Digital Commons Network^™

Quantitative Investigation Of Effect Of Age And Bolus Characteristics On Laryngeal Movement During Swallowing, Tsui-Fen Yang, Rai-Chi Chan, Shinn-Shing Lee, Jia-Chi Wang

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the physiologic changes of swallowing along with normal aging, and to study the influences on swallowing of gender and food consistency.Methods: One hundred adult men and women aged 24 to 80 participated. Each subject underwent a swallowing evaluation, in which a surface transducer was placed on the neck to detect laryngeal movement when they performed a dry swallow and wet swallow for different food consistencies. Main outcome measures included mean onset, mean amplitude and mean duration of the deglutition wave.Results: In this study, the onset of the dry swallow deglutition wave …

Effects Of Flight On Gene Expression And Aging In The Honey Bee Brain And Flight Muscle, Joseph Margotta, Georgina E. Mancinelli, Azucena A. Benito, Andrew Ammons, Stephen P. Roberts, Michelle M. Elekonich

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Honey bees move through a series of in-hive tasks (e.g., “nursing”) to outside tasks (e.g., “foraging”) that are coincident with physiological changes and higher levels of metabolic activity. Social context can cause worker bees to speed up or slow down this process, and foragers may revert back to their earlier in-hive tasks accompanied by reversion to earlier physiological states. To investigate the effects of flight, behavioral state and age on gene expression, we used whole-genome microarrays and real-time PCR. Brain tissue and flight muscle exhibited different patterns of expression during behavioral transitions, with expression patterns in the brain reflecting both …

Financial Exploitation Of The Elderly: A Policy Review And Recommendations For Georgia, Melissa C. Haberlen

Public Health Theses

Eleven percent of Georgians and 13.3% of all Americans are currently over the age of 65. The segment of elderly adults in the United States is the fastest growing subpopulation, attributed to both average lifespan increases and a significant aging of "the baby boomer generation". Thus it is increasingly important that health and policy professionals give attention to issues of health and well-being faced by the aging population. One such issue, financial exploitation of the elderly, has received a large amount of media attention and public concern over the last several years, due to a large increase in the recorded …

Targeted Mutation Of Mouse Skeletal Muscle Sodium Channel Produces Myotonia And Potassium-Sensitive Weakness, Lawrence Hayward, Joanna Kim, Ming-Yang Lee, Hongru Zhou, Ji Kim, Kumudini Misra, Mohammad Salajegheh, Fen-Fen Wu, Shinji Matsuda, Valerie Reid, Didier Cros, Eric Hoffman, Jean-Marc Renaud, Stephen Cannon, Robert Brown

Dr Robert Brown

Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HyperKPP) produces myotonia and attacks of muscle weakness triggered by rest after exercise or by K+ ingestion. We introduced a missense substitution corresponding to a human familial HyperKPP mutation (Met1592Val) into the mouse gene encoding the skeletal muscle voltage-gated Na+ channel NaV1.4. Mice heterozygous for this mutation exhibited prominent myotonia at rest and muscle fiber-type switching to a more oxidative phenotype compared with controls. Isolated mutant extensor digitorum longus muscles were abnormally sensitive to the Na+/K+ pump inhibitor ouabain and exhibited age-dependent changes, including delayed relaxation and altered generation of tetanic force. Moreover, rapid and sustained weakness …

Regulators And Effectors Of Acetyltransferase P300 During Oxidative Stress, Heart Disease And Aging, Sumit Jain

Open Access Dissertations

The nuclear acetyltransferase p300 is a chromatin-modifying enzyme that facilitates gene transcription by modifying histone-DNA interactions and promoting the transcriptional activation properties of numerous transcription factors. p300 and its paralogue, CBP (CREB-binding protein) are implicated in a wide range of essential biological processes, however, the extent to which p300 has independent tissue- or signal-specific functions has been a matter of dispute. Here, I used gene targeting, gain-of-function and knockdown models to show that the myocardial response to oxidative stress is obligatorily dependent on the cellular availability of p300, and that this availability is dynamically modulated as part of an acute …

Neuromuscular Function Following Lengthening Contractions, Geoffrey A. Power

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Unaccustomed lengthening contractions have been shown to impair muscle function - however little is known regarding this impairment on muscle power - specifically, the velocity component of power during voluntary contractions in humans. The four studies presented in my thesis investigated power-loss following lengthening contractions in healthy young and old women and young men.

The purpose of Study 1 was to determine reliability of velocity-dependent power of the dorsiflexors using the isotonic mode of the Biodex Dynamometer. I determined the isotonic mode is reliable and can be used to track changes in velocity and power following fatigue and lengthening contractions. …

Brain Structure In Older Adult Siblings, Nathaniel Lucena

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Considerable variability exists in patterns of brain aging within and across individuals. Quantifying familial contributions to brain structure in late life may help us understand this variability. We estimated heritability of gray and white matter volumes and cortical thickness in a sample of older adult full siblings: 2-4 individuals per pedigree; N = 75). Estimation of heritability was based on computation of intraclass correlations. Heritability estimates were higher for total cortical thickness compared to volumes. There was no evidence of overall laterality in heritability estimates, or differences between primary sensory and association regions. There was a tendency for lower estimates …

Impaired Skeletal Muscle Blood Flow Control With Advancing Age In Humans: Attenuated Atp Release And Local Vasodilation During Erythrocyte Deoxygenation, Brett S. Kirby, Anne R. Crecelius, Wyatt F. Voyles, Frank A. Dinenno

Health and Sport Science Faculty Publications

Rationale: Skeletal muscle blood flow is coupled with the oxygenation state of hemoglobin in young adults, whereby the erythrocyte functions as an oxygen sensor and releases ATP during deoxygenation to evoke vasodilation. Whether this function is impaired in humans of advanced age is unknown.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that older adults demonstrate impaired muscle blood flow and lower intravascular ATP during conditions of erythrocyte deoxygenation.

Methods and Results: We showed impaired forearm blood flow responses during 2 conditions of erythrocyte deoxygenation (systemic hypoxia and graded handgrip exercise) with age, which was caused by reduced local vasodilation. In young adults, …

The Neuropsychological Functioning Of Older Adults Pre- And Post-Cognitive Training With A Brain Plasticity-Based Computerized Training Program, Shannon M. Sorenson

Graduate Masters Theses

The present study evaluates the effectiveness of Posit Science Cortex™ with Insight Drive Sharp™ as a tool for improving neuropsychological functioning in a normal aging sample. The purpose of the DriveSharp™ training program is to help an individual improve his or her visual attention and useful field of view. Each exercise continually adapts to the individual’s performance so that the training is always at an appropriate level for that specific person. Thirty-two healthy older adult participants were randomly assigned to either the active intervention group (DriveSharp™) or a waitlist control group. Participants in the intervention group were required to engage …

Town Of Cohasset Senior Center Study, Jan Mutchler, Hayley Gravette, Caitlin Coyle

Gerontology Institute Publications

The Town of Cohasset is considering the construction of a new Senior Center that will provide the opportunity for expanded programming within a dedicated building. In support of planning efforts by the Town of Cohasset, a study was conducted by the Gerontology Institute of the McCormack Graduate School at UMass Boston. The study addresses the need for, and probable utilization of, a new Senior Center, and includes consideration of the recreational, educational and health-related programs that are likely to be offered through the new Center. Results of the study presented in this report respond to three questions: First, what are …

Trpm2 In The Central Nervous System: Physiological Role And Critical Regulatory Pathways, Jillian C. Belrose

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

TRPM2 is a non-selective cation channel which is permeable to calcium. Although expression is highest in the brain, the physiological role for TRPM2 in neurons was unknown. Furthermore, our understanding of the pathways regulating TRPM2 channel function required further investigation. In this thesis, we identified that TRPM2 is required for NMDAR-dependent long-term depression (LTD). No change in NMDAR expression or function was observed following genetic deletion of TRPM2. Instead, the loss of NMDAR-LTD in TRPM2 knockout mice results from diminished GSK-3β activation. We next examined whether age in vitro could facilitate TRPM2 currents. We demonstrate that diminished glutathione with age …

Truncation, Cross-Linking And Interaction Of Crystallins And Intermediate Filament Proteins In The Aging Human Lens, Roger Truscott, Jason Mcarthur, Andrew Aquilina, Shi-Ping (Jim) Su

J. A. Aquilina

The optical properties of the lens are dependent upon the integrity of proteins within the fiber cells. During aging, crystallins, the major intra-cellular structural proteins of the lens, aggregate and become water-insoluble. Modifications to crystallins and the lens intermediate filaments have been implicated in this phenomenon. In this study, we examined changes to, and interactions between, human lens crystallins and intermediate filament proteins in lenses from a variety of age groups (0-86 years). Among the lens-specific intermediate filament proteins, filensin was extensively cleaved in all postnatal lenses, with truncated products of various sizes being found in both the lens cortical …

The Effects Of A Short Term Novel Aquatic Exercise Program On Functional Strength And Performance Of Older Adults, H. Scott Kieffer, Marie Attanasi Lehman, Danielle M. Veacock, Laura Korkuch

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 5(4) : 321-333, 2012. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a short-term novel multidimensional aquatic exercise program on functional abilities of healthy older adults. Twenty-six men and women (mean age 76.33 + 5.55 years) were recruited and assigned to an aquatic- (n = 15) or land-based (n = 11) training group. The aquatic training group completed a multidimensional water exercise program that incorporated resistance training, functional exercise movements and rudimentary aquatic plyometric activities. The active control group participated in a supervised land-based fitness program. Each exercise intervention was conducted over …

Decline In Health For Older Adults: 5-Year Change In 13 Key Measures Of Standardized Health, Paula H. Diehr, Stephen M. Thielke, Anne B. Newman, Calvin H. Hirsch, Russell Tracy

UW Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Introduction

The health of older adults declines over time, but there are many ways of measuring health. We examined whether all measures declined at the same rate, or whether some aspects of health were less sensitive to aging than others.

Methods

We compared the decline in 13 measures of physical, mental, and functional health from the Cardiovascular Health Study: hospitalization, bed days, cognition, extremity strength, feelings about life as a whole, satisfaction with the purpose of life, self-rated health, depression, digit symbol substitution test, grip strength, ADLs, IADLs, and gait speed. Each measure was standardized against self-rated health. We compared …

Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating The Effect Of Physical Activity On Delaying The Progression Of White Matter Changes On Mri In Older Adults With Memory Complaints And Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Aibl Active Trial, E V Cyarto, N T Lautenschlager, P M Desmond, D Ames, C Szoeke, O Salvado, Matthew Sharman, Kathryn A Ellis, P M Phal, C L Masters, C C Rowe, Ralph Martins, Kay L Cox

Research outputs 2012

Background: Older adults free of dementia but with subjective memory complaints (SMC) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are considered at increased risk of cognitive decline. Vascular risk factors (VRF), including hypertension, heart disease, smoking, hypercholesterolemia and lack of physical activity (PA) have been identified as modifiable risk factors contributing to cognitive decline, and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) are associated with VRF, SMC and cognitive impairment. Findings from a growing number of clinical trials with older adults are providing strong evidence for the benefits of physical activity for maintaining cognitive function, but few studies are investigating these benefits in high-risk populations. …

Neuroprotective Effects Of Long-Term Endurance Training On The Cortical Autonomic Network In The Aging Brain, Torri A. Luchyshyn

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study tested whether long-term endurance training in older adults (ET; n = 15, 55 ± 4 years, relative VO₂max = 50 ± 8 ml/kg/min) would alter cardiovagal control and preserve the cortical autonomic network compared to age-matched controls (CON; n = 15, 56 ± 4 years, relative VO₂max = 37 ± 9 ml/kg/min). The hypothesis predicts 1) altered deactivation patterns of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) in response to isometric hand grip (IHG) and 2) greater indices of cardiovagal control; a) increased baroreflex sensitivity at rest, b) greater heart rate change (ΔHR) and c) …

Personality As A Source Of Individual Differences In Cognition Among Older African Americans, Adrienne T. Aiken-Morgan, Jacqueline Michelle Bichsel, Jason C. Allaire, Jyoti Savla, Christopher L. Edwards, Keith E. Whitfield

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Previous research suggests that demographic factors are important correlates of cognitive functioning in African Americans; however, less attention has been given to the influence of personality. the present study explored how dimensions and facets of personality predicted individual variability in cognition in a sample of older African Americans from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging. Cognition was assessed by verbal learning and attention/working memory measures. Personality was measured by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised. Linear regressions controlling for demographic factors showed that Neuroticism, Openness, and Agreeableness were significant regression predictors of cognitive performance. Individual facets of all five personality dimensions were …

Chronic Exercise Modifies Age-Related Telomere Dynamics In A Tissue-Specific Fashion, Andrew T. Ludlow, Sarah Witkowski, Mallory R. Marshall, Jenny Wang, Laila C.J. Lima, Lisa M. Guth, Espen E. Spangenburg, Stephen M. Roth

Exercise and Sport Studies: Faculty Publications

We evaluated the impact of long-term exercise on telomere dynamics in wild-derived short telomere mice (CAST/Ei) over 1 year. We observed significant telomere shortening in liver and cardiac tissues in sedentary 1-year-old mice compared with young (8 weeks) baseline mice that were attenuated in exercised 1-year-old animals. In contrast, skeletal muscle exhibited significant telomere shortening in exercise mice compared with sedentary and young mice. Telomerase enzyme activity was increased in skeletal muscle of exercise compared with sedentary animals but was similar in cardiac and liver tissues. We observed significant age-related decreases in expression of telomere-related genes that were attenuated by …

Sarcopenia, Obesity, And Natural Killer Cell Immune Senescence In Aging: Altered Cytokine Levels As A Common Mechanism, Charles T. Lutz, Lebris S. Quinn

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Faculty Publications

Human aging is characterized by both physical and physiological frailty. A key feature of frailty, sarcopenia is the age-associated decline in skeletal muscle mass, strength, and endurance that characterize even the healthy elderly. Increases in adiposity, particularly in visceral adipose tissue, are almost universal in aging individuals and can contribute to sarcopenia and insulin resistance by increasing levels of inflammatory cytokines known collectively as adipokines. Aging also is associated with declines in adaptive and innate immunity, known as immune senescence, which are risk factors for cancer and all-cause mortality. The cytokine interleukin-15 (IL-15) is highly expressed in skeletal muscle tissue …

Development Of A Clinical Multiple-Lunge Test To Predict Falls In Older Adults, Ruth Wagenaar, Justin W. Keogh, Denise Taylor

Justin Keogh

Objective: To develop a new Multiple-Lunge Test to distinguish between fallers and nonfallers in community-dwelling older adults.Design: A cross-sectional design was used to establish the sensitivity and specificity of the test to predict faller status based on retrospective self-reported fall history. Setting: Local retirement villages.Participants: Community-dwelling older adults (N 130; mean age SD, 77 7y) with (n 40) and without (n 90) a history of falls.Interventions: The Multiple-Lunge Test required individuals to lunge forward to a step length determined as 60% of their leg length, and return to start, for 5 consecutive repetitions. Interday and intraday test-retest reliability of the …

The Changing Face Of Seniors: Ethnic Diversity In The Aging Baby Boom Population, Clayton Fong

Marquette Elder's Advisor

Asian/Pacific elders present unique issues in professional services, including language barriers, family loyalties and diversity of cultural backgrounds. This article sketches a profile of this growing population

Alzheimer's Disease And Intimacy: A Content Analysis Of Resources Avaliable Through The Alzheimer's Association And The National Institute On Aging, Danelle S. Hubbard

Gerontology Theses

An estimated 5.4 million individuals in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease, and the number is expected to rise exponentially over the next 50 years. Content analysis was used to examine the availability and content of online resources accessible through the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) that addressed emotional and physical intimacy for a marital unit. The analysis resulted in ten documents from the Alzheimer’s Association’s website, seven from the NIA’s website, and four additional documents produced from external links that met these criteria. Five major themes emerged from these documents regarding the subject of emotional …

Fillial Responsibility: A Survey Across Time And Oceans , Andrea Rickles-Jordan

Marquette Elder's Advisor

In the United States, Medicare and Medicaid are helping fund the cost of caring for the elderly. However, long before these programs existed, several states enacted statutes requiring children to care for their elderly parents. These filial responsibility statutes still exist in many states today, although their effectiveness and use has been called into question by opponents. To understand the current need for these statutes, this article first looks at the reasons the statutes were created. The article then follows their growth throughout the history of the world and the United States. As further means of comparison, the article examines …

Disability And Aging: Historical And Contemporary Challenges, William N. Myhill, Peter Blanck

Marquette Elder's Advisor

This article discusses the challenges that elderly with disabilities face in the work place. The article explores the theme historically and today as they impact qualify of life for persons with and aging into disability.

Sensory And Cognitive Declines In Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study, Melanie Storm Bauer

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

In a recent cross-sectional study, as has been found in numerous previous studies, Sommers et al.: 2011) found that age-related declines in hearing, as assessed by pure-tone thresholds, begin around age 20 and continue across the lifespan. In another article published from the same cross-sectional dataset, Hale et al.: 2011) found that working memory ability also begins declining around age 20 and continues throughout life. The present study is a longitudinal follow-up of these two studies in which a sub-sample of older adults: ≥65 years old at the time of original testing approximately four years ago) were re-tested on sensory …

Aging-Aware Routing Algorithms For Network-On-Chips, Kshitij Bhardwaj

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Network-on-chips (NoCs) are one of the most scalable mediums to interconnect different processors in a multi-processor system. The processors are connected to routers via network interfaces and the routers are connected to each other through links. A routing algorithm is implemented inside each router that decides the path that a packet must take to reach the destination processor from the source. If a path is heavily utilized, the links and routers comprising the path start to age, and therefore can become faulty with time. In order to avoid this situation, the routing logic must be able to distribute the packets …

Peripheral Nerve Injury Increases Glutamate-Evoked Calcium Mobilization In Adult Spinal Cord Neurons, Suzanne Doolen, Camille B. Blake, Bret N. Smith, Bradley K. Taylor

Physiology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Central sensitization in the spinal cord requires glutamate receptor activation and intracellular Ca2+ mobilization. We used Fura-2 AM bulk loading of mouse slices together with wide-field Ca2+ imaging to measure glutamate-evoked increases in extracellular Ca2+ to test the hypotheses that: 1. Exogenous application of glutamate causes Ca2+ mobilization in a preponderance of dorsal horn neurons within spinal cord slices taken from adult mice; 2. Glutamate-evoked Ca2+ mobilization is associated with spontaneous and/or evoked action potentials; 3. Glutamate acts at glutamate receptor subtypes to evoked Ca2+ transients; and 4. The magnitude of glutamate-evoked Ca2+ responses increases in the setting of …

Early Stage Drug Treatment That Normalizes Proinflammatory Cytokine Production Attenuates Synaptic Dysfunction In A Mouse Model That Exhibits Age-Dependent Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease-Related Pathology, Adam D. Bachstetter, Christopher M. Norris, Pradoldej Sompol, Donna M. Wilcock, Danielle Goulding, Janna H. Neltner, Daret St. Clair, D. Martin Watterson, Linda J. Van Eldik

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines in the CNS has been implicated as a key contributor to pathophysiology progression in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and extensive studies with animal models have shown that selective suppression of excessive glial proinflammatory cytokines can improve neurologic outcomes. The prior art, therefore, raises the logical postulation that intervention with drugs targeting dysregulated glial proinflammatory cytokine production might be effective disease-modifying therapeutics if used in the appropriate biological time window. To test the hypothesis that early stage intervention with such drugs might be therapeutically beneficial, we examined the impact of intervention with MW01-2-151SRM (MW-151), an experimental therapeutic that …

Epidemiological Characteristics And Underlying Risk Factors For Mortality During The Autumn 2009 Pandemic Wave In Mexico, Gerardo Chowell, Santiago Echevarria-Zuno, Cecile Viboud, Lone Simonsen, Mark A. Miller, Irma Fernandez-Garate, Cesar Gonzalez-Bonilla, Víctor H. Borja Aburto

Global Health Faculty Publications

Background

Elucidating the role of the underlying risk factors for severe outcomes of the 2009 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic could be crucial to define priority risk groups in resource-limited settings in future pandemics.

Methods

We use individual-level clinical data on a large series of ARI (acute respiratory infection) hospitalizations from a prospective surveillance system of the Mexican Social Security medical system to analyze clinical features at presentation, admission delays, selected comorbidities and receipt of seasonal vaccine on the risk of A/H1N1-related death. We considered ARI hospitalizations and inpatient-deaths, and recorded demographic, geographic, and medical information on individual patients during August-December, 2009. …

Localization Of Low Molecular Weight Crystallin Peptides In The Aging Human Lens Using A Maldi Mass Spectrometry Imaging Approach, S. P. Su, Jason D. Mcarthur, J. A. Aquilina

J. A. Aquilina

Low molecular weight (LMW) peptides, derived from the breakdown of the major eye lens proteins, the crystallins, accumulate in the human lens with age. These LMW peptides are associated with age-related lens opacity and cataract, with some shown to inhibit the chaperone activity of α-crystallin. However, the mechanism(s) giving rise to the production of these peptides, as well as their distribution within the lens, are not well understood. In this study, we have mapped the distribution of these crystallin-derived peptides present in human lenses of different ages using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS). Our data showed that most of …