Abdominal obesity (AO) and dynapenia (DP) are associated with cognitive decline, and the relationship between dynapenic abdominal obesity (DAO), a combination of DP and AO, and mild cognitive ...impairment (MCI) has been confirmed. This study aims to determine whether this relationship exhibits potential sex differences. The relationship between MCI and DAO was confirmed in 1309 community elderly individuals aged 65 years or older who were not diagnosed with dementia. The MCI was defined as a Korean mini-mental state examination (K-MMSE) score of 18-23 points. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted, categorizing participants into groups: a control group without AO or DP, an AO group, a DP group, and a DAO group. The study results showed that in women, both DP and DAO were significantly associated with MCI not only in the unadjusted Model 1 but also in Model 2, which adjusted for general characteristics and health behaviors, and Model 3, which additionally adjusted for chronic diseases and disease-related characteristics. In men, DP was associated with MCI in the unadjusted Model 1. The findings highlight sex differences in the impact of the DAO on MCI. These differences should be considered when studying the factors related to MCI in old age.
This quasi-experimental study used a cancer prevention program delivered by community health workers (CHWs) as an intervention to improve health literacy and increase screening uptake. The ...intervention group was educated by trained CHWs and received information about the nearby hospitals. After education, participants received telephone counseling once a month for 6 months. In the intervention group, CHWs met the participants individually and delivered the CD-ROM containing conversation scenarios with voice during the cancer screening test. The control group was provided educational materials related to breast and cervical cancers and a booklet containing information on mammography and Pap test. This study assessed the difference in mammography and Pap tests between the intervention and control groups. The results showed that the participants' knowledge improved, and the rate of cancer screening tests did not decrease in the intervention group. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and apply various programs that train CHWs and apply them to immigrant women to promote health-related behaviors under the health system that they are not familiar with while living in another country.
This paper reports heterojunction solar cells consisting of InP nanopillars and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO). The AZO layer sputtered on an InP surface is used not only as a transparent electrode, ...but also as an excellent rectifying junction with InP. More importantly, the wide-bandgap-AZO functions as a window layer of solar cells, thereby suppressing carrier recombination loss at the AZO-InP heterointerface. The InP nanopillar array reduces the light reflectance and increases the optical path length of the solar cells. The AZO-InP nanopillar-based heterojunction solar cells exhibited an open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, fill-factor, and power-conversion efficiency of 0.68 V, 36.8 mA/cm2, 68%, and 17.1%, respectively, under air-mass 1.5 simulated solar illumination (100 mW/cm2).
•We produced high efficiency AZO-InP nanopillar solar cells.•The AZO layer is used not only as a transparent electrode, but also as a rectifying junction with InP.•The InP nanopillar array reduced light reflection dramatically.•The AZO-InP nanopillar solar cells exhibited the efficiency of 17.1%.
Controversy remains regarding whether there is an association between circulating lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A^sub 2^ (Lp-PLA^sub 2^), cytokines, and oxidative stress in healthy ...postmenopausal women. We investigated the influence of age on Lp-PLA^sub 2^ activity in postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy and the relationship of Lp-PLA^sub 2^ enzyme activity to serum cytokine levels and oxidative stress indices. Normal weight (n=1284) and overweight/obese (n=707) postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy were categorized into five age groups: 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, and 70-89 years. Overweight-obese women showed higher plasma Lp-PLA^sub 2^ activity, urinary 8-epi-prostaglandin F^sub 2alpha^ (8-epi-PGF^sub 2alpha^), serum interleukin (IL)-6, and smaller LDL particles than normal-weight women after adjusting for age, years postmenopause, smoking, drinking, blood pressure, glucose, insulin, lipid profiles, BMI, and waist circumference. Overweight/obese women 70-89 years old showed higher Lp-PLA^sub 2^ activity than those aged 50-54 years, whereas no significant difference in Lp-PLA^sub 2^ activity existed across normal-weight female age groups. Overweight/obese women aged >=65 years showed higher Lp-PLA^sub 2^, oxidized LDL (ox-LDL), IL-6, and 8-epi-PGF^sub 2alpha^ than age-matched normal-weight controls. Overweight/obese women aged >=70 years had higher ox-LDL levels than those aged 50-59, and overweight/obese women aged 65-89 showed higher IL-6 and 8-epi-PGF^sub 2alpha^. There were strong positive correlations between Lp-PLA^sub 2^ and ox-LDL (r=0.385, P<0.001), Lp-PLA^sub 2^ and IL-6 (r=0.293, P<0.001), and ox-LDL and IL-6 (r=0.303, P<0.001) in overweight/obese women; however, these relationships were weak in normal-weight women. These results suggest that aging and obesity-related oxidative and inflammatory mediators are associated with Lp-PLA^sub 2^ activity in overweight/obese postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy.
Controversy remains regarding whether there is an association between circulating lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A
2
(Lp-PLA
2
), cytokines, and oxidative stress in healthy postmenopausal ...women. We investigated the influence of age on Lp-PLA
2
activity in postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy and the relationship of Lp-PLA
2
enzyme activity to serum cytokine levels and oxidative stress indices. Normal weight (
n
= 1284) and overweight/obese (
n
= 707) postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy were categorized into five age groups: 50–54, 55–59, 60–64, 65–69, and 70–89 years. Overweight-obese women showed higher plasma Lp-PLA
2
activity, urinary 8-epi-prostaglandin F
2α
(8-epi-PGF
2α
), serum interleukin (IL)-6, and smaller LDL particles than normal-weight women after adjusting for age, years postmenopause, smoking, drinking, blood pressure, glucose, insulin, lipid profiles, BMI, and waist circumference. Overweight/obese women 70–89 years old showed higher Lp-PLA
2
activity than those aged 50–54 years, whereas no significant difference in Lp-PLA
2
activity existed across normal-weight female age groups. Overweight/obese women aged ≥65 years showed higher Lp-PLA
2
, oxidized LDL (ox-LDL), IL-6, and 8-epi-PGF
2α
than age-matched normal-weight controls. Overweight/obese women aged ≥70 years had higher ox-LDL levels than those aged 50–59, and overweight/obese women aged 65–89 showed higher IL-6 and 8-epi-PGF
2α
. There were strong positive correlations between Lp-PLA
2
and ox-LDL (
r
= 0.385,
P
< 0.001), Lp-PLA
2
and IL-6 (
r
= 0.293,
P
< 0.001), and ox-LDL and IL-6 (
r
= 0.303,
P
< 0.001) in overweight/obese women; however, these relationships were weak in normal-weight women. These results suggest that aging and obesity-related oxidative and inflammatory mediators are associated with Lp-PLA
2
activity in overweight/obese postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy.
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