Mapping the way: functional modelling for community-based integrated care for older people.

Background: Healthcare system sustainability is challenged by several critical issues; one of the most pressing is the ageing population. Traditional, episodic care delivery models are not designed for older people who are medically complex and frail. These individuals would benefit from health and social care that is more comprehensive, coordinated, person-centred and accessible in the communities in which they live.

Windows of opportunity for predicting seasonal climate extremes highlighted by the Pakistan floods of 2022.

Skilful predictions of near-term climate extremes are key to a resilient society. However, standard methods of analysing seasonal forecasts are not optimised to identify the rarer and most impactful extremes. For example, standard tercile probability maps, used in real-time regional climate outlooks, failed to convey the extreme magnitude of summer 2022 Pakistan rainfall that was, in fact, widely predicted by seasonal forecasts.

Quantitative Raman chemical imaging of intracellular drug-membrane aggregates and small molecule drug precipitates in cytoplasmic organelles.

Raman confocal microscopes have been used to visualize the distribution of small molecule drugs within different subcellular compartments. This visualization allows the discovery, characterization, and detailed analysis of the molecular transport phenomena underpinning the Volume of Distribution - a key parameter governing the systemic pharmacokinetics of small molecule drugs. In the specific case of lipophilic small molecules with large Volumes of Distribution, chemical imaging studies using Raman confocal microscopes have revealed how weakly basic, poorly soluble drug molecules can accumulate inside cells by forming stable, supramolecular complexes in association with cytoplasmic membranes or by precipitating out within organelles.

Aged mice are less susceptible to motion sickness and show decreased efferent vestibular activity compared to young adults.

Introduction: The efferent vestibular system (EVS) is a feedback circuit thought to modulate vestibular afferent activity by inhibiting type II hair cells and exciting calyx-bearing afferents in the peripheral vestibular organs. In a previous study, we suggested EVS activity may contribute to the effects of motion sickness. To determine an association between motion sickness and EVS activity, we examined the effects of provocative motion (PM) on c-Fos expression in brainstem efferent vestibular nucleus (EVN) neurons that are the source of efferent innervation in the peripheral vestibular organs.

Molecular and Functional Changes to Postsynaptic Cholinergic Signaling in the Vestibular Sensory Organs of Aging C57BL/6 Mice.

Cholinergic circuits in the central nervous system are vulnerable to age-related functional decline, but it is not known if aging impacts cholinergic signaling in the vestibular sensory organs, which are critically important to balance maintenance and visual gaze stability. We have previously shown cholinergic neurotransmission between vestibular efferent terminals and type II mechanosensory hair cells requires the alpha9 (Chrna9) nicotinic receptor subunit. Homozygous knockout of the alpha9 subunit causes vestibulo-ocular reflex adaptation deficits that mirror those observed in aged mice.

Rationale and design of an ancillary study evaluating the effects of the cocoa flavanol and/or multivitamin interventions on falls and physical performance outcomes in the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS).

Background: Falls and decreased physical function increase markedly with age and result in injury, hospitalization, and premature death. Emerging studies show potential benefits of supplemental cocoa extract on physical performance, including grip strength and walking speed in older adults. However, there are no large, long-term randomized controlled trials of effects of supplemental cocoa extract on falls, muscle performance, and/or fall-related injuries.

Kinanthropometric Characteristic Comparisons of NCAA Division I Offensive and Defensive Linemen Spanning 8 Decades.

Jacobson, BH, Dawes, J, Smith, D, and Johnson, Q. Kinanthropometric characteristic comparisons of NCAA Division I offensive and defensive linemen spanning eight decades. J Strength Cond Res 36(12): 3404-3408, 2022-College football players have gained body mass, stature, and speed since the inception of the game.

Relationships between Lower-body Power, Sprint and Change of Direction Speed among Collegiate Basketball Players by Sex.

The purpose of this study was to determine if significant relationships exist between absolute and relative lower-body power and selected measures of speed among male and female collegiate basketball players. Archived performance testing data from 29 (male = 14; female = 15) NCAA division II collegiate basketball players were used for this analysis. These measures included lane agility, 10-yard sprint, and shuttle run time (sec).

Measuring the Impact of MyLupusGuide in Canada: Results of a Randomized Controlled Study.

Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the effects of a web-based program, MyLupusGuide, developed to facilitate self-management in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: In this randomized controlled online study, participants received either immediate access to the MyLupusGuide site or delayed access starting on month 3. The primary outcome was the patient activation measure (PAM) score.

Adolescent Substance Use and Individual Beliefs That Drug Use Is Wrong: A Statewide Epidemiological Study.

Objective: Informed by cognitive dissonance theory, the current study investigated the ability of youths' belief that drug use is wrong to predict likelihood of past year substance use abstinence as well as frequency of use at grades 8, 10, and 12.

Method: Study analyses were executed from a statewide epidemiological survey of more than 125,000 youth using multi-group Zero-Inflated Poisson regression modeling.

Results: Personal belief that drug use is wrong demonstrated the largest magnitude of effect at each grade among the individual, family, and school-based factors under examination; this finding emerged with respect to predicting past year substance use abstinence as well as rates of substance use among individuals reporting past year use.

A knowledge elicitation study to inform the development of a consequence model for Arctic ship evacuations: Qualitative and quantitative data.

Expert knowledge was elicited to develop a life-safety consequence severity model for Arctic ship evacuations (Browne et al., 2021). This paper presents the associated experimental design and data.

The Functional Resonance Analysis Method as a health care research methodology: a scoping review.

Objective: The objective of this review was to examine and map the literature on the use of the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) in health care research.

Introduction: The FRAM is a resilient health care tool tat offers an approach to deconstruct complex systems by mapping health care processes to identify essential activities, how they are interrelated, and the variability that emerges, which can strengthen or compromise outcomes. Insight into how the FRAM has been operationalized in health care can help researchers and policy-makers understand how this method can be used to strengthen health care systems.

Decadal climate variability in the tropical Pacific: Characteristics, causes, predictability, and prospects.

Climate variability in the tropical Pacific affects global climate on a wide range of time scales. On interannual time scales, the tropical Pacific is home to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Decadal variations and changes in the tropical Pacific, referred to here collectively as tropical Pacific decadal variability (TPDV), also profoundly affect the climate system.

A dynamic version of the FRAM for capturing variability in complex operations.

Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) is a function-based approach to model complex socio-technical systems and to manage variability. The current FRAM related tools are unable to capture qualitative and quantitative characteristics of variability as well as temporal variations. This study presents in detail a dynamic FRAM-based tool, which is called DynaFRAM.

One size does not fit all: Toward regional conservation practice guidance to reduce phosphorus loss risk in the Lake Erie watershed.

Agricultural phosphorus (P) losses to surface water bodies remain a global eutrophication concern, despite the application of conservation practices on farm fields. Although it is generally agreed upon that the use of multiple conservation practices ("stacking") will lead to greater improvements to water quality, this may not be cost effective to farmers, reducing the likelihood of adoption. At present, wholesale recommendations of conservation practices are given; however, the application of specific conservation practices in certain environments (e.

Modeling and analyzing hospital to home transition processes of frail older adults using the functional resonance analysis method (FRAM).

The main purpose of this study was to model and analyze hospital to home transition processes of frail older adults in order to identify the challenges within this process. A multi-phase, multi-sited and mixed methods design was utilized, in which, Phase 1 included collecting semi-structured interviews and focus group data, and Phase 2 consisted of six patient/caregiver dyad prospective case studies. This study was conducted in three hospitals in three cities in a single province in Canada.

Challenges of Perceived Self-Management in Lupus.

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease with varied and unpredictable levels of disease activity. The ability to self-manage lupus is important in controlling disease activity. Our objective was to determine levels of patient activation toward self-management in lupus.

Opioid use at the transition to emerging adulthood: A latent class analysis of non-medical use of prescription opioids and heroin use.

Background: Although rates of nonmedical opioid use are highest in late adolescence and emerging adulthood, efforts to understand the extent of the heterogeneity in opioid misuse during this time have been limited. The current study aimed to derive and define typologies of opioid use in high school students at the onset of emerging adulthood.

Methods: Survey responses from a statewide sample of high school students aged 18 and 19 (N = 26,223) were analyzed.

Age-related gene expression changes in lumbar spinal cord: Implications for neuropathic pain.

Clinically, pain has an uneven incidence throughout lifespan and impacts more on the elderly. In contrast, preclinical models of pathological pain have typically used juvenile or young adult animals to highlight the involvement of glial populations, proinflammatory cytokines, and chemokines in the onset and maintenance of pathological signalling in the spinal dorsal horn. The potential impact of this mismatch is also complicated by the growing appreciation that the aged central nervous system exists in a state of chronic inflammation because of enhanced proinflammatory cytokine/chemokine signalling and glial activation.

The functional resonance analysis method as a health care research methodology: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this review is to examine and map the literature on the use of the functional resonance analysis method in health care research.

Introduction: Health care systems are highly complex and involve interrelated functions, organizations, individuals, and technologies. Understanding how these elements interact and impact health care processes is difficult because of inherent contextual and human variables.

Effects of Power-Endurance and Controlled Heavy Squat Protocols on Vertical Jump Performance in Females.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the immediate and acute vertical jump performance responses throughout and following two different free-weight back squat exercise protocols. Fifteen resistance-trained women (mean ± SD: age = 21.8 ± 0.

Universal tumor screening for lynch syndrome: perspectives of patients regarding willingness and informed consent.

Lynch Syndrome is associated with a significant risk of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) and other cancers. Universal tumor screening is a strategy to identify high-risk individuals by testing all CRC tumors for molecular features suggestive of Lynch Syndrome. Patient interest in screening and preferences for consent have been underexplored.