The influence of obesity on falls and quality of life

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Physical activity is related to quality of life in older adults

BACKGROUND: Physical activity is associated with health-related quality of life (HRQL) in clinical populations, but less is known whether this relationship exists in older men and women who are healthy. Thus, this study determined if physical activity was related to HRQL in apparently healthy, older subjects. METHODS: Measures were obtained from 112 male and female volunteers (70 ± 8 years, mean ± SD) recruited from media advertisements and flyers around the Norman, Oklahoma area. Data was collected using a medical history questionnaire, HRQL from the Medical Outcomes Survey short form-36 questionnaire, and physical activity level from the Johnson Space Center physical activity scale. Subjects were separated into either a higher physically active group (n = 62) or a lower physically active group (n = 50) according to the physical activity scale. RESULTS: The HRQL scores in all eight domains were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the group reporting higher physical activity. Additionally, the more active group had fewer females (44% vs. 72%, p = 0.033), and lower prevalence of hypertension (39% vs. 60%, p = 0.041) than the low active group. After adjusting for gender and hypertension, the more active group had higher values in the following five HRQL domains: physical function (82 ± 20 vs. 68 ± 21, p = 0.029), role-physical (83 ± 34 vs. 61 ± 36, p = 0.022), bodily pain (83 ± 22 vs. 66 ± 23, p = 0.001), vitality (74 ± 15 vs. 59 ± 16, p = 0.001), and social functioning (92 ± 18 vs. 83 ± 19, p = 0.040). General health, role-emotional, and mental health were not significantly different (p > 0.05) between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Healthy older adults who regularly participated in physical activity of at least moderate intensity for more than one hour per week had higher HRQL measures in both physical and mental domains than those who were less physically active. Therefore, incorporating more physical activity into the lifestyles of sedentary or slightly active older individuals may improve their HRQL

The influence of obesity on calf blood flow and vascular reactivity in older adults

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether differences in vascular reactivity existed among normal weight, overweight, and obese older men and women, and to examine the association between abdominal fat distribution and vascular reactivity. METHODS: Eighty-seven individuals who were 60 years of age or older (age = 69 ± 7 yrs; mean ± SD) were grouped into normal weight (BMI < 25; n = 30), overweight (BMI ≥ 25 and < 30; n = 28), or obese (BMI ≥ 30; n = 29) categories. Calf blood flow (BF) was assessed by venous occlusion strain-gauge plethysmography at rest and post-occlusive reactive hyperemia. RESULTS: Post-occlusive reactive hyperemia BF was lower (p = 0.038) in the obese group (5.55 ± 4.67 %/min) than in the normal weight group (8.34 ± 3.89 %/min). Additionally, change in BF from rest to post-occlusion in the obese group (1.93 ± 2.58 %/min) was lower (p = 0.001) than in the normal weight group (5.21 ± 3.59 %/min), as well as the percentage change (75 ± 98 % vs. 202 ± 190 %, p = 0.006, respectively). After adjusting for age, prevalence in hypertension and calf skinfold thickness, change in BF values remained lower (p < 0.05) in obese subjects compared to the normal weight subjects. Lastly, the absolute and percentage change in BF were significantly related to BMI (r = -0.44, p < 0.001, and r = -0.37, p < 0.001, respectively) and to waist circumference (r = -0.36, p = 0.001, and r = -0.32, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Obesity and abdominal adiposity impair vascular reactivity in older men and women, and these deleterious effects on vascular reactivity are independent of conventional risk factors

The Relationship Between Arterial Elasticity and Metabolic Syndrome Features

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of metabolic syndrome (MS) features on arterial elasticity of the large and small arteries in apparently healthy adults, to examine the effect of clustered features of MS, and to determine which features are most predictive of large and small artery elasticity. The subjects for this study consisted of 126 men and women, age 45 years and older. The subjects rested supine while pulse contour analysis was measured from the radial artery by using an HDI/Pulsewave CR-2000 instrument (Hypertension Diagnostic, Inc) to assess arterial elasticity in the large and small arteries. Medical history was obtained along with body mass index, waist circumference, body surface area, and blood pressure. Large artery elasticity was lower (p=0.002) in subjects with hypertension (12.7 ∓4.3 mL/mm Hg × 10) than in those with normotension (15.0 ∓4.2 mL/mm Hg × 10; mean ∓ SD), and small artery elasticity was lower (p=0.001) as well (3.9 ∓2.3 mL/mm Hg × 100 vs 5.3 ∓2.5 mL/mm Hg × 100). Large artery elasticity was lower (p=0.02) in obese subjects (12.2 ∓4.9 mL/mm Hg × 10) than in nonobese subjects (14.2 ∓4.5 mL/mm Hg × 10), and large artery elasticity was lower (p=0.04) in subjects with abdominal obesity (12.2 ∓4.5 mL/mm Hg × 10) than in those without (14.5 ∓4.8 mL/mm Hg × 10). Large artery elasticity decreased as the number of features of MS increased (p<0.01). Multiple regression showed that body mass index and the presence of hypertension were predictors of large artery elasticity (R =0.61, R 2 =0.37, p=0.003, SEE = 3.60 mL/mm Hg × 10), and hypertension was a predictor of small artery elasticity (R =0.53, R 2 =0.28, p=0.001, SEE = 2.12 mL/mm Hg × 100). Hypertension and obesity are the features of MS that are most predictive of impairment in large and small artery elasticity in apparently healthy middle-aged and older adults. Furthermore, impairment in large artery elasticity is more evident in subjects with at least three features of MS.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Technology and Contemporary Classical Music: Methodologies in Practice-Based Research

This position paper provides a distillation of the NCRM Innovation Forum, ‘Technology and Contemporary Classical Music: Methodologies in Creative Practice Research’, hosted by Cyborg Soloists in June 2023. It features contributions from a variety of creative practitioner-researchers to debate the current state and future of technologically focused, practice-based research in contemporary classical music. The position paper is purposefully polyphonic and pluralistic. By collating a range of perspectives, experiences and expertise, the paper seeks to provoke and delineate a space for further questioning, inquiry, and response. The paper will be of interest to those working within creative practice research, particularly in relation to music, music technologists and those interested in research methodologies more broadly

The United States COVID-19 Forecast Hub dataset

Academic researchers, government agencies, industry groups, and individuals have produced forecasts at an unprecedented scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. To leverage these forecasts, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with an academic research lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub. Launched in April 2020, the Forecast Hub is a dataset with point and probabilistic forecasts of incident cases, incident hospitalizations, incident deaths, and cumulative deaths due to COVID-19 at county, state, and national, levels in the United States. Included forecasts represent a variety of modeling approaches, data sources, and assumptions regarding the spread of COVID-19. The goal of this dataset is to establish a standardized and comparable set of short-term forecasts from modeling teams. These data can be used to develop ensemble models, communicate forecasts to the public, create visualizations, compare models, and inform policies regarding COVID-19 mitigation. These open-source data are available via download from GitHub, through an online API, and through R packages

Septicaemia models using Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria monocytogenes: understanding the role of complement properdin

Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria monocytogenes, pathogens which can cause severe infectious disease in human, were used to infect properdin-deficient and wildtype mice. The aim was to deduce a role for properdin, positive regulator of the alternative pathway of complement activation, by comparing and contrasting the immune response of the two genotypes in vivo. We show that properdin-deficient and wildtype mice mounted antipneumococcal serotype-specific IgM antibodies, which were protective. Properdin-deficient mice, however, had increased survival in the model of streptococcal pneumonia and sepsis. Low activity of the classical pathway of complement and modulation of FcγR2b expression appear to be pathogenically involved. In listeriosis, however, properdin-deficient mice had reduced survival and a dendritic cell population that was impaired in maturation and activity. In vitro analyses of splenocytes and bone marrow-derived myeloid cells support the view that the opposing outcomes of properdin-deficient and wildtype mice in these two infection models is likely to be due to a skewing of macrophage activity to an M2 phenotype in the properdin-deficient mice. The phenotypes observed thus appear to reflect the extent to which M2- or M1-polarised macrophages are involved in the immune responses to S. pneumoniae and L. monocytogenes. We conclude that properdin controls the strength of immune responses by affecting humoral as well as cellular phenotypes during acute bacterial infection and ensuing inflammation

Whole beauty now lies in memory

This thesis comprises a score for symphonic wind ensemble and solo soprano, whole beauty now lies in memory (2012) and an analytic text. The analytic text's introduction provides insight into the topic of reorganization and musical borrowing, upon which the work is based. Subsequent chapters discussing the following parameters are included: pitch, rhythm, form, and orchestration. Further investigations into each chapter topic relate each back to the initial concept of reorganization, and discuss the composer's methodology.Cette thèse comprend une partition pour un ensemble à vent symphonique et une soprano, whole beauty now lies in memory (2012) ainsi qu'une analyse de cette ouvre. L'introduction de ce texte détaille les méthodes de la réorganisation et de l'emprunt musicaux, à partir desquelles cette œuvre a été composée. Les chapitres suivants discutent successivement des aspects de la tonalité, du rythme, de la forme et de l'orchestration. Chaque chapitre s'attache à montrer comment le concept de réorganisation est appliqué suivant l'aspect respectivement étudié et développe ainsi la méthodologie du compositeur