Reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia: WHO recommendations

With population ageing worldwide, dementia poses one of the greatest global challenges for health and social care in the 21st century. In 2019, around 55 million people were affected by dementia, with the majority living in low- and middle-income countries. Dementia leads to increased costs for governments, communities, families and individuals. Dementia is overwhelming for the family and caregivers of the person with dementia, who are the cornerstone of care and support systems throughout the world. To assist countries in addressing the global burden of dementia, the World Health Organisation (WHO) developed the Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia 2017–2025. It proposes actions to be taken by governments, civil society, and other global and regional partners across seven action areas, one of which is dementia risk reduction. This paper is based on WHO Guidelines on risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia and presents recommendations on evidence-based, multisectoral interventions for reducing dementia risks, considerations for their implementation and policy actions. These global evidence-informed recommendations were developed by WHO, following a rigorous guideline development methodology and involved a panel of academicians and clinicians with multidisciplinary expertise and representing geographical diversity. The recommendations are considered under three broad headings: lifestyle and behaviour interventions, interventions for physical health conditions and specific interventions. By supporting health and social care professionals, particularly by improving their capacity to provide gender and culturally appropriate interventions to the general population, the risk of developing dementia can be potentially reduced, or its progression delayed

Strain-restricted transfer of ferromagnetic electrodes for constructing reproducibly superior-quality spintronic devices

Spintronic device is the fundamental platform for spin-related academic and practical studies. However, conventional techniques with energetic deposition or boorish transfer of ferromagnetic metal inevitably introduce uncontrollable damage and undesired contamination in various spin-transport-channel materials, leading to partially attenuated and widely distributed spintronic device performances. These issues will eventually confuse the conclusions of academic studies and limit the practical applications of spintronics. Here we propose a polymer-assistant strain-restricted transfer technique that allows perfectly transferring the pre-patterned ferromagnetic electrodes onto channel materials without any damage and change on the properties of magnetism, interface, and channel. This technique is found productive for pursuing superior-quality spintronic devices with high controllability and reproducibility. It can also apply to various-kind (organic, inorganic, organic-inorganic hybrid, or carbon-based) and diverse-morphology (smooth, rough, even discontinuous) channel materials. This technique can be very useful for reliable device construction and will facilitate the technological transition of spintronic study

An investigation of clinical and neurobiological subtypes of autism

Autism is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition. There are a range of mixed findings across the literature which indicate that autism might actually consist of several homogenous subtypes. Longitudinal and intervention studies have shown that individuals on the spectrum can diverge into a range of trajectories and outcomes across the lifespan. The identification of subtypes could therefore lead to the development of tailored and targeted supports and help improve the outcomes of individuals on the spectrum. Ideally, gaining a better understanding of what works for whom, can help ensure that all individuals on the spectrum are given the resources they need to achieve their full potential. The aim of this thesis was to explore the clinical and neurobiological heterogeneity in autism. Further, it sought to determine which factors were related to good outcomes for individuals on the spectrum. Unsupervised clustering algorithms were used to investigate whether subtypes of autism exist by examining the behavioural phenotype, neurobiology and longitudinal outcomes of individuals on the spectrum. The results of this thesis showed that subtypes with distinct neurobiological and phenotypic profiles could be identified when examining the neuroanatomical presentation and longitudinal outcomes of individuals on the spectrum, but not when examining clinical presentation on its own. It also showed that psychiatric comorbidities and white matter connectivity in the brain may have an impact on the ability of children to make improvements over time. Overall, this thesis generated empirical evidence that the current diagnostic criteria of for autism describes a condition that consists of several homogenous subtypes. In addition, it was able identify groups of individuals that showed better outcomes compared to the rest of the autism population. These findings call into question the characterisation of autism as ‘one’ condition and instead provide insights into subtypes of autism with unique aetiologies and needs. The identification of individuals with unique clinical, neurobiological and outcome profiles opens up a new realm of targets for therapies and intervention

Influence of Cytochrome P450 2D6 Polymorphisms on the Efficacy of Oral Propranolol in Treating Infantile Hemangioma

Objective. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association of genetic polymorphisms in Cytochrome P450 2D6(CYP2D6) and the change in VEGF levels with the response to propranolol in patients with Infantile hemangiomas (IH). Methods. IH patients who underwent over six months of propranolol therapy and received oral propranolol only were enrolled. The target dose of propranolol was 1 mg kg−1day−1. Deoxyribonucleic acid was obtained from venous blood leukocytes. Genotypes of CYP2D6 (rs1065852 and rs1135840) were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and by sequencing the products. Baseline serum VEGF and serum VEGF one month after treatment were measured. The clinical responses after six months of treatment were evaluated. Genotypes of CYP2D6 (rs1065852 and rs1135840) and VEGF levels were compared between good responders and poor-to-moderate responders. Results. 72 patients were enrolled in the study. Patients with CYP2D6 (rs1135840) G/G homozygote had the highest response rate to propranolol. No significant association was found between the response rates and CYP2D6 (rs1065852) polymorphism. No significant differences were found in baseline serum VEGF, serum VEGF one month after treatment, and VEGF ratio between good responders and poor-to-moderate responders. Conclusion. The response to propranolol treatment in IH patients was associated with the gene polymorphism of CYP2D6 (rs1135840). A low-dose propranolol regimen was effective and safe in young infants with IH. The change of serum VEGF levels after one month’s treatment could not be used to predict the response rate to propranolol

Exploring the Cognitive Foundations of the Shared Attention Mechanism: Evidence for a Relationship Between Self-Categorization and Shared Attention Across the Autism Spectrum

The social difficulties of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are typically explained as a disruption in the Shared Attention Mechanism (SAM) sub-component of the theory of mind (ToM) system. In the current paper, we explore the hypothesis that SAM’s capacity to construct the self-other-object relations necessary for shared-attention arises from a self-categorization process, which is weaker among those with more autistic-like traits. We present participants with self-categorization and shared-attention tasks, and measure their autism-spectrum quotient (AQ). Results reveal a negative relationship between AQ and shared-attention, via self-categorization, suggesting a role for self-categorization in the disruption in SAM seen in ASD. Implications for intervention, and for a ToM model in which weak central coherence plays a role are discussedThis research was supported by the Australian Research Council (FLFL110100199) and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (Social Interactions Identity and Well-Being Program)