University of Victoria

About: University of Victoria is a education organization based out in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 14994 authors who have published 41051 publications receiving 1447972 citations. The organization is also known as: Victoria College.

Multifactorial and functional mobility assessment tools for fall risk among older adults in community, home-support, long-term and acute care settings

Abstract: Objective: to conduct a systematic review of published studies that test the validity and reliability of fall-risk assessmenttools for use among older adults in community, home-support, long-term and acute care settings Methods: searches were conducted in EbscoHost and MEDLINE for published studies in the English language between January 1980 and July 2004, where the primary or secondary purpose was to test the predictive value of one or more fall assessmenttools on a population primarily 65 years and older Thetoolmust have had as its primary outcome falls, fall-related injury or gait/balance Only studies that used prospective validation were considered Findings:thirty-four articlestesting38 differenttools met the inclusioncriteriaThe community settingrepresentsthe largest number of studies (14) and tools (23) tested, followed by acute (12 studies and 8 tools), long-term care (LTC) (6 studies and 10 tools) and home-support (4 studies and 4 tools) Eleven of the 38 tools are multifactorial assessment tools (MAT) that cover a wide range of fall-risk factors, and 27 are functional mobility assessment tools (FMA) that involve measures of physical activity related to gait, strength or balance Conclusion: fall-risk assessment tools exist that show moderate to good validity and reliability in most health service delivery areas However, few tools were tested more than once or in more than one setting Therefore, no single tool can be recommended for implementation in all settings or for all subpopulations within each setting

Subjective Cognitive Decline in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract: Older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in the absence of objective neuropsychological dysfunction are increasingly viewed as at risk for non-normative cognitive decline and eventual progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. The past decade has witnessed tremendous growth in research on SCD, which may reflect the recognition of SCD as the earliest symptomatic manifestation of AD. Yet methodological challenges associated with establishing common assessment and classification procedures hamper the construct. This article reviews essential features of SCD associated with preclinical AD and current measurement approaches, highlighting challenges in harmonizing study findings across settings. We consider the relation of SCD to important variables and outcomes (e.g., AD biomarkers, clinical progression). We also examine the role of self- and informant-reports in SCD and various psychological, medical, and demographic factors that influence the self-report of cognition. We conclude with a di...

A transient climate change simulation with greenhouse gas and aerosol forcing: projected climate to the twenty-first century

Abstract: The potential climatic consequences of increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration and sulfate aerosol loading are investigated for the years 1900 to 2100 based on five simulations with the CCCma coupled climate model. The five simulations comprise a control experiment without change in GHG or aerosol amount, three independent simulations with increasing GHG and aerosol forcing, and a simulation with increasing GHG forcing only. Climate warming accelerates from the present with global mean temperatures simulated to increase by 1.7 °C to the year 2050 and by a further 2.7 °C by the year 2100. The warming is non-uniform as to hemisphere, season, and underlying surface. Changes in interannual variability of temperature show considerable structure and seasonal dependence. The effect of the comparatively localized negative radiative forcing associated with the aerosol is to retard and reduce the warming by about 0.9 °C at 2050 and 1.2 °C at 2100. Its primary effect on temperature is to counteract the global pattern of GHG-induced warming and only secondarily to affect local temperatures suggesting that the first order transient climate response of the system is determined by feedback processes and only secondarily by the local pattern of radiative forcing. The warming is accompanied by a more active hydrological cycle with increases in precipitation and evaporation rates that are delayed by comparison with temperature increases. There is an “El Nino-like” shift in precipitation and an overall increase in the interannual variability of precipitation. The effect of the aerosol forcing is again primarily to delay and counteract the GHG-induced increase. Decreases in soil moisture are common but regionally dependent and interannual variability changes show considerable structure. Snow cover and sea-ice retreat. A PNA-like anomaly in mean sea-level pressure with an enhanced Aleutian low in northern winter is associated with the tropical shift in precipitation regime. The interannual variability of mean sea-level pressure generally decreases with largest decreases in the tropical Indian ocean region. Changes to the ocean thermal structure are associated with a spin-down of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation together with a decrease in its variability. The effect of aerosol forcing, although modest, differs from that for most other quantities in that it does not act primarily to counteract the GHG forcing effect. The barotropic stream function in the ocean exhibits modest change in the north Pacific but accelerating changes in much of the Southern Ocean and particularly in the north Atlantic where the gyre spins down in conjunction with the decrease in the thermohaline circulation. The results differ in non-trivial ways from earlier equilibrium 2 × CO2 results with the CCCma model as a consequence of the coupling to a fully three-dimensional ocean model and the evolving nature of the forcing.

Systematic Analysis of Immune Infiltrates in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Reveals CD20, FoxP3 and TIA-1 as Positive Prognostic Factors

Abstract: Background Tumor-infiltrating T cells are associated with survival in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), but their functional status is poorly understood, especially relative to the different risk categories and histological subtypes of EOC.

A synthesis of radial growth patterns preceding tree mortality

Abstract: Tree mortality is a key factor influencing forest functions and dynamics, but our understanding of the mechanisms leading to mortality and the associated changes in tree growth rates are still limited. We compiled a new pan-conti- nental tree-ring width database from sites where both dead and living trees were sampled (2970 dead and 4224 living trees from 190 sites, including 36 species), and compared early and recent growth rates between trees that died and those that survived a given mortality event. We observed a decrease in radial growth before death in ca. 84% of the mortality events. The extent and duration of these reductions were highly variable (1–100 years in 96% of events) due to the complex interactions among study species and the source(s) of mortality. Strong and long-lasting declines were found for gymnosperms, shade- and drought-tolerant species, and trees that died from competition. Angiosperms and trees that died due to biotic attacks (especially bark-beetles) typically showed relatively small and short-term growth reductions. Our analysis did not highlight any universal trade-off between early growth and tree longevity within a species, although this result may also reflect high variability in sampling design among sites. The intersite and interspecific variability in growth patterns before mortality provides valuable information on the nature of the mortality process, which is consistent with our understanding of the physiological mechanisms leading to mortality. Abrupt changes in growth immediately before death can be associated with generalized hydraulic failure and/or bark-beetle attack, while long-term decrease in growth may be associated with a gradual decline in hydraulic performance coupled with depletion in carbon reserves. Our results imply that growth-based mortality algorithms may be a powerful tool for predicting gymnosperm mortality induced by chronic stress, but not necessarily so for angiosperms and in case of intense drought or bark-beetle outbreaks.