Improvements In Longevity Research Articles

Ranking System for Ordinal Longevity Risk Factors using Proportional-Odds Logistic Regression

Longevity improvements have traditionally been analysed and extrapolated for future actuarial projections of longevity risk by using a range of statistical methods with different combinations of statistical data types. These meth-ods have shown great performances in explaining the trend movements of the longevity rate. However, actuaries believe that knowing the trend movements is not enough, especially in controlling the impact of the longevity risk. Accessing the effects of each level of the risk factors, especially ordinal risk factors, towards the improvements of the longevity rate would provide significant additional knowledge to the trend movements. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the potentiality of Proportional-Odds Logistics Regression in ranking the levels of the ordinal risk factors based on their effects on longevity improvements. Based on the results, this method has successfully reordered the levels of each risk factor to be according to their effects in improving longevity rate. Hence, a more meaningful ranking system has been developed based on these new ordered risk factors. This new ranking system will help in improving the ability of any statistical methods in projecting the longevity risk when handling ordinal variables.

Feasibility Testing of the COPE Psycho-education and Emotion Support Intervention for Cancer Caregivers in India

The cumulative effect of the rapid scientific, industrial, and societal changes have made substantial improvements in life, longevity, and ease of living, the process has not been without its share of adverse consequences. Chronic illnesses and their psychosocial sequelae on the patient and family are at the forefront of these concerns. The current study aimed to examine if a tailored psycho-education and emotional support intervention module, titled COPE, developed in the United States of America, would be effective in improving the general health of cancer caregivers, using a single-subject design. Five distressed cancer caregivers were repeatedly assessed on their levels of general health, to establish baseline, intervention, and follow-up trends and these emerging trends were subjected to visual and statistical analysis using the 2 SD band method. The results indicated positive and consistent drops in psychological distress in three cases and qualitative data also supplemented these findings. These findings underscore the need to recognize and fulfil the unmet needs of information and support for cancer caregivers who are instrumental in the care their patients receive. It also sheds light on the forgotten single-case designs as a valuable alternative to the conventional RCT-based models for running interventions meaningfully for at-risk and inaccessible populations.

Demographics, immigration, and market size

This paper investigates the implications of similarities and differences in demographics between Japan and the United States. For this purpose, we construct an overlapping generations model wherein people decide their number of children and levels of consumption for differentiated goods. We assume that immigration takes place according to the utility difference between inside and outside a country. We uncover possible effects of an improvement in longevity on the market size and welfare. We then calibrate our model to match the Japanese and US data from 1955 to 2015 and pin down the dominant effect. Moreover, our counterfactual analyses show that accepting immigration in Japan can be useful in overcoming population and market shrinkage caused by an aging population.

Duration of long-term care: Socio-economic factors, type of care interactions and evolution

The time spent in dependence and the type of care an elderly receives are the two main cost drivers of long-term care (LTC). We aim to provide a better understanding of the duration of care by using a comprehensive social insurance dataset covering the LTC needs in Switzerland over a 20-years-period and including 230000 observations on dependent elderly. First, using the framework of survival analysis, we calculate Kaplan–Meier estimates for the care duration and derive the main explaining factors through econometric models when care is received at home and in an institution. Retaining only significant covariates, the final accelerated failure time models allow us to predict the duration for different profiles of elderly along their age, gender, region of residence, type of household composition, acuity level and pre-retirement income. Second, we study the interaction of care durations when care is provided at home and in an institution. While our data supports that for short at-home care durations the time spent in institutional care is reduced, we find that both types of care are non-substitutes when the time spent at home has been longer. Under the latter regime, the time spent in institutional care remains at a constant level. Finally, given the longevity improvements over the period of observation, we analyze the impact of living longer on the time spent in dependence. Our results show that while the mean age at entry in dependence grows, the overall care duration does not significantly change. Given the expected increasing number of elderly in most developed countries, our study is relevant for government planning, budgeting social insurance schemes, estimating personal savings needs and calculating private insurance premiums.

Nanoparticles for Immune Cell Reprogramming and Reengineering of Tumor Microenvironment.

Nanoparticles in cancer therapy have garnered significant attention in the past few decades. Cancer immunotherapy, which is aptly called "the new-generation cancer therapy," is slowly making remarkable strides in the improvement of patient outcome and longevity. Taken together, nanoparticles in immune therapy have the potential to offer advantages of both nanoparticles and immune therapy on a single platform.

Complications in knee surgery

This is a comprehensive review of complications that can occur with common knee surgical procedures. Procedures have been grouped into arthroscopic & soft-tissue knee surgery, articular cartilage restoration procedures, osteotomy, and arthroplasty. As newer implants and procedures are developed it is anticipated that new complications may arise. However, the overall trend will be towards a generalized reduction. At the same time, patient expectations are increasing in tandem with improvements in health and longevity. It is important to counsel patients regarding any risks of potential complications associated with any intervention as part of the informed consent process.

Reproductive performance of cows and genetic correlation with weight gains and principal components of traits used in selection of Nelore cattle

The objectives of this study were to estimate heritability and genetic correlations for female traits (HR: heifer rebreeding; NC53: number of calves at 53 months of age; HP: heifer pregnancy at 18 months of age; AFC: age at first calving) and weight gains (BWG: from birth to weaning; WYG: from weaning to yearling) in Nelore cattle. Additionally, the relationship of these female traits with four principal components (PC) of predicted breeding values for traits used as selection criteria in this population was evaluated (i.e., weaning and postweaning weight gain, visual scores of conformation, finishing precocity and muscling, and scrotal circumference). The PC were obtained in previous analyses using phenotypic data from 600,132 animals. Low to moderate heritability were estimated for the females traits (HR: 0.12 ± 0.01; NC53: 0.13 ± 0.01; HP: 0.33 ± 0.02; AFC: 0.20 ± 0.01) and weight gains (BWG: 0.24 ± 0.01 and 0.14 ± 0.04 for direct and maternal effects; WYG: 0.21 ± 0.01). The genetic correlations between female traits were favorable, with positive and high estimates between HR, NC53 and HP (0.83 ± 0.03–0.94 ± 0.01) and negative between HR, NC53 and HP with AFC (-0.66 ± 0.02–−0.98 ± 0.01). Heifer rebreeding showed a moderate and negative genetic association with BWG and a positive association with WYG. The genetic association of NC53 with weight gains was positive and favorable (0.31 ± 0.03 with BWG and 0.42 ± 0.04 with WYG). Low genetic correlations were obtained between weight gains with HP and AFC. The first PC, with positive coefficients for all traits, showed a low and favorable genetic association with HP and AFC, but zero with HR and NC53. The second PC, which contrasted weaning and yearling traits, was genetically associated with HR (−0.17 ± 0.03). The third PC, related to early maturity, showed low and negative (favorable) genetic correlations with HR, NC53 and HP (−0.09 ± 0.01–−0.14 ± 0.02) and a positive genetic association with AFC (0.13 ± 0.01). The combination PC showed positive and low genetic correlations with HR and HP (0.12 ± 0.03 and 0.19 ± 0.02, respectively), and negative with NC53 and AFC (−0.08 ± 0.01 and −0.18 ± 0.02, respectively). In general, no relevant genetic antagonism was observed between female traits and weight gains; thus, simultaneous genetic improvements in these traits are possible. The selection based on principal components to achieve a particular breeding objective can provide low or no genetic gains in female traits. Our results thus reinforce the need to use reproductive traits measured directly in females as selection criteria to obtain improvements in sexual precocity and longevity of beef cows.

Diet restriction-induced healthy aging is mediated through the immune signaling component ZIP-2 in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Dietary restriction (DR) robustly delays the aging process in all animals tested so far. DR slows aging by negatively regulating the target of rapamycin (TOR) and S6 kinase (S6K) signaling pathway and thus inhibiting translation. Translation inhibition in C. elegans is known to activate the innate immune signal ZIP‐2. Here, we show that ZIP‐2 is activated in response to DR and in feeding‐defective eat‐2 mutants. Importantly, ZIP‐2 contributes to the improvements in longevity and healthy aging, including mitochondrial integrity and physical ability, mediated by DR in C. elegans. We further show that ZIP‐2 is activated upon inhibition of TOR/S6K signaling. However, DR‐mediated activation of ZIP‐2 does not require the TOR/S6K effector PHA‐4/FOXA. Furthermore, zip‐2 was not activated or required for longevity in daf‐2 mutants, which mimic a low nutrition status. Thus, DR appears to activate ZIP‐2 independently of PHA‐4/FOXA and DAF‐2. The link between DR, aging, and immune activation provides practical insight into the DR‐induced benefits on health span and longevity.

Recycling of Materials for Pavement Dressing: Analytical Review

The paper presents an analytical review of materials recycling for pavement dressing. Recycling or repeated usage of pavement dressing materials while making reconstruction and repair of road pavements is not considered as a new conception and it has been realized in various countries of the world since 20th century. Recycling (hot, cold) is based on methods of its execution, properties of pavement dressing materials which are subjected to processing and which influence on the quality of final material, technical and operational indices, specific economic efficiency. Investigations on the processes of structure formation, thermo-physical properties in components based on granulates of transformed pavement dressings during recycling demonstrate that regeneration makes it possible to attain 100 % recovery of material properties for road pavement base. The paper describes other factors which represent a complex of challenges concerning exterior and internal problems. These problems have arisen due to actual processes of heat and mass transfer in one layer, multi-layer systems of pavement dressings. At known coefficients of heat conductivity, steam- and mass permeability, diffusion, filtration, temperature conductivity, density of material layers etc. initial and boundary conditions it is possible to carry out optimization of heat- and mass transfer problems from bottom surface of road layer to its base (sand, bulk materials, ground). In addition to it, while taking into account development of scientific prospective direction that concerns nano-technology and creation of nano-materials for higher reliability of road dressings it is necessary to consider nanomaterial science in road-construction industry as the most actual one because when we study problems pertaining to fractional composition of all road dressing components including transfer to nanomaterials, for example, application of modified water-reducing agent based on nanostructured carbon it is possible significantly to increase physical and technological properties of asphalt concrete and concrete road dressings. The paper reveals that it is necessary to continue and expand study of physical and technical and thermophysical properties of new materials on the basis of nano-technologies with application of modified, nanostructured carbon-based plasticizer for construction-road industry because especially these additives significantly increase cement activity that leads to improvement of strength, reliability and longevity for the obtained materials.

Health, longevity and retirement reform

Abstract In this paper, we study alternative retirement reforms designed to achieve fiscal sustainability in the face of demographic change. We are particularly interested in the heterogeneous effects across demographic groups, as improvements in health and longevity have not been uniform across the population. To this end, we develop a dynamic, structural life cycle model of heterogeneous agents who face health, mortality and income risk. We consider the following policy reform measures: (1) increasing the early access age to old-age retirement, (2) raising income taxes, (3) lowering old-age retirement benefits and (4) lowering old-age retirement and disability benefits. We find that, of the considered policies, proportionally lowering old-age retirement and disability benefits results in the highest average welfare for all education categories. It is also the most successful at boosting employment.

Prosthodontic Management of Single Complete Denture with Reinforced Metal Denture Base: A Case Report

AbstractFor improvement in longevity of complete denture prosthesis in place of conventional poly methyl methacrylate denture base material, metal denture base is used to rehabilitate complete edentulous maxillary arch as it helps in preventing resorption of residual ridges and improves fracture resistance, better dimensional stability, more accuracy, less weight, and better retention of prosthesis. For better prognosis there are many factors, but major factors such as retention, stability, and support are more important. Metal denture base leads to improvement in physical properties of the prosthesis.

The impact of increasing education levels on rising life expectancy: a decomposition analysis for Italy, Denmark, and the USA

Significant reductions in mortality are reflected in strong increases in life expectancy particularly in industrialized countries. Previous analyses relate these improvements primarily to medical innovations and advances in health-related behaviors. Mostly ignored, however, is the question to what extent the gains in life expectancy are related to structural changes in the populations due to increasing education levels. We decompose changes of the total populations’ life expectancy at age 30 in Italy, Denmark, and the USA, over the 20-year period between 1990 and 2010 into the effects of education-specific mortality changes (“M effect”) and changes in the populations’ educational structure (“P effect”). We use the “replacement decomposition technique” to further subdivide the M effect into the contributions by the individual education groups. While most of the increases in life expectancy are due to the effect of changing mortality, a large proportion of improvements in longevity can indeed be attributed to the changing structure of the population by level of education in all three countries. The estimated contribution of the P effect ranges from around 15% for men in the USA to approximately 40% for women in Denmark. This study demonstrates strong associations between education and overall population health, suggesting that education policies can also be seen as indirect health policies.

Does moringa leaf extract have preservative effect improving the longevity and postharvest quality of gladiolus cut spikes?

Gladiolus is one of the most popular cut flower crops that manifest postharvest problems of rapidly losing the aesthetic value and short vase life that cause quality loss. The study was therefore carried out to investigate whether moringa leaf extract (MLE) has the ability to act as postharvest preservative solution to improve the quality and longevity of gladiolus spikes. Gladiolus spikes were subjected to various concentrations (0, 1, 2, 3, 4%) of MLE in vase solution. All MLE concentrations significantly extended the vase life and resulted in 10 days longer than the control when 3% MLE was applied. MLE treatment also improved the floret opening and reduced the weight loss of cut spikes. The relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll content, and membrane stability were considerably maintained while the microbial growth was suppressed in vase solution by MLE treatments. Also, malondialdehyde (MDA) and H2O2 production was significantly suppressed by MLE treatments. MLE significantly increased the total phenolics and the activities of antioxidant enzymes (CAT and POX) in the florets. These ameliorative effects of MLE were more pronounced by the concentration 3% and further higher level causes no improvement in cut gladiolus spike longevity and quality. It is concluded that MLE showed these effects via alleviation the oxidative stress induced in the cut spike, maintaining photosynthetic pigments and water relations. We recommend MLE to be applied as a potential and promising eco-friendly alternative to common chemicals used in preservative solutions of cut flowers. MLE could also be commercialized as a novel floral preservative for future floral industry application.

Japanese Legacy Cohort Studies: The Hisayama Study.

The Hisayama Study is a population-based prospective cohort study designed to evaluate the risk factors for lifestyle-related diseases, such as stroke, coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and dementia, in a general Japanese population. The prospective follow-up surveys have been conducted in subjects aged 40 or older since 1961. Notable characteristics of this study include its high participation rate (70–80% of all residents aged 40 or older), high follow-up rate (99% or over), and high autopsy rate (approximately 75% of deceased cases). The Hisayama Study has provided valuable evidence of secular change in the prevalence and incidence of several lifestyle-related disease and their risk factors. The study has thereby contributed to elucidation of the preventive strategies for lifestyle-related disease. Research efforts in this cohort are ongoing and will provide additional data for the improvement of human health and longevity.

Eugenics in Late 19th‐Century Feminist Utopias

AbstractLate 19th‐century feminist utopian fiction provides empowering examples of societies governed by women. However, these imaginary societies only exist through radical changes to women’s reproductive roles. At the same time, these societies also anticipate feminist interest in eugenics through proposals to regulate marriage, eliminate unhealthy members of society, and adopt measures for the moral improvement of the human race. Elizabeth Corbett’s New Amazonia (1889) argues that a state governed only by women would achieve high moral standards, while eugenics and strict scientific regulation would guarantee improvements in health and longevity. Mary E. Bradley Lane’s Mizora (1880–1881) proposes an entirely separatist world where the elimination of men, following the development of an asexual process of reproduction, would lead to a scientifically perfect society. Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant’s Unveiling a Parallel (1893), on the other hand, questions the idea of the intrinsic immorality of men, showing a utopia wherein women behave as badly as men given the same societal freedom. Instead, eugenic selection has supported evolution to a higher state of morality in which children are no longer conceived through sexual acts.

Lifestyle Modification and Medical Management of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a heterogenous condition associated with a myriad of symptoms. Just as in other disease states, the aim of medical therapy is the alleviation of suffering, improvement of longevity, and the prevention of complications. This article focuses on the associated comorbidities seen in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, potential lifestyle interventions, and conventional medical treatments for symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Further Evidence That the Genebank Standards for Drying Orthodox Seeds May Not Be Optimal for Subsequent Seed Longevity.

Maximizing seed longevity is important for genebanks to efficiently manage their accessions, reducing the frequency of costly regeneration cycles and the loss of genetic integrity. Research on rice seeds has shown that subsequent longevity in air-dry storage can be improved by drying seeds, which are metabolically active at harvest (moisture contents above a critical value close to 16.5%), for an initial period at a higher temperature (40°C–60°C) than that currently recommended by the current genebank standards (5°C–20°C). The aim of this study was to test whether similar benefits could be achieved in two legume species—cowpea and soya bean—by drying freshly harvested seeds, from two separate harvests, at 40°C and 35% relative humidity, for up to 8 days before equilibrium drying in a drying room (17°C and 15% relative humidity). Improvements in longevity were observed in three of the four accessions of soya bean, with the greatest improvement generally occurring after the maximum duration (8 days) at the higher temperature. However, of the five accessions of cowpea, only seeds of TVu-9698 and TVu-13209 from the first harvest, and of TVu-13193 from the second harvest, showed an improvement in longevity compared with drying following the standard protocol. A negative effect of high-temperature drying was also observed in one accession of cowpea, TVu-11980, but only in seeds harvested later in the season, 13 weeks after planting. This research not only provides evidence of the potential benefits of drying orthodox seeds at an alternative, higher, temperature instead of at the conventional lower temperature, before long-term storage, but also raises awareness of how genebanks can improve the management of their accessions.

Influence of Post Harvest Chemical Treatments on Delaying of Petal Senescence with Improvement of longevity in Jasminum nitidum Flower Buds

Influence of Post Harvest Chemical Treatments on Delaying of Petal Senescence with Improvement of longevity in Jasminum nitidum Flower Buds

Aerosol Chemical Vapor Deposition of One-Dimensional Cu-Doped TiO2 Nanostructured Anodes for High-Rate Lithium Ion Batteries

Energy storage has become increasingly important in recent years due to the rapidly increasing number of electric vehicles (EVs) in use and expanded utilization of intermittent renewable energy sources. Improvements in longevity, energy density, and high rate capability are needed for the next generation of batteries. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the most widely commercialized rechargeable batteries are being used in EVs and some pilot grid-scale storage facilities. One avenue for enhancing the performance of LIBs is the development of novel electrode materials. One such material, titanium dioxide (TiO2) exhibits very high stability during cycling and is capable of ultra-high rate charging and discharging. However, a major drawback to TiO2 is its relatively low electrical conductivity, which limits its performance. Using nanostructured, one-dimensional morphologies the issue of low conductivity can be mitigated. Additionally, metal-doping of TiO2 with various metallic cations such as zinc, copper, or niobium has been shown to increase conductivity as well. Aerosol chemical vapor deposition (ACVD) is an atmospheric pressure technique used to deposit nanostructured metal oxide thin films. In ACVD, a vapor phase organometallic precursor is fed to a reactor and undergoes thermal degradation forming metal oxide monomers. The monomers nucleate to form particles which undergo condensational growth before depositing onto a heated substrate, where the particles sinter into various morphologies. Controlling the rates of these processes using various system parameters leads to the deposition of one-dimensional, columnar structures. Additionally, by introducing two precursors simultaneously doped materials can be synthesized, with the composition controlled by the relative flowrates into the reactor. In this work, we aim to investigate the effect of Cu-doping on the properties and performance of nanostructured TiO2 negative electrodes in LIBs. To achieve this, Cu-doped TiO2 films with compositions between 0-10 at% are synthesized on stainless steel using ACVD and directly utilized as anodes in LIBs. In order to determine the effect of Cu-doping on battery performance a rate capability test is performed by cycling the batteries at progressively higher rates. Additionally, long-term cycling is performed to determine the stability of the electrodes. Additionally, characterization of the lithium diffusion coefficient is performed using both cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT). Finally, density function theory (DFT) simulations are performed in order to validate the experimentally measured values for the lithium diffusion coefficient and the electrical conductivity.

The impact of longevity and investment risk on a portfolio of life insurance liabilities

In this paper we assess the joint impact of biometric and financial risk on the market valuation of life insurance liabilities. We consider a stylized, contingent claim based model of a life insurance company issuing participating contracts and subject to default risk, as pioneered by Briys and de Varenne (Geneva Pap Risk Insur Theory 19(1):53–72, 1994, J Risk Insur 64(4):673–694, 1997), and build on their model by explicitly introducing biometric risk and its components, namely diversifiable and systematic risk. The contracts considered include pure endowments, deferred whole life annuities and guaranteed annuity options. Our results stress the predominance of systematic over diversifiable risk in determining fair participation rates. We investigate the interaction of contract design, market regimes and mortality assumptions, and show that, particularly for lifelong benefits, the choice of the participation rate must be very conservative if longevity improvements are foreseeable.