Wood for Structural and Architectural Purposes

This paper reports the findings and conclusions of Panel II on Structural Purposes, Committee on Renewable Resources for Industrial Materials (CORRIM), National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. The Panel examined the use of wood for structural purposes and its conversion from standing trees to primary structural commodities as of 1970, and from this base year developed projections of use to the years 1985 and 2000. Concerns of the Panel included the availability of the renewable resource, the demand for wood products, and particularly the costs in terms of manpower, energy, and capital depreciation involved in production and transportation to the point of use. Comparable data from source to end commodity were compiled for other structural materials including steel, aluminum, concrete, brick, and petrochemical derivatives.Wood products were found, with few exceptions, to be more homogeneous than nonwood-based commodities in man-hour and capital requirements. However, the most notable differences between wood-based and nonwood-based commodities are in their energy requirements. Commodities based on nonrenewable resources are appreciably more energy intensive per ton of product than are their wood-based counterparts. In part, this is the result of energy self-sufficiency in the manufacturing process attained through the use of wood residues as fuel

The Vibrio parahaemolyticus Type III Secretion Systems manipulate host cell MAPK for critical steps in pathogenesis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Vibrio parahaemolyticus </it>is a food-borne pathogen causing inflammation of the gastrointestinal epithelium. Pathogenic strains of this bacterium possess two Type III Secretion Systems (TTSS) that deliver effector proteins into host cells. In order to better understand human host cell responses to <it>V. parahaemolyticus</it>, the modulation of Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) activation in epithelial cells by an O3:K6 clinical isolate, RIMD2210633, was investigated. The importance of MAPK activation for the ability of the bacterium to be cytotoxic and to induce secretion of Interleukin-8 (IL-8) was determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>deployed its TTSS1 to induce activation of the JNK, p38 and ERK MAPK in human epithelial cells. VP1680 was identified as the TTSS1 effector protein responsible for MAPK activation in Caco-2 cells and the activation of JNK and ERK by this protein was important in induction of host cell death. <it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>actively induced IL-8 secretion in a response mediated by TTSS1. A role for VP1680 and for the ERK signalling pathway in the stimulation of IL-8 production in epithelial cells by <it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>was established. Interestingly, TTSS2 inhibited IL-8 mRNA transcription at early stages of interaction between the bacterium and the cell.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study demonstrated that <it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>activates the three major MAPK signalling pathways in intestinal epithelial cells in a TTSS1-dependent manner that involves the TTSS1 effector VP1680. Furthermore VP1680 and JNK and ERK activation were needed for maximal cytotoxicity of the bacterium. It was shown that <it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>is a strong inducer of IL-8 secretion and that induction reflects a balance between the effects of TTSS1 and TTSS2. Increases in IL-8 secretion were mediated by TTSS1 and VP1680, and augmented by ERK activation. These results shed light on the mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis mediated by TTSS and suggest significant roles for MAPK signalling during infection with <it>V. parahaemolyticus</it>.</p

The Stride program: Feasibility and pre-to-post program change of an exercise service for university students experiencing mental distress

Rates of mental illness are disproportionately high for young adult and higher education (e.g., university student) populations. As such, universities and tertiary institutions often devote significant efforts to services and programs that support and treat mental illness and/or mental distress. However, within that portfolio of treatment approaches, structured exercise has been relatively underutilised and greater research attention is needed to develop this evidence base. The Stride program is a structured 12-week exercise service for students experiencing mental distress. We aimed to explore the feasibility of the program and assess pre- and post-program change, through assessments of student health, lifestyle, and wellbeing outcomes. Drawing from feasibility and effectiveness-implementation hybrid design literatures, we conducted a non-randomised feasibility trial of the Stride program. Participants were recruited from the Stride program (N = 114, Mage = 24.21 years). Feasibility results indicated the program was perceived as acceptable and that participants reported positive perceptions of program components, personnel, and sessions. Participants’ pre-to-post program change in depressive symptomatology, physical activity levels, mental health-related quality of life, and various behavioural outcomes were found to be desirable. Our results provide support for the feasibility of the Stride program, and more broadly for the delivery and potential effectiveness of structured exercise programs to support university students experiencing mental distress

Mild stress conditions during laboratory culture promote the proliferation of mutations that negatively affect Sigma B activity in Listeria monocytogenes

In Listeria monocytogenes, the full details of how stress signals are integrated into the σB regulatory pathway are not yet available. To help shed light on this question, we investigated a collection of transposon mutants that were predicted to have compromised activity of the alternative sigma factor B (σB). These mutants were tested for acid tolerance, a trait that is known to be under σB regulation, and they were found to display increased acid sensitivity, similar to a mutant lacking σB (ΔsigB). The transposon insertions were confirmed by whole-genome sequencing, but in each case, the strains were also found to carry a frameshift mutation in the sigB operon. The changes were predicted to result in premature stop codons, with negative consequences for σB activation, independently of the transposon location. Reduced σB activation in these mutants was confirmed. Growth measurements under conditions similar to those used during the construction of the transposon library revealed that the frameshifted sigB operon alleles conferred a growth advantage at higher temperatures, during late exponential phase. Mixed-culture experiments at 42°C demonstrated that the loss of σB activity allowed mutants to take over a population of parental bacteria. Together, our results suggest that mutations affecting σB activity can arise during laboratory culture because of the growth advantage conferred by these mutations under mild stress conditions. The data highlight the significant cost of stress protection in this foodborne pathogen and emphasize the need for whole-genome sequence analysis of newly constructed strains to confirm the expected genotype.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research-and-innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 721456. Jialun Wu was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (17/F/244)

Structured exercise programs for higher education students experiencing mental health challenges: background, significance, and implementation

The incidence of mental illness is greatest among young adults, and those enrolled in higher education may be particularly vulnerable compared to the general young adult population. Many higher education institutions employ student support staff tasked with implementing strategies to improve student wellbeing and mental illness. However, these strategies tend to be focused on clinical therapies and pharmacological interventions with limited lifestyle approaches. Exercise is an effective method for addressing mental illness and promoting wellbeing, yet widespread provision of structured exercise services to support treatment options for students with mental health challenges has not been fully realized. In an effort to guide exercise strategies for student mental health, we synthesize considerations for developing and delivering exercise programs in higher education settings. We draw directly from the evidence base on existing exercise programs in higher education; and the broader behavior change, exercise adherence, health psychology, implementation science, and exercise prescription literatures. Our broad considerations cover issues regarding program engagement and behavior change, exercise ‘dose’ and prescription, integration with other on-campus services, and robust research and evaluation. These considerations may provide impetus for widespread program development and implementation, as well as informing research focused on protecting and improving student mental health

Benevolent characteristics promote cooperative behaviour among humans

Cooperation is fundamental to the evolution of human society. We regularly observe cooperative behaviour in everyday life and in controlled experiments with anonymous people, even though standard economic models predict that they should deviate from the collective interest and act so as to maximise their own individual payoff. However, there is typically heterogeneity across subjects: some may cooperate, while others may not. Since individual factors promoting cooperation could be used by institutions to indirectly prime cooperation, this heterogeneity raises the important question of who these cooperators are. We have conducted a series of experiments to study whether benevolence, defined as a unilateral act of paying a cost to increase the welfare of someone else beyond one's own, is related to cooperation in a subsequent one-shot anonymous Prisoner's dilemma. Contrary to the predictions of the widely used inequity aversion models, we find that benevolence does exist and a large majority of people behave this way. We also find benevolence to be correlated with cooperative behaviour. Finally, we show a causal link between benevolence and cooperation: priming people to think positively about benevolent behaviour makes them significantly more cooperative than priming them to think malevolently. Thus benevolent people exist and cooperate more

Propionic acid promotes the virulent phenotype of Crohn's disease-associated adherent-invasive Escherichia coli

Propionic acid (PA) is a bacterium-derived intestinal antimicrobial and immune modulator used widely in food production and agriculture. Passage of Crohn’s disease-associated adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) through a murine model, in which intestinal PA levels are increased to mimic the human intestine, leads to the recovery of AIEC with significantly increased virulence. Similar phenotypic changes are observed outside the murine model when AIEC is grown in culture with PA as the sole carbon source; such PA exposure also results in AIEC that persists at 20-fold higher levels in vivo. RNA sequencing identifies an upregulation of genes involved in biofilm formation, stress response, metabolism, membrane integrity, and alternative carbon source utilization. PA exposure also increases virulence in a number of E. coli isolates from Crohn’s disease patients. Removal of PA is sufficient to reverse these phenotypic changes. Our data indicate that exposure to PA results in AIEC resistance and increased virulence in its presence

Propionic Acid Promotes the Virulent Phenotype of Crohn’s Disease-Associated Adherent-Invasive Escherichia coli

The short chain fatty acid propionic acid is a bacterium-derived human intestinal antimicrobial and immune modulator used widely in Western food production and agriculture. Here, Ormsby et al. demonstrate that exposure to propionic acid induces virulence-associated phenotypic changes in Crohn's disease-associated adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC)

Structured exercise programs for higher education students experiencing mental health challenges: background, significance, and implementation

The incidence of mental illness is greatest among young adults, and those enrolled in higher education may be particularly vulnerable compared to the general young adult population. Many higher education institutions employ student support staff tasked with implementing strategies to improve student wellbeing and mental illness. However, these strategies tend to be focused on clinical therapies and pharmacological interventions with limited lifestyle approaches. Exercise is an effective method for addressing mental illness and promoting wellbeing, yet widespread provision of structured exercise services to support treatment options for students with mental health challenges has not been fully realized. In an effort to guide exercise strategies for student mental health, we synthesize considerations for developing and delivering exercise programs in higher education settings. We draw directly from the evidence base on existing exercise programs in higher education; and the broader behavior change, exercise adherence, health psychology, implementation science, and exercise prescription literatures. Our broad considerations cover issues regarding program engagement and behavior change, exercise ‘dose’ and prescription, integration with other on-campus services, and robust research and evaluation. These considerations may provide impetus for widespread program development and implementation, as well as informing research focused on protecting and improving student mental health