health communication.

The refolding transition of Escherichia coli adenylate kinase (AK) was investigated by monitoring the refolding kinetics of a selected 20 residue helical segment in the CORE domain of the protein. Residues 169 and 188 were labeled by 1-acetamido-methyl-pyrene, and by bimane, respectively. The experiment combines double-jump stopped-flow fast mixing initiation of refolding and time-resolved Förster energy transfer spectroscopy for monitoring the conformational transitions (double-kinetics experiment). Two kinetic phases were found in the denaturant-induced unfolding of AK. In the first phase, the fluorescence quantum yields of both probes decreased. The distribution of the distances between them transformed from the native state's narrow distribution with the mean distance corresponding to the distance in the crystal structure, to a distribution compatible with an unordered structure. In the second, slow step of denaturation, neither the fluorescence parameters of the probes nor the distance distribution between them changed. This step appeared to be a transformation of the fast-folding species formed in the first phase, to the slow-folding species. Refolding of the fast-folding species of the denatured state of AK was also a two-phase process. During the first fast phase, within less than 5ms, the fluorescence emission of both probes increased, but the distance distribution between the labeled sites was unchanged. Only during the second slow refolding step did the intramolecular distance distribution change from the characteristic of the denatured state to the narrow distribution of the native state. This experiment shows that for the case of the CORE domain of AK, the large helical segment of residues 169-188 was not formed in the first compaction step of refolding. The helical conformation of this segment is established only in the second, much slower, refolding phase, simultaneously with the completion of the native structure.

With advances made in the treatment of people with HIV/AIDS, there is an increasing number of persons who are reaching old age. This is a heterogeneous group. Yet, all of these diverse patients share in common the challenge of aging successfully despite their condition. There is little room in most gerontological conceptualizations for consideration of success for older persons unfortunate enough to live with chronic and particularly life-threatening illnesses in late life. Ideals of successful aging certainly leave little room for older adults with HIV/AIDS, a highly stigmatized, life-threatening, and disabling condition. In this article, we briefly review a new model of successful aging that we have developed, and show how it can be meaningfully applied to expectations of successful aging even among disabled and chronically ill populations of older adults such as persons with HIV/AIDS.

Fragments of the rod domain of chicken alpha-actinin, which comprises four spectrin-like repeat sequences, have been prepared by expression in Escherichia coli. Electron microscopy reveals that all products containing three or four complete repeats are rod-like. Self-association of fragments was detected by chemical cross-linking and analytical equilibrium sedimentation. The intact rod domain forms a stable dimmer, which does not dissociate measurably in the accessible concentration range. Elimination of either terminal repeat (repeat 1 or repeat 4) greatly diminishes the extent of dimerisation. The fragment comprising repeats 1-3 dimerises appreciably, with an association constant estimated from the sedimentation equilibrium distribution of approximately 5 x 10(5) M-1. The fragment made up of repeats 2-4 dimerises to a small extent, but also forms aggregates at high concentrations. The results are most easily reconciled with an aligned structure for the rod domain in solution, in which repeat 1 associates with repeat 4 of the partnering chain, and repeat 2 with repeat 3, rather than with a staggered structure, in which one of the terminal repeats does not participate in dimerisation. Possible explanations for the apparent difference observed between the alpha-actinin rod structure in solution and in two-dimensional crystalline arrays are examined.

The presumptive rod domain of dystrophin contains a series of degenerate repeating sequences with homology to those of spectrin. To determine the relation of the implied structural repeating units to the sequence repeat (the phasing), recombinant fragments of the domain of dystrophin were prepared by expression in Escherichia coli. The phasing was established by identifying the minimum sequence element that would form a stable fold of high (approx. 75%) alpha-helicity: by contrast, incorrectly phased fragments had labile structure with an average alpha-helicity of about 40%. The isolated folded structural repeat showed high stability towards proteolysis and a urea-denaturation profile with a plateau at low denaturant concentration, indicative of a unique folded conformation. The phasing is consistent with a structure inferred from analysis of the amino acid sequence and also found in spectrin, in which each structural repeat comprises a three-stranded coiled-coil, made up of one short helix (approx. 30 residues) and the N and C-terminal halves of two separate long helices, such that each long helix participates in the formation of two contiguous structural units.

Dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) has been reported to be elevated in the serum of patients with idiopathic torsion dystonia. We have examined the levels in jewish patients suffering from that disease and found levels comparable to those of age-and sex-matched controls.

Cell mediated immunity (CMI) in 15 patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) was assessed by E-rosette formation, leucocyte migration inhibition factor (LIF) production, and proliferative responses to mitogens. In eleven patients, one or more of these parameters were impaired. These defects varied among the different patients and no consistent or uniform pattern of immune deficiency could be demonstrated. Although no single patient had a generalized reduction of all the T-cell functions, a diminished percentage of E-rosetting cells was the most frequent abnormal parameter (7 out of 15 patients). There was no correlation between the clinical state of the patients and the immune defects. Thymic humoral factor (THF), a thymic hormone, reconstituted at least one CMI impaired function especially the reduced levels of E-rosette forming cells in 7 out of 9 patients. It seems unlikely that a generalized cell-mediated defect is the underlying cause of this disease, but immunomodulatory therapy should be considered in some selected cases.