Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Health Care Utilization for Injuries Among Canadian Seniors: An Analysis of 1994 National Population Health Survey

Despite the impact injuries have on hospitalization and mortality, relatively little research has been conducted examining injuries among seniors that do not require hospitalizations. Additionally, there is a paucity of research on the utilization of health care resources, other than hospitals, by injured older adults. The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence and characteristics of injuries not captured by the hospitalization and mortality data, risk factors associated with such injuries, and health care utilization among Canadian seniors using Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey (1994). Specifically, this report has the following objectives: 1.To examine the prevalence of injuries among 55-64 year olds and seniors (65+). 2.To identify the causes, types, and locations of injuries. 3.To identify risk factors of injuries. 4.To compare health care use between injured and noninjured people.injuries; seniors; NPHS

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field