Online training and support programs designed to improve mental health and reduce burden among caregivers of people with dementia : a systematic review

Introduction -- Dementia poses a considerable socioeconomic burden to society. On a global scale, family and other unpaid care predominates. Supporting caregivers is crucial, but scalable interventions are currently lacking. Because a growing number of studies have suggested that online training and support programs hold considerable promise for scaling up, we reviewed existing literature. Methods -- We systematically searched 6 databases to identify studies of Internet-based interventions designed to train and support caregivers of people with dementia, and we formally assessed risk of bias. Our prespecified primary outcomes of interest included both mental health and caregiver burden/perceived stress. Our secondary outcomes of interest included knowledge, quality of life of caregivers, quality of care, caregiver response to challenging behaviors, coping, and self-efficacy. Results -- Eight randomized control trials met our inclusion criteria involving over 900 participants. The content and structure of Internet-based interventions, outcome measures, and duration differed markedly, and selection, performance, and reporting biases were varied and on occasion of concern. Six studies reported outcomes in caregivers' mental health outcomes, 3 studies reported burden outcomes. Three studies reported knowledge skills, quality of life and reaction to challenging behaviours, whereas 2 studies reported changes in coping outcomes and self-efficacy. No studies reported outcomes on quality of care. Discussion -- Although there is some evidence that Internet-based interventions can improve mental health outcomes for informal caregivers of people with dementia, marked methodological diversity across studies prevented the robust pooling of the results. A concerted and cohesive approach from all stakeholders is now required to help realize the full potential of this emerging field

A Bioinspired Astrocyte-Derived Coating Promotes the In Vitro Proliferation of Human Neural Stem Cells While Maintaining Their Stemness

The repair of neuronal tissue is a challenging process due to the limited proliferative capacity of neurons. Neural stem cells (NSCs) can aid in the regeneration process of neural tissue due to their high proliferation potential and capacity to differentiate into neurons. The therapeutic potential of these cells can only be achieved if sufficient cells are obtained without losing their differentiation potential. Toward this end, an astrocyte-derived coating (HAc) was evaluated as a promising substrate to promote the proliferation of NSCs. Mass spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the HAc. The proliferation rate and the expression of stemness and differentiation markers in NSCs cultured on the HAc were evaluated and compared to the responses of these cells to commonly used coating materials including Poly-L-Ornithine (PLO), and a Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (HiPSC)-based coating. The use of the HAc promotes the in vitro cell growth of NSCs. The expression of the stemness markers Sox2 and Nestin, and the differentiation marker DCX in the HAc group was akin to the expression of these markers in the controls. In summary, HAc supported the proliferation of NSCs while maintaining their stemness and neural differentiation potential

Growth and body composition in pku children— a three-year prospective study comparing the effects of l-amino acid to glycomacropeptide protein substitutes

Protein quality and quantity are important factors in determining lean body (muscle) mass (LBM). In phenylketonuria (PKU), protein substitutes provide most of the nitrogen, either as amino acids (AA) or glycomacropeptide with supplementary amino acids (CGMP-AA). Body composition and growth are important indicators of long-term health. In a 3-year prospective study comparing the impact of AA and CGMP-AA on body composition and growth in PKU, 48 children were recruited. N = 19 (median age 11.1 years, range 5–15 years) took AA only, n = 16 (median age 7.3 years, range 5–15 years) took a combination of CGMP-AA and AA, (CGMP50) and 13 children (median age 9.2 years, range 5–16 years) took CGMP-AA only (CGMP100). A dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan at enrolment and 36 months measured LBM, % body fat (%BF) and fat mass (FM). Height was measured at enrolment, 12, 24 and 36 months. No correlation or statistically significant differences (after adjusting for age, gender, puberty and phenylalanine blood concentrations) were found between the three groups for LBM, %BF, FM and height. The change in height z scores, (AA 0, CGMP50 +0.4 and CGMP100 +0.7) showed a trend that children in the CGMP100 group were taller, had improved LBM with decreased FM and % BF but this was not statistically significant. There appeared to be no advantage of CGMP-AA compared to AA on body composition after 3-years of follow-up. Although statistically significant differences were not reached, a trend towards improved body composition was observed with CGMP-AA when it provided the entire protein substitute requirement.publishersversionpublishe

Collagen Based Multicomponent Interpenetrating Networks as Promising Scaffolds for 3D Culture of Human Neural Stem Cells, Human Astrocytes, and Human Microglia

This work describes for the first time the fabrication and characterization of multicomponent interpenetrating networks composed of collagen I, hyaluronic acid, and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate for the 3D culture of human neural stem cells, astrocytes, and microglia. The chemical composition of the scaffolds can be modulated while maintaining values of complex moduli within the range of the mechanical performance of brain tissue (∼6.9 kPa) and having cell viability exceeding 84%. The developed scaffolds are a promising new family of biomaterials that can potentially serve as 3D in vitro models for studying the physiology and physiopathology of the central nervous system

Objective assessment of stored blood quality by deep learning

Stored red blood cells (RBCs) are needed for life-saving blood transfusions, but they undergo continuous degradation. RBC storage lesions are often assessed by microscopic examination or biochemical and biophysical assays, which are complex, time-consuming, and destructive to fragile cells. Here we demonstrate the use of label-free imaging flow cytometry and deep learning to characterize RBC lesions. Using brightfield images, a trained neural network achieved 76.7% agreement with experts in classifying seven clinically relevant RBC morphologies associated with storage lesions, comparable to 82.5% agreement between different experts. Given that human observation and classification may not optimally discern RBC quality, we went further and eliminated subjective human annotation in the training step by training a weakly supervised neural network using only storage duration times. The feature space extracted by this network revealed a chronological progression of morphological changes that better predicted blood quality, as measured by physiological hemolytic assay readouts, than the conventional expert-assessed morphology classification system. With further training and clinical testing across multiple sites, protocols, and instruments, deep learning and label-free imaging flow cytometry might be used to routinely and objectively assess RBC storage lesions. This would automate a complex protocol, minimize laboratory sample handling and preparation, and reduce the impact of procedural errors and discrepancies between facilities and blood donors. The chronology-based machine-learning approach may also improve upon humans’ assessment of morphological changes in other biomedically important progressions, such as differentiation and metastasis

Metric analysis of the information visibility and diffusion about the European Higher Education Area on Spanish university websites.

The purpose of the study proposed in this paper is to evaluate the Spanish public university websites dedicated to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). To do so, the quality of these resources has been analysed in the light of data provided by a series of indicators grouped in seven criteria, most of which were used to determine what information is made available and in what way. The criteria used in our analysis are: visibility, authority, updatedness, accesibility, correctness and completeness, quality assessment and navigability. All in all, the results allow us to carry out an overall diagnosis of the situation and also provide us with information about the situation at each university, thus revealing their main strengths, namely authority and navegability, and also their chief shortcomings: updatedness, accessibility and quality assessment. In this way it is possible to detect the best practices in each of the aspects evaluated so that they can serve as an example and guide for universities with greater deficiencies and thus help them to improve their EHEA websites

Virus Prevalence in Egg Samples Collected from Naturally Selected and Traditionally Managed Honey Bee Colonies across Europe

Monitoring virus infections can be an important selection tool in honey bee breeding. A recent study pointed towards an association between the virus-free status of eggs and an increased virus resistance to deformed wing virus (DWV) at the colony level. In this study, eggs from both naturally surviving and traditionally managed colonies from across Europe were screened for the prevalence of different viruses. Screenings were performed using the phenotyping protocol of the 'suppressed in ovo virus infection' trait but with qPCR instead of end-point PCR and a primer set that covers all DWV genotypes. Of the 213 screened samples, 109 were infected with DWV, 54 were infected with black queen cell virus (BQCV), 3 were infected with the sacbrood virus, and 2 were infected with the acute bee paralyses virus. It was demonstrated that incidences of the vertical transmission of DWV were more frequent in naturally surviving than in traditionally managed colonies, although the virus loads in the eggs remained the same. When comparing virus infections with queen age, older queens showed significantly lower infection loads of DWV in both traditionally managed and naturally surviving colonies, as well as reduced DWV infection frequencies in traditionally managed colonies. We determined that the detection frequencies of DWV and BQCV in honey bee eggs were lower in samples obtained in the spring than in those collected in the summer, indicating that vertical transmission may be lower in spring. Together, these patterns in vertical transmission show that honey bee queens have the potential to reduce the degree of vertical transmission over time

Virus Prevalence in Egg Samples Collected from Naturally Selected and Traditionally Managed Honey Bee Colonies across Europe

Monitoring virus infections can be an important selection tool in honey bee breeding. A recent study pointed towards an association between the virus-free status of eggs and an increased virus resistance to deformed wing virus (DWV) at the colony level. In this study, eggs from both naturally surviving and traditionally managed colonies from across Europe were screened for the prevalence of different viruses. Screenings were performed using the phenotyping protocol of the ‘suppressed in ovo virus infection’ trait but with qPCR instead of end-point PCR and a primer set that covers all DWV genotypes. Of the 213 screened samples, 109 were infected with DWV, 54 were infected with black queen cell virus (BQCV), 3 were infected with the sacbrood virus, and 2 were infected with the acute bee paralyses virus. It was demonstrated that incidences of the vertical transmission of DWV were more frequent in naturally surviving than in traditionally managed colonies, although the virus loads in the eggs remained the same. When comparing virus infections with queen age, older queens showed significantly lower infection loads of DWV in both traditionally managed and naturally surviving colonies, as well as reduced DWV infection frequencies in traditionally managed colonies. We determined that the detection frequencies of DWV and BQCV in honey bee eggs were lower in samples obtained in the spring than in those collected in the summer, indicating that vertical transmission may be lower in spring. Together, these patterns in vertical transmission show that honey bee queens have the potential to reduce the degree of vertical transmission over time

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr