Digital Commons Network^™

Last Sunset : Design To Alleviate Social Isolation For Chinese Elderly, Linghui Li

Masters Theses

China has one of the fastest aging populations in the world. The country’s rapid economic development and urbanization have separated millions of older adults from their children, leading to empty nest families where the elderly must fend for themselves without assistance. Design in the modern era caters to the younger generation with more consumption power while neglecting the needs of these older adults.

In China, from the moment a child is born, confinement centers, preschools, and tutoring institutions, those venues are common throughout the urban fabric. Which spaces are mainly designed for the Chinese elderly? Besides meeting necessary physical needs …

June 3, 2022 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Surgical Skill Using Machine Learning With Optimal Wearable Sensor Locations, Rahul Soangra, R. Sivakumar, E. R. Anirudh, Sai Viswanth Reddy Y., Emmanuel B. John

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Evaluation of surgical skills during minimally invasive surgeries is needed when recruiting new surgeons. Although surgeons’ differentiation by skill level is highly complex, performance in specific clinical tasks such as pegboard transfer and knot tying could be determined using wearable EMG and accelerometer sensors. A wireless wearable platform has made it feasible to collect movement and muscle activation signals for quick skill evaluation during surgical tasks. However, it is challenging since the placement of multiple wireless wearable sensors may interfere with their performance in the assessment. This study utilizes machine learning techniques to identify optimal muscles and features critical for …

Sociability Moderates The Negative Association Between Covid-Related Disruptions And Life Satisfaction, Amna Khan, Katherine L. Fiori

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Disruptions in individuals’ lives during the COVID-19 pandemic have been associated with increased mental health problems and decreases in life satisfaction, although recent research indicates that these effects are not uniform across individuals. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of sociability in moderating the association between COVID-related disruptions and life satisfaction in a sample of adults. Using data from an online survey given to N = 166 adults, COVID-19 disruptions related to conflicts with household members or roommates and disruptions in care during the pandemic were negatively associated with life satisfaction. Sociability was found to …

Vocabulary & Academic Success In University Undergraduate Students, Sandra Irvin, Kathryn Guillot Blankenship

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Thirty- nine students at a four-year university participated in this two-part study. One part investigated the relationship between maternal education and vocabulary while also looking at the relationship between vocabulary and academic success. The second portion looked at the relationship between vocabulary and word learning. Results from the study indicate that vocabulary knowledge is significantly correlated with GPA and students’ ability to learn words in a limited amount of time. Students with higher vocabulary scores earned higher gain scores and GPA. Maternal education was not significantly correlated with PPVT scores, contrary to what prior literature would suggest.

2022 June - East Tennessee State University Retirees Association Newsletter, Retirees Association, East Tennessee State University

ETSU Retirees Association Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Age-Dependent White Matter Disruptions After Military Traumatic Brain Injury: Multivariate Analysis Results From Enigma Brain Injury, Heather C. Bouchard, Delin Sun, Emily L. Dennis, Mary R. Newsome, Seth G. Disner, Jeremy Elman, Annelise Silva, Carmen Velez, Andrei Irimia, Nicholas D. Davenport, Scott R. Sponheim, Carol E. Franz, William S. Kremen, Michael J. Coleman, M. Wright Williams, Elbert Geuze, Inga K. Koerte, Martha E. Shenton, Maheen M. Adamson, Raul Coimbra, Gerald Grant, Lori Shutter, Mark S. George, Ross D. Zafonte, Thomas W. Mcallister, Murray B. Stein, Paul M. Thompson, Elisabeth A. Wilde, David F. Tate, Aristeidis Sotiras, Rajendra A. Morey

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Mild Traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a signature wound in military personnel, and repetitive mTBI has been linked to age-related neurogenerative disorders that affect white matter (WM) in the brain. However, findings of injury to specific WM tracts have been variable and inconsistent. This may be due to the heterogeneity of mechanisms, etiology, and comorbid disorders related to mTBI. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a data-driven approach that detects covarying patterns (components) within high-dimensional data. We applied NMF to diffusion imaging data from military Veterans with and without a self-reported TBI history. NMF identified 12 independent components derived from fractional …

Unh: The Magazine Of The University Of New Hampshire, Summer 2022, Unh Magazine

UNH Magazine

No abstract provided.

Aging In South County: A Regional Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report is being revised and will be available at a later date.

Invasion Properties Of Listeria Monocytogenes In Aged Cells, Mina Lane Chasteen Burton

Honors Theses

Listeriosis is a bacterial infection caused by the gram-positive pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. When compared to other foodborne illnesses, listeriosis has a higher death rate due to an increased incidence of complications such as meningitis, hydrocephalus, and sepsis in immunocompromised populations. Elderly individuals experience a condition known as immunosenescence, which is a gradual compromisation of the immune system brought on by natural aging. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare genetic disorder causing premature aging, which allows HGPS cell lines to be used as models to further research in the field of biogerontology. This study utilizes the F2365 strain of …

Helping-Seeking Tendencies And Subjective Well-Being: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of The United States And Japan, Verity Yu Qing Lua, Nadyannam N. Majeed, Andree Hartanto, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Help-seeking is commonly conceived as an instrumental behavior that improves people’s subjective well-being. However, most findings supporting a positive association between help-seeking and subjective well-being are observed in independence-preferring countries. Drawing from research demonstrating that the pathways to subjective well-being are culturally divergent, we posit that help-seeking tendencies may be detrimental to subjective well-being for members in interdependence-preferring countries where norms for preserving relational harmony and face concerns are prevalent. This study tested the moderating role of country in the relationship between help-seeking tendencies and subjective well-being using data from 5,068 American and Japanese participants. Results revealed that although help-seeking …

#Freebritney: A Social Media Movement Shining A Light On Guardianship Abuse And Oversight, Nicole C. Palas

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Queering" Age-Friendly New York City, Austin G. Oswald

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background and aims: The global population is aging and becoming more culturally diverse. As such, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers are expected to think critically about strategies to improve the quality of life of people as they age. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Age-Friendly Cities movement to improve the well-being and meaningful engagement of older adults living in the community. New York City (NYC) was the first city in the world to be designated “age-friendly” by the WHO, and is possibly viewed as a model for other cities to emulate. Few empirical studies have examined the age-friendly …

Aging In Lynn: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle, Mary Krebs, Setarreh Massihzadegan

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the City of Lynn and the Lynn Department of Elder Services. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of residents of the City of Lynn age 60 or older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the planning and operation of the Lynn Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of the City of Lynn. The report …

Efficacy Of Bupivacaine Injection After Pulsed Radiofrequency Ablation In The Management Of Trigeminal Facial Pain: A Prospective, Randomized, And Double-Blind Study, Faisal M. Hilal, Omar A. Alyamani, Abdullah M. Kaki

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To assess the effect of bupivacaine application following pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) ablation on trigeminal facial pain. Methods: A total of 73 patients with trigeminal facial pain refractory to conservative therapy were randomized into 2 groups. Group I subjects underwent PRF ablation procedure, followed by the injection of 1 ml of bupivacaine. Whereas, Group II underwent the same procedure followed by the injection of 1 ml of normal saline. Pain relief duration, the time of onset of pain relief, and analgesic effect evaluated by numerical pain rating scale were considered as outcomes. Results: Thirty-nine patients in Group I and 34 …

Integrative Analysis Of Clinical And Epigenetic Biomarkers Of Mortality, Tianxiao Huan, Steve Nguyen, Elena Colicino, Carolina Ochoa-Rosales, W David Hill, Jennifer A Brody, Mette Soerensen, Yan Zhang, Antoine Baldassari, Mohamed Ahmed Elhadad, Tanaka Toshiko, Yinan Zheng, Arce Domingo-Relloso, Dong Heon Lee, Jiantao Ma, Chen Yao, Chunyu Liu, Shih-Jen Hwang, Roby Joehanes, Myriam Fornage, Jan Bressler, Joyce B J Van Meurs, Birgit Debrabant, Jonas Mengel-From, Jacob Hjelmborg, Kaare Christensen, Pantel Vokonas, Joel Schwartz, Sina A Gahrib, Nona Sotoodehnia, Colleen M Sitlani, Sonja Kunze, Christian Gieger, Annette Peters, Melanie Waldenberger, Ian J Deary, Luigi Ferrucci, Yishu Qu, Philip Greenland, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Lifang Hou, Stefania Bandinelli, Trudy Voortman, Brenner Hermann, Andrea Baccarelli, Eric Whitsel, James S Pankow, Daniel Levy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

DNA methylation (DNAm) has been reported to be associated with many diseases and with mortality. We hypothesized that the integration of DNAm with clinical risk factors would improve mortality prediction. We performed an epigenome-wide association study of whole blood DNAm in relation to mortality in 15 cohorts (n = 15,013). During a mean follow-up of 10 years, there were 4314 deaths from all causes including 1235 cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths and 868 cancer deaths. Ancestry-stratified meta-analysis of all-cause mortality identified 163 CpGs in European ancestry (EA) and 17 in African ancestry (AA) participants at p < 1 × 10

Better Care For Older Hispanics: Identifying Priorities And Harmonizing Care, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Mary Tinetti, Lee A Jennings, Rebeca Wong, Jennifer Arney, Aanand D Naik

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Integrated Healthcare On University Campuses, Devon Dockstader

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

江門市居家養老研究報告 = A Research Report On Ageing In Place In Jiangmen City, 嶺南大學-五邑大學居家養老聯合研究創新中心

APIAS Research Report 研究報告

本研究旨在瞭解江門市”社區居家養老”的狀況及需求，以便當局制定服務，讓長者能在自己最熟悉的地方養老。

硏究採用「量性研究」(Quantitative research method) 的方法，以問卷收集了482位居住在江門市城市、鄉鎮和農村60歲或以上長者的個人狀況和對居家養老的意見。

硏究發現8成以上長者偏好在家養老及覺得其現在居所環境適合養老，但超過一半長者居所的安全性成疑，這包括居所存在鼠患蟲患、住屋光線不足和缺乏維修等。另外，有大約3成認爲社區設施便利性有待提升。

在社交支持方面，超過8成老年人擁有良好的社交支持網絡，出入醫療場所和在生活上遇到難題時能獲得幫忙；少部分無法尋求任何幫助。值得注意的是，尋求正式機構協助的長者不多。

在財務狀況方面，約6成長者主要收入來源為退休金，另外少於半數老年人依靠兒女資助。有部分受訪者依賴存款，政府補貼和勞動收入。受訪者月收入偏低，以1000~4000元爲主，部分沒有任何收人。被訪者的醫療保險覆蓋率接近9成，約有2成人對承擔醫療費用感到吃力。

參與是次研究的受訪者普遍身體狀況和自理能力良好，7成以上滿意當前生活狀態 (包括居所狀況、社會支持、居家安老安排、社區設施及其生活條件)，認爲目前條件能支持他們居家養老。

本研究提出五大建議。第一，雖然目前大部分受訪者滿意當前生活狀態，居家養老服務供給水平仍有改進空間。為應付老年人口急增，政府應加速發展養老業。第二，社區和居家環境需配合長者的身體機能和需要，進行適老化改造，以支持他們在家養老。第三，爲減輕長者醫療費用的負擔，建議政府篩查符合救助標準的長者，提高老年人醫療補貼。第四，為了讓更多老年人能在社區組織中獲得適切的正式服務支持，政府應加大服務購買力度，增加服務名額同時提升服務質素。第五，子女對年長父母的陪伴和依靠是不能缺乏的，但部分子女沒有很好地履行贍養義務。爲增加子女對年老父母的照顧力度，政府應從教育、媒體方面營造社會尊老敬老氛圍。

Reflecting On Resilience: Insight Into Resiliency Development And Utilization In Oregon's Older Adults From 2020 To 2022, Riley A. Wilton

University Honors Theses

The events of the last 2 years have complicated the lives of older adults throughout the world. For many, their survival can be traced back to one key trait: resilience. In the state of Oregon, the years 2020-2022 came with a host of issues that expanded past the COVID-19 pandemic. These events provide context for the world our storytellers discuss.

Using a snowball recruitment strategy through the efforts of community organizations and senior centers, 4 storytellers sat down to describe their resilience in different ways. They were asked to reflect on their own life experiences, how it influenced their resilience, …

Age-Dependent White Matter Disruptions After Military Traumatic Brain Injury: Multivariate Analysis Results From Enigma Brain Injury, Heather C Bouchard, Paul M Thompson, Aristeidis Sotiras, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mild Traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a signature wound in military personnel, and repetitive mTBI has been linked to age-related neurogenerative disorders that affect white matter (WM) in the brain. However, findings of injury to specific WM tracts have been variable and inconsistent. This may be due to the heterogeneity of mechanisms, etiology, and comorbid disorders related to mTBI. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a data-driven approach that detects covarying patterns (components) within high-dimensional data. We applied NMF to diffusion imaging data from military Veterans with and without a self-reported TBI history. NMF identified 12 independent components derived from fractional …

Decoding The Internet Trolls And Their Implications On Female Youtubers, Tanaya Salian, Munmun Ghosh

Journal of International Women's Studies

YouTube was one of the first platforms fuelling every layperson's dream to get a taste of stardom. Standing true to its promise, it exposed everyone to content creation and every aspect of fame that comes with content creation. The good, the bad, and the ugly side of the online platform involve the trolls and hate comments on the online platforms. It was eventually noticed that the trolling phenomena are shaping up biasedly and follow gender inequality recently. The online trolls are severe and ugly, especially for female content creators. The comments were harsh, demeaning and sometimes vindictive. Looking at this …

Infarct Diameter For Predicting Cognitive Dysfunction In Ischemic Stroke Survivors In West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, Herpan Syafii Harahap, Setyawati Asih Putri, Yanna Indrayana, Hasan Amin, Fransisca Ika Mahardika

Kesmas

Cognitive dysfunction is an important consequence of ischemic stroke, which can progress in the first few years and is primarily determined by clinical factors. This study aimed to investigate the clinical determinants of cognitive dysfunction in stroke survivors in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. This cross-sectional study assessed 255 ischemic stroke survivors with a mean age of 57.1±9.3 years old and 29–79 years old, recruited consecutively in three main hospitals in West Nusa Tenggara Province between March 2019 and October 2021. Categorical data collected included age, sex, education level, clinical determinants of ischemic stroke, and cognitive status of the patients. …

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (Bph): A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Malaise And Summarizing Possible Management Options Through Phytotherapeutic Agents, Shan Sasidharan, Kumarapillai Parameswaran Srinivasakumar, Sandeep Poddar, Amiya Bhaumik, Sreemoy Kanti Das, Hareendran Nair J

Kesmas

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a severe illness affecting middle-aged and geriatric male patients. This disease normally occurs at the age of 40 or above and is also associated with sexual dysfunction. Alpha-blockers and 5α-reductase inhibitors are the preferred drugs practiced to treat BPH. However, invasive surgical therapy remains the gold standard for managing the condition in the case of refractory and intricate BPH conditions. Due to the fear of sexual dysfunction and the detrimental influence on their quality of life, most patients seek to avoid synthetic drugs and surgery. For this reason, several patients turn to phytotherapy and other …

The Role Of Physical Activity And Gender As Moderators For The Relationship Between Insomnia And Depression, Claire E. Wickersham

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the association between insomnia and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults and to investigate whether gender or physical activity moderates this relationship. Method: This study used nationally representative data from the 2016 and 2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and binomial logistic regression was used to estimate models. Regression models for risk of depressive symptoms (2018) were based on a longitudinal model with time-lagged indicators of insomnia, levels of physical activity, and covariates (2016). Results: Analyses showed that participants who reported having insomnia in 2016 were more …

Physician Orders For Life-Sustaining Treatment (Polst) Forms In A Primary Care Setting, Elena Johns

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Purpose: To increase completed POLST forms among elderly patients aged seventy-seven and older with chronic/debilitating illnesses, by at least 50% in a Primary Care clinic setting, from September 2021 to January 2022. Background: The government pays for over two-thirds of healthcare costs for the elderly aged sixty-five and older. Furthermore, by ages seventy to ninety, medical spending more than doubles. Many elderly and chronically ill patients report that they would prefer less aggressive treatment and more comfort care measures. However, patients also report a lack of knowledge about their end-of-life (EOL) wishes particularly when it comes to completing the Physicians …

The Association Between Loneliness With Increased Mental Health Problems And Substance Use During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Richmond, Virginia, Angela C. Liu, Connor Cox, Mariam Sankoh, James Clifford, Courtney T. Blondino, Chanel Bea, Chimere Miles, Kim Young, Sherika Gillison-Chew, John Richardson-Lauve, Candice Turner, Elizabeth Prom-Wormley

Virginia Journal of Public Health

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant psychological distress among U.S. adults leading to increased rates of adverse mental health symptoms and substance use. This study aims to evaluate the consistency of the association between loneliness and increased mental health problems and substance use in Richmond, VA during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods. Data were collected in two phases: 1) internet-based surveys from August 2020 to March 2021 (N=327) and 2) paper-pencil surveys from May to October 2021 (N=225). Logistic regression was used to test the association between loneliness and increased mental health and substance use, while adjusting for sociodemographic factors and …

Financial Health Literacy And The Shared Decision-Making Process In Healthcare, Caitlin S. O'Mara, Justin P. Young, Zachary K. Winkelmann Phd, Lat, Atc

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Hustler Award Program, Julia N. Biayi

Dissertations

Problem: Hospitalized adults are at increased risk of falling due to multiple aspects, including but not limited to changes in health status, the environment, pain, weakness, confusion, and prolonged immobility. This project focused on the question: How will the utilization of the Hustler Award Program decrease fall rates in an adult inpatient medical-surgical unit?

Method: A prospective quality improvement pilot study focused on a 24-bed medical-surgical unit in a Midwest, 487-bed metropolitan-based facility.

Results: The results captured are for the evaluation period occurring from September through November 2021. The staff responded to 52-bed exit alarms, which yielded a response rate …

Life.Course Digital T.Wins – I.Ntelligent M.Onitoring For E.Arly And Continuous Intervention And Prevention (Lifetime): Proposal For A Proof-Of-Concept Study, Madison Milne-Ives, Lorna K. Fraser, Asiya Khan, David Walker, Velthoven Mh Van, Jon May, Ingrid Wolfe, Tracey Harding, Edward Meinert

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background Multimorbidity, which is associated with significant negative outcomes for individuals and health care systems, is increasing in the United Kingdom. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the risk factors (including health, behavior, and environment) for multimorbidity over time. An interdisciplinary approach is essential, as data science, artificial intelligence, and engineering concepts (digital twins) can identify key risk factors throughout the life course, potentially enabling personalized simulation of life-course risk for the development of multimorbidity. Predicting the risk of developing clusters of health conditions before they occur would add clinical value by enabling targeted early preventive interventions, advancing …