Non-linear Effects Of Age Research Articles

The intersectional effect of age and gender on the work–life balance of managers

PurposeAlthough there is a small body of empirical research on the working lives of managers, both the popular media and the academic literature tend to ignore the distinct ways that role identities such as age and gender intersect to create a complex work–life interface for diverse managers. This gap is especially surprising considering that managerial roles are defined by unique demands and expectations that likely intersect with the differential life course shifts experienced by men and women, which has the potential to create specific challenges across the work and life domains of managers. The current study aims to address this gap through an intersectional examination of the non-linear effects of age and gender on the work–life balance of managers.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 421 managers, the authors apply statistical tests of the incremental validity of non-linear interaction terms to examine the complex relationship between age, gender and work–life balance.FindingsResults support a non-linear U-shaped main effect of age on leader work–life balance. This effect is moderated by gender, however, with a non-linear U-shaped effect of age on work–life balance being supported for male managers – with female managers displaying no effect of age on work–life balance.Practical implicationsBased on these findings, the authors highlight the need for increased availability of flexible schedules and employee empowerment for managers as well as general employees.Originality/valueThe current study offers one of the first tests of the intersection of age and gender on the work–family interface of managers.

Nonlinear age effects in tactile processing from early childhood to adulthood.

BackgroundTactile processing plays a pivotal role in the early stages of human development; however, little is known about tactile function in young children. An understanding of how tactile processing changes with age from early childhood to adulthood is fundamental in understanding altered tactile experiences in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder.MethodsIn this cross‐sectional study, 142 children and adults aged 3–23 years completed a vibrotactile testing battery consisting of 5 tasks, which rely on different cortical and cognitive mechanisms. The battery was designed to be suitable for testing in young children to investigate how tactile processing changes from early childhood to adulthood.ResultsOur results suggest a pattern of rapid, age‐related changes in tactile processing toward lower discrimination thresholds (lower discrimination thresholds = greater sensitivity) across early childhood, though we acknowledge limitations with cross‐sectional data. Differences in the rate of change across tasks were observed, with tactile performance reaching adult‐like levels at a younger age on some tasks compared to others.ConclusionsWhile it is known that early childhood is a period of profound development including tactile processing, our data provides evidence for subtle differences in the developmental rate of the various underlying cortical, physical, and cognitive processes. Further, we are the first to show the feasibility of vibrotactile testing in early childhood (<6 years). The results of this work provide estimates of age‐related differences in performance, which could have important implications as a reference for investigating altered tactile processing in developmental disorders.

Receptive Vocabulary of Children With Bilateral Cochlear Implants From 3 to 16 Years of Age.

Objectives:The vocabulary of children with cochlear implants is often smaller than that of their peers with typical hearing, but there is uncertainty regarding the extent of the differences and potential risks and protective factors. Some studies indicate that their receptive vocabulary develops well at first, but that they fail to keep up with their typical hearing peers, causing many CI users to enter school with a receptive vocabulary that is not age-appropriate. To better understand the receptive vocabulary abilities of children with cochlear implants this study explored age-related differences to matched children with typical hearing and associations between vocabulary skills and child-level characteristics.Design:A retrospective cross-sectional study with matched controls was conducted at the Norwegian national cochlear implant center at Oslo University Hospital. Eighty-eight children (mean age 8.7 years; range 3.2 to 15.9; 43 girls, 45 boys) who had received bilateral cochlear implants before 3 years of age were compared with two groups of children with typical hearing. One group was matched for maternal education, sex, and chronological age, the other group was matched for maternal education, sex, and hearing age. Receptive vocabulary performance was measured with the British Picture Vocabulary Scale.Results:Cochlear implant users’ receptive vocabulary was poorer than that of age-matched children with typical hearing (M = 84.6 standard points, SD = 21.1; children with typical hearing: M = 102.1 standard points, SD = 15.8; mean difference −17.5 standard points, 95% CI [−23.0 to −12.0], p < 0.001; Hedges’s g = −0.94, 95% CI [−1.24 to −0.62]), and children with cochlear implants were significantly more likely to perform below the normative range (risk ratio = 2.2, 95% CI [1.42 to 3.83]). However, there was a significant nonlinear U-shaped effect of age on the scores of cochlear implant users, with the difference to the matched typical hearing children being largest (23.9 standard points, on average) around 8.7 years of age and smaller toward the beginning and end of the age range. There was no significant difference compared with children with typical hearing when differences in auditory experience were accounted for. Variability was not significantly different between the groups. Further analysis with a random forest revealed that, in addition to chronological age and hearing age, simultaneous versus sequential implantation, communication mode at school, and social integration were predictors of cochlear implant users’ receptive vocabulary.Conclusions:On average, the receptive vocabulary of children with cochlear implants was smaller than that of their typical hearing peers. The magnitude of the difference was changing with age and was the largest for children in early primary school. The nonlinear effect of age might explain some of the ambiguity in previous research findings and could indicate that better intervention is required around school entry. The results emphasize that continuous monitoring and support are crucial to avoid far-reaching negative effects on the children’s development and well-being.

Management or market variables in the assessment of corporate performance? Evidence on a bank-based system

PurposeThis paper aims to study the influence of some company-specific characteristics, corporate governance factors and macroeconomic factors on the Portuguese companies’ performance.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this aim, the authors have used data from 39 Euronext Lisbon companies for the period between 2014 and 2019. The authors used panel data methodology, specifically the generalized method of moments estimation method by Arellano and Bover (1995) and Blundell and Bond (1998).FindingsThe results point out that the sign and significance of the determinants of corporate performance change depending on the variable used to measure performance. The Tobin’s Q variable, as a market variable and variable of interest to potential investors, is explained by some corporate governance variables and company-specific factors. Specifically, potential investors are confident in the leadership power of the chief executive office (CEO) and the members of the Board of Directors, which contributes positively to corporate performance. However, the firms’ age has a negative impact on Tobin’s Q. Considering an accounting variable managed internally by the organizations, the results show that return on assets is negatively influenced by leverage, and positively affected by CEO duality, which the manager believes is decisive to maintain performance levels.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to analyze specific characteristics of companies and corporate governance factors, in a specific macroeconomic environment of high dependence on banking, considering the nonlinear effect of company age on company performance.

Gait speed reference values in community-dwelling older adults - Cross-sectional analysis from the Rotterdam Study.

Gait speed is a simple, inexpensive and clinically useful marker of physical function in older adults. We aimed to establish gait speed reference values for community-dwelling older adults. To this end, we further explored the association of age, sex and height with gait speed. This study included community-dwelling participants aged 50years and over enrolled in the Rotterdam Study. Participants completed the gait protocol between 2009 and 2016. The mean gait speed was calculated for age and height groups, stratified by sex. Reference values for gait speed were calculated using a quantile regression model adjusted for sex, the non-linear effects of age and height, as well as the interaction between age and sex plus the interaction between age and height. The study population included 4656 Dutch participants with a mean (standard deviation) age of 67.7 (9.5) years, comprising 2569 (55.2%) women. The mean height of the participants was 1.69 (0.10) meters and the mean gait speed was 1.20 (0.20) m/s. Gait speed was lower with older age and greater with taller stature, but the effect of height disappeared above the age of 80years. Sex did not affect gait speed after accounting for age and height. Age-, sex-, and height-specific reference values for gait speed are available for use at https://emcbiostatistics.shinyapps.io/GaitSpeedReferenceValues/. We found that height explains the commonly noted difference in usual gait speed between sexes and that neither height nor sex impacts gait speed in the very oldest adults. We developed reference values for usual gait speed in Western European community-dwelling older adults.

The role of age and digital competence on the use of online health and social care services: A cross-sectional population-based survey.

ObjectiveOnline health and social care services are getting widespread which increases the risk that less advantaged groups may not be able to access these services resulting in digital exclusion. We examined the combined effects of age and digital competence on the use of online health and social care services.MethodsWe used a large representative population-based sample of 4495 respondents from Finland. Paper-based self-assessment questionnaire with an online response option was mailed to participants. The associations were analyzed using survey weighted logistic regression, exploring potential non-linear effects of age and controlling for potential sex differences.ResultsHigher age, starting from around the age of 60 was associated with a lower likelihood of using online services for receiving test results, renewing prescriptions and scheduling appointments. Good digital competence was able to hinder the age-related decline in online services use, but only up to around the age of 80.ConclusionsOur results suggest that older adults are at risk of digital exclusion, and not even good digital competence alleviates this risk among the oldest. We suggest that health and social care providers should consider older users’ needs and abilities more thoroughly and offer easy to use online services. More digital support and training possibilities should be provided for older people. It is equally important that face-to-face and telephone services will be continued to be provided for those older people who are not able to use online services even when supported.

Effect of Age at Pediatric Stroke on Long-term Cognitive Outcome.

Background and ObjectivesTo investigate the effect of age at pediatric arterial ischemic stroke on long-term cognitive outcome in order to identify patients particularly at risk for the development of long-term cognitive sequelae.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included patients in the chronic phase of stroke (>2 years after stroke) previously diagnosed with neonatal or childhood arterial ischemic stroke and a control group. Participants with active epilepsy, severe learning difficulties, or behavioral problems hindering the cognitive assessment were excluded. Several cognitive domains, including intelligence, executive functions (working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility), processing speed, memory, letter fluency, and visual-motor skills were assessed with neuropsychological tests. Cognitive long-term outcome was compared across patients after neonatal stroke (stroke between 0 and 28 days of life), early childhood stroke (stroke between 29 days and <6 years), and late childhood stroke (stroke between ≥6 and <16 years).ResultsFifty-two patients after neonatal or childhood arterial ischemic stroke (median age 15.3 years, interquartile range [IQR] 10.6–18.7) and 49 healthy controls (median age 13.6 years, IQR 9.8–17.2) met the inclusion criteria. Cognitive outcome was significantly worse in the pediatric stroke group compared to the control group. A nonlinear effect of age at stroke (irrespective of lesion size and lesion location) was found for cognitive flexibility, processing speed, and verbal learning with early childhood stroke (29 days to <6 years), showing significantly worse cognitive outcome compared to neonatal or late childhood stroke (p < 0.05, false discovery rate–corrected).DiscussionAge at stroke is an important factor for poststroke recovery and modulates long-term cognitive outcome irrespective of lesion size and lesion location. Children after early childhood stroke are at particular risk for long-term alterations in cognitive functions.

Distant histories of mild traumatic brain injury exacerbate age-related differences in white matter properties

We examined associations of distant histories of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) with non-linear and linear trajectories of white matter (WM) properties across a wide age range (23–77). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data obtained from 171 Veterans with histories of clinically diagnosed mTBIs and 115 controls were subjected to tractography, isolating 20 major WM tracts. Non-linear and linear effects of age on each tract's diffusion properties were examined in terms of their interactions with group (mTBI and control). The non-linear model revealed 7 tracts in which the mTBI group's DTI metrics rapidly deviated from control trajectories in middle and late adulthoods, despite the injuries having occurred in the late 20s, on average. In contrast, no interactions between prior injuries and age were detected when examining linear trajectories. Distant mTBIs may thus accelerate normal age-related trajectories of WM degeneration much later in life. As such, life-long histories of head trauma should be assessed in all patients in their mid-to-late adulthoods, whether neurologically healthy or presenting with seemingly unrelated neuropathology.

Modelling Non-Linear Age-Period-Cohort Effects and Covariates, With an Application to English Obesity 2001–2014

Abstract We develop an age-period-cohort model for repeated cross-section data with individual covariates, which identifies the non-linear effects of age, period and cohort. This is done for both continuous and binary dependent variables. The age, period and cohort effects in the model are represented by a parametrization with freely varying parameters that separates the identified non-linear effects and the unidentifiable linear effects. We develop a test of the parametrization against a more general ‘time-saturated’ model. The method is applied to analyse the obesity epidemic in England using survey data. The main non-linear effects we find in English obesity data are age-related among women and cohort-related among men.

Change in Health Literacy over a Decade in a Prospective Cohort of Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Health literacy is often viewed as a static trait in longitudinal studies, which may over or underestimate an individual's ability to manage one's health. We sought to examine health literacy over time among older adults using three widely used measures. A prospective cohort study. Community-dwelling adults ages 55 to 74 at baseline with at least one follow-up visit (N = 656) recruited from one academic internal medicine clinic and six community health centers in Chicago, IL. Health literacy was measured using the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA), Newest Vital Sign (NVS), and Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) at baseline and up to three follow-up time points. In unadjusted analyses, significant changes since baseline were found beginning at the second follow-up (mean (M) = 6.0 years, SD = 0.6) for the TOFHLA (M = - 0.9, SD = 0.95, p = 0.049) and the REALM (M = 0.3, SD = 2.5, p = 0.004) and at the last follow-up (M = 8.6 years, SD = 0.5) for the NVS (M = - 0.2, SD = 1.4, p = 0.02). There were non-linear effects of baseline age on TOFHLA and NVS scores over time (piecewise cubic spline p = 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively) and no effect on REALM scores (B = 0.02, 95% CI - 0.01 to 0.04, p = 0.17) using multivariable mixed-effects linear regression models, controlling for race, education, income, and comorbidity. We found a negative relationship between age and health literacy over time as measured by the TOFHLA and NVS. Health literacy barriers appear to be more prevalent among individuals in later life, when self-care demands are similarly increasing. Clinicians might consider strategies to assess and respond to limited health literacy, particularly among patients 70 and older. REALM performance remained stable over 10 years of follow-up. This questions whether health literacy tools measure the same attribute. Prospective health literacy studies should carefully consider what measures to use, depending on their objective.

Geo-additive modelling of children under-five sleeping under Insecticide treated nets in Nigeria

Number of children under-five at risk of malaria in Nigeria is overwhelming and despite several reported effectiveness of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) in malaria prevention, many factors deterring utilization have been reported. To examine spatial variation in South-West region of Nigeria, this study examines level of utilization among under-five children in the region. Data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey is used to examine relationships between different covariates and spatial variation using a semi-parametric model. Gaussian, Poisson and Zero Inflated Poisson distributions were assumed for the response variable and comparisons were made. The Deviance Information Criteria (DIC) is used as selection criteria. With lowest DIC among the competing distributions, Gaussian has the best fit for the model. Spatial variation is observed in the utilization across states. Ondo state has highest net usage among children follow by Ogun state. Both Lagos and Ekiti states have the least. Higher utilizations are observed among rural residents and households without some basic amenities and mass media. Utilization is found to be higher among respondents in the poor category of wealth index. Educational status of mothers is found to affect ITNs utilization. Non-linear effect of age of the children on the number of children sleeping under net has a bathtub shape, indicating decrease in number of children sleeping under net as age increases till around two years and then starts increasing. For effective utilization of ITNs, more efforts are to be put into campaigns on the importance of utilization rather than only ownership.

Abstract 17276: Impact of Cardiovascular Comorbidities on COVID-19 Infection Risk

Introduction: A disproportionate amount of COVID-19 infections has occurred in minority populations and in individuals with comorbid disease. We sought to evaluate the impact of patient demographics, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and known CVD risk factors on the incidence of COVID-19 infection. Methods: Between April 1st to May 1st, 2020, 844 adult patients (mean age 51.4±17.7 years, mean BMI 29.6±8.3, 50% male) admitted for any reason and tested for COVID-19 based on CDC criteria were studied in this large, metropolitan, single-center retrospective cohort analysis. Bivariate and multivariate analysis between patient demographics, CVD, and CVD risk factors with COVID-19 were evaluated. The nonlinear effects of age on COVID-19 test results were further analyzed. Results: Prevalence of COVID-19 was 21.7%. African Americans, Latinos, and Caucasian were 463(55%), 216(25%), 165(20%) respectively. Unadjusted, diabetes mellitus (DM) was significantly related with the COVID-19 positivity (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.30-2.58, P=0.0005), but age adjusted DM was insignificant (OR 1.35, 95% CI 0.93-1.97, P=0.12). Similar results were found with other CVD risk factors (see Tables 1,2). Stratified analysis by age groups (18-40 years, ≥40 years), DM in the younger age group was the most significant risk factor for the COVID-19 positivity (OR 4.52, 95% CI 1.95-10.52, P=0.0002) but not in older inpatients (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.85-1.81, P=0.2763). In the older age group, Latinos were significantly higher risk for COVID-19 compared to Caucasian (OR 2.27, 95% CI 1.26-4.07, P=0.005). Conclusions: Increased resources for testing in younger individuals with DM and the Hispanic population may be merited.

Musical Intervals in Infants’ Spontaneous Crying over the First 4 Months of Life

Introduction: Perception and memorizing of melody and rhythm start about the third trimester of gestation. Infants have astonishing musical predispositions, and melody contour is most salient for them. Objective: To longitudinally analyse melody contour of spontaneous crying of healthy infants and to identify melodic intervals. The aim was 3-fold: (1) to answer the question whether spontaneous crying of healthy infants regularly exhibits melodic intervals across the observation period, (2) to investigate whether interval events become more complex with age and (3) to analyse interval size distribution. Methods: Weekly cry recordings of 12 healthy infants (6 females) over the first 4 months of life were analysed (6,130 cry utterances) using frequency spectrograms and pitch analyses (PRAAT). A preselection of utterances containing a well-identifiable, noise-free and undisturbed melodic contour was applied to identify and measure melodic intervals in the final subset of 3,114 utterances. Age-dependent frequency of occurrence of melodic intervals was statistically analysed using generalized estimating equations. Results: 85.3% of all preselected melody contours (n = 3,114) either contained single rising or falling melodic intervals or complex events as combinations of both. In total 6,814 melodic intervals were measured. A significant increase in interval occurrence was found characterized by a non-linear age effect (3 developmental phases). Complex events were found to significantly increase linearly with age. In both calculations, no sex effect was found. Interval size distribution showed a maximum of the minor second as the prevailing musical interval in infants’ crying over the first 4 months of life. Conclusion: Melodic intervals seem to be a regular phenomenon of spontaneous crying of healthy infants. They are suggested to be a further candidate for developing an early risk marker of vocal control in infants. Subsequent studies are needed to compare healthy infants and infants at risk for respiratory-laryngeal dysfunction to investigate the diagnostic value of the occurrence of melodic intervals and their age-depending complexification.

A preliminary study of cerebral blood flow, aging and dementia in people with Down syndrome.

People with Down syndrome (DS) develop Alzheimer's disease (AD) at an earlier age of onset than those with sporadic AD. AD neuropathology is typically present in DS by 40years of age with an onset of dementia approximately 10years later. This early onset is due to the overexpression of amyloid precursor protein from the third copy of chromosome 21. Cerebrovascular neuropathology is thought to contribute in 40-60% of cases sporadic AD. However, the vascular contribution to dementia in people with DS has been relatively unexplored. We hypothesised that vascular perfusion is compromised in older adults with DS relative to younger individuals and is further exacerbated in those with dementia. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured using pulsed arterial spin labelling in 35 cognitively characterised adults with DS (26-65years). DS participants were also compared with 15 control subjects without DS or dementia (26-65years). Linear regression evaluated the difference in CBF across groups and diagnosis along with assessing the association between CBF and cognitive measures within the DS cohort. Cerebral blood flow was significantly lower among DS participants with probable AD compared with controls (P=0.02) and DS participants with no dementia (P=0.01). Within the DS cohort, CBF was significantly associated with the Severe Impairment Battery (SIB) measure and the Dementia Questionnaire for People with Learning Disabilities (DLD) rating (F3,25 =5.13; P=0.007). Both the SIB (β=0.74; t=2.71; P=0.01) and DLD (β=-0.96; t=-3.87; P<0.001) indicated greater impairment as global CBF decreased. Age was significantly associated with CBF among participants with DS. There was a non-linear effect of age, whereby CBF declined more rapidly after 45years of age. This preliminary study of CBF in DS indicates that cerebrovascular pathology may be a significant contributor to dementia in DS. CBF was associated with diagnosis, cognition and age. Notably, CBF decreases at a greater rate after age 45 and may represent a significant prodromal event in AD progression.

Demographically adjusted norms for the Trail Making Test in native Spanish speakers: Results from the neuropsychological norms for the US-Mexico border region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) project

Objective Despite the wide use of the Trail Making Test (TMT), there is a lack of normative data for Spanish speakers living in the USA. Here we describe the development of regional norms for the TMT for native Spanish speakers residing in the Southwest Mexico-Border Region of the USA. Method Participants were 252 healthy native Spanish speakers, 58% women, from ages 19 to 60, and ranging in education from 0 to 20 years, recruited in San Diego, CA and Tucson, AZ. All completed the TMT in Spanish along with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery as part of their participation in the Neuropsychological Norms for the US–Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) project. Univariable and interactive effects of demographics on test performance were examined. T-scores were calculated using fractional polynomial equations to account for linear and any non-linear effects of age, education, and sex. Results Older age and lower education were associated with worse scores on both TMT A and B. No sex differences were found. The newly derived T-scores showed no association with demographic variables and displayed the expected 16% rates of impairment using a −1 SD cut point based on a normal distribution. By comparison, published norms for English-speaking non-Hispanic Whites applied to the current data yielded significantly higher impairment for both TMT A and B with more comparable rates using non-Hispanic African Americans norms. Conclusions Population-specific, demographically adjusted regional norms improve the utility and diagnostic accuracy of the TMT for use with native Spanish speakers in the US-Mexico Border region.

Marital status, partner acknowledgment of paternity, and neighborhood influences on smoking during first pregnancy: findings across race/ethnicity in linked administrative and census data

BackgroundImproving prediction of cigarette smoking during pregnancy (SDP), including differences by race/ethnicity and geography, is necessary for interventions to achieve greater and more equitable SDP reductions. MethodsUsing individual-level data on singleton first births, 2010-2017 (N = 182,894), in a US state with high SDP rates, we predicted SDP risk as a function of reproductive partner relationship (marital status, paternity acknowledgement), maternal and residential census tract sociodemographics, and census tract five-year SDP rate. ResultsSDP prevalence was 12.7% (white non-Hispanics, WNH), 6.8% (Black/African Americans, AA), 19.5% (Native American, NA), 4.7% (Hispanic, H), and 2.8% (Asian, AS). In WNH and AA, with similar trends in other groups, after adjustment for non-linear effects of maternal age and education and for census tract risk-factors, there was a consistent risk-ordering of SDP rates by reproductive partner relationship: married/with paternity acknowledged < unmarried/acknowledged < unmarried/unacknowledged < married/unacknowledged. Associations with census tract SDP rate, adjusted for maternal and census tract sociodemographics, were stronger for AA and H (OR 2.65-2.67) than for NA (OR = 1.91), WNH (OR = 1.75), or AS (NS). AA SDP was increased in tracts having a higher proportion of WNH residents and was reduced in comparison with WNH at every combination of age, education and partner relationship. ConclusionsInattention to differences by race/ethnicity may obscure SDP risk factors. Despite marked race/ethnic differences in unmarried-partner cohabitation rates, failure to acknowledge paternity emerged as an important and consistent risk-predictor. Census-tract five-year SDP rates have heterogeneous origins, but the association of AA SDP risk with increased racial heterogeneity suggests an important influence of neighbor risk behaviors.

Hearing loss and cognitive decline in the general population: a prospective cohort study

BackgroundPrevious studies identifying hearing loss as a promising modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline mostly adjusted for baseline age solely. As such a faster cognitive decline at a higher age, which is expected considering the non-linear relationship between cognition and age, may have been overlooked. Therefore it remains uncertain whether effects of hearing loss on cognitive decline extend beyond age-related declines of cognitive function.Methods3,590 non-demented participants were eligible for analysis at baseline, and a maximum of 837 participants were eligible for the longitudinal analysis. Hearing loss was defined at baseline. Cognitive function was measured at baseline and at follow-up (4.4 years [SD: 0.2]). Multivariable linear regression analysis was used for the cross-sectional analysis. Linear mixed models were used to assess the longitudinal association between hearing loss and cognitive decline over time while adjusting for confounders and the interaction of age and follow-up time.ResultsHearing loss was associated with lower cognitive function at baseline. Moreover, hearing loss was associated with accelerated cognitive decline over time on a memory test. After additionally adjusting for the interaction between age and follow-up time, we found that hearing loss did not accelerate cognitive decline anymore.ConclusionsHearing loss was associated with lower cognitive function at baseline and accelerated cognitive decline on a memory test. The association between hearing loss and accelerated cognitive decline was non-significant after additional adjustment for non-linear age effects. More evidence is needed to ensure the role of hearing loss as a modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline.

Predictors of remission after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of major depressive disorder: An analysis from the randomised non-inferiority THREE-D trial

BackgroundAlthough repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an effective treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), treatment selection is still mainly a process of trial-and-error. The present study aimed to identify clinical predictors of remission after a course of rTMS delivered to the left DLPFC to improve patient selection. MethodsData from a large randomised non-inferiority trial comparing standard 10 Hz and intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) for the treatment of MDD were used for the exploratory analyses. Individual variables were assessed for their association with remission and then included in a logistic regression model to determine odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Model discrimination (internal validation) was carried out to assess model optimism using the c-index. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01887782. Findings388 subjects were included in the analysis (199-iTBS and 189-10 Hz, respectively). Higher baseline severity of both depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated with a lower chance of achieving remission (OR=0.64, 95% CI 0.46–0.88; and 0.78, 95% CI 0·60–0.98, respectively). Current employment was a positive predictor for remission (OR=1.69, 95% CI 1.06–2.7), while greater number of treatment failures was associated with lower odds of achieving remission (OR=0.51, 95% CI 0.27–0.98). A non-linear effect of age and remission was observed. An analysis to allow an estimate of the probability of remission using all variables was assessed. The c-index for the fitted model was 0.687. InterpretationOur results suggest that measuring depression symptom severity, employment status, and refractoriness are important in prognosticating outcome to a course of rTMS in MDD. FundingCanadian Institutes of Health Research MOP-136801.

Linear and Nonlinear Age Trajectories of Language Use: A Laboratory Observation Study of Couples' Conflict Conversations.

This study investigated linear and nonlinear age effects on language use with speech samples that were representative of naturally occurring conversations. Using a corpus-based approach, we examined couples' conflict conversations in the laboratory. The conversations, from a total of 364 community-dwelling German-speaking heterosexual couples (aged 19-82), were videotaped and transcribed. We examined usage of lower-frequency words, grammatical complexity, and utterance of filled pauses (e.g., äh ["um"]). Multilevel models showed that age effects on the usage of lower-frequency words were nonsignificant. Grammatical complexity increased until middle age (i.e., 54) and then declined. The utterance of filled pauses increased until old age (i.e., 70) and then decreased. Results are discussed in relation to cognitive aging research.

Ecological, parasitological and individual determinants of plasma neopterin levels in a natural mandrill population.

Investigating how individuals adjust their investment into distinct components of the immune system under natural conditions necessitates to develop immune phenotyping tools that reflect the activation of specific immune components that can be measured directly in the field. Here, we examined individual variation of plasma neopterin, a biomarker of Th1 immunity in wild mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), who are naturally exposed to a suite of parasites, including simian retroviruses and malaria agents. We analyzed a total of 201 plasma samples from 99 individuals and examined the effect of sex, age, social rank, reproductive state and disease status on neopterin levels. We found higher neopterin concentrations in males than females, but were unable to disentangle this effect from possible confounding effects of retroviral infections, which affect nearly all adult males, but hardly any females. We further detected a non-linear age effect with heightened neopterin levels in early and late life. In addition, adult males that harbored very high parasitaemia for Plasmodium gonderi also showed high neopterin levels. There was no effect of social rank in either male or female mandrills, and no effect of female reproductive state. Taken together, these results indicate that plasma neopterin may prove useful to investigate individual variation in investment into specific immune components, as well as to monitor the dynamics of immune responses to naturally occurring diseases that elicit a Th1 immune response.