The Social Context of Driving Cessation: Understanding the Effects of Cessation on the Life Satisfaction of Older Drivers and Their Social Partners.

Older adults with vision loss and a friend or family member were interviewed over a 2-year period. We examined the effects of driving cessation on life satisfaction among older adults and a social contact. Drivers' use of public transportation was examined as a moderator.

An Agent-Based Discrete Collagen Fiber Network Model of Dynamic Traction Force-Induced Remodeling.

Microstructural properties of extracellular matrix (ECM) promote cell and tissue homeostasis as well as contribute to the formation and progression of disease. In order to understand how microstructural properties influence the mechanical properties and traction force-induced remodeling of ECM, we developed an agent-based model that incorporates repetitively applied traction force within a discrete fiber network. An important difference between our model and similar finite element models is that by implementing more biologically realistic dynamic traction, we can explore a greater range of matrix remodeling.

Use of an Exercise Technology in Post-Acute Care of a Skilled Nursing Facility: A Feasibility Study.

Objectives: Use of exercise technologies has benefits for community-dwelling older adults in terms of improved gait and balance. But research on the feasibility of use of exercise technologies in various geriatric health care settings is lacking. Hence, the current study examined the feasibility of implementing an exercise technology intended to augment rehabilitation in patients receiving post-acute care (PAC) in a skilled nursing facility (SNF).

Imaging gait analysis: An fMRI dual task study.

Introduction: In geriatric clinical diagnostics, gait analysis with cognitive-motor dual tasking is used to predict fall risk and cognitive decline. To date, the neural correlates of cognitive-motor dual tasking processes are not fully understood. To investigate these underlying neural mechanisms, we designed an fMRI paradigm to reproduce the gait analysis.

Recent Advances in Computed Tomography Imaging in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Lung imaging is increasingly being used to diagnose, quantify, and phenotype chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although spirometry is the gold standard for the diagnosis of COPD and for severity staging, the role of computed tomography (CT) imaging has expanded in both clinical practice and research. COPD is a heterogeneous disease with considerable variability in clinical features, radiographic disease, progression, and outcomes.

Current Status of Operation and Management of Dental School Clinics.

This article summarizes the current status of the operation and management of dental school clinics as schools strive to provide excellent patient-centered care in an environment that is educationally sound, efficient, and financially strong. Clinical education is a large component of dental education and an area in which many dental schools have an opportunity to enhance revenue. Clinical efficiencies and alternative models of clinical education are evolving in U.

Depression recognition and capacity for self-report among ethnically diverse nursing homes residents: Evidence of disparities in screening.

Aims And Objectives: To examine agreement between Minimum Data Set clinician ratings and researcher assessments of depression among ethnically diverse nursing home residents using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire.

Background: Although depression is common among nursing homes residents, its recognition remains a challenge.

Design: Observational baseline data from a longitudinal intervention study.

Signs of Gas Trapping in Normal Lung Density Regions in Smokers.

Rationale: A substantial proportion of subjects without overt airflow obstruction have significant respiratory morbidity and structural abnormalities as visualized by computed tomography. Whether regions of the lung that appear normal using traditional computed tomography criteria have mild disease is not known.

Objectives: To identify subthreshold structural disease in normal-appearing lung regions in smokers.

Contrasting patterns of X-chromosome divergence underlie multiple sex-ratio polymorphisms in stalk-eyed flies.

Sex-linked segregation distorters cause offspring sex ratios to differ from equality. Theory predicts that such selfish alleles may either go to fixation and cause extinction, reach a stable polymorphism or initiate an evolutionary arms race with genetic modifiers. The extent to which a sex ratio distorter follows any of these trajectories in nature is poorly known.

Targeting Adenosine in BRAF-Mutant Melanoma Reduces Tumor Growth and Metastasis.

Increasing evidence exists for the role of immunosuppressive adenosine in promoting tumor growth and spread in a number of cancer types, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. In this study, we assessed whether the CD73-adenosinergic pathway is active in melanoma patients and whether adenosine restricts the efficacy of clinically approved targeted therapies for commonly mutated BRAF melanoma. In AJCC stage III melanoma patients, CD73 expression (the enzyme that generates adenosine) correlated significantly with patients presenting nodal metastatic melanoma, suggesting that targeting this pathway may be effective in advanced stage disease.

Epidemiological study of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in Eastern China.

Objective: Previous epidemiological studies of adole-scent idiopathic scoliosis in mainland China have had diverse results. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the epidemiology of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis based on a representative sample city, Wuxi, in eastern China.

Methods: Primary and secondary school students aged 10-16 years were enrolled in the study.

Role of Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cell Seeding for Nanofiber Vascular Grafts.

Objective: Electrospinning is a promising technology that provides biodegradable nanofiber scaffolds for cardiovascular tissue engineering. However, success with these materials has been limited, and the optimal combination of scaffold parameters for a tissue-engineered vascular graft (TEVG) remains elusive. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effect of bone marrow mononuclear cell (BM-MNC) seeding in electrospun scaffolds to support the rational design of optimized TEVGs.

Computed Tomography Measure of Lung at Risk and Lung Function Decline in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Rationale: The rate of decline of lung function is greater than age-related change in a substantial proportion of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, even after smoking cessation. Regions of the lung adjacent to emphysematous areas are subject to abnormal stretch during respiration, and this biomechanical stress likely influences emphysema initiation and progression.

Objectives: To assess whether quantifying this penumbra of lung at risk would predict FEV decline.

Prevalence and function of Heschl's gyrus morphotypes in musicians.

Morphological variations of the first transverse Heschl's gyrus (HG) in the human auditory cortex (AC) are common, yet little is known about their functional implication. We investigated individual morphology and function of HG variations in the AC of 41 musicians, using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as well as magnetoencephalography (MEG). Four main morphotypes of HG were (i) single HG, (ii) common stem duplication (CSD), (iii) complete posterior duplication (CPD), and (iv) multiple duplications (MD).

Stability of a Bifunctional Cu-Based Core@Zeolite Shell Catalyst for Dimethyl Ether Synthesis Under Redox Conditions Studied by Environmental Transmission Electron Microscopy and In Situ X-Ray Ptychography.

When using bifunctional core@shell catalysts, the stability of both the shell and core-shell interface is crucial for catalytic applications. In the present study, we elucidate the stability of a CuO/ZnO/Al2O3@ZSM-5 core@shell material, used for one-stage synthesis of dimethyl ether from synthesis gas. The catalyst stability was studied in a hierarchical manner by complementary environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and in situ hard X-ray ptychography with a specially designed in situ cell.

Parietal lobe critically supports successful paired immediate and single-item delayed memory for targets.

The parietal lobe is important for successful recognition memory, but its role is not yet fully understood. We investigated the parietal lobes' contribution to immediate paired-associate memory and delayed item-recognition memory separately for hits (targets) and correct rejections (distractors). We compared the behavioral performance of 56 patients with known parietal and medial temporal lobe dysfunction (i.

End-of-Life Conversations and Hospice Placement: Association with Less Aggressive Care Desired in the Nursing Home.

Education about end-of-life care and treatment options, communication between family and health care providers, and having advance directives and medical orders in place are important for older adults with chronic, progressive decline and end-stage disease who spend their last days in the nursing home. This study used retrospective data (6 months before death) of long-stay nursing home decedents (N = 300) taken from electronic health records to capture the end-of-life experience. Findings showed for almost all decedents, Do Not Resuscitate and Do Not Intubate orders were in place, and just over one-half had Do Not Hospitalize and No Artificial Feeding orders in place.

X-ray Bragg Ptychography on a Single InGaN/GaN Core-Shell Nanowire.

The future of solid-state lighting can be potentially driven by applications of InGaN/GaN core-shell nanowires. These heterostructures provide the possibility for fine-tuning of functional properties by controlling a strain state between mismatched layers. We present a nondestructive study of a single 400 nm-thick InGaN/GaN core-shell nanowire using two-dimensional (2D) X-ray Bragg ptychography (XBP) with a nanofocused X-ray beam.

Remote physiological ischemic training promotes coronary angiogenesis via molecular and cellular mobilization after myocardial ischemia.

Aim: This study was designed to explore the mechanism of physiological ischemic training (PIT) on remote limbs, with a special focus on the potential role of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and nitric oxide (NO) in local ischemic myocardium.

Method: Myocardial ischemia (MI) rabbit models were randomly assigned to sham-operated group (SO), training-only group (TO), MI group, PIT group, VEGF inhibitor group (VEGF-), NO inhibitor group (NO-), VEGF and NO inhibitor group (VEGF-/NO-), and EPC inhibitor group (EPC-). A constrictor was implanted around the left ventricular branch to induce controlled MI.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging in dermatology: The skin, the brain and the invisible.

The skin and brain have a close bi-directional anatomical and functional connection. Historically, the skin-brain axis and the brain-skin axis have been well described. However, brain function in this context has only recently been demystified with the introduction of functional neuroimaging in dermatology.

Biomechanical CT metrics are associated with patient outcomes in COPD.

Background: Traditional metrics of lung disease such as those derived from spirometry and static single-volume CT images are used to explain respiratory morbidity in patients with COPD, but are insufficient. We hypothesised that the mean Jacobian determinant, a measure of local lung expansion and contraction with respiration, would contribute independently to clinically relevant functional outcomes.

Methods: We applied image registration techniques to paired inspiratory-expiratory CT scans and derived the Jacobian determinant of the deformation field between the two lung volumes to map local volume change with respiration.

Beamstop-based low-background ptychography to image weakly scattering objects.

In recent years, X-ray ptychography has been established as a valuable tool for high-resolution imaging. Nevertheless, the spatial resolution and sensitivity in coherent diffraction imaging are limited by the signal that is detected over noise and over background scattering. Especially, coherent imaging of weakly scattering specimens suffers from incoherent background that is generated by the interaction of the central beam with matter along its propagation path in particular close to and inside of the detector.