Publications by authors named "Blackburn T"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to analyze and compare gait biomechanics in individuals who underwent unilateral anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with their uninjured limbs and matched uninjured controls over a 12-month period.
  • Results showed that the ACLR limb exhibited significantly reduced knee extension and flexion moments, as well as altered knee angles throughout the stance phase, indicating impaired biomechanics compared to both the uninvolved limb and control subjects.
  • Although gait symmetry improved over time after surgery, both the ACLR limb and the uninvolved limb continued to show abnormal biomechanics compared to uninjured controls, suggesting persistent issues following ACL injury and reconstruction.
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The recent thematic Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services reaffirmed biological invasions as a major threat to biodiversity. Anticipating biological invasions is crucial for avoiding their ecological and socio-economic impacts, particularly as climate change may provide new opportunities for the establishment and spread of alien species. However, no studies have combined assessments of suitability and dispersal to evaluate the invasion by key taxonomic groups, such as mammals.

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Brain health means optimal physiological brain function across the normal life-course. It encompasses not only healthy brain aging but also brain diseases, their diagnosis and treatment. In all these areas, molecular science has advanced our understanding.

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Lesser peak vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) has been widely reported among individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Peak vGRF remains less than uninjured controls and relatively stable during the first year following ACLR. However, it is unknown whether there are subgroups of individuals exhibiting consistently greater peak vGRF in the first 6-months following ACLR and if individuals with consistently greater peak vGRF exhibit kinematic and kinetic gait differences compared to individuals with low vGRF.

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The ecological impact of non-native species arises from their establishment in local assemblages. However, the rates of non-native spread in new regions and their determinants have not been comprehensively studied. Here, we combined global databases documenting the occurrence of non-native species and residence of non-native birds, mammals, and vascular plants at regional and local scales to describe how the likelihood of non-native occurrence and their proportion in local assemblages relate with their residence time and levels of human usage in different ecosystems.

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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) affects more than 6 million people worldwide. Along with motor impairments, patients and animal models exhibiting PD symptoms also experience cognitive impairment, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Currently, there are no drugs available for PD that alter the progression of the disease.

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Article Synopsis
  • Seasonal migration significantly influences animal diversification, particularly in birds, by facilitating the development of sedentary populations that can lead to speciation.
  • A study identified at least 157 independent colonization events initiated by migratory birds, underscoring that migratory drop-off can promote speciation, even in recently extinct species.
  • The findings suggest that the impact of migration on species richness on islands is greater than that of direct dispersal, with success in speciation also linked to factors like range size and flock size.
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Neuroinflammation accompanies several brain disorders, either as a secondary consequence or as a primary cause and may contribute importantly to disease pathogenesis. Neurosteroids which act as Positive Steroid Allosteric GABA-A receptor Modulators (Steroid-PAM) appear to modulate neuroinflammation and their levels in the brain may vary because of increased or decreased local production or import from the systemic circulation. The increased synthesis of steroid-PAMs is possibly due to increased expression of the mitochondrial cholesterol transporting protein (TSPO) in neuroinflammatory tissue, and reduced production may be due to changes in the enzymatic activity.

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Background: Although Tai Chi (TC) is an evidence-based fall prevention training for older adults, its effective movements remain unclear, which may limit the practice of TC. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of TC lower extremity exercise (TC LEE), the 8-form Tai Chi (8-form TC), and a stretching control intervention for improving balance and functional mobility among older adults.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial.

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Context: Gait biomechanics and daily steps are important aspects of knee joint loading that change following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Understanding their relationship during the first 6 months post-ACLR could help develop comprehensive rehabilitation interventions that promote optimal joint loading following injury, thereby improving long-term knee joint health.

Objective: Our primary objective was to compare biomechanical gait waveforms throughout stance at early timepoints post-ACLR in individuals with different daily step behaviors at 6 months post-ACLR.

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Birds are among the best-studied animal groups, but their prehistoric diversity is poorly known due to low fossilization potential. Hence, while many human-driven bird extinctions (i.e.

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Purpose: Neuromuscular deficits and atrophy after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) may be accompanied by changes in muscle composition and poor quadriceps muscle quality (QMQ). Quadriceps atrophy occurs after ACLR but improves within the first three postoperative months, yet this hypertrophy could be attributable to increases in noncontractile tissue (i.e.

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Purpose: To determine the effect of acutely increasing walking speed on gait biomechanics in ACLR individuals compared with their habitual speed and uninjured matched-controls.

Methods: Gait biomechanics were collected on 30 ACLR individuals (20 females; age, 22.0 ± 4.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) is a vital standard adopted by the IUCN to assess the environmental effects of non-native species and is being used in various national and local decision-making processes to manage biological invasions effectively.
  • - Recent challenges have arisen regarding EICAT's foundational concepts, especially about the precautionary approach, leading to concerns that some criticisms may hinder global efforts to control invasive species.
  • - EICAT emphasizes the need for proactive management of non-native species due to their role in biodiversity loss and the significant economic and environmental costs associated with ignoring potential impacts, aligning with international biodiversity goals like the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
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The global trade in live wildlife elevates the risk of biological invasions by increasing colonization pressure (the number of alien species introduced to an area). Yet, our understanding of species traded as aliens remains limited. We created a comprehensive global database on live terrestrial vertebrate trade and use it to investigate the number of traded alien species, and correlates of establishment richness for aliens.

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The prevalence of cognitive dysfunction, dementia, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increasing in parallel with an aging population. Distinct types of chronic stress are thought to be instrumental in the development of cognitive impairment in central nervous system (CNS) disorders where cognitive impairment is a major unmet medical need. Increased GABAergic tone is a mediator of stress effects but is also a result of other factors in CNS disorders.

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The performance of advanced materials for extreme environments is underpinned by their microstructure, such as the size and distribution of nano- to micro-sized reinforcing phase(s). Chromium-based superalloys are a recently proposed alternative to conventional face-centred-cubic superalloys for high-temperature applications, , Concentrated Solar Power. Their development requires the determination of precipitate volume fraction and size distribution using Electron Microscopy (EM), as these properties are crucial for the thermal stability and mechanical properties of chromium superalloys.

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Objective: Online health information contributes to patient education and knowledge on disease management. The aims of this study were to design the Health Information Website Evaluation Tool (HIWET) to evaluate the quality of online information, and to investigate the reliability, validity, and utility of HIWET.

Methods: HIWET was developed by a literature search and small-scale pilot testing.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study analyzes global data on non-native species across five groups (ants, birds, mammals, spiders, and vascular plants) to see how land use affects their presence in local environments.
  • It finds that primary vegetation tends to have the lowest levels of non-native species, although some other land-use types also show low occurrences.
  • The research suggests that highly used land can lead to more non-native species, while untouched primary areas help protect native biodiversity and resist invasions.
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Introduction: Aberrant gait variability has been observed after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), yet it remains unknown if gait variability is associated with early changes in cartilage composition linked to osteoarthritis development. Our purpose was to determine the association between femoral articular cartilage T1ρ magnetic resonance imaging relaxation times and gait variability.

Methods: T1ρ magnetic resonance imaging and gait kinematics were collected in 22 ACLR participants (13 women; 21 ± 4 yr old; 7.

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During the last glacial period, the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) underwent episodes of rapid iceberg discharge, recorded in ocean sediments as "Heinrich events" (HEs). Two competing models attempt to describe the stimulus for HEs via either internal ice sheet oscillations or external ocean-climate system forcing. We present a terrestrial record of HEs from the northeastern LIS that strongly supports ocean-climate forcing.

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Ice cores and offshore sedimentary records demonstrate enhanced ice loss along Antarctic coastal margins during millennial-scale warm intervals within the last glacial termination. However, the distal location and short temporal coverage of these records leads to uncertainty in both the spatial footprint of ice loss, and whether millennial-scale ice response occurs outside of glacial terminations. Here we present a >100kyr archive of periodic transitions in subglacial precipitate mineralogy that are synchronous with Late Pleistocene millennial-scale climate cycles.

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Aims: Hyperammonemic rats show peripheral inflammation, increased GABAergic neurotransmission and neuroinflammation in cerebellum and hippocampus which induce motor incoordination and cognitive impairment. Neuroinflammation enhances GABAergic neurotransmission in cerebellum by enhancing the TNFR1-glutaminase-GAT3 and TNFR1-CCL2-TrkB-KCC2 pathways. Golexanolone reduces GABA receptors potentiation by allopregnanolone.

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Three new bulky cycloalkyl α,β-dehydroamino acids (ΔAAs) have been designed and synthesized. Each residue enhances the rigidity of model peptides and their stability to proteolysis, with larger ring sizes exhibiting greater effects. Peptides containing bulky cycloalkyl ΔAAs are inert to conjugate addition by a nucleophilic thiol.

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