<p> Virtually no research to date has investigated individual differences that might make women more or less susceptible to menopausal symptoms. This study hypothesized that high levels of the neuroticism personality trait render women more susceptible to severe menopausal symptoms. Neuroticism was assessed using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Brief Version (EPQ-BV), and menopausal symptoms were measured with the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS). A total of 169 English speaking women <i>(M</i> = 50.74 years) were recruited through social media and flyers to complete an online survey. After controlling stressors, exercise, and income, a strong correlation between high neuroticism and more severe symptoms was found. This indicates that negative menopausal experiences can be predicted with individual difference measures. The utility of being able to predict difficult menopause experiences with individual difference measures in a clinical setting, as well as suggestions for future research of this type, are discussed.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the decision making of family caregivers who were considering transitioning an older adult family member from independent living to an assisted living facility (ALF). A total of 15 caregivers were interviewed; 12 (80%) decided to place the older adult in an ALF and 3 (20%) decided not to do so. </p><p> This study found that the decision to place an older adult in an ALF was primarily due to the declining health of the older adult and safety concerns. All of the twelve caregivers who placed their family member in an ALF reported that they continued to be involved in caregiving after placement. Caregiver support groups and self-care were two interventions that participants described as most effective to support them during their caregiver experience. More research is needed on how to support family caregivers who are considering placement in an ALF.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to write a grant to implement an educational program for healthcare professionals employed by Kaiser Permanente (e.g., physicians, nurses, and social workers) on older adult sexual health. Topics would include the increased transference of sexually transmitted infections among the older adult population. The professionals would also acquire the tools needed to enhance their comfort levels when engaging in sexual health discussions with older adult patients. </p><p> The goals are to increase (1) the professionals' knowledge of sexuality and sexual behaviors among older adults and (2) their comfort levels when discussing sexual health with their older adult patients. A total of 2,100 healthcare professionals would participate during the funding period. The program would be evaluated by means of pre/post-testing of knowledge and comfort levels, as well as a satisfaction survey. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not requirements for the successful completion of this project.</p>

Vegetation reclamation in oil-sands requires a consistent and adequate supply of seeds of native shrubs. However, annual seed production is erratic and seeds are usually short lived and insufficient for the reclamation projects. Seeds of six native shrub species including: Prunus virginiana, Prunus pensylvanica, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Shepherdia canadensis, Cornus sericea, and Viburnum edule were used to analyze physiological changes during storage and artificial aging processes. The shrub seeds were studied for one year during storage under eight different combinations of temperature (-20, 4, 22.5 °C), atmosphere (Air / N2) and relative humidity (RH; 7-8 % / 3-4 %). No significant differences were detected among the storage parameters after one year; however, sub-zero and N2 environments showed a potential in maintaining a higher seed vigour during storage. In the artificial aging experiment, seeds were subjected to 45 oC, 60 % RH for 5-25 d. For most shrub species, the seed viability decreased significantly after 10-15 d artificial aging and was down to 0 % after 20 d. The germination percentage declined already after 5 d; therefore, there was a delay in detecting viability loss using the tetrazolium test. Non-aged seeds and aged seeds of most collections showed significantly different seedling lengths, which indicated a negative effect of accelerated aging process on the seedling growth. The electrolyte conductivity, as well as seed dehydrin protein expression, is strongly correlated with the seed vigour, which can be used as seed quality assessment methods in seed longevity predicting. A loss of membrane integrity occurred during the accelerated seed aging processes, as indicated by an increased electrolyte conductivity that was negatively correlated with the seed viability and germination. During artificial aging process, heat stress of Prunus virginiana induced expression of dehydrins with a molecular mass of 27 kDa, which reached a detectable level after 5 d. The storage protocol developed in this study would benefit the adequate supply of viable shrub seeds for reclamation. With species-specific parameters taken into consideration, the artificial aging technique to predict seed longevity can be further expanded to other non-crop species used in reclamation of lands after oil extraction.

<p> The purpose of this project was to develop a proposed program, write a grant proposal, identify a funding source, and select a host agency for an educational program to educate skilled nursing facility staff members on alternative treatment options for people with Alzheimer's disease. A literature review was conducted in order to examine the history of Alzheimer's disease, prevalence and symptomology of the disease, and past, current, and alternative treatment approaches. The educational program will be located at Community SeniorServ, Inc. Senior Serve in Anaheim, California. The program will provide skilled nursing facility staff members with education on the harmful side effects psychotropic medications have on patients with Alzheimer's disease, and on innovative techniques to treat the negative behaviors associated with the disease. The actual submission or funding of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.</p>

This study investigated the effects of age on behavior controlled by temporal contingincies and also describes bar press responding by an animal infrequently used in the operant laboratory: the Syrian hamster. A review of the literature revealed a paucity of research on aging and temporal control thus providing an impetus for the study. The performance of four young (12months) and four old (24+months) male Syrian hamsters on Fixed-Interval schedules o f reinforcement was analyzed according t o post-reinforcement-pause duration, response rate, running rate, and cummulative record measures. Failure of the behavior to stabilize consistently over time precluded the interpretation of age differences. The discussion presents rationales for the inconclusive results and describes the atypical behavior of the hamsters.

Stooping and crouching (SC) postures are integral to many daily tasks, such as retrieving objects from the floor and reaching to low shelves, yet nearly one in four community-dwelling older adults (24%) report having difficulty or being completely unable to perform SC movements. While limited research has identified physical (e.g., lower extremity strength and joint immobility) and behavioural (e.g., obesity and balance confidence) determinants of SC difficulty, little is known about how aging affects the manner in which SC tasks are performed. The objective of this thesis was to describe age-related differences in movement kinematics and balance control during stooping and crouching tasks. Healthy younger (n = 12) and older (n = 12) participants performed a series of object-retrieval tasks ??? varying in initial lift height, precision required, and duration ??? that required them to bend over or reach toward the floor. In addition to kinematic and postural control measures describing the movements, measures of lower limb isometric strength, passive range of motion (ROM), and balance confidence were obtained for each participant. Compared to younger, older participants moved slower into and out of self-selected postures, which were characterized by higher whole-body centre of mass (COM) vertical positions. Specifically, older adults exhibited lower vertical COM linear velocities and lower hip, knee, and ankle joint angular velocities during transitions, and higher COM heights achieved through comparatively less flexion in the hip, knee, and ankle joints during object retrieval. Older participants also displayed smaller, more centralized anterior-posterior (AP) COM excursions and lower COM velocities, but higher centre of pressure (COP) activity compared to younger participants, demonstrated through increased COP velocity (relative to COM velocity) and more frequent COP adjustments aimed at regulating COM position. Changing task constraints (i.e., lower initial lift height or longer duration) elicited greater postural changes in younger compared to older participants, potentially reflecting a diminished ability in older adults to make appropriate task-specific adaptations. In particular, younger participants were 4 times more likely than older participants to use a lower to the floor, forefoot crouching posture, especially during longer duration tasks. Older participants also had decreased leg strength and less passive range of motion compared to younger participants. Overall, the results of this thesis demonstrate that despite moving slower through shorter distances, older adults displayed higher COP activity, which may have reflected a heightened effort to control COM position, during SC tasks. This compliments existing works describing age-related differences in movement strategies and balance control during lifting and sit-to-stand tasks. Further work exploring relationships between specific physiological and behavioural factors and SC task performance measures is needed to inform therapeutic intervention strategies.

No description available.

North American populations are aging, yet the issues and challenges faced by older adults remain largely unaccounted for in planning processes. This research examines this invisibility in the specific case of Winnipeg, MB and through University of Manitoba’s Centre on Aging Age-Friendly Communities Community University Research Alliance (CURA) that builds on the World Health Organization (WHO 2006) notion of age-friendly cities. The research will first document the relationship between aging issues, age-friendly cities and planning through a review of planning and aging-related literature. The second aspect of the research is focus groups interviews with community partners in the Age-Friendly Communities CURA, and semi-structured interviews with municipal planners. Recommendations developed outline how organizations working towards a more age-friendly city can more effectively engage with planning processes, particularly during the review of Winnipeg’s official plan.

Changes in motivation and goals over the lifespan as posited by Carstensen’s Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (1993) have shown to effect information processing and memory, such that motivation-consistent information is more likely to be remembered and evaluated more positively by young and older adults. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of motivation-consistent mental health information on memory for and evaluations of this information as well as attitudes towards mental health services and intentions to seek these services. An Internet-based sample of 160 younger (18-25) and 175 older adults (60+) were randomly assigned to read a mental health information pamphlet that emphasized motivations relevant to either early adulthood or late adulthood. Participants completed measures assessing memory for and subjective evaluation of the pamphlet, and attitudes towards and intentions to seek mental health services. There was no significant interaction between age group and pamphlet version on any of the variables measured; suggesting that designing and implementing motivation-consistent mental health information for different age groups confers little benefit with respect to information retention, as well as attitudes and intentions toward seeking professional psychological help.