50 research outputs found
Association between social relationship and glycemic control among older Japanese: JAGES cross-sectional study
AIM: The present study examined whether social support, informal socializing and social participation are associated with glycemic control in older people. METHODS: Data for this population-based cross-sectional study was obtained from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) 2010 linked to the annual health check-up data in Japan. We analyzed 9,554 individuals aged â„65 years without the certification of needed long-term care. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the effect of social support, informal socializing and social participations on glycemic control. The outcome measure was HbA1c â„8.4%. RESULTS: 1.3% of the participants had a level of HbA1c over 8.4%. Better glycemic control was significantly associated with meeting with friends one to four times per month (odds ratio [OR] 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI]0.30-0.89, compared to meeting with friends a few times per year or less) and participation in sports groups (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.26-0.97) even after adjusting for other variables. Meeting with friends more than twice per week, receiving social support, and being married were not associated with better control of diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Meeting with friends occasionally is associated with better glycemic control among older people
Serum albumin levels and economic status in Japanese older adults
Background: Low serum albumin levels are associated with aging and medical conditions such as cancer, liver dysfunction, inflammation, and malnutrition and might be an independent predictor of long-term mortality in healthy older populations. We tested the hypothesis that economic status is associated with serum albumin levels and explained by nutritional and health status in Japanese older adults. Design: We performed a cross-sectional analysis using data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation study (JAGES). The study participants were 6528 functionally independent residents (3189 men and 3339 women) aged â„65 years living in four municipalities in Aichi prefecture. We used household income as an indicator of economic status. Multiple linear regression was used to compare serum albumin levels in relation to household income, which was classified as low, middle, and high. Additionally, mediation by nutritional and health-related factors was analyzed in multivariable models. Results: With the middle-income group as reference, participants with low incomes had a significantly lower serum albumin level, even after adjustment for sex, age, residential area, education, marital status, and household structure. The estimated mean difference was -0.17 g/L (95% confidence interval, -0.33 to -0.01 g/L). The relation between serum albumin level and low income became statistically insignificant when "body mass index", "consumption of meat or fish", "self-rated health", "presence of medical conditions", "hyperlipidemia", or "respiratory disease "was included in the model. Conclusion: Serum albumin levels were lower in Japanese older adults with low economic status. The decrease in albumin levels appears to be mediated by nutrition and health-related factors with low household incomes. Future studies are needed to reveal the existence of other pathways
Proximate factors controlling the morphologic plasticity of Bosmina: linking artificial laboratory treatments and natural conditions
Charge ordering and antiferromagnetic exchange in layered molecular crystals of the theta type
We consider the electronic properties of layered molecular crystals of the
type theta-DA, where A is an anion and D is a donor molecule such as
BEDT-TTF [where BEDT-TTF is bis-(ethylenedithia-tetrathiafulvalene)] which is
arranged in the theta type pattern within the layers. We argue that the
simplest strongly correlated electron model that can describe the rich phase
diagram of these materials is the extended Hubbard model on the square lattice
at a quarter filling. In the limit where the Coulomb repulsion on a single site
is large, the nearest-neighbour Coulomb repulsion, V, plays a crucial role.
When V is much larger than the intermolecular hopping integral t the ground
state is an insulator with charge ordering. In this phase antiferromagnetism
arises due to a novel fourth-order superexchange process around a plaquette on
the square lattice. We argue that the charge ordered phase is destroyed below a
critical non-zero value V, of the order of t. Slave boson theory is used to
explicitly demonstrate this for the SU(N) generalisation of the model, in the
large N limit. We also discuss the relevance of the model to the all-organic
family beta''-(BEDT-TTF)SFYSO where Y = CHCF, CH, CHF.Comment: 15 pages, 6 eps figure
Photolithographic Patterning of Enzyme Immobilized Membrane and New Flow-Through Cell for Enzyme-Modified FET Biosensor
Two kinds of experimental efforts which might lead to the
increase in the mass-productivity of an enzyme-modified FET biosensor
are reported. Firstly, a new enzyme membrane deposition technique has
been developed ; an enzyme membrane is photolithographically deposited
on the specific area of an FET using a water soluble photoresist.
Secondly, a new flow-through cell has been deviced for exo vivo
applications of an enzyme-modified FET. It allows one to use an FET
sensor without any polymeric encapsulation and wire bonding