Fatigue and sleep patterns among Canadian wildland firefighters during a 17-day fire line deployment.

The purpose of this investigation was to enhance our understanding of the effects the current British Columbia Wildfire Service (BCWS) firefighting schedule have on the development of fatigue and sleep deprivation. This was a cohort study that objectively and subjectively measured sleep quantity, sleep quality, and fatigue throughout a 17-day British Columbia wildland firefighting deployment. Wildland firefighters (n = 30) conducted daily testing of sleep and fatigue measures during 14 days of activity on the fire line and three days immediately post deployment during their three-day rest period, for a total of 17 days of data collection.

Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training Versus Sprint Interval Training on Time-Trial Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Two forms of interval training commonly discussed in the literature are high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training (SIT). HIIT consists of repeated bouts of exercise that occur at a power output or velocity between the second ventilatory threshold and maximal oxygen consumption (VO). SIT is performed at a power output or velocity above those associated with VO.

Nonspecific expression of fertilization genes in the crown-of-thorns Acanthaster cf. solaris: Unexpected evidence of hermaphroditism in a coral reef predator.

The characterization of gene expression in gametes has advanced our understanding of the molecular basis for ecological variation in reproductive success and the evolution of reproductive isolation. These advances are especially significant for ecologically important keystone predators such as the coral-eating crown-of-thorns sea stars (COTS, Acanthaster) which are the most influential predator species in Indo-Pacific coral reef ecosystems and the focus of intensive management efforts. We used RNA-seq and transcriptome assemblies to characterize the expression of genes in mature COTS gonads.

Motivation for participating in phase 1 vaccine trials: Comparison of an influenza and an Ebola randomized controlled trial.

Introduction/hypothesis: Recruitment of participants into phase 1 vaccine clinical trials can be challenging since these vaccines have not been used in humans and there is no perceived benefit to the participant. Occasionally, as was the case with a phase 1 clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in Halifax, Canada, during the 2014-2016 West African Ebola virus outbreak, recruitment is less difficult. In this study, we explored the motivations of participants in two phase 1 vaccine trials that were concurrently enrolling at the same centre and compared the motivations of participants in a high-profile phase 1 Ebola vaccine trial to those in a less high-profile phase 1 adjuvanted seasonal influenza vaccine study.

Healthcare access for refugee women with limited literacy: layers of disadvantage.

Background: Record numbers of people, across the world, are forced to be displaced because of conflict or other violations of their human rights, thus becoming refugees. Often, refugees not only have a higher burden of disease but also compromised access to healthcare, as they face many barriers, such as limited knowledge of the local language. However, there is very limited knowledge on the lived experiences of this population.

A Quantitative Assessment of the Reporting Quality of Herbal Medicine Research: The Road to Improvement.

Objectives: To quantify different aspects of the quality of reporting of herbal medicine clinical trials, to determine how that quality is affecting the conclusions of meta-analyses, and to target areas for improvement in future herbal medicine research reporting.

Study Design: The Electronic databases PubMed, Academic Search Premier, ScienceDirect, and Alt HealthWatch were searched for meta-analyses of herbal medicines in refereed journals and Cochrane Reviews in the years 2000-2004 and 2010-2014. The search was limited to meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials involving humans and published in English.

Multiplex Immunohistochemistry for Mapping the Tumor Microenvironment.

Multiplex Immunohistochemistry (mIHC) allows for the simultaneous detection of multiple targets of interest in a single tissue section. Using this method it is therefore possible to evaluate several effectors of a signal transduction pathway at one time, co-localization of markers, or distribution of molecules relative to one another within tissues. This method plays an important role in characterizing molecular signaling and the outcome of signal ablation when assessing mechanisms of drug action.

Using Digital Quantification of Stained Tissue Microarrays as a Medium-Throughput, Quantitative Method for Measuring the Kinetics of Signal Transduction.

Determining how a molecular targeting agent affects signaling pathways is challenging. To facilitate this exploration, we use a combination of medium-throughput methodologies such as tissue microarrays (TMA) and digital image analysis for quantification of immunohistochemistry (IHC). Because TMAs enable the simultaneous analysis of up to 1000 tissues, this tool can be used to comprehensively assess changes in signal transduction pathways over time.

Hybridization between pollination syndromes as an ecological and evolutionary resource.

In plants, pollination syndromes (the correlated presence of many features of relevance to pollination mode, for instance pollination by a particular animal clade) are a striking feature of plant biodiversity, providing great floral phenotypic diversity (Fenster et al. ). Adaptation to a particular animal pollinator provides an explanation for why recently diverged plants can have such extreme differentiation in floral form.

Corticospinal excitability is reduced in a simple reaction time task requiring complex timing.

Increasing the complexity of a movement has been shown to result in longer simple reaction time (RT), which has been attributed to sequencing or timing requirements following the go-signal. However, RT differences may also be due to differences in corticospinal excitability (CE) as previous studies have found an enhanced excitatory state of corticospinal neurons in complex tasks. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used in the present study to probe the excitability of the motor pathway during the simple RT interval for single (simple) versus multiple (complex) key press responses.

Reminiscence functions scale: factorial structure and its relation with mental health in a sample of Spanish older adults.

Background: The reminiscence functions scale (RFS) is a 43-item self-report instrument designed to assess the use of reminiscence for different functions. This study aims, on one hand, to analyze the factorial structure and the psychometric properties of the RFS and, on the other, to examine the relationship between the functions of reminiscence and mental health.

Methods: RFS scale and measures of depressive symptomology, despair, and life satisfaction were administered to a sample of persons over the age of sixty (n = 364).

[Le leadership en santé et l'éthique de la gestion des attentes des soignants et des patients].

Les dispensateurs de soins et les patients sont souvent déçus du niveau de soins que les hôpitaux publics peuvent prodiguer. La solution consiste à réduire les attentes. Les dispensateurs devraient être amenés à considérer que leur obligation consiste à prodiguer les meilleurs soins en fonction des ressources.

Healthcare leadership and the ethics of managing expectations of caregivers and patients.

Healthcare providers and patients are often disappointed by the level of care public hospitals can deliver. The remedy is to lower expectations. Providers should be brought to see their obligations as only to give the best care resources allow.

Voluntary reaction time and long-latency reflex modulation.

Stretching a muscle of the upper limb elicits short (M1) and long-latency (M2) reflexes. When the participant is instructed to actively compensate for a perturbation, M1 is usually unaffected and M2 increases in size and is followed by the voluntary response. It remains unclear if the observed increase in M2 is due to instruction-dependent gain modulation of the contributing reflex mechanism(s) or results from voluntary response superposition.

Startle activation is additive with voluntary cortical activation irrespective of stimulus modality.

When a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS) is presented during a simple reaction time (RT) task, it can trigger the prepared response through an involuntary initiation pathway. Previous research modelling the effects of presenting a SAS at various intervals following a non-startling auditory imperative signal (IS) suggested that involuntary initiation-related neural activation is additive with the voluntary initiation processes. The current study tested the predictions of this additive model when the SAS and IS are of different modalities by using a visual rather than auditory go-signal.

Using Pharmacokinetic Profiles and Digital Quantification of Stained Tissue Microarrays as a Medium-Throughput, Quantitative Method for Measuring the Kinetics of Early Signaling Changes Following Integrin-Linked Kinase Inhibition in an In Vivo Model of Cancer.

A small molecule inhibitor (QLT0267) targeting integrin-linked kinase is able to slow breast tumor growth in vivo; however, the mechanism of action remains unknown. Understanding how targeting molecules involved in intersecting signaling pathways impact disease is challenging. To facilitate this understanding, we used tumor tissue microarrays (TMA) and digital image analysis for quantification of immunohistochemistry (IHC) in order to investigate how QLT0267 affects signaling pathways in an orthotopic model of breast cancer over time.

A startling acoustic stimulus interferes with upcoming motor preparation: Evidence for a startle refractory period.

When a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS) is presented in a simple reaction time (RT) task, response latency is significantly shortened. The present study used a SAS in a psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm to determine if a shortened RT1 latency would be propagated to RT2. Participants performed a simple RT task with an auditory stimulus (S1) requiring a vocal response (R1), followed by a visual stimulus (S2) requiring a key-lift response (R2).

Responses to startling acoustic stimuli indicate that movement-related activation is constant prior to action: a replication with an alternate interpretation.

A recent study by Marinovic et al. (J. Neurophysiol.

Nitrogen enrichment potential of biochar in relation to pyrolysis temperature and feedstock quality.

Nitrogen (N) enrichment of biochar from both inorganic and organic waste N sources has the potential to add economic and environmental value through its use as a slow release N fertilizer. We investigated the sorption of N by, and its release from, biochar made at pyrolysis temperatures of 400, 500 and 600 °C from three feedstocks: poultry litter (PL with a carbon (C) to N ratio (C:N) of 14), softwood chips of spruce-pine-fir (SPF with a C:N of 470), and a 50:50 mixture of PL and SPF (PL/SPF). The prepared biochars were enriched with ammonium nitrate (AN) and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN).

The time course of corticospinal excitability during a simple reaction time task.

The production of movement in a simple reaction time task can be separated into two time periods: the foreperiod, which is thought to include preparatory processes, and the reaction time interval, which includes initiation processes. To better understand these processes, transcranial magnetic stimulation has been used to probe corticospinal excitability at various time points during response preparation and initiation. Previous research has shown that excitability decreases prior to the "go" stimulus and increases following the "go"; however these two time frames have been examined independently.

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation applied over the supplementary motor area delays spontaneous antiphase-to-in-phase transitions.

Coordinated bimanual oscillatory movements often involve one of two intrinsically stable phasing relationships characterized as in-phase (symmetrical) or antiphase (asymmetrical). The in-phase mode is typically more stable than antiphase, and if movement frequency is increasing during antiphase movements, a spontaneous transition to the in-phase pattern occurs. There is converging neurophysiological evidence that the supplementary motor area (SMA) plays a critical role in the successful performance of these patterns, especially during antiphase movements.

5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) supports the growth of aggressive experimental human breast cancer tumors.

Rapid tumor growth can establish metabolically stressed microenvironments that activate 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a ubiquitous regulator of ATP homeostasis. Previously, we investigated the importance of AMPK for the growth of experimental tumors prepared from HRAS-transformed mouse embryo fibroblasts and for primary brain tumor development in a rat model of neurocarcinogenesis. Here, we used triple-negative human breast cancer cells in which AMPK activity had been knocked down to investigate the contribution of AMPK to experimental tumor growth and core glucose metabolism.

Time to flourish: the relationship of temporal perspective to well-being and wisdom across adulthood.

Objectives: Despite the centrality of time to the aging process, the well-being consequences of different temporal orientations for optimal aging are poorly understood. We investigate one underexamined area of temporal orientation, namely a balanced time perspective, in a large, lifespan sample from the Netherlands.

Method: Participants consisted of 512 Dutch adults ranging in age from 17 to 92 years (Mage = 46.