United Community Center

The launch of the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) mission in 2023 marked a new era in air quality monitoring by providing high-frequency, geostationary observations of column NO2 across most of North America. In this study, we present the first implementation of a TEMPO NO2 data assimilation system using the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) framework. Leveraging a four-dimensional ensemble variational (4DEnVar) approach and an Ensemble of Data Assimilations (EDA), we demonstrate a novel capability to assimilate hourly NO2 retrievals from TEMPO alongside polar-orbiting TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) data into NASA’s GEOS Composition Forecast (GEOS-CF) model. The system is evaluated over the CONUS region for August 2023, using a suite of independent measurements including Pandora spectrometers, AirNow surface stations, and aircraft-based observations from Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas (AEROMMA) and Synergistic TEMPO Air Quality Science (STAQS) field campaigns. Results show that the assimilation system successfully integrates geostationary NO2 observations, improves model performance in the column, and captures diurnal variability. However, assimilation also leads to systematic reductions in NO2 levels, which improves agreement with some datasets (e.g., Pandora, AEROMMA) but degrades comparisons with others (e.g., STAQS). These findings highlight the importance of joint evaluation across platforms and motivate further development of dual-concentration emission assimilation schemes. While the system imposes high computational costs, primarily from the forecast model, ongoing efforts to integrate AI-based model emulators offer a promising path toward scalable, real-time assimilation of geostationary atmospheric composition data.

Abstract Low grip strength is associated with negative health outcomes among older adults, including poor physical performance, sarcopenia, and all-cause mortality. Social isolation has been also linked with decreased physical function and mortality. Limited studies examined whether social isolation is a risk factor for grip strength decline among older adults and whether race differences exist in this association using population-based longitudinal data. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between social isolation and grip strength among older adults and whether the relationship varies by race and over time. We analyzed National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) data (2015 - 2018) and the sample included 4877 adults > 65 years old. Grip strength was measured using a digital hand dynamometer. Social isolation was measured using six NHATS items from the literature and the composite score ranged from 0 to 6, with a higher score indicating more isolation. The sample mean age was 75 (SD = 22; 68 - 110 years). Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant differences in grip strength across social isolation scores (p = .001) indicating that socially isolated older adults have significantly lower grip strength. We also found that grip strength significantly decreased by 2.046 kg over the four-year period (p = < .001). The findings showed no significant difference in grip strength across race and change in grip strength across time did not differ by race and social isolation. Interventions to improve muscle strength and reduce social isolation among older adults are needed.

The hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” starts with language that is not exactly like that of a modern academic text like this. The rap song asks how a bastard, impoverished, orphaned son of a whore (who perhaps converted to Judaism) grows up in the Caribbean, loading and unloading ships, is propelled to America after a hurricane where, loved by Eliza, he becomes a revolutionary-Revolutionary Era scholar and hero. Similarly, how does the beloved baby boy born soon after the Holocaust to parents who met on a military base grow up in a Jewish middle-class neighborhood with a chronically ill mother, taking his Judaism for granted, loading and unloading phone books in his parents’ Lincoln Continental convertible, and end up an academic psychiatrist, propelled by a hurricane back home, where, spurred on by his muse, he becomes a scholar of sorts and designated “hero of public psychiatry,” but then is asked: what about anti-Semitism? Belatedly, he realizes that he has, like so many others, not been paying enough attention to philo-Semitism as anti-Semitism rises once again. The modern journey of this Jewish psychiatrist past various social, religious, and clinical signposts finds ten life lessons that may be widely applicable to address this perennial challenge to mental health.

BackgroundWe previously developed Pisando Fuerte (PF), a linguistically and culturally appropriate version of “Stepping On”, an evidence-based fall prevention program building on self-efficacy and adult learning principles. The purpose of this study is to describe the implementation of PF at two community organizations in Wisconsin.MethodsPF consisted of 2 h sessions delivered in Spanish over the course of 8 weeks by two trained leaders, at two community sites in Wisconsin. Participants identified strategies for falls prevention and practiced progressive balance and strength exercises. The RE-AIM framework guided the mixed-methods evaluation. Falls Behavioral Risk Scale (FaB) (Outcomes), and uptake of protective behaviors (Individual Maintenance) were evaluated 6 months after completion. Fidelity of delivery (Implementation) was evaluated by an independent assessor for three sessions at each site using a-priori criteria based on key elements of Stepping On.ResultsTwenty-four Hispanic/Latino individuals, whose primary language is Spanish, were enrolled in two workshops. The mean age was 70.5 years; 71% were female, and five reported a fall in the year prior. Outcomes: There was a non-statically significant decrease in the number of falls per person [RR: 0.33 (95%CI: 0.096–1.13)] at 6 months. There was a statistically significant improvement of the mean Falls Behavioral Risk Scale (FaB) (baseline = 2.69 vs. 6-months post-intervention = 3.16, p < 0.001). Adoption: Barriers to adoption included leader training in English, time to identify Spanish-speaking guest experts, and time to prepare for each session. Implementation: Satisfactory fidelity of delivery was achieved in 69% of the elements; fidelity lapses were more common in the use of adult learning strategies and programmatic aspects. Eighty eight percent of participants completed the program, and 95% of them adequately demonstrated the exercises. Maintenance: At 6 months, 57.9% of participants continued doing exercises, 94% adopted safer walking strategies, and 67% executed at least one home safety recommendation. These results are similar to those seen in the original Stepping On program.ConclusionsOur study shows good fidelity of delivery with implementation of “Pisando Fuerte”. Pre-post data demonstrate a significant reduction in falls behavioral risk among Hispanic/Latino participants, similar to results with “Stepping On”.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03895021. Registered March 29, 2019.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common mental health disorder in childhood. Unfortunately, Latino youth and their families are at increased risk of demonstrating poor treatment outcomes. The current study examined the impact of parental cultural factors and perceptions on Latino family participation in a psychosocial intervention for childhood ADHD. Sixty-one Latino youth and at least one of their primary parents and teachers participated in the current study. Results indicated that parental acculturation, attitudes regarding treatment, and baseline severity of child symptomatology and functional impairment were related to treatment participation outcomes. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Diversity of perspective makes for greater depth when painting a portrait of community life. But embracing the idea of representing true diversity in a formal research project is a whole lot easier than putting it into practice. The three dozen members of the Food Dignity action research team, now entering the fourth year of a five-year project, are intimately familiar with this challenge. In this article, four of the collaborators explore the intricacies of navigating what it means to bring together a genuine cross-section of community-based activists and academics in an effort to draw on one another’s professional and personal strengths to collect and disseminate research findings that represent the truth of a community’s experiences, and are ultimately disseminated in a way that brings tangible benefit to the heart and soul of that community. The authors include Food Dignity’s principal investigator (Porter) and three community organisers (Marshall, Herrera and Woodsum) in organisations that have partnered with Food Dignity. Two of the organisers (Herrera and Woodsum) also serve project-wide roles. These collaborators share their personal and professional hopes, struggles, concerns, successes and failures as participants in this cutting-edge effort to equalise community and university partnerships in research. Keywords: community-based participatory research (CBPR), food justice, equitable community-campus partnerships, food sovereignty, case study, action research

The purpose of this study was to describe the grief and personal growth experience of spouses and adult children of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and the factors contributing to these experiences. We used a modification of the Marwit-Meuser-Sanders Caregiver Grief model to examine the factors that contribute to grief and personal growth. We used chi-square tests, t tests, multivariate analyses of variance, correlations, and hierarchical regression analyses in a cross-sectional analysis of 201 spouses and adult children caregivers at various stages of the disease trajectory. Grief increased as the severity of the disease increased. When the spouse with Alzheimer's disease lived out of the home, spouse caregivers experienced more sadness and longing, worry and isolation, and personal sacrifice burden than did adult children caregivers. Different factors influence grief and personal growth for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. The majority of caregivers experienced personal growth, with more growth experienced by adult children. Health care providers should consider using the Marwit and Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory to screen for high levels of grief in caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Supportive services targeted for those with high levels of grief are suggested.