Collaborative Evaluation of the Healthy Habits Program: An Effective Community Intervention to Improve Mobility and Cognition of Chinese Older Adults Living in the U.S.

OBJECTIVES: There is a growing demand to reduce ethnic health disparities. The Healthy Habits Program (HHP) was implemented to provide a community-based physical activity and education intervention for Chinese older adults living in Boston, Massachusetts. This study evaluated the HHP by assessing outcomes that are critical for maintaining independence of older persons. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Quantitative evaluation was performed on 50 Chinese older adults enrolled in the HHP. The community members were trained in data collection and management. MEASUREMENTS: Cognition (Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Trail Making Test and Complex Walking Task), mobility (Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and maximal gait speed), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), perceived disability (World Health Organization Disability Assessment 2.0), nutritional status (Mini Nutrition Assessment®), and strength (grip and leg strength) were assessed at baseline and at 6 months. All tests were translated into Chinese. RESULTS: Of the 50 participants (mean age 68.4 years; 68% female), 78% achieved the goal of performing exercise ≥3 times/week. After 6 months, clinically meaningful improvements were observed in mobility (mean SPPB score changed from 10.3 to 11.1 points; p=0.01) and cognition (mean MMSE score changed from 26.0 to 27.8 points; p=0.001). There were also statistically significant improvements in executive function, depressive symptoms and perceived disability (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Culturally sensitive community interventions, such as the HHP, are effective for improving mobility and cognition of Chinese older adults. This reveals the potential of promoting successful aging in minority populations through community settings, and should be advocated to reduce ethnic health disparities in the U.S.

Portable chest radiology in intensive care: a comparison of a new dual characteristic film-screen system (Insight) incorporating a flexible grid with a standard film-screen system.

Insight (Insight, Kodak, UK) is a new dual image receptor system which utilizes an asymmetric film screen combination. Conventional radiography was compared with the Insight system, in combination with a cassette incorporating a flexible grid, in fifty patients on the intensive care unit. Radiographs were analysed by intensive care junior medical staff, nursing staff and two groups of radiologists. Insight provided better visualization of lung parenchyma, mediastinal detail and position of endotracheal tubes than conventional radiography. Central venous catheters were generally seen better on conventional radiographs than on Insight. Insight system produces a significant improvement in plain chest radiography in the intensive care unit. In the absence of digital radiography it is a suitable technique for routine radiography in the intensive care unit.

Metallothionein IIA is up-regulated by hypoxia in human A431 squamous carcinoma cells.

The expression of metallothionein IIA (MT-IIA) was investigated in A431 human squamous carcinoma cells exposed to hypoxia (pO < or = 0.01% of atmospheric pO2) and subsequent reoxygenation. Northern analysis showed that MT-IIA mRNA levels were significantly increased during 14 h of hypoxia and during reoxygenation. Western blotting confirmed that total MT protein levels were also increased in response to these stresses. Evidence of the transcriptional control of MT-IIA expression in hypoxic and in reoxygenated A431 cells was found using a 0.2-kilobase sequence of the proximal 5'-regulatory region of the MT-IIA gene in a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene construct. Thus the proximal promoter of the human MT-IIA gene appears to contain a hypoxic response element(s). These observations indicate that MT-IIA may have an important role in the stress responses of cells in solid tumors.

The developmental accumulation of gamma-glutamyl transferase in the pancreas of the rat.

The developmental accumulation of pancreatic exocrine secretory enzymes is well defined, but little is known of the development of other enzymes in the pancreas. This report focuses on the developmental accumulation of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), a membrane-bound ectoenzyme whose specific activity in the pancreas is the second largest among rat organs. GGT activity is large in organs with active glutathione metabolism. Pancreatic GGT specific activity increased 100-fold from prenatal day 14 to birth, decreased 3-fold until about postnatal week 2, and then increased until the adult value was reached 4 weeks after birth. There was a 500-fold increase in specific activity from prenatal day 14 to the adult. The developmental accumulation pattern of GGT was very similar to that of the exocrine secretory enzyme amylase, which increased 1,300-fold from prenatal day 14 to birth, decreased 8-fold by postnatal week 1, and then increased to the adult level soon after week 4. The overall increase in amylase specific activity was 1,100-fold. The similar developmental accumulation patterns of GGT and amylase suggested that their accumulation might be regulated in a similar fashion. Although the thymidine analogue 5-bromodeoxyuridine inhibited the prenatal accumulation of amylase, as previously reported, it did not inhibit prenatal GGT accumulation. Therefore, the prenatal accumulation of GGT appears to be regulated differently than amylase. On the other hand, the postnatal levels of GGT appear to be controlled by glucocorticoids in a fashion similar to the previously reported control of amylase levels, since both enzymes could be induced to rise prematurely to adult levels by a series of three injections of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone beginning on days 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)