Abstract: An ex vivo method of determining the effect of an agent on catalysis by a Monocyte Phagocyte System (MPS) cell of a disease marker product and/or at least one fragment thereof associated with neurodegeneration and/or inflammatory activation. The method comprises: i) maintaining a sample of MPS cells under conditions in which the MPS cells remain alive, ii) exposing the sample of MPS cells to an agent and a disease marker product, to permit phagocytosis of the disease marker product by the MPS cells, iii) detecting the intracellular amount of the disease marker product and/or at least one fragment thereof in the sample of MPS cells, and iv) comparing the intracellular amount of the disease marker product and/or the at least one fragment thereof to an intracellular amount of the same disease marker product and/or at least one fragment thereof measured in control MPS cells in the absence of the agent.

Abstract: A combination of an FFAR4 agonist and an ?7 nAChR agonist or positive modulator. The combination is useful for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Abstract: Dynamic contrast enhanced MRI data and dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI data for a volume of the patient's body including a tumor are used in order to identify the risk of lymph node metastasis. A volume of interest enclosing the tumor is identified and the MRI data for the volume of interest is processed in order to identify one or more parameters relating to the transverse relaxation rate and/or to dynamic changes in the transverse relaxation rate. A comparison is made to previously obtained similar parameters for other patients having similar tumors that are either known to exhibit lymph node metastasis or are known not to exhibit lymph node metastasis in order to determine if the MRI data indicates that the patient has a tumor at greater risk of exhibiting lymph node metastasis or a tumor with a lesser risk of exhibiting lymph node metastasis.