Individualized Coordination and Empowerment for Care Partners of Persons with Dementia (ICECaP): Feasibility and acceptability.

Background: Informal care partners (CPs) of persons with dementia (PWDs), who are at risk of negative health outcomes, benefit from psychosocial interventions. Individualized Coordination and Empowerment for CPs of PWDs (ICECaP) is a year-long, multi-component intervention comprised of in-person and telehealth psychoeducation and emotional support from dementia care coordinators (DCCs). ICECaP feasibility and acceptability were examined during a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Roles of social support and strain in predicting older adults' sleep disturbances.

Sleep disturbances impact the well-being of older adults, but there has been limited research on their longitudinal patterns and how they are affected by the quality of social relationships. This study explored longitudinal sleep disturbance patterns and examined the influence of social support and social strain on sleep disturbances in older adults using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) spanning from 2010 to 2018. Group-based trajectory modeling identified distinct trajectory groups.

The relationship between social relationships and sleep quality in older adults: Loneliness as a mediator and cognitive status as a moderator.

Objectives: This study investigates the complex relationships among social support, social strain, loneliness, cognitive status, and sleep quality in adults aged 51 and above. It aims to explore loneliness as a mediator between social support, social strain, and sleep quality and to examine if, and how, the mediating effect differs by cognitive status.

Methods: Eight years of data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study were analyzed using a cross-lagged panel model.

Fatty acids promote uncoupled respiration via the ATP/ADP carrier in white adipocytes.

Adipocytes store energy as triglycerides, while mobilizing energy when needed via lipolysis. Triglyceride lipolysis releases fatty acids and glycerol into the circulation to fuel other tissues. However, a significant fraction of fatty acids released by lipolysis are retained within the white adipose tissue and handled by adipocytes.

Insomnia symptoms among caregivers of persons with cognitive decline in an outpatient memory clinic.

Background: Significant insomnia symptoms can have important impacts on the health and quality of life of caregivers of persons with cognitive decline (PwCD).

Objective: To characterize the prevalence of clinically significant insomnia symptoms using the recommended community cutoff for the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI; ≥10) and identify correlates of the presence of symptoms.

Methods: Eighty PwCD caregivers were recruited from a memory and aging care clinic in an academic medical center and completed all study procedures (M = 66.

Randomized Clinical Trial of ICECaP (Individualized Coordination and Empowerment for Care Partners of Persons with Dementia): Primary Mental Health and Burden Outcomes.

Efficacy of the Individualized Coordination and Empowerment for Care Partners of Persons with Dementia (ICECaP), an intervention that involves one-on-one individualized support from a dementia care coordinator for a dementia care partner, compared to an active control group. At least once monthly contact is made from a dementia care coordinator to the dementia care partner by telephone, video conferencing, email, or in-person support at clinical visits for the person with dementia. In this pilot randomized unblinded control trial of ICECaP, n=61 (n=90 randomized) care partners completed 12-months of the ICECaP intervention and n=69 (n=92 randomized) care partners received routine clinical support (controls) in an outpatient memory care clinic at an academic medical center, from which the participants were recruited (ClinicalTrials.

Adipsin and adipocyte-derived C3aR1 regulate thermogenic fat in a sex-dependent fashion.

Thermogenesis in beige/brown adipose tissues can be leveraged to combat metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. The complement system plays pleiotropic roles in metabolic homeostasis and organismal energy balance with canonical effects on immune cells and noncanonical effects on nonimmune cells. The adipsin/C3a/C3a receptor 1 (C3aR1) pathway stimulates insulin secretion and sustains pancreatic β cell mass.

Changes in the Clinical Practice of Mental Health Service Providers Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Questionnaire Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the practices of most mental health providers and resulted in a rapid transition to providing telemental health services, changes that were likely related to stay-at-home policies as well as increased need for services.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine whether these changes to practice have been sustained over time throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether there are differences among mental health provider type and setting. We hypothesized that there would be an increase in the number of patients seen in person after the initial surge of the pandemic in spring 2020 and subsequent discontinuation of stay-at-home policies, though with continued implementation of telemental health services across settings.

Obesity causes mitochondrial fragmentation and dysfunction in white adipocytes due to RalA activation.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a characteristic trait of human and rodent obesity, insulin resistance and fatty liver disease. Here we show that high-fat diet (HFD) feeding causes mitochondrial fragmentation in inguinal white adipocytes from male mice, leading to reduced oxidative capacity by a process dependent on the small GTPase RalA. RalA expression and activity are increased in white adipocytes after HFD.

Individualized Coordination and Empowerment for Care Partners of Persons with Dementia (ICECaP): Study rationale and protocol.

The majority of care for >10 million older adults with dementia (PWD) in the United States depends on at least on 11 million unpaid care partners (CPs). CPs are at greater risk of adverse physical, psychological, and cognitive health outcomes relative to non-caregiving peers. The goal of this paper is to establish the rationale, design, and protocol for a pilot randomized control trial to test the efficacy of the CP-focused intervention, ICECaP: Individualized Coordination and Empowerment for Care Partners of Persons with Dementia.

Factors associated with reduced sleep among spouses and caregivers of older adults with varying levels of cognitive decline.

Background: Caregivers of persons with cognitive decline (PWCD) are at increased risk of poor sleep quantity and quality. It is unclear whether this is due to factors in the caregiver versus in the PWCD.

Methods: This secondary data analysis using Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study data from the Health Retirement Study examined factors contributing to reduced sleep/rest among spouses and caregivers of older adults with varying levels of cognitive decline (cognitively normal (CN), cognitive impairment but not dementia (CIND), or dementia).

Obesity-dependent increase in RalA activity disrupts mitochondrial dynamics in white adipocytes.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a characteristic trait of human and rodent obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease. Here we report that mitochondria undergo fragmentation and reduced oxidative capacity specifically in inguinal white adipose tissue after feeding mice high fat diet (HFD) by a process dependent on the small GTPase RalA. RalA expression and activity are increased in white adipocytes from mice fed HFD.

Culture and Differentiation of Primary Preadipocytes from Mouse Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue.

Adipocytes are terminally differentiated cells derived from fibroblastic preadipocyte precursors. Here, we describe a method for the isolation and proliferation of preadipocytes from murine subcutaneous white adipose tissue, followed by differentiation in culture to mature adipocytes; we refer to these cells as primary preadipocytes differentiated in vitro (PPDIVs). Compared to adipogenic cell lines, PPDIV metabolism and adipokine secretion more closely resemble in vivo adipocyte biology.

Measuring the Rate of Lipolysis in Ex vivo Murine Adipose Tissue and Primary Preadipocytes Differentiated In Vitro.

Adipocytes store energy in the form of triglycerides in lipid droplets. This energy can be mobilized via lipolysis, where the fatty acid side chains are sequentially cleaved from the glycerol backbone, resulting in the release of free fatty acids and glycerol. Due to the low expression of glycerol kinase in white adipocytes, glycerol re-uptake rates are negligible, while fatty acid re-uptake is dictated by the fatty acid binding capacity of media components such as albumin.

Xanthine oxidase inhibitor urate-lowering therapy titration to target decreases serum free fatty acids in gout and suppresses lipolysis by adipocytes.

Objective: Linked metabolic and cardiovascular comorbidities are prevalent in hyperuricemia and gout. For mechanistic insight into impact on inflammatory processes and cardiometabolic risk factors of xanthine oxidase inhibitor urate-lowering therapy (ULT) titration to target, we performed a prospective study of gout serum metabolomes from a ULT trial.

Methods: Sera of gout patients meeting the 2015 ACR/EULAR gout classification criteria (n = 20) and with hyperuricemia were studied at time zero and weeks 12 and 24 of febuxostat or allopurinol dose titration ULT.

Developmental trajectories of executive functions from preschool to kindergarten.

Executive functions (EF) are key predictors of long-term success that develop rapidly in early childhood. However, EF's developmental trajectory from preschool to kindergarten is not fully understood due to conceptual ambiguity (e.g.

Glycogen metabolism links glucose homeostasis to thermogenesis in adipocytes.

Adipocytes increase energy expenditure in response to prolonged sympathetic activation via persistent expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). Here we report that the regulation of glycogen metabolism by catecholamines is critical for UCP1 expression. Chronic β-adrenergic activation leads to increased glycogen accumulation in adipocytes expressing UCP1.

/ depletion in β cells alleviates ER stress and corrects hepatic steatosis in mice.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin resistance (IR). During the early phase of T2D, insulin synthesis and secretion by pancreatic β cells is enhanced, which can lead to proinsulin misfolding that aggravates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein homeostasis in β cells. Moreover, increased circulating insulin may contribute to fatty liver disease.

FGF21 promotes thermogenic gene expression as an autocrine factor in adipocytes.

The contribution of adipose-derived FGF21 to energy homeostasis is unclear. Here we show that browning of inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) by β-adrenergic agonists requires autocrine FGF21 signaling. Adipose-specific deletion of the FGF21 co-receptor β-Klotho renders mice unresponsive to β-adrenergic stimulation.

Frequency and perceived effectiveness of mental health providers' coping strategies during COVID-19.

There has been an emphasis on understanding the detrimental effects of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on individuals' wellbeing. Healthcare workers, including mental health providers, may experience increased emotional and behavioral health concerns to a greater degree than the general public. The objective of the present study was to examine the frequency and the perceived effectiveness of various coping strategies implemented by mental health practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as differences across career stages (i.

FGF21 is required for the metabolic benefits of IKKε/TBK1 inhibition.

The protein kinases IKKε and TBK1 are activated in liver and fat in mouse models of obesity. We have previously demonstrated that treatment with the IKKε/TBK1 inhibitor amlexanox produces weight loss and relieves insulin resistance in obese animals and patients. While amlexanox treatment caused a transient reduction in food intake, long-term weight loss was attributable to increased energy expenditure via FGF21-dependent beiging of white adipose tissue (WAT).