Excess deaths due to incident Alzheimer's dementia in women and men in the United States.

Objectives: To assess whether the burden of mortality attributable to Alzheimer's dementia in the US for women and men.

Methods: Data came from 3,491 women and 1,160 men ages 65 and older (mean 76.5 for both sexes) with no dementia at baseline from five longitudinal cohort studies of aging with identical annual diagnostic assessments of dementia.

Temperature Controls the Lifetimes and Microbial Communities Degrading Cellulose Diacetate in the Coastal Ocean.

Cellulose diacetate (CDA), a biobased material widely used in consumer products, is biodegradable in the coastal ocean. However, the effect of water temperature on the degradation rates is unknown, limiting projections of lifetime across space and time. Here, we incubated CDA-based materials (film, foam, and straw), paper straws, polyethylene (PE) films, and poly(butylene adipate terephthalate) (PBAT) straws for 28 weeks at 10 and 20 °C in continuous-flow seawater mesocosms.

Investigating the Trivariate Reciprocal Longitudinal Relationships Between Purpose, Loneliness, and Cognitive Function.

Objectives: As medical interventions for cognitive decline and dementia continue to evolve, the identification of modifiable psychosocial factors has become increasingly important. Sense of purpose and loneliness represent potential targets for intervention. In this study, we aimed to understand the potentially reciprocal relationship between sense of purpose, loneliness, and cognitive function.

Strategies for Designing Circular, Sustainable, and Nonpersistent Consumer Plastic Products: A Case Study of Drinking Straws.

Drinking straws present a simple form factor for evaluating material design strategies taken by manufacturers to achieve circular, sustainable, and nonpersistent products in response to global restrictions and consumer sentiment. We investigated 13 on-the-market drinking straws of varying formulations, characterizing their physical, chemical, and marine biodegradation properties. These data informed sustainability metrics used for evaluating the effectiveness and trade-offs of design strategies, ultimately arriving at four key conclusions.

Mixed Pathologies and Cognitive Outcomes in Persons Considered for Anti-Amyloid Treatment Eligibility Assessment: A Community-Based Study.

Background And Objectives: Despite the capability of anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies to lower β-amyloid (Aβ) brain levels, there is thus far limited clinical efficacy on cognitive outcomes. Among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild-stage dementia, the cognitive impact of other brain pathologies may limit efficacy of anti-amyloid drugs. This study examined the burden and cognitive associations of mixed brain pathologies among autopsied persons who would have been considered as patients to undergo anti-amyloid treatment eligibility assessment.

A coordinated analysis of bidirectional associations between life satisfaction and cognitive function.

Life satisfaction is an important component of well-being to consider in relation to cognitive function due to its modifiability, potential utility in public health policy, and associations with cognitive health outcomes. However, little is known about the directionality of the association between life satisfaction and cognitive function, and past longitudinal work has yielded mixed findings. Using a coordinated data analytic approach, the current research used data from five longitudinal studies with at least three co-occurring waves of life satisfaction and cognitive function assessments, including over 60,000 individuals aged 50 years and older across multiple countries.

MIND Diet and Hippocampal Sclerosis Among Community-Based Older Adults.

Importance: Hippocampal sclerosis (HS), defined as severe neuronal loss and astrogliosis in coronal sections of the midhippocampus cornu ammonis 1 or subiculum, is an important pathology associated with limbic-predominant age-related transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 encephalopathy neuropathological change (LATE-NC), Alzheimer disease, and dementia. The association of diet with HS or HS with LATE-NC in humans remains underexplored.

Objective: To investigate the association of the Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet with HS and HS with LATE-NC.

Evaluating linked ICD-10 Medicare claims data as a method of dementia case ascertainment in research settings.

Introduction: US Medicare claims can be used to identify dementia cases for research. Our objective was to evaluate the performance of International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) code definitions versus research-based dementia ascertainment.

Methods: Participants of five Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center (RADC) cohorts with study visits between October 2015 and December 2019 and fee-for-service Medicare contributed observations.

Bidirectional Relationships Between Well-Being and Cognitive Function.

The current study examined bidirectional relationships between well-being and cognitive function using up to 10 annual assessments ( 5.67, 3.43) of different types of well-being and a comprehensive cognitive battery from a sample of older adults living in the Chicago metropolitan area ( = 1,702; mean age = 81.

Warfarin Treatment is Associated With Lower Postmortem Brain Vitamin K Concentrations in Older Adults.

Background: Menaquinone 4 (MK-4) is the primary form of vitamin K found in the brain. In rodent studies, treatment with the vitamin K-antagonist warfarin lowered brain MK-4 concentrations.

Objectives: It is not known whether brain MK-4 levels are influenced by warfarin treatment in humans.

Neighborhood disadvantage and the incidence of dementia in US Black women.

Introduction: We investigated the association of neighborhood disadvantage with the incidence of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) in the longitudinal Black Women's Health Study (BWHS).

Methods: The study included 10,915 BWHS participants enrolled in Medicare for at least 1 year from 2012 to 2020. The Area Deprivation Index (ADI) was assigned to participant residential block groups over follow-up.

The Association of Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment With Outpatient Ambulatory Care Utilization in the Community.

Background: Ambulatory care is critical in delivering interventions for dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), from basic services to novel therapeutics. Yet, little is known regarding how community-dwelling persons with dementia/MCI interact with clinicians in outpatient ambulatory settings. We assessed associations of dementia/MCI with outpatient ambulatory evaluation and management (E&M) visits.

Multifunctional DNA-Collagen Biomaterials: Developmental Advances and Biomedical Applications.

The complexation of nucleic acids and collagen forms a platform biomaterial greater than the sum of its parts. This union of biomacromolecules merges the extracellular matrix functionality of collagen with the designable bioactivity of nucleic acids, enabling advances in regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, gene delivery, and targeted therapy. This review traces the historical foundations and critical applications of DNA-collagen complexes and highlights their capabilities, demonstrating them as biocompatible, bioactive, and tunable platform materials.

Burnt Plastic (Pyroplastic) from the M/V Ship Fire and Plastic Spill Contain Compounds That Activate Endocrine and Metabolism-Related Human and Fish Transcription Factors.

In May 2021, the M/V ship fire disaster led to the largest maritime spill of resin pellets (nurdles) and burnt plastic (pyroplastic). Field samples collected from beaches in Sri Lanka nearest to the ship comprised nurdles and pieces of pyroplastic. Three years later, the toxicity of the spilled material remains unresolved.

Late-life social activity and subsequent risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment.

Introduction: Social activity is associated with better cognitive health in old age. To better translate epidemiological research for public health communication, we estimated relations of levels of social activity to average age at dementia onset.

Methods: In the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP), we followed 1923 dementia-free older adults and conducted annual clinical evaluations of dementia/mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Next generation brain health: transforming global research and public health to promote prevention of dementia and reduce its risk in young adult populations.

Efforts to prevent dementia can benefit from precision interventions delivered to the right population at the right time; that is, when the potential to reduce risk is the highest. Young adults (aged 18-39 years) are a neglected population in dementia research and policy making despite being highly exposed to several known modifiable risk factors. The risk and protective factors that have the biggest effect on dementia outcomes in young adulthood, and how these associations differ across regions and groups, still remain unclear.

Moldable Plastics (Polycaprolactone) can be Acutely Toxic to Developing Zebrafish and Activate Nuclear Receptors in Mammalian Cells.

Popularized on social media, hand-moldable plastics are formed by consumers into tools, trinkets, and dental prosthetics. Despite the anticipated dermal and oral contact, manufacturers share little information with consumers about these materials, which are typically sold as microplastic-sized resin pellets. Inherent to their function, moldable plastics pose a risk of dermal and oral exposure to unknown leachable substances.

Correlates of missed or late versus timely diagnosis of dementia in healthcare settings.

Introduction: There is limited evidence about factors related to the timeliness of dementia diagnosis in healthcare settings.

Methods: In five prospective cohorts at Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, we identified participants with incident dementia based on annual assessments and examined the timing of healthcare diagnoses in Medicare claims. We assessed sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial correlates of timely diagnosis.

A review of the literature on wellbeing and modifiable dementia risk factors.

Wellbeing-defined broadly as experiencing one's life as enjoyable and fulfilling-has been associated with lower risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The mechanisms underlying this association are largely unknown. However, prior research and theory suggest that wellbeing impacts health behaviors and biological systems that are relevant to cognitive and brain health.

Everyday Discrimination Is Associated With Higher Odds of Hospitalizations Among Older African Americans.

Background: Everyday discrimination-experiences of being treated unfairly based on background characteristics like race-is linked to poor physical and mental health throughout the lifespan. Whether more experiences of discrimination are associated with higher odds of being hospitalized in older African Americans has not been explored.

Methods: Community-dwelling participants from 3 longitudinal cohort studies (N = 446, age 65+ years) with discrimination scores and ≥12 months of linked Medicare claims were included.

Association of Age-Related Neuropathologic Findings at Autopsy With a Claims-Based Epilepsy Diagnosis in Older Adults.

Background And Objectives: Epilepsy is 1 of the 3 most common neurologic diseases of older adults, but few studies have examined its underlying pathologies in older age. We examined the associations of age-related brain pathologies with epilepsy in older persons.

Methods: Clinical and pathologic data came from 2 ongoing clinical pathologic cohort studies of community-dwelling older adults.

Healthy Lifestyle and Cognition in Older Adults With Common Neuropathologies of Dementia.

Importance: A healthy lifestyle is associated with better cognitive functioning in older adults, but whether this association is independent of the accumulation of dementia-related pathologies in the brain is uncertain.

Objective: To determine the role of postmortem brain pathology, including β-amyloid load, phosphorylated tau tangles, cerebrovascular pathology, and other brain pathologies, in the association between lifestyle and cognition proximate to death.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study used data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal clinical-pathologic study with autopsy data from 1997 to 2022 and up to 24 years of follow-up.

Minimizing the Environmental Impacts of Plastic Pollution through Ecodesign of Products with Low Environmental Persistence.

While plastic pollution threatens ecosystems and human health, the use of plastic products continues to increase. Limiting its harm requires design strategies for plastic products informed by the threats that plastics pose to the environment. Thus, we developed a sustainability metric for the ecodesign of plastic products with low environmental persistence and uncompromised performance.