Background
Down syndrome (DS) is characterised by premature ageing that affects selected organ systems, and persons with this condition can present patterns of co‐morbidities and deficits often ...observed in the older population without DS. However, information on the characteristics of adult persons with DS is limited.
The objective of the study is to describe characteristics of adults with DS collected with a standardised, comprehensive assessment instrument.
Methods
Cross‐sectional study.
Four hundred thirty adults with DS (age range 18/75 years) from three countries (Italy, n = 95; USA, n = 175; and Canada, n = 160).
A standardised assessment instrument (interRAI intellectual disability) was used to assess sample characteristics.
Results
Mean age ranged from 35.2 (standard deviation 12.0) years in the US sample to 48.8 (standard deviation 9.0) years in the Canadian sample. Most participants in the Italian and US sample were living in private homes, while more than half of those in the Canadian sample were institutionalised. Prevalences of geriatric conditions, including cognitive deficits, disability in the common activities of daily living, symptoms of withdrawal or anhedonia, aggressive behaviour, communication problems, falls and hearing problems were high in the study sample. Gastrointestinal symptoms, skin and dental problems and obesity were also frequently observed.
Conclusions
Adults with DS present with a high level of complexity, which may suggest the need for an approach based on a comprehensive assessment and management that can provide adequate care. Further research is needed to understand better the effectiveness of such an approach in the DS population.
Radioactive contamination of SrI2(Eu) crystal scintillator Belli, P.; Bernabei, R.; Cerulli, R. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
04/2012, Letnik:
670
Journal Article
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Odprti dostop
A strontium iodide crystal doped by europium (SrI2(Eu)) was produced by using the Stockbarger growth technique. The crystal was subjected to a characterization that includes relative photoelectron ...output and energy resolution for γ quanta. The intrinsic radioactivity of the SrI2(Eu) crystal scintillator was tested both by using it as scintillator at sea level and by ultra-low background HPGe γ spectrometry deep underground. The response of the SrI2(Eu) detector to α particles (α/β ratio and pulse shape) was estimated by analysing the 226Ra internal trace contamination of the crystal. We have measured: α/β=0.55 at Eα=7.7MeV, and no difference in the time decay of the scintillation pulses induced by α particles and γ quanta. The application of the obtained results in the search for the double electron capture and electron capture with positron emission in 84Sr has been investigated at a level of sensitivity: T1/2∼1015–1016yr. The results of these studies demonstrate the potentiality of this material for a variety of scintillation applications, including low-level counting experiments.
Purpose
We describe the prevalence of secondary anorexia in a population of older people living in community and receiving home care. In addition, we examined the relationship between secondary ...anorexia and mortality.
Methods
We analyzed data from a large collaborative observational study group, the Italian Silver Network Home Care project, that collected data on patients admitted to home care programs. A total of twelve Home Health Agencies participated in such project evaluating the implementation of the Minimum Data Set for Home Care (MDS-HC) instrument. A total of 2757 patients were enrolled in the present study. The main outcome measures were the prevalence of anorexia, weight loss and survival.
Results
More than 25% (744 subjects) of the study sample suffered from anorexia. During a mean follow-up of 10 months from initial MDSHC assessment, 468 patients (17%) died. There was uneven distribution of the risk. After adjusting for age, gender and for all other possible risk factors for death (living alone, physical and cognitive disability, behavior problems, urinary incontinence, pressure ulcer, hearing impairment, congestive heart failure, hypertension, depression, diabetes, renal failure, cancer), subjects with anorexia were more likely to die relative to patients without anorexia (RR, 1.83; 95% CI 1.45–2.31). Even though the risk of mortality was higher among subjects suffering from anorexia and weight loss, the anorexia per se was associated with higher risk compared with subjects without anorexia (RR, 1.45; 95% CI 1.01–2.19).
Conclusions
Anorexia is associated with a significant higher risk of all-cause mortality. The present findings support the possibility that anorexia has an independent effect on survival even among old people receiving home care.
In this paper a new search for non-Paulian nuclear processes, i.e. processes normally forbidden by the Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP), is presented. It has been carried out at the Gran Sasso ...National Laboratory of the INFN by means of the highly radiopure DAMA/LIBRA set-up (sensitive mass of about 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl)). In particular, a new improved upper limit for the spontaneous non-Paulian emission rate of protons with energy
E
p
≥ 10 MeV in
23
Na and
127
I has been obtained: 1.63 × 10
−33
s
−1
(90% C.L.). The corresponding limit on the relative strength (
δ
2
) for the searched non-Paulian transition is
δ
2
≲(3–4)×10
−55
(90% C.L.). Moreover, PEP-violating electron transitions in iodine atoms have also been investigated. Lifetimes shorter than 4.7×10
30
s are excluded at 90% C.L.; this allows us to derive the limit
δ
e
2
<1.28×10
−47
(90% C.L.). This latter limit can also be related to a possible finite size of the electron in composite models of quarks and leptons providing superficial violation of the PEP; the obtained upper limit on the electron size is
r
0
<5.7×10
−18
cm (energy scale of
E
≳3.5 TeV).
To investigate, through a questionnaire, older adults' demographic and socio-economic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes and practices in terms of food safety and healthy diet; and to develop ...dietary and hygiene indices able to represent participants' nutritional and food safety behaviour, exploring their association with demographic and socio-economic factors.
One-year cross-sectional study.
Gemelli Teaching Hospital (Rome, Italy).
People aged ≥65 years, Italian speaking, accessing the Centre of Ageing Medicine.
Mean age of the sample was 74 (sd 7·7) years. Subjective perception of a safe diet was high: 64·2 % of respondents believed they have a balanced diet. Interviewees got informed about proper nutrition mainly from television, magazines, newspapers, Internet (29·9 %) and from health professionals (34·8 %) such as dietitians, whereas 15·4 % from general practitioners. Regarding food safety, 33·8 % of participants reported to consume expired food, even more than once per month; between 80 and 90 % of participants reported to follow food safety practices during preparation and cooking, even though 49·3 % defrosted food at room temperature. Calculated dietary and hygiene indices showed that the elderly participants were far from having optimal nutritional and food safety behaviours.
These results suggest it is necessary to increase the awareness of older adults in the matter of healthy diet and food safety. Specific and targeted educational interventions for the elderly and their caregivers could improve the adoption of recommended food safety practices and safe nutritional behaviours among older adults.
Background
Improved ability to treat chronic diseases have increased the interest in measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older adults. Hypertension and heart failure have been ...associated with decreased HRQoL.
Hypothesis
The aim of this study was to assess the association between health-related quality of life and use of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in unselected community-dwelling elderly.
Methods
We analyzed data of all 387 subjects aged 75+ living in a rural Italian town, without exclusion criteria. HRQoL was assessed using the Health Utility Index Mark 3, which allows formal cost-effectiveness calculations. The association of the HRQoL score with use of ACE-I was analyzed by multivariable linear and logistic regression.
Results
The median HUI3 score was 0.31, and 186 participants (48%) reported a score above the median value. Use of ACE-I was reported by 34 (9%) participants, and confirmed by general practitioners. Use of these agents was associated with significantly better HRQoL (B=.16, 95% CI=.02 -.30; P=.025). Also, use of ACE-I was associated with increased probability of better HRQoL in logistic regression (OR=2.83; 95% CI=1.03 - 7.78; P=.044) after adjusting. No associations were found between the HRQoL score and use of calcium antagonists or beta-blockers.
Conclusions
Use of ACE-I, but not of other antihypertensives, is associated with better HRQoL among community-dwelling older adults. ACE-inhibitors might therefore present with the best cost-effectiveness ratio for the treatment of older populations.
Most of the Universe is Dark and a large fraction of it should be made of relic particles; many possibilities are open on their nature and interaction types. Thus, their investigation is an ...outstanding issue in the field; for this purpose experiments offering a model independent signature for the presence of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the Galactic halo are mandatory. In this paper the DAMA/LIBRA results are described. In particular, the DAMA/LIBRA experiment is mainly devoted to the investigation of DM particles in the Galactic halo by exploiting the model independent DM annual modulation signature. The present DAMA/LIBRA and the former DAMA/NaI (exposed masses: ≈︁ 250 kg and ≈︁ 100 kg of highly radiopure NaI(Tl), respectively) experiments have released so far a total exposure of 1.17 ton × yr collected over 13 annual cycles; they provide a model independent evidence of the presence of DM particles in the galactic halo at 8.9 σ C.L.. Future perspectives are mentioned.
Most of the Universe is Dark and a large fraction of it should be made of relic particles. In this review the DAMA/LIBRA results are described. In particular, the DAMA/LIBRA experiment is mainly devoted to the investigation of dark matter particles in the Galactic halo by exploiting the model independent dark matter annual modulation signature.
The half-life of 212Po Belli, P.; Bernabei, R.; Boiko, R. S. ...
The European physical journal. A, Hadrons and nuclei,
2021/6, Letnik:
57, Številka:
6
Journal Article
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Odprti dostop
The half-life of
212
Po was measured with the highest up-to-date accuracy as
T
1
/
2
=
295.1
(
4
)
ns by using thorium-loaded liquid scintillator.
Falls are responsible for considerable morbidity, immobility, and mortality among elderly people. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of falls and related intrinsic and extrinsic ...risk factors in a community-dwelling older population.
An observational study was performed on all patients (N = 5570) admitted from 1997 to 2001 to home care programs in 19 home health agencies that participated in the National Silver Network project in Italy. Patient evaluation was performed through the Minimum Data Set-Home Care (MDS-HC) instrument.
A 35.9% falls prevalence was found within 90 days of the patient assessment through the MDS-HC instrument. After adjusting for all potential confounding factors, the logistic regression showed a high increase in risk of falling for those patients who wandered (odds ratio OR 2.38; 95% confidence interval CI 1.81-3.12) or suffered with gait problems (OR 2.13; 95% CI 1.81-2.51). Patients affected by depression were more likely to fall (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.36-1.73). Those who lived in an unsafe place with environmental hazards had an increase in the risk of falling (OR 1.51; 95% CI 1.34-1.69). The associations of main risk factors for falls were also evaluated.
Rate of falls among frail elderly people living in the community is very high and frequently correlates with potentially reversible factors. To identify those with higher falling risk, home care staff and general practitioners could use the MDS-HC assessment tool.
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