Effect of a home-based exercise program on subsequent falls among community-dwelling older adults with cognitive frailty: A sub-group analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: Cognitive frailty is characterized by concurrent physical frailty and mild cognitive impairment and is associated with increased risk of falls. Exercise is an evidence-based strategy to prevent falls, but whether exercise reduces falls in people with cognitive frailty is unknown. We examined the effects of home-based exercise on subsequent falls among community-dwelling older adults with cognitive frailty who have previously fallen.

Metabolic profiling of murine radiation-induced lung injury with Raman spectroscopy and comparative machine learning.

Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a dose-limiting toxicity for cancer patients receiving thoracic radiotherapy. As such, it is important to characterize metabolic associations with the early and late stages of RILI, namely pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis. Recently, Raman spectroscopy has shown utility for the differentiation of pneumonitic and fibrotic tissue states in a mouse model; however, the specific metabolite-disease associations remain relatively unexplored from a Raman perspective.

A deep learning-based framework (Co-ReTr) for auto-segmentation of non-small cell-lung cancer in computed tomography images.

Purpose: Deep learning-based auto-segmentation algorithms can improve clinical workflow by defining accurate regions of interest while reducing manual labor. Over the past decade, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have become prominent in medical image segmentation applications. However, CNNs have limitations in learning long-range spatial dependencies due to the locality of the convolutional layers.

Stratification of tumour cell radiation response and metabolic signatures visualization with Raman spectroscopy and explainable convolutional neural network.

Reprogramming of cellular metabolism is a driving factor of tumour progression and radiation therapy resistance. Identifying biochemical signatures associated with tumour radioresistance may assist with the development of targeted treatment strategies to improve clinical outcomes. Raman spectroscopy (RS) can monitor post-irradiation biomolecular changes and signatures of radiation response in tumour cells in a label-free manner.

The Root-Lesion Nematode, , Affects Early Growth and Physiology of Grafted M.9, G.41, and G.935 Apple Rootstocks Similarly Under Field Microplot Conditions.

The root-lesion nematode, , is a ubiquitous parasite of roots of temperate fruit trees. It affects early growth of trees replanted into former orchard sites where populations have built up and may contribute to decline complexes of older trees. Most British Columbia, Canada, apple acreage is planted with M.

The Role of the Indian Political Regime in Higher Education Reforms for Innovation Drive: Key Comparisons With China.

As primary drivers of global growth, China and India as Asian giants are on the path to reforming their higher education systems to drive innovation. This paper based on both primary and secondary data sources investigates how India's democratic political leadership has facilitated higher education reform for fostering innovation while underlining key differences in the policy approach of the Chinese leadership. Findings identify the areas of reform for India and also reveal that epistemic boundaries between India and China are beginning to blur so far as right-wing ideological regimentation is concerned, with possible implications for innovation.

A Content Analysis of Behavior Change Techniques Employed in North American Vaping Prevention Interventions.

Introduction: Vaping among North American youth has surfaced as a concerning public health epidemic. Increasing evidence of harms associated with E-cigarette use, especially among the young, has prompted urgency in addressing vaping. Although a number of individual behavior change campaigns have arisen as a result, little is known about which behavior change techniques are being employed to influence youth vaping behavior.

Fentanyl Concentration in Drug Checking Samples and Risk of Overdose Death in Vancouver, Canada.

Introduction: The proliferation of fentanyl and its analogs in illegal, unregulated drug markets remains a major driver of the overdose crisis in North America. Drug checking services have been implemented as a harm reduction strategy to address the crisis. However, little is known about their potential utility as a mechanism for monitoring population-level risk of overdose stemming from changing fentanyl concentration in unregulated drugs over time.

Raman spectroscopy and convolutional neural networks for monitoring biochemical radiation response in breast tumour xenografts.

Tumour cells exhibit altered metabolic pathways that lead to radiation resistance and disease progression. Raman spectroscopy (RS) is a label-free optical modality that can monitor post-irradiation biomolecular signatures in tumour cells and tissues. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) perform automated feature extraction directly from data, with classification accuracy exceeding that of traditional machine learning, in cases where data is abundant and feature extraction is challenging.

Raman microspectroscopy and machine learning for use in identifying radiation-induced lung toxicity.

Objective: In this work, we explore and develop a method that uses Raman spectroscopy to measure and differentiate radiation induced toxicity in murine lungs with the goal of setting the foundation for a predictive disease model.

Methods: Analysis of Raman tissue data is achieved through a combination of techniques. We first distinguish between tissue measurements and air pockets in the lung by using group and basis restricted non-negative matrix factorization.

Radiation treatment response and hypoxia biomarkers revealed by machine learning assisted Raman spectroscopy in tumour cells and xenograft tissues.

Recent advancements in anatomical imaging of tumours as treatment targets have led to improvements in RT. However, it is unlikely that improved anatomical imaging alone will be the sole driver for new advances in personalised RT. Biochemically based radiobiological information is likely to be required for next-generation improvements in the personalisation of radiotherapy dose prescriptions to individual patients.

Effects of the Mobility-Fit Physical Activity Program on Strength and Mobility in Older Adults in Assisted Living: A Feasibility Study.

Physical activity programs focusing on fall prevention often overlook upper-limb strength, which is important for transferring, balance recovery, and arresting a fall. We developed and evaluated a physical activity program, Mobility-Fit for older adults in Assisted Living (AL) that includes upper-limb strengthening, agility, coordination, and balance exercises. Thirty participants (85 ± 6 years) were recruited from two AL facilities; 15 were assigned to Mobility-Fit (three times/week, 45 min/session for 12 weeks) and 15 maintained usual care.

Cardiometabolic risk, biological sex, and age do not share an interactive relationship with cognitive function: a cross-sectional analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

It is unclear whether cardiometabolic risk shares an interactive relationship with age-associated differences in cognition, and whether this relationship varies by biological sex. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using baseline data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA; 2010-2015) to examine whether 1) cardiometabolic risk has an interactive relationship with age-associated cognition; and 2) interactive effects are sex-dependent. We measured memory, executive function, and verbal fluency in the Comprehensive cohort ( = 25 830; 45-86 years).

Inaccurate and Biased Global Media Coverage Underlies Public Misunderstanding of Shark Conservation Threats and Solutions.

Sharks are a taxon of significant conservation concern and associated public interest. The scientific community largely supports management policies focusing on sustainable fisheries exploitation of sharks, but many concerned members of the public and some environmental advocates believe that sustainable shark fisheries cannot and do not exist and therefore support total bans on all shark fisheries and/or trade in shark products. The belief that sustainable shark fisheries cannot and do not exist persists despite scientific evidence showing that they can and do, and are important to livelihoods.

Electrically evoked force loss of the knee extensors is equivalent for young and old females and males.

Data are scant on sex-related differences for electrically evoked contractions, which assess intrinsic contractile properties while limiting spinal and supraspinal adaptations to mitigate fatigue. Furthermore, the few studies that exist use stimulus frequencies considerably higher than the natural motor unit discharge rate for the target force. The purpose of this study was to compare force loss to electrically evoked contractions at a physiological stimulus frequency among young females ( = 12), young males ( = 12), old females ( = 11), and old males ( = 11).

Effect of blood flow occlusion on corticospinal excitability during sustained low-intensity isometric elbow flexion.

Blood flow occlusion (BFO) has been used to study the influence of group III/IV muscle afferents after fatiguing exercise, but it is unknown how BFO-induced activity of these afferents affects motor cortical and motoneuronal excitability during low-intensity exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the acute effect of BFO on peripheral [maximal M wave (M)], spinal [cervicomedullary motor evoked potential (CMEP) normalized to M], and motor cortical [motor evoked potential (MEP) normalized to CMEP] excitability. Nine healthy men completed a sustained isometric contraction of the elbow flexors at 20% of maximal force under three conditions: ) contractile failure with BFO, ) a time-matched trial without restriction [free flow (FFiso)], and ) contractile failure with free flow (FFfail).

Sustained Maximal Voluntary Contractions Elicit Different Neurophysiological Responses in Upper- and Lower-Limb Muscles in Men.

This study compared the effects of fatigue on corticospinal responsiveness in the upper- and lower-limb muscles of the same participants. Seven healthy males performed a 2-min maximal voluntary isometric contraction of the elbow flexors or knee extensors on four separate days. Electromyographic responses were elicited by nerve stimulation (maximal M-wave) in all sessions and by transcranial magnetic stimulation (motor-evoked potential; silent period) and spinal tract stimulation (cervicomedullary or thoracic motor-evoked potentials; silent period) in one session each per limb.

Mapping safety culture attributes with integrity management program to achieve assessment goals: A framework for oil and gas pipelines industry.

Introduction: The safety of oil and gas pipelines is an increasing concern for the public, government regulators, and the industry. A safety management system cannot be efficient without having an effective integrity management program (IMP) and a strong safety culture. IMP is a formal document (policies, planning, scheduling, and technical processes) while safety culture is a measure of views, beliefs, and traditions about safety.

National contributions to global ecosystem values.

Current conservation templates prioritize biogeographic regions with high intensity ecosystem values, such as exceptional species richness or threat. Intensity-based targets are an important consideration in global efforts, but they do not capture all available opportunities to conserve ecosystem values, including those that accrue in low intensity over large areas. We assess six globally-significant ecosystem values-intact wilderness, freshwater availability, productive marine environments, breeding habitat for migratory wildlife, soil carbon storage, and latitudinal potential for range shift in the face of climate change-to highlight opportunities for high-impact broadly-distributed contributions to global conservation.

Comparison of Different Electricity-Based Thermal Pretreatment Methods for Enhanced Bioenergy Production from Municipal Sludge.

This paper presents results for a comprehensive study that compares the performance of three electricity-based thermal pretreatment methods for improving the effectiveness of anaerobic digestion (AD) to process municipal wastewater sludge. The study compares thermal pretreatment using conventional heating (CH), microwave (MW), and radio frequency (RF) heating techniques. The effectiveness of the pretreatment methods was assessed in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biopolymers solubilization, AD bioenergy production, input electrical energy, and overall net energy production of the sequential pretreatment/AD process.

Efficacy of Pseudomonas fluorescens for control of Mucor rot of apple during commercial storage and potential modes of action.

The ability of Pseudomonas fluorescens isolates 1-112, 2-28, and 4-6, to control Mucor piriformis (Mucor rot) on Gala, McIntosh, Ambrosia, and Spartan apple cultivars in commercial cold storage and their possible mechanisms of action were investigated. Isolates 1-112 and 2-28 provided significant levels of disease control on McIntosh and Spartan apples, while isolate 4-6 provided control of Mucor rot on Gala and Spartan apples, compared with control fruits after 15 weeks of storage at 0 °C. Mycelial growth of M.

Density-dependent signaling: An alternative hypothesis on the function of chemical signaling in a non-territorial solitary carnivore.

Brown bears are known to use rubbing behavior as a means of chemical communication, but the function of this signaling is unclear. One hypothesis that has gained support is that male bears rub to communicate dominance to other males. We tested the communication of dominance hypothesis in a low-density brown bear population in southeast British Columbia.

Differentiation of Crataegus spp. guided by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry with chemometric analyses.

For compliance with US Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations for dietary supplements, manufacturers must provide identity of source plant material. Despite the popularity of hawthorn as a dietary supplement, relatively little is known about the comparative phytochemistry of different hawthorn species, and in particular North American hawthorns. The combination of NMR spectrometry with chemometric analyses offers an innovative approach to differentiating hawthorn species and exploring the phytochemistry.