Chinese-Australian carers' perceived needs and preferences in planning to embed an iSupport for Dementia program in aged care services.

OBJECTIVE: To assess Chinese-Australian carers' needs and preferences through co-design strategies with stakeholders to embed an evidence-based iSupport for Dementia program into routine community aged care services in Chinese ethno-specific aged care organisations. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from July to August 2022 in three Chinese ethno-specific aged care organisations in Australia. We applied a univariate analysis to test variables associated with carers' needs and preferences when embedding the iSupport for Dementia program into routine practice among community aged care services. RESULTS: A total of 101 carers completed the survey. Most carers in our study preferred the iSupport program to be provided in their first language, have a program facilitator to lead the program and would like to interact with peers in the program. Most carers indicated that they are willing to pay for the iSupport program using the budget allocated to their home care package. Younger carers (younger than 65 years), and adult children's carers are more likely to use the web-based iSupport manual and invite their family members to the program compared to those older than 65 years. Other demographic characteristics had no significant association with their needs and preferences. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese-Australian carers' perceived needs and preferences in this study will inform the implementation of a culturally tailored iSupport program to be embedded in community aged care services provided by Chinese ethno-specific aged care organisations. Findings will also inform culturally and linguistically congruent iSupport programs for carers from other culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia.

Maternal immune activation alters placental histone-3 lysine-9 tri-methylation, offspring sensorimotor processing, and hypothalamic transposable element expression in a sex-specific manner.

Animal models of maternal immune activation (MIA) are central to identifying the biological mechanisms that underly the association between prenatal infection and neuropsychiatric disorder susceptibility. Many studies, however, have limited their scope to protein coding genes and their role in mediating this inherent risk, while much less attention has been directed towards exploring the roles of the epigenome and transposable elements (TEs). In Experiment 1, we demonstrate the ability of MIA to alter the chromatin landscape of the placenta. We induced MIA by injecting 200 µg/kg (i.p.) of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on gestational day 15 in Sprague-Dawley rats. We found a sex-specific rearrangement of heterochromatin 24-h after exposure to MIA, as evidenced by an increase in histone-3 lysine-9 trimethylation (H3K9me3). In Experiment 2, MIA was associated with long-term sensorimotor processing deficits as indicated by reduced prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex in adult male and female offspring and an increased mechanical allodynia threshold in males. Analyses of gene expression within the hypothalamus-chosen for its involvement in the sex-specific pathogenesis of schizophrenia and the stress response-revealed significantly higher levels of the stress-sensitive genes Gr and Fkbp5. Deleterious TE expression is often a hallmark of neuropsychiatric disease and we found sex-specific increases in the expression of several TEs including IAP, B2 SINE, and LINE-1 ORF1. The data from this study warrant the future consideration of chromatin stability and TEs as part of the mechanism that drives MIA-associated changes in the brain and behavior.

Color vision deficits in intermediate age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE: To assess the effect of intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on foveal cone-contrast thresholds. METHODS: We measured L-M and S-cone-contrast thresholds in subjects with intermediate AMD (n = 10) and age-matched control subjects (n = 10). Monocular, foveal 3-degree Gaussian blobs (600-millisecond raised cosine) were presented at 16 cone ratios throughout L-, M-, and S-cone space, and threshold contours were modeled with probability summation between two independent detection mechanisms. The role that preretinal absorption plays in aging was also evaluated by simulation with FG15 and neutral-density filters. RESULTS: Aging results in loss of neural sensitivity, not explained by lens changes. On average, intermediate AMD was associated with reduced sensitivity in both color and luminance channels (p < 0.05) that appeared to indicate greater involvement of S-cones. When data were normalized to age-expected values, the changes to cone sensitivity were shown to be consistent (∼200% loss) across L-M, M-L, and S-cone mechanisms. In comparison, the luminance (L + M) mechanism showed relative sparing (155% loss, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Eyes with the same phenotype of intermediate AMD can have varying degrees of color threshold loss. Functional markers enhance the clinical definition of disease expression in AMD.

Chemical genetics of rapamycin-insensitive TORC2 in S. cerevisiae.

Current approaches for identifying synergistic targets use cell culture models to see if the combined effect of clinically available drugs is better than predicted by their individual efficacy. New techniques are needed to systematically and rationally identify targets and pathways that may be synergistic targets. Here, we created a tool to screen and identify molecular targets that may synergize with new inhibitors of target of rapamycin (TOR), a conserved protein that is a major integrator of cell proliferation signals in the nutrient-signaling pathway. Although clinical results from TOR complex 1 (TORC1)-specific inhibition using rapamycin analogs have been disappointing, trials using inhibitors that also target TORC2 have been promising. To understand this increased therapeutic efficacy and to discover secondary targets for combination therapy, we engineered Tor2 in S. cerevisiae to accept an orthogonal inhibitor. We used this tool to create a chemical epistasis miniarray profile (ChE-MAP) by measuring interactions between the chemically inhibited Tor2 kinase and a diverse library of deletion mutants. The ChE-MAP identified known TOR components and distinguished between TORC1- and TORC2-dependent functions. The results showed a TORC2-specific interaction with the pentose phosphate pathway, a previously unappreciated TORC2 function that suggests a role for the complex in balancing the high energy demand required for ribosome biogenesis.

Changes in bone density and geometry of the upper extremities after stroke: a case report.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine changes in bone density and geometry of the forearm region and motor function of the paretic upper extremity in a person with subacute stroke. Client Description: The participant was a 48-year-old man with right hemiparesis. INTERVENTION: Not applicable. Measures and Outcomes: The assessment of upper-extremity (UE) function and bone imaging took place at 3 months and 12 months after stroke. The participant had moderate motor impairment and severe disuse of the paretic UE 3 months after stroke. During the follow-up period, no substantial change in paretic UE function was observed. At the 12 month follow-up, the areal bone mineral density (aBMD) of the ultradistal and mid-regions of the paretic forearm, as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, sustained a significant reduction of 7.9% and 5.9%, respectively. The non-paretic side, in contrast, had a significant 4.0% increase in aBMD of the mid-forearm and a 2.8% increase in aBMD of the total forearm. Significant findings from peripheral quantitative computed tomography were a reduction in total volumetric bone mineral density (-12.1%) and bone strength index (-20.6%) in the radius distal epiphysis on the paretic side and an increase in cortical bone mineral content (2.0%) and bone strength index (7.6%) in the radius diaphysis on the non-paretic side. IMPLICATIONS: After a stroke that resulted in moderate to severe UE impairment, a significant decline in bone mineral density was identified in various skeletal sites in the forearm region as the participant entered the subacute and chronic stages of recovery. The results point to the potential importance of early rehabilitative intervention in preventing unfavourable bone changes in the paretic upper limb among individuals with stroke.

Future research on dementia relating to culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

About one in five older Australians were born overseas. However, there has been very little information published in Australia or internationally about dementia in persons from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. This limits our ability to plan for and provide evidence-based medical care, social care and aged care services to persons from CALD backgrounds. This paper describes challenges to conducting CALD dementia research; these include sampling, having valid instruments and costs. Nine key research recommendations in the areas of epidemiology, community knowledge, carers, service delivery, screening and assessment, medical management, residential aged care and minority CALD reached by consensus by an expert group are presented. The paper closes with some strategies to encourage CALD research. The material presented here will provide guidance for future research endeavours.