AAA and the University of Florida National Older Driver Research and Training Center are making these and other recommendations for addressing the physical, visual and cognitive changes that affect senior drivers as part of the Smart Features for Mature Drivers program. AAA and UF announced the smart features today (March 21) at the New York International Auto Show.

Reduced range of motion, arthritic joints, diminished fine motor skills and trouble with night vision and recovery from glare are all common age-related physical changes that can affect driving ability. A recent AAA survey found that 43 percent of drivers over 55 suffered from at least one of nine driving-related difficulties commonly caused by aging.

“There are ways to counteract the difficulties brought on by age-related changes so that seniors can maintain their safe driving abilities,” said Dennis McCarthy, co-director of the National Older Driver Research and Training Center and a research assistant professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of occupational therapy. “One of these is through proper use of particular vehicle features.”

In 2003 about one in seven licensed drivers was 65 or older. By 2029, that proportion is expected to rise to one in four drivers, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute.

“The goal of Smart Features for Mature Drivers is to ensure that mature drivers are comfortable in their vehicles and to keep them driving safely as long as possible,” said Desiree Lanford, a UF driving rehabilitation specialist.

Smart Features for Mature Drivers recommends particular vehicle features based on the driver’s needs. For example, thick steering wheels, keyless entry and ignition, power mirrors and larger dashboard controls can make driving easier for seniors with arthritic hands or diminished fine motor skills. The doors on four-door models require less strength to open and close than two-door vehicles. Those with limited range of motion in the back, neck, shoulder or arm should consider large, wide-angle mirrors, tilt steering wheels and comfortable, six-way adjustable seats with lumbar support when choosing a vehicle. Seniors with vision issues may benefit from extendable sun visors and larger dashboard controls with contrasting text.

“The best vehicle features are those that fit the individual person and his or her limitations or needs,” Lanford said.

AAA and UF experts also suggest all mature drivers consider proven crashworthiness, antilock brakes, head restraints to reduce the risk of neck injuries, dynamic stability control to help prevent loss of control in a turn, and side and dual-stage or dual-threshold air bags that inflate based on the severity of the crash, lowering the risk of injury if airbags deploy with too much force.

“Safe driving is a function of person, environment and vehicle factors,” said Sherrilene Classen, a UF older driver injury prevention researcher and project team member. “The Smart Features for Mature Drivers project recognizes normal age-related changes and provides beneficial vehicle features to accommodate such changes — a critical step in injury prevention.”

To learn more about the Smart Features for Mature Drivers program, visit the Web site www.AAA.com/seniors.

“By providing public services such as Smart Features for Mature Drivers, AAA aims to keep our growing senior population safe behind the wheel,” said AAA President and Chief Executive Officer Robert L. Darbelnet. “We encourage older drivers and their families to use this as a guide in the selection of their next vehicle or evaluating their current one.”

Scientists studying rats induced to display a form of Parkinson’s disease discovered that a protein commonly found in brain cells can be toxic if — at one pinpoint location in its amino acid structure — it lacks a chemical compound called a phosphate.

When scientists used gene therapy to simulate a phosphate at this critical position, the rats’ brain cells didn’t develop the Parkinson-like pathology that would normally occur.

The finding provides new insight into the fundamentals of Parkinson’s disease and the role of an abundant yet mysterious brain protein known as alpha-synuclein, which is believed to help brain cells communicate but may have a more sinister role in the development of neurological diseases.

“We have another potential target for therapy, but there is a great deal left to discover,” said Nicholas Muzyczka, a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology in the College of Medicine and an eminent scholar with the UF Genetics Institute. “This is one more piece of information about what might be causing the toxicity in Parkinson’s disease, and it gives us a little more to go on about what alpha-synuclein does in the brain.”

Generally located at the synapses of nerve cells, alpha-synuclein is believed to aid in brain function, possibly by helping cells communicate with one another by controlling the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine.

Mutations of alpha-synuclein may cause a rare, inherited form of Parkinson’s, and the protein has been found to be the major component of Lewy bodies, which are abnormal clusters of protein in the brain cells of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

The National Parkinson Foundation estimates 1.5 million Americans currently have Parkinson’s disease and about 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. It is caused by the death or impairment of certain nerve cells in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra. When these cells die, the body is deprived of dopamine, a neurotransmitter vital for movement.

“We know of several enzymes that can cause phosphorylation in the proper position of the alpha-synuclein protein,” said Oleg Gorbatyuk, an assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology. “Increasing their expression in brains afflicted with Parkinson’s disease could possibly provide a gene therapy approach to the disease.”

In experiments described in the Jan. 15 issue of PNAS, UF researchers used gene transfer to enhance the production of three versions of alpha-synuclein in the substantia nigra region on one side of the rats’ brains. The other side was not treated, for comparison purposes.

Of the types of alpha-synuclein, the one that simulated phosphorylation at position 129 of the protein was nontoxic. But the other versions of the protein all caused significant loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra.

“Adding a phosphate group is about the smallest thing that can possibly happen in biology,” said Mark R. Cookson, an investigator in the Cell Biology and Gene Expression Unit of the National Institute on Aging who was not involved in the research. “But this relatively minor, innocuous change can switch everything around from being a big problem to being no problem. This research really gives us an idea of some things going on in inherited cases of Parkinson’s disease, and if we use that genetic information as a handle to get into the common disease, it is possible to take this from genetics to a drug discovery program.”

The study findings, published in a recent issue of Urologic Nursing, underscore the need for health-care practitioners to educate their patients about the physical and psychological effects the surgery will have on their everyday lives.

“The effects of this treatment are quite immediate and can lead to depression and frustration,” said Bryan Weber, an assistant professor in the UF College of Nursing and the study’s lead author. “After an initial diagnosis of prostate cancer, men may be so focused on eradicating the disease that they don’t realize the effects the treatment will have on their quality of life, both for them and their families.”

Prostate cancer is the No. 1 cancer among men, excluding skin cancer, and with more baby boomers reaching their 50s and 60s, it’s expected to grow even more prevalent, with more than 200,000 cases diagnosed in 2007. Given the various treatment options for prostate cancer, men who undergo radical prostatectomy may initially decide that the risk of physical dysfunction is worth the benefit of improved likelihood of survival. But many don’t know what to expect in the months after surgery, Weber said.

Physical side effects of prostate cancer treatment limit daily activities and may interfere with a man’s sense of masculinity and self-confidence. Urinary incontinence, for example, requires the use of pads that add considerable bulkiness to clothing and create concern about leakage and odor. Sexual dysfunction interferes with a man’s sense of self and may limit the relationship he has with his significant other, Weber said.

In the study, UF researchers evaluated 72 men six weeks after they underwent prostatectomy. In addition to measuring participants’ physical function and assessing whether they had urinary and bowel symptoms and sexual dysfunction, the researchers also evaluated measures of self-confidence, social support and uncertainty about the disease and treatment. Most participants were white, married and employed full-time or retired, and most had some college education.

Fifty-seven percent of the men reported low to moderate social support, indicating that many of the topics proved embarrassing for them to discuss with others, Weber said. The level of social support was significantly related to urinary problems, revealing that men with urinary incontinence may need more support than those with more control.

“Within the first 100 days of diagnosis, men may be so distressed and so focused on curing their cancer that they don’t focus on these side effects, which is what makes it imperative for health-care professionals to educate them on ways that their lives will change and how they can cope,” Weber said. “Almost immediately after treatment, men may experience depression, awkwardness and emasculation, which will have a great effect on their quality of life.”

Weber suggests that clinicians assess men and their support systems, identify changes in physical function that may occur as a result of treatment, and direct them to products and services designed to help them cope with the immediate effects of sexual dysfunction and urinary and bowel incontinence.

For example, Weber said numerous medications aim to ease sexual dysfunction, but many men may not realize the great expense associated with these drugs or be aware of their potential side effects. Similarly, a number of options for urinary incontinence exist, such as boxer shorts that are designed to hold urinary pads, lessening the embarrassment of having to wear such items.

“Education and counseling should be provided to these men to better inform and prepare patients for the physical side effects they are likely to experience postoperatively,” Weber said. “Since we know that men are less likely to rely on support groups or be more embarrassed to discuss these items with family and friends, it’s even more vital for health-care professionals to stress these issues and include options for patients. Men need to be introduced to different options, make choices and regain control over their lives.”

Health practitioners need to remember to thoroughly discuss the consequences of treatment with patients, and information should be tailored to each individual’s needs, said Joyce Davison, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia Department of Urologic Sciences.

“Once diagnosed with prostate cancer, men vary with regard to the type and amount of information they wish to access and the degree of decision control they wish to have,” Davison said. “It is up to health-care professionals to assess and provide information and support accordingly.”

The procedure was performed last month to test the safety and effectiveness of a synthetic peptide — a small protein fragment — in procedures involving the human eye.

“All patients with macular degeneration have good peripheral, or side, vision, but it’s their central vision that’s affected in both the dry and the wet forms of the disease,” said Dr. Shalesh Kaushal, an assistant professor of ophthalmology and director of the vitreoretinal service in the UF department of ophthalmology.

Macular degeneration affects about 9 million Americans, according to the National Eye Institute. About 15 percent of those people have the wet form of the disease, in which leaky blood vessels crop up like weeds beneath the macula, a part of the retina responsible for central vision.

Doctors can inject the eyes with drugs to stem the abnormal growth of blood vessels, but that approach benefits only the 15 percent of patients afflicted with the wet version, leaving the vast majority of people with macular degeneration in the dark.

These therapies only manage the symptoms, according to Dr. Cedric Francois, the president and CEO of Potentia Pharmaceuticals Inc., the company that designed the anti-inflammatory compound and is funding the safety trial at UF.

“In about 15 percent of people with macular degeneration, you get bleeding in the back of the eye. The drugs that are on the market can stop that bleeding from occurring but they don’t treat the cause of the disease,” said Francois. “The problem was that until recently, no one knew how the illness worked.”

That changed two years ago, when a series of reports in the journal Science shed light on the underlying mechanisms of macular degeneration. The reports revealed a link between the chronic inflammation and tissue damage that accompany both forms of the disease and a genetic defect in the complement system, a series of enzymes that defend the body against pathogens by stimulating a potent inflammatory response.

“Complement is a set of proteins that are often triggered in inflammatory diseases, including the eye in particular,” Kaushal said. “There are now multiple reports that these complement proteins may be overstimulated in wet macular degeneration.”

Those reports allowed scientists to begin tackling the disease from the roots up.

“What’s become clear in the biology of this disease is that there are multiple facets to the disease process. The inflammatory component may be central to the development of age-related macular degeneration because it affects the survival of visual cells and also promotes new blood vessel growth,” Kaushal said.

With that in mind, researchers from Potentia Pharmaceuticals set out to develop an existing family of complement inhibitors called Compstatin for use in the human eye. In animal studies, complement inhibitors have been shown to prevent the inappropriate inflammatory response that accompanies both the wet and dry forms of macular degeneration.

Compstatin and its derivative, POT-4, are the first molecules of their kind to prevent overactivation of the complement pathway.

“Compstatin is a unique complement inhibitor,” said John Lambris, the University of Pennsylvania professor of pathology and laboratory medicine who initially discovered the peptide over 12 years ago. “POT-4 is a much more active version of the original compound.”

Now, teams from Florida, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Arizona are evaluating the safety of POT-4 in humans with the wet form of macular degeneration. The first and third subjects received injections of the peptide at UF in November and December. The second subject was treated in New Hampshire in November.

The UF scientists continue to monitor the subjects closely to gather important information about the safety profile of POT-4. After a safety committee reviews data from the first round of participants, an additional 12 subjects will participate in the study.

“Any peptide or protein that you inject into the eye has the potential for kicking up inflammation,” Kaushal said, noting that because POT-4 is injected locally into the eye in the same method used to deliver existing treatments for macular degeneration, the possibilities for widespread side effects are limited.

Scientists are beginning to explore the role of complement in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, asthma and Alzheimer’s disease.

“There are many human diseases related to complement,” Kaushal said. “That whole area of research has just blossomed over the last four or five years.”

“Caloric restriction is a way to extend life in animals. If you give them less food, the stress of this healthy habit actually makes them live longer,” said Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, chief of the division of biology of aging in UF’s Institute on Aging. Understanding how the process works at the cellular level in rodents could help scientists develop drugs that mimic the process in humans, Leeuwenburgh added.
How does it work? During the aging process, free radicals – highly reactive byproducts of our cells’ respiration – wreak havoc on our cellular machinery. Mitochondria, the tiny power plants that keep a cell functioning, are especially vulnerable to this type of damage. The effects can be disastrous – if malfunctioning mitochondria aren’t removed, they begin to spew out suicidal proteins that prompt the entire cell to die. Cell death, on a whole-body scale, is what aging is all about.

Fortunately, younger cells are adept at reducing, recycling and rebuilding. In this process, damaged mitochondria are quickly swallowed up and degraded. The broken down pieces are then recycled and used to build new mitochondria. However, older cells are less adept at this process, so damaged mitochondria tend to accumulate and contribute to aging.

“Cell survival is dependent upon the ability of the cell to reduce and recycle by a mechanism called autophagy,” said William Dunn Jr., a professor of anatomy and cell biology in UF’s College of Medicine and senior author of the study, which was published online this month in the journal Rejuvenation Research. “When a cell is under stress, autophagy is turned on to clean up the cell by removing damaged cellular components, while recycling building blocks necessary to rebuild the cell. It’s there to protect the cell. But in aged cells, they’re basically not able to adjust to stress as well.”

UF scientists studied 22 young and old rats, comparing those allowed to eat freely with those fed a low-calorie, nutritious diet. The stress of a low-calorie diet was enough to boost cellular cleaning in the hearts of older rats by 120 percent over levels seen in rats that were allowed to eat what they wanted. The diet had little or no effect on younger rats.

“Autophagy is a housekeeping mechanism that keeps cells free of damaged and thereby detrimental mitochondria and other toxic materials while recycling their building blocks - nutrients needed by the cell,” said Stephanie Wohlgemuth, a lecturer in UF’s department of aging and geriatrics and the study’s lead author. “So if that process is maintained with age — or even increased — that can only be beneficial.”

To determine how dietary restriction boosted cells’ ability to reduce the toxic trash, the scientists studied how the amount of certain proteins changed with the rats’ age and diet. They found that some proteins responsible for degrading the damaged parts of the cell by autophagy were more abundant in older, calorie-restricted rats.

Boosting autophagy is especially important in the heart, a vital organ packed with mitochondria, Wohlgemuth said. Swift disposal of damaged cellular components is essential to maintaining an abundance of healthy heart cells as we age.

“Cardiac cells have lost the capability to divide readily to replace dying cells. So the maintenance of the cells’ survival mechanisms is crucial for the heart,” Wohlgemuth said.

Now that some of these proteins have been identified, UF researchers say the next step is to figure out how the proteins can be activated without inflicting dietary stress.

“What if we bypass the caloric restriction and find a way of increasing autophagy?” asked Dunn. “That is, instead of starving yourself you can find another way of enhancing autophagy that will allow the enhanced removal of various damaged organelles that accumulate in aged cells.”

Dr. Ulf Brunk, a professor emeritus of experimental pathology at Linköping University in Sweden, said the study builds on past research showing that removal of toxic mitochondria may extend life in a variety of mammals.

“The paper is a further step in the direction of showing that the stimulation of autophagy may be beneficial,” Brunk said.

An estimated 21 percent of seniors have the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association, and 1.5 million new cases are diagnosed each year. People with diabetes are at increased risk for developing heart disease and stroke, as well as kidney disease, blindness, dental disease and a host of other conditions.

UF researchers say depression may be next on the list. Doctors have noticed for some time that it is more common among patients with the disease, but researchers have debated the cause-and-effect relationship for years. People with diabetes may suffer hormonal imbalances that predispose them to depression. On the other hand, depression is associated with physical and behavioral factors such as obesity and poor diet that some say could be enough to trigger diabetes in the elderly. The question of which ailment came first — diabetes or depression — has remained a mystery until now.

“This is the first study to evaluate diabetes as a risk factor for the onset of depression in older persons,” said study author Dr. Matteo Cesari, a geriatrician in UF’s Institute on Aging. “It’s likely we are looking at a vicious, self-feeding cycle: Diabetes causes depression, which may reduce adherence to diabetic treatment, therefore worsening the diabetic condition, and so on.”

The researchers evaluated 2,500 healthy patients aged 70 to 79 over a six-year period to determine if adult-onset diabetes is a risk factor for depression. The participants were enrolled in the Health, Aging and Body Composition study, an ongoing program sponsored by the National Institute on Aging that is based in Memphis, Tenn., and Pittsburgh.

UF researchers, who collaborated with Health ABC investigators at six other universities in the U.S. and Europe, discovered that people with diabetes are indeed twice as likely to suffer from recurrent depression later in life. The risk is slightly higher for those who don’t stick to recommended diet and treatment regimens.

About 23 percent of the study participants had diabetes, and nearly two-thirds of those patients had unhealthy blood sugar levels. The study also revealed that diabetics with high blood sugar also had elevated levels of an inflammatory marker called interleukin-6 that has been associated with depression.

“There may be a direct biological link between diabetes and depression,” said Dr. Marco Pahor, director of the UF Institute on Aging and chairman of the College of Medicine’s department of aging and geriatrics. “We know that depression is linked to proinflammatory cytokines, for one. Diabetes may be one of the triggers that causes depression.”

Lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet appeared to be key factors that contribute to depression in people with diabetes, researchers found.

“Obesity and physical performance are the most important mediators in the relationship between diabetes and depression reported in the study,” Cesari said. “It is noteworthy that both are related to poor health status and poor quality of life.”

To avoid feeling melancholy later in life, the UF researchers said people with diabetes should take extra care to control their blood sugar levels by maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly and remembering to take prescribed medications.

“Diabetes is a preventable condition. Right now, we are facing a national epidemic because of obesity and a sedentary lifestyle,” Pahor said. “Inspiring a change in lifestyle is an important way that physicians can help patients avert depression and other complications of diabetes.”

Depression can be a slippery slope. Patients overwhelmed by sadness are more likely to abandon healthy eating habits and become less active, the researchers said. The study highlights the need for doctors to prevent the onset of diabetes by encouraging healthy decisions regarding diet, exercise and medication.

“If diabetes is already present, the careful monitoring of this condition and the control of (blood sugar) levels are particularly important to avoid future negative health-related events, including the potential onset of depression,” Cesari said.

Although physicians sometimes overlook depression in the elderly, the National Institute of Mental Health reports that the rate of suicide deaths in the older population exceeds that of the general population.

“The research showing that diabetes has an independent effect on the onset of new depression is an important finding,” said Dr. Jack Guralnik, chief of the laboratory of epidemiology, demography and biometry at the National Institute on Aging. “Physicians caring for older diabetic patients need to be particularly observant to identify the onset of depression so that they can initiate early treatment.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida’s Institute on Aging has received a multimillion-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. UF is one of 10 centers in the country to receive the prestigious award, which provides $3.9 million over the next five years to fund aging research and career development.

Created and named in honor of Pepper, a former U.S. senator and state representative from Florida who dedicated his legislative career to improving the lives of older Americans until his death in 1989, the nation’s Pepper Centers target research on one common fear people have about growing older — loss of independence.

“With the award, UF’s IOA has joined the ranks of the most prestigious programs on aging in the nation,” said Dr. Marco Pahor, director of the institute and chairman of the College of Medicine’s department of aging and geriatrics. “This grant will provide a foundation for our ongoing research endeavors, as well as support our efforts to train the next generation of leaders in aging research, education and health care.”

In the 2007-08 fiscal year, the National Institute on Aging will support 10 Pepper Centers across the U.S., each with a specific area of emphasis beyond their basic role in research and training.

As the American population grows older, the research conducted at the Pepper Centers becomes increasingly important, especially in Florida, where 17 percent of the population is over the age of 65.

UF’s central mission addresses the problem of muscle loss, a process called sarcopenia. Research programs at the UF Pepper Center are organized around several core areas that bring together an interdisciplinary team of researchers, geriatricians and educators to prevent and rehabilitate physical disabilities resulting from muscle loss.

“Over time, muscle shrinks as fat expands,” Pahor said. “We are looking for novel ways to slow this process, but right now nothing beats the benefits of physical activity.”

Crossing institutional and departmental boundaries, UF’s Pepper Center unites researchers from seven UF colleges, as well as personnel from Shands at UF Medical Center and the North Florida/South Georgia Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The grant will support UF research on the biological changes that accompany aging. Scientists are in the midst of studies to determine the role of genetic, behavioral and environmental factors in age-related disability using an interdisciplinary approach that traverses the entire spectrum of biomedical investigation. Basic science projects, as well as clinical and translational studies, are under way to investigate the effects of oxidative damage on the body’s energy use, develop ways to measure the extent of age-related disability and explore the benefits of diet, exercise and other interventions on muscle quality.

The grant also provides highly anticipated seed money to initiate large-scale clinical trials. Such trials will evaluate physical activity and hormone replacement therapy as a means to improve function in seniors.

“The Pepper Center award to Dr. Marco Pahor and his colleagues in the University of Florida Institute on Aging is both a remarkable achievement and an exciting new opportunity,” said Dr. Douglas Barrett, UF senior vice president for health affairs. “The Pepper Center at UF promises to advance knowledge and translate research findings into real-world solutions to the problems of elderly Floridians.”

Pepper was known in his lifetime as a spokesman for older citizens. Not only was he a recognized advocate of the elderly, Pepper, who lived to be 89, also embodied vital, successful aging. In the Older Americans Independence Centers, Pepper’s legacy lives on.

“Health-care advances have led to longer lives for an ever-expanding group of older Floridians,” said Dr. Bruce Kone, dean of the College of Medicine. “Florida has moved well past the ‘baby boom’ and into the ‘aging boom.’ This extremely important award will allow Dr. Pahor and his colleagues to develop new insights into the processes and experience of aging, and effective strategies to ensure better health and independence in later life, the very issues Senator Pepper so tirelessly championed.”

Now through their work in geriatric patient care, research and education, health professionals at UF’s Institute on Aging work to continue Pepper’s efforts to help people live longer, stronger and more independent lives.

“We have taken a holistic approach to promoting independence and preventing physical disability and decline,” Pahor said. “We are really looking forward to creating a one-stop shop for aging education, research and health care.”

Writing online in today’s (May 21) edition of Nature Medicine, scientists describe how they used a harmless virus to deliver corrective genes to mice with a genetic impairment that robs them of vision.

The discovery shows that it is possible to target and rescue cone cells — the most important cells for visual sharpness and color vision in people.

“Cone vision defines whether someone is blind or not,” said William W. Hauswirth, the Rybaczki-Bullard professor of ophthalmic molecular genetics in the College of Medicine and a member of the UF Genetics Institute. “If you can usefully deliver a gene specifically to cone cells, there are implications for all blinding diseases, not just inherited ones. Even in two very common types of blindness, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, if you can target cones you might be able to rescue that vision.”

Scientists experimented with mice with a form of hereditary blindness called achromatopsia, which affects about 1 in 30,000 Americans by disabling cone photoreceptors in the retina. The disease results in nearly complete color blindness and extremely poor central vision.

Within two months of the gene therapy injection into the subretinal space of the mouse eyes, scientists measured the electrical activity in the retinas, finding that 19 of the 21 treated eyes positively responded to therapy, and 17 of those 19 had electrical readings from their retinas on par with those taken in normal mice.

When the mice were between 6 and 7 months old, tests showed 18 of the 21 treated eyes continued to respond normally.

In addition, a separate, smaller group of treated mice were evaluated using an exam akin to an eye test at the doctor’s office.

In experiments overseen by Robert B. Barlow, a professor of ophthalmology at State University of New York Upstate Medical University, the mice were surrounded by four computer monitors that simulated the appearance of being inside a moving drum that had vertical stripes on the walls.

Scientists knew the mice could see the stripes because sighted animals naturally move their heads in the same direction as the moving stripes. By making the stripes ever-narrower — similar to how the letters get smaller toward the bottom of an eye chart — researchers could assess the mice’s visual abilities.

As a group, all of the mice displayed normal visual acuity in their treated eyes.

“People can talk and tell us what they see,” said lead researcher John J. Alexander, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of ophthalmology at UF. “Animals are much more difficult. What makes this test so fantastic is that it involves an animal’s natural response, and the results tell us that the animals’ brains are involved in the process, that they are actually seeing something.”

In addition to cones, which number about 6 million in the retina, the eye’s rod cells are important for low-light and peripheral vision and exist in much greater amounts, with populations of more 100 million.

But treating cones could play a role in diseases that begin with the destruction of rods, such as retinitis pigmentosa, which affects about 1 in 3,000 Americans.

“This is the first to my knowledge of a cone-targeted gene therapy that restores function in an animal model where cones are the primary defect,” said Richard Weleber, a professor of molecular and medical genetics at Oregon Health & Science University who was not involved in the research. “This validates the concept that it is possible to deliver a gene therapy targeting the cone system, and that is incredibly important for a number of degenerative diseases.”

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes for Health, the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Macula Vision Research Foundation, the Lions of Central New York, Research to Prevent Blindness, Fight for Sight and NASA.

UF and Hauswirth have an interest in a biotechnology company that may seek to market some of the research technology.

It may turn out the reason some people grow increasingly forgetful as they age is less about how old they are and more about subtle changes in the way the brain files memories and makes room for new ones — differences perhaps better blamed on patterns of cell-to-cell communication than the number of birthday candles decorating the cake.

A researcher with the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida has found that rats become forgetful because a routine part of the memory process falls out of kilter, no matter their ages.

This change seems to be related to the chemicals necessary for brain cells to communicate with each other. The findings, published this month in the online edition of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, expand the possibility that drugs or therapies could be developed to tune up the brain’s memory mechanisms.

“Aging is associated with an increased rate of forgetting,” said Thomas Foster, the Evelyn F. McKnight chair for brain research in memory loss at the College of Medicine. “My work indicates that the problem may be a slight shift in a normal forgetting mechanism.”

Scientists believe a memory forms when communication increases between brain cells called neurons. During memory formation, signals jump across narrow gaps between cells called synapses, and this output becomes increasingly larger.

But for this activity to efficiently create a memory, it helps if signaling decreases among less-involved neurons. It’s like quieting other people in the room so you can have a phone conversation. Scientists call the process of decreasing the signal at less-involved synapses “long-term depression,” or LTD.

“This is a normal process that helps with the sculpting of memory,” Foster said. “After all, we do not remember everything in perfect detail and we would not want to. This same mechanism probably is used to clear the brain circuits and make them ready to be used the next day. However, this mechanism in excess may lead to rapid forgetting as seen during brain aging.”

Foster’s lab group used aged and young rats to examine the relationships between LTD, aging and memory. The animals were trained to find a hidden platform to climb out of a pool of water — something they learned quickly with repetition.

When the researchers examined the animals’ neurons and used a slow, weak electrical signal to make the synapses less sensitive — an effort to squelch or depress the cellular communication — he found that the samples from younger animals and older animals that had the highest memory scores throughout their lives were more resistant to the interference. However, aged animals with impaired memories displayed what was termed as “robust long-term depression.”

Going back to the phone call example, not only did the rest of the room get quieter, the callers did, too. The assumption is if a memory is encoded by making synapses stronger, then memory can be disrupted by something that weakens those connections.

“When we see someone we know or perhaps even ourselves becoming more forgetful, we now know that this is not an inevitable process,” Foster said. “Further, as we begin to understand the mechanisms of memory, it becomes possible to predict promising targets for therapeutic strategies aimed at postponing or alleviating age-related memory impairment.”

Foster said it will be important to understand whether a change in cellular signaling is necessary to enable new memories to be formed by discarding old ones.

“The basic gist is that information storage requires a balance between mechanisms that make synapses stronger and weaker,” said Mark F. Bear, director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was not involved with the research. “In aging and disease, if that balance is disrupted to favor LTD, the unchecked synaptic weakening leads to memory loss. The good news is we are developing a good understanding of these mechanisms, and that will help us find ways to protect memory.”

Foster’s work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and an Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Research grant.

Wider road shoulders, right-turn lanes that allow drivers to merge into traffic without stopping and angle intersections no sharper than 90 degrees all led to better driving performance by older and younger drivers involved in a UF study of roadway intersection design.

“I think the research shows early support that environmental enhancements are conducive to older driver safety and improved performance,” said principal investigator Sherrilene Classen, an assistant professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of occupational therapy. “But what we found is that it didn’t just benefit older drivers, it benefited the younger drivers involved in the study, some of whom were between the ages of 35 and 54, which is also the safest group of drivers.”

In 2003 about one in seven licensed drivers was 65 or older. By 2029, that proportion is expected to rise to one in four drivers, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute. Although drivers 65 and older have lower rates of crashes than younger drivers, they are at higher risk for injury or death because of increased fragility.

The UF study is the first to test the Federal Highway Administration’s proposed guidelines for highway design to increase safe driving ability of older drivers. Released in 2001, the guidelines include recommendations for four categories of roadway design. The UF researchers, members of the college’s National Older Driver Research and Training Center, focused on the recommendations for intersections in urban areas because of the high prevalence of crashes associated with them.

The study included 71 participants — 39 younger drivers between the ages of 25 and 45, and 32 older drivers, aged 65 and older. Each completed a one-hour road course that included five intersections with traffic signals that met federal guidelines and five “unimproved” intersections that weren’t consistent with the guidelines. Testing was done in Gainesville in optimal driving conditions: daylight, good weather and non-peak traffic hours.

The test car was a 2004 Buick Century, typical of the vehicles driven by older adults. During the road course, instruments collected data on the car’s stability and speed and cameras recorded the drivers’ head movements. In addition, evaluators who sat in the passenger seat recorded data on the participants’ driving behaviors such as yielding, signaling, visual scanning, adjustment to stimuli/traffic signals and gauging the distance between oncoming traffic.

The study results showed that the younger and older drivers had enhanced driving performance for three of the improved intersections: a widened receiving lane for left turns, which provides an extra four feet to the shoulder; right-turn lanes that channel drivers into the flow of oncoming traffic without requiring a complete stop; and intersections that are at a 90-degree angle, rather than a sharper angle, such as 75 degrees.

“There are many changes that go hand-in-hand with normal aging such as decreased peripheral vision and slower reaction time,” Classen said. “Improving the roads, taking these age-related changes into consideration, can really benefit older drivers by keeping them on the road longer.”

Future research should include tests of the federal guidelines under other conditions such as in bigger cities, rural areas or at night, Classen said. In addition, ongoing driving simulator studies led by Orit Shechtman, an associate professor in UF’s department of occupational therapy, may demonstrate that the simulator is just as effective at evaluating driving ability as on-road tests, thereby providing a less expensive and safer alternative to traditional road tests.

“The Classen … study is the first to measure changes in safe driving performance with improved intersections using objective driving measures taken directly from the vehicle,” said David Eby, a research associate professor and head of the Social and Behavioral Analysis Division of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. “Given the great expense involved in improving intersections, the study shows that these improvements lead to safer driving for older adults. This information is important for city planners who are in the process of improving intersections.”

Older adults who received just 10 sessions of mental training showed long-lasting improvements in memory, reasoning and speed of processing five years after the intervention, say researchers who conducted the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study, or ACTIVE. The findings appear in the Dec. 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The mental exercises were designed to improve older adults’ thinking and reasoning skills and determine whether the improvements could also affect seniors’ capacity to follow medication instructions correctly or react to traffic signals quickly.

“Our findings clearly suggest that people who engage in an active program of mental training in late life can experience long-lasting gains from that training,” said study researcher Michael Marsiske, an associate professor of clinical and health psychology at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions. “The positive results of ACTIVE thus far strongly suggest that many adults can learn and improve well into their later years.”

The researchers also discovered some evidence of the training’s “transfer” to everyday functions. Compared with those who did not receive mental training, participants in the three training groups — memory, speed of processing and reasoning — reported less difficulty performing tasks such as cooking, using medication and managing finances, although the effect of training on performance of such daily tasks only reached statistical significance for the reasoning-trained group.

“We had about 25 years of knowledge prior to the ACTIVE study suggesting that older adults’ thinking and memory skills could be trained, but we didn’t know whether these mental gains affected real-life skills,” said Marsiske, also a member of UF’s Institute on Aging. “In this study we see some evidence that training in basic mental function can also improve seniors’ ability to perform everyday tasks.”

The ACTIVE study is the first large-scale, randomized controlled study of cognitive training in healthy older adults. Funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Nursing Research, the study involved 2,802 seniors aged 65 to 96 who were divided into groups to receive training in memory, reasoning or speed of processing in 10 90-minute sessions over a five- to six-week period. A fourth group received no training.

Those in the memory training group were taught strategies for remembering word lists and sequences of items, text material and the main ideas and details of stories. Participants in the reasoning group received instruction on how to solve problems that follow patterns, an ability that is useful in such tasks as reading a bus schedule or completing an order form. Speed of processing training was a computer-based program that focused on the ability to identify and locate visual information quickly, skills that are used when looking up phone numbers or reacting to traffic signs.

When tested immediately after the training period, 87 percent of participants in speed training, 74 percent of participants in reasoning training and 26 percent of participants in memory training showed reliable improvement in their respective mental abilities. In earlier reports, researchers found the improvements had been maintained two years after training, particularly for seniors who were randomized to receive “booster” training one and three years after the original training.

The improvements in memory, problem solving and concentration after training roughly counteracted the degree of cognitive decline that older people without dementia may experience over a seven- to 14-year period, said the paper’s lead author, Sherry L. Willis, of Pennsylvania State University.

But researchers have now discovered that cognitive improvements in the participants were still detectable five years after training.

“The durability of training effects that we saw in ACTIVE exceeds what has been reported in most of the published literature,” Marsiske said. “Five years after training, seniors are still outperforming untrained participants in the mental abilities on which they received instruction.”

Researchers are now discussing with the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Nursing Research how best to follow up these findings.

“By actually manipulating the type of experience with cognitive activities that seniors have in an experiment, the ACTIVE trial has been incredibly important in providing evidence that there is a causal relationship between ‘using it’ and not ‘losing it,’” said Elizabeth A.L. Stine-Morrow, a professor of educational psychology at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Showing that training gains are maintained over five years is a stunning result because it suggests that a fairly modest intervention in practicing cognitive skills can have relatively long-term effects.”

In addition to Marsiske, ACTIVE investigators include Karlene Ball, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Jeffrey Elias, National Institute on Aging; Kathy Mann Koepke, National Institute of Nursing Research; John N. Morris, Hebrew SeniorLife; George W. Rebok, Johns Hopkins University; Sharon L. Tennstedt, New England Research Institutes; Frederick W. Unverzagt, Indiana University School of Medicine; and Sherry L. Willis, Pennsylvania State University.

At the peak of the 2005 winter season, an estimated 818,000 snowbirds traveled from their home states or abroad to spend at least a month in Florida, while in July about 313,000 elderly Floridians left their residences to spend at least 30 consecutive days somewhere else, said Stan Smith, director of UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

“Long recognized as a permanent retirement destination, Florida appears to be a leading destination for elderly temporary migrants as well,” said Smith, whose study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences. “Yet no previous study has tried to estimate the number and timing of temporary migrants both entering and leaving Florida, or to analyze their characteristics.”

Based on telephone surveys of 7,041 respondents contacted between September 2000 and December 2003, Smith found that more than 12 percent of Florida’s permanent residents 55 and older had spent more than 30 consecutive days somewhere other than home. Eight percent went to another place in-state, while 92 percent left Florida, most frequently to a state where they had previously lived, he said.

Spending winters in Florida appears to be a preliminary step to a permanent move for many snowbirds, the study found. Nearly one in four of the survey respondents — 23 percent — who had moved permanently to Florida between 2000 and 2003 reported that had lived part of the year in the Sunshine State before moving there year-round. Furthermore, 30 percent of snowbirds reported that it was “likely” or “very likely” they would move to Florida permanently in the future, he said.

Snowbirds tended to be away from home for longer periods of time than sunbirds, according to the study, which also included information from a statewide survey of 267 hotels and motels in Florida. More than 72 percent of snowbirds spent more than three months at their secondary place of residence, compared with only 30 percent of sunbirds.

The findings have important implications for communities, which must plan for traffic congestion, additional police and fire protection, increasing demand for medical services and other needs as population increases, Smith said. Although Florida’s overall elderly population shifts by an average of nearly 20 percent from winter to summer, the shift is even greater in communities with more snowbirds, particularly in South and Central Florida, he said.

“Decisions have to be made whether to accommodate the peak population during the winter, which means having excess capacity at other times during the year, or planning for the smaller summer population, or taking an average of the two,” he said.

Seasonal in-flows of elderly residents are not confined to Florida and other Sunbelt states during the winter, Smith said. Other states that experience the shift include Colorado, North Carolina, Michigan and New York.

“The numbers are likely to increase over the next few decades as incomes grow and the baby boom generation ages,” he said.

Although nearly 83 percent of snowbirds came to Florida because of its warm winters, escaping the hot summers did not play a major role in the travel patterns of elderly Floridians. Less than 10 percent of sunbirds left their homes for weather-related reasons, with more than half departing to visit family and friends and 16 percent traveling for recreational purposes.

Snowbirds were older and healthier than sunbirds, who in turn were older and in better health than “stayers,” Floridians who spent less than 30 consecutive days a year away from home, Smith said. More than 63 percent of snowbirds rated their health as “very good” or “excellent,” compared with 55 percent of sunbirds and 49 percent of stayers, he said.

Snowbirds and sunbirds were overwhelmingly white, at 94 and 93 percent respectively, compared with 89 percent for stayers, he said.

Snowbirds were significantly more likely than sunbirds to be married, while “sunbirds” were more likely than snowbirds to be employed, Smith said. Three-fourths of all snowbirds were married, compared with 59 percent of sunbirds and 56 percent of stayers, he said.

“Grandtravel,” the practice of kids vacationing with grandma and grandpa and no parents, received a thumbs up from nearly 80 percent of grandparents surveyed, said Catherine Palmieri, a UF graduate student who did the research for her master’s thesis in tourism, recreation and sports management.

“The key to the popularity of grandtravel may be that it offers something for everyone, even the parents who are not involved,” Palmieri said. “Grandparents and grandchildren are able to spend quality time without interference from the parents, and the parents are able to relax, knowing their children are with someone they know and trust.”

The phenomenon of grandtravel has increased 60 percent since 1996, and now accounts for at least one-fifth of all trips taken with children, Palmieri said. There is even a company called Grandtravel, which operates tours in the United States, Europe, Africa and Australia, while Walt Disney World and Elderhostel offer their own travel packages for grandparents and grandchildren, she said.

Grandparents are democratic with the kids. Although they are most likely to decide when and where to travel, how much money to spend and where to stay, they shared the decision with their grandchildren about what to do once they arrived at their destination, as well as what foods to eat, the study found.

Grandtravel is likely to become even more popular in the future with the aging of the baby boomers, who are living longer and are more physically active than their parents’ generation, said Lori Pennington-Gray, a professor in UF’s tourism, recreation and sports management department who supervised Palmieri’s research.

“Perhaps because baby boomers were the first generation where large numbers of mothers went into the work force and might not have been around as much as they wanted to be for their own children, they now see this is a way to be involved with their children’s children,” Pennington-Gray said.

Palmieri did her research at The Villages, an active retirement community near Lady Lake, Fla., which has more than 40,000 residents. In the summer of 2005, she surveyed 166 female and 78 male residents about their attitudes toward grandtravel with a “favorite grandchild.”

The vast majority of grandparents surveyed endorsed the idea, with 43 percent strongly supporting it and 38 percent supporting it. Forty-two percent said they had experienced it.

The most popular destinations were theme parks, such as Walt Disney World, and cultural centers, including New York City and Washington, D.C., Palmieri said. Safaris were a hit with those who wanted more extensive travel, she said.

Palmieri said some grandparents traveled with a different grandchild every year or arranged to take each child on a trip once they reached age 12 or 13. “For the child, it was something they really looked forward to, and for grandma and grandpa, it was an opportunity to see something new while having a special experience with their grandchild,” she said.

Some grandparents liked the idea of grandtravel but were unable to do it because they had to care for an ailing spouse, the children were busy with school activities or the parents were divorced and one parent would not agree to the arrangement, Palmieri said

Discipline was a common issue mentioned by the respondents. “Some grandparents said they didn’t want to be the person to say, ‘No, you can’t do that,’” Palmieri said. “They would rather just be able to invite their grandkids over and send them back home.”

Judy L. Randall, president and CEO of Randall Travel, a North Carolina company focused on travel research and strategic planning, said she has seen increasing numbers of grandparents and grandchildren traveling together without the parents along.

“What’s that line about the reason that grandparents and grandkids get along so well is that they have a common enemy?” she said half jokingly. “For me, it’s easy to see why the baby boomer grandparents and the Generation Y grandkids are having a blast together.”

Both generations tend to be more active and adventurous than the Generation Xers in the middle and so resemble each other more in their tastes and choice of activities, she said.

In the past, grandparents and grandchildren visiting Alaska were likely to take a guided cruise, said Randall, who spends about 40 percent of her time on the job traveling. Today many chart their own trips, going off by themselves to camp, observe wildlife or fish, she said.

Just ask Ed Burns, of Ocala, who received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, five years ago. The uncertainty of when or if the device would fire made him wary of driving long distances. Before setting out on a road trip to California to visit family, Burns researched and made a list of every medical center along the route that could treat ICD patients.

Now a new tool from the University of Florida can help health-care providers identify which patients may need psychological services to cope with anxiety. It’s called the Florida Shock Anxiety Scale, and UF researchers report on its effectiveness in the current issue of Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology.

The research was done as part of a continuing series of investigations on ICD recipients’ psychological health led by Samuel Sears, an associate professor in the department of clinical and health psychology at the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, and Dr. Jamie Conti, an associate professor in the College of Medicine.

“Patients with an ICD can have unique fears that separate them from people with other general anxieties,” said Emily Kuhl, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate in the department of clinical and health psychology.

The ICD is a battery-powered device that constantly monitors the patient’s heartbeat and delivers a 750-volt shock to restore normal rhythm if it senses a dangerous rapid rhythm developing. Approximately 150,000 patients worldwide received an ICD in 2004, according to researchers at the University of Marburg in Germany.

Patients’ concerns about ICDs recently gained national attention after manufacturers recalled 109,000 defibrillators last year. Device flaws have been linked to at least seven deaths.

Patients with an ICD may be afraid that if the device fires they may harm themselves or others, or create a scene. Or they may be fearful that certain activities, such as exercise or sexual activity, might trigger a shock, Kuhl said.

Research has shown that 10 percent to 38 percent of ICD recipients will experience a shock within the first year of receiving the implant. The sensation is often described as feeling like a kick in the chest.

“Patients usually describe a shock as a six on a pain scale of one to 10,” Kuhl said. “A shock is not so much painful as it is surprising. Chances are that a shock won’t interfere to the point that a patient is unsafe to drive or care for children.”

To test its effectiveness, UF researchers administered the Florida Shock Anxiety Scale, a written questionnaire developed with help from doctoral students Robyn Walker and Neha Dixit, to 72 ICD recipients. The patients rated the frequency of anxious thoughts, such as “I am afraid of being alone when the ICD fires and I will need help” and “I am afraid to touch others for fear that I will shock them if the ICD fires.”

Researchers analyzed participants’ responses and determined that the scale evaluates the correct underlying anxiety concepts and proved highly reliable.

“We knew we had a reliable measure on our hands that could be potentially a great tool for health-care providers,” Kuhl said.

Next they plan to test the anxiety scale with a larger number of patients and measure it against other anxiety assessment tools.

“We also want to get the Florida Shock Anxiety Scale into the hands of health-care providers so they use it, understand it and realize how important it is,” Kuhl said, adding that psychological treatment for ICD patients is not standard care in the United States.

Burns said patient education was key to helping him overcome his fears after he received his ICD.

“Now I know what an ICD is and what it does, and I’m not the least bit concerned,” Burns said. “You learn to live with the ICD and it becomes part of your body.”

Sandra Dunbar, the Charles Howard Candler professor of nursing and cardiology at Emory University and an international expert on quality of life after ICD, said that research has shown a wide variety of patient responses to living with an ICD.

“The FSAS is a welcome tool for clinicians and researchers who are trying to determine which patients are at greatest risk for psychosocial distress and what interventions might work,” Dunbar said. “Of particular merit is the potential ability of clinicians to use the tool to tailor care for particular patient concerns. This should ultimately lead to more individualized and cost-effective care.”

Anemia, a reduction in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood that can cause fatigue, weakness and dizziness, is common in old age. But its signs are often subtle, and doctors need to be sure they carefully consider it as they evaluate older patients, say study authors, writing recently in The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.

“Considering anemia should be part of an overall patient’s risk assessment even if the person is without symptoms or apparent clinical disease,” said Marco Pahor, director of the University of Florida’s Institute on Aging and a study’s co-investigator.

The study revealed that even a mild case of anemia increases an elderly person’s risk, indicating that treatment recommendations may need to be adjusted for older patients, Pahor said. Researchers found an association between late-life anemia and heart conditions, cancer, infectious diseases and diabetes.

The World Health Organization defines anemia as a concentration of the oxygen-ferrying molecule hemoglobin that is below 12 grams per deciliter in women, and below 13 grams per deciliter in men.

“Those older patients having mild anemia have not been considered at higher risk, but our data show that even those patients with low or even close to normal range do have higher risk for death and hospitalization and they should be considered for more in-depth screening for other conditions,” Pahor said.

To more fully understand its detrimental health effects, the researchers studied the relationship of anemia to hospitalization and death in 3,607 people aged 71 years or older who participated in the National Institute on Aging-sponsored Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly. About 13 percent of people 70 or older are anemic, and those percentages increase with age. Most cases occur in association with underlying diseases such as stomach ulcers, chronic infections, cancer, chronic kidney ailments and congestive heart failure or due to malnutrition or iron deficiency. However, up to a third of the time, anemia is not attributable to these factors, so people with pre-existing conditions that could have caused it were excluded from the study.

In the study, 451 participants were anemic. They were more likely to be older black men and women with a lower body mass index. During the four-year follow-up period, 37 percent of those with anemia died, compared with 22 percent of the other study participants. In addition, two-thirds of anemic participants were hospitalized at some point in the study period; only half of those without anemia were.

“We hope this study will promote clinical awareness of anemia as a risk factor for other conditions,” Pahor said. “It is a risk factor for mortality, hospitalization, loss of independence, lower muscle strength and increased inflammation. We would like to do further studies to find out whether, if you could correct anemia, could you prevent these events?”

The first step toward correcting anemia is to, when possible, identify and then treat the underlying disease causing it, Pahor said. Treatment also may involve giving iron when iron levels are low, vitamin supplements to replace folate and vitamin B12 in people with poor eating habits, erythropoietin to increase red blood cell production in people with kidney problems and antibiotics to treat infections.

Dr. Paulo Henrique M. Chaves, an assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University’s Center on Aging and Health, said the paper provides insight into anemia as a strong prognostic factor for major health complications.

“A little bit of anemia is often perceived as a benign finding in older adults,” Chaves said. “However, results from this study by Penninx, Pahor and colleagues – as well as consistent and recently published findings that link mild anemia and even low-normal hemoglobin levels to a status of increased frailty and greater functional decline in older adults – suggest otherwise, at least in terms of prognostic significance.

“What remains to be established now is whether pharmacological correction of mild anemia in older adults may help slow the disablement process, preventing the onset and progression of frailty and disability, improving quality of life and prolonging survival,” he added. “Randomized clinical trials will be necessary to address these important questions.”

The multicenter team spearheading the current study was a partnership with industry and the federal government. It included researchers from the National Institute on Aging, UF’s Institute on Aging, the Netherlands and Ortho Biotech Products in Bridgewater, N.J., which manufactures Procrit, a hormone that stimulates red blood cell production. Pahor has served as a consultant for the company.