Don't believe the hype: ChatGPT and the case for technological pessimism

Instead of racing to ban or embrace AI in the classroom, we need to be asking different questions about the technology, argues Alexandra Sinclai

It's the precarity, stupid!

The recently passed Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act offers limited protection of academic freedom and ignores the elephant in the room – casualisation in academi

The influence of cognition on self-management of type 2 diabetes in older people

Diabetes is a growing public health issue, increasing in prevalence, eroding quality of life, and burdening health care systems. The complications of diabetes can be avoided or delayed by maintaining good glycemic control, which is achievable through self-management and, where necessary, medication. Older people with diabetes are at increased risk for cognitive impairment. This review aims to bring together current research that has investigated both cognition and diabetes self-management together. The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (Cinahl), Excerpta Medica Database (Embase), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (Medline), and Psychological Information (PsychInfo) databases were searched. Studies were included if they featured older people with type 2 diabetes and had looked for associations between at least one distinct measure of cognition and at least one distinct measure of diabetes self-management. English language publications from the year 2000 were included. Cognitive measures of executive function, memory, and low scores on tests of global cognitive functioning showed significant correlations with multiple areas of diabetes self-management, including diabetes-specific numeracy ability, diabetes knowledge, insulin adjustment skills, ability to learn to perform insulin injections, worse adherence to medications, decreased frequency of self-care activities, missed appointments, decreased frequency of diabetes monitoring, and increased inaccuracies in reporting blood glucose monitoring. The nature of the subjects studied was quite variable in terms of their disease duration, previous medical histories, associated medical comorbidities, and educational level attained prior to being diagnosed with diabetes. The majority of studies were of an associational nature and not findings confirmed by repeat testing or by the effects of an intervention, neither were the majority of studies designed to give a view or conclusion on the clinical value or implications of the research. This only allows speculation of their importance. Most studies do not separate out the influence of aging itself in altering diabetes self-care behavior. We conclude that older people with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for cognitive dysfunction. Changes in cognition may negatively affect diabetes self-management behaviors, influencing self-care outcomes. Age and depression may exacerbate any cognitive impairment

Does a Healthy Weight Body Mass Index at Onset of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Change the Outcomes? A United Kingdom Prospective Cohort Study

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) predominantly affects reproductive-aged females with obesity. However, the prevalence and impact of a healthy weight body mass index (BMI) at disease presentation is not known. This study aimed to evaluate the visual and headache outcomes stratified by the presenting BMI. This was a longitudinal prospective cohort study (IIH Life) based on a tertiary neuro-ophthalmology IIH service, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, United Kingdom, recruiting consecutive patients living with IIH between 2012 and 2021. Those with a presenting BMI were included. The outcome measures included visual outcomes of LogMAR visual acuity, Humphrey visual field perimetric mean deviation (PMD), optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurements, and headache outcomes of frequency, severity, and Headache Impact Test-6 score. Three hundred seventy-five people with IIH and a documented baseline BMI. About 3.7% of the entire cohort had a healthy weight BMI at IIH presentation and 15.5% BMI < 30 kg/m2. The baseline PMD was worse in patients without obesity; however, OCT papilloedema measures were similar. The presence of obesity was associated with a small but significant greater worsening in visual acuity but slower macular ganglion cell layer loss. There was no impact on PMD or papilloedema prognosis related to baseline obesity. The headache outcomes showed heterogeneity, with worse baseline headache frequency in patients with obesity. No BMI group was associated with worse headache outcomes. Patients with a healthy weight BMI or those without obesity at baseline make up a small proportion of IIH patients. BMI at presentation does not appear to influence long-term visual or headache outcomes

Recent advances in Omega-3: Health benefits, sources, products and bioavailability

The joint symposium of The Omega-3 Centre and the Australasian Section American Oil Chemists Society; Recent Advances in Omega-3: Health Benefits, Sources, Products and Bioavailability, was held November 7, 2013 in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Over 115 attendees received new information on a range of health benefits, aquaculture as a sustainable source of supply, and current and potential new and novel sources of these essential omega-3 long-chain (LC, ≥C20) polyunsaturated fatty acid nutrients (also termed LC omega-3). The theme of “Food versus Fuel” was an inspired way to present a vast array of emerging and ground breaking Omega-3 research that has application across many disciplines. Eleven papers submitted following from the Omega-3 Symposium are published in this Special Issue volume, with topics covered including: an update on the use of the Omega-3 Index (O3I), the effects of dosage and concurrent intake of vitamins/minerals on omega-3 incorporation into red blood cells, the possible use of the O3I as a measure of risk for adiposity, the need for and progress with new land plant sources of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6ω3), the current status of farmed Australian and New Zealand fish, and also supplements, in terms of their LC omega-3 and persistent organic pollutants (POP) content, progress with cheap carbon sources in the culture of DHA-producing single cell organisms, a detailed examination of the lipids of the New Zealand Greenshell mussel, and a pilot investigation of the purification of New Zealand hoki liver oil by short path distillation. The selection of papers in this Special Issue collectively highlights a range of forward looking and also new and including positive scientific outcomes occurring in the omega-3 field

Diffusion tensor imaging with direct cytopathological validation: Characterisation of decorin treatment in experimental juvenile communicating hydrocephalus

BACKGROUND: In an effort to develop novel treatments for communicating hydrocephalus, we have shown previously that the transforming growth factor-β antagonist, decorin, inhibits subarachnoid fibrosis mediated ventriculomegaly; however decorin’s ability to prevent cerebral cytopathology in communicating hydrocephalus has not been fully examined. Furthermore, the capacity for diffusion tensor imaging to act as a proxy measure of cerebral pathology in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury has recently been demonstrated. However, the use of diffusion tensor imaging to investigate cytopathological changes in communicating hydrocephalus is yet to occur. Hence, this study aimed to determine whether decorin treatment influences alterations in diffusion tensor imaging parameters and cytopathology in experimental communicating hydrocephalus. Moreover, the study also explored whether diffusion tensor imaging parameters correlate with cellular pathology in communicating hydrocephalus. METHODS: Accordingly, communicating hydrocephalus was induced by injecting kaolin into the basal cisterns in 3-week old rats followed immediately by 14 days of continuous intraventricular delivery of either human recombinant decorin (n = 5) or vehicle (n = 6). Four rats remained as intact controls and a further four rats served as kaolin only controls. At 14-days post-kaolin, just prior to sacrifice, routine magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging was conducted and the mean diffusivity, fractional anisotropy, radial and axial diffusivity of seven cerebral regions were assessed by voxel-based analysis in the corpus callosum, periventricular white matter, caudal internal capsule, CA1 hippocampus, and outer and inner parietal cortex. Myelin integrity, gliosis and aquaporin-4 levels were evaluated by post-mortem immunohistochemistry in the CA3 hippocampus and in the caudal brain of the same cerebral structures analysed by diffusion tensor imaging. RESULTS: Decorin significantly decreased myelin damage in the caudal internal capsule and prevented caudal periventricular white matter oedema and astrogliosis. Furthermore, decorin treatment prevented the increase in caudal periventricular white matter mean diffusivity (p = 0.032) as well as caudal corpus callosum axial diffusivity (p = 0.004) and radial diffusivity (p = 0.034). Furthermore, diffusion tensor imaging parameters correlated primarily with periventricular white matter astrocyte and aquaporin-4 levels. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these findings suggest that decorin has the therapeutic potential to reduce white matter cytopathology in hydrocephalus. Moreover, diffusion tensor imaging is a useful tool to provide surrogate measures of periventricular white matter pathology in communicating hydrocephalus. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12987-016-0033-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users