Animal reproductive biotechnology is continually evolving. Significant advances have been made in our understanding of early embryonic mortality and embryo development in domestic animals, which has improved the selection and success of in vitro technologies. Yet our knowledge is still relatively limited such that identifying a single embryo with the highest chance of survival and development for transfer remains challenging. While invasive methods such as embryo biopsy can provide useful information regarding the genetic status of the embryos, morphological assessment remains the most common evaluation. A recent shift, however, favors alternative, adjunct approaches for non-invasive assessment of an embryo's viability and developmental potential. Various analytical techniques have facilitated the evaluation of cellular health through the metabolome, the assessment of end products of cellular metabolism, or by analyzing spent media for small RNAs. This review discusses the application of noninvasive approaches for ascertaining the health and viability of in vitro-produced bovine embryos. A comparative analysis of noninvasive techniques for embryo assessment currently being investigated in cattle and humans is also discussed.

Approximately one third of Canadian seniors experience a fall each year and one quarter suffer serious injuries as a result. Preventative exercise programs are commonly recommended; however, the current methods used to assess the risk associated with these programs do not include the effects of exercise on fall risk. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of acute exercise on balance in elderly individuals. We hypothesized that acute exercise in healthy seniors would negatively affect balance outcome measures in those seniors who had a prior history of at least one fall in the past year. During the study participants were separated into two groups: those who had experienced a fall in the last year (fallers) and those who had not (non-fallers). All participants underwent static and dynamic tests to determine balance outcome measures under fatigued and control (non-fatigued) conditions. To represent the fatigued condition, the Naughton treadmill protocol was used to safely increase heart rate to 60-69% HRmax. Although it was expected that performance in the balance outcome measures would be adversely affected by the acute exercise bout in patients at a high risk of falling, conclusive results could not be drawn as the data collected were all from participants who had not experienced a fall within the past year. However, preliminary results are presented for data collected from six participants classified as non-fallers. Keywords: acute exercise; balance; fall risk; older adults