Master of Science / Department of Animal Sciences and Industry / Terry A. Houser / The objective of this study was to determine the effect of extended postmortem aging (DOA), steak location (LOC), and dietary treatment (TRT) on cooked meat tenderness, sarcomere length, and myofibrillar protein degradation of steaks from the Semitendinosus (ST) and Longissimus lumborum (LL). Crossbred feedlot steers (n = 40; initial body weight 638 ± 29 kg) were fed 45 d with the following diets: a control diet, control diet with microalgae meal, microalgae meal and antioxidants fed at the beginning of feeding, and microalgae meal with antioxidants fed during the final 10 d of feeding. The ST and LL were removed from carcasses. The ST was fabricated into 10 steaks, which were paired with an adjacent steak and assigned 5 LOC; LOC 1 was the most proximal and LOC 5 was the most distal. Each LOC was randomly assigned an aging period of 7, 14, 28, 56 or 112 d. The 6 most posterior steaks of the LL were paired with an adjacent steak and assigned 3 locations; LOC 1 being the most anterior and LOC 3 the most posterior. Each LOC of the LL was randomly assigned an aging period of 7, 28, or 112 d. Shear force, sarcomere length, muscle fiber type and size, postmortem proteolysis, and calpain activity were measured across aging periods for each LOC. Improved Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values were detected throughout the 112 d aging period for both ST and LL steaks (quadratic; P < 0.01). The largest decrease in shear force occurred between d 7 and 28 for LL and ST steaks. Shear force decreased (P < 0.01) from LOC 1 to LOC 5 (proximal to distal) in ST steaks. Steak LOC 5 had the longest sarcomeres over LOC 1, 2, and 3 on d 7, 14, and 28 (P < 0.01) in the ST; LOC 4 and 5 also had a greater percentage of Type I fibers (P < 0.01). Muscle fiber size in ST steaks decreased (P = 0.01) from LOC 1 to LOC 5. As DOA increased, intact calpain-1 decreased (quadratic; P < 0.01), with intact calpain-1 completely disappearing by d 56 and d 28 in the ST and LL, respectively. Intact desmin and troponin-T decreased throughout the 112 d in ST and LL steaks (linear; P ≤ 0.03). Degraded desmin-38 kDa increased (P < 0.01) between d 14 and d 28; however, degraded desmin-38 kDa did not continue to degrade (P = 0.76) from d 56 to d 112 in ST steaks. Degraded desmin-35 kDa content, however, continued to increase through d 112 (P < 0.01). Muscle fiber size and type along with sarcomere length played a substantial role in tenderness differences in steak LOC, whereas calpain and proteolytic activity played a substantial role across DOA.

<p> Baby boomers are a large population rapidly transitioning into older adulthood. As the proportion of older adults will be higher in the coming decade than at any previous point in history, the aging of the population has placed successful aging at the forefront of public health and health care efforts. Baby boomers have disproportionately low rates of successful aging and physical activity, even though physical activity is known to contribute to successful aging. Existing exercise programs are ineffective as evidenced by the widespread access to but poor participation in exercise programs. Archery exercise is a relatively unexplored, yet promising, physical activity intervention for baby boomers. This exploratory and qualitative case study was the first to explore the role of archery exercise in promoting successful aging through physical activity among baby boomers. A purposeful sample of 12 non-institutionalized baby boomers living in a Midwest community were enrolled in a six-week archery exercise program. A total of 8 females and 3 males with varying physical activity levels completed the program. Information from post-program, semi-structured interviews were triangulated with findings from a literature review. Key themes emerging from the interpretive analysis included physical benefits, mental benefits, positive social experience, appropriateness and benefit for older adults, and motivation to continue. Physical benefits included upper body strength, balance, and improvement to individual limitations. Mental benefits included concentration, movement control, confidence, and relief from individual mental challenges. Participants believed archery exercise is appropriate and beneficial for older adults because of the enjoyment, low intensity, rewarding, shareable, individualized, and multiple component aspects. The study demonstrates archery exercise is a promising physical activity intervention for baby boomers in this community. Future research is needed to explore the impact of archery exercise in other communities and among other older adult populations. Awareness about what constitutes physical activity is needed to encourage participation in exercise programs. Collaboration between public health, sporting, and community stakeholders is needed to deliver additional community-based, multiple component exercise programs to baby boomers. Archery exercise may be an effective physical activity intervention to address population aging concerns, although more research is needed to justify this claim.</p>

Clinicians and researchers have traditionally viewed eating disorders (EDs) as disorders of adolescence and early adulthood; however, mounting evidence suggests these debilitating disorders also occur in older women (those 30 years of age and older). Unfortunately, the vast majority of research conducted on EDs has ignored older age groups, making it difficult to determine whether older women represent a distinct group among those with EDs. In order to address this limitation I conducted two separate, but related, studies designed to explore the experiences of older Canadian women with EDs and whether this group differs from younger women with EDs in meaningful ways. Study 1 explored how a treatment seeking sample of women ages 30 years and older diagnosed with an ED (N=14) experience their ED and the precipitating factors of ED episodes among this age group using qualitative framework analysis. Study 2 examined the differences in ED severity, symptomatology, comorbidities, and quality of life between women under the age of 30 (younger women; n=338) and those 30 years and older (older women; n=98) in a treatment-seeking sample using quantitative methods. Across both studies the core ED experiences and symptoms of older women were not significantly different from those of younger women. However, differences emerged that suggest older women with EDs are somewhat less severe in terms of their ED symptomatology and comorbid mental disorders, yet older women with EDs may face some unique challenges and consequences that set them apart from their younger counterparts. These results are discussed in the context of previous research understanding the relationship between aging, mental health, and emotional regulation. In sum, the current thesis suggests treatment for older women with EDs should incorporate interventions designed to address the core symptoms of EDs, improve healthy emotion regulation skills, reduce shame, address the consequences for the patients’ families and partners, and treat the multitude of physical health complications seen in this group. Moreover, greater awareness should be brought to the occurrence of EDs in older age groups in order to reduce shame, stigma, and improve early detection of and treatment for EDs among this population.Clinicians and researchers have traditionally viewed eating disorders (EDs) as disorders of adolescence and early adulthood; however, mounting evidence suggests these debilitating disorders also occur in older women (those 30 years of age and older). Unfortunately, the vast majority of research conducted on EDs has ignored older age groups, making it difficult to determine whether older women represent a distinct group among those with EDs. In order to address this limitation I conducted two separate, but related, studies designed to explore the experiences of older Canadian women with EDs and whether this group differs from younger women with EDs in meaningful ways. Study 1 explored how a treatment seeking sample of women ages 30 years and older diagnosed with an ED (N=14) experience their ED and the precipitating factors of ED episodes among this age group using qualitative framework analysis. Study 2 examined the differences in ED severity, symptomatology, comorbidities, and quality of life between women under the age of 30 (younger women; n=338) and those 30 years and older (older women; n=98) in a treatment-seeking sample using quantitative methods. Across both studies the core ED experiences and symptoms of older women were not significantly different from those of younger women. However, differences emerged that suggest older women with EDs are somewhat less severe in terms of their ED symptomatology and comorbid mental disorders, yet older women with EDs may face some unique challenges and consequences that set them apart from their younger counterparts. These results are discussed in the context of previous research understanding the relationship between aging, mental health, and emotional regulation. In sum, the current thesis suggests treatment for older women with EDs should incorporate interventions designed to address the core symptoms of EDs, improve healthy emotion regulation skills, reduce shame, address the consequences for the patients’ families and partners, and treat the multitude of physical health complications seen in this group. Moreover, greater awareness should be brought to the occurrence of EDs in older age groups in order to reduce shame, stigma, and improve early detection of and treatment for EDs among this population. / May 2016

<p> The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to develop a fall prevention intervention that includes an evidence-based strategy, Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance (TJQMBB), in a low-income, senior independent living apartment building, Providence Gardens, with its non-profit partner, Las Palmas Housing Foundation. An extensive literature review determined that fall prevention can enhance quality of life and aging in place. The program will offer TJQMBB classes which increase strength and balance, as well as home safety evaluations, by a Tai Chi certified instructor and a Service Coordinator. The specific objectives include increased strength and balance and decreased fear of falling.</p><p> The Archstone Foundation was chosen as an appropriate funder due to its focus on supportive housing. The actual submission of the grant was not a requirement of the thesis project.</p>

Traffic crashes are one of the leading causes of death, substantial economic loss, and severe injuries for drivers. They also put lives of people at risk, cause severe traumas and incapacitating injuries, which usually require a painful healing process. Over the last 25 years, many researchers have recognized the necessity of delving into the nature of the traffic crashes. This necessity arises from the fact that developing methodologies to reduce crashes is vital to provide the public with safe and reliable transportation. From a transportation safety perspective, this problem becomes even more challenging and complex when aging populations are considered due to their cognitive, behavioral, and health limitations. Moreover, the number of aging road users and crashes involving aging drivers on Florida roadways are expected to increase in the near future due to their growing population in the state, which makes studies on aging population-involved crashes even more critical. With this motivation, unlike previous crash-focused traffic safety studies mostly focusing on the general population, this dissertation attempts to understand the unique nature of aging population-involved (aging-involved) crashes. Note that by "aging-involved", the crashes involving at least one 65 years and older individual are meant in this dissertation. The utmost importance is given to answering the following question: How do the aging-involved crashes vary compared to other age group-involved crashes? Given the limitations of existing traffic crash studies on addressing the needs of aging populations, this dissertation proposes several novel methodological approaches with the following objectives: • to discover the geo-spatial differences between aging- and other age group-involved crashes based on the comparison of high risk crash locations, • to identify the statistically significant factors influencing the aging-involved crashes using a multiple binary choice model-based approach, • to disclose the differences between crashes involving 50-64 and 65+ drivers in terms of involvement characteristics, spatial distribution, and significant factors causing those crashes, • to stratify the aging drivers by dividing them into three subgroups (65-69, 70-74 and 75+) in order to explore the differences among aging drivers, who are oftentimes evaluated as a homogeneous group, • to provide a spatiotemporal comparative investigation of the crashes involving aging drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians, • to determine the factors that drive both the crash occurrence probability and the crash rate of aging drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians, • to understand where and how far away people have crashes compared to where they live, and what the statistical nature of proximity of crash spots to the residence locations of crash occupants is. To the authors' knowledge, such a comprehensive investigation of aging population-involved crashes has not been conducted previously in the traffic safety field, which represents the novel contribution of this work. For this purpose, several methodological approaches were applied on both different counties in the State of Florida as well as the whole state. Aging-involved crashes were spatially and temporally investigated using GIS-based methodologies in order to discover the significant factors that affect those crashes using statistical modeling approaches. The most important findings of this work can be summarized as follows: • Aging-involved crashes differ from other age group involved crashes both spatially and temporally. • Aging-involved crash density maps have a unique geo-spatial pattern, which is different than the patterns of other age groups' crash density maps. • Spatial distributions of aging adults and aging-involved crashes are strongly correlated as indicated by the population factor approach. • Aging drivers in different age cohorts such as 65-69, 70-74, and 75+ do not constitute a homogeneous group and rather heterogeneous in terms of crash involvement. • There are significant differences in the effect of significant causal and spatiotemporal factors on the crash involvement not only between 65- and 65+ drivers, but also between stratified age groups of 65+ drivers. • Significant spatiotemporal variations in crash rates of different types of aging roadway users (e.g. driver, pedestrian, etc.) were captured. • Traffic safety of 65+ population compel spatially and temporally tailored remedies in order to address issues emerge at different roadway segments at weekdays and weekends. • Facility variables such as health facilities, religious facility, and supermarkets are highly influential on 65+ crashes, and hence roadways around these facilities should be particularly scrutinized by road safety stakeholders. • High aging-involved crash rate roadways are found to vary spatially depending on whether it is weekday or weekend. • The information obtained from crash spot –residence location proximity analysis can help in developing methodologies that can integrate population into crash frequency prediction methods. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2018. / October 26, 2018. / Aging, GIS, Human Factors, Spatial Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Traffic Safety / Includes bibliographical references. / Eren Erman Ozguven, Professor Directing Dissertation; Arda O. Vanli, University Representative; Ren Moses, Committee Member; John O. Sobanjo, Committee Member; Lisa Spainhour, Committee Member.

Thesis advisor: John B. Williamson / While much has been written about the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on the workplace, little research has focused specifically on its effect on older workers. Using Pierre Bourdieu's theories of "capital" as a frame, I investigate how older academic faculty, clergy, and government employees have been affected by the rapid technological changes that have occurred in the workplace over the past 25 years. I conducted 75 semi-structured interviews and discovered that older workers, while generally limited in their technological familiarity and competence when compared to their younger coworkers, do have a wealth of skills that make them invaluable as employees in the modern workplace. Through the use of their social connections and organizational knowledge, I found that older workers are able to successfully mitigate almost any lack of technological skill. Moreover, as the responsibilities of workers change, because of globalization and the automation of work, I contend that the skills of older workers will be able to successfully manage the transition. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Bao, Luoman. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-61). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.7 / Generalized Reciprocity --- p.7 / Altruistic Norm of Filial Piety --- p.9 / Affective Connection in Adult Child-Parent Relationship --- p.11 / Gender Disparity in Caregiving --- p.13 / THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK --- p.15 / METHOD --- p.20 / Data Sources --- p.20 / Dependent Variable --- p.21 / Independent Variables --- p.22 / Controls --- p.26 / Statistical Procedure --- p.28 / RESULTS --- p.34 / Intergenerational support and its gendered pattern in Taiwan families --- p.34 / Financial Support --- p.37 / Phone Contact and Face-to-face Contact --- p.40 / DISCUSSION --- p.48 / REFERENCES --- p.56 / Figure1. Three mechanisms of supporting elderly parents --- p.15 / Figure2. Mechanism of generalized reciprocity --- p.16 / Figure3. Mechanism of altruistic norm of filial piety --- p.18 / Figure4. Mechanism of affective connection --- p.19 / Table 1. Time Point of the Variables been Measured --- p.29 / Table2. Financial Support Provided from Child to Parents --- p.30 / Table3. Contact between Child and Parents --- p.31 / Table4. Distribution of Explanatory Variables --- p.32 / Table5. Children's and Parents' Characteristics in 2006 --- p.33 / Table6. Means and Percentage Distributions of Variable: Gendered Pattern in 2006 --- p.44 / Table7. Determinants of Financial Support from Children to Elderly Parents in 2006 --- p.45 / Table8. Determinants of Phone Contact between Children and Elderly Parents in 2006 --- p.46 / Table9. Determinants of Face-to-face Contact between Children and Elderly Parents in 2006 --- p.47 / Table 10. The Effectiveness of Three Mechanisms in Explaining Elderly Care --- p.48

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The role of ROS in the hematopoietic system has been a subject that has received little investigation due to the hypoxic environment inherent in the bone marrow niche. Furthermore, it is not known whether or not oxidative damage accumulations play a role in the functional decline of HSCs associated with aging. Measuring DNA damage and ROS levels using the Fragment Length Analysis by Repair Enzyme (FLARE) assay, I show here that there are indeed significantly detectable levels of 8-oxoguanine, a lesion associated with ROS, present in both young and old murine HSCs. In an attempt to attenuate the presence of these lesions, a four-week treatment with the thiol-based antioxidant N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine was administered orally to mice. Analysis revealed significant decreases in oxidative lesions in both the young and old HSC compartment. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the NAC treatment significantly reduced number of baseline DNA breaks in old, but not young, HSCs. Together these results suggest that DNA damage accumulation is a dynamic process that changes as cells age. Further understanding of the role of ROS will help elucidate the importance of this type of DNA damage on the declining functional potential associated with aging.

INTRODUCTION: While the impact of back pain on morbidity in older adults is well-understood, the influence of back pain on mortality is unclear. Back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and disability is associated with elevated risk of mortality. Thus, we hypothesized that older women with persistent back pain would have a higher risk of mortality over 16-years of follow-up, compared to those with no back pain among participants in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF), a large multisite cohort study. Furthermore, we hypothesized that limitations of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) would mediate a greater proportion of the mortality risk, compared to two objective measures of physical function, walking and chair stand speed. METHODS: The analytic sample included 8,321 SOF participants (mean age 71.5, SD=5.1) who answered back pain questions at baseline (1986–87) and visit 2 (1989–90). We created a four-category back pain variable by combining responses at two interviews (baseline and visit 2). Categories included: no back pain (24%), non-persistent back pain (23%), and infrequent (44%) or frequent (9%) persistent back pain. Participants were followed from visit 2 through visit 9 (2006–08). Death was confirmed with receipt of death certificates. Using Cox-proportional hazards, we calculated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for all-cause and cause-specific mortality with the ‘no back pain’ participants as our reference group. We adjusted for age, sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported general health, smoking status, comorbid conditions (e.g., prevalent vertebral fractures, osteoarthritis, hip pain, diabetes, hypertension), previous stroke, history of breast cancer, hospitalizations and falls in the previous year. We evaluated self-reported IADL limitations, slow walking speed, and slow chair stand time as a priori mediators of back pain and subsequent mortality. RESULTS: A total of 4975 women (55.8%) died over the follow-up period. A higher proportion of women with frequent persistent back pain died (65.8%) compared to those with no back pain (53.5%) (adjusted HR = 1.24; 95% CI 1.11 to 1.39). We observed an increase in cardiovascular (adjusted HR = 1.34; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.62) and cancer (adjusted HR = 1.33; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.71) mortality. No increased risk was observed for other back pain groups. A larger proportion of the association was mediated by IADL limitations (47%), compared to poor performance on chair stand (27%) and walking speed (24%). CONCLUSION: Compared to older women with no back pain, those with frequent persistent back pain had an increased risk of mortality, which underscores the importance of developing safe interventions to address and prevent this condition. Therapies that address IADL limitations or improve physical function (e.g. walking speed, chair stand) may be ideal for preventing early death in individuals with back pain. / 2020-03-17T00:00:00Z