Magnetic versus crystal field linear dichroism in NiO thin films

We have detected strong dichroism in the Ni $L_{2,3}$ x-ray absorption spectra of monolayer NiO films. The dichroic signal appears to be very similar to the magnetic linear dichroism observed for thicker antiferromagnetic NiO films. A detailed experimental and theoretical analysis reveals, however, that the dichroism is caused by crystal field effects in the monolayer films, which is a non trivial effect because the high spin Ni $3d^{8}$ ground state is not split by low symmetry crystal fields. We present a practical experimental method for identifying the independent magnetic and crystal field contributions to the linear dichroic signal in spectra of NiO films with arbitrary thicknesses and lattice strains. Our findings are also directly relevant for high spin $3d^{5}$ and $3d^{3}$ systems such as LaFeO$_{3}$, Fe$_{2}$O$_{3}$, VO, LaCrO$_{3}$, Cr$_{2}$O$_{3}$, and Mn$^{4+}$ manganate thin films

Aflatoxin and Mycotoxin Analysis: An Overview Including Options for Resource-limited Settings

Aflatoxins are fungal toxins of serious human health concern, more so in some developing countries where significant contamination of staple foods occurs and the prevalence of aflatoxin-related health effects is high. A plethora of techniques for food mycotoxin testing has been developed. Modern chromatographic techniques allow quantitative determination with high accuracy and sensitivity, but are expensive and difficult to operate and maintain. Rapid tests provide a cheaper alternative for screening large numbers of samples, although they need validation on all food matrices that are tested. One important aspect of tackling aflatoxin contamination and exposure is to ensure the availability of suitable methods for detection and quantification that are rapid, sensitive, accurate, robust, and cost-effective for food surveillance in resource-limited settings

Patient coaching in secondary care:healthcare professionals' views on target group, intervention and coach profile

Background: Not all patients are able to communicate effectively during consultations with medical specialists. Patient coaching has shown to be effective for enhancing communication. Objective: We aimed to get healthcare professionals' views on target groups for patient coaching, on supportive elements in patient coaching and on the necessary qualifications and profile of a patient coach, to further our knowledge on the concept of patient coaching as supportive intervention for patients in consultations with medical specialists. Methods: We chose a qualitative research design and interviewed 18 healthcare professionals (six medical specialists, four family physicians, four community nurses and four nurse specialists/physician assistants) and analysed the verbatim transcripts using Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven. After a short introduction of the global concept of patient coaching and presentation of patients' perceived barriers, two interviewers structured the interview around three research questions: which patients could benefit from a patient coach, what should such a coach do and who could act like such a coach? Results: Participants describe patients who could benefit from patient coaching as generally vulnerable (e.g. older age, insufficiently accompanied, lower socioeconomic status, co-morbidity and cognitive problems) but also patients who are situationally vulnerable (e.g. elicited by bad news). Patient coaching should comprise emotional and instrumental support, aiming at reducing stress and improving the processing of medical information. Patient coaching should start from the patient's home and include preparing questions, navigating to and in the hospital, recording information during the consultation, checking understanding and recalling information. Patient coaches should have at least basic medical knowledge and a higher education. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals believe that patient coaching by a trained professional with medical knowledge could be beneficial to patients who are stressed when visiting a medical specialist. Future research should involve the views of patients on patient coaching, focus on investigating to what extent patient coaching is able to reduce stress and support a patient in processing medical information and the preferred patient coach's profile

Energy saving potential of climate adaptive building shells - Inverse modelling of optimal thermal and visual behaviour

In common building design practice energy performance calculation programs or, in the best case, dynamic building simulation programs are used to optimize the properties of a building shell. However, even with use of dynamic building simulation programs adaptive behaviour, in terms of changing building shell properties, is not easy to simulate since many inputs - like insulation values, window ratio, etc. are ‘fixed’ values. The result of these optimization calculations is therefore rather an optimization in fixed design values then a set of ideal optimal adaptive behaviour building shell parameters. In the Dutch FACET project (Dutch acronym: ‘Adaptive façade technology for increased comfort and lower energy use in the future’) a quest for the ideal building shell with adaptive, variable properties is performed. Since the standard way of simulating does not allow fully adaptive building shell behaviour, a completely new, inverse modelling approach is set up. The key question here is: "What would be the ideal, dynamic properties of a building shell to get the desired indoor climate at variable outdoor climate conditions?" By reversing the design approach, and using inverse modelling, a set of ideal, hypothetical building shell parameters is computed for different climate conditions at various time steps (seasons, daynight, instantaneous), for different building categories like offices, schools and dwellings. This ‘ideal’ adaptive behaviour will make it possible to maximize indoor comfort and to minimize energy use for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting. It does not start with having existing concepts in mind, but instead focuses on clarifying the theoretical potential of adaptive architecture. In the TRNSYS and Radiance simulations the building shell input is given as a black box, with a wide range of possible (combinations of) thermal and visual properties. Technologies and materials to meet the requirements can be more futuristic but also very ‘down to earth’. Partial solutions are already available, in low or high tech solutions, such as smart glazing, variable vacuum insulation, insulating window covering, etc. Further technology development is expected to be desired to fully meet the ideally adaptive behaviour requirements. Based on state of the art ‘adaptive temperature’ criteria optimal thermal behaviour was simulated in a first step. This gives the energy saving potential for an optimal thermal adaptive building shell. In a second step the computed optimal daylight characteristics of the building shell is given by optimizing visual comfort in Radiance. In a next step, both visual and thermal behaviour is optimized in an integral way, using a multi objective criteria approach. This paper describes the thermal and visual simulation optimization results of the FACET project. Preliminary results show that optimal adaptive building shell properties can reduce the total heating and cooling demand by a factor 10 compared to state of the art new built offices. For the Netherlands this means a factor 3 compared to the very efficient passive house technology. In the case of offices the heat demand is practically eliminated and the cooling demand can be reduced significantly by a factor two. The resulting extremely low energy demand means that less effort is needed to enable zero energy, or energy producing buildings in the future

Low rate of cardiac events in first-degree relatives of diagnosis-negative young sudden unexplained death syndrome victims during follow-up

BACKGROUND: Sudden unexplained death syndrome (SUDS) in young individuals often results from inherited cardiac disease. Accordingly, comprehensive examination in surviving first-degree relatives unmasks such disease in approximately 35% of the families. It is unknown whether individuals from diagnosis-negative families are at risk of developing manifest disease or cardiac events during follow-up.OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to study the prognosis of first-degree relatives of young SUDS victims, in whom the initial cardiologic and genetic examination did not lead to a diagnosis.METHODS: We retrieved vital status of surviving first-degree relatives from 83 diagnosis-negative families who presented to our cardiogenetics department between 1996 and 2009 because of SUDS in ≥1 relatives aged 1-50 years. Moreover, we contacted relatives who previously visited our center for detailed information.RESULTS: We obtained detailed information (median follow-up 6.6 years; interquartile range 4.7-9.6 years) in 340 of 417 first-degree relatives (81.5%) from 77 of 83 families (92.8%). Vital status, available in 405 relatives (97.1%), showed that 20 relatives (4.9%) died during follow-up, including 1 natural death before the age of 50. This girl belonged to a family with multiple cases of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation and SUDS, including another successfully resuscitated sibling during follow-up. Two hundred thirty-four of 340 first-degree relatives (68.8%) underwent cardiologic examination. Of these, 76 (32.5%) were reevaluated. Inherited cardiac disease was diagnosed in 3 families (3.6%).CONCLUSION: In first-degree relatives of young SUDS victims with no manifest abnormalities during the initial examination, the risk of developing manifest inherited cardiac disease or cardiac events during follow-up is low. This does not apply to families with obvious familial SUDS.</p

Becoming productive 21st century citizens: A systematic review uncovering design principles for integrating community service learning into higher education courses

Background: To prepare students to become productive 21st century citizens, universities have to be more engaged with society. Shifting towards community service learning (CSL) enables students to participate in, and reflect on, services that both benefit the public and also contribute to their own learning. There has been considerable research conducted on the improved student competencies, both academic and personal, resulting from CSL. There is, however, no consensus on how to integrate CSL into courses successfully, owing to the diverse contextual factors that influence implementation. Purpose: By means of conducting a review, this study aimed to establish general design principles to help guide course coordinators in implementing CSL in their academic courses. Design and methods: A systematic review was conducted of articles describing the implementation of CSL in academic courses within various disciplines. Implementation elements and principles were extracted from the articles and inductively grouped together, thereby identifying various design principles. Findings: Our analysis of the literature highlighted three steps that, according to the literature, are important in the implementation of CSL: (1) aligning course objectives and format; (2) establishing a relationship with the community partner; and (3) defining a reflection and evaluation strategy. We found that the nature of the design principles and specific approaches underlying these implementation steps should depend on the students’ capabilities, which include their pre-CSL experiences. Conclusion: The implementation steps and underlying design principles uncovered by this review may help guide and support course coordinators in their efforts to integrate CSL in their academic courses. The diverse range of design principles makes it possible to acknowledge students’ pre-CSL experiences and, thus, construct appropriate scaffolding, which i

Novel mutations in PIEZO1 cause an autosomal recessive generalized lymphatic dysplasia with non-immune hydrops fetalis.

Generalized lymphatic dysplasia (GLD) is a rare form of primary lymphoedema characterized by a uniform, widespread lymphoedema affecting all segments of the body, with systemic involvement such as intestinal and/or pulmonary lymphangiectasia, pleural effusions, chylothoraces and/or pericardial effusions. This may present prenatally as non-immune hydrops. Here we report homozygous and compound heterozygous mutations in PIEZO1, resulting in an autosomal recessive form of GLD with a high incidence of non-immune hydrops fetalis and childhood onset of facial and four limb lymphoedema. Mutations in PIEZO1, which encodes a mechanically activated ion channel, have been reported with autosomal dominant dehydrated hereditary stomatocytosis and non-immune hydrops of unknown aetiology. Besides its role in red blood cells, our findings indicate that PIEZO1 is also involved in the development of lymphatic structures

N-glycosylation of infectious bronchitis virus M41 spike determines receptor specificity

Infection of chicken coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is initiated by binding of the viral heavily N-glycosylated attachment protein spike to the alpha-2,3-linked sialic acid receptor Neu5Ac. Previously, we have shown that N-glycosylation of recombinantly expressed receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike of IBV-M41 is of critical importance for binding to chicken trachea tissue. Here we investigated the role of N-glycosylation of the RBD on receptor specificity and virus replication in the context of the virus particle. Using our reverse genetics system we were able to generate recombinant IBVs for nine-out-of-ten individual N-glycosylation mutants. In vitro growth kinetics of these viruses were comparable to the virus containing the wild-type M41-S1. Furthermore, Neu5Ac binding by the recombinant viruses containing single N-glycosylation site knock-out mutations matched the Neu5Ac binding observed with the recombinant RBDs. Five N-glycosylation mutants lost the ability to bind Neu5Ac and gained binding to a different, yet unknown, sialylated glycan receptor on host cells. These results demonstrate that N-glycosylation of IBV is a determinant for receptor specificity