Social Panorama of Latin America 2004

Includes bibliography

Envejecimiento, derechos humanos y políticas públicas

Incluye Bibliografía

Social Security in the United States: Overview and Outlook

Includes bibliography

The Canadian retirement income system

Includes bibliography

O olhar das muito idosas de Piumhi-MG acerca do Programa de Saúde da Família

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Determinants of cognitive performance among community dwelling older adults in an impoverished sub-district of Sao Paulo in Brazil

Determinants of cognitive performance in old age have received limited attention in Latin America. We investigated the association of socio-demographic and health-related variables with cognitive performance in a sample of older adults with limited educational experience living in a poor subdistrict of the city of Sao Paulo. This was a cross-sectional population-based study which included a sample of 384 seniors 65 years and older. Cognition was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) (episodic memory test with 10 pictures, verbal fluency (VF), Clock Drawing Test (CDT)). Results indicated that age, sex, schooling, depressive symptoms, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) level had a significant impact on the cognitive performance of the sample. Therefore, pharmacological and psychosocial interventions with a focus on improving mood and controlling hypertension may have beneficial effects on cognition among seniors with similar socio-demographic characteristics. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Retirement Behaviour of Older Workers in Transitional Economies

Research has shown that public pay-as-you-go, defined-benefit pension plans penalise those who stay at work beyond a certain age by reducing the present discounted value of future retirement benefits. In discussions on the effectiveness of policies aimed at eliminating the age-dependency factor in workers' decisions to retire, it is often assumed either that the benefits in all future periods have the same weight in the present discounted value or that the discount rate is close to unity due to low real interest rates used in this case. Galuscak first considered the U.S. pension scheme, showing that discounting plays a crucial role since the formula for the present discounted value of future retirement benefits is sensitive to the discount rate used. He then analysed the role of social security incentives and retirement provisions on older workers' behaviour in the labour markets of the Czech and Slovak Republics and the effect of the macroeconomic environment on workers' decisions to retire. He calculated the optimal parameters of the Czech and Slovak pension rules and assessed the potential effectiveness of changes to the Czech scheme introduced in January 1996.

Panel 9: Aftereffects and Memory of the Holocaust

Panel 9: Aftereffects and Memory of the Holocaust Stefanie Rauch, University of Leicester, United Kingdom: “British Responses to the Film ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’” Download paper (login required) Emily Stiles, University of Winchester, United Kingdom: "The Evil They Helped to Defeat: Exhibiting the Holocaust in Britain's National Museum of Modern Conflict" Download paper (login required) Kara Critchell, University of Winchester, United Kingdom: “The Heart of Holocaust Education: Holocaust Survivors and the Construction of Holocaust Consciousness in Britain" Download paper (login required) Noemi Staszewski, University of Frankfurt, Germany: "The Drama of Getting Dependent on Assistance in the Shadow of the Shoah: Working Experiences with Old Age Survivors in Germany " Download paper (login required) Chair: Emily Dabney and James Burnham Sedgwick, Clark UniversityComment: Marianne Hirsch, Columbia University

Language lateralisation increases with age in very preterm born 7-12 year-olds but not in term born control children

Background: Neural structural abnormalities as well as cognitive difficulties in language processing have been described in children born very preterm (<32 weeks of gestational age and/or <1500 g birth weight). These findings raise the question how premature birth is related to neural language organisation and lateralisation. The aim of the study was to test the following hypotheses: a) VPT/VLBW and control children show different language organisation b) language organisation in VPT/VLBW children is more bilateral compared to language organisation in control children c) positive correlations between language performance measures and language lateralisation exist in VPT/VLBW children and controls. Method: Brain activity was measured during a phonologic detection task in 56 very preterm born children and 38 term born control children aged 7 to 12 years using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. General IQ, verbal IQ, verbal fluency and reading comprehension were assessed outside the scanner. Results: Language organisation and lateralisation did not differ in very preterm and control children in overall comparisons. However, in very preterm children lateralisation increased between the age of 7 to 12 years. This correlation was not found in control children. Language organisation in very preterm children was bilateral in young children and left-sided in old children, whereas language organisation in control children was left-sided in the young and old age group. Frontal lateralisation correlated with General IQ in controls, but no other correlations between lateralisation and verbal performance were found. Discussion: The results of this study suggest different developmental patterns of language processing in very preterm born and term born control children. While very preterm born children showed atypical language organisation and lateralisation in younger years, typical left-sided patterns were found at the age of 12 years.

Age differences in instability, contingency, and level of self-esteem across the life span

We investigated age differences in instability, contingency, and level of self-esteem from age 13 to 72 years, using data from 1386 individuals who participated in a diary study over 25 days. Instability and contingency of self-esteem decreased from adolescence to old age, whereas level of self-esteem increased. Big Five personality traits predicted the level, but not the slope, of the trajectories of self-esteem characteristics. Age differences in self-esteem characteristics did not merely reflect age differences in instability and level of positive and negative affect. Finally, self-esteem characteristics showed a stable pattern of interrelations across the life span. Overall, the findings suggest that people’s self-esteem tends to become better adjusted—i.e., more stable, less contingent, and higher—across the life course.

Dynamic Smile Analysis : Changes with Age

Introduction: The objective of this study was to define age-related changes in the human smile. The areas of interest were: upper lip length at smile and repose, upper lip thickness at smile and repose, maxillary incisal display at smile, interlabial gap height at smile, smile index, percent buccal corridors, intercommissural width at rest, smile height, and smile arc. A secondary objective was to study the perioral changes from rest to smile and compare them on the basis of age. Materials and Method: Video equipment was used to capture video for 261 subjects. Two frames for each subject were selected; one frame representing the lips and rest and the second representing the widest smile. After excluding 40 subjects the data for the remaining 221 subjects was analyzed. Results: There was a decrease of 1.5 to 2 mm in the maxillary incisor display during smile, with increase in age. Smile index significantly increased with increase in age. Most (78%) subjects displayed an average smile height. No subjects in the 50 and over age group displayed a high smile while no subjects in the 15-19 year old age group presented with a low smile. All the dynamic measures indicated there was a pattern of decreasing change from rest to smile especially evident after the 30-39 year old age group. Conclusions: This study helps to establish age related dynamic norms. As the person ages the smile gets narrower vertically and wider transversely. The dynamic measures indicate that the muscles' ability to create a smile decreases with increasing age.

Depression care for the old-old in a primary care setting

Objective. Although those age 75 and older are the fastest growing age group in the U.S., few studies focus on the course and treatment of depression in this age group. This study examines the differences between the young-old (age 60 to 74) and the old-old (age 75 and older) in regards to their response to a collaborative care model for depression in primary care. We hypothesized that old-old participants would have more severe depression and have a lower rate of treatment response compared to young-old participants. ^ Methods. The sample consisted of 906 participants (n = 606 young-old; n = 300 old-old) who were randomized to receive the intervention with a depression care manager in the IMPACT trial. This study compared young-old and old-old patients on process of care and outcome variables to identify potential differences between the two age groups. Process of care was determined by the type of treatment and level of stepped care received. Clinical outcomes included SCL-20 depression scores, treatment response (defined as a ≥50% decrease in SCL-20 score from baseline) and complete remission (defined as a SCL-20 score <0.5) at 3-, 6-, and 12-months follow-up. ^ Results. The process of care variables did not differ between the two age groups. SCL-20 depression scores did not significantly differ between the two age groups at all follow-up intervals. Treatment response was significantly different between young-old and old-old participants at 6- and 12-months. Complete remission rates were significantly different between the two age-groups at 12-months follow-up. ^ Conclusions. Young-old and old-old patients have a similar clinical response to initial collaborative depression care in a primary care setting, but old-old patients may have lower rates long-term treatment response and complete remission. These findings will help guide future clinical and public health approaches to treat old-old patients with depression. ^

Age determination with strontium isotopes on sediment core CRP-1 from the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Strontium isotope stratigraphy was used to date five discrete horizons within CRP-1. Early and late Quaternary (0.87-1.3 Ma and 0-0.67 Ma respectively) age sediments overlie a major sequence boundary at 43.15 meters below sea floor (mbsf). This hiatus is estimated to account for ~16 m.y. of missing section. Early Miocene (16.6-~20.8-25 Ma) age deposits below this boundary are in turn cut by multiple erosion surface representing hiatus is of between 0.2 and 1.2 m.y. Estimated minimum sedimentation rates range between 0.9 and 2.8 cm/k.y. in the Quaternary, and 1.5 and 6.4 cm/ky in the lower Miocene.

Planktonic and benthic stables Isotopes, age model and carbon analysis of HUD91/039 from the northernmost Baffin Bay

A multiproxy study of palaeoceanographic and climatic changes in northernmost Baffin Bay shows that major environmental changes have occurred since the deglaciation of the area at about 12 500 cal. yr BP. The interpretation is based on sedimentology, benthic and planktonic foraminifera and their isotopic composition, as well as diatom assemblages in the sedimentary records at two core sites, one located in the deeper central part of northernmost Baffin Bay and one in a separate trough closer to the Greenland coast. A revised chronology for the two records is established on the basis of 15 previously published AMS 14C age determinations. A basal diamicton is overlain by laminated, fossil-free sediments. Our data from the early part of the fossiliferous record (12 300 - 11 300 cal. yr BP), which is also initially laminated, indicate extensive seasonal sea-ice cover and brine release. There is indication of a cooling event between 11 300 and 10 900 cal. yr BP, and maximum Atlantic Water influence occurred between 10 900 and 8200 cal. yr BP (no sediment recovery between 8200 and 7300 cal. yr BP). A gradual, but fluctuating, increase in sea-ice cover is seen after 7300 cal. yr BP. Sea-ice diatoms were particularly abundant in the central part of northernmost Baffin Bay, presumably due to the inflow of Polar waters from the Arctic Ocean, and less sea ice occurred at the near-coastal site, which was under continuous influence of the West Greenland Current. Our data from the deep, central part show a fluctuating degree of upwelling after c. 7300 cal. yr BP, culminating between 4000 and 3050 cal. yr BP. There was a gradual increase in the influence of cold bottom waters from the Arctic Ocean after about 3050 cal. yr BP, when agglutinated foraminifera became abundant. A superimposed short-term change in the sea-surface proxies is correlated with the Little Ice Age cooling.