Objectives: Understanding how the importance of modifiable risk factors for dementia varies by cognitive status and sex is vital for the development of effective approaches to dementia prevention. We aimed to calculate population attributable fractions (PAFs) for incident dementia associated with sets of risk factors while exploring sex differences in individuals who are cognitively normal (CN) or has mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: Longitudinal data from the Rush University Memory and Aging Project (MAP) were analysed. Included participants were aged over 50 years and were CN or with a diagnosis of MCI at their baseline assessment. Analyses considered fifteen potential dementia risk factors covering cardiometabolic, lifestyle, psychosocial and sensory domains. We used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the hazard ratios for incident dementia associated with dementia risk factors and calculated weighted PAFs. All analyses were repeated stratified by sex.

Results: The analytical sample comprised 754 cognitively normal participants (77.2% female) and 242 participants with a diagnosis of MCI (71.9% female), of whom 214 (28.4%) and 120 (49.6%) were diagnosed with dementia across the follow-up, respectively. Although the weighted overall PAF was similar for CN (24.7%) and MCI (25.2%) subgroups, sex differences were present in both. Compared to in females, PAFs were higher in males in both CN (42.5% vs. 25.1%) and MCI (51.6% vs 12.3%) subgroups. The profiles of contributing risk factors also varied by sex. In males, the highest PAFs were smoking (11.1%), vision impairment (6.2%) and stroke (6.0%) in CN and smoking (13.3%), physical inactivity (12.9%) and heart attack (7.9%) in MCI. In females, the highest PAFs were unmarried marital status (4.9%), depression (4.1%) and social isolation (3.8%) in CN and vision impairment (4.4%), increased alcohol intake (3.5%) and depression (2.6%) in MCI.

Conclusions: These findings support the notion that dementia risk is modifiable after the onset of MCI. They also highlight the potential benefits of considering an individual’s cognitive status and sex when formulating dementia prevention strategies.

Development and Psychopathology has been a premier resource for understanding stressful childhood experiences and the intergenerational continuity of psychopathology. Building on that tradition, we examined the unique and joint influences of maternal stress on children’s effortful control (age 7) and externalizing behavior (age 11) as transmitted via genetics, the prenatal environment, and the postnatal environment. The sample included N = 561 adopted children and their biological and adoptive parents. Path models identified a direct effect of biological mother life stress on children’s effortful control (β = −.08) and an indirect effect of her life stress on child externalizing behavior via effortful control (β = .52), but no main or indirect effects of biological parent psychopathology, prenatal stress, or adoptive mother adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Adoptive mother ACES amplified the association between biological mother life stress and child effortful control (β = −.08), externalizing behavior (β = 1.41), and the indirect effect via effortful control, strengthening associations when adoptive mothers reported average or high ACES during their own childhoods. Results suggest that novel study designs are needed to enhance the understanding of how life stress gets “under the skin” to affect psychopathology in the offspring of adults who have experienced stress.

Female fertility is a complex trait with age-specific changes in spontaneous dizygotic (DZ) twinning and fertility. To elucidate factors regulating female fertility and infertility, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on mothers of spontaneous DZ twins (MoDZT) versus controls (3273 cases, 24,009 controls). This is a follow-up study to the Australia/New Zealand (ANZ) component of that previously reported (Mbarek et al., 2016), with a sample size almost twice that of the entire discovery sample meta-analysed in the previous article (and five times the ANZ contribution to that), resulting from newly available additional genotyping and representing a significant increase in power. We compare analyses with and without male controls and show unequivocally that it is better to include male controls who have been screened for recent family history, than to use only female controls. Results from the SNP based GWAS identified four genomewide significant signals, including one novel region, ZFPM1 (Zinc Finger Protein, FOG Family Member 1), on chromosome 16. Previous signals near FSHB (Follicle Stimulating Hormone beta subunit) and SMAD3 (SMAD Family Member 3) were also replicated (Mbarek et al., 2016). We also ran the GWAS with a dominance model that identified a further locus ADRB2 on chr 5. These results have been contributed to the International Twinning Genetics Consortium for inclusion in the next GWAS meta-analysis (Mbarek et al., in press).

The International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) regularly provides high-quality data to produce Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), and for the maintenance and realisation of the International Terrestrial and Celestial Reference Frames, ITRF and ICRF. The first iteration of the celestial reference frame (CRF) at radio wavelengths, the ICRF1, was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1997 to replace the FK5 optical frame. Soon after, the IVS began official operations and in 2009 there was a significant increase in data sufficient to warrant a second iteration of the CRF, ICRF2. The most recent ICRF3, was adopted by the IAU in 2018. However, due to the geographic distribution of observing stations being concentrated in the Northern hemisphere, CRFs are generally weaker in the South due to there being fewer Southern Hemisphere observations. To increase the Southern Hemisphere observations, and the density, precision of the sources, a series of deep South observing sessions was initiated in 1995. This initiative in 2004 became the IVS Celestial Reference Frame Deep South (IVS-CRDS) observing programme. This paper covers the evolution of the CRDS observing programme for the period 1995–2021, details the data products and results, and concludes with a summary of upcoming improvements to this ongoing project.

The love story between Chibinda Ilunga and Lueji, one of the best-known legends of Central African history, recounts the genesis of the Mwant Yav dynasty of the Lunda polity. Previous discussions of the narrative pitted symbolic interpretations against historical findings. This article asks why the Lunda love story became so influential from the middle of the nineteenth century. Instead of being an exclusively Lunda genesis narrative, the love story represented the interests and narratives of societies brought together by the caravan trade in Kasai and eastern Angola, including Chokwe, Ambakista, Luba, and Imbangala, all of whom added components to the legend compiled by Portuguese explorer and diplomat Henrique Dias de Carvalho. The legend took on importance as diverse factions competed for political titles and trading profits. In the hands of Carvalho and his informants the love story became a tool to construct a Pax Lunda guaranteed by the Portuguese. By demonstrating the quotidian politics of the love story, the article suggests the utility in the historical contextualization of the telling of oral traditions to appreciate their multiple meanings.

The iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin is transcriptionally up-regulated by gluconeogenic signals. Recent evidence suggeststhat increases in circulating hepcidin may decrease dietary iron absorption following prolonged exercise, however evidence is limited on whether gluconeogenic signals contribute to post-exercise increases in hepcidin. Mice with genetic knockout of regulated in development and DNA response-1 (REDD1) display greater glycogen depletion following exercise, possibly indicating greater gluconeogenesis. The objective of the present study was to determine liver hepcidin, markers of gluconeogenesis and iron metabolism in REDD1 knockout and wild-type mice following prolonged exercise. Twelve-week-old male REDD1 knockout and wild-type mice were randomised to rest or 60 min treadmill running with 1, 3 or 6 h recovery (n = 5–8/genotype/group). Liver gene expression of hepcidin (Hamp) and gluconeogenic enzymes (Ppargc1a, Creb3l3, Pck1, Pygl) were determined by qRT-PCR. Effects of genotype, exercise and their interaction were assessed by two-way ANOVAs with Tukey's post-hoc tests, and Pearson correlations were used to assess the relationships between Hamp and study outcomes. Liver Hamp increased 1- and 4-fold at 3 and 6 h post-exercise, compared to rest (P-adjusted < 0⋅009 for all), and was 50% greater in REDD1 knockout compared to wild-type mice (P = 0⋅0015). Liver Ppargc1a, Creb3l3 and Pck1 increased with treadmill running (P < 0⋅0001 for all), and liver Ppargc1a, Pck1 and Pygl were greater with REDD1 deletion (P < 0⋅02 for all). Liver Hamp was positively correlated with liver Creb3l3 (R = 0⋅62, P < 0⋅0001) and Pck1 (R = 0⋅44, P = 0⋅0014). In conclusion, REDD1 deletion and prolonged treadmill running increased liver Hamp and gluconeogenic regulators of Hamp, suggesting gluconeogenic signalling of hepcidin with prolonged exercise.

Why is misleading partisan content believed and shared? An influential account posits that political partisanship pervasively biases reasoning, such that engaging in analytic thinking exacerbates motivated reasoning and, in turn, the acceptance of hyperpartisan content. Alternatively, it may be that susceptibility to hyperpartisan content is explained by a lack of reasoning. Across two studies using different participant pools (total N = 1,973 Americans), we had participants assess true, false, and hyperpartisan news headlines taken from social media. We found no evidence that analytic thinking was associated with judging politically consistent hyperpartisan or false headlines to be accurate and unbiased. Instead, analytic thinking was, in most cases, associated with an increased tendency to distinguish true headlines from both false and hyperpartisan headlines (and was never associated with decreased discernment). These results suggest that reasoning typically helps people differentiate between low and high quality political news, rather than facilitate belief in misleading content. Because social media play an important role in the dissemination of misinformation, we also investigated willingness to share headlines on social media. We found a similar pattern whereby analytic thinking was not generally associated with increased willingness to share hyperpartisan or false headlines. Together, these results suggest a positive role for reasoning in resisting misinformation.

A substantial body of evidence suggests that favoring reason over intuition (employing an analytic cognitive style) is associated with reduced belief in God. In the current work, we address outstanding issues in this literature with two studies examining the relationship between analytic cognitive style (as measured by performance on the Cognitive Reflection Test) and belief in God. First, prior research focused on Judeo-Christian cultures, and it is uncertain whether the results generalize to other religious systems or beliefs. Study 1 helps to address this question by documenting a negative correlation between CRT performance and belief in God, r = −.18, in a sample of 513 participants from India, a majority Hindu country. Second, among 150 participants from the United Kingdom, Gervais et al. (2018) reported the first and (to date) only evidence for a positive relationship between CRT and belief in God. In Study 2, we assess the robustness of this result by recruiting 547 participants from the United Kingdom. Unlike Gervais et al., using the same items, we find a negative correlation between CRT and belief in God (r = −.19). Our results add further support to the argument that analytic thinking undermines belief in God.

A widely used measure of individual propensity to utilize analytic processing is the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), a set of math problems with intuitively compelling but incorrect answers. Here, we ask whether scores on this measure are temporally stable. We aggregate data from 11 studies run on Amazon Mechanical Turk in which the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) was administered and identify N = 3,302 unique individuals who completed the CRT two or more times. We find a strong correlation between an individual’s first and last CRT performance, r = .806. This remains true even when constraining to data points separated by over 2 years, r = .755. Furthermore, we find that CRT scores from one timepoint correlated negatively with belief in God and social conservatism from the other timepoint (and to a similar extent as scores gathered at the same timepoint). These results show that CRT scores are stable over time, and – given the stable relationship between CRT and religious belief and ideology – provide some evidence for the stability of analytic cognitive style more generally.

Some children are more affected by specific family environments than others, as a function of differences in their genetic make-up. However, longitudinal studies of genetic moderation of parenting effects during early childhood have not been conducted. We examined developmental profiles of child behavior problems between 18 months and age 8 in a longitudinal parent–offspring sample of 361 adopted children. In toddlerhood (18 months), observed structured parenting indexed parental guidance in service of task goals. Biological parent psychopathology served as an index of genetic influences on children’s behavior problems. Four profiles of child behavior problems were identified: low stable (11%), average stable (50%), higher stable (29%), and high increasing (11%). A multinominal logistic regression analysis indicated a genetically moderated effect of structured parenting, such that for children whose biological mother had higher psychopathology, the odds of the child being in the low stable group increased as structured parenting increased. Conversely, for children whose biological mother had lower psychopathology, the odds of being in the low stable group was reduced when structured parenting increased. Results suggest that increasing structured parenting is an effective strategy for children at higher genetic risk for psychopathology, but may be detrimental for those at lower genetic risk.

This article is a clinical guide which discusses the “state-of-the-art” usage of the classic monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) antidepressants (phenelzine, tranylcypromine, and isocarboxazid) in modern psychiatric practice. The guide is for all clinicians, including those who may not be experienced MAOI prescribers. It discusses indications, drug-drug interactions, side-effect management, and the safety of various augmentation strategies. There is a clear and broad consensus (more than 70 international expert endorsers), based on 6 decades of experience, for the recommendations herein exposited. They are based on empirical evidence and expert opinion—this guide is presented as a new specialist-consensus standard. The guide provides practical clinical advice, and is the basis for the rational use of these drugs, particularly because it improves and updates knowledge, and corrects the various misconceptions that have hitherto been prominent in the literature, partly due to insufficient knowledge of pharmacology. The guide suggests that MAOIs should always be considered in cases of treatment-resistant depression (including those melancholic in nature), and prior to electroconvulsive therapy—while taking into account of patient preference. In selected cases, they may be considered earlier in the treatment algorithm than has previously been customary, and should not be regarded as drugs of last resort; they may prove decisively effective when many other treatments have failed. The guide clarifies key points on the concomitant use of incorrectly proscribed drugs such as methylphenidate and some tricyclic antidepressants. It also illustrates the straightforward “bridging” methods that may be used to transition simply and safely from other antidepressants to MAOIs.