Effects of a Brief Intervention on Retention of Patients in a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

This intervention assessed the effects of a brief intervention on dropout rate in a cardiac rehabilitation program. One hundred thirty five patients were recruited from a cardiac rehabilitation program and randomized to either a control or intervention group. The intervention group participated in four sessions of motivational interviewing and stress management-relaxation in addition to standard cardiac rehabilitation. The control group underwent cardiac rehabilitation alone. Patients who completed the intervention completed an average of 30 sessions while those who dropped out of the intervention completed about six (p < 0.001). Anxiety and depression measured at baseline were the primary predictors of dropout. Patients in both the intervention and controls groups who completed cardiac rehabilitation improved the distance walked, quality of life and decreased anxiety.     

Pretreatments for Enhanced Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Pinewood: a Review

Pinewood is an abundant source of lignocellulosic biomass that has potential to be used as renewable feedstock in biorefineries for conversion into advanced biofuels and other value-added chemicals. However, its structural recalcitrance, due to the compact packing of its major components, viz. cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, high lignin content, and high cellulose crystallinity, is a major bottleneck in its widespread use as a biorefinery feedstock. Typical chemical, thermal, and biological pretreatment technologies are aimed at removing lignin and hemicellulose fractions for improving enzyme accessibility and digestibility of cellulose. This review highlights common pine pretreatment procedures, associated key parameters and resulting enzymatic hydrolysis yields. The challenges and limitations are also discussed as well as potential strategies to overcome them, providing an essential source of information to realize pine as a compelling biorefinery biomass source.