Clinics have sought to protect the health and safety of veterinary staff as well as patients with entry restrictions.

The study found dogs separated from their owners during exams showed more physiological and behavioural signs of fear and stress than dogs with owners in the room.

Solutions? Hold the appointment outside, if possible. Clinics with large, well-ventilated exam rooms could also allow owners to remain in the room where the dog can see them, even if they can’t stand close by, said Dr. Lee Niel, Department of Population Medicine and the Col. K.L. Campbell Chair in Companion Animal Welfare.

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Radiation therapy aims beams of intense energy at a tumour to kill cancer cells. But if the ultranarrow beam is aimed inaccurately, it can hit healthy cells and “underdose” the target tumour.

Led by Dr. Dennis Mücher, a professor in the Department of Physics, U of G researchers have come up with a technique called a “hadron tumour marker” to make proton radiation therapy more accurate.

The implications of these findings for human cancer therapy are huge

They tested the technique at TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for nuclear and medical physics in Vancouver.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada and half of all cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy.

Cancer radiation therapy using ions, including charged particles such as protons, has become more widespread because it can target tumours and cancer cells with great precision. That makes it especially useful for treating cancers in delicate tissues like the eyes, brain or spinal cord.

In a separate study, U of G scientists harnessed tumour-killing viruses that may one day help treat devastating forms of breast, brain and pancreatic cancer.

We wake up the immune system

A research team led Dr. Sam Workenhe has shown for the first time that a one-two punch of cancer-killing viruses and chemotherapy can help trigger tumour inflammation, stimulating the body’s immune system to control tumour growth.

Workenhe, a professor in the Department of Pathobiology, said the study may ultimately help doctors enlist patients’ immune systems to fight cancers with especially poor treatment outcomes from conventional surgery, chemotherapy or radiation.

“The implications of these findings for human cancer therapy are huge,” he said. “We wake up the immune system.”

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U of G research suggests while many of us use PINs, or personal identification numbers, many times a day, few Canadians ever update their codes and others use the same one for everything.

Solutions include digital wallets on smartphones or systems that compel user updates, but they’re not foolproof, said Dr. Hassan Khan, School of Computer Science.

“This study offers compelling reasons why the research community should focus on developing new tools to assist users in remembering passwords.”

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The finding was particularly significant in industries with the greatest environmental impact, such as oil and gas and other resource extraction industries.

“Women and men tend to have different perspectives on environmental issues, and my research suggests it’s important to have a mixture of those perspectives on boards,” says Dr. Jing Lu, a professor in the Department of Management.

What’s more, with growing evidence that more socially responsible companies perform better financially, there is strong incentive for firms to think green as they recover.

“It’s become clear that our society cares about environmental sustainability” ~ Dr. Jing Lu

“So there is pressure on these boards, and women board members tend to bring that perspective to the forefront.”

Increasing the number of women in these important decision-making roles on boards of directors could be key to guiding companies to more sustainable recovery, Lu says, adding changes need to be made at the societal level.

“The reality is that women still feel the pressure to tend to most of the child rearing and family care, even when they have full-time jobs,” she says. “So even though many have the potential to offer important contributions to these boards, they often cannot find the time.”

Lu, an expert in sustainability accounting, calls for more mentorship for prospective women directors and more corporations pledging to increase the gender diversity of their boards.

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Researchers found that moderate-intensity exercise five times a week lowers body fat and improves blood pressure, but these health outcomes did not occur following a HIIT program three times a week.
The study was led by Drs. Jamie Burr and Graham Holloway, professors in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, and PhD student Heather Petrick.

“All exercise is good exercise, whether it’s fast, furious and infrequent, or slow, steady and sustainable,” Burr said. “But compared to infrequent interval training, daily moderate exercise appears to be more effective at improving blood pressure and blood glucose.”

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In the first study to look at specific risk indicators for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in young, healthy cannabis users, researchers found increased arterial stiffness and lower cardiac function than in non-users.

“Cannabis is really widely used as a recreational substance all around the world,” said Christian Cheung, a PhD student in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences (HHNS). “Scientists haven’t done that research with cannabis.”

HHNS professors Dr. Jamie Burr and Dr. Philip Millar continue to lead studies of CVD impacts of cannabis use.

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Dr. Maya Goldenberg, a professor in the Department of Philosophy, has become a “go-to” specialist in Canada and beyond on everything from vaccine hesitancy to safety of COVID-19 vaccines. 

An expert in the philosophy of science and medicine, she has recently focused on why some people refuse vaccines or become wary of science – more or less the topic of her new book published this spring, Vaccine Hesitancy: Public Trust, Expertise, and the War on Science. 

She says vaccine acceptance is less about vaccine science and more about people’s perception of social and government structures around vaccines.  

For anyone discontented with government and institutional structures, that unease may be projected onto their view of vaccines, Goldenberg says.

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The team members also say this first-ever Canadian sighting of the American migrant underlines the importance of maintaining a unique habitat in Ontario that has shrunk to a sliver of its historical size under urbanization, farming and other human activities.

In a paper published recently in the Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario, the researchers describe their first-ever Canadian record of the hibiscus bee (Ptilothrix bombiformis).

Janean Sharkey, a master’s student in the School of Environmental Sciences, wrote the paper along with Dr. Alana Pindar, a post-doc researcher in SES, and Dr. Nigel Raine, holder of the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation at U of G.

The bee was found in the Ojibway Prairie Park Nature Reserve (OPPNR) in Windsor, Ont., in 2018.

Sharkey said the find may mean the bee has taken advantage of climate change to expand its normal range from the eastern United States, although more research is needed to learn more.

The OPPNR, a 65-hectare provincial park, is one of the largest remnants of oak savannah habitat in Canada. Despite its small size, it is considered a biodiversity “hot spot.”

“It should definitely be a priority for conservation,” said Sharkey. “This area has a suite of other species of insects and larger animals and plants that are endangered and can only be found in these communities.”

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The findings could help explain the recent massive decline in the North American monarch population.

Led by U of G integrative biologist Dr. Ryan Norris, two studies examined effects on monarch caterpillars raised on milkweed treated with the insecticide clothianidin, which is coated on soy and corn seeds and taken up into the foliage.

One study found poorer survival rates among caterpillars eating treated milkweed, although egg-laying survivors appeared unaffected.

The other study found that larvae raised on treated milkweed were much smaller and lighter than those feeding on untreated milkweed.

Most of the corn and soy grown in North America comes from neonicotinoid-coated seeds, and much of the milkweed that monarchs feed on grows in agricultural areas.

Even more worrisome for Norris is that monarchs may prefer milkweed grown in pesticide-treated soil. Monarchs lay eggs only on milkweed plants. The butterflies laid more eggs on treated milkweed than on untreated plants, although researchers aren’t sure why.

Whatever the reason, the neonic-grown milkweed then becomes an “ecological trap” for the butterflies, Norris said.

“Neonicotinoids have been shown to have both lethal and sublethal effects in other invertebrate and pollinator species, so we were not surprised to see that monarch larvae also seemed to be affected.”

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“Donkeys are photogenic farm animals,” said Robinson, who shared his experience in animal breeding and farm life in remote videoconference lectures.

Other professors in the Ontario Agricultural College found ways to “bring the farm home,” including Dr. Mike Steele, who used videos and virtual farm tours for his dairy cattle nutrition course, and Dr. Katrina Merkies, who used virtual learning to teach equine management.

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