Assessing community forest resources to determine potential for biomass district heating in one rural and one remote First Nation of Northwestern Ontario

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the feasibility of using biomass in rural and remote First Nations for the purpose of supplying biomass district heating plants. The availability of forest resources, including the methods for determining biomass volumes and availability, and the policies which govern access to timber/biomass on Crown and reserve land will be assessed. The thesis is produced in conjunction with a pre-feasibility study conducted collaboratively between Confederation College and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, ON. It was found that sufficient forest resources exist to supply woody biomass to a biomass district heating plant (BDHP) in both the rural and remote communities, which can provide heat and hot water to community infrastructure and home dwellings in order to offset electrical use. It was found that there was variability between thermal potential, ash content and species present in the two communities. There was also variability between the wood properties values found in this study compared to the published values for the same species. Although there was a significant difference in species volume, annual growth per hectare and species composition at 95% probability, there was not a significant difference in wood properties. There was also a significant difference between the outcomes of using the Lakehead University Wood Science Testing Facility methods compared to Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Forest Resource Inventory methods related to species volume and composition reported by the different methods, while total volume was the same. This information is not intended to replace a proper forest management plan, but to provide information to communities so that informed decisions can be made. In fact, accessing the identified available biomass would require an amendment to the forest management plan and may require additional legislated documentation and an approval process or a fibre supply agreement with the forest tenure holder

Vegetation of non-alluvial wetlands of the southeastern Piedmont

Non-alluvial wetlands play an important ecological role for many plant and animal species, providing a contribution to regional and landscape-scale biodiversity. Despite their ecological significance, non-alluvial wetlands in the southeastern Piedmont have received little research attention. The purpose of this study is to develop a quantitative classification and description of non-alluvial wetland plant communities for the southeastern Piedmont. Vegetation was surveyed in 123 plots from central Virginia to northern South Carolina selected to represent high-quality examples of Piedmont non-alluvial wetlands. Cluster analysis and ordination techniques were used to identify and describe community types in terms of their species composition and environmental settings. Ten non-alluvial wetland community types were identified for the southeastern Piedmont, five for seepage wetlands and five for depressional wetlands. These results provide a baseline quantitative classification that may be used for conservation planning or to refine and improve documentation for existing plant community concepts

PICC Lines: Preventing Complications Using Best Practice

A peripherally inserted central catheter, or PICC line, is a central venous catheter placed in a peripheral vein located in the upper arm and then threaded into the superior vena cava where it ends. Long term venous access for medication administration, laboratory testing, blood transfusions, and total parenteral nutrition are just a few reasons why PICC line placement is essential for patient care. As PICC lines have become more prevalent in the healthcare field, complications associated with them have become illuminated. Common complications associated with PICC lines include infection, occlusion, embolism, dislodgment, bleeding associated with dressing changes, issues with skin integrity, etc. Due to the increase in the use of PICC lines, complications are of increased concern. The research team contacted Spencer Hospital and obtained their current central line policy. The hospital wished for the team to look into their current policy and make changes necessary to provide a PICC specific policy that is clear and consistent. The research team then dove into a plethora of articles regarding PICC line maintenance. This team found ten articles, in which they came up with interventions related to maintenance and care regarding PICC line care. Based on these findings the researchers reviewed Spencer Hospital’s policy, as well as changes we found beneficial and encouraged Spencer Hospital to incorporate these interventions into their PICC specific policy. The team hopes this policy will be implemented at Spencer Hospital to promote the best care regarding the maintenance of PICC lines

Factors influencing community case management and care hours for clients with traumatic brain injury living in the UK

Objective: To investigate the relationship between deficits associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and case management (CM) and care/support (CS) in two UK community samples. Research design: Prospective descriptive study. Method: Case managers across the UK and from a single UK CM service contributed client profiles to two data sets (Groups 1 and 2, respectively). Data were entered on demographics, injury severity, functional skills, functional-cognition (including executive functions), behaviour and CM and CS hours. Relationships were explored between areas of disability and service provision. Results: Clients in Group 2 were more severely injured, longer post-injury and had less family support than clients in Group 1. There were few significant differences between Groups 1 and 2 on measures of Functionalskill, Functional-cognition and Behaviour disorder. Deficits in Functionalskills were associated with CS, but not CM. Deficits in measures of executive functions (impulsivity, predictability, response to direction) were related to CM, but not to CS. Insight was related to both CM and CS. Variables related to behaviour disorder were related to CM, but were less often correlated to CS. Conclusions: The need for community support is related not only to Functionalskills (CS), but also to behaviour disorder, self-regulatory skills and impaired insight (CM)

A pooled long-term follow-up after radiotherapy for prostate cancer with and without a rectal hydrogel spacer: Impact of hydrogel on decline in sexual quality of life

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of prostate rectal spacers on sexual quality of life (QOL) following external beam radiation therapy (RT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patient- reported QOL was evaluated using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC). Patients were pooled from two sources: a randomized controlled trial and a non-randomized cohort of patients from a single institution. Both cohorts used the same spacing product and QOL instrument. Analysis was limited to those with good baseline pre-treatment sexual QOL (EPIC \u3e/= 60). Differences in QOL summary score and individual items were assessed compared with baseline and between treatment arms. RESULTS: A total of 128 men had good baseline sexual function and were evaluated (64% with spacer and 36% without) with QOL data available for median 33 months (range: 2.5-69.4 months). Men without spacer were more likely to have declines in sexual function ( CONCLUSION: In this pooled analysis of QOL after prostate RT, the utilization of a hydrogel spacer was associated with better sexual QOL, less men with measurable declines in sexual QOL, and higher rates of adequate erectile function

Real-time, model-based magnetic field correction for moving, wearable MEG

Most neuroimaging techniques require the participant to remain still for reliable recordings to be made. Optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) based magnetoencephalography (OP-MEG) however, is a neuroimaging technique which can be used to measure neural signals during large participant movement (approximately 1 m) within a magnetically shielded room (MSR) (Boto et al., 2018; Seymour et al., 2021). Nevertheless, environmental magnetic fields vary both spatially and temporally and OPMs can only operate within a limited magnetic field range, which constrains participant movement. Here we implement real-time updates to electromagnetic coils mounted on-board of the OPMs, to cancel out the changing background magnetic fields. The coil currents were chosen based on a continually updating harmonic model of the background magnetic field, effectively implementing homogeneous field correction (HFC) in real-time (Tierney et al., 2021). During a stationary, empty room recording, we show an improvement in very low frequency noise of 24 dB. In an auditory paradigm, during participant movement of up to 2 m within a magnetically shielded room, introduction of the real-time correction more than doubled the proportion of trials in which no sensor saturated recorded outside of a 50 cm radius from the optimally-shielded centre of the room. The main advantage of such model-based (rather than direct) feedback is that it could allow one to correct field components along unmeasured OPM axes, potentially mitigating sensor gain and calibration issues (Borna et al., 2022)

A pooled long-term follow-up after radiotherapy for prostate cancer with and without a rectal hydrogel spacer: impact of hydrogel on decline in sexual quality of life

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of prostate rectal spacers on sexual quality of life (QOL) following external beam radiation therapy (RT).Methods and materialsPatient- reported QOL was evaluated using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC). Patients were pooled from two sources: a randomized controlled trial and a non-randomized cohort of patients from a single institution. Both cohorts used the same spacing product and QOL instrument. Analysis was limited to those with good baseline pre-treatment sexual QOL (EPIC >/= 60). Differences in QOL summary score and individual items were assessed compared with baseline and between treatment arms.ResultsA total of 128 men had good baseline sexual function and were evaluated (64% with spacer and 36% without) with QOL data available for median 33 months (range: 2.5–69.4 months). Men without spacer were more likely to have declines in sexual function (p < 0.0001), bother (p = 0.0002), and sexual summary score (p < 0.0001). A minimally important difference of 10 points (1xMID) and 20 point (2xMID) was more likely without rectal spacer [10 points: odds ratio 3.53, (95% confidence interval 1.11–11.2), p = 0.032; 20 points: odds ratio 3.29, (95% confidence interval 1.16–9.33), p = 0.025]. Seven of 13 QOL items were statistically superior with hydrogel (six of nine functional and one of four bother), while no items were statistically superior for control. At baseline, more men treated with hydrogel had erections sufficient for intercourse; however, when analyzed only by the men with best baseline erectile potential and excluding those with worse function, the benefit of rectal spacing was maintained with a higher likelihood of preservation of erections sufficient for intercourse in those treated with hydrogel.ConclusionIn this pooled analysis of QOL after prostate RT, the utilization of a hydrogel spacer was associated with better sexual QOL, less men with measurable declines in sexual QOL, and higher rates of adequate erectile function