Skin heating during simulated hemorrhage lowers arterial blood pressure but not tolerance following exercise in a cold environment.

Skin heating helps avoid hypothermia in trauma victims but may influence the systolic (SBP) and mean arterial blood pressures (MAP) helping to guide resuscitation. We examined the effect of skin heating on tolerance and arterial blood pressure during lower body negative pressure (LBNP) across four trials. Nine participants completed 15 exercise intervals [60 s 88% peak power output (PPO) and 60 s 10% PPO] in a cold environment (0°C, 70% RH) lowering mean skin temperature (Tsk) before undergoing LBNP to pre syncope where Tsk remained low (Cold Trial: 27.

Exploring the effects of an "everyday" activity program on executive function and memory in older adults: Experience Corps.

Purpose: There is little empirical translation of multimodal cognitive activity programs in "real-world" community-based settings. This study sought to demonstrate in a short-term pilot randomized trial that such an activity program improves components of cognition critical to independent function among sedentary older adults at greatest risk.

Design And Methods: We randomized 149 older adults to Experience Corps (EC) or a wait-list control arm.

Obtaining informed consent for genetic studies: The multiethnic study of atherosclerosis.

Studies of DNA may yield important information about atherosclerosis. To determine how often study participants' consent to examine DNA is denied and the factors associated with that denial, information was collected on participants in the US Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) during 2000-2004. Permission was sought for preparation of DNA, transformation of cells into cell lines, evaluation of genes related to heart and other health conditions, and access to DNA by private companies.

Skin tissue cholesterol assay correlates with presence of coronary calcium.

Background: Keratinocytes maintain cholesterol homoeostasis using LDL and HDL-scavenger receptor pathways implicated in atherosclerosis. We tested whether skin tissue cholesterol (SkTC) is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis, assessed using carotid intima-medial thickness (IMT) and coronary artery calcification (CAC).

Methods: Two hundred and twenty two subjects were recruited from the Baltimore site of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

Experience Corps: design of an intergenerational program to boost social capital and promote the health of an aging society.

Population aging portends a crisis of resources and values. Desired solutions could include intergenerational strategies to harness the untapped potential of older adults to address societal needs and to generate health improvements for older adults. Despite the desire of many older adults to remain socially engaged and productive, the creation of productive roles has lagged.

Short-term impact of Experience Corps participation on children and schools: results from a pilot randomized trial.

This article reports on the short-term impact of a school-based program using older adult volunteers and aimed at improved academic achievement and reduced disruptive classroom behavior in urban elementary school students. The Experience Corps Baltimore (Maryland) program places a critical mass of older adult volunteers, serving 15 hours or more per week, in public schools to perform meaningful and important roles to improve the educational outcomes of children and the health and well-being of the volunteers. This article reports on the preliminary impact of the program on children in grades K-3.

A social model for health promotion for an aging population: initial evidence on the Experience Corps model.

This report evaluates whether a program for older volunteers, designed for both generativity and health promotion, leads to short-term improvements in multiple behavioral risk factors and positive effects on intermediary risk factors for disability and other morbidities. The Experience Corps(R) places older volunteers in public elementary schools in roles designed to meet schools' needs and increase the social, physical, and cognitive activity of the volunteers. This article reports on a pilot randomized trial in Baltimore, Maryland.

Recruitment of healthy adults into a study of overnight sleep monitoring in the home: experience of the Sleep Heart Health Study.

The Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS) is a prospective cohort study using participants from several ongoing cardiovascular and respiratory disease research projects to investigate the relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and cardiovascular disease. This study design required unusual and different recruiting techniques to meet the study's enrollment goal of between 6000 and 6600 participants. Individuals were recruited to undergo an overnight home polysomnogram, completion of several questionnaires, and collection of a small amount of physical examination data.