Using engagement in sustainable construction to improve mental health and social connection in disadvantaged and hard to reach groups: a new green care approach

BackgroundThe positive impact of the outdoors on physical and mental health is increasingly being evidenced. However the impact on vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals engaging in group based sustainable building construction has not been examined.AimsTo provide the first pragmatic examination of the impact of engaging in a brief (eight days over eight weeks) outdoor sustainable construction project on the mental health and social connectedness of hard to reach and disadvantaged groups. MethodIn study 1, 93 young people not in education, employment or training took part whilst study 2 comprised 55 adults who were asylum seekers, long term unemployed or men with longstanding depression. Self report data were collected at baseline and towards the end of the programme.Results Those with poor mental health and social connection at baseline showed statistically and clinically significant improvements in depression, anxiety, resilience and social connection by the end of the brief intervention.ConclusionsEngagement in a group based sustainable construction project can provide significant mental health and social benefits to a range of vulnerable and hard to reach groups with difficulties in these areas. Building on these findings could be important for health and social care policy for marginalised groups

A Pragmatic Study of the Impact of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Prisoners and Staff in a Category B Prison and Men Subject to Community-Based Probation Supervision

Objectives: This paper presents two studies assessing the impact of mindfulness in prison (prisoners and staff) and non-custodial settings.Method: Study 1 - prisoners (n=17) and staff (n=15) in a UK prison completed a mindfulness programme; 16 individuals acted as a single time point comparison. Data were collected using self-report, computer based and physiological measurement. Study 2 - men under community probation supervision were allocated to mindfulness (completed, n=28) or TAU (n=27). Data were collected using self-report mindfulness measures.Results: Study 1 - statistically significant (increases in mindfulness skills (ηp2=.234 to ηp2=.388), cognitive control (ηp2=.28) and heart rate variability (SDNN; ηp2=.41) along with significant decreases in stress (ηp2=.398) were found. In study 2, the mindfulness group showed non significant improvements in mindfulness skills. Conclusions: The findings suggest brief mindfulness interventions could make an important contribution to offender rehabilitation and custodial staff wellbeing

Winning In Professional Team Sports: Historical Moments

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146921/1/ecin12702_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146921/2/ecin12702.pd

Individual differences in sensory and expectation driven interoceptive processes: a novel paradigm with implications for alexithymia, disordered eating and obesity

Those with disordered eating and/or obesity often express difficulties in sensing or interpreting what is happening in the body (interoception). However, research is hindered by conceptual confusion, concerns surrounding domain specificity, and an inability to distinguish sensory (bottom-up) and expectation driven (top-down) interoceptive processes. A paradigm was therefore developed from an active inference perspective. Novel indices were computed and examined in those with alexithymia: a personality associated with interoceptive deficits and disordered eating. The paradigm successfully identified individuals driven by sensations rather than expectations: alexithymia was characterized by attenuated prior precision (a larger divergence between pre-prandial and post-prandial satiety, and low expectation confidence), and increased prediction error (a higher correlation between changes in hunger and blood glucose, and greater rebound hunger after a sensory incongruent drink). In addition, those with a higher BMI were less confident and had a larger anticipated satiety divergence. These findings demonstrate the need to move beyond existing paradigms such as the Satiety Quotient and Heartbeat Counting Task which may have limited our understanding of eating behaviour

Biochemical and Genetic Studies of UDP-2,3-Diacylglucosamine Hydrolysis in Lipid A Biosynthesis

<p>The outer-leaflet of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is composed of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is attached to the membrane via a hexa-acylated saccharolipid called lipid A. The fourth step of lipid A biosynthesis involves the cleavage of the pyrophosphate group of UDP-2,3-diacyl-GlcN to form lipid X; this step is carried out by LpxH in E. coli and the majority of Gamma- and Beta-Proteobacteria. LpxH has been previously characterized, however sample impurity and non-optimized assay conditions hindered meaningful conclusions. The enzyme was suggested to contain signature motifs found in the calcineurin-like phosphoesterase (CLP) family of metalloenzymes, however the extent of biochemical data fails to demonstrate a significant level of metal activation in LpxH assays. We report cloning, purification, and detailed enzymatic characterization with a highly purified sample of H. influenzae LpxH (HiLpxH). HiLpxH shows over 600-fold stimulation of activity in the presence of Mn2+. Furthermore, EPR studies reveal the presence of a Mn2+ cluster in LpxH. Finally, point mutants of residues in the conserved metal-binding motifs of the CLP family greatly inhibit HiLpxH activity, highlighting their importance in enzyme function. Overall, through optimized purification and assay methods, our work unambiguously establishes LpxH as a membrane-associating CLP containing a Mn2+ cluster coordinated by conserved residues. These results set the scene for further structural investigation of the enzyme and for design of novel antibiotics targeting lipid A biosynthesis.</p><p>Several species of Gram-negative bacteria lack LpxH orthologs, yet retain other lipid A biosynthetic enzymes and still produce lipid A. An unrelated protein, LpxI, is responsible for UDP-DAGn hydrolysis is several such organisms. Interestingly, some bacteria, such as the human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, have neither LpxH nor LpxI orthologs, suggesting the presence of a third UDP-DAGn hydrolase. Through implantation of a novel complementation screen that used a C. trachmatis genomic library and a conditional-lethal lpxH mutant E. coli strain, we were able to identify an open reading frame encoding an new enzyme capable of lipid X production. Due to its ability to complement UDP-DAGn hydrolase function in vivo and catalyze the formation of lipid X in vitro, we have designated the enzyme LpxG. Further biochemical analysis with purified LpxG revealed it facilitates hydrolysis through attack on the alpha phosphate of its substrate and is activated by Mn2+ in vitro. LpxG is in the same CLP superfamily as LpxH, however it shows very little homology to LpxH or LpxI. Identification of LpxG improves our understanding of the lipid A biosynthetic pathway in C. trachomatis. More broadly, as limited genetic tools are available for the study of the prevalent pathogen, it provides an advantageous method for the functional screening of other C. trachomatis genes.</p>Dissertatio