52,286 research outputs found
Self-report of difficulty in performing functional activities identifies a broad range of disability in old age.
No full textI
Lower extremity physical performance and hip bone mineral density in elderly black and white men and women: cross-sectional associations in the Health ABC
No full textBACKGROUND: Aging is characterized by declines in physical capacity and bone mineral density (BMD), both of which contribute to increased risk for fracture. However, it is unclear if these factors coexist or are independent in elderly people, and if a relationship does exist, whether it varies by sex and/or race. METHODS: Data are from 847 white women, 723 black women, 927 white men, and 544 black men aged 70-79 years participating in the Health Aging and Body Composition (ABC) Study, a cohort of well-functioning community-dwelling elders. BMD (g/cm(2)) of the hip (femoral neck and trochanter) was determined by dual X-ray absorptiometry. Physical capacity measures included knee extensor strength, repeated chair-stands, gait speed (6 m), walking endurance (400 m), and standing balance. RESULTS: In analyses of BMD as a continuous measure, BMD and physical performance were most consistently related at the trochanter in black women, even after adjusting for body size and several covariates including physical activity. For each performance measure, black women in the bottom quartile(s) had lower BMD than those in the top quartile(s). For the femoral neck, there was a significant association with performance tasks, except for the 400-m walk. In comparison, only chair-rise performance was related to BMD at the femoral neck, and knee extensor strength, chair-rise performance, and balance with the trochanter in white women. For white and black men, trends existed only for lower BMD in those with poorer knee extensor strength. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of well-functioning young-old seniors, physical capacity is only modestly related to BMD at the hip. The association was strongest in black women, who as a group exhibited the poorest functional capacity in the cohort. Our data show that, although both poorer physical performance and low BMD are risk factors for fracture, they remain largely independent in the well-functioning young-old, except in black women. This independence suggests that interventions to reduce fracture incidence should be targeted at improving both physical performance and bone density
Associations of leg muscle quality and motor nerve function with walking speed: data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)
No full textRelationship of alcohol intake with inflammatory markers and plasminogen activator inhibitior-1 in well-functioning older adults - The Health, Aging, and Body Composition study
No full textBACKGROUND: Increased levels of acute-phase reactants predict the onset of poor health outcomes. A U-shaped association has been reported between alcohol intake and health outcomes, which suggests that alcohol intake may modify levels of acute-phase reactants. We investigated the relationship between weekly alcohol intake and interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). METHODS AND RESULTS: Data are from year 1 of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study, a biracial cohort of 3075 well-functioning men and women aged 70 to 79 years, living in Memphis, Tenn, and Pittsburgh, Pa. The analysis included 2574 persons (51.2% women; 40.1% black) with complete data. After adjustment for age, race, smoking status, history of diabetes, history of cardiovascular disease, physical activity, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, antiinflammatory medications, statins, and total fat mass, alcohol intake showed a J-shaped relationship with mean IL-6 (P for quadratic term <0.001) and CRP (P=0.014) levels. The association was consistent in both men and women. Compared with subjects who consumed 1 to 7 drinks per week, those who never drank had an increased likelihood of having high levels of both IL-6 and CRP, as did those who drank 8 or more drinks per week. We found no relationship between alcohol intake and levels of TNF-alpha and PAI-1 (P=0.137 and 0.08, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In well-functioning older persons, light alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of IL-6 and CRP. These results might suggest an additional biological explanation to the epidemiological link between moderate alcohol consumption and cardiovascular events
O foco narrativo na ficção contemporânea : uma leitura de Author, Author, de David Lodge
Get PDFOrientador : Prof. Dr. Caetano Waldrigues GalindoAutor não autorizou a divulgação do arquivo digitalDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Letras e Artes, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras. Defesa: Curitiba, 26/06/2013Bibliografia: fls. 158-161Área de concentração: Estudos LiteráriosResumo: O propósito deste trabalho é refletir sobre a construção do foco narrativo em Author, Author (2004), de David Lodge, romance biográfico sobre o escritor Henry James (1843-1916). O narrador não se limita a situar o leitor na narrativa: o seu posicionamento em relação aos aspectos factuais da vida e do percurso literário do romancista norte-americano desempenha papel fundamental na discussão das estratégias narrativas da prosa de ficção de James. Na construção ficcional do malogro na noite de estreia de Guy Domville, em Londres, em 1895, por exemplo, é possível perceber a bipartição desse narrador, capaz de contar e mostrar dois episódios que se passam em dois lugares diferentes, simultaneamente. Em outros momentos do romance, a voz autoral embaralha-se com a voz do sujeito da enunciação a tal ponto, que o leitor menos atento encontra certa dificuldade para colocar ordem nos discursos. O abandono gradual da prosa de ficção em busca de uma identidade como dramaturgo, a falta de êxito na dramaturgia, a lenta recuperação psicológica, a retomada da prosa de ficção e o resultado insatisfatório da revisão e escrita de prefácios para as suas obras, para compor The novels and tales of Henry James:The New York Edition (1905), são alguns dos desdobramentos da trajetória de James, discutidos em Author, Author.Abstract: The purpose of this dissertation is to think over the construction process of narrative focus in Author, Author (2004), by David Lodge, a biographical novel about the writer Henry James (1843-1916). The narrator does not limit himself to guiding the reader through the narrative; rather, his attitude towards factual aspects of the life and literary course of the North-American novelist seems to play a fundamental role in the novel. In the fictional construction of the débâcle of "Guy Domville", in London, 1895 for instance it is possible to distinguish the narrator's bipartition, in order to tell and show two different episodes which happen in two different places, simultaneously. In other moments, the authorial voice blends with that of the subject of the enunciation to such a degree that the less attentive reader may not be capable of organizing the discourse, in a first moment. James' gradual movement away from prose fiction so as to find his playwright identity; the lack of success as a playwright; his subsequent slow psychological recovery; the return to prose fiction; and, finally, the weak result of writing and revising prefaces to his literary works in order to put together The Novels and Tales of Henry James: The New York Edition (1905), are some of the most conspicuous events in James' trajectory discussed in Author, Author
Glucose and insulin measurements from the oral glucose tolerance test and mortality prediction.
No full textOBJECTIVE:
To verify what information from oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) independently predicts mortality.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
A total of 1,401 initially nondiabetic participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging aged 17-95 years underwent one or more OGTTs (median 2, range 1-8), with insulin and glucose measurements taken every 20 min over the course of 2 h included in this study. Proportional hazards using the longitudinally collected data and Bayesian model averaging were used to examine the association of OGTT measurements individually and grouped with mortality, adjusting for covariates.
RESULTS:
Participants were followed for a median 20.3 years (range 0.5-40). The first-hour OGTT glucose and insulin levels increased only modestly with age, whereas levels during the second hour increased 4% per decade. Individually, 100- and 120-min glucose measures and fasting and 100-min insulin levels were all independent predictors of mortality. When all measures were considered together, only higher 120-min glucose was a significant independent risk factor for mortality.
CONCLUSION:
The steeper rise with age of the OGTT 2-h glucose values and the prognostic primacy of the 120-min glucose value for mortality is consistent with previous reports and suggests the value of using the OGTT in clinical practice
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Circulating ceramides are inversely associated with cardiorespiratory fitness in participants aged 54-96 years from the Baltiore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
Get PDFCardiorespiratory fitness (VO2 peak) declines with age and is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in older adults. Identifying biomarkers of low fitness may provide insight for why some individuals experience an accelerated decline of aerobic capacity and may serve as clinically valuable prognostic indicators of cardiovascular health. We investigated the relationship between circulating ceramides and VO2 peak in 443 men and women (mean age of 69) enrolled in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). Individual species of ceramide were quantified by HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry. VO2 peak was measured by a graded treadmill test. We applied multiple regression models to test the associations between ceramide species and VO2 peak, while adjusting for age, sex, blood pressure, serum LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and other covariates. We found that higher levels of circulating C18:0, C20:0, C24:1 ceramides and C20:0 dihydroceramides were strongly associated with lower aerobic capacity (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.018, and P < 0.001, respectively). The associations held true for both sexes (with men having a stronger association than women, P value for sex interaction <0.05) and were unchanged after adjusting for confounders and multiple comparison correction. Interestingly, no significant association was found for C16:0, C22:0, C24:0, C26:0, and C22:1 ceramide species, C24:0 dihydroceramide, or total ceramides. Our analysis reveals that specific long-chain ceramides strongly associate with low cardiovascular fitness in older adults and may be implicated in the pathogenesis of low fitness with aging. Longitudinal studies are needed to further validate these associations and investigate the relationship between ceramides and health outcomes
MAGNESIUM AND MUSCLE PERFORMANCE IN OLDER PERSONS: THE INCHIANTI STUDY
No full textBackground: The role of magnesium in maintaining muscle integrity
and function in older adults is largely unknown.
Objective: We aimed to investigate the relation between serum
magnesium concentrations and muscle performance in older
subjects.
Design: Data are from the baseline examination conducted between
September 1998 and March 2000 of the InCHIANTI (aging in the
Chianti area) study, a prospective epidemiologic survey of risk factors
for late-life disability. From among 1453 randomly selected
community residents completing a home interview, 1138men(46%)
and women (aged 66.7 15.2 y; x SD) with complete data on
muscle performance and serum magnesium who were not severely
cognitively compromised and had no evidence of kidney disease or
hypercalcemia were included in the analysis. Muscle performance
was evaluated by grip strength, lower-leg muscle power, knee extension
torque, and ankle extension isometric strength and was normalized
for age and body mass index (BMI) within each sex.
Results: After adjustment for age, sex, BMI, laboratory variables,
presence of chronic diseases, muscle area, muscle density, and physical
activity level, serum magnesium concentrations were significantly
associated with indexes of muscle performance, including grip strength
( 2.0 0.5, P 0.0002), lower-leg muscle power ( 8.8 2.7,
P 0.001), knee extension torque ( 31.2 7.9, P 0.0001), and
ankle extension strength ( 3.8 0.5, P 0.0001).
Conclusions: The serum magnesium concentration is an independent
correlate of muscle performance in older persons. Whether
magnesium supplementation improves muscle function remains to
be shown
Absolute Strength and Loss of Strength as Predictors of Mobility Decline in Older Adults: The InCHIANTI Study
No full textTheoretical definitions of sarcopenia traditionally emphasize age-related loss of muscle strength; however, most analyses of the association between strength and mobility examine strength at a single time point. This study sought to identify sex-specific cutpoints for muscle strength and power (at one time point) and 3-year changes in strength and power that would maximize prediction of 3-year mobility decline. Longitudinal analysis of 934 adults aged >= 65 years enrolled in the Invecchiare in Chianti study was conducted. Grip strength, knee extension strength, and lower extremity power were measured at baseline and 3 years postenrollment. Mobility function (gait speed and self-reported mobility disability) was measured at 3 and 6 years postenrollment. Classification and regression tree analysis was used to predict mobility decline from Years 3 to 6. Men with knee extension strength < 19.2 kg and grip strength < 39.0 kg had clinically meaningful declines in gait speed of .24 m/s. Furthermore, men with power < 105 W were nearly nine times more likely to develop incident mobility disability (likelihood ratio = 8.68; 95% confidence interval = 3.91, 19.44). Among women, knee extension strength < 18.0 kg was associated with a minimal gait speed decline of 0.06 m/s, and women with leg power < 64 W were three times more likely to develop incident mobility disability (likelihood ratio = 3.01; 95% confidence interval = 1.79, 5.08). Three-year changes in strength and power did not predict mobility decline in either sex. Findings suggest that strength and power measured at one time point are more predictive of mobility decline than 3-year changes and that low strength and power are particularly powerful risk factors in men
- …
