Lymphatic filariasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by roundworm parasites such as Brugia malayi that spread via a mosquito vector. In vitro culture of these parasites provides controlled conditions to understand parasite biology and provides a cheaper way to screen potential micro- and macrofilaricides. Published studies have used a wide array of approaches and metrics regarding in vitro cultures of B. malayi; as a result, drawing comparisons and identifying the reasons why inability to reproduce outcomes are difficult. This study sought to determine conditions that ensure reproducible outcomes and used evaluation metrics that are easily measured and can be automated to ensure objectivity. We found culturing B. malayi third-stage larvae (L3) in endothelial basal media supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum and 75 µm ascorbic acid in a temperature- and humidity-controlled incubator produced better survival and molting rates as well as longer and more motile parasites than previously reported. The benefit of ascorbic acid seemed to be unique to L3 parasites, as the addition of ascorbic acid to adult parasites had no significant impact on survival or motility. The methods reported in this study will help in designing experiments for both parasite behaviour studies and drug screening applications for disease eradication.

The current study examined independent and interactive effects between Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype and two types of cognitively-stimulating lifestyle activities (CSLA)—integrated information processing (CSLA-II) and novel information processing (CSLA-NI)—on concurrent and longitudinal changes in cognition. Three-wave data across 6 years of follow-up from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (n=278; ages 55–94) and linear mixed model analyses were used to characterize the effects of APOE genotype and participation in CSLA-II and CSLA-NI in four cognitive domains. Significant CSLA effects on cognition were observed. More frequent participation in challenging activities (i.e., CSLA-NI) was associated with higher baseline scores on word recall, fact recall, vocabulary and verbal fluency. Conversely, higher participation in less cognitively-challenging activities (i.e., CSLA-II) was associated with lower scores on fact recall and verbal fluency. No longitudinal CSLA-cognition effects were found. Two significant genetic effects were observed. First, APOE moderated CSLA-II and CSLA-NI associations with baseline verbal fluency and fact recall scores. Second, APOE non-ɛ4 carriers’ baseline performance were more likely to be moderated by CSLA participation, compared to APOE-ɛ4 carriers. Our findings suggest APOE may be a “plasticity” gene that makes individuals more or less amenable to the influence of protective factors such as CSLA. (JINS, 2014, 20, 1–9)

We examined two-wave longitudinal changes in two indicators of neurocognitive speed (i.e., mean rate, intraindividual variability) using one simple and three complex reaction time tasks. Participants included idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, with and without incipient dementia, and normal controls. At baseline, there were 45 patients (26 men, 19 women) with idiopathic PD who ranged from 65 to 84 years (M = 71.3; SD = 4.5) and 47 matched controls (27 men, 20 women) who ranged from 65 to 84 years (M = 71.4; SD = 4.9). The 18-month longitudinal sample comprised of 74 returning participants (43 controls; 31 PD patients) who had no cognitive impairment or dementia at both waves. Ten of the 31 PD patients returning for Time 3 had dementia or cognitive impairment. These constituted the PD with incipient dementia (PDID) group. Repeated measures analyses of variance showed that the PD and PDID groups were slower over time on the reaction time tasks, whereas the controls improved their performance over time on all tasks. Inconsistency distinguished the two clinical groups (i.e., the PDID group but not the PD group became more inconsistent over time). Changes in neurocognitive speed and inconsistency may be valid clinical markers of PDID. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–9)

Although the relationship between education and cognitive status is well-known, evidence regarding whether education moderates the trajectory of cognitive change in late life is conflicting. Early studies suggested that higher levels of education attenuate cognitive decline. More recent studies using improved longitudinal methods have not found that education moderates decline. Fewer studies have explored whether education exerts different effects on longitudinal changes within different cognitive domains. In the present study, we analyzed data from 1014 participants in the Victoria Longitudinal Study to examine the effects of education on composite scores reflecting verbal processing speed, working memory, verbal fluency, and verbal episodic memory. Using linear growth models adjusted for age at enrollment (range, 54–95 years) and gender, we found that years of education (range, 6–20 years) was strongly related to cognitive level in all domains, particularly verbal fluency. However, education was not related to rates of change over time for any cognitive domain. Results were similar in individuals older or younger than 70 at baseline, and when education was dichotomized to reflect high or low attainment. In this large longitudinal cohort, education was related to cognitive performance but unrelated to cognitive decline, supporting the hypothesis of passive cognitive reserve with aging. (JINS, 2011, 17, 1039–1046)

Background. The opportunity to study district-wide educational interventions on suicide rates is rarely available. In 1997, the authors carried out a district-wide training programme for primary care, accident and emergency, and mental health workers (47% of eligible staff trained), and demonstrated improvements in skills, attitude and confidence among the recipients of the training.

Method. Suicide rates (including definite suicides and undetermined deaths) and population statistics were collected for a district and region of England from official sources from 1993–2001. A before-and-after (1994–1996 and 1998–2000) training intervention analysis was conducted on suicide rates.

Results. The suicide rate in 1994–1996 was 8·8 per 100000 before our educational intervention and unchanged at 8·6 per 100000 in 1998–2000 after it (p=0·783).

Conclusion. Brief educational interventions to improve the assessment and management of suicide for front-line health professionals in contact with suicidal patients may not be sufficient to reduce the population suicide rate.

The psychology of aging includes a variety of theoretical perspectives, methodological conventions, and techniques and targets of application. Psychological aging-related processes include phenomena from such disparate domains as neurological, sensory, physiological, physical health, mental health, cognition, personality and affect, social, family, interactional, and coping and adjustment. Canadian researchers actively contribute to these and other research topics and professional issues. We summarize a broad and inclusive model of the psychology of aging and highlight some of the ways in which Canadian research and training reflects and advances numerous pertinent scholarly agendas.

During a hospital epidemic of infections with gentamicin-resistant Serratia marcescens (GRS), we studied the relation between receiving antibiotics and acquiring GRS. In a five-month period, 22 patients acquired GRS, whereas 18 patients acquired gentamicin-sensitive Serratia (GSS). When compared with patients with nosocomial GSS infection, patients with nosocomial GRS had been in the hospital (p = 0.04) and the intensive care unit (p = 0.003) longer before infection and more had received gentamicin (p = 0.001) or ampicillin (p = 0.02) before infection. To control for the influence of underlying disease, we matched all 12 ICU patients with GRS infection and 12 patients without GRS infection for underlying illness and duration of intensive care. Use of any antibiotic (p = 0.04), or a combination of gentamicin plus ampicillin or cephalosporin (p = 0.047) was more common among patients with GRS infection. The hospital had not significantly increased the use of aminoglycosides from the previous year. We conclude that for the individual patient antimicrobial therapy, especially with gentamicin or ampicillin, creates a risk for later infection by GRS that is independent of the severity of the underlying illness.