Purpose of Review
Mental health disorders, especially depression, are prevalent among people living with HIV (PLWH) and are associated with cognitive impairment (CI) among HIV-uninfected (HIV−) ...individuals. We conducted a comprehensive review of the link between depression and cognition among PLWH.
Recent Findings
Studies examining depression and cognition in PLWH report high rates of current (median = 24%) and lifetime depression (42%). There is reliable evidence that depression is associated with overall CI among PLWH, and in the cognitive domains of processing speed, executive function, learning and memory, and motor function. Although few studies have examined the interaction between HIV serostatus and depression on CI, there is no evidence of a stronger association between CI and depression in PLWH compared with HIV− controls.
Summary
Depression is prevalent and reliably associated with CI in PLWH, with an overall pattern of domain-specific associations similar to that of HIV− individuals.
Precision medicine methodologies and approaches have advanced our understanding of the clinical presentation, development, progression, and management of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. However, ...sex and gender have not yet been adequately integrated into many of these approaches.
The Society for Women's Health Research Interdisciplinary Network on AD, comprised of an expert panel of scientists and clinicians, reviewed ongoing and published research related to sex and gender differences in AD.
The current review is a result of this Network's efforts and aims to: (1) highlight the current state-of-the-science in the AD field on sex and gender differences; (2) address knowledge gaps in assessing sex and gender differences; and (3) discuss 12 priority areas that merit further research.
The exclusion of sex and gender has impeded faster advancement in the detection, treatment, and care of AD across the clinical spectrum. Greater attention to these differences will improve outcomes for both sexes.
•We performed a meta-analysis of studies of cognition and depression across stages of the menopausal transition.•Postmenopausal women perform worse than perimenopausal women on phonemic verbal ...fluency and delayed verbal memory tests.•Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women are more likely to have significant depressive symptoms compared to premenopausal women.•Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women are more likely to meet criteria for a diagnosis of Major Depression than premenopausal women.
It is suggested that declines in estrogen around menopause are associated with declines in cognitive functioning as well as increased risk of depressive symptoms and depressive disorders. Existing studies of objective cognitive function and mood have differed in the criteria used to stage the menopausal transition and in the outcome measures used. The purpose of this review was to synthesize the existing studies of the relationship between menopausal stage and neuropsychological performance and depression.
A search of the literature of observational studies was performed using PubMed. Four cross-sectional studies on menopausal transition stage and cognitive function and four longitudinal studies on menopausal transition stage and risk of depression, as measured by symptom inventories and structured clinical interviews, were selected. For the cognitive outcomes, fixed effects models were used to estimate overall standardized effect sizes. For the depression outcomes, the results of group comparisons were summarized using the log odds ratio and its estimated standard error.
Postmenopausal women performed significantly worse than pre- and perimenopausal women on delayed verbal memory tasks, and significantly worse than perimenopausal women on phonemic verbal fluency tasks. Peri- and postmenopausal women were at significantly increased risk of depression, as measured by standard symptom inventories and structured clinical interviews, than premenopausal women.
The menopausal transition is a time of increased vulnerability to cognitive declines and increased risk of depressive symptoms and depressive disorders. However, these results cannot necessarily be generalized beyond the studies included in this review.
This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Menopause’.
This study examines the impact of public subsidies, and specifically, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards on university spinoff companies. Using unique data for a population of ...University of California spinoffs, we find pronounced differences between companies commercializing digital technologies (software and hardware), and those that focus on other product spaces. For digital spinoffs, receiving an SBIR award has a negative impact on raising venture capital and no impact on IPOs, exits or first sales. Conversely, for non-digital firms (e.g., biotechnology, energy), receiving an SBIR award has a positive effect on raising venture capital and performance outcomes. We reason that digital technologies are subject to faster cycle times and higher market uncertainty, relative to technological uncertainty. Digital firms may therefore benefit less from subsidies designed to support technology development, and private investors may view the need of digital companies to obtain such subsidies as a negative certification. Our findings inform policy by suggesting that the industrial domain may be an important boundary condition for the effectiveness of SBIR-type subsidies for university spinoffs.
•This study examines the impact of Small Business Innovation Research grants (SBIRs) on University of California spinoffs.•Public subsidies are less effective for digital university spinoffs.•For digital spinoffs, receiving an SBIR has a negative impact on obtaining venture capital and no impact on IPOs, exits or first sales.•For non-digital spinoffs (e.g. biotechnology, energy), receiving an SBIR has a positive effect on raising VC and subsequent performance outcomes.•Because digital technologies are subject to faster cycle times and higher market uncertainty, firms commercializing them benefit less from subsidies.
Clinicians can encounter sex and gender disparities in diagnostic and therapeutic responses. These disparities are noted in epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, disease ...progression, and response to treatment. This Review discusses the fundamental influences of sex and gender as modifiers of the major causes of death and morbidity. We articulate how the genetic, epigenetic, and hormonal influences of biological sex influence physiology and disease, and how the social constructs of gender affect the behaviour of the community, clinicians, and patients in the health-care system and interact with pathobiology. We aim to guide clinicians and researchers to consider sex and gender in their approach to diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases as a necessary and fundamental step towards precision medicine, which will benefit men's and women's health.
The large majority of women receiving hormone therapy initiate therapy early in life for the treatment of menopausal symptoms. However, the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study, the only randomized ...clinical trial to date on hormone therapy and dementia, was carried out in women age 65 and older. That trial provided important insights into the detrimental effects of hormone therapy on dementia in women initiating later in life. The generalizability of those findings to the typical hormone therapy user who initiates earlier in life is unknown. To address this important issue, this review focuses on observational trials of hormone therapy and dementia risk, randomized clinical trials of hormone therapy and cognitive function, and basic science studies. These lines of research provide suggestive, but not definitive, evidence that early initiation of hormone therapy may provide cognitive benefits, particularly to verbal memory and other hippocampally mediated functions. Other forms of hormone therapy, other cognitive domains, and cyclic hormone regimens may not conform to this “critical period hypothesis.” Further research is needed to test the validity and limits of this hypothesis.
As far back as the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, physicians have observed and interpreted the arterial pulse to diagnose disease. In the last 20 years, advances in modern engineering have rendered ...quantitative pulse wave analysis widely available, reliable, and reproducible. To date, measurement of arterial stiffness has remained almost exclusively a research activity. However, ongoing technological improvements coupled with already strong and growing evidence of clinical value should facilitate integration of arterial stiffness measures into clinical practice in the near future. This brief review will highlight clinical areas where arterial stiffness measures are likely to be the most informative in clinical practice.
: Inflammation is a physiological response to aggression of pathogenic agents aimed at eliminating the aggressor agent and promoting healing. Excessive inflammation, however, may contribute to tissue ...damage and an alteration of arterial structure and function. Increased arterial stiffness is a well recognized cardiovascular risk factor independent of blood pressure levels and an intermediate endpoint for cardiovascular events. In the present review, we discuss immune-mediated mechanisms by which inflammation can influence arterial physiology and lead to vascular dysfunction such as atherosclerosis and arterial stiffening. We also show that acute inflammation predisposes the vasculature to arterial dysfunction and stiffening, and alteration of endothelial function and that chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis are accompanied by profound arterial dysfunction which is proportional to the severity of inflammation. Current findings suggest that treatment of inflammation by targeted drugs leads to regression of arterial dysfunction. There is hope that these treatments will improve outcomes for patients.
Abstract
Earthquakes frequently occur in Japan. Even though countermeasures are thoroughly considered and well executed, earthquakes still impact facilities and experimental devices. The large ...relative displacements induced by an earthquake can damage beam pipe bellows and interfere with sub-detectors by causing the tolerance between them to disappear. Even magnet quenches have been triggered by induced voltages caused by the relative displacements between the superconducting solenoids (i.e., the detector solenoid and the compensating solenoids surrounding the final focus quadrupole magnets, or QCSs). In response, we installed acceleration sensors on the Belle II detector and mounted gap sensors on the QCSs to measure the relative displacements. These measurements enabled the characteristics of the earthquakes that have affected the Belle II detector to be analysed. Response spectrum analyses (RSAs) of the Belle II detector were conducted to evaluate the impact of earthquakes according to the ground motion measurements. We then compared the measurements to the RSA results, which led to an idea for a countermeasure.
Most studies of menopause and brain aging have focused on the role of the sex steroid hormone, estradiol, as a key mechanisms contributing to cognitive and brain aging in women. An emerging ...literature demonstrates that beyond endogenous estradiol levels, menopausal symptoms, particularly vasomotor symptoms (VMS), are also key determinants of menopause-related changes in cognition and brain function. Critically, that literature shows the importance of using objective techniques to identify associations of VMS with memory performance, brain structure, and brain function. While self-report measures are important patient-centered outcomes in women's health research, objective measures of VMS typically relate more strongly to indices of cognitive and brain health. Currently, it is premature to make a causal claim about VMS and memory dysfunction, but initial findings raise the possibility that women with VMS might experience an improvement in cognition with VMS treatment. More generally, these findings underscore the utility of investigating female-specific risk factors for cognitive decline.
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