Circular wood use can accelerate global decarbonisation but requires cross-sectoral coordination.

Predominantly linear use of wood curtails the potential climate-change mitigation contribution of forestry value-chains. Using lifecycle assessment, we show that more cascading and especially circular uses of wood can provide immediate and sustained mitigation by reducing demand for virgin wood, which increases forest carbon sequestration and storage, and benefits from substitution for fossil-fuel derived products, reducing net greenhouse gas emissions. By United Kingdom example, the circular approach of recycling medium-density fibreboard delivers 75% more cumulative climate-change mitigation by 2050, compared with business-as-usual. Early mitigation achieved by circular and cascading wood use complements lagged mitigation achieved by afforestation; and in combination these measures could cumulatively mitigate 258.8 million tonnes CO2e by 2050. Despite the clear benefits of implementing circular economy principles, we identify many functional barriers impeding the structural reorganisation needed for such complex system change, and propose enablers to transform the forestry value-chain into an effective societal change system and lead to coherent action.

Drug delivery of zinc to Barrett's metaplasia by oral administration to Barrett's esophagus patients.

BACKGROUND: Delivery of a pharmacologically effective drug dosage to a target tissue is critical. Barrett's epithelia are a unique challenge for drug delivery of orally administered zinc due to rapid transit down the esophageal lumen, incomplete absorptive differentiation of these epithelia, and the use of proton-pump inhibitor drugs abrogating intestinal uptake of supplemental zinc. METHODS: Barrett's esophagus patients were administered oral zinc gluconate (26 mg zinc twice daily) for 14 days prior to biopsy procurement. Barrett's biopsies were analyzed for total zinc content by atomic absorption spectroscopy and by western immunoblot for cellular proteins known to be regulated by zinc. RESULTS: Cellular levels of both the Znt-1 transport protein and the alpha isoform of PKC were over 50% lower in the zinc treatment group. CONCLUSION: Oral zinc administration can result in effective delivery of zinc to Barrett's epithelia with resulting effects on intracellular signal transduction.

Bacteremia due to clostridium difficile: case report and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to report a case of C. difficile bacteremia in a Crohn's disease patient and to review the literature on previously reported cases. METHODS: Searches of MEDLINE and PubMed databases were made. RESULTS: We report the first case of C. difficile bacteremia in a Crohn's disease patient. There are 15 other reported cases of C. difficile bacteremia reported in the literature. We found that the majority of patients (10 of 15 patients) had polymicrobial bacteremia and that the overall mortality rate is significant, with 6 of 15 reported patients dying. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we find that C. difficile bacteremia is associated with a significant mortality rate and it would seem prudent to consider aggressive antibiotic therapy.