The age structure of populations is an important and often unresolved factor in ecology and wildlife management. Parameters like onset of reproduction and senescence, reproductive success and survival rate are tightly correlated with age. Unfortunately, age information of wild animals is not easy to obtain, especially for birds, where few anatomical markers of age exist. Longitudinal age data from birds banded as chicks are rare, particularly in long lived species. Age estimation in such species would be extremely useful as their long life span typically indicates slow population growth and potentially the need for protection and conservation. Telomere length change has been suggested as a universal marker for ageing vertebrates and potentially other animals. This method, termed molecular ageing, is based on a shortening of telomeres with each cell division. In birds, the telomere length of erythrocytes has been reported to decline with age, as the founder cells (haematopoietic stem cells) divide to renew circulating red blood cells. I measured telomere length in kakapo, the world largest parrot and four other bird species (Buller’s albatross, kea, New Zealand robin and saddleback) using telomere restriction fragment analysis (TRF) to assess the potential for molecular ageing in these species. After providing an overview of methods to measure telomere length, I describe how one of them (TRF) measures telomere length by quantifying the size distribution of terminal restriction fragments using southern blot of in-gel hybridization (Chapter 2). Although TRF is currently the ‘gold standard’ to measure telomere length, it suffers from various technical problems that can compromise precision and accuracy of telomere length estimation. In addition, there are many variations of the protocol, complicating comparisons between publications. I focused on TRF analysis using a non-radioactive probe, because it does not require special precautions associated with handling and disposing of radioactive material and therefore is more suitable for ecology laboratories that typically do not have a strong molecular biology infrastructure. However, most of my findings can be applied to both, radioactive and nonradioactive TRF variants. I tested how sample storage, choice of restriction enzyme, gel Abstract II electrophoresis and choice of hybridization buffer can influence the results. Finally, I show how image analysis (e.g. background correction, gel calibration, formula to calculate telomere length and the analysis window) can not only change the magnitude of estimated telomere length, but also their correlation to each other. Based on these findings, I present and discuss an extensive list of methodological difficulties associated with TRF and present a protocol to obtain reliable and reproducible results. Using this optimized protocol, I then measured telomere length of 68 kakapo (Chapter 3). Almost half of the current kakapo population consists of birds that were captured as adults, hence only their minimum age is known (i.e. time from when they were found +5 years to reach adulthood). Although molecular ageing might not be able to predict chronological age accurately, as calibrated with minimum age of some birds, it should be able to compare relative age between birds. Recently, the oldest kakapo (Richard Henry) was found to show signs of reproductive senescence. The age (or telomere length) difference to Richard Henry could have been used to approximate the remaining reproductive time span for other birds. Unfortunately, there was no change of telomere length with age in cross sectional and longitudinal samples. Analysis of fitness data available for kakapo yielded correlations between telomere length and fledging success, but they were weak and disappeared when the most influential bird was excluded from analysis. The heavy management and small numbers of kakapo make conclusions about fitness and telomere length difficult and highly speculative. However, telomere length of mothers and their chicks were significantly correlated, a phenomena not previously observed in any bird. To test if the lack of telomere loss with age is specific to kakapo, I measured telomere length of one of its closest relatives: the kea (Chapter 4). Like kakapo, telomere length did not show any correlation with age. I then further assessed the usefulness of molecular ageing in birds using only chicks and very old birds to estimate the maximum TL range in an additional long lived (Buller’s albatross) and two shorter lived species (NZ robin and saddleback). In these Abstract III species, telomere length was on average higher in chicks than in adults. However, age matched individuals showed high variations in telomere length, such that age dependent and independent telomere length could not be distinguished. These data and published results from other bird species, coupled with the limitations of methodology I have identified (Chapter 2), indicate that molecular ageing does not work in most (if not all) birds in its current suggested form. Another way to measure telomere length is telomere Q-PCR, a real-time PCR based method. Measurement of the same kakapo samples with TRF and Q-PCR did not result in comparable results (Chapter 4). Through experimentation I found that differences in amplification efficiency between samples lead to unreliable estimation of telomere length using telomere Q-PCR. These differences were caused by inhibitors present in the samples. The problem of differential amplification efficiency in Q-PCR, while known, is largely ignored by the scientific community. Although some methods have been suggested to correct for differing efficiency, most of these introduce more error than they eliminate. I developed and applied an assay based on internal standard oligonucleotides that was able to corrected EDTA induced quantification errors of up to 70% with high precision and accuracy (Chapter 5). The method, however, failed when tested with other inhibitors commonly found in DNA samples extracted from blood (i.e. SDS, heparin, urea and FeCl3). PCR inhibition was highly selective in the probe-polymerase system I used, inhibiting amplification of genomic DNA, but not amplification of internal oligonucleotide or plasmid standards in the same reaction. Internal standards are a key feature of most diagnostic PCR assays to identify false negatives arising from amplification inhibition. The differential response to inhibition I identified greatly compromises the accuracy of these assays. Consequently, I strongly recommend that researchers using PCR assays with internal standards should verify that the target DNA and internal standard actually respond similarly to common inhibitors.

The present study was an exploration of the relationships among life satisfaction, attitudes toward aging and responses to cartoons about aging. Subjects were 86 community resident, active and financially secure adults aged 53 to 85. In this sample of subjects, the Life Satisfaction Index (Neugarten, Havighurst and Tobin, 1961) factors of Mood, Congruence and Zest combined with satisfaction with social involvements to account for 50% of the variance of attitude toward old age. Attitudes toward aging were measured with the Kogan-Wallach (1961) semantic differential evaluating the concept of "old age". As expected, all subjects rated cartoons which portrayed a clearly negative view of aging as less funny and more negative than cartoons which portrayed a more ambivalent view of aging. Contrary to expectation, responses to cartoons about aging were unrelated to life satisfaction, evaluations of old age or perceived societal attitudes toward old age.

Older adults constitute a growing population in the United States. A disproportionate percentage of this population experience chronic illnesses and need to recall information important to prevent complications of illness and to self-manage their condition. One example of the need to retain information is to recall the risk factors for ischemic stroke to prevent the damaging effects of stroke.Factors that could influence the recall of health information include age-related changes in cognition, specifically working memory capacity. Research supports that older adults have working memory capacity limitations. Older adults may also experience low health literacy that in combination with declines in working memory could further influence recall of health information.The purpose of this study was to describe the predictive relationships of working memory capacity and health literacy on the recall of the warning signs of stroke in a sample of older community dwelling elders.Fifty-six participants, ranging in age from 68-99 years of age (M= 80 years of age) were recruited from two sites, a Senior Center and Retirement Residence. A brochure published by the American Heart and Stroke Association, "Let's Talk About Stroke" was the tool used to deliver the health information regarding the five warning signs of stroke. Personal factors including demographic and medical variables were collected in this study. Working Memory was assessed using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III, Working Memory Index (WMI). Health literacy was determined using the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (STOFHLA). Participants were asked to recall the health information they were asked to read regarding the five warning signs of stroke at the conclusion of the study visit.Findings indicated that the key variables working memory and health literacy were independently and positively correlated to recall (p < .01); however, regression analysis did not demonstrate an interaction between the two key variables and recall.The findings from this study explore the associations between working memory, health literacy and personal factors and support that these key predictors may be related to the older adults ability to successfully recall health information.

Previous research has investigated intentional retrieval of contextual information and contextual influences on object identification and word recognition, yet few studies have systematically investigated context effects in episodic memory for objects. To address this issue, unique objects on a white background or embedded in a visually rich context were presented to participants. At test, the object was presented either in the original or a different context. Chapter 2 demonstrated that a context shift decrement (CSD)--decreased recognition performance when context is changed between encoding and retrieval--was observed. In four studies with young adults, the CSD was not attenuated by encoding or retrieval manipulations. Chapter 3 revealed that the CSD was resistant to aging and neuropsychological status. Importantly, older adults classified as high MTL performed better on the recognition task than those classified as low MTL, and as well as young adults, supporting the successful aging hypothesis. Chapter 4 focused on elucidating the neural correlates of the CSD using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Right PHG activation during encoding was associated with subsequent recognition of objects in the context change condition. This same region was activated during recognition, suggesting it may automatically reinstate visual contextual information. Overall, the CSD is attributed to the automatic and obligatory binding of object and context information in episodic memory that results in an integrated representation, mediated by the hippocampal complex.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>Healthcare provider practices around older adult sexuality are increasingly the focus of scholarship. Researchers use available scales to study health worker knowledge and behavior in their research. This dissertation argues the need for a new scale, because the available measures are dated and do not account for changes in attitudes and medical advances over three decades. After a review of the increasing role of physicians, social workers, and other health workers providing care for sexual issues throughout history, I describe available scales for measuring knowledge and behaviors about older adult sexuality and review research that employs them. The purpose of the dissertation was to develop a contemporary measure regarding older adult sexuality practices among health workers. I utilized a two-phase plan following Bowen and Guo&rsquo;s 12-step mixed-method approach for scale development (2012). Phase I included a literature review and qualitative interviews with experts on older adult sexuality regarding the construct. Then I created a universe of items, reviewed them with the experts, and revised items. In Phase II, I tested the items with 155 healthcare providers and conducted analysis for reliability and validity. Based on the analysis, I culled items to create a shortened scale. I proposed a scale consisting of 52 items with three subscales: a 25-item Knowledge subscale, a 13-item Attitude subscale, and a 14-item Behavior subscale. The Knowledge subscale showed poor internal reliability (<i>KR-20</i> = .625). The Attitudes (&alpha; = .825), and Behavior (&alpha; = .837) subscales showed good internal reliability. I also evaluated content validity and criterion-related validity for the subscales. Flaws in the methods and analysis make the 52-item proposed scale conceptually unsound. Limitations in generating the pool of items, evaluating the items, and testing reliability and validity did not produce a viable scale. I analyze problems with the methodological approach and propose a redesign that corrects for flaws in the approach employed here. I will use an inductive, social justice model that expands scale development to include interviews with practitioners and older adults. I conclude with a number of research, practice, and policy implications that will result from a redesigned scale. </p>

Attention is a cognitive process essential to daily function. As attention encompasses an extremely broad array of cognitive subprocesses, there remains much to be discovered about the brain regions related to attention with neuroimaging. This thesis presents two studies that used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine neural activity associated with different forms of attentional control. In the first study, we scanned healthy young adults while they performed the Stroop task, which measures selective attention, to investigate neural responses underlying unanticipated conflict detection. We found several regions across the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes that became more active during states of unanticipated conflicts, relative to states of anticipated conflicts. These regions included the anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, angular gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, precuneus, lingual gyrus, and fusiform gyrus. Activity in these regions has previously been associated with attentional processes such as conflict detection, attention, orientation, and oddball detection. Our results therefore suggest that widespread areas of the cortex serve several cognitive processes involved in successfully monitoring and responding to unanticipated conflicts. In the second study, we tested young and cognitively healthy older adults with the Stroop task to determine whether aging affects the neural mechanisms underlying attentional lapses, defined as relatively longer response times. Like previous studies in young adults, we found regions in the default mode network exhibited greater activity as reaction time to stimuli increased. Attentional lapses were also preceded by decreased activity in regions related to attention, including the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices. Most importantly, young adults showed greater positive reaction time-modulated activity in default mode areas, while older adults exhibited greater positive reaction time-modulated activity in more prefrontal areas. Our results suggest that the neural correlates of attentional lapses change with healthy aging, reinforcing the idea of functional plasticity to maintain high cognitive function throughout the lifespan. / Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-22 11:33:32.418

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of the discharge education plan on the 30 day heart failure (HF) hospital readmission rates of elderly patients.</p><p> <b>Research Question:</b> What was the impact of the discharge education plan including medication adherence, dietary discretion, daily exercise tolerance, daily weight recording, recognition of any early symptoms of worsening HF and early follow-up plan with the physician in reducing the 30 day HF hospital readmission rates of the elderly patients? </p><p> Research Hypothesis: The discharge education plan including medication adherence, dietary discretion, daily activity tolerance, daily weight monitoring, recognition of any early symptoms of worsening heart failure, and early follow&ndash;up with the physician will reduce the 30 day heart failure hospital readmission rates of elderly patients. </p><p> <b>Background:</b> HF is one of the most common diagnoses and indications for hospitalization among adults over 65 years in United States (Pang, Komajda, and Gheorghiade, 2010). HF admission results in 6.5 million hospital days annually. In 2010, the total cost of care for patients with HF was 39.2 billion dollars (Gheorghiade, Vaduganathan, Fonarow, and Bonow, 2013). About two million Medicare beneficiaries are readmitted within 30 days of release from the hospital each year, costing Medicare 17.5 billion dollars in additional hospital bills. It is reported that elderly patients with HF are at increased risk for early readmission as a result of behavioral factors such as medication non&ndash;adherence, dietary indiscretion, exercise intolerance, drug and alcohol abuse, inadequate access to follow-up care, and poor transition of care (Gheorghiade, et al., 2013). </p><p> <b>Design and Methods:</b> A retrospective, non&ndash;experimental, and descriptive chart review was used in this study. The quantitative data, using convenience sampling, selected charts of patients with a diagnosis and readmission of HF within 30 days of discharge from the hospital between May 2012 and June 2013, was reviewed. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> A chi square statistic was used to investigate whether distributions of categorical variables differ and also compare the tallies or counts of categorical responses between the six independent variables. The significant results of the Chi square test for goodness of fit was found only for daily weight monitoring (p=0.0372) and with activity intolerance (p=0.0123). The test compared theoretical (expected) values to experimental (observed) values to determine whether the differences between these values are due to chance (sampling error) alone. The components of the discharge education plan that could not be tested were early recognition of worsening symptoms, early follow&ndash;up with the physician and medication non-compliance because of the low frequency counts of &lt;5, and thus we cannot assume that the data follows a rough normal distribution. Therefore, the hypothesis was not supported.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between green environments and resilience in older adults. It had two aims: 1) to explore the effect of a reflective garden walking program on resilience and three of its related concepts&mdash; perceived stress, personal growth initiative, and quality of life&mdash;in older adults, and 2) to explore the resilience patterns of older adults engaging in the reflective garden walking intervention. A parallel mixed method design using a quasi-experimental quantitative and a descriptive exploratory qualitative approach was used. Participants engaged in a six week reflective garden walking program. By the end of the program, resilience levels exhibited a slight increase and perceived stress levels a decrease. The qualitative data supported some beneficial effects of the reflective garden walking program, but also indicated that much of the participants&rsquo; experience of resilience may have been related to the rich social and nature-filled environment in which already they lived. Patterns of resilience that appeared in the data were <i>maintaining a positive attitude, belief in one&rsquo;s self in the face of one&rsquo;s vulnerabilities, woven into the social fabric, purpose and meaning, personal strength, and communities for growing older</i></p>