Restoring Autophagy by Exercise Ameliorates Insulin Resistance Partly via Calcineurin-Driven TFEB Nuclear Translocation.

Exercise activates autophagy and lysosome system in skeletal muscle, which are known to play an important role in metabolic adaptation. However, the mechanism of exercise-activated autophagy and lysosome system in obese insulin resistance remains covert. In this study, we investigated the role of exercise-induced activation of autophagy and lysosome system in improving glucose metabolism of skeletal muscle.

Equipping residential aged care facilities for acute respiratory illness: The Western Sydney experience of improving outbreak management.

Objectives: Acute respiratory illnesses have a disproportionate impact on older people, and especially those living in residential aged care facilities where transmission risks are heightened. Additionally, staff in these facilities have been working under challenging conditions, often ill-equipped in terms of both training and resources to successfully manage the outbreaks of these illnesses. This paper examines the actions of an Australian public health unit to improve influenza outbreak management in residential aged care facilities and critiques the outcomes through a contemporary lens.

Surgery for Olecranon Fractures in the Elderly (SOFIE): Results of the SOFIE Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The financial and resource burden of management of olecranon fractures in the elderly is likely to increase with an aging population. There is limited evidence guiding treatment choice in this cohort. This study aimed to determine whether operative treatment of displaced olecranon fractures in elderly patients provides superior 12-month functional outcomes compared to nonoperative treatment.

Superstable lipid vacuoles endow cartilage with its shape and biomechanics.

Conventionally, the size, shape, and biomechanics of cartilages are determined by their voluminous extracellular matrix. By contrast, we found that multiple murine cartilages consist of lipid-filled cells called lipochondrocytes. Despite resembling adipocytes, lipochondrocytes were molecularly distinct and produced lipids exclusively through de novo lipogenesis.

Dietary breadth in kangaroos facilitated resilience to Quaternary climatic variations.

Identifying what drove the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions on the continents remains one of the most contested topics in historical science. This is especially so in Australia, which lost 90% of its large species by 40,000 years ago, more than half of them kangaroos. Determining causation has been obstructed by a poor understanding of their ecology.

Self- versus clinician-collected swabs in anal cancer screening: A clinical trial.

Background: Risk of anal cancer is high in certain populations and screening involves collection of anal swabs for HPV DNA and/or cytology testing. However, barriers exist, such as the need for an intimate examination, and stigma around HIV status, sexual orientation, and sexual practices. Self-collected anal swabs (SCA) are a proposed alternative to clinician-collected swabs (CCA) to overcome these barriers.

Treadmill belt accelerations may not accurately replicate kinematic responses to tripping on an obstacle in older people.

Background: Treadmill belt perturbations have high clinical feasibility for use in perturbation-based training in older people, but their kinematic validity is unclear. This study examined the kinematic validity of treadmill belt accelerations as a surrogate for overground walkway trips during gait in older people.

Methods: Thirty-eight community-dwelling older people were exposed to two unilateral belt accelerations (8 m s-2) whilst walking on a split-belt treadmill and two trips induced by a 14 cm trip-board whilst walking on a walkway with condition presentation randomised.

Nation-wide cross-sectional study of participation and predictors of enjoyment among Australian adult walking sport participants.

This study examined participation and predictors of walking sports enjoyment among Australian adult walking sport participants. An online cross-sectional survey assessed walking sport participation, enjoyment, and barriers and motives to participation. Physical activity behavior and motivations were also assessed.

Randomised trial of same vs opposite arm co-administration of inactivated influenza and SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines.

Background: The immunogenicity of current influenza vaccines need improvement. Inactivated influenza and COVID-19 mRNA vaccines can be co-administered but randomized controlled trial data is lacking on whether the two vaccines are more immunogenic if given in the same or opposite arms. Murine studies suggest mRNA vaccines can adjuvant influenza vaccines when co-formulated and delivered together.

The General Acceptability and Use of Smartphone App-Delivered Interventions for Gambling in Australia.

Smartphones can extend the reach of evidence-based gambling treatment services, yet the general acceptability of app-delivered gambling interventions remains unknown. This study examined the general acceptability and use of app-delivered gambling interventions, and predictors of both, among 173 Australian adults with a lifetime gambling problem (48.5% male, M = 46.

Biomarkers.

Background: Tau-PET imaging allows in-vivo detection of neurofibrillary tangles. One tau-PET tracer (i.e.

Biomarkers.

Background: Alzheimer disease (AD) related cognitive decline occurs at relatively young ages in individuals with Down syndrome (DS, early-mid 50s) and in those with autosomal dominant mutations (ADAD, 40-50s). Both groups show similar patterns of amyloid accumulation. We examined if brain volumes are similarly affected by AD pathology in individuals with DS and ADAD.

Biomarkers.

Background: The initiation of cognitive impairment is triggered by a myriad of pathological events occurring decades before clinical symptoms manifest. Perturbed glucose and fatty acid metabolism notably contribute to the development of cognitive impairment, progressing further into clinical dementia. These metabolic alterations are evident in plasma through changes in specific metabolites.

Public Health.

Background: Social connections are linked to brain health. Studies to date have ignored negative social connections and the association between social connections and white matter health. We explored the relationship between positive and negative social connections and brain imaging including white matter health.

Public Health.

Background: The Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT) is a collaboration of dementia researchers and clinicians established in 2018. It includes a clinical quality registry that reports on diagnosis and early management of people with dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) across public, private, metropolitan and rural settings. Australia is multicultural and the registry collects information regarding cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD).

Public Health.

Background: High-income countries (HICs) are over-represented in current global dementia incidence rates, skewing estimates. Variance in diagnostic methods between HICs and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is speculated to contribute to the regional differences in rates. Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium (COSMIC) offers a unique opportunity to address these research inequalities by harmonising data from international studies, including representation from LMICs.

Public Health.

Background: Most human genetic association studies have been undertaken in populations of European ancestry, despite >75% of the world's population being of Asian or African ancestry. In addition, many of the non-white genetic studies have had small sample sizes and lack replication. To date, >80 different genetic variants have been identified for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) using populations mainly of European ancestry and from high income countries, despite more than ∼60% of dementia cases living in low and middle-income countries.

Protracted Tuberculosis Outbreak in a Pasifika Diaspora in Western Sydney, Australia: The Importance of Community Engagement.

A prolonged tuberculosis outbreak, linked by whole-genome sequencing, occurred in a Pasifika extended family over 10 years (2013-2022) in Sydney, Australia. Despite Australia's low tuberculosis incidence, social and cultural complexities, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disruptions exacerbated transmission. Control required culturally sensitive, family-centered care and robust health system engagement.

Metabolic bariatric surgery generates substantial, sustained weight loss and health improvement in a real-world setting.

Background: To determine if the positive outcomes from clinical trials regarding the safety and efficacy of metabolic bariatric surgery are reproducible at a national level.

Methods: A longitudinal registry-based observation study with data collected from all persons undergoing metabolic bariatric surgery in Australia from 28 February 2012-31 December 2021 including data from 122,567 index patients who underwent 134,625 completed bariatric procedures.

Main Outcomes And Measures: Defined adverse outcomes at 90-days (unplanned readmission, intensive care admission and re-operation; death), annual change in weight (percent total body weight loss (TBWL)), diabetes treatment and need for re-operation.

Public Health.

Background: While sleep disturbances are prevalent in older people and are linked with poor health and cognitive outcomes, screening for the range of sleep disturbances is inefficient and therefore not ideal nor routine in memory and cognition clinic settings. We aimed to develop and validate a new brief self-report questionnaire for easy use within memory and cognition clinics.

Method: Older adults (N = 402, mean age 67.

Public Health.

Background: To estimate the additive associations of cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) and depression on long-term cognitive trajectory in multi-regional cohorts and validate the generalizability of the findings in varying clinical settings.

Method: Data harmonization was performed across 14 longitudinal cohort studies within the Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium (COSMIC) group, spanning North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Three external validation studies with distinct settings were employed to assess generalizability.

Public Health.

Background: Social connections are associated with brain health, but the extent to which social connections are heritable remains unclear. Using longitudinal twin data, we explored the heritable and environmental contributions to social connections. We hypothesised that social connections patterns would be moderately heritable and would be associated with better cognitive and mental health over time.

Public Health.

Background: The Maintain Your Brain (MYB) randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to prevent cognitive decline and dementia through a multidomain risk-reduction intervention delivered digitally. The intervention targeted four modifiable risk areas (physical inactivity, poor diet, cognitive inactivity, and depression and/or anxiety). MYB ran for three years and targeted older Australians aged 55-77 years.

Public Health.

Background: The Maintain Your Brain (MYB) randomised controlled trial (RCT) examined the effect of a multi-domain internet-based dementia prevention program against a control group (information only) over three years among Australians aged 55-77 years. A cost-effective analysis (CEA) quantified the differences in costs (direct healthcare and program costs) and effectiveness outcomes between the intervention and control groups from a health care sector perspective.

Method: An economic evaluation was conducted alongside the MYB trial.

Public Health.

Background: Most people with dementia reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where resources, research, services, and support are often very limited. Research into dementia risk prediction is scarce in LMIC settings, and those prediction models developed in high-income countries generally do not transport well to LMICs. This suggesting a dire need for LMIC specific dementia risk models.