Age-friendly care in the Veterans Health Administration: Past, present, and future.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has long recognized the need for age-friendly care. VHA leadership anticipated the impact of aging World War II veterans on VA healthcare systems and in 1975 developed Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) to meet this need. GRECCs catalyzed a series of innovations in geriatric models of care that span the continuum of care, most of which endure.

A Miniature Bio-Photonics Companion Diagnostics Platform for Reliable Cancer Treatment Monitoring in Blood Fluids.

In this paper, we present the development of a photonic biosensor device for cancer treatment monitoring as a complementary diagnostics tool. The proposed device combines multidisciplinary concepts from the photonic, nano-biochemical, micro-fluidic and reader/packaging platforms aiming to overcome limitations related to detection reliability, sensitivity, specificity, compactness and cost issues. The photonic sensor is based on an array of six asymmetric Mach Zender Interferometer (aMZI) waveguides on silicon nitride substrates and the sensing is performed by measuring the phase shift of the output signal, caused by the binding of the analyte on the functionalized aMZI surface.

Portable Systems for Metered Dispensing of Aggressive Liquids.

Precise metering in liquid dispensing applications often requires application-specific solutions due to incompatibilities of the sensor and actuator components with the dispensed liquids. Some reoccurring challenges are aggressive liquids that would damage the sensors or tubing, the need for sterile liquids while the pumps or sensors cannot be sterilized, or media that can clog the sensor channels. Two different dispensing systems are here presented where the dispensing flow rate or volume is indirectly measured through a coupled pressure change or airflow, thus avoiding contact between the sensor and liquid.

Age-related changes in cerebellar and hypothalamic function accompany non-microglial immune gene expression, altered synapse organization, and excitatory amino acid neurotransmission deficits.

We describe age-related molecular and neuronal changes that disrupt mobility or energy balance based on brain region and genetic background. Compared to young mice, aged C57BL/6 mice exhibit marked locomotor (but not energy balance) impairments. In contrast, aged BALB mice exhibit marked energy balance (but not locomotor) impairments.

Validation of Flow Cytometry and Magnetic Bead-Based Methods to Enrich CNS Single Cell Suspensions for Quiescent Microglia.

Microglia are resident mononuclear phagocytes within the CNS parenchyma that intimately interact with neurons and astrocytes to remodel synapses and extracellular matrix. We briefly review studies elucidating the molecular pathways that underlie microglial surveillance, activation, chemotaxis, and phagocytosis; we additionally place these studies in a clinical context. We describe and validate an inexpensive and simple approach to obtain enriched single cell suspensions of quiescent parenchymal and perivascular microglia from the mouse cerebellum and hypothalamus.

Micropump based on electroosmosis of the second kind.

A microfluidic pump based on electroosmosis of the second kind was designed and fabricated. Experimental results using DC and AC voltages showed a close to second-order relationship between flow and voltage, in good agreement with theory. The experimental flow rates were considerably lower than the predicted maximum for the micropumps, which can be attributed to the hydrodynamic resistance of the channel network.

Local sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in Russian and Norwegian settlements on Spitsbergen Island, Norway.

Samples of surface soil, flaking paint, concrete, transformer oils, and small capacitors were collected from the three largest coal-mining settlements on Spitsbergen--Barentsburg (Russian), Pyramiden (Russian), and Longyearbyen (Norwegian)--to study the role of potential local sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in the arctic areas (78 degrees N). Median concentrations of PCB7 in soil from Barentsburg and Pyramiden were 0.268 and 0.

Painted surfaces--important sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination to the urban and marine environment.

A study of a large number of samples of flaking old paint from various buildings in Bergen, Norway (N=68) suggests that paint may be the most important contemporary source of PCBs in this urban environment with concentrations of PCB(7) up to 3.39 g/kg. Twenty-three of the samples were collected from a single building, and the concentrations were found to vary over 3 orders of magnitude.

Runoff of particle bound pollutants from urban impervious surfaces studied by analysis of sediments from stormwater traps.

Runoff sediments from 68 small stormwater traps around the harbor of urban Bergen, Norway, were sampled and the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, and total organic carbon (TOC) were determined in addition to grain size. Our study provides empirical data from a large area in the interface between the urban and marine environment, studying the active transport of pollutants from land-based sources. The results of the analyses clearly demonstrate the importance of the urban environment representing a variety of contamination sources, and that stormwater runoff is an important dispersion mechanism of toxic pollutants.

Lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface soil from day care centres in the city of Bergen, Norway.

Surface soil (0-2cm) quality in 87 day care centres in the city of Bergen, Norway has been studied. Approximately 45% of the day care centres contained Pb and PAH values above recommended action levels. There are clear variations between different areas of the city.

The influence of a city on element contents of a terrestrial moss (Hylocomium splendens).

Forty terrestrial moss (Hylocomium splendens) samples were collected along a 120-km-long south-north transect running through Norway's largest city Oslo. Concentrations of 29 chemical elements (Ag, Al, Au, Ba, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, La, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Pt, S, Sb, Sr, Th, Ti, and Zn) and values for loss on ignition (475 degrees C) are reported. Silver (Ag), Al, Au, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni, Pb, Pt, Sb, Th, Ti, and Zn all show a characteristic Oslo peak when element concentrations are plotted against location of the sample site along the transect.

Single-chip mechatronic microsystem for surface imaging and force response studies.

We report on a stand-alone single-chip (7 x 10 mm) atomic force microscopy unit including a fully integrated array of cantilevers, each of which has an individual actuation, detection, and control unit so that standard atomic force microscopy operations can be performed by means of the chip only without any external controller. The system offers drastically reduced overall size and costs as well as increased scanning speed and can be fabricated with standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology with some subsequent micromachining steps to form the cantilevers. Full integration of microelectronic and micromechanical components on the same chip allows for the controlling and monitoring of all system functions.

Building materials as a source of PCB pollution in Bergen, Norway.

Although PCB is a globally recognised pollutant, an understanding of its transport from man-made building materials to the environment is poorly constrained. This paper presents data from a study that was conducted in order to determine the extent of PCB usage in plaster on building façades in the Bergen area, Norway. The study was to determine whether PCB concentrations vary according to building usage type and age.

Critical remarks on the use of terrestrial moss (Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi) for monitoring of airborne pollution.

Duplicate samples of the two terrestrial moss species Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi, which are widely used to monitor airborne heavy metal pollution, have been collected from eight catchments spread over a 1,500,000 km2 area in northern Europe. These were analysed for a total of 38 elements by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry and cold vapour-atomic absorption spectometry techniques. Results show that the moss species can be combined without interspecies calibration for regional mapping purposes.