The potential therapeutic effects of creatine supplementation on body composition and muscle function in cancer

Low muscle mass in individuals with cancer has a profound impact on quality of life and independence and is associated with greater treatment toxicity and poorer prognosis. Exercise interventions are regularly being investigated as a means to ameliorate treatment-related adverse effects, and nutritional/supplementation strategies to augment adaptations to exercise are highly valuable. Creatine (Cr) is a naturally-occurring substance in the human body that plays a critical role in energy provision during muscle contraction. Given the beneficial effects of Cr supplementation on lean body mass, strength, and physical function in a variety of clinical populations, there is therapeutic potential in individuals with cancer at heightened risk for muscle loss. Here, we provide an overview of Cr physiology, summarize the evidence on the use of Cr supplementation in various aging/clinical populations, explore mechanisms of action, and provide perspectives on the potential therapeutic role of Cr in the exercise oncology setting

A Chronology of the Department of Geography, The Ohio State University

Prepared for the Centennial of The Ohio State University

Mechanical suppression of osteolytic bone metastases in advanced breast cancer patients: A randomised controlled study protocol evaluating safety, feasibility and preliminary efficacy of exercise as a targeted medicine

Background: Skeletal metastases present a major challenge for clinicians, representing an advanced and typically incurable stage of cancer. Bone is also the most common location for metastatic breast carcinoma, with skeletal lesions identified in over 80% of patients with advanced breast cancer. Preclinical models have demonstrated the ability of mechanical stimulation to suppress tumour formation and promote skeletal preservation at bone sites with osteolytic lesions, generating modulatory interference of tumour-driven bone remodelling. Preclinical studies have also demonstrated anti-cancer effects through exercise by minimising tumour hypoxia, normalising tumour vasculature and increasing tumoural blood perfusion. This study proposes to explore the promising role of targeted exercise to suppress tumour growth while concomitantly delivering broader health benefits in patients with advanced breast cancer with osteolytic bone metastases. Methods: This single-blinded, two-armed, randomised and controlled pilot study aims to establish the safety, feasibility and efficacy of an individually tailored, modular multi-modal exercise programme incorporating spinal isometric training (targeted muscle contraction) in 40 women with advanced breast cancer and stable osteolytic spinal metastases. Participants will be randomly assigned to exercise or usual medical care. The intervention arm will receive a 3-month clinically supervised exercise programme, which if proven to be safe and efficacious will be offered to the control-arm patients following study completion. Primary endpoints (programme feasibility, safety, tolerance and adherence) and secondary endpoints (tumour morphology, serum tumour biomarkers, bone metabolism, inflammation, anthropometry, body composition, bone pain, physical function and patient-reported outcomes) will be measured at baseline and following the intervention. Discussion: Exercise medicine may positively alter tumour biology through numerous mechanical and nonmechanical mechanisms. This randomised controlled pilot trial will explore the preliminary effects of targeted exercise on tumour morphology and circulating metastatic tumour biomarkers using an osteolytic skeletal metastases model in patients with breast cancer. The study is principally aimed at establishing feasibility and safety. If proven to be safe and feasible, results from this study could have important implications for the delivery of this exercise programme to patients with advanced cancer and sclerotic skeletal metastases or with skeletal lesions present in haematological cancers (such as osteolytic lesions in multiple myeloma), for which future research is recommended. Trial registration: anzctr.org.au, ACTRN-12616001368426. Registered on 4 October 2016

"We suffered in silence" : health and safety at Chatham Dockyard, 1945 to 1984 : evaluating the causes and management of occupational hazards, relating especially to asbestos, ionising radiation and masculinity

This thesis is designed to enhance knowledge and understanding of a range of issues relating to the health and safety of the workforce at Chatham Dockyard from 1945 until its closure in 1984. During this period, the Chatham Dockyard workforce was predominantly white, male and working class. Many workers entered the Dockyard with the expectation of a job for life, while others aimed to take advantage of the superior education system to advance to management grades or to progress to further education and/or a career in naval architecture. The majority of workers lived locally and generations of families from the Medway area earned their living in the Dockyard. Casual workers were also employed and came and went as labour requirements fluctuated, while women occupied positions in clerical, cooking, cleaning, sailmaking, ropemaking and, latterly, traditional male roles such as engineering, slinging and plumbing.A key objective of this study is to establish how dangerous it was to work in the Dockyard, with particular reference to the significant hazards posed by asbestos and ionising radiation. The effectiveness of efforts to mitigate the risks of Dockyard labour is assessed, while the health and safety legislative framework is explored, as is its application to the Dockyards. Gauging the influence of an overtly masculine culture on worker safety, which is central to understanding how and why workers endangered themselves (consciously or not) in some circumstances, is a further objective of this study. In order to establish the masculine culture of this working environment, masculine behaviour traits are explored including camaraderie, provider mentality, risk taking and attitudes toward female workers (especially those working in traditionally male roles). Management strategies are also considered, with Admiralty/Ministry of Defence and local management policies set in their historical and legislative contexts in an attempt to shed light on the factors that informed decision making and management behaviour. This encompasses an account of the comprehensive educational and medical facilities provided to the Dockyard’s labour force in the period.In addition to the review of relevant secondary literature, the study utilises a range of documentary and life history sources. The latter include interviews and questionnaires completed by former workers, relating to work experiences, culture and the impact of industrial injury/disease. This evidence reveals a combination of causal factors that contributed to dangerous working conditions at Chatham Dockyard. While shipbuilding and ship-repairing work itself could be perilous, the study identifies the following contributory factors to risk: competing priorities impacted on the level of protection afforded to workers by the Admiralty and latterly the Ministry of Defence; masculine culture among workers increased the risk of succumbing to occupational illness or injury; and where legislation and Admiralty/MoD policy sought to address risks, these efforts were frequently hampered by communication failure, gaps in knowledge and poor management decisions.The study opens a discourse on the history of health and safety in the Royal Dockyards after 1945 and contributes to the historiographies of the use and impact of asbestos and nuclear power in industry. It also adds to literature in the fields of naval, maritime, labour, gender and medical history, while the testimony collected during the study makes an important contribution to the life history of Chatham Dockyard and builds on existing oral histories of the Royal Dockyards

Administrative Law—Licensing by Municipal Bodies: A Judicial Function—Standow v. City of Spokane, 88 Wn. 2d 624, 564 P.2d 1145 (1977)

In this note, the reasoning behind the court\u27s decision will be examined and it will be urged that, despite flaws in the analysis, the result in this case is a sound one. Discretionary municipal action which cannot be reviewed under the Washington Administrative Procedure Act but which involves application of existing law to past or present facts for the purpose of declaring or enforcing liability... resembles the ordinary business of courts and should be susceptible to judicial review on petition for a writ of statutory certiorari

Young People, Music and Political Participation : From the Cultural Politics to the Political Cultures of Young People

This study of young people\u27s participation in politics seeks to investigate some of the areas where music and politics intersect in the lives of young people. From a broad interest in young people\u27s participation, the relationship between young people, music and political participation will be explored. An initial account of the relationship between music and young people\u27s political participation in advanced industrial capitalist societies such as Australia will be established. This relationship has previously received little academic attention. Dominant views of young people that suggest they are not interested in politics, or that they are irrelevant to political decision-making, deny young people\u27s ability to participate. The established literature in the field of young people\u27s political participation is limited in that it operates within a narrow framework which excludes most young people\u27s activities and behaviours. It is apparent that many young people are excluded from formal political participation in contemporary advanced industrial societies. It is thus hoped that this study may help inform future research into the political participation of young people, through the identification of a broader framework for the understanding of young people\u27s participation and politics. In the absence of in-depth fieldwork this project is heavily based upon a critical analysis of current and past literature in fields of study including youth studies, cultural studies, music, politics, civic identity, social movements and the various spaces between these fields. Knowledge of events and activities is also drawn from journalistic accounts and less formal sources such as music websites, flyers and album sleeves. Through reconsidering the dominant discourses and theoretical frameworks within which young people\u27s political participation is conceptualised, a broader conception of political participation is offered. The significance of young people\u27s own perspectives of politics and participation is emphasised. The importance of considering both local and global influences upon the form and content of young people\u27s political participation is stressed. It is argued that young people\u27s use of music, through both production and reception, and with varying degrees of intent and specificity of meaning, should be interpreted as having political relevance and as contributing to the form and content of young people\u27s collective and individual political identifications. Contemporary political institutions and discourses need to broaden their scope to include the multiple and diverse modes of political expression and participation found in numerous places. Differences in the type of participation favoured and the issues most relevant, based upon age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, physical ability, culture, style, taste, or any other sources of difference present in society, need to be valued and negotiated fairly in decision-making processes. If governments in advanced industrial societies are to achieve higher levels of participation in their democratic political systems they need to come some way towards accepting forms of participation that occur through music. They also need to encourage the processes that facilitate the construction of politically active identifications associated with young people\u27s use of music

Adjusting bone mass for differences in projected bone area and other confounding variables: an allometric perspective.

The traditional method of assessing bone mineral density (BMD; given by bone mineral content [BMC] divided by projected bone area [Ap], BMD = BMC/Ap) has come under strong criticism by various authors. Their criticism being that the projected bone "area" (Ap) will systematically underestimate the skeletal bone "volume" of taller subjects. To reduce the confounding effects of bone size, an alternative ratio has been proposed called bone mineral apparent density [BMAD = BMC/(Ap)3/2]. However, bone size is not the only confounding variable associated with BMC. Others include age, sex, body size, and maturation. To assess the dimensional relationship between BMC and projected bone area, independent of other confounding variables, we proposed and fitted a proportional allometric model to the BMC data of the L2-L4 vertebrae from a previously published study. The projected bone area exponents were greater than unity for both boys (1.43) and girls (1.02), but only the boy's fitted exponent was not different from that predicted by geometric similarity (1.5). Based on these exponents, it is not clear whether bone mass acquisition increases in proportion to the projected bone area (Ap) or an estimate of projected bone volume (Ap)3/2. However, by adopting the proposed methods, the analysis will automatically adjust BMC for differences in projected bone size and other confounding variables for the particular population being studied. Hence, the necessity to speculate as to the theoretical value of the exponent of Ap, although interesting, becomes redundant

Priorities, policies and (time)scales : the delivery of emissions reductions in the UK transport sector

Peer reviewedPreprin