Dilemmas of intervention: From person-centred to alienation-centred dementia care.

Discussions regarding personhood and dementia care are often based on practices of recognition; on notions of being-or not being- 'one of us'. This article provides a short overview of personhood as articulated in dementia care, especially in the assemblage of practices known as 'person-centred care' (PCC), and in post-human approaches that developed following the critique of PCC. This article posits an alternative framework, based on a rereading of the concept of alienation, that we want to call 'alienation-centred care'. It considers the extent to which dynamic prosthetic networks can be adapted to the lives of people with dementia, rather than only examining the individual's reactivity to dementia interventions that define traditional approaches. It further urges us to understand the multiple origins of alienating states. Conclusions explore how this framework might address some of the limitations identified in both humanist and post-human approaches to personhood and dementia.

Inside aging masculinities and gerontological careers.

This roundtable discussion is a creative contribution to this special issue on 'aging masculinities' based on questions posed by editor Stephen Katz to three leading senior scholars in the critical gerontological field in the United States. W. Andrew Achenbaum is a renowned historian who has devoted his career to writing about the relevance of past politics, cultures, and knowledges of aging to comprehending our current dilemmas. Thomas R. Cole is an acclaimed historical scholar and mentor to generations of Humanities researchers across the globe. His work also includes film, literature, ethics, and spirituality. Brian de Vries is a social gerontologist whose bold research on LGBTQ aging is a powerful voice in critiquing the multiple forms of discrimination, violence and hardships, and denied rights and life-chances imposed by hetero-patriarchal regimes in later life. That these men have shaped and been shaped by their work and advocacy is the key theme that inspires our conversation.

Modeling the trophic impacts of invasive zooplankton in a highly invaded river.

The lower Columbia River (Washington and Oregon, USA) has been heavily invaded by a large number of planktonic organisms including the invasive copepod Pseudodiaptomus forbesi and the planktonic juveniles of the invasive clam, Corbicula fluminea. In order to assess the ecological impacts of these highly abundant invaders, we developed a multivariate auto-regressive (MAR) model of food web dynamics based upon a 12-year time-series of plankton community and environmental data from the Columbia River. Our model results indicate that plankton communities in the lower Columbia River are strongly impacted by the copepod P. forbesi at multiple trophic levels. We observed different ecological effects across different life stages of P. forbesi, with nauplii negatively impacting ciliates and autotrophs, and copepodite stages negatively impacting Daphnia and cyclopoid copepods. Although juvenile C. fluminea were highly abundant in the summer and autumn of each year, our best fit MAR model did not show significant C. fluminea impacts. Our results illustrate the strong ecological impact that some zooplankton invaders may cause within rivers and estuarine systems, and highlight the need for further research on the feeding ecology of the planktonic life-stage of C. fluminea. Overall, our study demonstrates the manner in which long-term, high resolution data sets can be used to better understand the ecological impacts of invasive species among complex and highly dynamic communities.

Tracked and fit: FitBits, brain games, and the quantified aging body.

This paper explores the technical turn to new ways of quantifying and standardizing measurements of age as these intersect with discourses of anti-aging and speculative futures of 'smart' quantified aging bodies. Often couched in a metaphorical language of 'smart', 'fit', 'boosting' and 'optimizing', the aging body is emerging as a node for data collection, monitoring, and surveillance. The research is located in the current literature that links aging, bodies and technologies, with specific extended examples of wearable devices such as fitness trackers and digital exercises such as brain games designed for memory performance. Conclusions suggest that new technologies around aging and quantifiable fitness create an ambiguous image of the aging body and brain as both improvable and 'plastic' but also inevitably in decline.

Acute Kidney Injury and Sepsis.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, both acute kidney injury (AKI) and sepsis are significant clinical complications, particularly in critical care patients. Sepsis is an important cause of AKI, and AKI is a common complication of sepsis. METHODS: We reviewed the literature, including current practice guidelines, on sepsis-associated AKI. RESULTS: We assessed causes of renal failure, potential mechanisms of sepsis-associated acute kidney injury, current practice guidelines, diagnostic criteria and methods, prevention strategies, treatment options, and outcomes. CONCLUSION: In patients with sepsis-associated AKI, appropriate fluid resuscitation and maintenance of blood pressure are important to prevent further kidney damage. Despite multiple clinical trials, the mechanisms of sepsis-associated AKI and the best treatment options remain unclear.

Contact Hypersensitivity.

Contact hypersensitivity (CHS) is a simple in vivo assay of cell-mediated immune function in which exposure of epidermal and dermal cells to exogenous haptens results in a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction that can be measured and quantified. Epidermal Langerhans cells and dermal dendritic cells are the critical antigen-presenting cells in this reaction which initiate sensitization to haptens by presenting antigens to CD4- and CD8-bearing T lymphocytes which, in turn, secrete cytokines and recruit other cells to the site of the reaction. In the protocol described here, mice are shaved and the skin of their abdomens is exposed to a hapten. After 5 or 6 days (the afferent phase), the baseline ear thickness is measured prior to initiation of the efferent phase. Finally, the ear is treated epicutaneously with the hapten solution and ear thickness is measured in ∼24 hr. The magnitude of the ear swelling reaction after allergen treatment reflects the strength of the immune response.

Histone deacetylase 6 inhibition impairs effector CD8 T-cell functions during skin inflammation.

BACKGROUND: Broad-spectrum histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are useful in the treatment of allergic and autoimmune diseases and malignancy. However, use of more specific HDAC inhibitors might limit the toxicities caused by HDAC inhibition. HDAC6, a member of the HDAC family, is highly expressed on CD8 T cells and has been shown to regulate immune responses through interactions between T cells and antigen-presenting cells. However, the mechanism by which HDAC6 inhibition affects the activation and functions of CD8 T cells is unclear. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the role or roles of HDAC6 in CD8 T-cell activation and functions during skin inflammation in vitro and in vivo and examined the mechanism by which HDAC6 inhibition modifies T-cell receptor signaling in vitro. METHODS: We assessed the clinical and biological effects of ACY-1215, an HDAC6-specific inhibitor, by using murine CD8 T cell-related skin disease models, including contact hypersensitivity (CHS) and experimental graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)-like disease. RESULTS: ACY-1215, an HDAC6 inhibitor, prevented the development of CHS and GVHD-like disease in vivo by modulating CD8 T-cell activation and functions; abrogated the induction of effector T cells from naive CD8 T cells by means of anti-CD3/CD28 antibody- or antigen-specific stimulation in vitro; and enhanced the binding of acetylated heat shock protein 90 to lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase in vitro, disrupting lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase phosphorylation and leading to impairment of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. CONCLUSION: HDAC6, a key modifier of T-cell receptor signaling, might represent a novel target for the treatment of CD8 T cell-related skin diseases, including CHS and GVHD.