Life Satisfaction Index for the Third Age (LSITA): A Measurement of Successful Aging

The purpose of this research was to develop an updated scale based on the framework that Neugarten, Havighurst and Tobin (1961) used to design the Life Satisfaction Index- Form A (LSI-A). The new instrument, the Life Satisfaction Index for the Third Age LSITA), was used to assess 654 third age adults in a measurement development process to establish the LSITA’s psychometric properties. These individuals were Midwestern United States adults from selected third age learning events, retirement centers, church events, community centers and the general public. The participants were all over fifty years old consistent with the definition of the third age. The authors had been involved in a research study that used LSI-A that led to an appreciation of the importance of measuring successful aging as well as the need to apply current statistical techniques to a revised instrument. The LSITA was designed and its psychometric properties assessed using the eight-step design process from DeVellis (1991). The reliability of the 35-item scale was .93 with satisfactory content, construct and criterion validity. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was performed using structural equation modeling and a very satisfactory goodness of fit was obtained. The new instrument has been made available to researchers by emailing [email protected]. The expectation is that the researchers will provide the author with an electronic copy of their responses to add to the database

The antigenic link between thyroid autoimmunity and breast cancer

The association between breast cancer and benign thyroid disorders, in particular thyroid autoimmunity, has been debated for decades. Autoantibodies to thyroid peroxidase, the hallmark of thyroid autoimmunity, have a higher prevalence among patients with breast cancer compared with the general population. Furthermore a correlation between their positivity and a better prognosis of breast cancer was found in several independent small-scale studies, even if such observation was not confirmed in a subsequent retrospective study conducted on the largest patient cohort to date. The thyroid and mammary glands present several biological similarities, therefore the hypothesis of an immune response to shared thyroid/breast antigens could in part explain the association between thyroid autoimmunity and breast cancer. The sodium iodide symporter is expressed in both glands, however it seems unlikely to be the key common antigen, considering that autoantibodies targeting it are rare. Instead thyroid peroxidase, one of the major thyroid autoantigens, is also expressed in breast tissue and therefore represents the main antigenic link between thyroid autoimmunity and breast cancer. Furthermore lactoperoxidase, an enzyme of the same family that shares structural similarities with thyroid peroxidase, is expressed in neoplastic breast cells and is responsible for the cross-reactivity with some autoantibodies to thyroid peroxidase. Novel strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer might take advantage of the antigenic link between thyroid and breast tissues

Preclinical models for obesity research

Acknowledgements The authors are funded by the Scottish Government, Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division, Strategic Research Programme, ‘Food, Health and Wellbeing’ Theme. P.B. also acknowledges funding from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC; BB/M001504/1), J.G.M. from the European Union (EU)-funded Full4Health project (grant agreement no. 266408; Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013]), and P.J.M. from BBSRC (BB/G014272/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Photomicrographs of Some Sedimentary and Volcaniclastic Permian and Triassic Beacon Rocks from the Beardmore Glacier Area, Antarctica

The volcanic character of the Permian and Triassic Beacon rocks of the central Transantarctic Mountains has only recently been recognized, but no photomicrographs illustrating volcanic components of the sedimentary rocks or textures of the volcaniclastic rocks have been published. This set of photographs has been prepared mainly to document some of the volcanic features of what until recently was considered a purely clastic sedimentary sequence. The more important rock types found in the postglacial Permian and Triassic Beacon strata are briefly described and discussed to help place the photographic material in its proper perspective.U.S. National Science Foundation Grant GA-1159

Proof of principle : the adaptive geometry of social foragers

Acknowledgments We thank Cape Nature for permission to undertake the study. We thank Dr Matt Grove and two anonymous referees for comments and suggestions that improved the manuscript substantially. This research was funded by grants from the Leakey Foundation, National Science and Engineering Research Council, Canada to S.P.H. and L.B., and by the National Research Foundation, South Africa to S.P.H. His co-authors dedicate this paper to the memory of P.M.R.C. The authors declare no competing interests.Peer reviewedPostprin

Double Time Window Targeting Technique: Real time DMRG dynamics in the PPP model

We present a generalized adaptive time-dependent density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) scheme, called the {\it double time window targeting} (DTWT) technique, which gives accurate results with nominal computational resources, within reasonable computational time. This procedure originates from the amalgamation of the features of pace keeping DMRG algorithm, first proposed by Luo {\it et. al}, [Phys.Rev. Lett. {\bf 91}, 049701 (2003)], and the time-step targeting (TST) algorithm by Feiguin and White [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 72}, 020404 (2005)]. Using the DTWT technique, we study the phenomena of spin-charge separation in conjugated polymers (materials for molecular electronics and spintronics), which have long-range electron-electron interactions and belong to the class of strongly correlated low-dimensional many-body systems. The issue of real time dynamics within the Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) model which includes long-range electron correlations has not been addressed in the literature so far. The present study on PPP chains has revealed that, (i) long-range electron correlations enable both the charge and spin degree of freedom of the electron, to propagate faster in the PPP model compared to Hubbard model, (ii) for standard parameters of the PPP model as applied to conjugated polymers, the charge velocity is almost twice that of the spin velocity and, (iii) the simplistic interpretation of long-range correlations by merely renormalizing the {\it U} value of the Hubbard model fails to explain the dynamics of doped holes/electrons in the PPP model.Comment: Final (published) version; 39 pages, 13 figures, 1 table; 2 new references adde

Differential coupling of the extreme C-terminus of G protein α subunits to the G protein-coupled melatonin receptors

AbstractMelatonin receptors interact with pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins to inhibit adenylate cyclase. However, the G protein coupling profiles of melatonin receptor subtypes have not been fully characterised and alternative G protein coupling is evident. The five C-terminal residues of Gα subunits confer coupling specificity to G protein-coupled receptors. This report outlines the use of Gαs chimaeras to alter the signal output of human melatonin receptors and investigate their interaction with the C-termini of Gα subunits. The Gαs portion of the chimaeras confers the ability to activate adenylate cyclase leading to cyclic AMP production. Co-transfection of HEK293 cells expressing MT1 or MT2 melatonin receptors with Gαs chimaeras and a cyclic AMP activated luciferase construct provided a convenient and sensitive assay system for identification of receptor recognition of Gα C-termini. Luciferase assay sensitivity was compared with measurement of cyclic AMP elevations by radioimmunoassay. Differential interactions of the melatonin receptor subtypes with Gα chimaeras were observed. Temporal and kinetic parameters of cyclic AMP responses measured by cyclic AMP radioimmunoassay varied depending on the Gαs chimaeras coupled. Recognition of the C-terminal five amino acids of the Gα subunit is a requisite for coupling to a receptor, but it is not the sole determinant

Distributions, sources, and transformations of dissolved and particulate iron on the Ross Sea continental shelf during summer

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 122 (2017): 6371–6393, doi:10.1002/2017JC013068.We report water column dissolved iron (dFe) and particulate iron (pFe) concentrations from 50 stations sampled across the Ross Sea during austral summer (January–February) of 2012. Concentrations of dFe and pFe were measured in each of the major Ross Sea water masses, including the Ice Shelf Water and off-shelf Circumpolar Deep Water. Despite significant lateral variations in hydrography, macronutrient depletion, and primary productivity across several different regions on the continental shelf, dFe concentrations were consistently low (<0.1 nM) in surface waters, with only a handful of stations showing elevated concentrations (0.20–0.45 nM) in areas of melting sea ice and near the Franklin Island platform. Across the study region, pFe associated with suspended biogenic material approximately doubled the inventory of bioavailable iron in surface waters. Our data reveal that the majority of the summertime iron inventory in the Ross Sea resides in dense shelf waters, with highest concentrations within 50 m of the seafloor. Higher dFe concentrations near the seafloor are accompanied by an increased contribution to pFe from authigenic and/or scavenged iron. Particulate manganese is also influenced by sediment resuspension near the seafloor but, unlike pFe, is increasingly associated with authigenic material higher in the water column. Together, these results suggest that following depletion of the dFe derived from wintertime convective mixing and sea ice melt, recycling of pFe in the upper water column plays an important role in sustaining the summertime phytoplankton bloom in the Ross Sea polynya.National Science Foundation's United States Antarctic Program Grant Numbers: ANT-0944174 , ANT-0944165; National Science Foundation Grant Number: OCE-06495052018-02-1