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While dialectal variation is often investigated from a geographical angle, there exists substantial variation both within the community and individual. The aim of the present article is to investigate the extent to which spatial, occupational, and age-related factors are associated with the diversity of linguistic variants reported per informant at a given locality. Drawing on colloquial language data from the Atlas zur deutschen Alltagssprache ‘Atlas of Colloquial German,’ we found that informants from southeastern Germany and Austria reported familiarity with more variants. Moreover, we multifactorially operationalize occupational complexity, a variable that can capture the effects of different communicative, technical, and physical skills required in a job (via the Dictionary of Occupational Titles). Bayesian multilevel modeling revealed that informants in occupations involving physical precision work and communicative complexity reported less familiarity with variants, and that younger informants were familiar with a wider range of variants.

Past empirical studies have suggested that older adults preferentially use gaze-based mood regulation to lessen their negative experiences while watching emotional scene. This preference for low cognitively demanding regulatory strategy leaves open the question of whether the effortful processing of a more cognitively demanding reappraisal task is really spared from the general age-related decline. Because it does not allow perceptual attention to be redirected away from the emotional source, music provides an ideal way to address this question. The goal of our study was to examine the affective, behavioral, physiological and cognitive outcomes of positive and detached reappraisal in response to negative musical emotion in younger and older adults. Participants first simply listened to a series of threatening musical excerpts and were then instructed to either positively reappraise or to detach themselves from the emotion elicited by music. Findings showed that when instructed to simply listen to threatening music, older adults reported a more positive feeling associated with a smaller SCL in comparison with their younger counterparts. When implementing positive and detached reappraisal, participants showed more positive and more aroused emotional experiences, whatever the age group. We also found that the instruction to intentionally reappraise negative emotions results on a lesser cognitive cost for older adults in comparison with younger adults. Taken together, these data suggest that compared to younger adults, older adults engage in spontaneous down-regulation of negative affect and successfully implement down-regulation instructions. This extends previous findings and brings compelling evidence that even when auditory attention cannot be redirected away from the emotional source, older adults are still more effective at regulating emotions. Taking into account the age-associated decline in executive functioning, our results suggest that the working memory task could have distracted older adults from the reminiscences of the threatening-evoking music, thus resulting in an emotional down-regulation. Hence, even if they were instructed to implement reappraisal strategies, older adults might prefer distraction over engagement in reappraisal. This is congruent with the idea that while getting older, people are more likely to be distracted from a negative source of emotion to maintain their wellbeing.

This study investigated the effects of eight weeks of aerobic exercise training on body composition, lipid profiles, organokines (leptin, irisin), inflammatory biomarkers (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hs-CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6]), and intestinal barrier permeability markers (zonulin, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein [LBP]) in overweight and obese women of different age groups. We hypothesized that aerobic exercise would improve cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, lipid metabolism, and reduce pro-inflammatory responses and intestinal permeability, and that these effects would differ between age groups. A total of 32 participants with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 23 kg/m2 were randomly assigned to one of four groups (n = 8 per group): young exercise (YE), young control (YC), middle-aged exercise (ME), and middle-aged control (MC). The intervention consisted of treadmill running for 50 min per session, four times per week, at an intensity corresponding to 65% of the target heart rate (THR), calculated using the Karvonen formula, for a duration of eight weeks. Body composition variables included body weight, BMI, body fat mass (BFM), percentage body fat (PBF), lean body mass (LBM), and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). Blood samples were analyzed for lipid profiles (total cholesterol [TC], triglycerides [TG], low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C]), organokines, inflammatory markers, and intestinal barrier integrity biomarkers. After the intervention, the YE and ME groups exhibited significant reductions (p < 0.05) in body weight, BMI, BFM, PBF, TC, TG, LDL-C, leptin, hs-CRP, IL-6, zonulin, and LBP. In contrast, LBM and VO2max significantly increased (p < 0.05) in both exercise groups. No significant changes were observed in irisin concentrations or HDL-C levels (p > 0.05). These results suggest that aerobic exercise training, irrespective of age, is effective in improving cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and lipid metabolism, while simultaneously reducing systemic inflammation and is associated with favorable changes in circulating biomarkers of intestinal barrier function in overweight and obese women.

Assessment of influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) and identification of relevant influencing factors are the current priorities for optimizing vaccines to reduce the impacts of influenza. To date, how the difference between epidemic strains and vaccine strains at genetic scale affects age-specific vaccine performance remains ambiguous. This study investigated the association between genetic mismatch on hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes and A(H1N1)pdm09 VE in different age groups with a novel computational approach. We found significant linear relationships between VE and genetic mismatch in children, young adults, and middle-aged adults. In the children’s group, each 3-key amino acid mutation was associated with an average of 10% decrease in vaccine effectiveness in a given epidemic season, and genetic mismatch exerted no influence on VE for the elderly group. We demonstrated that present vaccines were most effective for children, while protection for the elderly was reduced and indifferent to vaccine component updates. Modeling such relationships is practical to inform timely evaluation of VE in different groups of populations during mass vaccination and may inform age-specific vaccination regimens.

The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is classified as a vulnerable species but is commonly received in rescue centers and zoos. Establishing hematological and biochemical reference intervals of free-ranging animals is an important tool to assess the health of both captive and wild populations. Reference values for 53 free-ranging giant anteaters in the Cerrado savanna of Mato Grosso do Sul state were established and differences across sexes and age groups were tested. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between age groups (juvenile and adult) were found for hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), lymphocytes, monocytes, platelets, total protein, globulin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and phosphorus. Between sexes, the only value that showed a significant difference was platelets. The data from the present study were also compared with previous studies and a worldwide zoological databank (ZIMS). White blood cell values were higher in all the studies with free-ranging giant anteaters compared to captive individuals. The relative eosinophils reference interval from our study was the highest ever reported for the species. This paper is the first published study with biochemical values for free-ranging giant anteaters and provides important reference intervals for future giant anteater in situ and ex situ conservation initiatives and highlights the importance of more veterinary research with comparative aspects between wild and captive animals.

Age-related effects on whole-tree hydraulics are one of the key challenges to better predicting the production and growth of old-growth forests. Previous models have described the optimal state of stomatal behaviour, and field studies have implied on age/size-induced trends in tree ecophysiology related to hydraulics. On these bases, we built a Bayesian hierarchical model to link sap flow density and drivers of transpiration directly. The model included parameters with physiological meanings and accounted for variations in leaf-sapwood area ratio and the time lag between sap flow and transpiration. The model well-simulated the daily pattern of sap flow density and the variation between tree age groups. The results of parameterization show that (1) the usually higher stomatal conductance in young than old trees during mid-summer was mainly because the sap flow of young trees were more activated at low to medium light intensity, and (2) leaf-sapwood area ratio linearly decreased while time lag linearly increased with increasing tree height. Uncertainty partitioning and cross-validation, respectively, indicated a reliable and fairly robust parameter estimation. The model performance may be further improved by higher data quality and more process-based expressions of the internal dynamics of trees.

Understanding of fracture mechanics of the human knee structures within total knee replacement (TKR) allows a better decision support for bone fracture prevention. Numerous studies addressed these complex injuries involving the femur bones but the full macro-crack propagation from crack initiation to final failure and age-related effects on the tibia bone were not extensively studied. The present study aimed to develop a patient-specific model of the human tibia bone and the associated TKR implant, to study fatigue and fracture behaviors under physiological and pathological (i.e., age-related effect) conditions. Computed tomography (CT) data were used to develop a patient-specific computational model of the human tibia bone (cortical and cancellous) and associated implants. First, segmentation and 3D-reconstruction of the geometrical models of the tibia and implant were performed. Then, meshes were generated. The locations of crack initiation were identified using the clinical observation and the fatigue crack initiation model. Then, the propagation of the crack in the bone until final failure was investigated using the eXtended finite element method (X-FEM). Finally, the obtained outcomes were analyzed and evaluated to investigate the age-effects on the crack propagation behaviors of the bone. For fatigue crack initiation analysis, the stress amplitude–life S–N curve witnessed a decrease with increasing age. The maximal stress concentration caused by cyclic loading resulted in the weakening of the tibia bone under TKR. For fatigue crack propagation analysis, regarding simulation with the implant, the stress intensity factor and the energy release rate tended to decrease, as compared to the tibia model without the implant, from 0.15  ÷ 2.5 to 0.11 ÷ 1.9 (MPam) and from 10 ÷ 240 to 5 ÷ 133 (Jm−2), respectively. This led to the drop in crack propagation speed. This study provided, for the first time, a detailed view on the full crack path from crack initiation to final failure of the tibia bone within the TKR implant. The obtained outcomes also suggested that age (i.e., bone strength) also plays an important role in tibia crack and bone fracture. In perspective, patient-specific bone properties and dynamic loadings (e.g., during walking or running) are incorporated to provide objective and quantitative indicators for crack and fracture prevention, during daily activities.

Adaptation of goats to the arid and semi-arid environments may involve adjustments in erythrocyte osmoregulation. Sexual dimorphic and age-related effects on osmotic stability of the goat erythrocyte were investigated to determine physiological variations. Apparently healthy male ( n  = 23) and non-pregnant dry female ( n  = 24) Sahel goats, aged <1, 1–1½, >1½–2, >2–2½, and >2½ years with mean body weights of 10.35–27.21 kg, were selected for the study from a semi-intensively managed flock. Heparinised venous blood of each goat was used to determine packed cell volume, erythrocyte count, mean corpuscular volume and osmotic fragility. Erythrocyte parameters did not vary with sex or age of the animal. Erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF), determined in hypotonic buffered saline, did not show sexual difference, but age elicited significant ( p  < 0.05) variation in the saline tonicities (8.0–9.0 g/L) at erythrocyte fragilities of 10–40 %, with highest and lowest mean values at the age of 1–1½ and >1½–2 years, respectively. Body weights increased ( p  < 0.05; r  = 0.96) with age, and 85.8 % weight gain occurred in the transition from age of <1 to 1–1½ years, whereas subsequent weight gains in other age transitions were 8.3, 18.8 and 9.9 %, respectively. Sex and age did not influence saline tonicities at the median erythrocyte fragility. The effect of age on EOF at minimal hypotonicity, occurring after a period of rapid growth, seemed to associate the change in membrane stability with actions of growth-promoting hormones on lipid metabolism which could have altered the lipid content and permeability of erythrocyte membrane.

Introduction Focal ERG associated with photostress test could be a useful diagnostic method for evaluating macular visual function. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of age on the recovery time constant of the ERG photostress test. The second aim was to assess the sources of variability which affect the measurements. Methods Fifty-four healthy subjects (108 eyes), aged between 21 and 77, with corrected VA of 20/20 or more and absence of any ocular or systemic disease, were recruited. For each eye ERG response to focal (20° in diameter) 42-Hz stimulation was recorded: three series of 200 summations in base conditions and a six series of 42-Hz ERGs (100 summations each) at 10, 40, 80, 180, 300 and 420 s after bleaching by a white spot of light (20° in diameter) from a direct ophthalmoscope (800 cd/m²) pointed at macular region for 30 s. Fourier analysis was performed and amplitude of the first harmonica calculated. The relationship of basal amplitudes with subject age and gender, and the kinetics of macular function recovery were assessed through mixed-effects models. Results Mean basal amplitude decreases by 0.046 μV for year of life. The recovery after bleaching is proportional to age with an increase of 4.31 s for decade. Restoration of amplitude is slower in older subjects. Discussion There is a significant decrease in macular ERG amplitude with age. The macular recovery after photostress shows exponential kinetics that are less efficient in older subjects: this could be related to lower effectiveness of photopigment restoration in advanced age.

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Salmonella Infections in Wild Birds Salmonella Infections in Wild Mammals References