The Use of the Get Up and Go Test as the Initial Screening Measure for Fall Risk With Community Dwelling Seniors

Falls represent a sizeable public health issue that has serious health-related consequences for both the individual and the medical system at large. Falls are one of the most common events that threaten the independence of older persons with one third of falls occurring in persons over the age of 65 and over 50% in persons over the age of 80 years (2). During an office appointment, senior adults are screened routinely for blood pressure, weight, medication adherence and lab result follow-up. One assessment that is commonly overlooked is evaluating seniors for fall risk. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of the Get Up and Go test (GUGT) as a routine screening measure for community dwelling seniors. The research questions addressed were: 1) Is self-reported fall history related to GUGT scores in community dwelling seniors? 2) Is age related to the GUGT scores for a sample of community-dwelling seniors?; and 3) Is age related to self-reported fall history for a sample of community-dwelling seniors? Recruitment of community-dwelling seniors occurred during a 3-month period at a primary care office setting in the urban San Francisco Bay area. A convenience sample of community-dwelling seniors (N=39) were recruited to participate in the study. All participants were age 65 or older, did not have a history of cognitive or neurological deficits, and were able to ambulate without the use of an assistive device such as a cane, walker or wheelchair. Participants reported fall occurrences for the last 12 months and performed the GUGT. This study did not find statistical relevance between GUGT pass or fail status and fall history. Two groups of participants are of particular interest. Nine participants with a positive fall history were able to pass the GUGT and 8 seniors who reported no fall history failed the GUGT. Consistent with previous studies (12), one fall does not necessarily signify musculoskeletal or neurological deficits and is usually related to environmental hazards. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that a single fall report is a poor predictor of fall risk and that the number of reported falls by patients is not a reliable number due to the patient under-estimating or under-reporting fall occurrences. These findings suggest that fall history may not be a sensitive measure capable of identifying all at risk seniors. Thus if only fall history is used to identify risk, then some at risk community-dwelling seniors will not be identified while others may be identified by fall history but do not exhibit mobility deficits. The relative ease in which the GUGT was performed, with minimum cost, strengthens the position that the GUGT should be performed as part of an annual examination for patients who are over the age of 65. The GUGT results can then become the sixth vital sign for patients over the age of 65 with the initial GUGT result establishing baseline results for future patient fall risk evaluation. Given this evidence, it can be concluded that at the very least, both fall history and the GUGT test should be performed annually on community-dwelling seniors over the age of 65

Constraints on the vital effect in coccolithophore and dinoflagellate calcite by oxygen isotopic modification of seawater

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2014. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 141 (2014): 612-627, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2014.05.002.In this study, we show that there are independent controls of 18O/16O and 13C/12C fractionation in coccolithophore and dinoflagellate calcite due to the contrasting kinetics of each isotope system. We demonstrate that the direction and magnitude of the oxygen isotope fractionation with respect to equilibrium is related to the balance between calcification rate and the replenishment of the internal pool of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). As such, in fast growing cells, such as those of Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica (forming the so-called “heavy group”), calcification of the internal carbon pool occurs faster than complete isotopic re-adjustment of the internal DIC pool with H2O molecules. Hence, coccoliths reflect the heavy oxygen isotope signature of the CO2 overprinting the whole DIC pool. Conversely, in large and slow growing cells, such as Coccolithus pelagicus ssp. braarudii, complete re-equilibration is achieved due to limited influx of CO2 leading to coccoliths that are precipitated in conditions close to isotopic equilibrium (“equilibrium group”). Species exhibiting the most negative oxygen isotope composition, such as Calcidiscus leptoporus (“light group”), precipitate coccolith under increased pH in the coccolith vesicle, as previously documented by the “carbonate ion effect”. We suggest that, for the carbon isotope system, any observed deviation from isotopic equilibrium is only “apparent”, as the carbon isotopic composition in coccolith calcite is controlled by a Rayleigh fractionation originating from preferential incorporation of 12C into organic matter. Therefore, species with low PIC/POC ratios as E. huxleyi and G. oceanica are shifted towards positive carbon isotope values as a result of predominant carbon fixation into the organic matter. By contrast, cells with higher PIC/POC as C. braarudii and C. leptoporus maintain, to some extent, the original negative isotopic composition of the CO2. The calcareous dinoflagellate Thoracosphaera heimii exhibits different behaviour for both isotopic systems, in particular with respect to its very negative carbon isotope composition, owing to coeval intra and extracellular biomineralisation in this group. In this study, we also investigate the sensitivity of 18O/16O fractionation to varying ambient oxygen isotope composition of the medium for inorganic, coccolithophore, and dinoflagellate calcite precipitated under controlled laboratory conditions. The varying responses of different taxa to increased oxygen isotope composition of the growth medium may point to a potential bias in sea surface temperature reconstructions that are based on the oxygen isotopic compositions of sedimentary calcite, especially during times of changing seawater oxygen isotopic composition. Overall, this study represent an important step towards establishing a mechanistic understanding of the “vital effect” in coccolith and dinoflagellate calcite, and provides valuable information for interpreting the geochemistry of the calcareous nannofossils in the sedimentary record, at both monospecific and interspecies levels.MH is grateful to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for funding through Postdoctoral Fellowship (NE/H015523/1). TJH is supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with funding provided by the Doherty Foundation. REMR was supported through European Research Council (ERC) grant SP2-GA-2008-200915

Enhancing MAS environments with organizational mechanisms

Electronic version of an article published as International Journal on Arti cial Intelligence Tools Vol. 20, No. 4 (2011) 663-691. DOI10.1142/S0218213011000395 © [copyright World Scientific Publishing Company] [http://www.worldscientific.com/]This work proposes a new coordination system for the environment of a Multi-Agent System by merging the features from two important contributions to this field of research, Organizational Mechanisms and Artifacts. Organizational mechanisms can be introduced into a Multi-Agent System with the aim of influencing the behavior of agents populating it to achieve their goals in a proper way. In this paper, we propose to model organizational mechanisms by means of artifacts, which are non-proactive entities used by agents. Artifacts were presented within the Agents & Artifacts conceptual framework, and that present good advantages for coordinating agents' environments. We put forward a formal model that defines how organizational mechanisms can be designed by using artifacts theory. We validate the approach by presenting a case study focused on a real health care domain problem. Additionally, the Artifacts for Organizational Mechanisms are compared with some different proposed artifacts. © 2011 World Scientific Publishing Company.This work is supported by TIN2009-13839-C03 and PROMETEO/2008/051 projects of the Spanish government, CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 under grant CSD2007-00022, and the COST Action IC0801.Esparcia García, S.; Argente Villaplana, E.; Centeno, R.; Hermoso, R. (2011). Enhancing MAS environments with organizational mechanisms. International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools. 20(4):663-690. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218213011000395S663690204E. Argente, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications 113 (IOS Press, 2004) pp. 309–316.A. Omicini, Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (Springer, 2001) pp. 311–326.Parunak, H. V. D., & Weyns, D. (2006). Guest editors’ introduction, special issue on environments for multi-agent systems. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 14(1), 1-4. doi:10.1007/s10458-006-9003-4BERNON, C., COSSENTINO, M., & PAVÓN, J. (2005). Agent-oriented software engineering. The Knowledge Engineering Review, 20(2), 99-116. doi:10.1017/s0269888905000421Hübner, J. F., Boissier, O., Kitio, R., & Ricci, A. (2009). Instrumenting multi-agent organisations with organisational artifacts and agents. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 20(3), 369-400. doi:10.1007/s10458-009-9084-yVan Gigch, J. P. (1991). System Design Modeling and Metamodeling. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-0676-2Norman, T. J., Preece, A., Chalmers, S., Jennings, N. R., Luck, M., Dang, V. D., … Fiddian, N. J. (2004). Agent-based formation of virtual organisations. Knowledge-Based Systems, 17(2-4), 103-111. doi:10.1016/j.knosys.2004.03.00

Estrogen signaling in the cardiovascular system

Estrogen exerts complex biological effects through the two isoforms of estrogen receptors (ERs): ERα and ERβ. Whether through alteration of gene expression or rapid, plasma membrane-localized signaling to non-transcriptional actions, estrogen-activated ERs have significant implications in cardiovascular physiology. 17-β-estradiol (E2) generally has a protective property on the vasculature. Estrogen treatment is anti-atherogenic, protecting injured endothelial surfaces and lowering LDL oxidation in animal models. Increased NO production stimulated by E2 results in vasodilation of the coronary vascular bed, and involves rapid activation of phosphotidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling to eNOS in carotid and femoral arteries. Both isoforms of ERs impact various vascular functions, modulating ion channel integrity, mitigating the response to arterial injury, inducing vasodilation, and preventing development of hypertension in animal models. In addition to reducing afterload by vasodilation, ERs have a direct antihypertrophic effect on the myocardium. E2-activated ERs (E2/ER) antagonize the hypertrophic pathway induced by vasoactive peptides such as angiotensin II by activating PI3K, subsequent MICIP gene expression, leading to the inhibition of calcineurin activity and the induction of hypertrophic genes. In models of ischemia-reperfusion, E2/ER is antiapoptotic for cardiomyocytes, exerting the protective actions via PI3K and p38 MAP kinases and suppressing the generation of reactive oxygen species. In sum, E2-activated ERs consistently and positively modulate multiple aspects of the cardiovascular system

Assessment of urban-scale potential for solar PV generation and consumption

The rise of grid electricity price and a growing awareness of climate change is resulting in an increasing number of photovoltaic facilities installed in buildings. Electricity market regulation and climatic conditions, in particular solar radiation, are the main factors that determine the economic viability of a photovoltaic facility. This paper describes a method for evaluating the potential for photovoltaic (PV) production and self-consumption for the building stock of a particular city. A GIS 3D city map is used to calculate solar irradiation. Building-level electricity use is calculated based on building type, geometry and other characteristic inferred from building age, taking the cadastre GIS as main input. The methodology identifies the realistic potential for rooftop photovoltaic installations, as well as the optimum size to be installed from an economic perspective. To represent different regulations that can affect economic viability of PV installations, calculations should adapt for the specific installation conditions and regulatory situation, as for example self-consumption and net metering. The proposed methodology is applied to a case study in Irun (Spain), where results for potential of PV generation and self-consumption for the building stock are presented. The results offer public administration a realistic view of economically viable PV potential for the city and allow to analyse different mechanisms to promote their installations. It also serves for individual electricity consumers to evaluate and optimize new photovoltaic energy facilities. Finally, it serves policy makers to estimate the repercussion of electricity market regulations on the economic viability of PV systems.The work described in this article is partially funded by the PLANHEAT project, Grant Agreement Number 723757, 2016-2019, as part of the call H2020-EE-2016-RIA-IA. This study was also supported by “Irungo Udala - Ayuntamiento de Irun” who collaborated in the data acquisition and funding

Propiedades mecánicas de la madera estructural de pino marítimo de Galicia (Pinus pinaster Aissp. atlantica)

The use of maritime pine sawn timber in structural applications requires knowledge of its mechanical properties. Standards have changed, however, since the last research on this timber was performed. In the present study, 491 beams of maritime pine from Galicia, of structural-use size but different cross-section, were tested according to these modified standards. Each beam was visually graded according to standard UNE 56.544 and subjected to a four point bending tesThe strength classes assigned by the visual grades awarded suggest this material to have greater structural capacity than that currently assumed. The relationships between the modulus of elasticity, strength and density were also examined.La utilización de madera aserrada de pino marítimo con fines estructurales requiere del conocimiento de sus propiedades mecánicas. La normativa ha evolucionado desde el último estudio realizado sobre una muestra de pino marítimo de Galicia. Por ello en este estudio se han ensayado 491 vigas procedentes de Galicia, con tamaño estructural y de diferentes secciones siguiendo las modificaciones de las normas. Cada viga fue clasificada visualmente siguiendo los criterios de la norma UNE 56.544 y posteriormente se ensayaron a flexión hasta la rotura. Las clases resistentes asignadas a cada calidad visual muestran que el material tiene una capacidad mayor de la normalmente asumida. Finalmente, se obtuvieron modelos de relación entre resistencia, elasticidad, y densidad

Caracterización estructural de la madera de Pinus radiata D. Don del país vasco (España) acorde a las modificaciones normativas

En las últimas décadas en Europa se ha promovido la promulgación de Códigos de Práctica, Directivas y Normas Armonizadas de obligado cumplimiento para los países miembros, que afectan a la madera en la construcción y que son imprescindibles para favorecer al material en su uso estructural. Debido al carácter dinámico intrínseco a las normas, y necesario para su funcionalidad, éstas sufren modificaciones en el tiempo por lo que es necesario confrontarlas con el material realmente existente. En este trabajo se realizó un muestreo representativo en el País Vasco sobre una de las especies de madera más habituales en la construcción en España como es el pino radiata (Pinus radiata D.Don), buscando la veracidad de lo disponible en el mercado tanto en calidades como en dimensiones, y se aplicó la metodología normalizada y estipulada para su caracterización. Además, en cada una de las piezas se aplicaron los criterios de clasificación visual establecidos en la norma española UNE 56.544 para la estimación de calidades. En los resultados se presentan las conclusiones obtenidas tras la aplicación de las últimas variaciones de la normativa para la determinación de las propiedades mecánicas, las cuales están implicadas en los análisis de la caracterización estructural de la madera y condicionan la asignación resistente final. AbstractIn the last decades in Europe the promulgation of Practice Codes, Directives and Harmonised Standards of obliged fulfilment for the member countries was promoted. They affect to wood in construction and are essential to improve the material in the structural use. Due to the dynamic character proper of standards, and necessary for their functionality, these suffer modifications in the time that are necessary to check in the really existing material. In this work, a representative sampling on one of the usual species of wood in the construction in Spain, as it is the radiata pine, was carried out, looking for the veracity of the available material in the market both in qualities and sections. The standard methodology stipulated for the characterization was applied. Additionally, in each piece, the visual classification criteria established in the Spanish standard UNE 56.544 for the estimation of the strength grades, was applied. The results set forth the conclusions obtained after the application of the last changes of the regulation for the determination of mechanical properties, which are involved in the analyses of the structural characterization of timber and determine the final strength assignation

Including Functional Annotations and Extending the Collection of Structural Classifications of Protein Loops (ArchDB)

Loops represent an important part of protein structures. The study of loop is critical for two main reasons: First, loops are often involved in protein function, stability and folding. Second, despite improvements in experimental and computational structure prediction methods, modeling the conformation of loops remains problematic. Here, we present a structural classification of loops, ArchDB, a mine of information with application in both mentioned fields: loop structure prediction and function prediction. ArchDB (http://sbi.imim.es/archdb) is a database of classified protein loop motifs. The current database provides four different classification sets tailored for different purposes. ArchDB-40, a loop classification derived from SCOP40, well suited for modeling common loop motifs. Since features relevant to loop structure or function can be more easily determined on well-populated clusters, we have developed ArchDB-95, a loop classification derived from SCOP95. This new classification set shows a ~40% increase in the number of subclasses, and a large 7-fold increase in the number of putative structure/function-related subclasses. We also present ArchDB-EC, a classification of loop motifs from enzymes, and ArchDB-KI, a manually annotated classification of loop motifs from kinases. Information about ligand contacts and PDB sites has been included in all classification sets. Improvements in our classification scheme are described, as well as several new database features, such as the ability to query by conserved annotations, sequence similarity, or uploading 3D coordinates of a protein. The lengths of classified loops range between 0 and 36 residues long. ArchDB offers an exhaustive sampling of loop structures. Functional information about loops and links with related biological databases are also provided. All this information and the possibility to browse/query the database through a web-server outline an useful tool with application in the comparative study of loops, the analysis of loops involved in protein function and to obtain templates for loop modeling

Critical Micronutrients in Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infancy: Considerations on Vitamin D, Folic Acid, and Iron, and Priorities for Future Research

The Early Nutrition Academy and the European Commission-funded EURRECA Network of Excellence jointly sponsored a scientific workshop on critical micronutrients in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy. Current knowledge and unresolved questions on the supply of vitamin D, folic acid, and iron for pregnant women, lactating women, and infants, and their health effects were discussed. The question was addressed of whether, and under which circumstances, supplementation with these micronutrients in addition to usual dietary intakes is advisable. The workshop participants concluded that public health strategies for improving supplementation with these micronutrients in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy are required. Further research priorities should focus on adequately powered human intervention trials to obtain a stronger evidence base for the amounts of vitamin D, folic acid, and iron that have optimal effects on health. The conclusions of the workshop should help to inform the scientific community as well as public health policy strategies. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Epidemiology and molecular characterization of Carnivore protoparvovirus-1 infection in the wild felid Leopardus guigna in Chile

Landscape anthropization has been identified as one of the main drivers of pathogen emergence worldwide, facilitating pathogen spillover between domestic species and wildlife. The present study investigated Carnivore protoparvovirus-1 infection using molecular methods in 98 free-ranging wild guignas (Leopardus guigna) and 262 co-occurring owned, free-roaming rural domestic cats. We also assessed landscape anthropization variables as potential drivers of infection. Protoparvovirus DNA was detected in guignas across their entire distribution range, with observed prevalence of 13.3% (real-time PCR) and 9% (conventional PCR) in guignas, and 6.1% (conventional PCR) in cats. Prevalence in guigna did not vary depending on age, sex, study area or landscape variables. Prevalence was higher in juvenile cats (16.7%) than in adults (4.4%). Molecular characterization of the virus by amplification and sequencing of almost the entire vp2 gene (1, 746 bp) from one guigna and five domestic cats was achieved, showing genetic similarities to canine parvovirus 2c (CPV-2c) (one guigna and one cat), feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) (one cat), CPV-2 (no subtype identified) (two cats), CPV-2a (one cat). The CVP-2c-like sequence found in a guigna clustered together with domestic cat and dog CPV-2c sequences from South America, suggesting possible spillover from a domestic to a wild species as the origin of infection in guigna. No clinical signs of disease were found in PCR-positive animals except for a CPV-2c-infected guigna, which had haemorrhagic diarrhoea and died a few days after arrival at a wildlife rescue centre. Our findings reveal widespread presence of Carnivore protoparvovirus-1 across the guigna distribution in Chile and suggest that virus transmission potentially occurs from domestic to wild carnivores, causing severe disease and death in susceptible wild guignas