Digital interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness in older adults: An evidence and gap map.

Background: Social isolation and loneliness are more common in older adults and are associated with a serious impact on their well-being, mental health, physical health, and longevity. They are a public health concern highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, hence the need for digital technology tools to enable remotely delivered interventions to alleviate the impact of social isolation and loneliness during the COVID-19 restrictions.

Objectives: To map available evidence on the effects of digital interventions to mitigate social isolation and/or loneliness in older adults in all settings except hospital settings.

A post-sulfonated one-pot synthesized magnetic cellulose nanocomposite for Knoevenagel and Thorpe-Ziegler reactions.

The development of biodegradable and active cellulosic-based heterogeneous catalysts for the synthesis of different organic compounds would be attractive in pharmaceutical and petrochemical-related industries. Herein, a post-sulfonated composite of one-pot synthesized magnetite (FeO) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) was used as an effective and easily separable heterogeneous catalyst for activating the Knoevenagel and Thorpe-Ziegler reactions. The composite was developed hydrothermally from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), iron chlorides, urea, and hydrochloric acid at 180 °C for 20 h in a one-pot reaction.

Deposition behavior of lignin on solid surfaces assessed by stagnation point adsorption reflectometry.

The deposition behavior of lignin on a solid surface was studied using stagnation point adsorption reflectometry (SPAR) comprehensively. In this study, the light absorption coefficient of lignin ( = 20 476 m) at 633 nm wavelength was considered to define a new imaginary refractive index () used in the SPAR technique for adsorption analysis. The inclusion of in the adsorption model yielded an adsorbed amount () of 1.

The efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to improve depression symptoms and quality of life in individuals with memory difficulties and caregivers: A short report.

Introduction: Depression symptoms are common for older adults with memory difficulties and their caregivers. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) reduces the risk of relapse in recurrent depression and improves depression symptoms. We explored recruitment and retention success and preliminary effect sizes of MBCT on depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as mindfulness facets, in individuals with memory difficulties and their caregivers.

Pearson's goodness-of-fit tests for sparse distributions.

Pearson's chi-squared test is widely used to test the goodness of fit between categorical data and a given discrete distribution function. When the number of sets of the categorical data, say , is a fixed integer, Pearson's chi-squared test statistic converges in distribution to a chi-squared distribution with -1 degrees of freedom when the sample size goes to infinity. In real applications, the number often changes with and may be even much larger than .

Disentangling controls on animal abundance: Prey availability, thermal habitat, and microhabitat structure.

The question of what controls animal abundance has always been fundamental to ecology, but given rapid environmental change, understanding the drivers and mechanisms governing abundance is more important than ever. Here, we determine how multidimensional environments and niches interact to determine population abundance along a tropical habitat gradient. Focusing on the endemic lizard on the island of Utila (Honduras), we evaluate direct and indirect effects of three interacting niche axes on abundance: thermal habitat quality, structural habitat quality, and prey availability.

Frailty among middle-aged and older Canadians: population norms for the frailty index using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Background: frailty is a public health priority now that the global population is ageing at a rapid rate. A scientifically sound tool to measure frailty and generate population-based reference values is a starting point.

Objective: in this report, our objectives were to operationalize frailty as deficit accumulation using a standard frailty index (FI), describe levels of frailty in Canadians ≥45 years old and provide national normative data.

Modification of Kraft Lignin with Dodecyl Glycidyl Ether.

Kraft lignin (KL) is extensively produced in industry but is mainly burned as fuel. To broaden its use, KL was grafted with dodecyl glycidyl ether to alter its thermal properties. The reaction of KL with dodecyl glycidyl ether (DGE) was analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and elemental analysis.

The effect of graphene-nanoplatelets on gelation and structural integrity of a polyvinyltrimethoxysilane-based aerogel.

Aerogels suffer greatly from poor mechanical properties resulting from their particulate structure. They also experience noticeable pore shrinkage during drying due to their low structural integrity. These shortfalls limit their broad application.

Complete plastome sequences from and 23 related species yield informative markers for Lecythidaceae.

Premise Of The Study: The tropical tree family Lecythidaceae has enormous ecological and economic importance in the Amazon basin. Lecythidaceae species can be difficult to identify without molecular data, however, and phylogenetic relationships within and among the most diverse genera are poorly resolved.

Methods: To develop informative genetic markers for Lecythidaceae, we used genome skimming to de novo assemble the full plastome of the Brazil nut tree () and 23 other Lecythidaceae species.

Searching for novel PET radiotracers: imaging cardiac perfusion, metabolism and inflammation.

Advances in medical imaging technology have led to an increased demand for radiopharmaceuticals for early and accurate diagnosis of cardiac function and diseased states. Myocardial perfusion, metabolism, and hypoxia positron emission tomography (PET) imaging radiotracers for detection of cardiac disease lack specificity for targeting inflammation that can be an early indicator of cardiac disease. Inflammation can occur at all stages of cardiac disease and currently, F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a glucose analog, is the standard for detecting myocardial inflammation.

Indigenous Ethiopian okra ( mucilage: A novel ingredient with functional and antioxidant properties.

Functional and antioxidant properties of mucilage extracted from the pods of eight okra accessions grown in Benishangul-Gumuz region, Western Ethiopia, were evaluated. This study had shown that the mucilage contents of the pods of eight okra accessions ranged from 1.25 to 3.

Novel pathway to produce high molecular weight kraft lignin-acrylic acid polymers in acidic suspension systems.

Kraft lignin (KL) produced in kraft pulping process has a low molecular weight and solubility, which limits its application in industry. For the first time, KL was polymerized with acrylic acid (AA) in an acidic aqueous suspension system to produce a water soluble lignin-AA polymer with a high molecular weight in this work. The polymerization reaction was carried out using KSO as an initiator, and the influence of reaction conditions on the carboxylate group content and molecular weight of resultant lignin polymers was systematically investigated.

Evaluating the parent-adolescent communication toolkit: Usability and preliminary content effectiveness of an online intervention.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the Parent-Adolescent Communication Toolkit, an online intervention designed to help improve parent communication with their adolescents. Participant preferences for two module delivery systems (sequential and unrestricted module access) were identified.

Design: Usability assessment of the PACT intervention was completed using pre-test and posttest comparisons.

Skeletal Lead Burden of the British Royal Navy in Colonial Antigua.

Lead (Pb) has been known to be a cause of human poisoning since ancient times, but despite this, it was a widely used metal in the European colonial period. In this study, the relationship between Pb exposure and the demographic variables ancestry and age was explored by comparing the bone Pb levels of individuals that were of either African or European ancestry, excavated from a British Royal Navy hospital cemetery (1793-1822 CE) at English Harbour in Antigua, West Indies. More direct comparisons of Pb levels between the two ancestral groups were possible in this study because of the unsegregated nature of this cemetery.

Proximate, mineral, and antinutrient compositions of indigenous Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) pod accessions: implications for mineral bioavailability.

The promotion and consumption of indigenous vegetables could help to mitigate food insecurity and alleviate malnutrition in developing countries. Nutrient and antinutrient compositions of eight accessions of Okra Pods were investigated. Molar ratios and mineral bioavailability of Okra pod accessions were also calculated and compared to the critical values to predict the implications for mineral bioavailability.

A Multilevel Logit Estimation on the Determinants of Utilization of Preventive Health Care and Healthy Lifestyle Practice in China.

The purpose of this study is to provide policy implications by estimating the individual and community level determinants of preventive health-care utilization in China based upon data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Two different frameworks, a human capital model and a psychological-behavioral model, are tested using a multilevel logit estimation. The results demonstrate different patterns for medical and nonmedical preventive activities.

Children's understanding of Aesop's fables: relations to reading comprehension and theory of mind.

Two studies examined children's developing understanding of Aesop's fables in relation to reading comprehension and to theory of mind. Study 1 included 172 children from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 6 in a school-wide examination of the relation between reading comprehension skills and understanding of Aesop's fables told orally. Study 2 examined the relation between theory of mind and fables understanding among 186 Junior (4-year-old) and Senior (5-year-old) Kindergarten children.

Survival and growth patterns of white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) rangewide provenances and their implications for climate change adaptation.

Intraspecific assisted migration (ISAM) through seed transfer during artificial forest regeneration has been suggested as an adaptation strategy to enhance forest resilience and productivity under future climate. In this study, we assessed the risks and benefits of ISAM in white spruce based on long-term and multilocation, rangewide provenance test data. Our results indicate that the adaptive capacity and growth potential of white spruce varied considerably among 245 range-wide provenances sampled across North America; however, the results revealed that local populations could be outperformed by nonlocal ones.

Can rare positive interactions become common when large carnivores consume livestock?

Livestock populations in protected areas are viewed negatively because of their interaction with native ungulates through direct competition for food resources. However, livestock and native prey can also interact indirectly through their shared predator. Indirect interactions between two prey species occur when one prey modifies either the functional or numerical responses of a shared predator.

A decade of aerobic endurance training: histological evidence for fibre type transformation.

Background: Researchers employing a variety of training methods have demonstrated a fast-to-slow fibre transformation in animal skeletal muscle. The observation as to whether this occurs in exercise trained humans is limited and equivocal.

Experimental Design: to examine this issue, skeletal muscle from seven subjects who had participated in a decade or more of high intensity aerobic training (DT) and six nontrained (NT) subjects was obtained by muscle biopsy from the vastus lateralis muscle (VL) and subjected to a modified myofibrillar ATPase technique to identify muscle fibre types.

A measure of the trust beliefs of elderly individuals.

Rotter's trust scale was modified for use as a measure of trust beliefs of elderly individuals. Analyses of 140 elderly individuals' responses on the scale yielded support for its internal consistency, reliability and validity. As evidence for the latter, the scale was correlated with peer sociometric ratings of trusting.

Schedules of reinforcement as regulators of dispersion patterns.

An eight-rat eight-station operant conditioning arena was used to study the spatial structure and temporal stability of foraging dispersion patterns. Food was obtained by bar pressing as the population was exposed to an ascending series of the fixed and variable aspects of ratio and interval schedules of reinforcement. Dispersion patterns, defined by the number of rats simultaneously foraging at each of the eight stations, and the temporal changes in these patterns, were the dependent variables.