Unfavorable neighborhood conditions are linked to health disparities. Yet, a dearth of literature examines how neighborhood characteristics contribute to cognitive health in diverse samples of older adults. The present study uses an intersectional approach to examine how race/ethnicity, gender, and education moderate the association between neighborhood perceptions and cognitive functioning in later life. We used data from adults ≥65 years old (n = 8023) in the 2010–2016 waves of the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We conducted race/ethnicity-stratified linear regression models where cognitive functioning, measured using the 35-point Telephone Interview Cognitive Screen (TICS), was regressed on three neighborhood characteristics—cleanliness, safety, and social cohesion. We examine whether there is heterogeneity within race/ethnicity by testing if and how the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and cognitive functioning differs by gender and education. Among White adults, worse neighborhood characteristics were associated with lower cognitive functioning among those with less education. However, for Black adults, poor perceived quality of one’s neighborhood was associated with worse cognitive functioning among those with more years of education compared to those with fewer years of education. Among Mexicans, perceived neighborhood uncleanliness was associated with lower cognitive functioning among those with less education, but higher cognitive functioning for those with higher levels of education. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on racial/ethnic disparities in cognitive aging disparities by examining neighborhood contextual factors as determinants of cognitive functioning. In particular, we find that higher education in the context of less favorable neighborhood environments does not confer the same benefits to cognitive functioning among all older adults.

Objectives: The neighborhood environment may be an important determinant of racial/ethnic disparities in cognitive function. To understand how neighborhoods are linked to cognition across racial/ethnic groups, this scoping review organizes research investigating relationships between multiple neighborhood domains and cognitive function in diverse samples of US midlife and older adults. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and CAHL were used to extract quantitative disparities-focused studies ( n = 17) that included US adults ages 50+, racial/ethnic minoritized populations, cognitive dependent variable(s), and neighborhood-level independent variable(s) published from January 2010 to October 2021. Results: Studies demonstrate variation within and between racial/ethnic groups in how neighborhood factors are associated with cognition. Economically and socially advantaged neighborhoods were associated with better cognition. Findings were mixed for built and neighborhood composition measures. Discussion: More research with greater racial/ethnic representation is needed to disentangle which aspects of the neighborhood are most salient for specific cognitive function domains across diverse populations.

Level I fieldwork significantly improved the attitudes of occupational therapy students toward people with IDs, whereas a lecture did not.

Production from unconventional reservoirs is influenced by well spacing and induced fracture placement as well as the interaction between hydraulic fractures and in-place natural fracture systems. The purpose of modeling of these complex systems is to evaluate how production can be maximized while maintaining operational efficiencies, which promote reduced well pad footprints and effective fracture stage placement. Comingled flow conduits in unconventional reservoirs exist as amalgamated fracture systems, and multidisciplinary characterization with analysis from geologists, geophysicists, and engineers is necessary to maintain a consistent subsurface representation. To extend model fidelity in the description of complex fracture systems, a workflow was developed to evaluate the spatial constraint of natural fractures based on use of a fault indicator in cases where correlation exists between faults and fractures as a result of exerted structural controls. Use of the fault likelihood attribute in the development of an unconventional reservoir confirms that some of the better producing wells have been completed near heavily faulted zones; however, such increased productivity can also be hindered when pressure communication is established between wells associated with the same fault block. An examination of an Eagle Ford formation was conducted, highlighting how a consistent subsurface description not only enabled increased efficiency in future wells and hydraulic fracture placement but also promoted reduced drilling and completion costs as well as increased field productivity. This was achieved by combining fault likelihood constrained natural fracture network (NFN) as well as dynamic simulation of the stimulated and external reservoir volume, incorporating a petro-elastic model (PEM) to preserve geologic continuity between seismic attributes and the simulation.

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