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Background: Continuous loss of muscle mass and strength are the consequences of the ageing process, which increase the risk of falls among older people. Falls can lead to severe consequences such as bone fractures and hampered physical and psychological well-being. Regular exercise is the key to reversing muscle atrophy and relieving sarcopenia. However, the frailty of older people and the recent COVID-19 pandemic may affect their confidence to leave home to attend classes in the community. A feasible and effective alternative should be explored. Methods: The primary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of tele-exercise (TE) in relation to physical functioning and exercise adherence among community-dwelling older people at risk of falls in comparison with a community-based group (CB). The secondary objective includes evaluating older people's experience with tele-exercise, emphasizing their psychological welfare, social well-being, and acceptance of the telehealth approach. The design, conduct, and report follow the SPIRIT guidelines (Standard Protocol Items: recommended items to address in a Clinical Trial Protocol and Related Documents). Older people will be recruited from 10 local community centres in Hong Kong and randomly allocated into two groups. All participants will attend the exercise training 3 days per week for 3 months but the mode of delivery will differ, either online as the tele-exercise group (TE) or face-to-face as the community-based group (CB). The outcome measures include muscle strength, physical function, exercise adherence and dropout rate, psychological and social well-being will be assessed at the baseline, and the 3rd, 6th and 12th month. Some participants will be invited to attend focus group interviews to evaluate their overall experience of the tele-exercise training. Discussion: Tele-exercise reduces the barriers to exercise, such as time constraints, inaccessibility to facilities, and the fear of frail older people leaving their homes. Promoting an online home-based exercise programme for older people can encourage them to engage in regular physical activity and increase their exercise adherence even when remaining at home. The use of telehealth can potentially result in savings in cost and time. The final findings will provide insights on delivering exercise via telehealth to older people and propose an exercise delivery and maintenance model for future practice. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (https://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowprojectEN.html?id=219002&v=1.1), registration number: ChiCTR2200063370. Registered on 5 September 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disseminating disease is a predictive and prognostic indicator of poor outcome in children with neuroblastoma. Its accurate and sensitive assessment can facilitate optimal treatment decisions. The International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) Task Force has defined standardised methods for the determination of minimal disease (MD) by immunocytology (IC) and quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) using disialoganglioside G(D2) and tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA respectively. The INRG standard operating procedures (SOPs) define methods for collecting, processing and evaluating bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood (PB) and peripheral blood stem cell harvest by IC and QRT-PCR. Sampling PB and BM is recommended at diagnosis, before and after myeloablative therapy and at the end of treatment. Peripheral blood stem cell products should be analysed at the time of harvest. Performing MD detection according to INRG SOPs will enable laboratories throughout the world to compare their results and thus facilitate quality-controlled multi-centre prospective trials to assess the clinical significance of MD and minimal residual disease in heterogeneous patient groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Path-finding problems have attracted widespread research interest in GIS-T. Previous research has largely been conducted on developing shortest path algorithms in GIS. The conventional approach is to adopt the arc-node network model, which allows only users with expert knowledge to generate measurements such as optimal paths from a map. However, the generation and maintenance of a centreline network are difficult and tedious because these are not natural on-ground features but imaginary lines on a map. To remedy the situation, a revolutionary approach has been suggested that path-finding method is independent of extra arc-node data creations by end-users. By using the cell-decomposition method borrowed from motion planning of a robot, general map users may obtain an optimal path by just identifying familiarized symbols/outlines from a digital topographic map without resorting to generating an extra set of centrelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Samples of mayonnaise were prepared in which the oil content was reduced from 30% to 10% and replaced with the fat replacers, Avicel, N Lite S and Simplesse. The control sample had a significantly higher viscosity (P < 0.001) and droplet size (P < 0.01) than the samples containing the replacers. There was a significant (P < 0.001) correlation (r = 0.97) between viscosity and droplet size. Sensory analysis also showed that the control had significantly higher scores (P < 0.001) for the attributes of thickness, meltability, glossiness and oiliness. There was a significant (P < 0.05) correlation (r = 0.93) between viscosity and sensory thickness. However, there was no significant preference for any of the samples, showing that variations in physical properties and sensory profile attributes do not necessarily affect preference. The use of the replacers reduced the energy values of the mayonnaises by 52% to 55%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]