Co-designing Urban Living Solutions to Improve Older People’s Mobility and Well-Being

Mobility is a key aspect of active ageing enabling participation and autonomy into later life. Remaining active brings multiple physical but also social benefits leading to higher levels of well-being. With globally increasing levels of urbanisation alongside demographic shifts meaning in many parts of the world this urban population will be older people, the challenge is how cities should evolve to enable so-called active ageing. This paper reports on a co-design study with 117 participants investigating the interaction of existing urban spaces and infrastructure on mobility and well-being for older residents (aged 55 + years) in three cities. A mixed method approach was trialled to identify locations beneficial to subjective well-being and participant-led solutions to urban mobility challenges. Spatial analysis was used to identify key underlying factors in locations and infrastructure that promoted or compromised mobility and well-being for participants. Co-designed solutions were assessed for acceptability or co-benefits amongst a wider cross-section of urban residents (n = 233) using online and face-to-face surveys in each conurbation. Our analysis identified three critical intersecting and interacting thematic problems for urban mobility amongst older people: The quality of physical infrastructure; issues around the delivery, governance and quality of urban systems and services; and the attitudes and behaviors of individuals that older people encounter. This identified complexity reinforces the need for policy responses that may not necessarily involve design or retrofit measures, but instead might challenge perceptions and behaviors of use and access to urban space. Our co-design results further highlight that solutions need to move beyond the generic and placeless, instead embedding specific locally relevant solutions in inherently geographical spaces, populations and processes to ensure they relate to the intricacies of place

Nanotransfection-based vasculogenic cell reprogramming drives functional recovery in a mouse model of ischemic stroke

Ischemic stroke causes vascular and neuronal tissue deficiencies that could lead to substantial functional impairment and/or death. Although progenitor-based vasculogenic cell therapies have shown promise as a potential rescue strategy following ischemic stroke, current approaches face major hurdles. Here, we used fibroblasts nanotransfected with Etv2, Foxc2, and Fli1 (EFF) to drive reprogramming-based vasculogenesis, intracranially, as a potential therapy for ischemic stroke. Perfusion analyses suggest that intracranial delivery of EFF-nanotransfected fibroblasts led to a dose-dependent increase in perfusion 14 days after injection. MRI and behavioral tests revealed ~70% infarct resolution and up to ~90% motor recovery for mice treated with EFF-nanotransfected fibroblasts. Immunohistological analysis confirmed increases in vascularity and neuronal cellularity, as well as reduced glial scar formation in response to treatment with EFF-nanotransfected fibroblasts. Together, our results suggest that vasculogenic cell therapies based on nanotransfection-driven (i.e., nonviral) cellular reprogramming represent a promising strategy for the treatment of ischemic stroke

Type III restriction-modification enzymes: a historical perspective

Restriction endonucleases interact with DNA at specific sites leading to cleavage of DNA. Bacterial DNA is protected from restriction endonuclease cleavage by modifying the DNA using a DNA methyltransferase. Based on their molecular structure, sequence recognition, cleavage position and cofactor requirements, restriction-modification (R-M) systems are classified into four groups. Type III R-M enzymes need to interact with two separate unmethylated DNA sequences in inversely repeated head-to-head orientations for efficient cleavage to occur at a defined location (25-27 bp downstream of one of the recognition sites). Like the Type I R-M enzymes, Type III R-M enzymes possess a sequence-specific ATPase activity for DNA cleavage. ATP hydrolysis is required for the long-distance communication between the sites before cleavage. Different models, based on 1D diffusion and/or 3D-DNA looping, exist to explain how the long-distance interaction between the two recognition sites takes place. Type III R-M systems are found in most sequenced bacteria. Genome sequencing of many pathogenic bacteria also shows the presence of a number of phase-variable Type III R-M systems, which play a role in virulence. A growing number of these enzymes are being subjected to biochemical and genetic studies, which, when combined with ongoing structural analyses, promise to provide details for mechanisms of DNA recognition and catalysis

Conceptual models of erosion and sedimentation in Illinois. Volume II: Level II models, model interactions, keywords, and bibliography

Bibliography: Vol. 2, p. 234-359

HIV Among MSM and Heterosexual Women in the United States: An Ecologic Analysis.

Phylogenetic studies show links between heterosexual women and men who have sex with men (MSM) that are more numerous than from heterosexual men to women suggesting that HIV infections among heterosexual women may stem from MSM. Poor communities have been associated with high rates of HIV among heterosexual women. Our analysis investigates potential transmission of HIV between MSM and female heterosexuals. National HIV Behavioral Surveillance data describe transmission risk behaviors of MSM, and HIV case reporting data describe the percentages of cases that are attributed to transmission risk categories. We examined correlations between the percentages of men who were MSM who also have sex with women and female heterosexual cases. We also examined census data to characterize each city in terms of poverty level and race/ethnicity makeup. There was a high correlation (0.93) between the percentage of reported living HIV cases attributed to male heterosexual contact and female heterosexual contact and a moderate nonsignificant correlation (0.49) between the percentage of MSM who were men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) in National HIV Behavioral Surveillance and the percentage of reported cases that were attributed to female heterosexual contact suggesting some potential overlap. Cities with high levels of poverty and African American/Black residents had higher levels of MSMW and higher levels of heterosexual female cases. Addressing HIV in cities with high levels of MSMW may have the dual effect of improving the health of MSM populations that have a high burden of HIV and to improve the health of their larger communities