Age- and speed-related differences in walking smoothness

Extensive literature documents age-related differences in spatiotemporal variables during gait. Recent efforts have focused on upper body control and balance during gait. Harmonic ratios, derived from trunk acceleration signals, measure smoothness of motion, and are an indication of dynamic balance during gait. Limited and conflicting information exists regarding the effect of walking speed on harmonic ratios, as well as age-related differences. This research extends previous literature by: 1) examining harmonic ratios across a range of self-selected speeds in young adults; 2) comparing harmonic ratios at preferred speed in young adults, healthy 60-year-olds, and healthy 80-year-olds; and 3) comparing harmonic ratios in all three age groups across a range of self-selected and paced speeds. In contrast to previous research, young adults and 60-year-olds had similar trunk smoothness during over ground walking at a preferred pace, but 80-year-olds exhibited reduced smoothness specifically in the anteroposterior direction. In contrast to previous research, clear optimization of trunk smoothness at preferred speed in young adults was not found; trunk smoothness was reduced at slower speeds, but was maintained at speeds faster than preferred. The two older groups showed this same pattern, although the 80-year-olds exhibited reduced anteroposterior and vertical smoothness across speeds. Together, these findings indicate that active healthy 80-year-olds exhibit changes in trunk control even during unobstructed walking at their preferred pace. But contrary to expectations, changes in speed did not differentially affect 80-year-olds, except at very fast walking speed

Job Satisfaction among Oklahoma Youth Services Employees

Home Economic

Archetypes and the Large Organization: A Comparison of Family and Management Roles

Economic realities, divorce, and the feminist movement have forced or encouraged women to retain their ties with the labor force. Unfortunately, these ties have been strained by accusations of incompetence, negative attitudes concerning affirmative action policies and concern over role conflicts. The issue which emerges is an issue concerning the role performances of women: are women competent in the labor force? Are women more subject to and influenced by role conflict than men? Are women\u27s performances being accurately perceived by their superiors, colleagues, and subordinates? Before any of the questions can be addressed, an in depth analysis of the roles women assume and are surrounded by needs to occur. This study attempted to explore and compare the roles of mother, father, and manager. The Coordinated Management of Meaning, a theory which hypothesizes that man\u27s perception of reality affects and is affected by his enmeshment within different systems, was presented as the theoretical basis for this study. Interviews of a stratified sample of the entire group, engineers from a large midwestern manufacturer, were conducted to formulate a survey which included the most frequently mentioned episodes or tasks individuals involved in the specific role might encounter. The entire sample was then asked to group these episodes on the basis of similarity. The results were analyzed both interpretively and numerically to discover similarities and consequently dissimilarities. The researcher was able to answer the research questions only descriptively and uncovered that: The cluster characteristics for the father archetype were more similar to the manager clusters\u27 characteristics than were the mother archetype\u27s clusters, and the number of episodes per cluster in the father archetype was more similar to the number of episodes per cluster in the manager archetype than was the number of episodes per cluster in the mother archetype. Overall, with this sample, the manager/father archetype linkage was stronger than the manager/mother archetype linkage. Finally, the implications of this study, and descriptive research in general were discussed, as were the advantages and disadvantages of the Coordinated Management of Meaning

Polyacrylamide nanoparticles as a delivery system in photodynamic therapy

Nanoparticles can be targeted towards, and accumulate in, tumor tissue by the enhanced permeability and retention effect, if sequestration by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) is avoided. The application of nanoparticles in the field of drug delivery is thus an area of great interest, due to their potential for delivering high payloads of drugs site selectively. One area which may prove to be particularly attractive is photodynamic therapy, as the reactive oxygen species (ROS) which cause damage to the tumor tissue are not generated until the drug is activated with light, minimizing generalized toxicity and giving a high degree of spatial control over the clinical effect. In the present study, we have synthesized two types of nanoparticles loaded with photodynamic sensitizers: polylysine bound tetrasulfonato-aluminum phthalocyanine entrapped nanoparticles (PCNP) and polylysine bound tetrasulfonato-aluminum phthalocyanine entrapped nanoparticles coated with a second, porphyrin based, photosensitizer (PCNP-P) to enhance the capacity for ROS generation, and hence therapeutic potential. The mean sizes of these particles were 45 +/- 10 nm and 95 +/- 10 nm respectively. Uptake of the nanoparticles by human Caucasian colon adenocarcinoma cells (HT29) was determined by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Cell viability assays using PCNP-P and PCNP corresponding to the minimum uptake time (25 h) demonstrated that these cancer cells can be damaged by light activation of these photodynamic nanoparticles both in the external media and after internalization. The results suggest that, in order to induce photodynamic damage, the nanoparticles need only to be associated with the tumor cell closely enough to deliver singlet oxygen: their internalization within target cells may not be necessary. Clinically, this could be of great importance as it may help to combat the known ability of many cancer cells to actively expel conventional anticancer drugs

Goals of Fecal Incontinence Management Identified by Community-Living Incontinent Adults

The purpose of this study was to identify goals of fecal incontinence (FI) management and their importance to community-living adults if complete continence would not be possible. Participants expressed their goals of FI management in a semi structured interview, selected others from 12 investigator-identified goals, and rated their importance. Five thematic categories emerged from the 114 participant-identified goal statements: Fecal Incontinence/Bowel Pattern, Lifestyle, Emotional Responses, Adverse Effects of Fecal Incontinence, and Self-Care Practices. Participants selected a median of seven investigator-identified goals (range = 2 to 12). Goals selected by the most participants were decreased number of leaks of stool and greater confidence in controlling fecal incontinence. These goals also had the highest importance along with decreased leakage of loose or liquid stool. The type and number of management goals identified by participants offer a toolbox of options from which to focus therapy when cure is not possible and promote patient satisfaction

Cognitive and neuroimaging markers for preclinical vascular cognitive impairment

Detection of incipient cognitive impairment and dementia pathophysiology is critical to identify preclinical populations and target potentially disease modifying interventions towards them. There are currently concerted efforts for such detection for Alzheimer's disease (AD). By contrast, the examination of cognitive markers and their relationship to biomarkers for Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI) is far less established, despite VCI being highly prevalent and often concomitantly presenting with AD. Critically, vascular risk factors are currently associated with the most viable treatment options via pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, hence early identification of vascular factors have important implications for modifying dementia disease trajectories. The aim of this review is to examine the current evidence of cognitive marker correlates to VCI pathology. We begin by examining midlife risk factors that predict VCI. Next, discuss preclinical cognitive hallmarks of VCI informed by insights from neuropsychological assessment, network connectivity and ERP/EEG experimental findings. Finally, we discuss limitations of current cognitive assessments and the need for future cognitive test development to inform diagnostic assessment. As well as, intervention outcome measures for preclinical VCI. In turn, these tests will inform earlier detection of vascular changes and allow implementation of disease intervention approaches