A Technical and Behavioural Energy Efficiency Assessment of McGill Cafeteria Operations at Bishop Mountain Hall and Royal Victoria College

McGill Food and Dining Services (MFDS) have, over the past three years, progressed as a leader in sustainable practices at McGill University. Increased expectations for sustainable management have pushed Executive Chef Oliver deVolpi to assess energy efficiency at the Bishop Mountain Hall (BMH) and Royal Victoria College (RVC) cafeterias. This project aims to determine which technical and behavioural modifications should be made in the Royal Victoria College (RVC) and Bishop Mountain Hall (BMH) cafeterias in order to increase energy efficiency. Two key aspects determining energy consumption were addressed: the required energy input of the appliances and the frequency and manner of appliance usage. The technical approach assessed the sustainability of energy sources, including natural gas, electricity, and steam. The behavioural approach identified necessary improvements in mealtimes, the operation and availability of appliances, and staff practices. Using this data and appliance specification data, priority lists of suggested appliance replacements were made

Energetic Components of Cooperative Protein Folding

A new lattice protein model with a four-helix bundle ground state is analyzed by a parameter-space Monte Carlo histogram technique to evaluate the effects of an extensive variety of model potentials on folding thermodynamics. Cooperative helical formation and contact energies based on a 5-letter alphabet are found to be insufficient to satisfy calorimetric and other experimental criteria for two-state folding. Such proteinlike behaviors are predicted, however, by models with polypeptide-like local conformational restrictions and environment-dependent hydrogen bonding-like interactions.Comment: 11 pages, 4 postscripts figures, Phys. Rev. Lett. (in press

Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques-FRAP, FLIP, FLAP, FRET and FLIM

Fluorescence microscopy provides an efficient and unique approach to study fixed and living cells because of its versatility, specificity, and high sensitivity. Fluorescence microscopes can both detect the fluorescence emitted from labeled molecules in biological samples as images or photometric data from which intensities and emission spectra can be deduced. By exploiting the characteristics of fluorescence, various techniques have been developed that enable the visualization and analysis of complex dynamic events in cells, organelles, and sub-organelle components within the biological specimen. The techniques described here are fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), the related fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP), fluorescence localization after photobleaching (FLAP), Forster or fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and the different ways how to measure FRET, such as acceptor bleaching, sensitized emission, polarization anisotropy, and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). First, a brief introduction into the mechanisms underlying fluorescence as a physical phenomenon and fluorescence, confocal, and multiphoton microscopy is given. Subsequently, these advanced microscopy techniques are introduced in more detail, with a description of how these techniques are performed, what needs to be considered, and what practical advantages they can bring to cell biological research

The Object of My Aggression: Sexual Objectification Increases Physical Aggression Towards Women

Objectification involves reducing someone to a sexual object, rather than seeing themas a full person. Despite numerous theoretical claims that people are more aggressivetoward the objectified, and empirical evidence that objectification is linked to highwillingness to aggress, rape proclivity, and aggressive attitudes, no research hasexamined a causal link between objectification and physical aggression, particularly inthe context of provocation. In two experiments, we examined this predicted link. InExperiment 1, using a 2 (objectification: no/yes) × 2 (provocation: no/yes) factorialbetween-subjects design, we investigated the effects of objectification, induced viabody focus during a face-to-face interaction, and provocation on physical aggressiontoward a female confederate. Our results revealed a significant main effect ofprovocation, a marginal main effect of objectification, and a significant interactionbetween these variables. In the absence of a provocation, focusing on a woman’s bodyincreased aggression toward her. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 using a videoof a target woman instead of a face-to-face interaction. Again, our results showed asignificant two-way interaction between objectification and provocation, whereinobjectification increased aggression in the absence of provocation. Overall, thisresearch indicates that objectification can lead to heightened physical aggressiontoward objectified women

Social preferences and network structure in a population of reef manta rays

Understanding how individual behavior shapes the structure and ecology ofpopulations is key to species conservation and management. Like manyelasmobranchs, manta rays are highly mobile and wide ranging species threatened byanthropogenic impacts. In shallow-water environments these pelagic rays often formgroups, and perform several apparently socially-mediated behaviors. Group structuresmay result from active choices of individual rays to interact, or passive processes.Social behavior is known to affect spatial ecology in other elasmobranchs, but this isthe first study providing quantitative evidence for structured social relationships inmanta rays. To construct social networks, we collected data from more than 500groups of reef manta rays over five years, in the Raja Ampat Regency of West Papua.We used generalized affiliation indices to isolate social preferences from non-socialassociations, the first study on elasmobranchs to use this method. Longer lastingsocial preferences were detected mostly between female rays. We detectedassortment of social relations by phenotype and variation in social strategies, with theoverall social network divided into two main communities. Overall network structurewas characteristic of a dynamic fission-fusion society, with differentiated relationshipslinked to strong fidelity to cleaning station sites. Our results suggest that fine-scaleconservation measures will be useful in protecting social groups of M. alfredi in theirnatural habitats, and that a more complete understanding of the social nature of mantarays will help predict population response

The effects of irisin and leptin on steroidogenic enzyme gene expression in human granulosa cells: In vitro studies

Reproduction and energy metabolism are closely related, and fertility can be directly affected by either obesity or malnutrition. In this study, we investigated the in vitro effects of irisin and leptin, two hormones primarily involved in energy metabolism, on the expression of genes encoding key steroidogenic enzymes in primary cultures of human granulosa cells. Granulosa cells were purified from follicular fluid samples obtained during in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure, cultured, and treated with irisin (125-2000 ng/ml) or leptin (25–400 ng/ml) for 1–3 days. mRNA expression levels of cytochrome P450 enzymes [CYP11A1, CYP19A1, CYP21A2], hydroxy-delta-5-steroid dehydrogenase, 3 beta and steroid delta-isomerase 1 (HSD3B1), and hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 3 (HSD17B3) were measured using qRT-PCR analysis. Irisin significantly upregulated CYP19A1 mRNA levels, while leptin upregulated CYP19A1 and HSD3B1 mRNA levels. These preliminary results show that irisin and leptin may directly affect the expression of the genes important for ovarian steroidogenesis and female reproduction

Seven percent hypertonic saline-0.1% hyaluronic acid in infants with mild-to-moderate bronchiolitis

Objectives Our study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of 7% hypertonic saline and 0.1% hyaluronic acid (7% HS-HA) given by inhalation, in infants hospitalized for mild-to-moderate bronchiolitis. Methods In a double-blind controlled study, 39 infants (23 boys) <7 months of age (median age 2 months) were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either nebulized 7% HS-HA (7%NaCl + 0.1%HA) (n:21) or 0.9 normal saline (NS) (n:18) at a dose of 2.5 ml twice a day for 3 days. All infants were assigned a clinical severity score at admission and four times daily during hospitalization. Main outcome measures were number of days hospitalization, safety and daily reduction in the severity score. Results No difference was found between the two groups for clinical severity score at admission. One child in the study group and two in the NS group interrupted the study protocol; 19% of infants in the study group and 11% in the NS group had mild cough after the aerosol. The length of stay in the control group and treatment groups were 4.8 ± 1.5 versus 4.1 ± 1.9 days, respectively (P = 0.09). There was a trend for shortening the hospitalization days in the treatment group by 14.6%. The use of NS in the control group was identified as an independent risk factor for length of hospital stay using the multivariate logistic regression model (P = 0.04). No difference was observed between the two groups for the clinical score reduction during the first 3 days hospitalization. Conclusions 7% HS-HA is a safe and effective therapy in treating infants hospitalized for mild-to-moderate bronchiolitis. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc