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"Sheds."
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Making shelter
This book provides tips for building shelters in the wild, including using natural means in different regions such as the desert, forest, jungle, and cold areas.
Book
The analysis of the causes of the collapse of two timber sheds during the construction
The paper describes collapses of two timber sheds located in Cieszyn and Zebrzydowice, Poland. The collapses took place during the construction process. The structures of the sheds are described, the construction works are analysed, the causes of the collapses are determined and the recommendations and technical solutions regarding their repair are presented.
Journal Article
A shed NKG2D ligand that promotes natural killer cell activation and tumor rejection
Immune cells, including natural killer (NK) cells, recognize transformed cells and eliminate them in a process termed immunosurveillance. It is thought that tumor cells evade immunosurveillance by shedding membrane ligands that bind to the NKG2D-activating receptor on NK cells and/or T cells, and desensitize these cells. In contrast, we show that in mice, a shed form of MULT1, a high-affinity NKG2D ligand, causes NK cell activation and tumor rejection. Recombinant soluble MULT1 stimulated tumor rejection in mice. Soluble MULT1 functions, at least in part, by competitively reversing a global desensitization of NK cells imposed by engagement of membrane NKG2D ligands on tumor-associated cells, such as myeloid cells. The results overturn conventional wisdom that soluble ligands are always inhibitory and suggest a new approach for cancer immunotherapy.
Journal Article
Circulating Tumor Cells
Much remains to be learned about CTCs and their clinical potential as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The major cause of cancer-associated mortality is tumor metastasis, but our understanding of this process is far from complete. During successful dissemination, tumor cells invade the surrounding tissue of the primary tumor, intravasate into blood and lymphatic vessels, translocate to distant tissues, extravasate, adapt to the new microenvironment, and eventually seed, proliferate, and colonize to form metastases. Because dissemination mostly occurs through the blood, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that have been shed into the vasculature and may be on their way to potential metastatic sites are of obvious interest ( 1 ). Here we discuss what is known about CTCs, and suggest future research directions that may help realize their clinical potential.
Journal Article
Men’s sheds as an alternative healthcare route? A qualitative study of the impact of Men’s sheds on user’s health improvement behaviours
Background
Men’s health is a globally underrepresented area of research and policy. With men facing numerous healthcare barriers, there are calls for more ‘male friendly’ approaches to health improvement that take into consideration differing male behaviours and attitudes towards health. Men’s Sheds are community-based organisations delivering practical and social activities that encourage positive health behaviours. While Sheds have been recognised for their health and wellbeing benefits to men, research has yet to explore the impacts of Sheds on male health improvement and their potential role as a preventative gendered public health measure.
Methods
The study used in-depth interviews with 62 Shed members from five Sheds to investigate the impacts of Shed activity on the health improvement behaviours and attitudes of Shed users. Findings from the qualitative study were used to propose a set of pathways in which Sheds activity led to positive health engagement.
Results
The proposed pathways suggest that there are many different and interlinked ways in which Shed activities can impact on the health behaviours and attitudes of Shed users. Through participation in various practical and social activities in an inclusive environment, Shed users reported increases in their health seeking behaviours, improved perspectives on and management of their personal health, and an increased ability to overcome illness and recover.
Conclusions
Where male friendly health provision has been lacking, this study suggests how Men’s Shed activities can provide positive male health outcomes, often in unexpected and non-obvious ways. In particular, the proposed visual pathways are important to inform policymakers and practitioners of the ways in that Sheds may contribute to engaging men in health improvement practices and increase their health knowledge. This study also provides a structure from which further studies can measure and evaluate Shed health impacts.
Journal Article
Model based prediction of age-specific soil and dust ingestion rates for children
BackgroundSoil and dust ingestion can be a primary route of environmental exposures. Studies have shown that young children are more vulnerable to incidental soil and dust ingestion. However, available data to develop soil and dust ingestion rates for some child-specific age groups are either lacking or uncertain.ObjectiveOur objective was to use the Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation Soil and Dust (SHEDS-Soil/Dust) model to estimate distributions of soil and dust ingestion rates for ten age ranges from infancy to late adolescents (birth to 21 years).MethodsWe developed approaches for modeling age groups previously not studied, including a new exposure scenario for infants to capture exposures to indoor dust via pacifier use and accounting for use of blankets that act as a barrier to soil and dust exposure.ResultsOverall mean soil and dust ingestion rates ranged from ~35 mg/day (infants, 0–<6 m) to ~60 mg/day (toddlers and young children, 6m–<11 yr) and were considerably lower (about 20 mg/day) for teenagers and late adolescents (16–<21 y). The pacifier use scenario contributed about 20 mg/day to the median dust ingestion rate for young infants. Except for the infant age groups, seasonal analysis showed that the modeled estimates of average summer mean daily total soil plus dust ingestion rates were about 50% higher than the values predicted for the winter months. Pacifier use factors and carpet dust loading values were drivers of exposure for infants and younger children. For older children, influential variables included carpet dust loading, soil adherence, and factors that capture the frequency and intensity of hand-to-mouth behaviors.SignificanceThese results provide modeled estimates of children’s soil and dust ingestion rates for use in decision making using real-world exposure considerations.Impact statementThe parameterization of scenarios to capture infant soil and dust ingestion and the application of SHEDS-Soil/Dust to a broader age range of children provides additional estimates of soil and dust ingestion rates that are useful in refining population-based risk assessments. These data illuminate drivers of exposure that are useful to both risk management applications and for designing future studies that improve upon existing tracer methodologies.
Journal Article
The low-rank hypothesis of complex systems
Complex systems are high-dimensional nonlinear dynamical systems with heterogeneous interactions among their constituents. To make interpretable predictions about their large-scale behaviour, it is typically assumed that these dynamics can be reduced to a few equations involving a low-rank matrix describing the network of interactions. Our Article sheds light on this low-rank hypothesis and questions its validity. Using fundamental theorems on singular-value decomposition, we probe the hypothesis for various random graphs, either by making explicit their low-rank formulation or by demonstrating the exponential decrease of their singular values. We verify the hypothesis for real networks by revealing the rapid decrease of their singular values, which has major consequences for their effective ranks. We then evaluate the impact of the low-rank hypothesis for general dynamical systems on networks through an optimal dimension reduction. This allows us to prove that recurrent neural networks can be exactly reduced, and we can connect the rapidly decreasing singular values of real networks to the dimension reduction error of the nonlinear dynamics they support. Finally, we prove that higher-order interactions naturally emerge from the dimension reduction, thus providing insights into the origin of higher-order interactions in complex systems.
Although using low-rank matrices is the go-to approach to model the dynamics of complex systems, its validity remains formally unconfirmed. An analysis of random networks and real-world data now sheds light on this low-rank hypothesis and its implications.
Journal Article
Sheds for life: health and wellbeing outcomes of a tailored community-based health promotion initiative for men’s sheds in Ireland
Background
Gender is increasingly recognised as a critical factor in designing community-based health promotion programmes. Men’s Sheds (‘Sheds’) are community-based informal environments that represent a safe space in which to engage cohorts of hard-to-reach (HTR) men in health promotion. Sheds for Life (SFL), the first structured health promotion initiative evaluated globally in Sheds, is a 10-week initiative co-designed with Shed Members (Shedders) and delivered directly in the Shed setting in Ireland. This research describes the health and wellbeing outcomes experienced by SFL participants.
Methods
Purposive sampling was used to recruit a diverse representation of Shedders (
n
= 421) participating in SFL alongside a wait list control (
n
= 86). Questionnaires assessing constructs of health and wellbeing were administered one-to-one in Sheds at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months. Descriptive data for health outcomes were generated for each time point and assessed for significant changes using inferential testing, while considering COVID-19 impact.
Results
Outcomes related to subjective wellbeing, mental wellbeing, physical activity, social capital and healthy eating significantly increased post SFL (
p
< 0.05). Mental wellbeing scores (SWEMWBS) post SFL remained significantly higher than baseline despite COVID-19 impact (
p
< 0.05). Binary logistic regression indicated that the odds of a meaningful SWEMWBS change was significantly higher for shedders that had lower SWEMWBS (OR 0.804), less loneliness (OR 0.638) and lived alone (OR 0.456) at baseline. Shedders with lower SWEMBWS had higher odds of experiencing positive changes in life satisfaction (OR 0.911) and trust (OR 0.928), while Shedders who lived alone had also higher odds of experience positive changes in healthy eating (OR 0.481). Finally, inactive Shedders at baseline had higher odds of experiencing increased levels of physical activity (OR 0.582).
Conclusions
Findings suggest that the inclusive, community-based SFL model is effective in engaging Shedders and facilitating positive and sustained changes in health and wellbeing outcomes. Using gender-specific approaches in the informal and safe environment of the Shed are effective in engaging men in structured health and wellbeing initiatives, particularly those who may be more vulnerable, isolated or lonely.
Trial registration
This study has been retrospectively registered with the ‘International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number’ registry (ISRCTN79921361) as of 05/03/2021.
Journal Article
Accumulation characteristics and evaluation of heavy metals in soils and vegetables of plastic-covered sheds in typical red soil areas of China
The degree of pollution and potential ecological risk of heavy metals (HMs) in the soil of plastic-covered sheds in Jiangxi Province were evaluated by the Nemerow index and potential ecological risk index. The bioconcentration factor and total target hazard quotient (TTHQ) were used to evaluate the enrichment ability and health risk of HMs in vegetables. The mean contents of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) in soil were 5.99, 0.373, 17.8, 5.94E-02, and 28.9 mg kg–1, respectively; Cd exceeded the background value and the maximum limit. Most soils had no extremely strong ecological risk. The concentration of Pb in root vegetables was 0.204 mg kg-1, with the highest concentration of Cd (0.147 mg kg–1) in Ganzhou leafy vegetables. The Hg concentration of leafy vegetables in Jiujiang was 1.41E-02 mg kg–1, which exceeded the maximum limit. The bioconcentration factor of HMs was negatively correlated with pH (P ≤ 0.05). The migration ability of Cd in root vegetables was 1.7-fold to that of leafy vegetables, and was strongest. The TTHQ of all vegetables was less than 1.0, which indicated that there was no significant noncarcinogenic risk in adults. The TTHQ of root vegetables was highest, with Pb in vegetables being major health risk factors. In conclusion, fruit and solanaceous vegetables may be more suitable for planting in plastic-covered shed than root and leafy vegetables; Cd and Pb were identified as the priority control metals under plastic-covered sheds in Jiangxi Province.
Journal Article
Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine: Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Dental Tissues vs. Those from Other Sources: Their Biology and Role in Regenerative Medicine
To date, 5 different human dental stem/progenitor cells have been isolated and characterized: dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), stem cells from exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED), periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs), stem cells from apical papilla (SCAP), and dental follicle progenitor cells (DFPCs). These post-natal populations have mesenchymal-stem-cell-like (MSC) qualities, including the capacity for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation potential. MSCs derived from bone marrow (BMMSCs) are capable of giving rise to various lineages of cells, such as osteogenic, chondrogenic, adipogenic, myogenic, and neurogenic cells. The dental-tissue-derived stem cells are isolated from specialized tissue with potent capacities to differentiate into odontogenic cells. However, they also have the ability to give rise to other cell lineages similar to, but different in potency from, that of BMMSCs. This article will review the isolation and characterization of the properties of different dental MSC-like populations in comparison with those of other MSCs, such as BMMSCs. Important issues in stem cell biology, such as stem cell niche, homing, and immunoregulation, will also be discussed. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
Journal Article