Peace Meal: A Senior Citizen\u27s Right to Food in East Central Illinois

This study provides a formative evaluation of the Older Americans Act (OAA) Senior Nutrition Program, Peace Meal. Peace Meal provides home delivered and congregate meals for older adults in 14 counties in east central Illinois. The East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging (ECIAAA) is a funding source for Peace Meal and advocates that the OAA Senior Nutrition Program help older adults have improved food security and reduced social isolation. Key informant interviews and focus groups provided personal stories of how people in the community access food, what dietary and nutritional elements affect their food choices and health, and how their participation in food assistance programs affects their socialization. Some main questions explore: To what extent do local seniors understand food security in their communities? To what extent and why do local seniors use food assistance programs to manage food security? Through this evaluation and analysis, this study gives feedback to Peace Meal and East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging to better recruit seniors to use the food service and improve current operations. Data collected showed local seniors’ preferences to use Peace Meal for the nutrients like vegetable servings or social benefits like weekly get-togethers at senior centers with friends for lunch. A lack of general awareness for food insecurity and understanding of the OAA Senior Nutrition Program suggests more time and resources for educational promotion by Peace Meal is essential

Association of myostatin, a cytokine released by muscle, with inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis

Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Fondo de Investigacion en Salud, FIS/IMSS/PROT/MD16/1565Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Myostatin is a cytokine produced and released by myocytes that might have an outstanding role not only in muscle wasting during cachexia but also in inflammation. Herein we explore the association between myostatin levels and inflammatory parameters in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). One hundred twenty-seven women without rheumatic diseases and 84 women with a diagnosis of RA were assessed in a cross-sectional study. Outcomes reflecting the activity of the arthritis including Disease Activity Score (DAS28-ESR) and impairment in functioning by the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index were assessed in RA. We obtained Skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI), and fat mass index using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Serum myostatin was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Myostatin levels were correlated with disease activity and parameters of muscle mass. The SMI was lower and concentration of myostatin was higher in RA patients than in controls (P = .008 and P < .001, respectively). Myostatin significantly positively correlated with C-reactive protein (rho = 0.48, P < .001), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (rho = 0.28, P = .009), and DAS28-ESR (rho = 0.22, P = .04), and negatively correlated with SMI (rho = −0.29, P = .008), (FFMI) (rho = −0.24, P = .027). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, levels of myostatin remained associated with disease activity in RA (P = .027). In our study, myostatin was associated with disease activity in RA patients, suggesting a mechanistic link between myostatin, muscle wasting and inflammation in RA

Water Your Opinions: A Social Assessment of the Lake Bloomington and Lake Evergreen Watersheds

The purpose of this report is to better understand the knowledge of and attitudes of residents towards water resources in the McLean County area. The assessment consisted of nine key informant interviews and two community focus groups with local residents who have a vested interest in and specific knowledge about these water resources. This is one part of a larger assessment in partnership with the McLean County Soil and Water Conservation District (MCSWCD). The results of this assessment will help to inform specific questions to be used in a residential household survey in spring 2015. The survey will be used to gain a better insight into the public’s knowledge and attitudes towards water resources in McLean County. This will enable MCSWCD and water managers to strategically plan for future water resources in McLean County. A number of other findings, limitations of the assessment, and recommendations and future research are discussed

Cirugía de bypass coronario: una visión en salud mental desde el modelo biopsicosocial

Coronary artery bypass surgery is a surgical procedure in the treatment of ischemic heart disease, with relevant psychological implications after surgery, such as the development of anxious and depressive symptoms that influence the patient's health-related quality of life; however, by strengthening protective factors such as dispositional optimism, it was shown that it is possible to reduce the impact generated by coronary artery bypass surgery. The aim of the study was to identify the role played by quality of life in the interaction of risk and protective factors after surgery.La cirugía de Bypass coronario es un procedimiento quirúrgico en el tratamiento de la cardiopatía isquémica, con implicaciones psicológicas relevantes tras la cirugía, como el desarrollo de sintomatología ansiosa y depresiva que influyen en la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud del paciente, sin embargo, mediante el fortalecimiento de factores protectores como el optimismo disposicional, se mostró que es posible disminuir el impacto que genera la cirugía de bypass coronario. El objetivo del estudio fue identificar el papel que juega la calidad de vida en la interacción de factores de riesgo y protección tras la cirugía

The role of networks to overcome large-scale challenges in tomography : the non-clinical tomography users research network

Our ability to visualize and quantify the internal structures of objects via computed tomography (CT) has fundamentally transformed science. As tomographic tools have become more broadly accessible, researchers across diverse disciplines have embraced the ability to investigate the 3D structure-function relationships of an enormous array of items. Whether studying organismal biology, animal models for human health, iterative manufacturing techniques, experimental medical devices, engineering structures, geological and planetary samples, prehistoric artifacts, or fossilized organisms, computed tomography has led to extensive methodological and basic sciences advances and is now a core element in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research and outreach toolkits. Tomorrow's scientific progress is built upon today's innovations. In our data-rich world, this requires access not only to publications but also to supporting data. Reliance on proprietary technologies, combined with the varied objectives of diverse research groups, has resulted in a fragmented tomography-imaging landscape, one that is functional at the individual lab level yet lacks the standardization needed to support efficient and equitable exchange and reuse of data. Developing standards and pipelines for the creation of new and future data, which can also be applied to existing datasets is a challenge that becomes increasingly difficult as the amount and diversity of legacy data grows. Global networks of CT users have proved an effective approach to addressing this kind of multifaceted challenge across a range of fields. Here we describe ongoing efforts to address barriers to recently proposed FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reuse) and open science principles by assembling interested parties from research and education communities, industry, publishers, and data repositories to approach these issues jointly in a focused, efficient, and practical way. By outlining the benefits of networks, generally, and drawing on examples from efforts by the Non-Clinical Tomography Users Research Network (NoCTURN), specifically, we illustrate how standardization of data and metadata for reuse can foster interdisciplinary collaborations and create new opportunities for future-looking, large-scale data initiatives

Mejoramiento de la imagen urbana, San Pedro Valencia

En este PAP se trabajó en la comunidad de San Pedro de Valencia en el aprovechamiento de espacios inutilizados para la implementación de nuevos sitios recreativos. Se expone la problemática de la imagen urbana del pueblo después de la crisis del 2013. Se retomó el proyecto de la plaza central del pueblo y se comenzó la proyección de un plano arquitectónico y del asesoramiento para el desarrollo de un establecimiento habitacional para una familia de la comunidad

Unreliability effects in public transport modelling

Nowadays, transport demand models do not explicitly evaluate the impacts of service reliability of transit. Service reliability of transit systems is adversely experienced by users, as it causes additional travel time and unsecure arrival times. Because of this, travellers are likely to perceive a higher utility from more reliable transport systems. In order to mimic and measure the impacts of service reliability on a transit demand model a three-step approach is proposed using automated vehicle location and smart card data. The approach consists of determining the probabilistic distribution of transit trip times, defining demand patterns and estimating the average impacts of unreliability per passenger. This approach was successfully tested on the model of the city of Utrecht in The Netherlands. By adding service reliability as a variable parameter of transit systems the results of the demand model improved, showing that the absolute difference between the observed and the estimated demand decreased by 18%. In addition, the proposed approach allows measuring the effects of expected changes in level of service reliability on traveller behaviour. Finally, we identify future research topics required to improve the estimation of those effects

Unreliability effects in public transport modelling.

Nowadays, transport demand models do not explicitly evaluate the impacts of service reliability of transit. Service reliability of transit systems is adversely experienced by users, as it causes additional travel time and unsecure arrival times. Because of this, travellers are likely to perceive a higher utility from more reliable transport systems. In order to mimic and measure the impacts of service reliability on a transit demand model a three-step approach is proposed using automated vehicle location and smart card data. The approach consists of determining the probabilistic distribution of transit trip times, defining demand patterns and estimating the average impacts of unreliability per passenger. This approach was successfully tested on the model of the city of Utrecht in The Netherlands. By adding service reliability as a variable parameter of transit systems the results of the demand model improved, showing that the absolute difference between the observed and the estimated demand decreased by 18%. In addition, the proposed approach allows measuring the effects of expected changes in level of service reliability on traveller behaviour. Finally, we identify future research topics required to improve the estimation of those effects