The plight of migrant care workers in Japan: A qualitative study of their stressors on caregiving.

Objective: This study explored the phenomenological experiences of migrant care workers working in the formal long-term care setting in Japan and identified their stressors on caregiving.

Methods: We collected data using in-depth interviews among Filipino ( = 21), Indonesian ( = 6), and Vietnamese ( = 4) migrant care workers. We conducted the interviews in either their native language or in Japanese.

"Are Filipinos Aging Well?": Determinants of Subjective Well-Being among Senior Citizens of the Community-Based ENGAGE Study.

As people age, they are expected to experience adverse life conditions and major life events. These circumstances might have a significant impact on their subjective well-being. This study investigated the factors associated with subjective well-being among community-dwelling Filipino senior citizens.

Effectiveness of peer counseling, social engagement, and combination interventions in improving depressive symptoms of community-dwelling Filipino senior citizens.

Introduction: Little is known about community-based interventions for geriatric depression in low-resource settings. This study assessed the effectiveness of 3-month-duration interventions with peer counseling, social engagement, and combination vs. control in improving depressive symptoms of community-dwelling Filipino senior citizens.

Leadership and Peer Counseling Program: Evaluation of Training and Its Impact on Filipino Senior Peer Counselors.

Senior volunteers represented a significant, mostly untapped lay resource of informal social care. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the training program on improving senior volunteers' competency toward peer counseling, and explored its impact on their well-being after three months of the program implementation. We conducted a pre- and post-intervention analysis among 60 senior volunteers aged 60-82 years.

Unmet Needs and Coping Mechanisms Among Community-Dwelling Senior Citizens in the Philippines: A Qualitative Study.

The Philippine government is facing a burden of improving health and social services for both the growing elderly and young population. The extent of discussion on aging issues and concerns, however, is minimal at best. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the perceptions of unmet needs and to explore the coping mechanisms of senior citizens across local stakeholders in an urban area in the Philippines.

Determinants of depressive symptoms in Filipino senior citizens of the community-based ENGAGE study.

Objective: This study investigated the factors associated with depressive symptoms among community-dwelling Filipino senior citizens.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 1021 Filipino senior citizens aged 60-91 years. We used multiple linear regression analysis to identify the factors independently associated with levels of depressive symptoms.

Empirical study of unipolar and bipolar configurations using high resolution single multi-walled carbon nanotube electrodes for electrophysiological probing of electrically excitable cells.

Identifying the neurophysiological basis underlying learning and memory in the mammalian central nervous system requires the development of biocompatible, high resolution, low electrode impedance electrophysiological probes; however, physically, electrode impedance will always be finite and, at times, large. Herein, we demonstrate through experiments performed on frog sartorius muscle that single multi-walled carbon nanotube electrode (sMWNT electrode) geometry and placement are two degrees of freedom that can improve biocompatibility of the probe and counteract the detrimental effects of MWNT/electrolyte interface impedance on the stimulation efficiency and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We show that high aspect ratio dependent electric field enhancement at the MWNT tip can boost stimulation efficiency.

High efficient electrical stimulation of hippocampal slices with vertically aligned carbon nanofiber microbrush array.

Long-term neuroprostheses for functional electrical stimulation must efficiently stimulate tissue without electrolyzing water and raising the extracellular pH to toxic levels. Comparison of the stimulation efficiency of tungsten wire electrodes (W wires), platinum microelectrode arrays (PtMEA), as-grown vertically aligned carbon nanofiber microbrush arrays (VACNF MBAs), and polypyrrole coated (PPy-coated) VACNF MBAs in eliciting field potentials in the hippocampus slice indicates that, at low stimulating voltages that preclude the electrolysis of water, only the PPy-coated VACNF MBA is able to stimulate the CA3 to CA1 pathway. Unlike the W wires, PtMEA, as-grown VACNF MBA, and the PPy-coated VACNF MBA elicit only excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs).