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Results for “Length Of Life”

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At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Extension of cell life-span and telomere length in animals cloned from senescent somatic cells.

The potential of cloning depends in part on whether the procedure can reverse cellular aging and restore somatic cells to a phenotypically youthful state. Here, we report the birth of six healthy cloned calves derived from populations of senescent donor somatic cells. Nuclear transfer extended the replicative life-span of senescent cells (zero to four population doublings remaining) to greater than 90 population doublings. Early population doubling level complementary DNA-1 (EPC-1, an age-dependent gene) expression in cells from the cloned animals was 3.5- to 5-fold higher than that in cells from age-matched (5 to 10 months old) controls. Southern blot and flow cytometric analyses indicated that the telomeres were also extended beyond those of newborn (<2 weeks old) and age-matched control animals. The ability to regenerate animals and cells may have important implications for medicine and the study of mammalian aging.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A cross-national analysis on determinants of life-expectancy in Africa.

The authors estimate and compare life expectancy for 28 African countries in 1984 and 1987, and relate the length of life to selected socioeconomic variables. "The objective of the study is...to identify some determinants of life expectancy and achieve some understanding of their underlying structures so as to make it possible to know those that can be manipulated by policy in order to increase the life expectancy in Africa." Data are from published UN sources.

Africa↗
PubMed1996

Lifetime benefits and costs of intensive therapy as practiced in the diabetes control and complications trial. The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial Research Group.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the cost-effectiveness of alternative approaches to the management of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). DESIGN: A Monte Carlo simulation model was developed to estimate the lifetime benefits and costs of conventional and intensive insulin therapy. Data were collected as part of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and supplemented with data from other clinical trials and epidemiologic studies. SETTING: Twenty-nine academic medical centers. PATIENTS: Persons with IDDM in the United States who meet demographic and clinical eligibility criteria for enrollment in the DCCT. INTERVENTIONS: Conventional vs intensive diabetes management. RESULTS: Approximately 120 000 persons with IDDM in the United States meet DCCT eligibility criteria. Implementing intensive rather than conventional therapy in this population would result in a gain of 920 000 years of sight, 691 000 years free from end-stage renal disease, 678 000 years free from lower extremity amputation, and 611 000 years of life at an additional cost of $4.0 billion over the lifetime of the population. The incremental cost per year of life gained is $28 661. CONCLUSIONS: Over a lifetime, DCCT-defined intensive therapy reduces complications, improves quality of life, and can be expected to increase length of life. From a health care system perspective, intensive therapy is well within the range of cost-effectiveness considered to represent a good value.

Cost of Illness↗
PubMed1980

Use of artificial light and day length to alter the life cycles of mink.

Mink (Mustela vison) that had been raised on a farm were abruptly changed from ambient light at 42 degrees N latitude to an artificial light regimen corresponding to 45 degrees S latitude. The study was continued for 3 years and included three generations of mink. Animals were raised in a light-controlled room with partial temperature control that kept the temperatures between -3 and 26 C. Light schedules were changed weekly to correspond with changing day length. After an initial transition period of 9 months, the mink adapted so that their furring and reproductive cycles were in phase with the altered light regimen. Normal reproductive performance was observed in some males and females. However, the low percentage of both males and females that performed adequately makes the procedure economically unfeasible at this stage of our knowledge and experience. Possible causes of poor reproductive performance were: imprinting of previous light schedules on the animals, relatively high temperatures during breeding and improper light frequencies from artificial illumination.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Palliative chemotherapy or best supportive care? A prospective study explaining patients' treatment preference and choice.

In palliative cancer treatment, the choice between palliative chemotherapy and best supportive care may be difficult. In the decision-making process, giving information as well as patients' values and preferences become important issues. Patients, however, may have a treatment preference before they even meet their medical oncologist. An insight into the patient's decision-making process can support clinicians having to inform their patients. Patients (n=207) with metastatic cancer, aged 18 years or older, able to speak Dutch, for whom palliative chemotherapy was a treatment option, were eligible for the study. We assessed the following before they consulted their medical oncologist: (1) socio-demographic characteristics, (2) disease-related variables, (3) quality-of-life indices, (4) attitudes and (5) preferences for treatment, information and participation in decision-making. The actual treatment decision, assessed after it had been made, was the main study outcome. Of 207 eligible patients, 140 patients (68%) participated in the study. At baseline, 68% preferred to undergo chemotherapy rather than wait watchfully. Eventually, 78% chose chemotherapy. Treatment preference (odds ratio (OR)=10.3, confidence interval (CI) 2.8-38.0) and a deferring style of decision-making (OR=4.9, CI 1.4-17.2) best predicted the actual treatment choice. Treatment preference (total explained variance=38.2%) was predicted, in turn, by patients' striving for length of life (29.5%), less striving for quality of life (6.1%) and experienced control over the cause of disease (2.6%). Patients' actual treatment choice was most strongly predicted by their preconsultation treatment preference. Since treatment preference is positively explained by striving for length of life, and negatively by striving for quality of life, it is questionable whether the purpose of palliative treatment is made clear. This, paradoxically, emphasises the need for further attention to the process of information giving and shared decision-making.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Modelling variation of lower leg length growth in early life.

We consider the estimation of sources of variation for panel data with repeated measurements. With no repeated measurements and known measurement error, models for variation decomposition have been proposed when there are one or more types of measurements. Estimation was performed using the EM algorithm accompanied by model augmentation that demands more computational efforts. In this article we extend previous variation models and modify the estimation methods in order to estimate various variation components after eliminating the unknown effects of measurement error. Specifically, methods that dispense with model augmentation and estimation of time-dependent covariates are considered. A set of lower leg length data from Chinese infants is analysed by using the proposed model. Interestingly, our results are consistent with the well-accepted three-phase (infancy-childhood-puberty) growth transition proposition for human growth. Moreover, gender effect is found to be time-varying.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed2004

A post-hoc analysis of music therapy services for residents in nursing homes receiving hospice care.

This study analyzed the use of music therapy for residents in nursing homes receiving hospice care. An ex-post facto design was utilized to evaluate participants' length of life on the hospice program, time of death in relation to last visit by the social worker and music therapist, the number of sessions and total number of minutes spent in direct care by the social worker and music therapist, and care plan needs treated by the nurse, social worker, and music therapist. A total of 80 participants' medical records were randomly selected for this study. All participants were in nursing homes, 40 of whom had been referred to music therapy. Results showed no significant differences on the time of death in relation to last visit by hospice professional, but there were significant differences in the length of life for those receiving music therapy. Females in this study lived significantly longer than males. Participants received significantly more music therapy sessions than social work sessions, and music therapists spent significantly more time in direct care with participants than did social workers. Care plan needs were analyzed graphically and indicate that music therapists meet important needs of participants.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

On inequality before death and life table: summary measures.

This study suggests the use of 2 new summary indices of the level and structure of mortality, called equivalent lengths of life. These are adjusted life expectancies, a correction being made for the dispersion and eventually also for the asymmetry of the distribution of ages at death. Their computation is based on the use of Gini's Mean Difference. A short illustration is also presented, based on Italian life tables for the period 1881-1970.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Survival analysis of longevity in dairy cattle on a lactation basis.

An analysis of longevity in dairy cattle on a lactation basis is proposed. The approach allowed each lactation to have its own baseline hazard function, which gives a better description of the hazard than traditional analyses of the whole length of life. As a consequence, the overall fit of the model to the data was improved and fewer time-dependent variables were needed. Longevity on a lactation basis was defined from one calving to the next instead of from the first calving to culling. However, no new information was added and it was still the overall risk of being culled that was modelled. It is shown that no cow effect is needed in the lactation basis model because a censored record is not complete, a cow can appear as uncensored only once, and a cow cannot be censored after having been culled. Different subdivisions of the stage of lactation effect were tested and the first ten days of lactation were shown to correspond to an increased risk of being culled. There were no major differences in sire variance between the longevity analysed on a lactation basis and longevity based on the entire length of life.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Progress in reducing mortality among Wisconsin residents, 1980-2000: rates decline, but black-white disparities increase.

PURPOSE: To assess progress towards 2 overarching public health goals--improvement in length of life and reducing health disparities. METHODS: Age specific mortality rates in Wisconsin from 1980 to 2000 were obtained from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database. Rates for each age group were gathered for the entire Wisconsin population and for black and white subgroups. Trends in mortality rates were plotted, change in mortality rates was estimated, and the number of "lives saved" annually from 1980-1984 to 1996-2000 was calculated. In addition, black vs white rate ratios were calculated at both the beginning and the end of the time period to determine trends in black-white mortality disparities. RESULTS: Mortality is decreasing in Wisconsin in every age group. The largest relative improvements in mortality rates occurred among infants <1 year (-30%), children 1-14 years (-27%), and adults 45-64 years (-23%). Comparatively little progress was seen among adults 25-44 years (-5%) and those 85 years and older (-0.5%). Black/white disparities increased in every age group. During 1996-2000, approximately 5000 fewer deaths occurred each year than expected based on mortality rates from 1980-1984. CONCLUSION: Despite progress towards increasing length of life, progress towards eliminating disparities was not seen over the 1980 to 2000 time period.

Black People↗
PubMed2002

Randomised double-blind trial of the effect of vitamin A supplementation of Indonesian pregnant women on morbidity and growth of their infants during the first year of life.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether supplementation with vitamin A together with iron of Indonesian pregnant women decreases morbidity and improves growth of their infants during the first year of life. DESIGN: Women from a rural area in West Java, Indonesia, were randomly assigned on an individual basis to double-blind supplementation once weekly from approximately 18 weeks of pregnancy until delivery. Supplementation comprised 120 mg iron and 500 microg folic acid with or without 4800 RE vitamin A. Their newborn infants were followed up during the first year of life: weight, length, morbidity and food intake were assessed monthly. RESULTS: Infants whose mothers had taken vitamin A supplements during pregnancy had similar weight, length, weight gain and growth as their counterparts during the follow-up period. The proportions of infants with reported symptoms of morbidity were similar in the vitamin A plus iron group and the iron group. In addition immunisation coverage and feeding mode did not differ between the groups. All infants were breast-fed, but exclusive breast-feeding rapidly declined at 4 months of age. Infants with serum retinol concentrations >0.70 micromol/l increased their weight and length more during the first 6 months of life and had higher weight-for-age Z-scores during the first year of life than infants with serum retinol concentrations <or=0.70 micromol/l. Serum retinol concentrations were not associated with morbidity. CONCLUSION: In this study, vitamin A supplementation in conjunction with iron supplementation of pregnant women did not improve growth or reduce morbidity of their infants during the first year of life.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Glucose-regulated turnover of mRNA and the influence of poly(A) tail length on half-life.

Glucose repression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can now be seen to operate at two levels: regulation of transcription of certain genes and control of the half-life of the corresponding mRNAs (Scheffler, I. E., de la Cruz, B. J., and Prieto, S. (1998) Int. J. Biochem Cell Biol. 30, 1175-1193). For example, the steady state levels of SDH2 mRNA and SUC2 mRNA are significantly determined by their differential rates of turnover. A current model for the mechanism of mRNA turnover includes three distinct steps: a rate-limiting deadenylation, removal of the 5'-7-methyl-G (decapping), and 5'-3' exonuclease digestion. We have investigated the same three reactions during glucose-induced degradation of these transcripts. Our results indicate that while decapping (by Dcp1p) and 5'-3' exonuclease digestion (by Xrn1p) are obligatory steps for the rapid degradation of these mRNAs, the dependence on deadenylation is more complicated. At steady state in glycerol these transcripts have very short poly(A) tails but are nevertheless very stable; the addition of glucose causes immediate decapping and degradation without further deadenylation; in contrast, newly made SUC2 mRNA (after a shift from glucose to glycerol) has significantly longer poly(A) tails, and such transcripts are not rapidly degraded upon addition of glucose. A constitutive deadenylation reaction that is independent of the carbon source eventually makes the stability of these transcripts very sensitive to glucose. These results are interpreted in terms of a working hypothesis proposing a competition between translational initiation and decapping influenced by the carbon source. The presence of a long poly(A) tail may also affect this competition in favor of translational initiation and mRNA stabilization.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Length of veterinary working life.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the time veterinary graduates spend in private practice and in veterinary work generally, and to determine what factors influence this. METHODS: Questionnaires were completed in the sixth year after graduation by 119 veterinarians who had participated in this longitudinal study since starting the veterinary course, and the data were analysed using the SAS System for Windows. RESULTS: Of those who started the veterinary course, 90% graduated and 96% of these then entered private practice. Five years later 94% (73% in full-time equivalents) were working as veterinarians, and 64% (50% in full-time equivalents) were still in private practice in Australia. Hours, attitudes of principals and clients, and inadequate rewards were the main reasons for leaving private practice. The likelihood of being still in private practice was greater for those who had had significant responsibility for animals before they entered the course, but it was not related to geographical origin (city vs country), age at entry or gender. Women were, however, more likely than men to be working part time as veterinarians. Predictions of veterinary working life were not affected by geographical origin or by previous experience with animals or on farms, but men expected to work longer than women. CONCLUSION: The average veterinary career, estimated by veterinarians who graduated 5 years earlier, is 24 years in full-time equivalents for men, and 16 years for women. Almost all (94%, representing 73% in full-time equivalents) still work as veterinarians after 5 years, most of them (76%, representing 59% in full-time equivalents) in private practice. The likelihood of remaining in private practice is related to previous responsibility for animals.

Australia↗