The Impact of Education on Fear of Falling in Elderly Women

Context: More than one third of individuals 65 and older fall each year. Approximately 85% of these falls occur in the homes of independent older adults. Falls can lead to an increased fear of falling, defined as a pervasive concern that a fall may occur. Fear of falling can decrease quality of life due to a lower sense of well-being, limiting mobility, and reduction of social interaction. Reduction in activity can result in a sedentary lifestyle and poor balance which increases the risk of falling. Fifty percent of women 75 years and older participate in no physical activity beyond activities of daily living. Older women, on average, participate in half the amount of moderate and vigorous activity as young women. Activity and education based programs have been shown to increase balance confidence in all participants independent of the program they participated in.The aim of the intervention utilized in this study was to decrease fear of falling in elderly women and improve their overall quality of life. Objective: The purpose of the study was to determine how an educational intervention that utilized balance training and home safety assessment would impact fear of falling in elderly women at different activity levels based on the results from activPAL technology. Setting: All subject were tested at Butterfield Trail Village in Fayetteville, AR for all assessments. Participants: Eight older women; 3 in the high activity group, 2 in the moderate activity group, and 3 in the low activity group. The mean age was 79.1 years, the mean height was 161.7 cm, and the mean weight was 61.1 kg. Methods: The participants were recruited from Butterfield Trail senior living community. The participants were given a health history questionnaire and informed consent. The pre-assessment given was the Falls Efficacy Scale- International (FES-I) to determine the participants’ fear of falling. activPAL monitors were given to each participant to wear for 7 days to determine activity level. A one-on-one education session was conducted with each participant after activity assessment. A post FES-I assessment was given after completion of the education session. Main Outcome Measures: A dependent t-test was conducted to compare pre and post FES-I scores. Differences between groups (group x time) were assessed using a repeated measures ANOVA. Statistical significance was set at α = .05. Correlational analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between fear of falling and activity level Results: Statistical significance was not found in any of the outcome measures. Mean FES-I scores dependent t-test: pre 25.5 + 5.9, post 30.5 + 7.2, mean difference -1.9, p-value .58. Repeated measures ANOVA: low activity pre 27.7 + 3.5 post 32.3 + 8.1, moderate activity pre 31.0 + 1.4 post 33.5 + 6.4, high activity pre 19.0 + 3.0 post 26.7 + 7.6. Correlational analysis: a moderate correlation (-.63) was found between activity level and fear of falling. Conclusion: The education intervention utilized in this study that used a variety of materials and techniques was not effective in reducing fear of falling in elderly women across all activity levels

Concept for automatic Doppler compensation in two-way communication systems

Automatic Frequency Control system compensates for Doppler shift in two-way communication systems where one or both stations are moving. This automatic correction can be applied to the reply link to elimate frequency search for the reply or an excessive bandwidth to accommodate the Doppler

Position sensing materials wound on a reel

Electro-optical counter measures number of layers of web wound on reel and indicates layer number and web position digitally, without physically contacting reel or requiring numerical interpolation from mechanical readout device

Design Optimization for an Electro-Thermally Actuated Polymeric Microgripper

Thermal micro-actuators are a promising solution to the need for large-displacement, gentle handling force, low-power MEMS actuators. Potential applications of these devices are micro-relays, assembling and miniature medical instrumentation. In this paper the development of thermal microactuators based on SU-8 polymer is described. The paper presents the development of a new microgripper which can realize a movement of the gripping arms with possibility for positioning and manipulating of the gripped object. Two models of polymeric microgripper electrothermo- mechanical actuated, using low actuation voltages, designed for SU-8 polymer fabrication were presented. The electro-thermal microgrippers were designed and optimized using finite element simulations. Electro-thermo-mechanical simulations based on finite element method were performed for each of the model in order to compare the results. Preliminary experimental tests were carried out.Comment: Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association (http://irevues.inist.fr/handle/2042/16838

Using a Model to Evaluate the Impact of Managed Care on Medicaid-Eligible Moms and Their Children in a Rural Population

This paper lays out the advantages of using a model for developing research questions and methodologies aimed at evaluating how managed care arrangements for rural Medicaid moms and their children might affect their access to health care and their related health status. The PRECEDE (predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling causes in educational diagnosis and evaluation) health-education program planning model is refined and applied to a population of Medicaid-eligible moms and their children to help organize and clarify the research questions and to identify the types of variables we need to consider for this exercise. An explanation of those variables, why they are important, and how they can be obtained is presented.

Emissions trading without a quantity constraint.

This paper examines the differences between standard “cap-and-trade” emissions trading plans and “credit” plans in which individual agents create credits by reducing emissions below a firmspecific baseline. The two are equivalent if the baseline is a fixed quantity, but not if the baseline is specified as a baseline emissions ratio times current output. In the latter case there is no exogenous constraint on aggregate emissions. It may be called the case of “(ratio-based) credit trading”. Examples include the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol and the Canadian Pilot Emissions Reduction Trading plan (PERT). Unlike the case of cap-and-trade, the theoretical properties of ratio-based credit trading plans are not well known. In the absence of a binding quantity constraint, it is even difficult to understand how an ERC plan can generate a positive price. This paper studies the difference between ratiobased credit trading and conventional “cap-and-trade” plans in the context of a very simple model. It also considers how the two plans might interact if, for example, credits from a credit plan could be applied to commitments under a quantity-based cap-and-trade plan, and applies its findings to current plans for credit trading, including PERT and the clean development mechanism. The paper demonstrates that ratio-based credit trading is more like a tax instrument than a quantity instrument. It shows that there is no incentive to trade in a ratio-based market in which all firms receive baselines computed using their “business as ususal” emission ratios. Combining ratio-based credit trading with “cap-and-trade” allowance markets effectively relaxes the quantity constraint in the cap-and-trade plan and reduces the price of traded allowances. In the long run, there will be no effective constraint on emissions. The results have strong implications for current policy. In particular, they suggest that mixing quantity-based and ratio-based emission trading plans is inappropriate.

The glacial cycles and cosmic rays

The cause of the glacial cycles remains a mystery. The origin is widely accepted to be astronomical since paleoclimatic archives contain strong spectral components that match the frequencies of Earth's orbital modulation. Milankovitch insolation theory contains similar frequencies and has become established as the standard model of the glacial cycles. However, high precision paleoclimatic data have revealed serious discrepancies with the Milankovitch model that fundamentally challenge its validity and re-open the question of what causes the glacial cycles. We propose here that the ice ages are initially driven not by insolation cycles but by cosmic ray changes, probably through their effect on clouds. This conclusion is based on a wide range of evidence, including results presented here on speleothem growth in caves in Austria and Oman, and on a record of cosmic ray flux over the past 220 kyr obtained from the 10Be composition of deep-ocean sediments

On The Use and Misuse of Input-Output Based Impact Analysis in Evaluation

Estimates of economic activity generated and jobs created that are derived using input-output analysis are often presented in program evaluations and confused with the benefits resultin g from die program. Two such cases are presented as examples. We argue that for two main reasons this type of analysis con stitutes a misuse of input-output analysis. First, input-output estimates generated using the Keynesian closed versions of input-output models are biased upwards because they ignore the price and financial feedbacks that tend to reduce multipliers in macro-economic models. Second, and more important, it is inappropria te to consider induced effects resulting from a particular program in isolation, because such effects can only be properly considered in the aggr egate at th e level of overall stabilization policy. In this paper we contend that cost-benefit analysis, with its assumption of full employment, is the most appropriate tool for analyzing the benefits resulting from particular programs. Input-output analysis should be confin ed to providing estimates of die industr ial or regional breakdown of the direct impact of a program or of the employment impacts of program spending. It should not be used to generate Keynesian multipliers.input-output analysis, Keynesian multiplier, evaluation

Eficacia de un desinfectante sobre Vibrio ordalii, Vibrio anguillarum, Francisella sp. y Virus de la Necrosis Pancreática Infecciosa (IPNV), patógenos de salmón del Atlántico (Salmo salar) cultivado en Chile

Indexación: ScieloRESUMEN En el presente trabajo se evaluó la eficacia in vitro del desinfectante Duplalim®, una combinación sinérgica de glutaraldehído y sales de amonio cuaternario de cuarta generación, contra 4 patógenos de peces prevalentes de la salmonicultura chilena. Los resultados muestran que todas las concentraciones ensayadas (diluciones entre 1:200 a 1:400) fueron eficaces sobre los aislados de Vibrio ordalii y Vibrio anguillarum post-30 s de exposición, detectando niveles de reducción igual a 1.8 x 106 UFC/ml. Concentraciones superiores de Duplalim® (dilución 1:50) y un tiempo de exposición no menor a 5 min. Fueron necesarios para eliminar completamente al patógeno intracelular Francisella sp. Cuando el desinfectante fue ensayado contra el Virus de la necrosis Pancreática infecciosa (IPNV), se detectó que la dilución 1:400 tiene un efecto significativo después de 2 minutos sin importar los títulos de IPNV testeados (mayor concentración evaluada 107.6 TCID50/ml). Duplalim® se evaluó en condiciones masivas contra los miembros de la familia Vibrionaceae. En comparación a los controles (sin adición desinfectante), la dilución 1:400 de Duplalim® eliminó completamente V. ordalii y V. anguillarum después de 15 minutos de tratamiento, tanto en el agua de cultivo como en la superficie de mallas usadas en el cultivo del salmón. Así, el análisis microbiológico del agua de los controles mostró concentraciones de 1.4 ± 0.3 × 106 UFC/ml, mientras en el caso de las mallas 7.6 ± 3.2 × 105 UFC/ml1. En resumen, los antecedentes obtenidos indican que el uso del desinfectante Duplalim® es efectivo contra V. ordalii, V. anguillarum y IPNV en bajas concentraciones y cortos periodos de exposición (dilución 1:400 por 15 min.), mientras que para el patógeno intracelular se requiere una concentración mayor. Palabras clave: desinfectante, patógenos de peces, salmón del atlántico. SUMMARY The efficacy of the disinfectant Duplalim®, a synergistic blend of superquats and glutaraldehyde, was analysed in vitro against 4 fish pathogens. All concentrations tested (1:200 to 1:400 dilutions) were efficacious on killing Vibrio ordalii and Vibrio anguillarum in seawater after 30 s, being the level of reduction equal to 1.8 x 106 CFU/ml. Higher concentration of Duplalim® (1:50 dilutions) and time of exposure (at least 5 min) is needed to kill completely Francisella sp, an intracellular freshwater pathogen. When Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus (IPNV) was treated with 1:400 disinfectant dilution, this concentration had a significant effect after 2 minutes, regardless of the IPNV titres employed (concentration greater than 107.6 TCID50/ml). Duplalim® was tested in large scale against Vibrionaceae members. In comparison to the controls (without the disinfectant), 1:400 dilutions of Duplalim® totally killed V. ordalii and V. anguillarum in seawater as well as on the surface of the fishing net (used in the cages of cultured salmon) after 15 min. Cultivable bacteria remained constant in the buckets without the disinfectant (1.4 ± 0.3 × 106 CFU/ml), regardless of the period sampled. In the case of the adherence on the fishing net, bacteria not exposed to the disinfectant were detected at a concentration of 7.6 ± 3.2 × 105 CFU/ml. These data indicate that the use of Duplalim® against V. ordalii, V. anguillarum and IPNV is effective in low concentration and short time of exposure (15 min at a concentration of 1:400 dilutions), while the intracellular pathogen requires higher concentration. Key words: disinfectant, Chilean fish pathogens, Atlantic salmon