Case Western Reserve University

About: Case Western Reserve University is a education organization based out in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 54617 authors who have published 106568 publications receiving 5071613 citations. The organization is also known as: Case & Case Western.

Ubiquitin is detected in neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaque neurites of Alzheimer disease brains.

Abstract: Neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and neurites associated with senile plaques (SP) in Alzheimer disease-affected brain tissues were specifically immunostained with affinity-purified antibody preparations directed against ubiquitin. In addition, a class of neurites seen in brain regions containing NFT and SP were also specifically stained. Cross-reactivity of the ubiquitin antisera for tau protein, neurofilament proteins, and high molecular weight microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) were ruled out by (i) the inability of the ubiquitin antisera to stain these proteins in immunoblotting experiments and (ii) the inability of tau, neurofilament, and MAP preparations, when preincubated with the ubiquitin antisera, to inhibit the selective neurofibrillar staining observed. Our results are consistent with the suggestion that ubiquitin is covalently associated with the insoluble neurofibrillary material of NFT and SP. We propose that the ubiquitin-mediated degradative pathway may be ineffective in removing these fibrillar structures in Alzheimer disease brain.

Large-Scale Production of Edge-Selectively Functionalized Graphene Nanoplatelets via Ball Milling and Their Use as Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Abstract: Edge-selectively functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (EFGnPs) with different functional groups were efficiently prepared simply by dry ball milling graphite in the presence of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, sulfur trioxide, or carbon dioxide/sulfur trioxide mixture. Upon exposure to air moisture, the resultant hydrogen- (HGnP), carboxylic acid- (CGnP), sulfonic acid- (SGnP), and carboxylic acid/sulfonic acid- (CSGnP) functionalized GnPs readily dispersed into various polar solvents, including neutral water. The resultant EFGnPs were then used as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an alkaline electrolyte. It was found that the edge polar nature of the newly prepared EFGnPs without heteroatom doping into their basal plane played an important role in regulating the ORR efficiency with the electrocatalytic activity in the order of SGnP > CSGnP > CGnP > HGnP > pristine graphite. More importantly, the sulfur-containing SGnP and CSGnP were found to have a superior ORR performance to commerciall...

Assessing the age specificity of infection fatality rates for COVID-19: systematic review, meta-analysis, and public policy implications.

Abstract: Determine age-specific infection fatality rates for COVID-19 to inform public health policies and communications that help protect vulnerable age groups. Studies of COVID-19 prevalence were collected by conducting an online search of published articles, preprints, and government reports that were publicly disseminated prior to 18 September 2020. The systematic review encompassed 113 studies, of which 27 studies (covering 34 geographical locations) satisfied the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. Age-specific IFRs were computed using the prevalence data in conjunction with reported fatalities 4 weeks after the midpoint date of the study, reflecting typical lags in fatalities and reporting. Meta-regression procedures in Stata were used to analyze the infection fatality rate (IFR) by age. Our analysis finds a exponential relationship between age and IFR for COVID-19. The estimated age-specific IFR is very low for children and younger adults (e.g., 0.002% at age 10 and 0.01% at age 25) but increases progressively to 0.4% at age 55, 1.4% at age 65, 4.6% at age 75, and 15% at age 85. Moreover, our results indicate that about 90% of the variation in population IFR across geographical locations reflects differences in the age composition of the population and the extent to which relatively vulnerable age groups were exposed to the virus. These results indicate that COVID-19 is hazardous not only for the elderly but also for middle-aged adults, for whom the infection fatality rate is two orders of magnitude greater than the annualized risk of a fatal automobile accident and far more dangerous than seasonal influenza. Moreover, the overall IFR for COVID-19 should not be viewed as a fixed parameter but as intrinsically linked to the age-specific pattern of infections. Consequently, public health measures to mitigate infections in older adults could substantially decrease total deaths.