Nocturnal Flight Periodicity of the Caddisflies (Trichoptera) in Forest and Meadow Habitats of a First Order Michigan Stream

Using ultraviolet light traps, over 5000 caddisfly specimens were collected from a forest and a meadow habitat of Fairbanks Creek in northern Lower Michigan. Samples were collected every 15 minutes, interspersed with 15 minutes of no sampling, from sunset to sunrise during 5 nights from late June to mid-July 2014. Despite having fundamentally different caddisfly assemblages dominated by different species, mean specimen abundance and mean species richness in both habitats exhibited similar trends: peaking between 22:30 and 23:00, decreasing until 02:00 or 02:30, increasing again slightly during the later morning periods, and then decreasing to near zero by 06:00. On average, \u3e90% of species from the forest site were caught by 00:00 and 100% by 02:00, whereas meadow site richness didn’t reach 90% until 01:00 and 100% until 05:00. Species richness per night correlated strongly with dew point for both sites, reflecting consistently warm temperatures throughout the sampling period. Our results suggest that caddisfly flight is controlled by both innate behavior and environmental factors like temperature, and that sampling should continue late into the night to maximize capture, especially in open-canopied areas

Neuroticism and responses to social comparison among cancer patients

The present study examined how the effects of three audiotapes containig different types of social comparison information on the mood of cancer patients depended on the level of neuroticism. On the procedural tape, a man and woman discussed the process of radiation therapy, on the emotion tape, they focussed on emotional reactions to their illness and treatment, while on the coping tape they focussed on the way they had been coping. A validation study among 115 students showed that the tapes were perceived as they were intended. The main study was conducted among 226 patients who were about to undergo radiation therapy. Compared to patients in the control group, as patients were higher in neuroticism, they reported less negative mood after listening to the procedural and the coping tape. Furthermore, as patients were higher in neuroticism, they reported less negative mood after listening to the coping tape than to the emotion tape. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Een kijkje in de technische keuken van het Restaurant van de Toekomst

De schatkist van een onderzoeksfaciliteit als het Restaurant van de Toekomst is gevuld met data. Het is dan ook erg belangrijk om het datamanagement goed op orde te hebben. Hoe zorg je ervoor dat je de verzamelde gegevens goed opslaat en hoe kun je optimaal gebruik maken van deze gegevens? Deze vragen vormen de basis voor het werk dat door de Inteligent Systems groep van Food & Biobased Research (onderdeel van Wageningen UR) wordt uitgevoerd. Voor het Restaurant van de Toekomst hebben we de data-infrastructuur opgezet

Social implications of leprosy in the Netherlands - stigma among ex-leprosy patients in a non-endemic setting

Contains fulltext : 97356.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: In the Netherlands, leprosy is a rare and non-endemic disease, still occurring as an 'import disease'. Moreover a considerable group of people affected by leprosy, originating mainly from the former Dutch colonies, suffer from neuropathic complications. This study investigates the social implications of leprosy for those affected in the Netherlands. METHODS: Thirty-one people affected were interviewed as well as six medical leprosy experts. The social implications were measured by means of semi-structured interviews and the Participation Scale. RESULTS: Self-stigma, shame and secrecy were often reported. Discrimination and stigmatisation of ex-leprosy patients by people around them seems a less frequent problem. Yet, people affected by leprosy seem to be a forgotten group with a high social burden due to low self-esteem and reduced social participation. Medical experts do not seem to be aware of the severity of leprosy-related forms of stigma in their patients. Ex-leprosy patients lack sound disease-related information and support groups. Due to the low incidence and as a consequence, the lack of awareness among doctors, leprosy patients in the Netherlands are faced with substantial diagnostic delay (mean delay 1-8 years). CONCLUSIONS: Leprosy and its stigma affect the social lives of patients, even in a non-endemic area such as the Netherlands. Almost all respondents were affected by self-stigma. There is a need for 1) more information and support groups for patients, and 2) increased awareness among professionals

Enhanced recruitment of genetically modified CX3CR1-positive human T cells into Fractalkine/CX3CL1 expressing tumors: importance of the chemokine gradient.

BACKGROUND: Adoptive T-cell based immunotherapies constitute a promising approach to treat cancer, however, a major problem is to obtain effective and long-lasting anti-tumor responses. Lack of response may be due to insufficient trafficking of specific T cells to tumors. A key requirement for efficient migration of cytotoxic T cells is that they express chemokine receptors that match the chemokines produced by tumor or tumor-associated cells. METHODS: In this study, we investigated whether the in vivo tumor trafficking of activated T cells could be enhanced by the expression of the chemokine receptor CX3CR1. Two human colorectal cancer cell lines were used to set up a xenograft tumor model in immunodeficient mice; the NCI-H630, constitutively expressing the chemokine ligand CX3CL1 (Fractalkine), and the RKO cell line, transduced to express CX3CL1. RESULTS: Human primary T cells were transduced with the receptor CX3CR1-eGFP. Upon in vivo adoptive transfer of genetically modified CX3CR1-T cells in mice bearing NCI-H630 tumors, enhanced lymphocyte migration and tumor trafficking were observed, compared to mice receiving Mock-T cells, indicating improved homing ability towards ligand-expressing tumor cells. Furthermore, significant inhibition of tumor growth was found in mice receiving modified CX3CR1-T cells. In contrast, tumors formed by RKO cells transduced with the ligand (RKO-CX3CL1) were not affected, nor more infiltrated upon transfer of CX3CR1-T lymphocytes, likely because high levels of the chemokine were shed by tumor cells in the systemic circulation, thus nullifying the blood-tissue chemokine gradient. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that ectopic expression of CX3CR1 enhanced the homing of adoptively transferred T cells towards CX3CL1-producing tumors, resulting in increased T cell infiltration in tumor tissues and decreased tumor growth. Our results also establish that a correct chemokine gradient between the systemic circulation and the tumor is an essential requirement in adoptive T-cell based immunotherapy to efficiently recruit T cell effectors at the correct sites

Vaccine refusal: a preliminary interdisciplinary investigation

Many people who generally receive standard recommended inoculations refuse to partake of COVID-19 vaccines, preventatives that are effective, safe, and life-saving amidst the current pandemic. Our quest is to understand this puzzling and dangerous phenomenon, as it exists among US and UK citizens, whom in other respects would be regarded as quite regular. We will discuss Vaccine Refusal compared with two better understood phenomena: addiction, and akrasia, along with the related matters of human action, intention, agency, will, and identity. Vaccine Refusal, we will argue, appears to be rewarded by “informational reinforcement” leading to heightened arousal, along with increases in self-esteem resulting from “bucking the trend,” asserting one's “superior” understanding, and “tribal identity” in acting against social norms. These factors provide an overall reward amounting to satisfaction that outweighs the well-known consequences of COVID-19 infections. Our investigations will also lead us to a pair of epistemological hypotheses about two subtypes of the Vaccine Refusers under consideration here