ImportanceA stroke doubles one’s risk for dementia. How to promote cognitive function among persons with chronic stroke is unclear.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of exercise (EX) or cognitive and social enrichment activities (ENRICH) on cognitive function in adults with chronic stroke.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis was a 3-group parallel, single-blinded, single-site, proof-of-concept randomized clinical trial at a research center in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Participants included community-dwelling adults with chronic stroke, aged 55 years and older, able to walk 6 meters, and without dementia. The trial included a 6-month intervention and a 6-month follow-up. Randomization occurred from June 6, 2014, to February 26, 2019. Measurement occurred at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Data were analyzed from January to November 2021.InterventionsParticipants were randomly allocated to twice-weekly supervised classes of: (1) EX, a multicomponent exercise program; (2) ENRICH, a program of cognitive and social enrichment activities; or (3) balance and tone (BAT), a control group that included stretches and light-intensity exercises.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary outcome was the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive-Plus (ADAS-Cog-Plus), which included the 13-item ADAS-Cog, Trail Making Test Parts A and B, Digit Span Forward and Backward, Animal Fluency, and Vegetable Fluency.ResultsOne-hundred and twenty participants, with a mean (range) of 1.2 (1-4) strokes, a mean (SD) of 66.5 (53.8) months since the most recent stroke, mean (SD) baseline age of 70 (8) years, mean (SD) baseline ADAS-Cog-Plus of 0.22 (0.81), and 74 (62%) male participants, were randomized to EX (34 participants), ENRICH (34 participants), or BAT (52 participants). Seventeen withdrew during the 6-month intervention and another 7 during the 6-month follow-up. Including all 120 participants, at the end of the 6-month intervention, EX significantly improved ADAS-Cog-Plus performance compared with BAT (estimated mean difference: −0.24; 95% CI, −0.43 to −0.04; P = .02). This difference did not persist at the 6-month follow-up (estimated mean difference: −0.08; 95% CI, −0.29 to 0.12; P = .43). For the 13-item ADAS-Cog, the EX group improved by 5.65 points over the 6-month intervention (95% CI, 2.74 to 8.57 points; P < .001), exceeding the minimally clinical difference of 3.0 points.Conclusions and RelevanceThese findings suggest that exercise can induce clinically important improvements in cognitive function in adults with chronic stroke. Future studies need to replicate current findings and to understand training parameters, moderators, and mediators to maximize benefits.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01916486

17 chromium(III) compounds have been tested for DNA-damaging capabilities using an E. coli differential repair assay and for mutagenicity in strains of Salmonella typhimurium. 4 of these compounds were active in both assays. Another 4 compounds were positive only in the repair assay and 9 were devoid of activity in both assays. Most of the doubly active complexes contain aromatic amine ligands like 2,2'-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline. Closely related complexes of ligands derived from saturated amines are much less active. It appears that chromium(III) in the proper ligand environment can have considerable genetic toxicity and could represent one of the several possible ultimate species in a mechanism for chromium mutagenesis and carcinogenesis.

This paper reports the research of a Fiber Optic Corrosion Sensor (FOCS) fabricated by electroplating an Fe-C alloy film onto an optical fiber core within the sensing region. Fabrication of the sensing film involves removal of the cladding, nietallization of the optical fiber core, and electroplating of the Fe-C alloy layer. The initial results show that the sensor output power increases by about 35% when the film is corroded with the sensor ofthe film passivated. and that the time taken to rise to maximum output power is prolonged by almost 3 times, compared with that for non-passivated film. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using optical fiber corrosion sensors for monitoring corrosion of steel in civil structures.