Brain age is becoming a widely applied imaging-based biomarker of neural aging and potential proxy for brain integrity and health. We estimated multimodal and modality-specific brain age in the Whitehall II MRI cohort using machine learning and imaging-derived measures of gray matter morphology, diffusion-based white matter microstructure, and resting state functional connectivity. Ten-fold cross validation yielded multimodal and modality-specific brain age estimates for each participant, and additional predictions based on a separate training sample was included for comparison. The results showed equivalent age prediction accuracy between the multimodal model and the gray and white matter models (R 2 of 0.34, 0.31, and 0.31, respectively), while the functional connectivity model showed a lower prediction accuracy (R 2 of 0.01). Cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, alcohol intake, and stroke risk score, were each associated with more apparent brain aging, with consistent associations across modalities.

During the past decade the rehabilitation field has developed new, non-hospital based programmes of cognitive, behavioural, social, educational and vocational treatments to address the higher order cognitive, behavioural and social deficits following brain injury. These new arrays of programmes are referred to under the term 'post-acute' rehabilitation. No comprehensive, methodologically sound study of the effects of these new treatments has been made to date. This paper reports data from brain-injured patients who underwent treatment within a co-ordinated system of post-acute brain-injury rehabilitation programmes. This system consists of a continuum of neurobehavioural, residential, day treatment and community and home programmes, and provides overt components of medical and rehabilitation care: behavioural management; activities of daily living, self-management, substance-abuse, social, academic and vocational skills training; counselling; and family education. The changes in function during the course of treatment by this post-acute sequence of rehabilitation have been obtained and are reported here. A defined total population of N = 192 is examined, with exclusions for appropriate causes (e.g. patients seen only for evaluation) producing a study population of N = 173; of these, follow-up was achieved in 145 cases, a follow-up rate of 83.8%. Time from date of injury to data of admission, severity of deficit at time of admission to programme, and other appropriate independent variables are used to characterize the population. A single-blind interview methodology was employed in obtaining dependent measures of outcome at 6, 12, or 24 month periods post-discharge. Measures of outcome included residential status, level of productivity activity and hours per day of attendant care or supervision required. Dependent variables were analysed for the total study population and a subgroup greater than 1 year from date of injury at entry to treatment and not from a treatment facility. Results are presented in terms of the percentage change in dependent measures from the point of admission to follow-up. Appropriate parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses of significance have been carried out. The results document substantial improvements in function during the post-acute rehabilitation of this population and such improvements are unlikely to be the result of spontaneous improvement alone.

Objective: To investigate transient lactose intolerance as a factor in the aetiology of infant colic. Design: We undertook a randomized, double‐blind, crossover trial of lactase and placebo drops added to milk formula to determine whether this method of reducing lactose intake affected infant colic. Subjects: Infants with colic were referred from clinics in keeping with Wessel's modified criteria. Interventions: Infants were randomly allocated to add either lactase or placebo drops to their formula feeds for 1 week, followed by 2 days ‘wash out’. The addition was changed for the second week so that subjects served as their own control. The formulas were kept refrigerated for 24 h before ingestion. The parents kept a diary of their baby's crying time. Results: Thirteen babies completed the trial, of whom nine were boys. The mean birth weight was 3.7 kg (8.2 lb). Colic symptoms began in less than 1 month in 12 of the babies. The effect of the lactase was to reduce crying time by 1.14 h per day (CI 0.23–2.05). The reduction in crying time was significant ( t=2.75, d.f.=11, P=0.019). Conclusion: Transient lactose intolerance may have a role in the aetiology of infant colic. Lactase drops require prior incubation with milk formula to be effective. The response to lactase in this study supports ‘colic’, i.e. spasm of the large intestine as a factor in these infants’ discomfort.

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