Mistreatment and self-neglect in community dwelling older adults: Studies of construct validity, measurement invariance and latent classes

Mistreatment and self-neglect significantly increase the risk of dying in older adults. It is estimated that 1 to 2 million older adults experience elder mistreatment and self-neglect every year in the United States. Currently, there are no elder mistreatment and self-neglect assessment tools with construct validity and measurement invariance testing and no studies have sought to identify underlying latent classes of elder self-neglect that may have differential mortality rates. Using data from 11,280 adults with Texas APS substantiated elder mistreatment and self-neglect 3 studies were conducted to: (1) test the construct validity and (2) the measurement invariance across gender and ethnicity of the Texas Adult Protective Services (APS) Client Assessment and Risk Evaluation (CARE) tool and (3) identify latent classes associated with elder self-neglect. Study 1 confirmed the construct validity of the CARE tool following adjustments to the initial hypothesized CARE tool. This resulted in the deletion of 14 assessment items and a final assessment with 5 original factors and 43 items. Cross-validation for this model was achieved. Study 2 provided empirical evidence for factor loading and item-threshold invariance of the CARE tool across gender and between African-Americans and Caucasians. The financial status domain of the CARE tool did not function properly for Hispanics and thus, had to be deleted. Subsequent analyses showed factor loading and item-threshold invariance across all 3 ethnic groups with the exception of some residual errors. Study 3 identified 4-latent classes associated with elder self-neglect behaviors which included individuals with evidence of problems in the areas of (1) their environment, (2) physical and medical status, (3) multiple domains and (4) finances. Overall, these studies provide evidence supporting the use of APS CARE tool for providing unbiased and valid investigations of mistreatment and neglect in older adults with different demographic characteristics. Furthermore, the findings support the underlying notion that elder self-neglect may not only occur along a continuum, but that differential types may exist. All of which, have very important potential implications for social and health services distributed to vulnerable mistreated and neglected older adults.^

(Table 1) Boron-isotope measurements of shallow-dwelling planktonic foraminifera of ODP Holes 144-817A, 144-872C and 143-865C

Knowledge of the evolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations throughout the Earth's history is important for a reconstruction of the links between climate and radiative forcing of the Earth's surface temperatures. Although atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in the early Cenozoic era (about 60 Myr ago) are widely believed to have been higher than at present, there is disagreement regarding the exact carbon dioxide levels, the timing of the decline and the mechanisms that are most important for the control of CO2 concentrations over geological timescales. Here we use the boron-isotope ratios of ancient planktonic foraminifer shells to estimate the pH of surface-layer sea water throughout the past 60 million years, which can be used to reconstruct atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We estimate CO2 concentrations of more than 2,000 p.p.m. for the late Palaeocene and earliest Eocene periods (from about 60 to 52 Myr ago), and find an erratic decline between 55 and 40 Myr ago that may have been caused by reduced CO2 outgassing from ocean ridges, volcanoes and metamorphic belts and increased carbon burial. Since the early Miocene (about 24 Myr ago), atmospheric CO2 concentrations appear to have remained below 500 p.p.m. and were more stable than before, although transient intervals of CO2 reduction may have occurred during periods of rapid cooling approximately 15 and 3 Myr ago.

Brachiopods in Early Carboniferous

Changes in Mississippian global paleogeography derived from the reconfiguration of the continents, a reversal in ocean currents and global cooling. Although the tectonic and climatic changes are well-documented, their effects on the distribution of brachiopod fauna are poorly documented. Here we present systematic quantitative analyses on global paleobiogeography based on a global brachiopod database from the Mississippian (i.e., Tournaisian, Visean, and Serpukhovian). The dataset consists of 2123 species of 344 brachiopod genera from 1156 localities. Our results reveal that global provincialism was not evident during the Tournaisian and Visean Stages. Two realms, i.e., the Gondwanan and Paleoequatorial Realms, are recognized during the Tournaisian. The Paleoequatorial Realm dominates during the Visean Stage, whereas the Gondwanan Realm is not documented due to the absence of data points. In contrast to the early and middle Mississippian stages, faunal provincialism is greatly enhanced in the Serpukhovian Stage with Paleotethyan and North American realms easily distinguished. This indicates that the Rheic Ocean was closed before the Serpukhovian due to the collision between Gondwana and Laurussia, that disrupted faunal interchange between the Paleotethys and North America. In addition, the paleolatitude-related thermal gradient was enhanced and the Boreal Realm was distinguished from the Paleotethyan Realm during the onset of the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age (LPIA) in the Serpukhovian. The paleolatitude diversity gradient pattern further shows a distinct shift of diversity center from the southern tropic zone in the Tournaisian and Visean to the northern tropic zone in the Serpukhovian.

Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoceanographic changes during the lower to middle Jurassic (Toarcian-Aalenian, ~183-171 Ma). : new evidences from calcareous nannofossils of the Lusitanian Basin

Tese de doutoramento (co-tutela), Geologia (Paleontologia e Estratigrafia), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 2016

Our household insects, an account of the insect-pests found in dwelling-houses /

"Originally appeared as a series of articles in Knowledge."

The dwelling houses of Charleston, South Carolina /

"This limited edition has been printed from type and the type distributed."

Elementary decoration : a guide to the simpler forms of everyday art as applied to the interior and exterior decoration of dwelling houses, etc. /

Mode of access: Internet.