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It is important to understand the factors motivating people to adopt recommended behavioral changes in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and how they differ for younger and older adults. Using a nationally representative sample from the Understanding America Study (3/10-3/31/2020), we assessed how four cognitive mediators affected uptake of protective activities for younger (aged 18-34) and older adults (aged 65+) during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Confirmatory factor analysis based on Protective Motivation Theory demonstrated associations between our observed variables and the latent constructs: perceived severity and susceptibility, and response efficacy and self-efficacy. Among younger adults, coping appraisal such as perceptions of effectiveness of behaviors in protecting them from coronavirus and belief in their ability to perform recommended changes led them to adopt preventive behaviors; for older people, threat appraisal such as perception of severity was associated with behavioral responses. Younger people may rely more on their assessment of coping resources and effectiveness in their response to COVID-19; while older people base their behavioral responses on their perception of the severity of the situation, which they appraise using information from media and the severity of the epidemic in their state of residence. Different strategies are required to motivate older and younger people to adopt behavioral modifications, which are critical in reducing further spread of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives We estimate life expectancy with and without dementia for Americans 65 years and older by education and race to examine how these stratification systems combine to shape disparities in later-life cognitive health. Method Based on the Health and Retirement Study (2000–2014), we use a multivariate, incidence-based life table approach to estimate life expectancy by cognitive health status for race–education groups. The models also simulate group differences in the prevalence of dementia implied by these rates. Results The life table results document notable race–education differences in dementia and dementia-free life expectancy, as well as stark differences in implied dementia prevalence. At each education level, blacks can expect to live more years with dementia and they have significantly higher rates of dementia prevalence. This distribution of disparities in the older population is anchored by 2 groups—blacks without a high school diploma and whites with some college or more. Discussion Dementia experience and dementia burden differ dramatically along race–education lines. Race and education combine to exaggerate disparities and they both have enduring effects. Future research should explicitly consider how race and education combine to influence dementia in the older American population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To compare cognitive performance among Japanese and American persons, aged 68 years and older, using two nationally representative studies and to examine whether differences can be explained by differences in the distribution of risk factors or in their association with cognitive performance. DESIGN: Nationally representative studies with harmonized collection of data on cognitive functioning. SETTING: Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging and the US Health and Retirement Study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1953 Japanese adults and 2959 US adults, aged 68 years or older. MEASUREMENTS: Episodic memory and arithmetic working memory are measured using immediate and delayed word recall and serial 7s. RESULTS: Americans have higher scores on episodic memory than Japanese people (0.72 points on a 20‐point scale); however, when education is controlled, American and Japanese people did not differ. Level of working memory was higher in Japan (0.36 on a 5‐point scale) than in the United States, and the effect of education on working memory was stronger among Americans than Japanese people. There are no differences over the age of 85 years. CONCLUSION: Even with large differences in educational attainment and a strong effect of education on cognitive functioning, the overall differences in cognitive functioning between the United States and Japan are modest. Differences in health appear to have little effect on national differences in cognition. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:354–361, 2020 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A system for measuring the gap in a proximity exposure tool of a plasma display panel (PDP) is developed that uses single or dual position-sensitive detectors (PSD's). The resolution of the gap distance is 0.5 [micro] m, with a capture range of 500 [micro] m. Signal processing is simple and fast and easy because analogous PSD's are used as the position sensors. One PSD is used to detect the position of the reference beam, which is reflected from the upper surface of the gap; the other PSD is used to detect the position of the signal beam, which is reflected from the lower surface of the gap. A charge-coupled-device sensor is also employed to monitor the reflected beams and the region of measurement. In the gap-measurement system that uses a single PSD, first the reference beam is incident upon the PSD and then the signal beam is incident upon the same PSD. Then the separation between the two beams is calculated from the position of the reference beam and from the average beam position. [C] 2000 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 120.3930, 120.4640.

Background: Many clinical biomarkers have been associated with dementia. This paper uses a novel data set from an understudied population – a national sample of older Indians ‐ to assess the relative importance of 41 biomarkers using a variety of approaches. The value of these data is the extensiveness of the biomarker collection, the validated classification of dementia, and the uniqueness of the population with low average education. Many approaches to both summarizing and reducing data complexity have been suggested. Some of these are based on theory about biological mechanisms and some are agnostic and based on machine‐learning approaches. The results are informative for others collecting and analyzing biomarker data in population samples. Method: We use 6 approaches to assessing the value of the biomarkers in explaining variance in dementia diagnosis and cognitive functioning – some traditional social science approaches and some based on machine learning. The aim of the different approaches is to determine how to best characterize the influence of biology as well as how to trim and combine the data. The five approaches to measuring biological risk: 41 individual biomarkers; identification of subsets of biomarkers with elastic net; support vector machine learning; factors developed with factor analysis; a principal components approach; and a factor classification based on a theoretical approach. Results: Results indicate if the aim is explain variance in dementia, all the biomarkers or a reduced set of biomarkers identified by elastic net do the best job at explaining variability. However, biological markers chosen as most important do not fit well our understanding of biological mechanisms. Conclusion: If the aim is understanding the relative importance of biological systems, traditional social science approaches, e.g. the factor analysis and principal components approach, allow better understanding and interpretation of the biomarkers associated with cognitive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]