Effects of intergenerational perceptions on subjective well-being of older adults and their adult children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of older adults\u27 functional capacity, self-management ability, and intergenerational solidarity on the subjective well-being of older adults and their adult children. The data were collected from older adults who were 65 years of age or older, as well as from one of their children. Participants of this study included 148 older adults, with a mean age of 80.05, and 87 adult children, with a mean age of 51.99. The older adults were asked to self-rate on all these measures, whereas the adult children were asked to provide their perception of their parents. Older adults reported higher overall perceived health, lower self-management ability, and more positive sentiments in affectual solidarity than adult children. Furthermore, older adults reported higher levels of life satisfaction than adult children did. Older adults\u27 subjective well-being was predicted by better functional capacity, higher levels of self-management ability, and positive intergenerational solidarity, whereas adult children\u27s subjective well-being was predicted by higher levels of intergenerational solidarity. In addition, a couple of suppressor effects were found. Older adults\u27 perceptions of self-management ability and intergenerational solidarity suppressed the effect of older adults\u27 functional capacity on older adults\u27 subjective well-being, and adult children\u27s perceptions of intergenerational solidarity suppressed the effect of geographic proximity on adult children\u27s subjective well-being. The results suggest that older adults\u27 self-management ability is the most predictive factor of their subjective well-being. Intergenerational solidarity was the only factor that predicted both older adults\u27 and adult children\u27s subjective well-being. For the future care of older adults, it is important to consider how older adults\u27 self-management ability and staying closely connected with their adult children can be enhanced

THE EFFECT OF RURAL ZONING ON THE ALLOCATION OF LAND USE IN OHIO

By incorporating the spatially arrangement of counties relative to each other, this paper uses a land use share model to investigate the possibility that the allocation of land use in one county could be influenced by not only the degree to which the county is zoned, but also the degree to which neighboring counties are zoned due to spillovers of zoning effects among neighboring counties. The estimation uses data on land use for 88 counties in Ohio.Land Economics/Use,

SPATIAL DEPENDENCE AMONG COUNTY-LEVEL LAND USE CHANGES

Spatial econometric methods are used to investigate whether land use changes in one county are affected by changes in surrounding counties. Spatial dependence is hypothesized to arise from land substitution effects among neighboring counties. The estimation uses data on land use change for 1,055 counties of 12 Midwest states.Land Economics/Use,

COMPARISON OF TORSO TWIST BETWEEN SLAP HIT AND ORDINARY HIT IN SOFTBALL BATTING

Softball batters take advantage of slap hit, by positioning the batters much closer to the first base. The purpose of this study was to compare the difference of torso twist between a slap hit and an ordinary hit in softball batting. Ten female college softball batters performed slap hits and ordinary hits. Reflective markers were placed on specific landmarks for each subject and VICON motion analysis system was used to record the hits. Slap hits showed less backward rotation during the torso wind-up phase while ordinary hit showed more forward rotation during the torso follow-through phase. No difference on trunk rotation was found at impact. The findings of this study suggested that the restricted backward torso twist during the wind-up phase and the limited forward torso twist during the follow-through phase should be taken into consideration in slap hits

A novel method to identify cooperative functional modules: study of module coordination in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Identifying key components in biological processes and their associations is critical for deciphering cellular functions. Recently, numerous gene expression and molecular interaction experiments have been reported in <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</it>, and these have enabled systematic studies. Although a number of approaches have been used to predict gene functions and interactions, tools that analyze the essential coordination of functional components in cellular processes still need to be developed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this work, we present a new approach to study the cooperation of functional modules (sets of functionally related genes) in a specific cellular process. A cooperative module pair is defined as two modules that significantly cooperate with certain functional genes in a cellular process. This method identifies cooperative module pairs that significantly influence a cellular process and the correlated genes and interactions that are essential to that process. Using the yeast cell cycle as an example, we identified 101 cooperative module associations among 82 modules, and importantly, we established a cell cycle-specific cooperative module network. Most of the identified module pairs cover cooperative pathways and components essential to the cell cycle. We found that 14, 36, 18, 15, and 20 cooperative module pairs significantly cooperate with genes regulated in early G1, late G1, S, G2, and M phase, respectively. Fifty-nine module pairs that correlate with Cdc28 and other essential regulators were also identified. These results are consistent with previous studies and demonstrate that our methodology is effective for studying cooperative mechanisms in the cell cycle.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this work, we propose a new approach to identifying condition-related cooperative interactions, and importantly, we establish a cell cycle-specific cooperation module network. These results provide a global view of the cell cycle and the method can be used to discover the dynamic coordination properties of functional components in other cellular processes.</p

CR3 and Dectin-1 Collaborate in Macrophage Cytokine Response through Association on Lipid Rafts and Activation of Syk-JNK-AP-1 Pathway

Copyright: © 2015 Huang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited Acknowledgments We are grateful to the Second Core Laboratory of Research Core Facility at the National Taiwan University Hospital for confocal microscopy service and providing ultracentrifuge. We thank Dr. William E. Goldman (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC) for kindly providing WT and ags1-null mutant of H. capsulatum G186A. Funding: This work is supported by research grants 101-2320-B-002-030-MY3 from the Ministry of Science and Technology (http://www.most.gov.tw) and AS-101-TP-B06-3 from Academia Sinica (http://www.sinica.edu.tw) to BAWH. GDB is funded by research grant 102705 from Welcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Potential of Three Computer-Based Communication Activities for Supporting Older Adult Independent Living

Technology has become an increasingly integral part of life. For example, technology allows individuals to stay in touch with loved ones, obtain medical services through telehealthcare, and enjoy an overall higher quality of life. Particularly for older adults, using technology increases the likelihood that they will maintain their independence and autonomy. Long-distance caregiving has recently become a feasible option where caregivers for older adults can access reports and information about their loved one’s patterns that day (e.g., food and medication intake). Technology may be able to offset age-related challenges (e.g., caregiving, accessing healthcare, decreased social networks) by applying technology to the needs of older adults. Solutions for meeting such challenges, however, have been less targeted. In addition, the healthcare system is evolving to focus on providing options and services in the home. This has direct implications for older adults, as the majority of healthcare services are utilized by older adults. Research is still at the beginning stages of developing successful technology tools that are compatible with older adult users. Therefore, the design, implementation, and outcome of such computer-based communication activities will be discussed in this paper in order to guide future endeavors in technology marketed for older adults

First- and Second-trimester Down Syndrome Screening: Current Strategies and Clinical Guidelines

SummaryDown syndrome (DS) is the most common human disease caused by a structural chromosome defect. The original screening test for DS was maternal age or a history of a previously affected infant. Maternal serum screening has been incorporated into routine prenatal checkup in Taiwan since 1994. We used free β-human chorionic gonadotropin and α-fetoprotein (double test) as the serum markers, and this was carried out between the 15 to 20th week of gestation. The overall detection rate was 56% and was compatible with studies of Caucasian populations. The impact of double tests in Taiwan has shown itself by a dramatic lowering of the rate of DS live birth from 0.63 before screening to 0.16 per 1,000 live births at present. However, because of its relatively low detection rate and poor cost-effectiveness, the double test is not justified as a routine screening tool currently. First-trimester combined test is now becoming more widely available and provides increased sensitivity when detecting DS; it has a detection rate of approximately 85% with a false-positive rate of 5%. Nuchal translucency measurement requires ongoing quality control and sufficient certificated obstetricians; therefore, first-trimester ultrasound is limited only in designated centers. The quadruple test, having comparable detection rate, should be considered for incorporation into second-trimester screening in Taiwan in the near future. Other screening approaches and combinations have also been utilized in the Western countries. In this review, we outline the various options with respect to DS screening and hope that this will provide practical information for physicians offering such screenings. [Taiwan J Obstet Cynecol 2008;47(2):157-1 62

On existence, optimality and asymptotic stability of the Kalman filter with partially observed inputs

For linear stochastic time-varying systems, we investigate the properties of the Kalman filter with partially observed inputs. We first establish the existence condition of a general linear filter when the unknown inputs are partially observed. Then we examine the optimality of the Kalman filter with partially observed inputs. Finally, on the basis of the established existence condition and optimality result, we investigate asymptotic stability of the filter for the corresponding time-invariant systems. It is shown that the results on existence and asymptotic stability obtained in this paper provide a unified approach to accommodating a variety of filtering scenarios as its special cases, including the classical Kalman filter and state estimation with unknown inputs