CCBAR Newsletter – March, 2009

Editors: Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau

CCBAR News

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News From the NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ and PNAS

[Evolution] From the Cover: Sex-related similarities and differences in the n...
The capacity to appreciate beauty is one of our species' most remarkable traits. Although knowledge about its neural correlates is...

B-cell responses to vaccination at the extremes of age
Infants and the elderly share a high vulnerability to infections and therefore have specific immunization requirements. Inducing potent and sustained B-cell responses is as challenging in infants as it is in older subjects. Several mechanisms to explain the decreased B-cell responses at the extremes of

Impact of inbreeding on fertility in a pre-industrial population

Interethnic differences in the accuracy of anthropometric indicators of obesi...

[Perspective] From the Cover: Overcoming systemic roadblocks to sustainabilit...
A high and sustainable quality of life is a central goal for humanity. Our current socio-ecological regime and its set...

[Genetics] Association of FOXO3A variation with human longevity confirmed in ...
The human forkhead box O3A gene (FOXO3A) encodes an evolutionarily conserved key regulator of the insulin–IGF1 signaling pathway that is...

[Neuroscience] Female rats learn trace memories better than male rats and con...
Learning increases the survival of new cells that are generated in the hippocampal formation before the training experience, especially if...

[Psychology-BS] Early childhood stress is associated with elevated antibody l...
It is well known that children need solicitous parenting and a nurturing rearing environment to ensure their normal behavioral development....

[Genetics] Long-lived Indy induces reduced mitochondrial reactive oxygen spec...
Decreased Indy activity extends lifespan in D. melanogaster without significant reduction in fecundity, metabolic rate, or locomotion. To understand the...

[Psychology-BS] Risk assessment in man and mouse
Human and mouse subjects tried to anticipate at which of 2 locations a reward would appear. On a randomly scheduled...

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets with Different Compositions...
This randomized trial compared the effect of reduced-calorie diets with various compositions of fat, protein, and carbohydrates on weight loss over a 2-year period. Compliance with the diets was not high. No significant differences in weight loss were observed among the various diets. Reduced-calorie diets appear to have similar effects on weight loss regardless of their particular compositions.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Long-Term Ozone Exposure and Mortality
The effect of long-term exposure to tropospheric ozone on air pollution-related mortality was examined in an analysis of data from almost 500,000 subjects over a period of 18 years. Ozone concentrations were not associated with the rate of death from any cause or, when concentrations of fine particulate matter were taken into account, with the rate of death from cardiopulmonary causes. However, ozone concentrations were significantly correlated with the rate of death from respiratory causes.

Biomarkers and Aging in the News Media

• Blood Test Predicts Chance Of Dementia
Researchers have discovered the amount of growth factor progranulin in blood is a predictor of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Progranulin plays a major role in the survival of brain cells. People producing less progranulin have higher risk of contracting FTD. The researchers developed a test, measuring the amount of progranulin in the blood thus predicting a person's risk. This offers possibilities for early detection.
• Experts warn of the health risks of taking a regular lunchtime siesta
Taking regular lunchtime naps could increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to research.
• Vital Signs: Aging: Vitamin D Levels Tied to Dementia Risk
Low blood levels of vitamin D may be associated with an increased risk for dementia, a new study has found.
• After Abuse, Changes in the Brain
New research suggests that sensitivity to stress may increase after a child is badly treated.
• Moral Disgust Linked To Primitive Emotion
A new study shows that our sense of right is linked to a survival instinct of early humans.
• Anger Hurts The Heart, Cardiologist Says
How the heart handles anger seems to predict who's at risk for a life-threatening irregular heartbeat.
• 'Fat neck' a clue to heart risk
The thickness of a person's neck may provide as many clues to their risk of heart problems as their waist, a study suggests.
• Sleep 'influences diabetes risk'
Burning the candle at both ends during the working week could raise a person's risk of diabetes, research suggests.
• My Time - A Major Demographic Shift in Empty-Nest Couples
The American family is aging -- and the institution of marriage is all shook up.
• Vitamin B may lower risk of an eye disease
Vitamin B supplements may reduce the risk for age-related macular degeneration, at least in women with cardiovascular disease or at risk for it.
• Hormones May Play a Role in Parkinson's
Women who are fertile for more than 39 years and have natural menopause have a reduced risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study, while women with four or more pregnancies have a higher risk.
• Not So Sweet: Over-consumption Of Sugar Linked To Aging
Biochemists discovered to their surprise that if they removed the gene for a glucose sensor from yeast cells, they lived just as long as those living on a glucose-restricted diet. In short, the fate of these cells doesn't depend on what they eat but what they think they're eating.
• Older Adults Control Emotions More Easily Than Young Adults
A research study found that regulating emotions -- such as reducing negative emotions or inhibiting unwanted thoughts -- is a resource-demanding process that disrupts the ability of young adults to simultaneously or subsequently perform tasks.
• Sleepiness may heighten death risk in elderly
A new study supports earlier findings that link sleep disorders with a number of physical ills.
• Well: Unlocking the Secrets of Gray Hair
Is a graying hairline a sign of age, stress or something else?
• Live Fast, Die Young? Maybe Not
The theory that a higher metabolism means a shorter lifespan may have reached the end of its own life. A new study found that mice with increased metabolism live just as long as those with slower metabolic rates.
• Optimists Live a Lot Longer, Cynics Doubt It
Doctors find link between optimism and lower risk for early death.
• Research Links Artificial Light to Prostate Cancer
Might exposure to artificial light at night increase a man's risk for prostate cancer? An unusual international study indicates that it might, providing provocative new evidence that disrupting the body's natural rhythms may play a role in one of the most common malignancies to afflict men.
• Cancer screening: Doing more harm than good?
Screening tests can find cancer early ? so why do some experts say they can do more harm than good? Read this before your next mammogram, PSA test or colonoscopy.
• People with quick reactions 'are more likely to live longer'
People with quick reactions are likely to live longer than those less quick off the mark, a study suggests.
• Stress May Cause The Brain To Become Disconnected
Does stress damage the brain? New research suggests that in learned helplessness, an animal model for depression and PTSD, stress-related reductions in synapses in the hippocampus are directly related to the emergence of depression-like behavior.
• Work Stress Associated With Adverse Mental And Physical Health Outcomes In Po...
Exposure to critical incidents, workplace discrimination, lack of cooperation among coworkers and job dissatisfaction correlated significantly with perceived work stress among urban police officers, according to a new study. Work stress was significantly associated with adverse outcomes, including depression and intimate partner abuse.
• Strained marriages 'harm women'
Women are more likely than men to suffer damage to their health from being in a strained marriage, research suggests.
• Older Fathers Linked to Lower I.Q. Scores
Children of older fathers scored slightly but consistently lower on a variety of tests measuring cognitive skills, researchers reported.
• Best Reason to Have More Sex? Your Health
A healthy sex life literally could add years to your lifespan.

NIH Press Releases

Framingham Heart Study Launches New Project to Develop Blood Tests for Heart ...
The landmark Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is launching a major initiative to discover risk factors and markers that could lead to new blood tests to identify individuals at high risk of heart disease and stroke. A public-private partnership has been established to enable researchers to apply cutting-edge technology to stored blood samples from thousands of Framingham Heart Study participants. FHS is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted in collaboration with Boston University (BU) School of Medicine and School of Public Health.

NIH Announces American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding Opportunities
The National Institutes of Health announced today some of the new funding opportunities made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). One billion dollars of the $10.4 billion provided to NIH under ARRA has been allocated for federal awards to institutions seeking to construct, renovate or repair biomedical or behavioral research facilities. The National Center for Research Resources, a part of NIH, will administer these categories of grants.

Rethinking Drinking Offers Tools to Assess and Change Risky Drinking Habits
A new Web site and booklet from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) could help many people reduce their risk for alcohol problems. Called Rethinking Drinking, the new materials present evidence-based information about risky drinking patterns, the alcohol content of drinks, and the signs of an alcohol problem, along with information about medications and other resources to help people who choose to cut back or quit drinking. NIAAA is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Combination of Genes and Prenatal Exposure to Smoking Increases Teens' Risk o...
A study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a component of the National Institutes of Health, shows that prenatal exposure to smoking combined with a specific genetic variant places children at greatest risk for behavioral problems.

Low Levels of Vitamin B12 May Increase Risk for Neural Tube Defects
Children born to women who have low blood levels of vitamin B12 shortly before and after conception may have an increased risk of a neural tube defect, according to an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, Trinity College Dublin, and the Health Research Board of Ireland.

Heart-Healthy, Reduced-Calorie Diets Promote Long-term Weight Loss
Heart-healthy diets that reduce calorie intake -- regardless of differing proportions of fat, protein, or carbohydrate -- can help overweight and obese adults achieve and maintain weight loss, according to a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, and published Feb. 26, 2009, in the New England Journal of Medicine.

NIH Announcements

Recovery Act Limited Competition: NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research (RC1)
Application Due Date: April 27, 2009
Clinical Research Curriculum Award (K30)
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Exploratory/Developmental Clinical Research Grants in Obesity (R21)
Program Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Request for Information (RFI): Priorities for Biomarkers For Cancer Detection...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment Research Coordinating Unit (U01)
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAICs)(P30), RFA-AG-10-003
Expiration Date: March 25, 2009
Independent Scientist Award (K02) PA-09-038
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) PA-09-036
Academic Career Award (K07) PA-09-041
Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08) PA-09-042
Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) PA-09-043
Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) PA-09-040
Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24) PA-09-037
Notice of NIA Participation in PAR-07-018, "Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy (R21)"
New NIH Policy on Resubmission (Amended) Applications
Updates and Reminders on NIH Policy Pertaining to Grants to Foreign Institutions, International Organizations and Domestic Grants with Foreign Components
Using Systems Science Methodologies to Protect and Improve Population Health (R21)
Methodology and Measurement in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (R01)
Archiving and Development of Socialbehavioral Datasets in Aging Related Studies, (R03)
PAR-08-250
Translational Research at the Aging/Cancer Interface (TRACI) (R01)
Program Announcement: PA-08-230

Events

Population Association of America Annual Meeting. April 30-May 2, 2009. Detroit, Michigan Marriott Renaissance Center.

REVES 2009. Copenhagen, Denmark, 27-29 May 2009. "Reducing gaps in health expectancy"

The 19th IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics. July 5-10, 2009. Paris, France

RAND Summer Institute (RSI). RSI consists of two annual conferences that address critical issues facing our aging population. The MiniMedical School for Social Scientists will be held on July 6-7, and the Demography, Economics, and Epidemiology of Aging conference on July 8-9, 2009 in Santa Monica, CA. RSI is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health.

ICPSR Summer Program Workshop In Longitudinal Analysis Of Historical Demographic Data. July 20 - August 14, 2009. Ann Arbor, Michigan

Gerontological Society of America Annual meeting will be held November 18-22, 2009 in Hilton and Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA

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This Newsletter is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5 P30 AG012857)

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