BUILDING BRIDGES FOR INNOVATION IN AGEING : SYNERGIES BETWEEN ACTION GROUPS OF THE EIP ON AHA

The Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) proposed six Action Groups. After almost three years of activity, many achievements have been obtained through commitments or collaborative work of the Action Groups. However, they have often worked in silos and, consequently, synergies between Action Groups have been proposed to strengthen the triple win of the EIP on AHA. The paper presents the methodology and current status of the Task Force on EIP on AHA synergies. Synergies are in line with the Action Groups' new Renovated Action Plan (2016-2018) to ensure that their future objectives are coherent and fully connected. The outcomes and impact of synergies are using the Monitoring and Assessment Framework for the EIP on AHA (MAFEIP). Eight proposals for synergies have been approved by the Task Force: Five cross-cutting synergies which can be used for all current and future synergies as they consider overarching domains (appropriate polypharmacy, citizen empowerment, teaching and coaching on AHA, deployment of synergies to EU regions, Responsible Research and Innovation), and three cross-cutting synergies focussing on current Action Group activities (falls, frailty, integrated care and chronic respiratory diseases).Peer reviewe

High contrast imaging polarimetry of circumstellar environments

The work presented in this thesis is based on the analysis of the results produced by ExPo, the Extreme Polarimeter. ExPo is an imaging polarimeter that has been designed and built by the group of prof. Christoph Keller, at Utrecht University. The purpose of this instrument is to use polarimetry to detect and characterize the circumstellar environments around different types of stars. In this work I focus on the polarized features that are produced by scattering by dust grains. Depending on the properties of the particles producing the scattering (size, shape...) and the scattering angle (forward, backward scattering), the light becomes polarized in higher or lower degree. The main problem when studying circumstellar environments is the high contrast ratios that are faced. For example, a young star is typically four orders of magnitude (10000 times) brighter than its protoplanetary disk. On the other hand, the light emitted by the star is largely unpolarized, while the light that is scattered (by the protoplanetary disk in this example) is polarized. Therefore, polarimetry offers a very elegant way to remove most of the starlight, allowing the detection of only the polarized photons. Furthermore, and as explained before, by studying the polarization of the light that we measure we can learn more about the properties of the circumstellar environments (dust composition, geometry, etc.). ExPo has produced a wealth of data, combining observations of very different targets such as protoplanetary disks, post-AGB stars, comets and planets of our Solar System (Venus and Saturn)

High contrast imaging polarimetry of circumstellar environments

The work presented in this thesis is based on the analysis of the results produced by ExPo, the Extreme Polarimeter. ExPo is an imaging polarimeter that has been designed and built by the group of prof. Christoph Keller, at Utrecht University. The purpose of this instrument is to use polarimetry to detect and characterize the circumstellar environments around different types of stars. In this work I focus on the polarized features that are produced by scattering by dust grains. Depending on the properties of the particles producing the scattering (size, shape...) and the scattering angle (forward, backward scattering), the light becomes polarized in higher or lower degree. The main problem when studying circumstellar environments is the high contrast ratios that are faced. For example, a young star is typically four orders of magnitude (10000 times) brighter than its protoplanetary disk. On the other hand, the light emitted by the star is largely unpolarized, while the light that is scattered (by the protoplanetary disk in this example) is polarized. Therefore, polarimetry offers a very elegant way to remove most of the starlight, allowing the detection of only the polarized photons. Furthermore, and as explained before, by studying the polarization of the light that we measure we can learn more about the properties of the circumstellar environments (dust composition, geometry, etc.). ExPo has produced a wealth of data, combining observations of very different targets such as protoplanetary disks, post-AGB stars, comets and planets of our Solar System (Venus and Saturn)

EPOL: the exoplanet polarimeter for EPICS at the E-ELT

EPOL is the imaging polarimeter part of EPICS (Exoplanet Imaging Camera and Spectrograph) for the 42-m E-ELT. It is based on sensitive imaging polarimetry to differentiate between linearly polarized light from exoplanets and unpolarized, scattered starlight and to characterize properties of exoplanet atmospheres and surfaces that cannot be determined from intensity observations alone. EPOL consists of a coronagraph and a dualbeam polarimeter with a liquid-crystal retarder to exchange the polarization of the two beams. The polarimetry thereby increases the contrast between star and exoplanet by 3 to 5 orders of magnitude over what the extreme adaptive optics and the EPOL coronagraph alone can achieve. EPOL operates between 600 and 900 nm, can select more specific wavelength bands with filters and has an integral field unit to obtain linearly polarized spectra of known exoplanets

Patients with Crohn's disease have longer post-operative in-hospital stay than patients with colon cancer but no difference in complications' rate

BACKGROUNDRight hemicolectomy or ileocecal resection are used to treat benign conditions like Crohn's disease (CD) and malignant ones like colon cancer (CC).AIMTo investigate differences in pre- and peri-operative factors and their impact on post-operative outcome in patients with CC and CD.METHODSThis is a sub-group analysis of the European Society of Coloproctology's prospective, multi-centre snapshot audit. Adult patients with CC and CD undergoing right hemicolectomy or ileocecal resection were included. Primary outcome measure was 30-d post-operative complications. Secondary outcome measures were post-operative length of stay (LOS) at and readmission.RESULTSThree hundred and seventy-five patients with CD and 2,515 patients with CC were included. Patients with CD were younger (median = 37 years for CD and 71 years for CC (P < 0.01), had lower American Society of Anesthesiology score (ASA) grade (P < 0.01) and less comorbidity (P < 0.01), but were more likely to be current smokers (P < 0.01). Patients with CD were more frequently operated on by colorectal surgeons (P < 0.01) and frequently underwent ileocecal resection (P < 0.01) with higher rate of de-functioning/primary stoma construction (P < 0.01). Thirty-day post-operative mortality occurred exclusively in the CC group (66/2515, 2.3%). In multivariate analyses, the risk of post-operative complications was similar in the two groups (OR 0.80, 95%CI: 0.54-1.17; P = 0.25). Patients with CD had a significantly longer LOS (Geometric mean 0.87, 95%CI: 0.79-0.95; P < 0.01). There was no difference in re-admission rates. The audit did not collect data on post-operative enhanced recovery protocols that are implemented in the different participating centers.CONCLUSIONPatients with CD were younger, with lower ASA grade, less comorbidity, operated on by experienced surgeons and underwent less radical resection but had a longer LOS than patients with CC although complication's rate was not different between the two groups

Building Bridges for Innovation in Ageing : Synergies between Action Groups of the EIP on AHA

The Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) proposed six Action Groups. After almost three years of activity, many achievements have been obtained through commitments or collaborative work of the Action Groups. However, they have often worked in silos and, consequently, synergies between Action Groups have been proposed to strengthen the triple win of the EIP on AHA. The paper presents the methodology and current status of the Task Force on EIP on AHA synergies. Synergies are in line with the Action Groups' new Renovated Action Plan (2016-2018) to ensure that their future objectives are coherent and fully connected. The outcomes and impact of synergies are using the Monitoring and Assessment Framework for the EIP on AHA (MAFEIP). Eight proposals for synergies have been approved by the Task Force: Five cross-cutting synergies which can be used for all current and future synergies as they consider overarching domains (appropriate polypharmacy, citizen empowerment, teaching and coaching on AHA, deployment of synergies to EU regions, Responsible Research and Innovation), and three cross-cutting synergies focussing on current Action Group activities (falls, frailty, integrated care and chronic respiratory diseases)

Erratum to: Building bridges for innovation in ageing: Synergies between action groups of the EIP on AHA (The journal of nutrition, health & aging, (2017), 21, 1, (92-104), 10.1007/s12603-016-0803-1)

The authors would like to change and use the correct name of M. Khaitov which is M. Kaitov on this manuscript. The authors have incorrectly used her other name during the finalization of this research. With this, the authors hereby publish the correct author names as presented above

Erratum to: Building bridges for innovation in ageing: Synergies between action groups of the EIP on AHA

The authors would like to change and use the correct name of M. Khaitov which is M. Kaitov on this manuscript. The authors have incorrectly used her other name during the finalization of this research. With this, the authors hereby publish the correct author names as presented above

Erratum to: Building bridges for innovation in ageing:Synergies between action groups of the EIP on AHA

The Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) proposed six Action Groups. After almost three years of activity, many achievements have been obtained through commitments or collaborative work of the Action Groups. However, they have often worked in silos and, consequently, synergies between Action Groups have been proposed to strengthen the triple win of the EIP on AHA. The paper presents the methodology and current status of the Task Force on EIP on AHA synergies. Synergies are in line with the Action Groups' new Renovated Action Plan (2016-2018) to ensure that their future objectives are coherent and fully connected. The outcomes and impact of synergies are using the Monitoring and Assessment Framework for the EIP on AHA (MAFEIP). Eight proposals for synergies have been approved by the Task Force: Five cross-cutting synergies which can be used for all current and future synergies as they consider overarching domains (appropriate polypharmacy, citizen empowerment, teaching and coaching on AHA, deployment of synergies to EU regions, Responsible Research and Innovation), and three cross-cutting synergies focussing on current Action Group activities (falls, frailty, integrated care and chronic respiratory diseases)