Mutation breeding techniques and behaviour of irradiated shoot apices of potato

An attempt was made to produce a di(ha)ploid tester clone with marker genes in an heterozygous condition for studies on induced mutations in potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.). Literature on potato mutations was reviewed. Formation of adventitious roots and shoots from potato leaves, leaflets and stem parts was studied in vivo. Roots formed easily, but adventitious shoots were very few. Techniques in vitro were more promising. After a review of literature on shoot apices, damage and recovery of irradiated potato shoot apices was studied in whole plants as well as from changes in tuber-skin colour caused by histogenic effects and from microscopic slides made during a 20-day period after irradiation.<p/

Reallocating resources to focused factories: a case study in chemotherapy

This study investigates the expected service performance associated with a proposal to reallocate resources from a centralized chemotherapy department to a breast cancer focused factory. Using a slotted queueing model we show that a decrease in performance is expected and calculate the amount of additional resources required to offset these losses. The model relies solely on typical outpatient scheduling system data, making the methodology easy to replicate in other outpatient clinic settings. Finally, the paper highlights important factors to consider when assigning capacity to focused factories. These considerations are generally relevant to other resource allocation decisions

Reallocating resources to focused factories: a case study in chemotherapy

This study investigates the expected service performance associated with a proposal to reallocate resources from a centralized chemotherapy department to a breast cancer focused factory. Using a slotted queueing model we show that a decrease in performance is expected and calculate the amount of additional resources required to offset these losses. The model relies solely on typical outpatient scheduling system data, making the methodology easy to replicate in other outpatient clinic settings. Finally, the paper highlights important factors to consider when assigning capacity to focused factories. These considerations are generally relevant to other resource allocation decisions

An exact approach for relating recovering surgical patient workload to the master surgical schedule

No other department influences the workload of a hospital more than the Department of Surgery and in particular, the activities in the operating room. These activities are governed by the master surgical schedule (MSS), which states which patient types receive surgery on which day. In this paper we describe an analytical approach to project the workload for downstream departments based on this MSS. Specifically the ward occupancy distributions, patient admission/discharge distributions, and the distributions for ongoing interventions/treatments is computed. Recovering after surgery requires the support of multiple departments, such as nursing, physiotherapy, rehabilitation and long term care. With our model, managers from these departments can determine their workload by aggregating tasks associated with recovering surgical patients. The model, which supported the development of a new MSS at the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, provides the foundation for a decision support tool to relate downstream hospital departments to the operating room

Uitspoeling van bestrijdingsmiddelen uit kasgronden naar waterlopen; gegevens over de kasteeltsystemen

Onderzocht is of de uitspoeling van bestrijdingsmiddelen uit kasgronden via drainagestelsels naar waterlopen kan worden teruggedrongen. De belasting van de bodem kan worden verminderd door de gewasbehandelingsmiddelen meer gewasgericht toe te dienen. De watergiften in kassen zijn hoger dan nodig is; dit vergroot het uitspoelingsrisico aanzienlijk. De omzettingssnelheid van de voorbeeldmiddelen diazinon, heptenofos en tolclofosmethyl in kasgronden werd gemeten. Vervluchtiging en fotochemische omzetting leveren nauwelijks een bijdrage aan de afname van de middelen op het bodemoppervlak in kassen. Dit onderzoek levert de invoergegevens die nodig zijn voor uitspoelingsberekeningen met een standaardmodel

Chemopreventive targeted treatment of head and neck precancer by Wee1 inhibition

HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) develop in precancerous changes in the mucosal lining of the upper-aerodigestive tract. These precancerous cells contain cancer-associated genomic changes and cause primary tumors and local relapses. Therapeutic strategies to eradicate these precancerous cells are very limited. Using functional genomic screens, we identified the therapeutic vulnerabilities of premalignant mucosal cells, which are shared with fully malignant HNSCC cells. We screened 319 previously identified tumor-lethal siRNAs on a panel of cancer and precancerous cell lines as well as primary fibroblasts. In total we identified 147 tumor-essential genes including 34 druggable candidates. Of these 34, 13 were also essential in premalignant cells. We investigated the variable molecular basis of the vulnerabilities in tumor and premalignant cell lines and found indications of collateral lethality. Wee1-like kinase (WEE1) was amongst the most promising targets for both tumor and precancerous cells. All four precancerous cell lines were highly sensitive to Wee1 inhibition by Adavosertib (AZD1775), while primary keratinocytes tolerated this inhibitor. Wee1 inhibition caused induction of DNA damage during S-phase followed by mitotic failure in (pre)cancer cells. In conclusion, we uncovered Wee1 inhibition as a promising chemopreventive strategy for precancerous cells, with comparable responses as fully transformed HNSCC cells