The Relationships between Activity and Quality of Life for Older Men and Women at Different Ages in Taiwan

This study investigated the relationships between types of activity and quality of life (QOL) for older men and women at different ages. Based on cross-sectional data that included 220 community-dwelling elderly persons aged 65 and older in southern Taiwan, the results showed that the participation rates in many activities declined with age for both genders. Social activity and solitary leisure activity were significantly associated with QOL for old-old men, but not for young-old men. Only social activity was significantly associated with QOL for young-old women, but there was no significant association between any activity and QOL for old-old women.     

Improving Weight of Evidence Approaches to Chemical Evaluations

Federal and other regulatory agencies often use or claim to use a weight of evidence (WoE) approach in chemical evaluation. Their approaches to the use of WoE, however, differ significantly, rely heavily on subjective professional judgment, and merit improvement. We review uses of WoE approaches in key articles in the peer‐reviewed scientific literature, and find significant variations. We find that a hypothesis‐based WoE approach, developed by Lorenz Rhomberg et al., can provide a stronger scientific basis for chemical assessment while improving transparency and preserving the appropriate scope of professional judgment. Their approach, while still evolving, relies on the explicit specification of the hypothesized basis for using the information at hand to infer the ability of an agent to cause human health impacts or, more broadly, affect other endpoints of concern. We describe and endorse such a hypothesis‐based WoE approach to chemical evaluation.     

College students with congenital heart disease: A critical time for transition

As medical and surgical advances improve, more young adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) are attending college. This case study illustrates some of the issues that these young adults may face as they attend college and discusses the role that college health practitioners can play in easing that transition. Participants: A case of a male with CHD presenting to the college health clinic with a new onset headache. Methods: The authors discuss some of the unique challenges that college health practitioners may face when caring for students with CHD. In addition, they make recommendations on how best to care for these patients and how best to coordinate care with CHD students other care providers. Results: This student with a history of coarctation of the aorta presented with new onset headaches and was found to have high blood pressure. He was diagnosed with recurrent coarctation, underwent percutaneous treatment with stenting and quickly resumed classes. Conclusions: As more students with CHD enter college, college health providers will need to understand some of the health risks that CHD students face. In addition, understanding some of the optimal ways to coordinate care with CHD providers can ease the transition that CHD students face as they enter college.     

THE DUALITY DIAGRAM IN DATA ANALYSIS: EXAMPLES OF MODERN APPLICATIONS

Today's data-heavy research environment requires the integration of different sources of information into structured datasets that can not be analyzed as simple matrices. We introduce an old technique, known in the European data analyses circles as the Duality Diagram Approach, put to new uses through the use of a variety of metrics and ways of combining different diagrams together. This issue of the Annals of Applied Statistics contains contemporary examples of how this approach provides solutions to hard problems in data integration. We present here the genesis of the technique and how it can be seen as a precursor of the modern kernel based approaches.     

Birthfamilies as permanency resources for children in long-term foster care

Provisions of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 mandated shorter time frames for making permanency decisions and facilitating adoption. Yet for many children, foster care continued to be a significant portion of their life experiences. This project explored the potential permanency option of birthfamilies and extended kin for children who languished in foster care while being free for adoption. Eighteen children achieved permanent placement with their birthfamilies. In addition, staff found that although many families could not provide permanent placements, they could offer appropriate relationships with the children. This project team recommends viewing family relationships as an integral component where placement is one option on a continuum that includes letters, phone calls, and visits.     

A pilot intervention to promote walking and wellness and to improve the health of college faculty and staff

There is a need to investigate novel interventions that promote worksite physical activity and wellness. OBJECTIVE: The authors' purpose in this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-week walking program supplemented with a pedometer, computer educational program, and weekly e-mails. METHODS: College faculty and staff participated in a one-group pre-posttest study to determine whether the 12-week walking intervention had an effect on body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol. The authors also determined participant-perceived wellness effects. RESULTS: The authors observed differences between baseline and follow-up in BMI (p = .024), blood glucose (p = .06), and total cholesterol (p = .09). The program had a moderate effect on fitness, mood, health awareness, nutrition, and health. CONCLUSIONS: It is incumbent that experts develop innovative worksite physical activity and wellness programs. A pedometer-monitored walking program is one way that a worksite health initiative can improve the health and wellness of its employees and simultaneously reduce health-care costs.     

Making Sense of Organizational Change: Voices of Older Volunteers

The role of voluntary and community sector organizations in the delivery of public services is increasing and these changes bring new responsibilities and benefits to organizations that have the capacity to participate. There are concerns within the sector about the implications for citizenship and participation. The sector is highly dependent on volunteers yet little is known about how organizational change in response to new relationships with the statutory sector impact upon the commitment and well-being of people who volunteer. This paper addresses that gap in knowledge for older volunteers. Drawing upon collaborative research with a voluntary organization in the north of England, the authors explore the meanings and aspirations of volunteering for older people, and explain how and why changes associated with closer engagement with public service delivery and less grant dependency can be disempowering for them.

Relationships among nutrients,chloride and biological indices in urban Maryland streams

Using a spatially extensive urban database constructed from the Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS), we describe the relationships of nutrients in small-order streams to eight defined categories of percent catchment urbanization, correlations between chloride and conductivity in urban streams, and relationships between nutrients and chloride with two Maryland-specific indices of biotic integrity for benthic macroinvertebrates and fish assemblages. Stream nutrients become elevated with increasing percent catchment urbanization, followed by increases in all four measured nitrogen species and total phosphorus at catchment urbanization levels greater than 10%. There was a strong collinear relationship (r ² = 0.90) between chloride and conductivity (trimeans) across all eight urbanization classes, where Cl (mg/L) = −0.397 + 0.188*conductivity (μS/cm). Critical values for all water quality parameters with the two Maryland biological indices were derived using quantile regression, with significant regressions developed for 11 of 16 water quality parameters and the two biotic indices. For nitrate (NO₃-N), the critical thresholds between fair and poor stream quality for the two Maryland biological indices were 0.83 mg/L (benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages) and 0.86 mg/L (fish assemblages). Increasing stream nutrient and chloride levels, associated with widespread catchment urbanization intensity, now affect many small streams in Maryland, with implications for decreasing water quality in major tributaries and the Chesapeake Bay.     

Knowledge Brokering: The missing link in the evidence to action chain?

Transferring health care research into policy and practice is a messy and complex process which both policymakers and researchers can struggle with. A potential solution is to use individuals or organisations as knowledge brokers. Using a range of literature, this paper explains the theory behind knowledge brokering, identifies three models of brokering and explores the challenges of brokering. We suggest that clarifying these factors is a significant step towards planning well designed and rigorously evaluated brokering interventions. We also suggest that a clearly defined theoretical framework could help us to find out more about how brokering works and its effectiveness.     

Unpacking Within‐Household Gender Differences in Partners' Subjective Benefits From Household Income

The authors examine how contributions to household resources, indicated by employment status, influence satisfaction with household income (SWHI) for members of male/female couples. They take changes in SWHI, which may differ within couples, to indicate changes in perceived benefits from their common household income, benefits that can go beyond individual consumption. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey for 2,396 couples from 1996 to 2007, three gender effects are identified. First, men predominate in making the type of contribution that most positively influences SWHI, namely, full‐time employment. Second, the effect of contributions depends on the gender of the contributor, with men's employment being more influential than women's. Third, within couples, making the more influential contribution, as men tend to do, leads to relatively greater SWHI. The authors conclude that gender asymmetry in contributions made to household resources is one way in which gender inequalities invade and inhabit households.