@Darkness' wow hes back at it again? xD welcome pansher! =]

pro for helper nice activity.

¤ Nickname: jayden ¤ Name: jayden ¤ Age: 17 ¤ Country: England ¤ City: - Peterborough ¤ Favorite Games: cs 1.6,csgo,fortnite ¤ Favorite Shows: stranger things. ¤ Favorite Movies:- jumanji 2 ¤ Favorite Songs / Favorite genre: drill uk ¤ What would you like to do in life: become rich. ¤ Favorite actor - why ?: - kevin hart , he is funny af ¤ Favorite actress - why ?: - ¤ You Smoke? / What brand of cigarette smoke: no I like the colour of my lungs :). ¤ What alcoholic drink frequently: water ¤ Favorite juice: apple juice ¤ In what country would you like to live: LA or California . ¤ Favorite football team: Barcelona ¤ Car models: Mercedes Benz ¤ A brief description about you: - ¤ How did you find NewLifeZm?: recommended by a friend. ¤ If you win 1 million dollars, which would be the first thing you do?: make my own server and make my dreams come true.

I consider my activity good also I enjoy my role in over watch very much , I also post in devils club with my free time - (news,lifestyle etc) please note: I just got my new PC (didn't have one for about 1 week) so my activity was not at its usual but it will be back to normal now,

he scam, which was said to be the biggest business email compromise fraud and the highest value fraud in the last decade, was uncovered following an FBI tip-off to North Wales Police. At the time of the fraud in November 2018, the Sri Lankan-born British citizen was known by his birth name, Ravindra Chathurangana Sarathchandra. He changed his name via deed poll and obtained a new passport in this name, then moving from north Wales to Scotland where he used his new passport to visit Dubai and Australia. He had pictures of himself in dubai on Facebook (Image: North Wales Police) Friends and workmates of the 41-year-old knew him as Rahul and Caernarfon Court heard at around this time they noticed his extravagant spending which was totally out of character. Kinane, of High Street Porthmadog, was said to have spent significant sums on a TV, a leather jacket and designer sunglasses as well as an expensive Tag Heuer watch valued at £4,500. After years of driving a VW van he turned up in Porthmadog at one stage driving a white Mercedes car. Kinane was arrested at Gatwick Airport (Image: North Wales Police) He was arrested last August by North Wales Police Officers at Gatwick Airport after flying there from Turkey and initially denied the offences before changing his plea to guilty. Speaking after the hearing Detective Chief Inspector Brian Kearney said: "Fraud is the most commonly experienced crime in the UK. "In the last crime reporting year there were over 4,600 frauds in North Wales reported to Action Fraud representing an £8.9m loss. "With a significant increase of fraud now being committed online this enables fraudsters to exploit victims remotely, often from another country. "This case has been solved because of the support we have received from the companies concerned, the work of the FBI in their parallel investigation. "Significant funds, in excess of $1.6m have been recovered by the National Crime Agency Financial Investigation Unit." RELATED ARTICLES DNA used to prove Welsh farmer stole this £3k cow from his neighbour Bridgend councillor David Owen has been convicted of two offences Bridgend councillor accused of conspiring to steal £9,000 off-road vehicle Upon sentencing Kinane, Judge Nicola Jones said: "Your role was to launder money through accounts you had set up specifically. "You took great care to optimise the use of these accounts and were ultimately successful. You managed to move $7.8m in just three days." The judge accepted Kinane was not the architect of the scam, but said she was not convinced his remorse was genuine and added that he was "essentially motivated by greed". "You played an essential role," she said. "Without you, the money would not have been successfully laundered." A version of this article first appeared on North Wales Live.

A mother and her six children, including a one-year-old baby, died after a fire destroyed their house early on Saturday in the US state of Mississippi, officials say. The father was the only survivor of the blaze that engulfed the wooden house in the city of Clinton. He was taken to a hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and second-degree burns. The cause of the fire is being investigated. Local officials said there was no suspicion of "foul play"; they told US media an electrical failure could have caused the blaze. The house in Clinton - which is some 10 miles (16km) from the state capital, Jackson - had been built around 1951. Burglar bars could be seen in some windows, which could have prevented the family from escaping. The mother was a primary school teacher aged 33 and the children - five boys and one girl - ranged in ages from one to 15, local authorities said. "They were really good folks... The whole neighbourhood is just distraught about this whole thing because it's just devastating," a neighbour quoted by NBC News said. Image copyrightEVN Image caption It took firefighters about 40 minutes to control the blaze Five of the children were found huddled in one bedroom while the mother and another child were in a different bedroom, Fire Chief Jeff Black ledge was quoted by the New York Times as saying. The father was injured as he tried to save his family, he said. It took firefighters about 40 minutes to control the blaze that happened at 00:30 local time (06:30 GMT). When they arrived at the scene, they found the father "worried and concerned", said Mark Jones, City of Clinton's director of communications. "He didn't want to leave the scene... He was very concerned about his family." Skip Twitter post by @crabblers Mike Evans ✔ @crabblers This is the family lost in this morning’s tragic fire. Please keep them and the entire community in your thoughts and prayers @WLBT UPDATE: Officials identify mother and 6 children killed in Clinton fire http://bit.ly/37dDRVs View image on Twitter 3 10:40 PM - Feb 8, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy See Mike Evans's, the City of Clinton said it had been a "tragic day", adding: "We ask this community to wrap each other in prayers and kindness as we all grieve together."

Forecasters have warned of severe storms in Australia's fire-hit state of Victoria, which could lead to flooding. Recent heavy rains have dampened many of the country's bushfires, but also led to power cuts and road closures. The fires, which began in September, have claimed at least 28 lives, destroyed thousands of homes and scorched millions of acres of land. As wet weather helped to ease the crisis, the government announced a major package to aid tourism recovery. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government would channel some A$76m ($52m; £40m) from the national bushfire recovery fund into the industry. Have Australia's trees made the fires worse? How the world has responded to Australia's fires Are most fires in Australia caused by arson? He described the package on Sunday as an "urgent injection" of funds for affected businesses, and said tourism in the country was facing "its biggest challenge in living memory". The Australian Tourism Industry Council told Reuters news agency that damages to the industry were approaching A$1 billion. The Australian Tourism Export Council told the Australian Financial Review that the losses may go above A$4.5 billion by the end of the year. What's the forecast? The Bureau of Meteorology in Victoria issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of the state on Sunday, saying damaging winds and heavy rainfall were expected. It said storms and widespread rainfall were forecast in the state for the next three days. One forecaster from the bureau said the state was "about to see its wettest two-day period in many, many months", according to ABC News. At least 14 fires were still burning in Victoria as of Sunday. In NSW, where 69 fires were burning on Sunday, forecasters said widespread heavy rainfall in the north of the state would ease, as it withdrew flood warnings for the Bellinger and Orara rivers. Media captionSome, such as this thirsty koala, have been making the most of the wet conditions Officials in Queensland urged people to "exercise caution" on Gold Coast beaches, where "large water movement and significant debris" were expected after heavy rainfall on Saturday.

A lifestyle blogger has been bravely sharing her story about how she was diagnosed with two types of cancer at just 23 years old. Maria Mackin, from West Belfast , was diagnosed with hodgkin lymphoma and thyroid cancer in October, after an otherwise regular check-up convinced her that she should seek medical attention. "I had a health check in work where they take a look at your BMI and check your heart rate," she told Belfast Live. "From what they seen, my heart was beating a lot faster than it should’ve been. Most people’s heart rate is about 60/70 bpm, mine was around 95. "I was immediately a bit off-guard when I heard this because I actually hadn’t been feeling myself. I was tired, I had a sore back, I had some symptoms that a lot of times you might brush under the rug or say that you'd think were because of stress. "It ended up where I decided to take a trip to A&E so that they could do a bit of blood work and tell me if I had an infection or whatever. They ran a load of tests and the doctors were baffled." RELATED ARTICLES Flybe issue statement after government steps in for rescue deal Fr Gary: "How many more homes do we have to visit, how many more tragedies?" Out of curiosity, the doctors sent Maria for an X-ray to see if anything showed up in her chest area. "They sent me home and told me to come back the next day to get the results. When I came back, I didn't know what to expect. They also sent me for a CT Scan and told me the night before that their was a slight shadow in my chest. "When I went back to the hospital, the doctor called me in and he brought a nurse with him. The nurse did that thing which you see in all the movies, where they pull the chair right up beside you to hold your hand. Automatically I was a bit unnerved. "Then the doctor said, ‘It’s not good news.’ He said that they’d found a large mass in my chest and it’s restricting my heartbeat and restricting my lung function. The doctors then got my family involved so that they knew what was going on. "I had a biopsy scheduled for that week, as well as a PET scan where they scan your whole body and they check to see if there’s any cancer in the rest of your body. "I got the results back from the PET scan that said I was Stage 2 Advanced Hodgkins Lymphoma, and also that there was also something else showing up in my neck, through the scan. RELATED ARTICLES Nurses offered pay parity with England in a bid to end strikes 18 Northern Ireland schools in line for £45 million boost "They sent me for another biopsy a few weeks later and that’s when they discovered the thyroid cancer. So two completely unrelated cancers in the one body." Rather than despairing about her illnesses, Maria took the courageous step of sharing every part of her battle on her blog and her social media channels, documenting everything from blood tests to chemotherapy, no matter how difficult some of her treatment was. In doing so, she's hoping to raise awareness about her illnesses. She says: "I started blogging in July. I’d had a bit of a break between jobs and I’ve always really enjoyed writing, so I started writing about what I loved. "It was going very well, then all of a sudden the whole cancer thing started. When it first happened, I was sort of sitting there thinking about what to do, and I decided to just take it on the chin. In my head, I thought that if i can help at least one person, it makes everything that I'm going through worth it. "So that’s why I’ve been as open and honest as possible, showing people the good and the bad sides of cancer treatment - whether that’s hairless, weight-gain through the steroids, or the mental health aspects that come with battling something like this." While social media can often filter out the negative aspects of life, Maria stresses that it's important and helpful to stay open. She said: "Honestly, it’s making things so much easier. It was maybe a wee bit tough when there were really bad days, and when I had to deal with my hair falling out around me, but whenever I get a message from somebody telling me that they’ve booked in to see their doctor because they just want to make sure they’re OK, or if someone else who’s going through chemo tells me that they’ve watched my stories and are empowered by it, that makes it completely worth it. "I want that awareness to be out there, but I also want people to know that it’s OK to feel vulnerable, because i think social media these days is so perfect all the time - and that’s not reality." Maria's bravery in the face of illness was rewarded when the young woman was given the life-changing news - on January 15 - that she had entered remission. "I just got a call from my doctor and I'm just so happy," she said tearfully. "I'm in full remission from cancer. I can't even explain the feeling, it's just amazing. I can't believe it. They told me that I've had a full response that I'm in full remission." Even with the success of her treatment, Maria is still encouraging anyone who thinks they might be in any way sick to think about getting a check up. "I would just tell them, if you don’t feel good and there’s something off, go to the doctor. Because if you don’t, you might end up finding something out when it’s too late. Thankfully I didn’t. Thankfully i caught mine where I can get treatment and have a life after treatment, but I would say go to the doctor just to be sure."

Universities in England are to face a "value for money" review of how £1.3bn per year of funding might give more support to "priority" subjects. Higher education watchdog the Office for Students (OFS) is understood to be launching the review in the spring. But it will not consider tuition fees - with the government set to publish a separate response to calls to cut fees. Universities UK warns it will matter "how much" funding is left after the review, as well as how it is allocated. The Conservative manifesto has promised to tackle what it calls "low-quality courses" in university - and the review will examine how funding can be targeted for priority subjects. While most university funding is delivered through tuition fees, the government still provides a significant direct stream of grants. This includes subsidies for subjects that are more expensive to teach, such as medicine, science and technology. University fees should be cut to £7,500, says review Universities warned on low-value courses Which degrees deliver the highest earnings? There is also money to improve access to higher education for disadvantaged youngsters. At present the funding is widely distributed, to more than 300 higher education providers. But the future allocation and focus of the money is to be examined by the OFS review. Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES The Russell Group, representing some of the UK's major research universities, says the annual grants represent 13% of funding for undergraduate places. The university group has raised concerns about these grants being cut, arguing that funding for many courses is already stretched. A separate consultation has already been launched on £70m reductions to next year's teaching grant. But the OFS review has been backed by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. "I am strongly in support of this move to evaluate value for money and to consider the best way to target grant funding to the higher education sector in future," said Mr Williamson, in a letter to the OFS earlier this month. The education secretary has told the OFS he wants to prioritise support for the government's industrial strategy, which aims to invest in "skills, industries and infrastructure". There will also be a push for more effective ways to spend money allocated for recruiting disadvantaged students, and support for specialist institutions. But Jo Grady, leader of the University and College Union, criticised how value for money was based on an "obsession with flimsy metrics" around graduate earnings. "What can future employment or earnings potential really tell us about teaching quality?" she said. But what remains unknown is how the OFS review will combine with the government's promised response to Philip Augar's review, which recommended reducing tuition fees from £9,250 to £7,500 per year. The review, commissioned by the former prime minister, Theresa May, also called for further education and skills to have a fairer share of funding. A spokeswoman for Universities UK warned that any changes to the teaching grant or fees could leave a "funding gap". "The fundamental review will cover 'how' teaching funding will be allocated - what will also matter is 'how much' teaching funding will there be, particularly if the government is minded to make any changes to fees," said the spokeswoman.

The New Year sees the launch of all-new versions of old favourites and an exciting new emissions-free model that doesn’t need recharging at the plug. By Daljinder Nagra2 Jan 2020 Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare by email Are you considering making the switch to emissions-free motoring in 2020? From fledgling beginnings, electric cars are now a mainstay of most manufacturers’ line ups. The New Year promises an exciting new array of zero emission models, from premium hatchbacks to sports crossover SUVs. Not all carmakers see battery electric cars as the future, though. Toyota has put its might behind hydrogen fuel-cell technology, and the second generation of its hydrogen-powered Mirai saloon will be in showrooms in a matter of months. However, the reality remains that conventional petrol and diesel cars are currently the most convenient choice for the majority, and it seems there’s life in internal combustion engine yet. From the humble Toyota Yaris, the practical Skoda Octavia or the svelte and luxurious Lexus LC500 Cabriolet, we’ve got plenty of new metal to look forward to. Read on below for our highlights. We reveal the very best cars you can buy right now. Hyundai i10 Hyundai’s city car may sit at the very low end of the new car price spectrum, but the Korean brand’s all new model offers a lot for buyers on a budget when it arrives in showrooms early in 2020. Being a tiny hatchback, don’t expect diesel engines or heavy hybrid systems. Peppy petrol engines are the order of the day and from launch there’ll be a choice of two: a 67hp 1.0-litre three-cylinder and a four-cylinder 1.2 producing 84hp. Buyers will have a choice of either five-speed manual or automated manual transmission, which Hyundai claims saves weight over a traditional automatic. Though in our experience, these are usually not as smooth as the best torque-converter or CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) gearboxes. Hyundai claims the new model’s extended wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear wheels) improves passenger space to the point where you’ll be able to fit two adults in the back row. Claimed boot space remains the same as before at 252 litres, which is large for city cars. The biggest change for the new i10, though, is the sheer amount of technology that will be available. It comes with the same eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system as the bigger i30 hatchback, meaning Apple Carplay and Android Auto compatibility, satellite navigation and access to Hyundai’s subscription-based live services. The safety kit tally has also been increased with the addition of autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection as well as lane-keep assist and an automatic high-beam. Thanks to the po[CENSORED]rity of compact crossovers, there are a dwindling number of super-small hatchbacks left on the market. The Ford Ka+ remains for now but the Renault Twingo has departed UK showrooms. Thankfully, the new i10 looks like it’ll be a strong new addition to the market. In the summer the i10 range will expand to include a range-topping ‘N-line’ edition. This will get a unique turbocharged 1.0-litre engine, as well as sporty styling inside and out. This tiny city car might not seem the most obvious candidate for a hot-hatch makeover, but given the excellent job Hyundai has done with its larger i30 model, we’re certainly looking forward to it. We’re driving the new i10 early next year. Head to our car reviews in late January for our first drive review. Toyota Mirai While most manufacturers are placing their eggs in the battery EV basket, Toyota believes the future of sustainable mobility will be powered by hydrogen. The Japanese brand is getting ready to launch the second generation of its Mirai Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) saloon. You could be forgiven for missing the last model – there are very few on UK roads thanks to high list prices and, critically, a current lack of hydrogen filling stations.

A database of 10,000 bird species shows how measurements of wings, beaks and tails can predict a species’ role in an ecosystem. Given that many bird species perform important ecological functions, such as pollinating plants, spreading seeds, or controlling pests, the database may help scientists to understand and predict how the loss of species will affect ecosystem health. To compile measurements for all bird species has been a massive undertaking. Dr Joseph Tobias A global team of researchers, led by Imperial College London and University College London, visited museums around the world to find specimens of nearly 10,000 species, covering more than 99 percent of all known bird species. Their results, and the database, are published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution. The link between body form of each animal species and aspects of their lifestyle, including diet, has previously been proposed, but this is the first time it has been confirmed at such a large scale and with such precise detail. 60,000 museum specimens The senior author of the study, Dr Joseph Tobias, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: “To compile measurements for all bird species has been a massive undertaking. That’s particularly the case considering the hundreds of explorers and biologists over the last 150 years who collected and curated the 60,000 museum specimens on which this work is based.” A toucan eating fruit Chestnut-mandibled toucan. Credit: Paul S. Wolf/Shutterstock Predictions of a species’ contribution to an ecosystem are often made using estimates of their evolutionary relationships with other species – relying on the fact that closely related species tend to be more similar in function than distantly related species. However, the new database shows that body measurements offer a far better prediction overall, as some very distantly related species have evolved similar bodies to equip them for similar lifestyles or dietary preferences. For example, the family of auks, which includes puffins and guillemots, have very similar body shape to penguins, despite evolving in opposite hemispheres. Both have beaks, bodies and wings adapted to swimming and catching fish underwater. The concept – called convergent evolution – is far from new, but the new dataset provides the clearest picture yet of its widespread influence across an entire class of animals at a global scale. Combining body measurements The team looked at nine body measurements including the dimensions of beaks, tails, wings and legs as well as body mass, and compared these to a bird’s diet and foraging behaviour – for example whether it primarily catches invertebrates in the air, on the ground, or underwater. Further studies can use our database to predict the effects of climate and land-use change on ecosystem function, and to set appropriate targets for wildlife conservation. Dr Joseph Tobias Some associations are obvious, such as longer wings in species that spend much of their time flying, or longer legs in ground-dwelling species. However, the team found that the combination of all body measurements was highly predictive of even subtle differences in lifestyle across all species. The study’s first author, Dr Alex Pigot of UCL’s Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, said: “Our results suggest that evolution is a predictable process. If we were to 're-run the tape of life', then evolution likely would once again lead to very similar-looking organisms to the ones we see today. “Being able to quantify each animal’s vital role in the functioning of the biosphere is really important in understanding impacts of the current extinction and climate crisis.” Dr Tobias said: “The link we show between body form and function has some potentially important applications, and paves the way for the use of similar data to investigate the role of biodiversity in ecosystems. “For example, further studies can use our database to predict the effects of climate and land-use change on ecosystem function, and to set appropriate targets for wildlife conservation.”

The Northern Irish rock musician Cormac Neeson says having a child with Down's syndrome has changed his life in a "joyful and positive" way. In 2014 Neeson was, in many ways, living the rock 'n' roll dream. His band, The Answer, had sold hundreds of thousands of records and had toured the globe with the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Who and AC/DC. But the singer's world was shaken to the core when his wife, Louise, gave birth to a very premature baby at just 27 weeks. "It was an unbelievably dark and troubled time," says Neeson. Their son, Dabhog, was born weighing just 1lb 12ozs (0.8 kg) and was immediately taken into intensive care. He stayed in hospital in Belfast for the next four months. "For a large portion of that time we weren't sure on a daily basis whether he was going to make it through," Neeson adds. Two weeks into that time they had to deal with the news that Dabhog had Down's syndrome - a genetic condition that typically affects a person's learning abilities. "That was something else that just added to the whole very intense experience." Image copyrightCORMAC NEESON Image caption Dabhog underwent heart surgery aged one Around that time The Answer were releasing an album. "I would have to take myself away from the incubator for 20 or 30 minutes and do interviews to promote the album. "I had to pretty much pretend I was in a place where I was comfortable releasing good time rock 'n' roll music. It was a complete collision course with where my head was actually at," Neeson says. Dabhog did survive and was discharged from hospital, although he had to have surgery aged one to fix a hole in his heart. The experiences have had a profound effect on Neeson's outlook on life and his music. "Whenever the dust settled and Dabhog was home and his health started to turn and life settled down a bit I realised that creatively I was not in a place where I could genuinely write the kind of music we had spent the last 10 years writing," he says. He went to Nashville where he worked with American songwriters and musicians to put together a new album. "The result was really a collection of songs that was so introspective and intense and so truthful that they really could only be part of a solo project. "It's a world away from the stuff that I had spent my career making up till that point." Image copyrightHELENA NEESON Image caption The title of Neeson's solo album, White Feather, came from an event during his wife's pregnancy One of the songs, Broken Wing, is a tribute to Dabhog. "It's a good opportunity to talk about Down's syndrome and normalise what Down's syndrome is, but also to celebrate my son for being the individual that he is," Neeson says. He says he wanted to get over in the song that raising a child with a learning disability has a unique set of challenges, but "it's unique in a really great and powerful way". Neeson says he also wrote the song to help new parents of children with Down's syndrome. "I was kind of placing myself back in the hospital whenever we were told that Dabhog had Down's syndrome and I was thinking that if I'd heard this song back then I might have taken some comfort from it. "If your child has Down's syndrome that is not what defines your child. Your child is unique and amazing like every other child. I've never met a person like my son, Dabhog. "The joy that he brings into our lives is something that I could not have anticipated when we were just worrying day to day about his health and getting him out of that hospital alive." Image copyrightCORMAC NEESON Image caption Neeson has chromosome 21 tattooed on his arm. The most common form of Down's syndrome is Trisomy 21, when there are three copies of that chromosome instead of two The album's title, White Feather, is a reference to an incident early in Louise's pregnancy with Dabhog. At around three weeks they were told it was as an ectopic pregnancy, when a fertilised egg is implanted outside the womb, often in a fallopian tube. The egg cannot then develop into a baby and the pregnancy has to be terminated due to the risk to the mother's health. After taking Louise into surgery the doctors realised it was not an ectopic pregnancy, but said they would have to wait another two weeks before being able to scan for a heartbeat and confirm if the baby was still alive. The night before the scan, Neeson went for a walk by himself in the hills near his hometown of Newcastle, County Down. "A lot of soul searching went on. I said out loud, 'I need a sign'. At that point I was stopped dead in my tracks." He had spotted a white feather in the trees. "In Ireland a white feather represents life," Neeson says. The next day the scan revealed a "gigantic" heartbeat. Image copyrightSHONA CUTT Image caption Neeson's band The Answer have released six studio albums Dabhog is now five and in September started school, where Neeson says he has made friends and won certificates for being pupil of the week. "Just to be able to experience our little boy thriving like that and being so communicative and being such a life-affirming character and for him to bring so much joy into our lives, it's a massively positive experience for us and we're thankful for that," Neeson says. Dabhog now has a younger brother and Neeson has become an ambassador for the learning disability charity Mencap in Northern Ireland. Dabhog attended a Mencap centre in Belfast for specialist learning and early intervention support. "Before my wife became pregnant with Dabhog I suppose my sole focus in life was essentially myself and I think you become much less selfish when you have a child," he says. Looking back to 2014, he adds: "There are moments in your life when you don't know how you're going to get past these obstacles that are set, but you do.

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A physically and mentally active lifestyle confers resilience to frontotemporal dementia (FTD), even in people whose genetic profile makes the eventual development of the disease virtually inevitable, according to new research by scientists at the UC San Francisco Memory and Aging Center. The research aligns with long-standing findings that exercise and cognitive fitness are one of the best ways to prevent or slow Alzheimer's disease, but is the first study to show that the same types of behaviors can benefit people with FTD, which is caused by a distinct form of brain degeneration. FTD is a neurodegenerative disease that can disrupt personality, decision-making, language, or movement abilities, and typically begins between the ages of 45 and 65. It is the most common form of dementia in people under 65 (accounting for 5 to 15 percent of dementia cases overall) and typically results in rapid cognitive and physical decline and death in less than 10 years. There are currently no drugs to treat FTD, though numerous clinical trials for the disease are underway at UCSF Memory and Aging Center and elsewhere. "This is devastating disease without good medical treatments, but our results suggest that even people with a genetic predisposition for FTD can still take actions to increase their chances of living a long and productive life. Their fate may not be set in stone," said Kaitlin Casaletto, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and corresponding author of the new study, published January 8, 2020 in Alzheimer's and Dementia. 'If This Were a Drug, We Would Be Giving it to All Our Patients' About 40 percent of people with FTD have a family history of the disease, and scientists have identified specific dominant genetic mutations that drive the development of the disease in roughly half of these cases. But even in these individuals, the disease can have very different courses and severity. "There's incredible variability in FTD, even among people with the same genetic mutations driving their disease. Some people are just more resilient than others for reasons we still don't understand," said, Casaletto, a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. "Our hypothesis was that the activities people engage in each day of their lives may contribute to the very different trajectories we see in clinic, including when the disease develops and how it progresses." To test this hypothesis, Casaletto and colleagues studied how lifestyle differences affected FTD progression in 105 people with dominant, disease-causing genetic mutations who were mostly asymptomatic or had experienced only mild, early-stage symptoms. The research participants were drawn from two large multisite studies, called ARTFL and LEFFTDS (recently combined into a study known as ALLFTD), led by co-authors Adam Boxer, MD, PhD, and Howie Rosen, MD, also of the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. As part of these larger studies, all participants underwent initial MRI scans to measure the extent of brain degeneration caused by the disease, completed tests of thinking and memory, and reported on their current levels of cognitive and physical activity in their daily lives (e.g., reading, spending time with friends, jogging). At the same time, their family members completed regular gold-standard assessments of how well the study participants were functioning in their lives -- managing finances, medications, bathing themselves, and so on. All of these measures were repeated at annual follow-up visits to track the long-term progression of participants' disease. Even after only two to three visits (one to two years into the ongoing study), Casaletto and her team have already begun to see significant differences in the speed and severity of FTD between the most and least mentally and physically active individuals in the study, with mentally and physically active lifestyles showing similar effects across participants. Specifically, the researchers found that functional decline, as assessed by participants' family members, was 55 percent slower in the most active 25 percent of participants compared to the least active five percent. "This was a remarkable effect to see so early on," Casaletto said. "If this were a drug, we would be giving it to all of our patients." The researchers found that participants' lifestyles did not significantly alter the inexorable degeneration of brain tissue associated with FTD, as measured by follow-up MRI scans a year into the study. But even among participants whose brain scans revealed signs of atrophy, the most mentally and physically active participants continued to perform twice as well as the least active participants on cognitive tests. These results suggest that active lifestyles may slow FTD symptoms by providing some form of cognitive resilience to the consequences of brain degeneration. Findings Could Illuminate Biology of Brain Resilience Across Dementias The researchers anticipate seeing even larger differences in cognitive decline between more and less active groups as the merged ALLFTD study continues to follow these participants over time. "We've seen such significant effects in just the first year or two in people with very mild disease -- if these results hold, we may see that an active lifestyle sets individuals on a different trajectory for the coming years," Casaletto said. The next step for the research is to include more detailed and objective assessments of participants' physical and mental activity -- including fitting them with wearable FitBit activity sensors -- to begin to estimate exactly how much activity is needed to promote cognitive resilience. Casaletto cautions that the results, though exciting, so far only report a correlation: "It is possible that some participants have less active lifestyles because they have a more severe or aggressive form of FTD, which is already impacting their ability to be active. Clinical trials that mani[CENSORED]te cognitive and physical activity levels in people with FTD mutations are needed to prove that lifestyle changes can alter the course of the disease." With this caveat in mind, Casaletto hopes the findings will not only encourage care teams and individuals with family histories of FTD to adopt lifestyle changes that could provide more productive years of life, but also that the ongoing study will lead to a better biological understanding of the drivers of resilience in people with FTD. "We can see that lifestyle differences impact people's resilience to FTD despite very penetrant genetics, so now we can start to ask more fundamental questions, like how these behaviors actually affect the brain's biology to confer that resilience." Casaletto said. "Is that biological effect something we could replicate pharmacologically to help slow the progression of this terrible disease for everyone?"