• 제목/요약/키워드: Alberta

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Mindfulness-based Practices in Workers to Address Mental Health Conditions: A Systematic Review

  • Quentin Durand-Moreau;Tanya Jackson;Danika Deibert;Charl Els;Janice Y. Kung;Sebastian Straube
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • 제14권3호
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    • pp.250-258
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    • 2023
  • The effectiveness of mindfulness techniques in addressing mental health conditions in workers is uncertain. However, it could represent a therapeutic tool for workers presenting with such conditions. Our objective was to assess the effects of mindfulness-based practices for workers diagnosed with mental health conditions. We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Participants included were workers with a mental health condition. Interventions included any mindfulness technique, compared to any nonmindfulness interventions. Outcomes were scores on validated psychiatric rating scales. A total of 4,407 records were screened; 202 were included for full-text analysis; 2 studies were included. The first study (Finnes et al., 2017) used Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) associated or not with Workplace Dialogue Intervention (WDI), compared to treatment as usual. At 9 months follow-up, for the ACT group, depression scores improved marginally (standardized mean difference [SMD]: -0.06, p = 0.021), but anxiety scores were worse (SMD: 0.15, p = 0.036). Changes in mental health outcomes were not statistically significant for the ACT + WDI group. In the second study (Grensman et al., 2018), no statistically significant change in mental health scales has been observed after completion of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy compared to cognitive behavioral therapy. Substantial heterogeneity precluded meta-analysis. This systematic review did not find evidence that mindfulness-based practices provide a durable and substantial improvement of mental health outcomes in workers diagnosed with mental health conditions.

Muscle Fiber, Connective Tissue and Meat Quality Characteristics of Pork from Low Birth Weight Pigs as Affected by Diet-Induced Increased Fat Absorption and Preferential Muscle Marbling

  • Bimol C. Roy;Patience Coleman;Meghan Markowsky;Kun Wang;Yongbo She;Caroline Richard;Spencer D. Proctor;Heather L. Bruce
    • 한국축산식품학회지
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    • 제44권1호
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    • pp.51-73
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    • 2024
  • This study investigated how birth weight differences in piglets affected carcass and muscle fiber properties as well as meat quality at slaughter. Within litters, piglets were grouped according to their birth weight as either normal (NBW; 1.62-1.73 kg) or low (LBW; 1.18-1.29 kg). At 5 weeks of age, NBW piglets were randomly transitioned to control (C) or isocaloric high fat diets derived from non-dairy (HF), while LBW piglets were randomly transitioned to high fat diets derived from non-dairy (HF) or dairy sources (HFHD). Piglets were reared in individual pens under standardized housing and feeding conditions. Live weight was recorded weekly, and pigs were slaughtered at 12 weeks of age. Hot carcass weights, dressing percentages, lean meat yield, and primal cut proportions were determined. The m. longissimus thoracis was collected from the right side of the carcass for measurement of physical and chemical properties of meat and muscle fiber characteristics. Results indicated that LBW pigs compensated for their live weight compared to NBW pigs at 6 weeks of age. The mean muscle fiber diameter of LBW-HFHD group is significantly higher than NBW-C and NBW-HF group, and the type I muscle fiber diameter is significantly higher than NBW-C group. Dairy fat inclusion in LBW pig diet reduced carcass back fat thickness. This increased the calculated lean meat yield to be comparable to that of NBW pigs fed a commercial diet. Incorporating dairy-sourced high-fat into LBW pigs' diets appears to be an effective strategy for producing carcasses equivalent to NBW pigs.

Novel Approaches to Clubroot Management in Western Canada

  • Hwang, Sheau-Fang;Strelkov, Stephen E.
    • 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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    • 한국균학회 2015년도 춘계학술대회 및 임시총회
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    • pp.49-49
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    • 2015
  • Over the past decade, clubroot has emerged as a major constraint to canola (Brassica napus) production in central Alberta, Canada. The number of fields with confirmed P. brassicae infestations in Alberta has increased steadily from 12 in 2003 to nearly 2,000 in 2014. Management of clubroot on canola has focused on sanitization of field equipment, soil amendments to reduce viable pathogen populations, long rotations out of susceptible crops and cropping of resistant cultivars. Clubroot resistance is the most effective and economical method of disease mitigation, but the recent identification of isolated P. brassicae populations with novel virulence phenotypes capable of overcoming resistance in most canola cultivars highlights the variable nature and adaptability of the pathogen. Recent studies have shown slight reductions in pathogen populations through crop rotations, but much more substantial reductions in spore populations in heavily infested areas near field entrances using fumigants such as Vapam (metam-sodium) or Basamid (dazomet). Greenhouse trials showed that seedling emergence, plant height and root weight increased, while primary and secondary infection and disease severity decreased with increased Basamid dosage. However, field trials showed some phytotoxicity. Application of Vapam at rates of 0.4 to $1.6mL\;L^{-1}$ soil resulted in 12-16 fold reductions in clubroot severity and primary and secondary infection. Vapam also was effective in reducing clubroot severity and improving canola seed yield under field conditions. These studies underscore the need for good resistance stewardship and for the integration of multiple products and practices for successful management of clubroot on canola.

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Innate immunity and carbohydrate metabolism alterations precede occurrence of subclinical mastitis in transition dairy cows

  • Dervishi, Elda;Zhang, Guanshi;Hailemariam, Dagnachew;Dunn, Suzana M.;Ametaj, Burim N.
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • 제57권12호
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    • pp.46.1-46.19
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    • 2015
  • Background: This study examined whether activation of innate immunity and alterations of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism precede development of subclinical mastitis (SCM). Methods: Blood samples were collected from the coccygeal vein from 100 Holstein dairy cows at -8, -4, disease diagnosis week, and +4 weeks postpartum. Six healthy cows (controls - CON) and six cows that showed clinical signs of SCM were selected for serum analyses. All serum samples were analyzed for acute phase proteins (APP) haptoglobin (Hp) and serum amyloid A (SAA); proinflammatory cytokines including interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and serum lactate, BHBA, and NEFA concentration. Data of DMI, milk production, and milk composition were recorded and analyzed. Results: The results showed that cows with SCM had greater concentrations of SAA, TNF (P < 0.01), and lactate before expected day of parturition (P < 0.05) compared to CON cows. Cows with SCM showed greater concentrations of lactate starting at -8 weeks (P < 0.05) and TNF starting at -4 weeks prior to the expected day of parturition (P < 0.01). Interestingly, at -4 weeks, concentrations of IL-1 and Hp were lower in cows with SCM compared to healthy cows (P < 0.01) followed by an increase during the week of disease diagnosis (P < 0.05). Subclinical mastitis was associated with lower DMI, at -4 weeks before calving, milk production (P < 0.05) and increased somatic cell counts (SCC) (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that SCM is preceded by activated innate immunity and altered carbohydrate metabolism in transition dairy cows. Moreover the results support the idea that Hp, lactate, and SAA, at -8 weeks, and TNF and IL-1 at -4 weeks can be used as early indicators to screen cows during dry off for disease state.

Damage detection of railway bridges using operational vibration data: theory and experimental verifications

  • Azim, Md Riasat;Zhang, Haiyang;Gul, Mustafa
    • Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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    • 제7권2호
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    • pp.149-166
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    • 2020
  • This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on a vibration-based damage identification framework for a steel girder type and a truss bridge based on acceleration responses to operational loading. The method relies on sensor clustering-based time-series analysis of the operational acceleration response of the bridge to the passage of a moving vehicle. The results are presented in terms of Damage Features from each sensor, which are obtained by comparing the actual acceleration response from the sensors to the predicted response from the time-series model. The damage in the bridge is detected by observing the change in damage features of the bridge as structural changes occur in the bridge. The relative severity of the damage can also be quantitatively assessed by observing the magnitude of the changes in the damage features. The experimental results show the potential usefulness of the proposed method for future applications on condition assessment of real-life bridge infrastructures.

The Regulatory Domain of Troponin C: To Be Flexible or Not To Be Flexible

  • Gagne, Stephane M.;Sykes, Michael T.;Sykes, Brain D.
    • 한국자기공명학회논문지
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    • 제2권2호
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    • pp.131-140
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    • 1998
  • The calcium-induced structural changes in the skeletal muscle regulatory protein troponin C (NTnC) involve a transition from a ‘closed’to an ‘open’structure with the concomitant exposure of a large hydrophobic interaction site for target proteins. Structural studies have served to define this conformational change and elucidate the mechanism of the linkage between calcium binding and the induced structural changes. There are now several structures of NTnC available from both NMR and X-ray crystallography. Comparison of the calcium bound structures reveals differences in the level of opening. We have considered the concept of a flexible open state of NTnC as a possible explanation for this apparent discrepancy. We also present simulations of the closed-to-open transition which are in agreement with the flexibility concept and with experimental energetics data.

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Restructuring and Performance among Japanese Firms after Prudential Policy Reform

  • Beason, Dick;Gordon, Ken;Mehrotra, Vikas;Watanabe, Akiko
    • 아태비즈니스연구
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    • 제1권1호
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    • pp.41-60
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    • 2010
  • After over a decade of sluggish economic growth accompanied by massive fiscal stimulus in the 1990s, it remains an open question whether and how Japanese firms have restructured their operations, and whether these efforts have borne any fruit. Using a randomly selected sample of 300 firms from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, we collect all restructuring announcement in the FY 2000-2001 (April 2000-March 2002) period. Our results are striking in that while we find that firms engaging in restructuring of various sorts display improved earnings in the period following the restructuring announcement, shareholders do not appear to benefit at the time of the restructuring announcements.

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Damage assessment of shear-type structures under varying mass effects

  • Do, Ngoan T.;Mei, Qipei;Gul, Mustafa
    • Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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    • 제6권3호
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    • pp.237-254
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    • 2019
  • This paper presents an improved time series based damage detection approach with experimental verifications for detection, localization, and quantification of damage in shear-type structures under varying mass effects using output-only vibration data. The proposed method can be very effective for automated monitoring of buildings to develop proactive maintenance strategies. In this method, Auto-Regressive Moving Average models with eXogenous inputs (ARMAX) are built to represent the dynamic relationship of different sensor clusters. The damage features are extracted based on the relative difference of the ARMAX model coefficients to identify the existence, location and severity of damage of stiffness and mass separately. The results from a laboratory-scale shear type structure show that different damage scenarios are revealed successfully using the approach. At the end of this paper, the methodology limitations are also discussed, especially when simultaneous occurrence of mass and stiffness damage at multiple locations.

AUTOMATED PROJECT CONTROL SYSTEM FOR STEEL PROJECTS

  • Reza Azimi;SangHyun Lee;Simaan M. AbouRizk
    • 국제학술발표논문집
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    • The 3th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management
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    • pp.479-486
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    • 2009
  • This paper presents an integrated real-time monitoring and control framework that facilitates decision making by enabling project managers to take corrective actions right after any deviation happens and mitigate the damage to the ongoing steel projects. The proposed framework employs the High Level Architecture (HLA) as its infrastructure. It is composed of several individual monitoring and control components called "Federates," which cooperate and interact with each other through the Real-time Infrastructure (RTI). Reusability, interoperability and extendibility of federates in the proposed project control system make this a unique system.

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