Search

Susanne Gustafsson,1,2 Helene Berglund,1,3 Joel Faronbi,1,4 Emmelie Barenfeld,1,2,5 Isabelle Ottenvall Hammar1,2 1Frail Elderly Research Support Group (FRESH), Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, 2Gothenburg University Centre for Ageing and Health (AgeCap), 3Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden; 4Department of Nursing Science, College of Health Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; 5Department of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the 1-year effect of the health-promoting intervention “senior meetings” for older community-dwelling persons regarding loneliness, social network, and social support.Methods: Secondary analysis of data was carried out from two randomized controlled studies: Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone and Promoting Aging Migrants’ Capabilities. Data from 416 participants who attended the senior meetings and the control group at baseline and the 1-year follow-up in the respective studies were included. Data were aggregated and analyzed with chi-square test and odds ratio (OR) to determine the intervention effect.Results: The senior meetings had a positive effect on social support regarding someone to turn to when in need of advice and backing (OR 1.72, p=0.01). No positive intervention effect could be identified for loneliness, social network, or other aspects of social support.Conclusion: Health-promoting senior meetings for older community-dwelling persons have a minor positive effect on social support. The senior meetings might benefit from a revision to reinforce content focused on loneliness, social network, and social support. However, the modest effect could also depend on the lack of accessible social resources to meet participants’ identified needs, a possible hindrance for a person’s capability. This makes it necessary to conduct further research to evaluate the effect of the senior meetings and other health-promoting initiatives on social aspects of older community-dwelling people’s lives, since these aspects are of high importance for life satisfaction and well-being in old age. Keywords: aged, quality of life, health promotion, prevention, group intervention, evaluation studies

Giuseppe Maria de Peppo,1–3 Hossein Agheli,2,3 Camilla Karlsson,2,3 Karin Ekström,2,3 Helena Brisby,3,4 Maria Lennerås,2,3 Stefan Gustafsson,3,5 Peter Sjövall,3,5,6 Anna Johansson,2,3 Eva Olsson,3,5 Jukka Lausmaa,3,6 Peter Thomsen,2,3 Sarunas Petronis3,6 1The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY, USA; 2Department of Biomaterials, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 3BIOMATCELL VINN Excellence Center of Biomaterials and Cell Therapy, 4Department of Orthopaedics, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 5Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden; 6Chemistry, Materials and Surfaces, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Borås, Sweden Background: Patterning medical devices at the nanoscale level enables the manipulation of cell behavior and tissue regeneration, with topographic features recognized as playing a significant role in the osseointegration of implantable devices. Methods: In this study, we assessed the ability of titanium-coated hemisphere-like topographic nanostructures of different sizes (approximately 50, 100, and 200 nm) to influence the morphology, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Results: We found that the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs was influenced by the size of the underlying structures, suggesting that size variations in topographic features at the nanoscale level, independently of chemistry, can be exploited to control hMSC behavior in a size-dependent fashion. Conclusion: Our studies demonstrate that colloidal lithography, in combination with coating technologies, can be exploited to investigate the cell response to well defined nanoscale topography and to develop next-generation surfaces that guide tissue regeneration and promote implant integration. Keywords: colloidal lithography, nanotopography, human mesenchymal stem cells, cell proliferation, osteogenic differentiation, mineralization, implantable materials

A recently developed method for analyzing the thermal conductivity vs depth variation near a sample surface has been extended to include inhomogeneous samples with anisotropy. If not considered, the anisotropy ratio in the sample structure can distort the depth-position data of the original test method. The anisotropy ratio is introduced in the original computational scheme in order to improve the depth-position estimations for inhomogeneous structures with anisotropy. The proposed approach has been tested in experiments and shown to improve depth position mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has been conducted on early- and late-flowering variants of plants belonging to Gymnadenia conopsea ssp conopsea. The authors have investigated genetic divergence and habitat differentiation between these variants via the use of fast-evolving microsatellites, slowly evolving ITS markers and habitat analysis.

Background: Patients with severe and enduring eating disorders (SEED) are seriously ill and have a low quality of life. Case management (CM), originally developed for adult patients with severe mental disabilities, has been shown to enhance social functioning and improve quality of life, while reducing the number and length of hospitalizations. In 2014, a special unit based on CM, for patients with SEED (the Eira unit) was started at Stockholm Centre for Eating Disorders, Sweden. Method/Design: This study aims to investigate if CM can improve SEED patients' quality of life, and reduce their eating disorder symptoms as well as their health care consumption. Methods for data collection are a semi-structured diagnostic interview, self-report questionnaires, and a qualitative interview. The diagnostic interview and the self-report assessments will be done at start of treatment and at follow-ups after 1, 2, and 3years. The qualitative interview will be conducted 1 year after start of treatment. The study is approved by the ethical review board in Stockholm in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration. Discussion: CM is a possible new contribution to the treatment methods for SEED. It does not aim at remission, but rather to accept life as it is, and to enhance quality of life in the presence of the ED. This study will investigate the potential benefits of this novel intervention in a special unit for SEED patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]