Age-related changes in the respiratory system

This article summarises the main structural and physiological changes which take place in the lung from young adulthood to senescence. An understanding of these changes helps the clinician to correctly interpret some results of radiology and pulmonary function frequently seen in clinical practice. An appreciation of the altered physiology and the consequent reduction in pulmonary reserve should alert the physician to the need for a more critical evaluation of the various respiratory parameters measured during illness in an older patient. Rhythmic breathing occurs virtually continuously over a lifetime and the alveolar gas-exchanging surface is brought into contact with more than 270 million litres of air, which may contain harmful particulate matter and noxious gas elements. Thus to separate changes in the respiratory system caused by ageing itself from those caused by environmental or work-related factors is extremely difficult and sometimes impossible. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is possibly the most important disease entity related to age and environment. Epidemiological studies show that the prevalence of COPD is increasing. In the 1990’s prognostic models of COPD were developed. These have shown that age, ventilatory function, gender and smoking were the major determinants for the development of COPD. Other important factors were outdoor air pollution and occupation.peer-reviewe

Trends in Charitable Giving in North Carolina and the Research Triangle 1997-2006

Provides an overview of giving by average amount, as a percentage of adjusted gross income, and among the state's top earners, compared with national trends, with a focus on Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Wake counties. Includes county-by-county data

Measuring Racial-Ethnic Diversity in California's Nonprofit Sector

Presents survey findings on the racial/ethnic diversity of the state's nonprofit boards, executive directors, and staff and on the characteristics of racially/ethnically diverse organizations including size, field of activity, location, and budget

Understanding Trends in Poverty in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area

In 2010, about one in eight residents (12.1 percent, or 280,000 people) in the Pittsburgh region had incomes below the poverty level, an increase of 8.5 percent since the Great Recession started in 2007. Although demographic factors such as the arrival of new immigrants and more single-parent households contributed to the growing number of people living at or near poverty, the economy was the driving force in changing poverty rates. What does this mean for our region and for the future of our nonprofit sector

FAIR principles and the IEDB: short-term improvements and a long-term vision of OBO-foundry mediated machine-actionable interoperability.

The Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), at www.iedb.org, has the mission to make published experimental data relating to the recognition of immune epitopes easily available to the scientific public. By presenting curated data in a searchable database, we have liberated it from the tables and figures of journal articles, making it more accessible and usable by immunologists. Recently, the principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability have been formulated as goals that data repositories should meet to enhance the usefulness of their data holdings. We here examine how the IEDB complies with these principles and identify broad areas of success, but also areas for improvement. We describe short-term improvements to the IEDB that are being implemented now, as well as a long-term vision of true 'machine-actionable interoperability', which we believe will require community agreement on standardization of knowledge representation that can be built on top of the shared use of ontologies

Who Helps Public Schools? Public Education Support Organizations in 2010

There were more than 19,000 nonprofit organizations devoted to supporting public education in the United States in 2007. These organizations include booster clubs, parent-teacher groups, public education funds, scholarship funds, high school alumni associations, and others. While most of these organizations are small, together they spent roughly $4.3 billion in support of public education in 2007.This report assesses the current status of education support organizations in the United States; provides details on the activities, capacities, and resources of public education funds; and compares Public Education Network (PEN) member organizations with other types of education funds. On the basis of a survey of public education funds and an analysis of the latest data available from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the report identifies key similarities and differences among the groups.Public education funds are dedicated to assisting public schools and school districts by raising money to support programs for teacher training and support, after-school programs, and school supplies and by promoting community support for public schools. The project was commissioned by PEN in Washington, D.C