Effect van voereiwitgehalte op de ammoniakemissie bij vleeskuikens : oriënterende metingen bij vier behandelingsniveaus = Effect of dietary crude protein content on ammonia emission in broilers

The effects of dietary protein content on litter composition and ammonia emissions from the litter in a broiler house were measured. Differences were small, probably because feed intake was lower at higher dietary protein content

Prevalence and distribution of (micro)albuminuria in toddlers

Background. Microalbuminuria is common in the general adult population, with a prevalence of similar to 7%, and is an independent indicator of renal and cardiovascular risks. Whether albuminuria is acquired during life (as a result of hypertension/diabetes) or is congenital and already present at birth is unknown. We studied the prevalence of microalbuminuria in toddlers and compared the distribution of albuminuria with that of the general adult population. In addition, we looked for possible associations between microalbuminuria and antenatal, postnatal and maternal factors.Methods. The urinary albumin concentration (U-AC) was measured in 1352 children and the urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (U-ACR) in 1288 children from the Groningen Expert Center for Kids with Obesity (GECKO) Drenthe cohort (age range 20-40 months). Albuminuria distribution was compared with the albuminuria distribution in 40 854 participants of the general adult cohort of the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End stage Disease (PREVEND) study. Associations between albuminuria (expressed as U-AC and U-ACR) and antenatal, postnatal and maternal factors were tested with linear regression analysis.Results. The median U-AC in the GECKO study was 2.3 mg/L (5th-95th percentiles: 2.1-25.5) and in the PREVEND study it was 6.0 mg/L (2.3-28.6) (P distribution comparison 0.053). The prevalence of U-AC a parts per thousand yen 20 mg/L was 6.9% in the GECKO study and 7.8% in the PREVEND study (P = 0.195). The prevalence of U-ACR a parts per thousand yen 30 mg/g in the GECKO study was 23.4%. U-AC and U-ACR were lower in boys. U-AC was not associated with other determinants, but U-ACR was associated with age and gestational diabetes.Conclusions. The distribution of U-AC and the prevalence of U-AC &gt; 20 mg/L in toddlers and in the young general adult population are comparable. These findings suggest that microalbuminuria is a congenital condition that may predispose to a higher cardiovascular risk later in life.</p

Slicing in WiFi networks through airtime-based resource allocation

Network slicing is one of the key enabling technologies for 5G networks. It allows infrastructure owners to assign resources to service providers (tenants), which will afterwards use them to satisfy their end-user demands. This paradigm, which changes the way networks have been traditionally managed, was initially proposed in the wired realm (core networks). More recently, the scientific community has paid attention to the integration of network slicing in wireless cellular technologies (LTE). However, there are not many works addressing the challenges that appear when trying to exploit slicing techniques over WiFi networks, in spite of their growing relevance. In this paper we propose a novel method of proportionally distributing resources in WiFi networks, by means of the airtime. We develop an analytical model, which shed light on how such resources could be split. The validity of the proposed model is assessed by means of simulation-based evaluation over the ns-3 framework.This work has been supported in part by the European Commission and the Spanish Government (Fondo Europeo de desarrollo Regional, FEDER) by means of the EU H2020 NECOS (777067) and ADVICE (TEC2015-71329) projects, respectively

Online support community for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer: user statistics, evaluation, and content analysis.

Purpose Peer support is an important unmet need among adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients. This study was conducted to describe the use and evaluation of a Dutch secure online support community for AYA diagnosed with cancer between 18 and 35 years.Methods User statistics were collected with Google analytics. Community members were asked to complete questionnaires on the usefulness of the community. A content analysis using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count was conducted.Results Between 2010 and 2017, the community received 433 AYA members (71% female; mean age at diagnosis 25.7 years; 52 Dutch hospitals represented). The mean time since diagnosis when subscribing to the community was 2.7 years (SD 4.4). Questionnaire data among 30 AYA community members indicated that the use of the community resulted in acknowledgment and advice regarding problems (56%) and the feeling of being supported (63%). Almost half of the respondents felt less lonely, 78% experienced recognition in stories of other AYA. Anonymized content analysis (n=14) showed that the majority of the online discussions encompassed emotional and cognitive expressions, and emotional support.Conclusion The secure Dutch online AYA community can help AYA cancer patients to express feelings, exchange information, address peer support, and has been found helpful in coping with cancer. As AYA cancer patients often lack the option of meeting each other in person, the AYA community is helpful in establishing peer support. Its use would benefit from promotion by health care professionals

Risk of diabetes after para-aortic radiation for testicular cancer

Background: While the risk of diabetes is increased following radiation exposure to the pancreas among childhood cancer survivors, its association among testicular cancer (TC) survivors has not been investigated. Methods: Diabetes risk was studied in 2998 1-year TC survivors treated before 50 years of age with orchidectomy with/without radiotherapy between 1976 and 2007. Diabetes incidence was compared with general population rates. Treatment-specific risk of diabetes was assessed using a case–cohort design. Results: With a median follow-up of 13.4 years, 161 TC survivors were diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes risk was not increased compared to general population rates (standardised incidence ratios (SIR): 0.9; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.7–1.1). Adjusted for age, para-aortic radiotherapy was associated with a 1.66-fold (95% CI: 1.05–2.62) increased diabetes risk compared to no radiotherapy. The excess hazard increased with 0.31 with every 10 Gy increase in the prescribed radiation dose (95% CI: 0.11–0.51, P = 0.003, adjusted for age and BMI); restricted to irradiated patients the excess hazard increased with 0.33 (95% CI: −0.14 to 0.81, P = 0.169) with every 10 Gy increase in radiation dose. Conclusion: Compared to surgery only, para-aortic irradiation is associated with increased diabetes risk among TC survivors

Photonuclear Reactions of Three-Nucleon Systems

We discuss the available data for the differential and the total cross section for the photodisintegration of $^3$He and $^3$H and the corresponding inverse reactions below $E_\gamma = 100$ MeV by comparing with our calculations using realistic $NN$ interactions. The theoretical results agree within the errorbars with the data for the total cross sections. Excellent agreement is achieved for the angular distribution in case of $^3$He, whereas for $^3$H a discrepancy between theory and experiment is found.Comment: 11 pages (twocolumn), 12 postscript figures included, uses psfig, RevTe

Discontinuation of RAAS Inhibition in Children with Advanced CKD

Background and objectives Although renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibition (RAASi) is a cornerstone in the treatment of children with CKD, it is sometimes discontinued when kidney function declines. We studied the reasons of RAASi discontinuation and associations between RAASi discontinuation and important risk markers of CKD progression and on eGFR decline in the Cardiovascular Comorbidity in Children with CKD study. Design, setting, participants,& measurements In this study, 69 children with CKD(67% male, mean age 13.7 years, mean eGFR 27 ml/min per 1.73m(2)) who discontinued RAASi during prospective follow-up were included. Initial change in BP, albuminuria, and potassium after discontinuation were assessed (median time 6 months). Rate of eGFR decline (eGFR slope) during a median of 1.9 years before and 1.2 years after discontinuation were estimated using linear mixed effects modeling. Results Physician-reported reasons for RAASi discontinuation were increase in serum creatinine, hyperkalemia, and symptomatic hypotension. After discontinuation of RAASi, BP and albuminuria increased, whereas potassium decreased. eGFR declined more rapidly after discontinuation of RAASi (23.9 ml/min per 1.73m2 per year; 95% confidence interval, 25.1 to 22.6) compared with the slope during RAASi treatment (21.5 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) per year; 95% confidence interval, 22.4 to 20.6; P=0.005). In contrast, no change in eGFR slope was observed in a matched control cohort of patients in whom RAASi was continued. Conclusions Discontinuation of RAASi in children with CKD is associated with an acceleration of kidney function decline, even in advanced CKD

Evaluation of sub-acute changes in cardiac function after cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy for testicular cancer

Long-term cardiovascular morbidity is increasingly observed in chemotherapy-treated testicular cancer survivors, but little is known of early sub-clinical changes in cardiac function. We prospectively evaluated cardiac function in testicular cancer patients by echocardiography. Systolic (Wall Motion Score Index) and diastolic (E/A-ratio and Tissue Velocity Imaging (TVI)) parameters, and serum levels of N-Terminal pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) were assessed before the start of chemotherapy and 1 year later. Echocardiography data were compared with an age-matched group of healthy controls. Forty-two patients treated with bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin were evaluated (median age 27 years, range 18–50). Systolic function and E/A-ratio did not change, whereas the median TVI decreased (12.0 vs 10.0 cms−1; P=0.002). Median levels of NT-proBNP increased (5 vs 18 pmoll−1, P=0.034). Compared with controls, TVI before the start of chemotherapy was not significantly different. In conclusion, we found that at a median of 10 months after cisplatin-based treatment for testicular cancer, TVI decreased significantly, indicating a deterioration of diastolic cardiac function. Serum levels of NT-proBNP increased. The prognostic significance of these changes for future cardiovascular morbidity is not clear