Benefits and Risks of Weight-Loss Treatment for Older, Obese Women

Background: A key issue in the treatment of obesity in older adults is whether the health benefits of weight loss outweigh the potential risks with respect to musculoskeletal injury. Objective: To compare change in weight, improvements in metabolic risk factors, and reported musculoskeletal adverse events in middle-aged (50-59 years) and older (65-74 years), obese women. Materials and methods: Participants completed an initial 6-month lifestyle intervention for weight loss, comprised of weekly group sessions, followed by 12 months of extended care with biweekly contacts. Weight and fasting blood samples were assessed at baseline, month 6, and month 18; data regarding adverse events were collected throughout the duration of the study. Results: Both middle-aged (n = 162) and older (n = 56) women achieved significant weight reductions from baseline to month 6 (10.1 +/- 0.68 kg and 9.3 +/- 0.76 kg, respectively) and maintained a large proportion of their losses at month 18 (7.6 +/- 0.87 kg and 7.6 +/- 1.3 kg, respectively); there were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to weight change. Older women further experienced significant reductions in systolic blood pressure, HbA(1c), and C-reactive protein from baseline to month 6 and maintained these improvements at month 18. Despite potential safety concerns, we found that older women were no more likely to experience musculoskeletal adverse events during the intervention as compared with their middle-aged counterparts. Conclusion: These results suggest that older, obese women can experience significant health benefits from lifestyle treatment for obesity, including weight loss and improvements in disease risk factors. Further investigation of the impact of weight loss on additional health-related parameters and risks (eg, body composition, muscular strength, physical functioning, and injuries) in older adults is needed.National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute R18HL73326University of FloridaDivision of Statistics and Scientific Computatio

Can using Fagan Inspections improve the quality of specification in 2011? A Case Study

In this paper, we explore why Fagan Inspections have become obsolete in the software industry, given the body of evidence which supports their use to improve the quality of software artefacts and the software development process. Since the late 1970’s, much has been written about how Fagan Inspections improve the quality of both processes and outputs of the software development process. The literature indicates that the Fagan Inspection technique can improve quality of software (or other software development artefacts) by a reduction in defects of 60 – 90%. However, recent literature suggests that inspection techniques in general and Fagan Inspections in particular, are no longer used. A study in 1998 found that respondents used inspections either irregularly or not at all. Teams often review artefacts informally, but believe that they are performing an inspection or formal review. The lack of rigour in the review process results in reduced benefits and more defects in the artefacts. To explore this situation, we conducted a case study with a local enterprise and we report on the early findings. These suggest that the introduction of Fagan Inspections may have a number of benefits before they have even been introduced fully, including recognition of flaws in the current development process, development of technical knowledge relating to the software process domain, and improved team relations and a ‘quality’ culture. In addition, the personnel using Fagan Inspection gain experience in the production of ‘quality’ artefacts

The Unusual Linear Plasmid Generating Systems of Prokaryotes

Linear DNA is vulnerable to exonuclease degradation and suffers from genetic loss due to the end replication problem. Eukaryotes overcome these problems by locating repetitive telomere sequences at the end of each chromosome. In humans and other vertebrates this noncoding terminal sequence is repeated between hundreds and thousands of times, ensuring important genetic information is protected. In most prokaryotes, the end-replication problem is solved by utilizing circular DNA molecules as chromosomes. However, some phage and bacteria do store genetic information in linear constructs, and the ends of these structures form either invertrons or hairpin telomeres. Hairpin telomere formation is catalyzed by a protelomerase, a unique protein that modifies DNA by a two-step transesterification reaction, proceeding via a covalent protein bound intermediate. The specifics of this mechanism are largely unknown and conflicting data suggests variations occur between different systems. These proteins, and the DNA constructs they produce, have valuable applications in the biotechnology industry. They are also an essential component of some human pathogens, an increased understanding of how they operate is therefore of fundamental importance. Although this review will focus on phage encoded protelomerase, protelomerases found from Agrobacterium and Borellia will be discussed in terms of mechanism of action

Discovery of a Second High Frequency QPO from the Microquasar GRS 1915+105

We report the discovery in archival Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) data of a 40 Hz quasiperiodic oscillation (QPO) in the hard X-ray flux from the galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105. The QPO is detected only in the hard X-ray band above 13 keV and was discovered in observations in which the previously known 67 Hz QPO is present. The 40 Hz QPO has a typical rms amplitude of 2 % in the 13 - 27 keV band, and a width of about 8.5 Hz (FWHM). We show that the 67 and 40 Hz QPOs are detected in the same observations in July and November, 1997. However, the QPO is not detected in observations from April, May and June, 1996 in which the 67 Hz QPO was first discovered. The frequency of the 67 Hz QPO is significantly higher in the 1997 observations by about 5 % compared with the 1996 data. The identification of the 40 Hz QPO makes GRS 1915+105 the second black hole binary to show a pair of simultaneous high frequency QPO (the other being GRO J1655-40). The similarities between the properties of the 67 Hz QPO in GRS 1915+105 and the recently discovered 450 Hz QPO in GRO J1655-40 suggest that the pairs of frequencies in these systems may be produced by the same physical mechanism, with the frequency differences between the two being likely due to different black hole masses in the two systems. We discuss the implications of our result for the mass and spin of GRS 1915+105 as well as for models of X-ray variability in black holes and neutron stars.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, AASTeX. Accepted for Publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

North Luzon and the Philippine Sea Plate motion model: Insights following paleomagnetic, structural, and age-dating investigations

Results of one of the most comprehensive paleomagnetic and supporting geological programs ever carried out in offshore SE Asia on North Luzon, northern Philippines, are reported. Six new results, based on 66 sites, are reported from a total collection of 243 individual sites. Declinations in the data subset are sometimes scattered, likely reflecting combinations of major plate and local rotations in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions, and thus have a somewhat limited value for tectonic modeling. The inclination data are, however, much more valuable and can be best explained if North Luzon traveled as part of the Philippine Sea Plate for most of its history, a scenario which is compatible with the known geology of the eastern Philippines and broader region. In the proposed model, for all of its Eocene-Pliocene history, North Luzon is placed on the western edge of the Philippine Sea Plate, effectively always just to the west of the site where the Benham Plateau formed ~40 Ma. The paleomagnetic data indicate a substantial northward migration of the area since the start of the Neogene, with an earlier interval stretching back to at least the mid-Early Cretaceous when this part of the plate occupied equatorial latitudes. Post-15 Ma motion of the plate has involved the indentation of the Palawan microcontinental block into the western side of the Philippine Archipelago. Deformations induced by this process offer the most likely explanation for the scattered declinations observed in North Luzon and areas a short distance to the south. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.published_or_final_versio

Spectroscopic Constants, Abundances, and Opacities of the TiH Molecule

Using previous measurements and quantum chemical calculations to derive the molecular properties of the TiH molecule, we obtain new values for its ro-vibrational constants, thermochemical data, spectral line lists, line strengths, and absorption opacities. Furthermore, we calculate the abundance of TiH in M and L dwarf atmospheres and conclude that it is much higher than previously thought. We find that the TiH/TiO ratio increases strongly with decreasing metallicity, and at high temperatures can exceed unity. We suggest that, particularly for subdwarf L and M dwarfs, spectral features of TiH near $\sim$0.52 \mic, 0.94 \mic, and in the $H$ band may be more easily measureable than heretofore thought. The recent possible identification in the L subdwarf 2MASS J0532 of the 0.94 \mic feature of TiH is in keeping with this expectation. We speculate that looking for TiH in other dwarfs and subdwarfs will shed light on the distinctive titanium chemistry of the atmospheres of substellar-mass objects and the dimmest stars.Comment: 37 pages, including 4 figures and 13 tables, accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

New insight into the causes, consequences, and correction of hematopoietic stem cell aging

Aging of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is characterized by lineage bias, increased clonal expansion, and functional decrease. At the molecular level, aged HSCs typically display metabolic dysregulation, upregulation of inflammatory pathways, and downregulation of DNA repair pathways. Cellular aging of HSCs, driven by cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic factors, causes a predisposition to anemia, adaptive immune compromise, myelodys, plasia, and malignancy. Most hematologic diseases are strongly associated with age. But what is the biological foundation for decreased fitness with age? And are there therapeutic windows to resolve age-related hematopoietic decline? These questions were the focus of the International Society for Experimental Hematology (ISEH) New Investigator Committee Fall 2022 Webinar. This review touches on the latest insights from two leading laboratories into inflammatory- and niche-driven stem cell aging and includes speculation on strategies to prevent or correct age-related decline in HSC function