The shift from old age to very old age: an analysis of the perception of aging among older people

Background The oldest-old (individuals over 90 years) are a fast-growing population. Understanding the perceptions of older people about very old age is the first step towards developing optimal geriatric care for an aging population. This study aimed to explore the potential shift from old age to very old age through the exploration of older people’s perception of aging. Methods Qualitative study conducted through individual interviews in the homes of older people. We voluntarily chose to include persons a decade under and above 90 years old to explore other factors than age that could participate in the shift from old age to very old age. The sampling was theoretical. We carried out the analyses using an inductive approach based on the phases of grounded theory. The researchers used triangulation. Collection was concluded when theoretical saturation was reached. Results Fourteen participants were interviewed. The shift from old age to very old age was not based on age but occurred when participants became conscious of the irreversibility of aging and its effects, and when they started living day-by-day, renouncing to any plan in a near future. The transition to very old age seemed to be preceded by a progressive disengagement from non-essentials activities. Participants reported a sensation of progressive social exclusion due to the loss of contemporaries or spouse, the difficulty to connect with younger generations or the absence of relationships in their neighborhood. The last step of life was feared, not because of the idea of death itself but because of the associated suffering and loss of autonomy. Conclusion Precipitating and slowing factors of the shift to very old age were identified to help general practitioners support older patients throughout their life trajectories.

How to Educate to Build an Effective Cyber Resilient Society

The possibility that computers, in particular, personal computers, can be used for harmful actions affecting global computer systems as a whole, due to two main reasons: (1) hardware and / or software failures, which are caused by problems related to their manufacture which must be solved by their respective manufacturers and (2) failures due to actions or inactions of their users, in particular people with low computer skills, people of very low age groups, e.g. children, or very old age groups, e.g. ageing people, or others without a minimum of computer skills. This problem is aggravated by the continuous proliferation of equipment, namely mobile devices, IOT devices and others that have Internet connectivity, namely through a browser. There are the possible ways in the area of cyber education that can contribute to cyber resilience of society and these are developed in this work.

No Evidence That Genetic Variation At The Klotho Locus Is Associated With Longevity In Caucasians From The Newcastle 85 Plus Study And The Uk Biobank

The demographics of Western populations are changing, with an increase in the proportion of older adults. There is evidence to suggest that genetic factors may influence the ageing process: studying these may lead to interventions to help individuals live a longer and healthier life. Evidence from several groups indicates that Klotho (KL), a gene encoding a single-pass transmembrane protein that acts as an FGF23 co-receptor, may be associated with longevity and healthy ageing. We aimed to explore this area further by comparing the genotype counts in 642 long-lived individuals from the Newcastle 85 Plus study with 18,295 middle-aged Newcastle-based controls from the UK Biobank to test whether variants at the KL gene locus are over- or under-represented in older individuals. If KL is associated with longevity, then we would expect the genotype counts to differ between the two cohorts. We found that the rs2283368 CC genotype and the rs9536338 C allele, but not the KL-VS haplotype, were associated with reaching very old age. However, these associations did not replicate in the remainder of the UK Biobank cohort. Thus, our results do not reliably support the role of KL as a longevity factor.

Heterogeneity in Vulnerability and Resilience Among Centenarians

Given their exceptional longevity, centenarians have long been considered as examples of successful aging. Yet, with increases in empirical studies, findings suggest that they may show vulnerability and resilience at the same time. This symposium offers a more in-depth perspective on both constructs in centenarians. Zaccaria and colleagues investigated the link between social isolation and loneliness within the Fordham Centenarian Study. Results indicate the existence of four subgroups combining expressions of isolation and loneliness, suggesting different vulnerability patterns in centenarians. Uittenhove and colleagues analyzed patterns of coping strategies in the Second Heidelberg Centenarian Study. Cluster analysis identified two coping profiles, one characterized by a wide coping repertoire including problem-directed and internal strategies, while the other showed low problem-solving. Lampraki and Jopp examined the effects of (lacking) resources and psychological strengths (optimism) on depressive symptoms in the Fordham Centenarian Study. Findings suggest that the effect of resources is mediated by psychological strengths, demonstrating their beneficial value in very old age. Jopp and colleagues report findings from the ongoing SWISS100 Study. Based on telephone interviews conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, they found that centenarians did not feel vulnerable. While half of the centenarians and their proxies reported no changes in everyday life, the other half experienced substantial challenges due to lack of activities and absence of social contacts due to governmental regulations. In sum, centenarians are vulnerable and resilient at the same time, highlighting the future research needs on its predictors, and the application of this knowledge within the context of crisis.

Loneliness and Social Isolation Among Centenarians and Near-Centenarians: Results From the Fordham Centenarian Study

Although loneliness and social isolation are often discussed together, they are mainly examined separately. The few studies examining both concepts simultaneously focus usually on the wider category of older people (65+), with no or little attention to very old age. Our main aim was to investigate loneliness and social isolation in combination among near-centenarians and centenarians. Analyzing data from the Fordham Centenarian Study (N=94; MAge=99.2; range=95-107), we found no or very weak associations between loneliness and social isolation. Combining measures of loneliness (UCLA Loneliness scale) and social isolation (Lubben Scale) we built a typology with four different groups (Not lonely or isolated; Lonely and isolated; Lonely but not isolated; Isolated but not lonely). The factors that most strongly predicted the distribution among these four groups were gender, widowhood, education, and self-rated health. Findings highlight the importance of jointly studying both concepts to better understand social risks in very old age.

Basic Resources and Psychological Strengths as Predictors of Depressive Symptoms

Loss of personal resources is expected to have a negative effect on well-being in all ages, however, in very old age, this effect may be exacerbated. Centenarians, who are confronted with accumulated age-related losses, may be at higher risk of experiencing depressive symptoms. This study investigated the link between basic resources (i.e., health, social network) and depressive symptoms and whether it was mediated by psychological strengths (i.e., meaning, optimism) in 119 centenarians and near-centenarians (Mage = 99.7 years). Results indicated that meaning in life fully mediated the link between health and depressive symptoms, and the link between social network size and depressive symptoms. Similarly, optimism mediated the link between network and depression, but no mediation effect was found when considering health as basic resource. In sum, basic resources are only indirectly associated to depressive feelings, with psychological strengths playing an important intervening role in very old age.

Linking Emotion Regulation Capacity and the Frequency of Daily Stressors in Old and Very Old Age

Lifespan theories and lab-based research both suggest that the ability to downregulate negative emotions is often well preserved into old age, but becomes increasingly fragile in very old age. However, little is known about factors that may alleviate such age differences. Here, we ask whether exposure to daily stressors helps very old adults to maintain effective emotion regulation skills. We used data from 130 young-old (65-69 years, 48% women) and 59 very-old adults (83-89 years, 58% women) who watched negative emotion evoking film clips in the lab under emotion regulation instructions and also reported stress situations they experienced in everyday life (42 occasions across seven days). Initial results indicate that very-old adults were indeed less successful in regulating sadness than young-old adults, but those very-old adults who reported many daily stressful situations were as capable of emotion regulation as young-old adults. We discuss possible factors contributing to our age-differential findings.

Between-person and within-person associations of sleep and working-memory in the everyday lives of old and very old adults: initial level, learning, and variability

Study Objectives Sleep duration affects various aspects of cognitive performance, such as working-memory and learning, among children and adults. However, it remains open, whether similar or even stronger associations exist in old and very old age when changes in sleep and cognitive decrements are common. Methods Using repeated daily-life assessments from a sample of 121 young-old (66–69 years old) and 39 old-old adults (84–90 years old), we assessed links between sleep duration and different aspects of working-memory (initial level, practice-related learning, and residualized variability) between and within persons. Participants reported their sleep durations every morning and performed a numerical working-memory updating task six times a day for seven consecutive days. Results Both people who slept longer and those who slept shorter than the sample average showed lower initial performance levels, but a stronger increase of WM over time (i.e. larger learning effects), relative to people with average sleep. Sleep duration did not predict performance variability. Within-person associations were found for people sleeping relatively little on average: For them, working-memory performance was lower on days with shorter than average sleep, yet higher on days with longer than average sleep. Except for lower initial levels of working-memory in old-old adults, no differences between young-old and old-old adults were observed. Conclusion We conclude that sufficient sleep remains important for working-memory performance in older adults and that it is relevant to include different aspects of working-memory performance, because effects differed for initial performance and learning.

Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy

Fears regarding various aspects tend to stimulate individuals to escape or to avoid the sources of the threat. We concluded that fears associated with the future aging process, like the fear of aging-related diseases, the fear of loneliness in old age, and the fear of death, would stimulate patterns of avoidance when it comes to ideal life expectancy. We expected fear of aging-related diseases and fear of loneliness in old age to be related to lower ideal life expectancies. We expected fear of death to be related to higher ideal life expectancies. In two adult lifespan samples [N1 = 1065 and N2 = 591; ages ranging from 18 to 95 years, M (SD)1 = 58.1 (17.2) years, M (SD)2 = 52.6 (18.1) years], we were able to support our hypothesis regarding fear of death. We furthermore found significant interactions among the fears, indicating that individuals fearing diseases or loneliness but being unafraid of death opted for the shortest lives. Our results indicate that fears regarding life in very old age might be associated with the wish to avoid this age period; the fear of death was however associated with the wish for particularly long lives, and thus, with distancing oneself from the dreaded event of death. We conclude that fears seem to be associated with how individuals approach old age and with what they wish for in their own future as aged people.

Umzug einer Galapagos-Riesenschildkröte aus dem Zoologischen Garten in die Zoologische Sammlung

Galápagos-Riesenschildkröten sind ausschließlich auf dem Galápagos-Archipel im Pazifischen Ozean zu finden. Dort leben sie sowohl in regennassen Regionen als auch in Gebieten mit spärlicher Vegetation. Sie sind tagaktiv und wandern vom Hochland zu ihren Eiablageplätzen in wärmeren Küstengebieten. Sie können ein sehr hohes Alter erreichen, in der Regel werden sie 50–80 Jahre alt. Im Jahr 2020 verzeichnete das Europäische Zuchtbuch für Galápagos-Riesenschildkröten 108 Tiere in 23 Zoos und Einrichtungen. In Europa wird diese Art in 12 Zoos gezeigt, darunter in Rostock und Hoyerswerda. Im Jahr 2012 wurden im Rostocker Zoo fünf Tiere gehalten, die alle aus dem Zoo Zürich kamen. Im Juni 2019 wurde eine der fünf Schildkröten, Elvida, tot in ihrem Gehege aufgefunden. Elvida wurde zur Sektion an das Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung in Berlin übergeben. Danach wurde sie im Museum für Naturkunde Berlin präpariert. Die Präparation erfolgte mit einem Imprägnierverfahren, bei dem das Wasser der Zellen durch Polyethylenglykol (PEG) ersetzt wird. Seit Dezember 2020 ist das Exponat der Galápagos-Riesenschildkröte Elvida Teil der Zoologischen Sammlung der Universität Rostock, wo es den Studierenden für Lehrzwecke zur Verfügung steht und Teil der Ausstellung ist. Relocation of a Galapagos giant tortoise from the Zoological Garden to the Zoological Collection Abstract: Galápagos giant tortoises are found exclusively on the Galápagos archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. There they live both in rain-wet regions and in areas with sparse vegetation. They are diurnal and migrate from the highlands to their egg-laying sites in warmer coastal areas. They can reach a very old age, usually they live 50–80 years. In 2020, the European Studbook for Galápagos giant tortoises listed 108 animals in 23 zoos and institutions. In Europe, this species is kept in 12 zoos, including Rostock and Hoyerswerda. Five individuals were kept at Rostock Zoo in 2012, all of which came from Zurich Zoo. In June 2019, one of the five tortoises, Elvida, was found dead in her enclosure. Elvida was handed over to the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin for dissection. After finishing the dissection, it was prepared at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. The preparation was carried out with an impregnation procedure in which the water of the cells is replaced by polyethylene glycol (PEG). Since December 2020, the exhibit of the Galápagos giant tortoise Elvida has been part of the Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock, where it is available to students for teaching purposes and is part of the exhibition.