macular degeneration - 2026 ACF Regionals

Question

AdaptDx helps detect early warning signs for this disease’s progression into its “wet” form, which is often characterized by neovascularization across Bruch’s membranes. For 10 points each:

[10m] Name this disease whose earlier “dry” form exhibits yellow deposits called drusen spots. Since the structure affected by this disease is in the middle of the retina, even elderly patients often retain some peripheral vision.

ANSWER: macular degeneration [or age-related macular degeneration; or AMD; accept dry or wet macular degeneration; accept geographic atrophy or GA; prompt on blindness; prompt on vision loss]

[10h] Risk of AMD increases with polymorphisms of factors B and H, which facilitate the alternative form of this pathway. Another form of this pathway uses mannose-binding lectins but converges at C3 convertase assembly.

ANSWER: complement pathway [or complement system; or complement cascade; prompt on classical or lectin pathways by asking “what larger system is that pathway a part of?”; prompt on innate immunity; prompt on inflammation or inflammatory pathway]

[10e] The 2013 ALIENOR study found that elevated differences between the systolic and diastolic forms of this quantity, but not hypertension itself, were significantly correlated with late AMD.

ANSWER: blood pressure [or BP; accept pulse pressure or PP; prompt on pressure]

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Summary


California (North)	Main Site	Y	3	13.33	100%	33%	0%
Canada	Main Site	Y	10	15.00	100%	20%	30%
Florida	Main Site	Y	3	16.67	100%	33%	33%
Great Lakes	Main Site	Y	5	16.00	80%	60%	20%
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	Y	9	16.67	100%	56%	11%
Midwest	Main Site	Y	8	13.75	100%	25%	13%
Northeast	Main Site	Y	5	20.00	80%	60%	60%
Overflow	Main Site	Y	4	17.50	100%	75%	0%
South Central	Main Site	Y	2	15.00	50%	100%	0%
Southeast	Main Site	Y	7	15.71	100%	57%	0%
UK	Main Site	Y	6	13.33	100%	33%	0%
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	Y	8	16.25	88%	50%	25%
Upstate NY	Main Site	Y	4	15.00	100%	50%	0%

Data


Stanford A	Berkeley B	0	0	10	10
Berkeley A	Berkeley C	10	0	10	20
Stanford B	Berkeley D	0	0	10	10
McMaster A	McGill B	10	10	10	30
McMaster B	McGill A	0	0	10	10
Toronto Metropolitan	Simon Fraser	0	0	10	10
Toronto G	Toronto B	0	0	10	10
Waterloo A	Toronto C	10	0	10	20
Toronto E	Carleton University	0	0	10	10
Toronto F	Western C	0	0	10	10
UBC A	Guelph	0	10	10	20
UBC B	Toronto D	0	10	10	20
Waterloo B	Western A	0	0	10	10
Central Florida A	Central Florida C	10	10	10	30
Florida B	Central Florida B	0	0	10	10
Florida A	Florida C	0	0	10	10
Michigan State	Michigan A	10	0	10	20
Michigan B	CWRU A	0	10	10	20
CWRU B	Ohio State A	10	0	10	20
Ohio State B	Pittsburgh	0	0	10	10
Ohio State C	Michigan C	10	0	0	10
North Carolina C	Duke	10	0	10	20
North Carolina A	VCU	0	0	10	10
North Carolina B	Liberty C	10	0	10	20
NC State A	South Carolina B	0	0	10	10
Virginia	South Carolina A	10	0	10	20
Wake Forest	James Madison A	0	0	10	10
Liberty B	William and Mary	0	0	10	10
Virginia Tech A	James Madison B	10	0	10	20
Chicago B	Illinois B	10	0	10	20
Chicago C	Indiana A	0	0	10	10
Chicago D	Indiana C	0	0	10	10
Northwestern B	Chicago E	10	0	10	20
Indiana B	Northwestern C	0	0	10	10
Purdue A	Northwestern D	0	10	10	20
Chicago A	Notre Dame A	0	0	10	10
Illinois C	Notre Dame B	0	0	10	10
Virginia Tech B	NC State B	10	10	10	30
Brown	Bowdoin A	10	10	10	30
Brandeis A	Bowdoin B	0	0	10	10
Dartmouth B	Brandeis B	0	0	0	0
MIT	Dartmouth A	10	10	10	30
Harvard A	Yale	10	10	10	30
Claremont	Carleton College	0	0	10	10
Missouri B	Minnesota A	10	0	10	20
Washington A	Georgia Tech A	10	0	10	20
Washington B	Missouri A	10	0	10	20
Murray State A	Texas A&M A	10	0	0	10
Texas B	Texas A	10	0	10	20
Alabama A	Georgia Tech D	10	0	10	20
Bruin	Georgia Tech B	10	0	10	20
Georgia Tech C	WashU A	10	0	10	20
Louisville A	Tennessee B	0	0	10	10
Vanderbilt B	Alabama B	0	0	10	10
Catholic	Georgetown	0	0	10	10
NYU A	Columbia A	10	0	10	20
Columbia B	Swarthmore	10	10	10	30
Rutgers A	Columbia C	10	0	10	20
Johns Hopkins A	John Jay	10	10	10	30
Maryland B	Maryland A	0	0	10	10
Johns Hopkins B	Rutgers B	0	0	10	10
Maryland C	Vassar	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh A	Birmingham	10	0	10	20
Manchester	Cambridge A	0	0	10	10
Warwick A	Cardiff	10	0	10	20
Montpellier	Southampton B	0	0	10	10
Southampton A	Oxford C	0	0	10	10
Imperial B	Warwick B	0	0	10	10
Penn State	Cornell A	0	0	10	10
Binghamton A	Cornell B	10	0	10	20
RIT	Cornell C	0	0	10	10
Rochester	Binghamton B	10	0	10	20
Mississipi State	WashU B	10	0	10	20
Tennessee A	Kentucky	0	0	10	10