Publications by authors named "B R Barker"

Background: Indigenous Peoples comprise the youngest and fastest growing demographic in Canada, with many living in urban-suburban areas. Given higher fertility rates, younger overall ages and higher adolescent pregnancy rates, perinatal research is needed-to inform policymaking and programming throughout pregnancy and childhood. Yet such data remain scarce in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

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Biological soil crusts (or biocrust) are diminutive soil communities with ecological functions disproportionate to their size. These communities are composed of lichens, bryophytes, cyanobacteria, fungi, liverworts, and other microorganisms. Creating stabilizing matrices, these microorganisms interact with soil surface minerals thereby enhancing soil quality by redistributing nutrients and reducing erosion by containment of soil particles.

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Ceratapion basicorne (Illiger) (Coleoptera: Apionidae), a weevil native to Europe and western Asia, shows promise for enhancing the control of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L.), an invasive annual forb in the western United States. However, a paucity of data on this biocontrol agent's environmental constraints has made it difficult to assess the suitability of potential release locations.

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Background: In response to the dual public health emergencies of COVID-19 and the overdose crisis, the Government of British Columbia (BC) introduced risk mitigation prescribing, or prescribed safer supply. In the context of colonialism and racism, Indigenous people are disproportionately impacted by substance use harms and experience significant barriers to receiving care, particularly those living in rural and remote communities. As part of a larger provincial evaluation, we sought to assess the implementation of risk mitigation prescribing as experienced by Indigenous people who use drugs (IPWUD) in Northern BC.

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Article Synopsis
  • Axatilimab is a monoclonal antibody that targets CSF-1R, approved for treating chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) and being researched for other conditions like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
  • A study involving 325 participants investigated the drug's pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD), showing that it reduces certain immune cell levels, which affects enzyme levels in the bloodstream.
  • The final PK/PD model, based on complex math involving differential equations, identified several factors influencing axatilimab's effectiveness and helped shape dosing strategies for cGVHD patients.
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