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Objective: To examine the potential benefit of home-delivered meals for reducing frailty levels among community-dwelling older adults at risk for malnutrition. Design: A retrospective, single-group observational approach. Setting: One large home-delivered meal agency in the Midwest United States. Participants: 1090 community-dwelling older adults who received home-delivered meal services, funded through the Older Americans Act, between June 2020 and December 2021. Measurement: Frailty status was measured by the Home Care Frailty Scale (HCFS) which was routinely administered by agency staff to home-delivered meal clients as part of a quality improvement project. The HCFS was administered at the start of meal services, 3-months after meals began, and 6-months after meals began. Results: At baseline, 55.4% of clients were found to be at high risk for malnutrition. While there was a significant and consistent decline in HCFS throughout the follow-up period for both high and low nutritional risk groups, the reduction in frailty from baseline to 6-months was greater for the high nutritional risk group (Δ = −1.9; 95% CI: [−2.7, −1.1]; p

EPR studies are carried out on Cr(3+) ions doped in d-gluconic acid monohydrate (C(6)H(12)O(7)*H(2)O) single crystals at 77 K. From the observed EPR spectra, the spin Hamiltonian parameters g, |D| and |E| are measured to be 1.9919, 349 (x 10(-4)) cm(-1) and 113 (x 10(-4)) cm(-1), respectively. The optical absorption of the crystal is also studied at room temperature. From the observed band positions, the cubic crystal field splitting parameter Dq (2052 cm(-1)) and the Racah interelectronic repulsion parameter B (653 cm(-1)) are evaluated. From the correlation of EPR and optical data the nature of bonding of Cr(3+) ion with its ligands is discussed.

EPR study of Mn2+ doped ammonium tartrate single crystals is carried out at room temperature. The spin Hamiltonian parameters are: gx=1.9225+/-0.0002, gy=1.9554+/-0.0002, gz=2.1258+/-0.0002, A=(78+/-2) x 10(-4) cm(-1), B=(75+/-2) x 10(-4) cm(-1), D=(191+/-2) x 10(-4) cm(-1), E=(61+/-2) x 10(-4) cm(-1) and a=(22+/-1) x 10(-4) cm(-1) for site I and gx=1.9235+/-0.0002, gy=1.9574+/-0.0002, gz=2.0664+/-0.0002, A=(78+/-2) x 10(-4) cm(-1), B=(75+/-2) x 10(-4) cm(-1), D=(180+/-2) x 10(-4) cm(-1), E=(57+/-2) x 10(-4) cm(-1) and a=(22+/-1) x 10(-4) cm(-1) for site II, respectively. The observed optical bands are fitted with inter-electronic repulsion parameters (B and C), crystal field parameter (Dq) and Trees correction (alpha) and the values found are B=752, C=2438, Dq=765 and alpha=76 cm(-1). The data obtained are further used to discuss the surrounding crystal field and the nature of metal-ligand bonding in the crystal.