Evaluation of the effects of two alternative participatory ergonomics intervention strategies for construction companies

To improve the use of ergonomics tools by construction workers, the effect of two guidance strategies – a face-to-face strategy (F2F) and an e-guidance strategy (EG) – of a participatory ergonomics intervention was studied. Twelve construction companies were randomly assigned to the F2F group or the EG group. The primary outcome measure, the percentage of workers using ergonomics tools, and secondary outcome measures – work ability, physical functioning and limitations due to physical problems – were assessed using surveys at baseline and after 6 months. Additionally, a cost-benefit analysis was performed on company level. No differences in primary and secondary outcomes were found with the exception of the use of ergonomics tools to adjust working height (F2F +1%; EG +10%; p?=?.001). Newly-implemented tools were used by 23% (F2F) and 42% (EG) of the workers (p?=?.271). Costs were mainly determined by guidance costs (F2F group) or purchase costs (EG group).

Practitioner Summary: Participatory strategies aim to stimulate behavioural change of stakeholders to increase the use of ergonomics tools. Two guidance strategies – face-to-face or e-mail interventions – among construction companies were studied. Both guidance strategies led to an increase in the use of new ergonomics tools.     

Simplified Monopalmitoyl Toll-like Receptor 2 Ligand Mini-UPam for Self-Adjuvanting Neoantigen-Based Synthetic Cancer Vaccines

Synthetic vaccines, based on antigenic peptides that comprise MHC−I and MHC-II T-cell epitopes expressed by tumors, show great promise for the immunotherapy of cancer. For optimal immunogenicity, the synthetic peptides (SPs) should be adjuvanted with suitable immunostimulatory additives. Previously, we have shown that improved immunogenicity in vivo is obtained with vaccine modalities in which an SP is covalently connected to an adjuvanting moiety, typically a ligand to Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). SPs were covalently attached to UPam, which is a derivative of the classic TLR2 ligand Pam₃CysSK₄. A disadvantage of the triply palmitoylated UPam is its high lipophilicity, which precludes universal adoption of this adjuvant for covalent modification of various antigenic peptides as it renders the synthetic vaccine insoluble in several cases. Here, we report a novel conjugatable TLR2 ligand, mini-UPam, which contains only one palmitoyl chain, rather than three, and therefore has less impact on the solubility and other physicochemical properties of a synthetic peptide. In this study, we used SPs that contain the clinically relevant neoepitopes identified in a melanoma patient who completely recovered after T-cell therapy. Homogeneous mini-UPam-SP conjugates have been prepared in good yields by stepwise solid-phase synthesis that employed a mini-UPam building block pre-prepared in solution and the standard set of Fmoc-amino acids. The immunogenicity of the novel mini-UPam-SP conjugates was demonstrated by using the cancer patient's T-cells.     

Advanced water treatment with manganese oxide for the removal of 17alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2)

Municipal wastewater is supposed to be one of the most important sources of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in water. Therefore, advanced treatments and cost-efficient techniques should be developed to prevent the spread of this type of pollution into the environment. In this view, experiments were conducted in which the removal of 17alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic and persistent estrogen, from water was monitored in three upstream bioreactors (UBRs), filled with, respectively, sand, granulated activated carbon (GAC) and MnO(2) granules. Tap water, spiked with 15,000ngEE2/L was filtered through the reactors with a hydraulic retention time of approximately 1h. The removal of EE2 in the sand, GAC and MnO(2) reactors was, respectively, 17.3%,>99.8% and 81.7%. The removal in the GAC reactor was mainly due to adsorption. The MnO(2) reactor, however, removed significantly more EE2 than could be predicted from its adsorption capacity, probably thanks to its catalytic properties. These catalytic properties could make it a cost-efficient technique for the removal of EE2, but further research at more environmentally relevant concentrations is needed.     

Boston harbor outfall tunnel: An environmental imperative

In February 1989, the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) began the design and construction of a 15.3-km subsea tunnel and ocean riser system to discharge effluent in conjunction with the design and construction of a large secondary treatment plant. The court-mandated schedule required the tunnel and risers to be completed in July 1995. The paper discusses the project from the viewpoints of management, concept design and construction methods, including the ocean riser system. Key to th success of the project is the accuracy of the location of the risers. The design calls for a final tunnel alignment to be driven within 10 m of the riser shafts, beginning at a distance of 13.1 km from shore.     

Comparative study on the elementary composition of fulvic and humic acids of aquatic origin and from soils and microbial substrates

The elementary composition was investigated of molecular fractions of fulvic and humic acids sampled regularly during a 5 months' period at various locations of a watershed within the Laurentide provincial park, Quebec. In order to study the effect of humification on the elementary composition, humic material produced by a streptomycete culture and sampled at regular intervals during a 6 months' incubation period was included in the investigation.It was found that the aquatic humus had lower carbon and nitrogen and higher oxygen contents than humic compounds isolated from soils. Its fulvic and humic acids appeared to have more characteristics in common than is normally the case for terrestrial humus.During the course of the summer season it gradually became richer in carbon and poorer in oxygen. It was also shown that, at least for recently-formed material, fulvic acids became more oxidized with the process of progressive humification. Higher molecular weight fractions of the aquatic humic matter were also richer in oxygen than lower molecular weight material.     

Anaerobic treatment of wastes containing methanol and higher alcohols

Experiments have been performed to ascertain the feasibility of anaerobic digestion for the treatment of an alcoholic waste (i.e. fusel oil), consisting of approx. 50% methanol and 50% higher alcohols. Batch experiments as well as continuous experiments have been conducted. The continuous experiments have been carried out using the “Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket” (UASB-) process. As inoculum a sugar beet waste grown and highly settleable and active anaerobic sludge (SBA-sludge) has been used. The SBA-sludge was shown to be superior to digested sewage sludge as seed material for an anaerobic treatment process, because—although it in fact is adapted to the fermentation of volatile fatty acids (VFA)—it does not have any significant difficulty with respect to the methanogenesis of the alcohols present in the fusel oil waste. The breakdown of higher alcohols starts immediately and that of methanol within a few days, depending on the initial load applied. In the UASB-experiments sludge loads up to 0.6 kg COD·kg VSS⁻¹·day⁻¹ could already be well accommodated within 1 week, so that within this period a space load could be handled as high as 20 kg COD·m⁻³·day⁻¹, simply by supplying the reactor with approx. 30 kg SBA-VSS·m⁻³ averaged over the total reactor volume.Contrary to recent findings of Smith & Mah (Appl. envir. Microbial. 36, 870–879, 1978), which were obtained with a pure culture of Methanosarcina barkeri, the sludge is capable of fermenting VFA and methanol rapidly and simultaneously, provided the conditions for VFA and methanol fermentation are favourable. However, as in previous experiments with aqueous solutions of methanol (Lettinga et al., Water Res. 13, 725–737, 1979), we observed that the digestion process can easily become upset, especially with respect to the degradation of VFA. Once again indications have been obtained that one or more trace elements are of eminent importance with respect to the stability of the process. At present the operation of a stable anaerobic treatment process for methanolic wastes cannot be guaranteed.     

Repair of Protein Radicals by Antioxidants

In vivo, proteins are the main targets for radicals and other reactive species. Their reactions result in formation of amino acid radicals on the protein surface that often yield tryptophan and tyrosyl radicals or, in the presence of O₂, protein peroxyl radicals and hydroperoxides. All these species may propagate damage to biomolecules. Low molecular weight antioxidants, such as ascorbate, urate, and glutathione, are part of the defense system and function by repairing damaged proteins. We briefly review the existing knowledge about protein and amino acid radicals and their repair by antioxidants, including results of our investigations. The main question addressed is whether the antioxidants ascorbate, urate, and glutathione are able to repair amino acid radicals in model compounds and in proteins in vitro by pulse radiolysis. We show that ascorbate and urate repair tryptophan and tyrosyl radicals efficiently and inhibit proton-coupled electron transfer from tyrosine residues to tryptophan radicals in a number of proteins. In contrast, repair by glutathione is much slower. Ascorbate also rapidly reduces the peroxyl radicals of the N-acetylamide derivatives of glycine, alanine, and proline, whereas glutathione reduces peroxyl radicals in lysozyme. In vivo urate, ascorbate, and glutathione may prevent biological damage or, at least, reduce its rate, because they: (a) repair tryptophan and tyrosyl radicals in proteins and (b) reduce protein peroxyl radicals to the corresponding protein hydroperoxides. Most likely, in vivo, ascorbate and glutathione do not inhibit the reaction of C-centered amino acid radicals with O₂. Glutathione is less efficient that urate and ascorbate in repairing protein radicals; furthermore, the resulting glutathiyl radical is harmful. Ascorbate may be the more important repair agent in cells and tissues characterized by high ascorbate concentrations, such as the lens and brain; urate may be mainly responsible for repair in tissue compartments with higher urate concentrations, such as in plasma and saliva.     

Inhibition of Autophagy Does Not Re-Sensitize Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells Resistant to Cytarabine

Elevated activation of the autophagy pathway is currently thought to be one of the survival mechanisms allowing therapy-resistant cancer cells to escape elimination, including for cytarabine (AraC)-resistant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Consequently, the use of autophagy inhibitors such as chloroquine (CQ) is being explored for the re-sensitization of AraC-resistant cells. In our study, no difference in the activity of the autophagy pathway was detected when comparing AraC-Res AML cell lines to parental AraC-sensitive AML cell lines. Furthermore, treatment with autophagy inhibitors CQ, 3-Methyladenine (3-MA), and bafilomycin A1 (BafA1) did not re-sensitize AraC-Res AML cell lines to AraC treatment. However, in parental AraC-sensitive AML cells, treatment with AraC did activate autophagy and, correspondingly, combination of AraC with autophagy inhibitors strongly reduced cell viability. Notably, the combination of these drugs also yielded the highest level of cell death in a panel of patient-derived AML samples even though not being additive. Furthermore, there was no difference in the cytotoxic effect of autophagy inhibition during AraC treatment in matched de novo and relapse samples with differential sensitivity to AraC. Thus, inhibition of autophagy may improve AraC efficacy in AML patients, but does not seem warranted for the treatment of AML patients that have relapsed with AraC-resistant disease.