Effects of a developmental adventure on the self-esteem of college students

This study examines the effects of outdoor developmental adventure programming (ODA) on college students’ self-esteem. Although some previous studies have shown that outdoor adventure programming has positive effects on self-esteem, others did not find any effect. A quasi-experimental study was conducted over 5 months, which included two pretests and two posttests to address some limitations of previous studies. A total of 84 participants completed the Questionnaire d’estime de soi hiérarchique, a questionnaire assessing self-esteem on four occasions. The experimental group (outdoor adventure; n = 32) was compared with the control groups (travel, n = 17; soccer, n = 35) using repeated measures of covariance analyses. Positive and significant increases were found for the athletic dimension of self-esteem and for global self-esteem for the experimental group (outdoor adventure) only. The increased benefits provided by the combination of adventure and sports in ODA, over sports-only or traveling-only interventions, underline the importance of developing ODA with college students

Bacterial Ortholog of Mammalian Translocator Protein (TSPO) with Virulence Regulating Activity

The translocator protein (TSPO), previously designated as peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor, is a protein mainly located in the outer mitochondrial membrane of eukaryotic cells. TSPO is implicated in major physiological functions and functionally associated with other proteins such as the voltage-dependent anionic channel, also designated as mitochondrial porin. Surprisingly, a TSPO-related protein was identified in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides but it was initially considered as a relict of evolution. In the present study we cloned a tspO gene in Pseudomonas fluorescens MF37, a non-photosynthetic eubacterium and we used bioinformatics tools to identify TSPO in the genome of 97 other bacteria. P. fluorescens TSPO was recognized by antibodies against mouse protein and by PK 11195, an artificial ligand of mitochondrial TSPO. As in eukaryotes, bacterial TSPO appears functionally organized as a dimer and the apparent Kd for PK 11195 is in the same range than for its eukaryotic counterpart. When P. fluorescens MF37 was treated with PK 11195 (10−5 M) adhesion to living or artificial surfaces and biofilm formation activity were increased. Conversely, the apoptotic potential of bacteria on eukaryotic cells was significantly reduced. This effect of PK11195 was abolished in a mutant of P. fluorescens MF37 deficient for its major outer membrane porin, OprF. The present results demonstrate the existence of a bacterial TSPO that shares common structural and functional characteristics with its mammalian counterpart. This protein, apparently involved in adhesion and virulence, reveals the existence of a possible new inter kingdom signalling system and suggests that the human microbiome should be involuntarily exposed to the evolutionary pressure of benzodiazepines and related molecules. This discovery also represents a promising opportunity for the development of alternative antibacterial strategies

Gated blood-pool SPECT evaluation of changes after radiofrequency catheter ablation of accessory pathways Evidence for persistent ventricular preexcitation despite successful therapy

AbstractOBJECTIVESThis study was designed to prospectively evaluate the effects of radiofrequency ablation in Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome by scintigraphic analysis.BACKGROUNDThe functional changes triggered by radiofrequency current ablation of atrioventricular accessory pathways are not fully known.METHODSForty-four patients with WPW syndrome were consecutively investigated before and 48 h after radiofrequency therapy. Fourteen patients had right sided atrioventricular pathways and 30 patients had left sided bypass-tracts. Planar gated imaging and gated blood pool tomography were performed in all of these patients.RESULTSA significant increase in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was demonstrated in patients with left preexcitation (62.2 ± 7.9% before ablation against 64.4 ± 6.3% after ablation, p = 0.02) but not for those with right sided anomalous pathway. Phase analysis only gave significant differences following ablation of right sided pathways (left-to-right phase difference = 14.4 ± 13.8° before ablation versus 7.5 ± 7.2° after ablation, p < 0.05). Early abnormal ventricular contraction persisted in 12 patients with right accessory pathways and in 8 patients with left accessory pathways despite the complete disappearance of any abnormal conduction as proven electrophysiologically.CONCLUSIONSFollowing catheter ablation of atrioventricular accessory pathways: 1) an improvement of left ventricular function may be seen, particularly in patients with left sided accessory pathways, and 2) unexpected persistence of local ventricular preexcitation at the site of successful ablation may be detected

Immuno-Glyco-Imaging in Plant Cells: Localization of Cell Wall Carbohydrate Epitopes and Their Biosynthesizing Enzymes

International audienc

Biomass evolution in porous media and its effects on permeability under starvation conditions

The purpose of this study was to understand bacteria profile modification and its applications in subsurface biological operations such as biobarrier formation, in situ bioremediation, and microbial-enhanced oil recovery. Biomass accumulation and evolution in porous media were investigated both experimentally and theoretically. To study both nutrient-rich and carbon-source-depleted conditions, Leuconostoc mesenteroides was chosen because of its rapid growth rate and exopolymer production rate. Porous micromodels were used to study the effects of biomass evolution on the permeability of a porous medium. Bacterial starvation was initiated by switching the feed from a nutrient solution to a buffer solution in order to examine biofilm stability under nutrient-poor conditions. Four different evolution patterns were identified during the nutrient-rich and nutrient-depleted conditions used in the micromodel experiments. In phase I, the permeability of the porous micromodel decreased as a result of biomass accumulation in pore bodies and pore throats. In phase II, starvation conditions were initiated. The depletion of nutrient in the phase II resulted in slower growth of the biofilm causing the permeability to reach a minimum as all the remaining nutrients were consumed. In phase III, permeability began to increase due to biofilm sloughing caused by shear stress. In phase IV, shear stress remained below the critical shear stress for sloughing and the biofilm remained stable for long periods of time during starvation. The critical shear stress for biofilm sloughing provided an indication of biofilm strength. Shear removal of biofilms occurred when shear stress exceeded critical shear stress. A network model was used to describe the biofilm formation phenomenon and the existence of a critical shear stress. Simulations were in qualitative agreement with the experimental results, and demonstrate the existence of a critical shear stress. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 69: 47–56, 2000.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34337/1/6_ftp.pd

RNA interference in Lepidoptera: an overview of successful and unsuccessful studies and implications for experimental design

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