Search

The current scientific and technological development, which has made it possible to increase life span in healthy conditions, has led to a reconfiguration of life and old age. This has raised new questions about the meaning of this extended life. The article analyzes how, through youthfulness and consumerism, the ideal of eternal youth has been enthroned, by denigrating old age, medicalizing life, and creating an obsession with cosmetics and aesthetics. Ultimately, it is evident that the search for the abolition of old age responds to the attempt to dissolve death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation of functional traits among species allows evaluating their life strategies. The whole-plant economic spectrum proposes coordination of the form and function across different plant organs to optimize a resource-use strategy. However, few studies have evaluated the coordination among woody species through functional traits from different plant organs. We evaluated variation and coordination of crown, leaf, stem, root and phenology trait values across woody species of the semi-arid Mediterranean matorral of Chile. We hypothesize that sclerophyllous and malacophyllous woody species vary and coordinate their trait values along an ecological dimension that separates their resource-use strategies from conservative to acquisitive, respectively. We analyzed the variation and correlation of 14 functional traits for 12-16 species. The functional trait values between sclerophyllous and malacophyllous species did not differ across the whole-plant economic spectrum. Traits were coordinated along multiple ecological dimensions. The first dimension was associated with the leaf economic spectrum and plant morphology, yet differed between sclerophyllous and malacophyllous species. Sclerophyllous species combined mostly conservative foliar trait values (longer leaf life span) with acquisitive morphological trait values (larger maximum plant height and longer lateral extension of roots), while malacophyllous species exhibited opposite combinations. The second dimension was associated with variation in phenology and root traits. This dimension separated species with conservative phenological and root trait values (delayed growth onset and deeper rooting depth) from opportunistic species with opposite trait values. The third dimension was coordinated by wood density and the leaf 13C - isotopic composition. This dimension separated the drought-tolerant species with high stem densities and higher leaf water use efficiency from opportunistic water-use species with opposite attributes. In contrast with our hypothesis, in the Chilean matorral the species can combine conservative and acquisitive trait values to use resources and coordinate their resource use strategies across multiple dimensions. This decoupling of plant strategies could occur because different organs and phenology are exposed to different environmental filters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Psicoterapia is the property of Revista de Psiquiatria y Psicologia Humanista, S.L. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Gestión y Ambiente is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Population aging increases the prevalence of chronic diseases. This morbidity impacts on the relatively high mortality levels and has disabling effects. Classic health indicators --life expectancy at birth and gross mortality rate-- are complemented by the disability-free life expectancy (DFLE), whose advantage is a standardization of concepts, sources of information and calculation methods. In this investigation, the healthy life expectancy in adult older population with social security in Mexico is estimated. Methods: Life expectancy was estimated from the mortality analysis and by constructing life tables of the population affi liated to the Mexican Institute of Social Security. Chiang's method was used and the disability prevalence-adjusted life table was modifi ed using Sullivan's method. The healthy life expectancy, life expectancy free of disability and life expectancy with disability in the older adult analysis was highlighted. Results: Life expectancy free of disability was estimated at 66.5 years. In females, it was 16 years and, in men, 15.2 years, indicating that from this age on they live less time with a healthy life. Conclusions: Healthy life expectancy is an indicator that can be useful to build scenarios to support the planning, administration and strategic management of healthy aging programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suffering a non communicable chronic disease in combination with low educational level and low economic income develops a synergy, which contributes to a poor prognostic about the expectancy of life. A better educational level may improve the life expectancy. The objective of this research was to explore this relation. Methods: A retrospective cohort study from January 1,1999, to December 31, 2011, was performed. We included 2306 patients obtained from the information system in mortality of Family Medicine Unit 3 of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in Guadalajara, Jalisco. The main measures were average age-at-death and educational level. We used Student's t, χ² and relative risk (RR) calculations for statistical analysis. Results: The average age-at-death for those who had a low educational level (n = 1936) was 73.24 ± 12.18 years, while for those who had a satisfactory level of education (n = 370) was 63.47 ± 14.51 years, estimating a mean difference of 9.77 years with p < 0.001. Having a low educational level and not reaching life expectancy compared to the satisfactory level meant a RR = 0.24 (IC 95 % = 0.19, 0.30). The projected linear regression for each educational grade showed that patients lost 2.5 years of life. Conclusions: Diabetes accompanied by a low educational level showed a double probability of not reaching the expectation of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social--always sensitive to the needs of health of the beneficiary population and to the demographic and epidemiological changes of the society--has developed and implemented DiabetlMSS, a program of attention to the diabetic patient. DiabetlMSS organizes care processes based on the needs and values of the patients, through simultaneous activities of individual consultation and group meetings granted by the multidisciplinary health team. These actions and activities are focused to affect patients' lifestyles positively. Through a plan of nutrition, physical activity, self-care and monitoring, this program increases the interaction between patients, by having an exchange of successful experiences about diabetes control. DiabetlMSS was created with the purpose that the patients achieve the metabolic control and identify complications early on, with the perspective of timely intervention that is reflected in the decrease of the catastrophic effects that causes the disease, both for patient's life expectancy and the quality of care provided by the Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Evaluate the cost-benefit, cost-utility, and cost-effectiveness of cochlear implantation, comparing it to the use of hearing aids in children with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Methods. The nonparametric propensity score matching method was used to carry out an economic and impact assessment of the cochlear implant and then perform cost-benefit, cost-utility, and cost-effectiveness analyses. Primary information was used, taken randomly from 100 patients: 62 who received cochlear implants (treatment group) and 38 belonging to the control group who used hearing aids to treat profound sensorineural hearing loss. Results. An economic cost differential was found-to the advantage of the cochlear implant-of close to US$ 204 000 between the implant and the use of hearing aids over the expected life span of the patients analyzed. This amount refers to the greater expenses that hearing-aid patients will have. With this adjusted figure, the cost-benefit indicator shows that for each dollar invested to treat the cochlear-implant patient, there is a return on the investment of US$ 2.07. Conclusions. The cochlear implant produces economic benefits for the patient. It also produces health utilities since positive cost-utility (gain in decibels) and cost-effectiveness (gain in language discrimination) ratios were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern idea generation that understood as a collective of individuals who make history, has become obsolete. That conception, which meant the generation as "age group" as an entity constituted by a set of individuals who have lived in the same time a crucial and unique historical experience, getting her own moral compass and sense of sharing a common destiny, is no longer able to explain the social dynamics and complexity of the relationships between people, groups and cultures (Katz, 1996; Bedmar and Montero, 2003). During the stage of aging, the development of leisure activities is particularly important, creating physical and mental wellbeing, and is closely related to rates of life satisfaction (Giro, 2009). The time pattern, let alone the biological variable is not sufficient to characterize what is and what a generation ago: first, the generations are involved or social relationships established between individuals, groups, cultures. Second, social relations can only be understood through that last time: relationships have their own time and records. Thirdly, the generations are becoming more distinct from and in the public sphere, are defined by their conduct, their actions, their thoughts, feelings and perceptions, both inside and outside the family. Fourth, if the appeal to biology to identify a generational approach to characterize what is already insufficient, it must be done to combine social with age. Finally, the lack of intergenerational contact as the root cause that can explain the negative image society has of the elderly, it is appropriate to emphasize the pedagogical importance of the concept of intergenerational education (Sáez, 2001; Novaly et al. 2005; Bernad, 2008). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brocar: Cuadernos de Investigación Histórica is the property of Universidad de la Rioja, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The increase of the expectation of life bears to increment of the geriatric population and with it to the increase of the degenerative illnesses, among those that it is included the impairment cognitive and the dementia. The high cost in health of this type of illnesses takes us to think about economic and effective therapeutic modalities, belonging one to them the neuropsychological rehabilitation. We carry out a brief discussion about the cerebral plasticity in the adult; we discuss the normal changes for aging and the differences with the cognitive impairment for illness, concluding with the reaches of this therapeutic modality in the results of health and the necessity of establishing units specialized in the detection and treatment of the dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aging process is a universal phenomenon that affects all kinds of life. It is associated to a general impairment of physiological functions. Among these functions we are interested in brain functioning, that is linked to behavioral, cognitive, and emotional problems. In the present article, results related to aging are presented, within the fields of cognition and emotion, with special emphasis in animal models. Though it could be quite artificial to separate cognitive from emotional functions because they interact with each other, in the present review article, we present behavioral and neurophysiological studies, in which the changes that aging process has upon the already mentioned functions have been considered. Lastly, we mention the treatments used to deal with these aging-related psychological problems. On one hand, within the cognitive functioning, one of the most evident impairments in humans is related with evocation memory, that is, the inability to recall information. Working memory is also compromised, specially when people face tasks that require complex parallel processing. On the other hand, procedural memory is usually conserved. Animal models have also shown that spatial long-term memory and spatial working memory are impaired with aging. In addition, executive functions are affected as evidenced by an impairment in attention, discrimination, and analysis of complex information in animals. The processing of reward incentive shifts is altered, as shown by the persistence of previously learned responses in aging rats. The temporal lobe and the prefrontal cortex seem to be the most important brain regions involved in this deficit. Cholinergic hypofunction may be the start point of these cognitive problems, also probably linked with an affected GABAergic transmission. Considering the emotional functions, aging humans may show anhedonia and a deficient gesture recognition associated with emotional states. In human and non-human studies, an exaggerated response to stress situations has been found, which is probably related to elevated noradrenaline levels, and to a dyisregulation of the HPA negative feedback. These findings, taken together, have allowed applied scientists to develop therapeutic goals. First, the existence of a set of drugs that enhance cholinergic functioning, and that have been successfully tested in non-human animal studies. Besides, diverse animal studies have tested drugs that modulate 5TH-ergic neurotransmission, and vaso-dilating drugs also seem to have a beneficial effect upon the performance on memory tasks. Second, on a cognitive-behavioral level, a preventive and healing effect of cognitive exercising has been proven. This has lead to the development of cognitive stimulation programs directed to third-age people, with the goal of reducing the aging impact, and the associated mental illnesses, such as Alzheimer. Behavioral interventions in humans also include maintaining and caring for general health, and adequate feeding, physical exercise, and specific cognitive training. Studies with non-human subjects are showing the positive impact that the exposure to an enriched environment has on neuronal plasticity, which also implies enhancing cognitive functioning. Hebb (1949) already insisted on neuronal plasticity as a function of use, which eventually has been confirmed on recent research. In our concern, the use means that one of the crucial factors to reach a satisfactory aging process is to prompt an adequate interaction between the elderly and their environments, which may also mean to provide physical, social, and mental activities to deal with the environmental impoverishment that could arrive in the last period of our lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present research was to study the population dynamics, predatory capacity and longevity of adult Nabis punctipennis Blanchard fed on the aphid Acyrtosiphon pisum (Harris). The population dynamics were determined using hits of entomological net in an alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) field located at Maipo Experimental Station of the University of La Frontera, Temuco, Chile. To evaluate the predatory capacity of the bug, 10 nymphs and 10 adults of N. punctipennis were selected and put individually in plastic vials, to which were added aphids (Acyrtosiphon pisum) which were renewed every 24 hours. To study the longevity of N. punctipennis, 10 newly emerged adults were put in plastic jars with aphids. The results of the population dynamics indicated a maximum of 90 specimens (November 1998) and a minimum of only one (April 1999). The mean daily predatory capacity of adults was 12.4 ± 4.8 aphids and 9.1 ± 3.07 aphids for the nymph. The nymph as well as the adult of N. punctipennis fed preferentially on adult aphids rather than nymphs. Finally, the longevity of adult N. punctipennis was 59.9 ± 25.34 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A natural zeolite Cuban was used enriched for the cultivation of the marine microalgae Tetraselmis suecica and Chaetoceros ceratosporum, species used in the feeding of shrimp larvae in cultivation. Different zeolite concentrations were proven (5, 10 and 25 mg/L) adding it to the culture media Guillard "f" (for C. ceratosporum) and "f/2" (for T. suecica) and different percentages of utilization of the culture media were rehearsed (100, 75, 50 and 25% + zeolite in all the cases) speed of growth was determined (K), time of duplication (TD) and production (P) for the exponential phase of the cultivations that you/they were developed in controlled conditions of illumination, salinity and temperature. The results demonstrated that there were not significant differences, for =0.05, among the treatments with the different proportions of the zeolite, in none of the two species. The used percentages all were different from the control but if we compare the zeolite treatments, for the case of T. suecica it should not be substituted more than 25% of the culture media and C. ceratosporum stops you can substitute until in 50%. The parameters populations didn't throw significant differences among the different zeolite proportions in none of the species. In T. suecica, when it's use 75% of culture media, it's obtained the biggest K and TD although the P for the exponential phase was smaller significantly that the control. For C. ceratosporum the biggest K was obtained substituting 50% of culture media the TD was similar for all the treatments with zeolite and the P was bigger with the control because the cultivation didn't decay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The embryonic development of the marine muricid Plicopurpura pansa (Gould, 1853) until hatching is described. Each female spawned about 150 egg capsules in a 10-week period. The egg showed spiral segmentation, followed by gastrulation through epiboly, the formation of a non-typical trochophore and veliger larva. The embryos fed on the egg yolk. Nurse eggs were not observed. In 13% of the egg capsules, different embryonic or larval stages of development were found in the same capsule. At 21–23°C the intracapsular development was completed with the hatching of planktotrophic veliger larvae after a period of 5 to 8 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]