Evidence-Based Programming for Older Adults

There is increased world-wide concern about the impact of multiple chronic conditions, especially among the rapidly aging population. Simultaneously, over the past decade there has been an emergence of state-wide and national initiatives to reduce the burden of chronic conditions that draw upon the translation of evidence-based programs (EPB) into community practice. Yet, little has been written about the national and international implementation, dissemination, and sustainability of such programs. This Research Topic features articles about EBPs for older adults, including a range of articles that focus on the infrastructure needed to widely disseminate EBP as well as individual participant impacts on physical, mental, and social aspects of health and well-being. Using a pragmatic research perspective, this Research Topic will advance knowledge that aims to enhance practice, inform policy and build systems of support and delivery in regard to the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of evidence-based interventions for older adults. The focus is on knowledge transfer rather than knowledge generation but with a dual emphasis on the dissemination and sustainability of EBP that have been tested and shown effective as well as the adaptation of practice-based interventions into evidence-based programs. This Research Topic draws upon grand-scale efforts to deliver these programs, and include both U.S. as well as international examples. Commentaries discuss processes in the development and measurement of EBP and reflect perspectives from program developers and major national and regional funders of EBP as well as professionals and practitioners in the field. The full-length articles focus on four major programmatic areas: (1) chronic disease self-management programs; (2) fall prevention programs; (3) general wellness and physical activity programs; and (4) mental health programs. Additionally, articles are included to discuss cross-cutting issues related to building partnerships and the research infrastructure for the implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of evidence-based programming. The intent of this Research Topic is to enhance practice, inform policy, and build systems of support and delivery for EBP. It is written for a diverse audience and contains practical implications and recommendations for introducing, delivering, and sustaining EBP in a multitude of settings

Comparison of precipitated calcium carbonate/polylactic acid and halloysite/polylactic acid nanocomposites

PLA nanocomposites with stearate coated precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and halloysite natural nanotubes (HNT) were prepared by melt extrusion. The crystallization behavior, mechanical properties, thermal dynamical mechanical analysis (DMTA), and the morphology of the PCC/PLA, HNT/PLA, and HNT/PCC/PLA composites were discussed. Compared to halloysite nanotubes, PCC nanoparticles showed a better nucleating effect, which decreased both the glass transition and cold crystallization temperatures. The tensile performance of PLA composites showed that the addition of inorganic nanofillers increased Young’s modulus but decreased tensile strength. More interestingly, PLA composites with PCC particles exhibited an effectively increased elongation at break with respect to pure PLA, while HNT/PLA showed a decreased ultimate deformation of composites. DMTA results indicated that PLA composites had a similar storage modulus at temperatures below the glass transition and the addition of nanofillers into PLA caused to shift to lower temperatures by about 3°C. The morphological analysis of fractures surface of PLA nanocomposites showed good dispersion of nanofillers, formation of microvoids, and larger plastic deformation of the PLA matrix when the PCC particles were added, while a strong aggregation was noticed in composites with HNT nanofillers, which has been attributed to a nonoptimal surface coating

Molecular dynamics simulations of RNA: An in silico single molecule approach

RNA molecules are now known to be involved in the processing of genetic information at all levels, taking on a wide variety of central roles in the cell. Understanding how RNA molecules carry out their biological functions will require an understanding of structure and dynamics at the atomistic level, which can be significantly improved by combining computational simulation with experiment. This review provides a critical survey of the state of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of RNA, including a discussion of important current limitations of the technique and examples of its successful application. Several types of simulations are discussed in detail, including those of structured RNA molecules and their interactions with the surrounding solvent and ions, catalytic RNAs, and RNA–small molecule and RNA–protein complexes. Increased cooperation between theorists and experimentalists will allow expanded judicious use of MD simulations to complement conceptually related single molecule experiments. Such cooperation will open the door to a fundamental understanding of the structure–function relationships in diverse and complex RNA molecules. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 85:169–184, 2007. This article was originally published online as an accepted preprint. The “Published Online” date corresponds to the preprint version. You can request a copy of the preprint by emailing the Biopolymers editorial office at [email protected] Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55864/1/20620_ftp.pd

Diet of Ringed Seals (Phoca Hispida) in a Fjord of West Svalbard

Stomachs of 134 ringed seals from West Svalbard (Kongsfjorden) and East Svalbard (drift ice) were examined. Twenty-four prey taxa were found. The most important items were arctic cod (Boreogadus saida), shrimp (Pandalus borealis), krill (Thysanoessa inermis) and the amphipod Themisto libellula. In spring young redfish (Sebastes sp.) was an important food item; in summer seals fed on dense aggregations of krill in front of glaciers. Mysids, amphipod crustaceans and small size classes of coastal fish species were abundant in Kongsfjorden, but seals take them as secondary food items only.Key words: ringed seals, Phoca hispida, arctic food web, fjord ecology, Svalbard, prey taxaOn a étudié l'estomac de 134 phoques annelés du Svalbard occidental (Kongsfjorden) et du Svalbard oriental (glace de dérive). On a recensé 24 espèces-proies. Les plus importantes étaient la morue arctique (Boreogadus saida), la crevette (Pandalus borealis), le krill (Thysanoessa inermis) et l'amphipode Themisto libellula. Au printemps, la sébaste juvénile (sp. Sebastes) représentait une importante source alimentaire; en été, les phoques se nourrissaient du krill trouvé en forte concentration au pied des glaciers. Dans le Kongsfjorden, il y avait en abondance des mysis, des amphipodes et des espèces de poissons côtiers de petite taille, mais qui ne constituaient pour les phoques qu'une source alimentaire secondaire.Mots clés : phoques annelés, Phoca hispida, réseau trophique de l'Arctique, écologie de fjord, Svalbard, espèce-proi

Fiber association and network formation in PLA/lignocellulosic fiber composites.

PLA composites were prepared in an internal mixer with a lignocellulosic fiber having relatively large aspect ratio. Fiber content changed between 0 and 60 vol% and the homogenized material was compression molded to 1 mm thick plates. The composites showed anomalous behavior above certain fiber content. Their modulus and especially their strength decreased drastically and modeling also proved the loss of reinforcement at large fiber contents. Micromechanical testing showed that the mechanism of deformation and failure changes at a critical fiber content. Microscopic analysis indi-cated the formation of a network purely from geometrical reasons. The inherent strength of the network is very small because of the weak forces acting among the fibers. This weak inherent strength makes the structure of the composites very sensitive to pro-cessing conditions, and decreases strength, reproducibility as well as reliability

Multijet production in neutral current deep inelastic scattering at HERA and determination of α_{s}

Multijet production rates in neutral current deep inelastic scattering have been measured in the range of exchanged boson virtualities 10 5 GeV and –1 < η_{LAB}^{jet} < 2.5. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations describe the data well. The value of the strong coupling constant α_{s} (M_{z}), determined from the ratio of the trijet to dijet cross sections, is α_{s} (M_{z}) = 0.1179 ± 0.0013 (stat.)_{-0.0046}^{+0.0028}(exp.)_{-0.0046}^{+0.0028}(th.)

Chronic disease self-management education courses: utilization by low-income, middle-aged participants

BACKGROUND: Individuals living in lower-income areas face an increased prevalence of chronic disease and, oftentimes, greater barriers to optimal self-management. Disparities in disease management are seen across the lifespan, but are particularly notable among middle-aged adults. Although evidence-based Chronic Disease Self-management Education courses are available to enhance self-management among members of this at-risk population, little information is available to determine the extent to which these courses are reaching those at greatest risk. The purpose of this study is to compare the extent to which middle-aged adults from lower- and higher-income areas have engaged in CDSME courses, and to identify the sociodemographic characteristics of lower-income, middle aged participants. METHODS: The results of this study were produced through analysis of secondary data collected during the Communities Putting Prevention to Work: Chronic Disease Self-Management Program initiative. During this initiative, data was collected from 100,000 CDSME participants across 45 states within the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. RESULTS: Of the entire sample included in this analysis (19,365 participants), 55 people lived in the most impoverished counties. While these 55 participants represented just 0.3% of the total study sample, researchers found this group completed courses more frequently than participants from less impoverished counties once enrolled. CONCLUSION: These results signal a need to enhance participation of middle-aged adults from lower-income areas in CDSME courses. The results also provide evidence that can be used to inform future program delivery choices, including decisions regarding recruitment materials, program leaders, and program delivery sites, to better engage this population

Altered mitochondrial function and energy metabolism is associated with a radioresistant phenotype in oesophageal adenocarcinoma

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT) is increasingly the standard of care for locally advanced oesophageal cancer. A complete pathological response to CRT is associated with a favourable outcome. Radiation therapy is important for local tumour control, however, radioresistance remains a substantial clinical problem. We hypothesise that alterations in mitochondrial function and energy metabolism are involved in the radioresistance of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC). To investigate this, we used an established isogenic cell line model of radioresistant OAC. Radioresistant cells (OE33 R) demonstrated significantly increased levels of random mitochondrial mutations, which were coupled with alterations in mitochondrial function, size, morphology and gene expression, supporting a role for mitochondrial dysfunction in the radioresistance of this model. OE33 R cells also demonstrated altered bioenergetics, demonstrating significantly increased intracellular ATP levels, which was attributed to enhanced mitochondrial respiration. Radioresistant cells also demonstrated metabolic plasticity, efficiently switching between the glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation energy metabolism pathways, which were accompanied by enhanced clonogenic survival. This data was supported in vivo, in pre-treatment OAC tumour tissue. Tumour ATP5B expression, a marker of oxidative phosphorylation, was significantly increased in patients who subsequently had a poor pathological response to neoadjuvant CRT. This suggests for the first time, a role for specific mitochondrial alterations and metabolic remodelling in the radioresistance of OAC

Multijet production in neutral current deep inelastic scattering at HERA and determination of alpha_s

Multijet production rates in neutral current deep inelastic scattering have been measured in the range of exchanged boson virtualities 10 < Q2 < 5000 GeV2. The data were taken at the ep collider HERA with centre-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 318 GeV using the ZEUS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 82.2 pb-1. Jets were identified in the Breit frame using the k_T cluster algorithm in the longitudinally invariant inclusive mode. Measurements of differential dijet and trijet cross sections are presented as functions of jet transverse energy E_{T,B}{jet}, pseudorapidity eta_{LAB}{jet} and Q2 with E_{T,B}{jet} > 5 GeV and -1 < eta_{LAB}{jet} < 2.5. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations describe the data well. The value of the strong coupling constant alpha_s(M_Z), determined from the ratio of the trijet to dijet cross sections, is alpha_s(M_Z) = 0.1179 pm 0.0013(stat.) {+0.0028}_{-0.0046}(exp.) {+0.0064}_{-0.0046}(th.)Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure

An NLO QCD analysis of inclusive cross-section and jet-production data from the ZEUS experiment

The ZEUS inclusive differential cross-section data from HERA, for charged and neutral current processes taken with e+ and e- beams, together with differential cross-section data on inclusive jet production in e+ p scattering and dijet production in \gamma p scattering, have been used in a new NLO QCD analysis to extract the parton distribution functions of the proton. The input of jet data constrains the gluon and allows an accurate extraction of \alpha_s(M_Z) at NLO; \alpha_s(M_Z) = 0.1183 \pm 0.0028(exp.) \pm 0.0008(model) An additional uncertainty from the choice of scales is estimated as \pm 0.005. This is the first extraction of \alpha_s(M_Z) from HERA data alone.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figures, to be submitted to EPJC. PDFs available at http://durpdg.dur.ac.uk/hepdata in LHAPDFv