The effect of coping strategies on burden among male Alzheimer\u27s caregivers

The purpose of the current study is to examine the coping strategies of an often understudied, growing population of Alzheimer’s disease informal caregivers, male caregivers. Additionally, the current study measured the effects of three styles of coping (task-focused coping, emotional-focused coping, and avoidant-focused coping) on the reported burden of the male AD caregivers. The sample included 138 male AD caregivers. The male AD caregivers in the current study reported moderate to severe burden. Task-focused coping strategies were the most commonly used styles of coping. The use of task-focused coping had no effect on the burden reported by the caregivers in the study. Both emotion-focused and avoidant-focused coping, contributed to increased burden among the male AD caregivers in the study

Dark sectors 2016 Workshop: community report

This report, based on the Dark Sectors workshop at SLAC in April 2016, summarizes the scientific importance of searches for dark sector dark matter and forces at masses beneath the weak-scale, the status of this broad international field, the important milestones motivating future exploration, and promising experimental opportunities to reach these milestones over the next 5-10 years

Preliminary Studies of 3,5-Diarylazoles as Novel and Selective Inhibitors of Protein Kinase D

Preliminary studies of the SAR of novel 3,5-diarylazole inhibitors of Protein Kinase D (PKD) are reported. Notably, compounds bearing an α-aminonitrile moiety have been found to be active in cellular assays of HDAC5 nuclear localization, orally biovailable, and highly selective versus a panel of additional putative histone deacetylase (HDAC) kinases, providing potential tools for the further study of PKD / HDAC5 signalin

Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Promoter Polymorphism Affords Protection Against Cognitive Dysfunction After Carotid Endarterectomy

Background and Purpose—Cognitive dysfunction occurs in 9% to 23% of patients during the first month after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). A 4-basepair (AAAT) tandem repeat polymorphism (either 3 or 4 repeats) has been described in the promoter region of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), a gene with complex roles in ischemic injury and preconditioning against ischemic injury. We investigated whether the 4-repeat variant (iNOSϩ) affects the incidence of cognitive dysfunction after CEA. Methods—One-hundred eighty-five CEA and 60 spine surgery (control) subjects were included in this nested cohort analysis. Subjects underwent a battery of 7 neuropsychometric tests before and 1 day and 1 month after surgery. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine if the iNOS promoter variant was independently associated with the incidence of cognitive dysfunction at 1 day and 1 month. Further, all right-hand-dominant CEA subjects were grouped by operative side and performance on each test was compared between iNOSϩ and iNOSϪ groups. Results—Forty-four of 185 CEA subjects had at least 1 iNOS promoter allele containing 4 copies of the tandem repeat (iNOSϩ). iNOSϩ status was significantly protective against moderate/severe cognitive dysfunction 1 month after CEA. Right-hand-dominant iNOSϩ CEA subjects undergoing left-side CEA performed significantly better than iNOSϪ subjects on a verbal learning test and those undergoing right-side CEA performed significantly better on a test of visuospatial function. Conclusion—We demonstrate an iNOS promoter polymorphism variant provides protection against moderate/severe cognitive dysfunction 1 month after CEA. Further, this protection appears to involve cognitive domains localized ipsilateral to the operative carotid artery. (Stroke. 2009;40:1597-1603.

Radial glia promote microglial development through integrin α V β 8 -TGFβ1 signaling

Summary Microglia diversity emerges from interactions between intrinsic genetic programs and environment-derived signals, but how these processes unfold and interact in the developing brain remains unclear. Here, we show that radial glia-expressed integrin beta 8 (ITGB8) expressed in radial glia progenitors activates microglia-expressed TGFβ1, permitting microglial development. Domain-restricted deletion of Itgb8 in these progenitors establishes complementary regions with developmentally arrested “dysmature” microglia that persist into adulthood. In the absence of autocrine TGFβ1 signaling, we find that microglia adopt a similar dysmature phenotype, leading to neuromotor symptoms almost identical to Itgb8 mutant mice. In contrast, microglia lacking the TGFβ signal transducers Smad2 and Smad3 have a less polarized dysmature phenotype and correspondingly less severe neuromotor dysfunction. Finally, we show that non-canonical (Smad-independent) signaling partially suppresses disease and development associated gene expression, providing compelling evidence for the adoption of microglial developmental signaling pathways in the context of injury or disease