Income Security for Workers: A Stressed Support System in Need of Innovation

The current mix of public and private programs to support workers after they experience disability onset provides benefits to millions of workers and former workers. Yet, despite the large and growing costs of these programs, the inflation-adjusted household incomes of workers with disabilities have been falling for over two decades, both absolutely and, especially, relative to the incomes of those without disabilities. The aging of the baby boom generation is likely to make matters worse, and the government’s fiscal circumstance will make it increasingly difficult to sustain existing public programs. Current public policy initiatives might eventually improve the disability support system, but they are not likely to ward off the adverse consequences of the pending crisis. Policy changes that leverage existing private sector practices and capabilities might achieve greater success, but have received little attention and are far from proven

ROSIE Findings 6: a summary of 3-year outcomes.

The Research Outcome Study in Ireland (ROSIE) is the first national, prospective, longitudinal, multi-site drug treatment outcome study in the country. The National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) commissioned this research in 2002 as required by the National Drugs Strategy Action 99. The aim of the study was to recruit and follow opiate users entering treatment over a period of time, documenting the changes observed. The study recruited 404 opiate users entering treatment. Outcomes at 3-years for drug use, involvement in crime, injecting-related behaviour, physical and mental health, among others, are presented in this paper. Statistically significant differences are given emphasis in this document

Development of Bone Targeting Drugs.

The skeletal system, comprising bones, ligaments, cartilage and their connective tissues, is critical for the structure and support of the body. Diseases that affect the skeletal system can be difficult to treat, mainly because of the avascular cartilage region. Targeting drugs to the site of action can not only increase efficacy but also reduce toxicity. Bone-targeting drugs are designed with either of two general targeting moieties, aimed at the entire skeletal system or a specific cell type. Most bone-targeting drugs utilize an affinity to hydroxyapatite, a major component of the bone matrix that includes a high concentration of positively-charged Ca(2+). The strategies for designing such targeting moieties can involve synthetic and/or biological components including negatively-charged amino acid peptides or bisphosphonates. Efficient delivery of bone-specific drugs provides significant impact in the treatment of skeletal related disorders including infectious diseases (osteoarthritis, osteomyelitis, etc.), osteoporosis, and metabolic skeletal dysplasia. Despite recent advances, however, both delivering the drug to its target without losing activity and avoiding adverse local effects remain a challenge. In this review, we investigate the current development of bone-targeting moieties, their efficacy and limitations, and discuss future directions for the development of these specific targeted treatments

The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Posttraumatic Stress on Chronic Pain

Introduction: Chronic pain is a prevalent worldwide health condition. The current study aimed to extend previous research that investigated the dynamics between chronic pain, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).Method: Adult participants worldwide with chronic pain were recruited for this study (N = 199; 89% females). Three hypotheses were proposed: (a) a high ACEs score would result in more severe pain intensity and interference compared to no ACEs; (b) a low ACEs score would result in more severe pain intensity and interference compared to no ACEs; and (c) PTSS would fully mediate the ACEs-pain relationship.Results: Initially results indicated individuals with high ACEs reported more pain interference than those with no ACEs, although pain intensity did not differ between high and no ACEs. However, after controlling for age, socioeconomic status (SES), and pain duration, low and high ACEs were not significantly associated with pain intensity or interference compared to no ACEs. However, SES status was associated with pain intensity and interference, although not with pain interference after adding low and high ACEs to the model. Because of this the mediation exploration of PTSS was not viable.Discussion: Implications for practice, limitations and future research outcomes are outlined

Contaminate Control Device

A contaminate control device for filtering contaminates from a gas such as air is provided. The device includes a housing having a first inlet and a first outlet. An axial flow filter is fluidly coupled between the first inlet and the first outlet, the axial flow filter has a second inlet and a second outlet. A second filter disposed about the axial flow filter and is fluidly coupled between the first inlet and the first outlet, the second filter having a third inlet on an inner diameter and a third outlet disposed on an outer diameter. A flow restrictor is fluidly coupled between the second inlet and the first inlet

Counting Working-Age People with Disabilities: What Current Data Tell Us and Options for Improvement

This book offers a systematic review of what current statistics and data on working-age people with disabilities can and cannot tell us, and how the quality of the data can be improved to better inform policymakers, advocates, analysts, service providers, administrators, and others interested in this at-risk population.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1162/thumbnail.jp

Hypercholesterolemia and microvascular dysfunction: interventional strategies

Hypercholesterolemia is defined as excessively high plasma cholesterol levels, and is a strong risk factor for many negative cardiovascular events. Total cholesterol levels above 200 mg/dl have repeatedly been correlated as an independent risk factor for development of peripheral vascular (PVD) and coronary artery disease (CAD), and considerable attention has been directed toward evaluating mechanisms by which hypercholesterolemia may impact vascular outcomes; these include both results of direct cholesterol lowering therapies and alternative interventions for improving vascular function. With specific relevance to the microcirculation, it has been clearly demonstrated that evolution of hypercholesterolemia is associated with endothelial cell dysfunction, a near-complete abrogation in vascular nitric oxide bioavailability, elevated oxidant stress, and the creation of a strongly pro-inflammatory condition; symptoms which can culminate in profound impairments/alterations to vascular reactivity. Effective interventional treatments can be challenging as certain genetic risk factors simply cannot be ignored. However, some hypercholesterolemia treatment options that have become widely used, including pharmaceutical therapies which can decrease circulating cholesterol by preventing either its formation in the liver or its absorption in the intestine, also have pleiotropic effects with can directly improve peripheral vascular outcomes. While physical activity is known to decrease PVD/CAD risk factors, including obesity, psychological stress, impaired glycemic control, and hypertension, this will also increase circulating levels of high density lipoprotein and improving both cardiac and vascular function. This review will provide an overview of the mechanistic consequences of the predominant pharmaceutical interventions and chronic exercise to treat hypercholesterolemia through their impacts on chronic sub-acute inflammation, oxidative stress, and microvascular structure/function relationships