Socioeconomic disparities in health are well documented in the United States in that the higher socioeconomic status (SES) a person is the lower level of incidence and the prevalence of health problem, disease and death will be. Researchers have argued that SES disparities in health are found in different races, across countries, and throughout life. Furthermore, some researchers have argued that high SES persons enjoy their active life expectancy until quite late in life, while low SES persons start to suffer morbidity and functional limitation through middle and early old age. As a result, socioeconomic disparity in health becomes increasingly differential at middle age, while it diminishes until later old age due to physical fragility of human being and declining effect of SES. This study extends previous research by applying the Multi Level Model for Change (MLMFC) and Multi Cohorts Accelerate Longitudinal Design (MCALD) to explore SES disparities in health over the life course. Functional limitation and chronic diseases are used as measurements of health status over time. This study introduces a new way to measure health status over time by combining number and duration of chronic diseases. The results suggest that using a combination of number and duration of chronic diseases as measurement of health over time is more optimal than only using the number of chronic diseases. Both time variant and invariant independent variables are used to explore health trajectory. Findings from this study indicate that people from different SES groups have different health trajectories over the life course. Low SES people tend to age faster than their high SES counterparts. The process of aging in the United States is largely segregated according to individuals’ SES. Financial stress and health risk behaviors are two major mediators of SES disparities in functional limitation. However, SES (measured by income) is consistently a significant predictor of chronic diseases after controlling financial stress and health risk behaviors. Findings of this study suggest that the mechanisms through which SES impacts functional limitation may be different from its impact on chronic diseases. / text

Obesity is closely related to many medical complications such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart failure. Obesity and other factors, including elevated blood glucose levels, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, constitute a constellation of symptoms known as the metabolic syndrome, which are the risk factors for coronary artery disease. Lipocalin-2 is a pro-inflammatory adipokine causally involved in the development of obesity-associated metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Recent clinical and experimental evidences demonstrate an association between augmented circulating lipocalin-2 and cardiac dysfunction. However, little is known about the detailed roles of lipocalin-2 in regulating pathophysiological functions of the heart. The present study was designed to compare the heart functions of mice with normal (WT) or deficient lipocalin-2 (Lcn2-KO) expression and to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying lipocalin-2-mediated deteriorated effects in hearts. Echocardiographic analysis revealed that the myocardial contractile function was significantly improved in hearts of Lcn2-KO mice, under both standard chow and high fat diet conditions. The heart function before and after I/R injury (20-min of global ischemia followed by 60-min of reperfusion) was assessed using the Langendorff perfusion system. Compared with WT littermates, hearts from Lcn2-KO mice showed improved functional recovery and reduced infarct size following I/R. These phenomena can be observed in mice under both standard chow and high fat feeding conditions. Under baseline condition, the mitochondrial function of hearts from Lcn2-KO mice was significantly enhanced, as demonstrated by biochemical analysis of respiratory chain activity, markers of biogenesis and oxidative stress, as well as electron microscopic investigation of the mitochondrial ultrastructure. Acute or chronic administration of lipocalin-2 impaired cardiac functional recovery to I/R and dampened the mitochondrial function in hearts of Lcn2-KO mice. These effects were associated with an extensive modification of the fatty acyl chain compositions of intracellular phospholipids. In particular, lipocalin-2 facilitated the redistribution of linoleic acid (C18:2) among different types of phospholipid, including cardiolipin, which is exclusively located in the mitochondria inner membrane. The direct effects of lipocalin-2 on both H9c2 and NCM cells were also examined. TUNEL assay and flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that lipocalin-2 treatment promoted apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. Lipocalin-2 induced an early phase of phosphatidylserine exposure, followed by Bax-translocation and caspase-3 cleavage. The results collectively suggested that lipocalin-2 initiated the intrinsic mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway. In the hearts of Lcn2-KO mice, significantly reduced number of apoptotic cells was observed after I/R injury. In conclusion, lacking of lipocalin-2 improved heart function recovery during I/R injury via mitochondrial function restoration, phospholipids remodeling, and inhibition of cardiomyocytes apoptosis. / published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Given the percentage of African American women in the general U.S. population, the number of African American women with functional limitations and disabilities is disproportionate; although chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis may contribute to these disparities it is unclear what environmental factors may affect these outcomes in the women. Hence, the purpose of this study was to examine biological factors (age, body mass index, and waist circumference), psychosocial intra-individual factors (health care utilization, trust in health care providers, pain, pain beliefs, and depression), and cumulative extra-individual environmental factors (racial discrimination, stress from racial discrimination, and health care access) that may influence function and disability outcomes in African American women with osteoarthritis 50-80 years of age. The disablement process model combined with the cumulative inequality theory served as theoretical guides used for this study. This study was a non-experimental, descriptive correlational study. The study included a sample of 120 African American women with OA from Texas and New Mexico. Surveys were mailed to participants or distributed in person. The statistical analysis consisted of correlations, linear regressions, multiple regressions and hierarchical regressions. The significant predictors of function were BMI, pain severity and pain beliefs. Pain severity and pain beliefs predicted disability. Depression mediated the relationship between racial discrimination and disability. It was demonstrated that biological risk factors, intra-individual and extra-individual factors are related to disablement outcomes in this sample of African American women. This study can inform the development of future interventions designed to decrease the risk of functional limitations and disabilities in middle-aged and older African American women with osteoarthritis. / text

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The aging process is strongly associated with decreased activity in the immune system. Dysregulation of T-lymphocyte function, such as reduced proliferation, is one problem faced by most elder people, which prevents them from successfully dealing with exogenous pathogens. Effective regulation of T-lymphocyte activity depends on the proper and prompt transduction of both positive and negative signals within Tlymphocytes and reflects the balance between positive and negative effects. Decline of positive signaling in aging has been studied and reported, while mechanisms concerning up-regulation of negative signaling with age and its role in immune senescence are still unclear. Cbl-b, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, was studied by our lab since it regulates the ubiquitin process, a protein modification process that has suppressive effects on signaling pathways. We first determined the reaction of Cbl-b to different stimuli in young rat splenic T-lymphocytes, and showed that there is a decrease in Cbl-b protein expression upon CD28 stimulation and such protein degradation is proteasome-dependent only. We also showed the mechanism of Cbl-b expression regulation involves the intracellular movement of Nedd4 toward Cbl-b and an up-regulation of Nedd4 expression. Then we proved that in old splenic T-lymphocytes, decreased proteasome activity was unable to down-regulate the Cbl-b protein. High levels of Cbl-b in old T-lymphocytes are functional in preventing PI3K activity and are associated with reduced T-lymphocyte proliferation upon regular stimulation. T-lymphocytes from old Cbl-b knock-out mice show similar proliferative reaction to CD3 stimulation as T-lymphocytes from young wild-type, which establishes the causeeffect relationship between sustained Cbl-b expression and decreased T-lymphocyte proliferation. In summary, these data suggest a unique role of Cbl-b in regulating Tlymphocyte signal transduction and provide critical preliminary data for extending Cbl-b studies into other fields, such as carcinogenesis.

<p> The Filipino culture recognizes the elderly as part of its human resources. As a culture that considers family as a basic unit of society, the elderly play a central role. When elderly Filipinos, those that are 65 years of age and older, migrate to the United States, they expect that their families are able to take care of them. However, work demands and living situations among family members prevent them from receiving proper care.</p><p> With the increasing population of elderly Filipinos in Palm Springs, demand for a new Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) is important. Agbayani's Residential Care Facility for Elderly Filipinos in Palm Springs, CA will offer supportive, quality, and long-term care for institutionalizing family in the facility. This business plan will show how Agbayani's RCFE intends on providing elderly Filipinos the quality of service and community they are accustomed to while maintaining a viable business.</p>

<p> Aging Well Day Care Center is a start-up company designed to offer an affordable alternative care for seniors living alone. The services offered will be equally beneficial for families caring for their aging parents. Recent legislation has emphasized the importance of developing daycare centers to handle the rapidly growing population of elder Americans that relies upon the federal insurance programs to help manage their long-lasting medical conditions which can be treated but not cured. The objective of this business plan is to illustrate the need for adult day care services within this region and that adequate resource are available to build and maintain a financially solvent organization.</p>

No description available.

Age-related decline in memory and other cognitive functions, such as visuospatial functions is widely studied and well documented. In recent years, some studies have also found relationships between memory performance and functional body lateralization, with individuals who are inconsistently lateralized (e.g. have inconsistent handedness) scoring higher on episodic memory tests. The objectives of this study were to investigate relationships and possible differences between episodic and semantic memory performance, and visuospatial functions as a function of functional lateralization consistency in a large population-based study. In total, 1283 adult men and women participants, with age ranging from 25 to 100 years, were tested within the Betula prospective cohort study (Nilsson et al., 1997) where they were included in the fifth wave (T5) of data collection. Participants were divided into groups of consistent or inconsistent functional lateralization regarding respective hand-, foot-, and eyedness. Results revealed weak to moderate relationship between variables of functional laterality and its consistency. While age was significant predictor of memory performance and visuospatial functions, sex and functional laterality consistency variables were insignificant. Results are discussed in relation to previous studies and to hemispheric interaction theory. / Betula prospective cohort study (Nilsson et al., 1997, 2004)

This is a dissertation about care. Based on over ten years of experience with Southeast Asia and sixteen months of ethnographic research for this project, I address the issue of caregiving primarily from the perspective of those providing care at home for elderly people in urban Northern Thailand and from the vantage point of national and international public health initiatives aimed at supporting such endeavors. In turn, I use the intimate experiences of caregivers to interrogate the politics of aging, long-term care, and national identity. What emerges is an understanding of caregiving different from that of liberal humanitarianism and biomedicine alike. With a focus on social relationships and embodied care practices, I show how forms of attention, obligation, giving, and receiving in urban Thai settings do not always equate with their counterparts in standard global health accounts. Instead, local values are put into action with significant ramifications for the performance and promotion of care. I examine local and global techniques of power and care embedded in the growing number of volunteer organizations directed at the elderly. With attention to class, religion, and history, I trace the interpersonal, social, and political influences reflected in caregiver subjectivity and propose a distinctly Thai logic of psychosocial support that underlies the experience of the caregivers and aid workers with whom I worked. Examining family dynamics and the stories people tell about the future, I trace a new imaginary for long-term care at play, apparent at both the individual and the institutional level. And I develop the concept of the "social body," arguing that attention to and care of the collective is crucial for making sense not only of the disorienting varieties of volunteerism marking the shifting ground of long-term and end-of-life care in Thailand, but also of the larger scale political upheavals afoot in that country today. / Anthropology