Verocytotoxine-producerende E.coli, risicofactoren en update Nederland

In dit rapport wordt een overzicht gepresenteerd betreffende het vóórkomen van VTEC in verschillende reservoirs, infectie incidentie, transmissieroutes, risicofactoren voor verspreiding door de voedselketen, diagnostiek, uitbraaktracering en (potentiële) interventiestrategieën. De focus is op de Nederlandse situatie en hoe die zich verhoudt met de Europese situati

Modeling of Pompe Disease using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for the Development of Novel Therapies

The modeling of human disorders is often performed using heterologous cells or mouse models. Human and cell type-specific models will help in a better understanding of cellular pathology, provide a platform for high throughput screening and might provide proof of principle studies for regenerative therapy. The aim of this thesis is to generate an induced pluripotent stem cell model for Pompe Disease and use this model for the investigation of molecular mechanisms and the development of novel therapies

Live and Recorded Music Interventions to Reduce Postoperative Pain:Protocol for a Nonrandomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Postoperative patients who were previously engaged in the live musical intervention Meaningful Music in Healthcare reported significantly reduced perception of pain than patients without the intervention. This encouraging finding indicates a potential for postsurgical musical interventions to have a place in standard care as therapeutic pain relief. However, live music is logistically complex in hospital settings, and previous studies have reported the more cost-effective recorded music to serve as a similar pain-reducing function in postsurgical patients. Moreover, little is known about the potential underlying physiological mechanisms that may be responsible for the reduced pain perceived by patients after the live music intervention.OBJECTIVE: The primary objective is to see whether a live music intervention can significantly lower perceived postoperative pain compared to a recorded music intervention and do-nothing control. The secondary objective is to explore the neuroinflammatory underpinnings of postoperative pain and the potential role of a music intervention in mitigating neuroinflammation.METHODS: This intervention study will compare subjective postsurgical pain ratings among 3 groups: live music intervention, recorded music intervention, and standard care control. The design will take the form of an on-off nonrandomized controlled trial. Adult patients undergoing elective surgery will be invited to participate. The intervention is a daily music session of up to 30 minutes for a maximum of 5 days. The live music intervention group is visited by professional musicians once a day for 15 minutes and will be asked to interact. The recorded music active control intervention group receives 15 minutes of preselected music over headphones. The do-nothing group receives typical postsurgical care that does not include music.RESULTS: At study completion, we will have an empirical indication of whether live music or recorded music has a significant impact on postoperative perceived pain. We hypothesize that the live music intervention will have more impact than recorded music but that both will reduce the perceived pain more than care-as-usual. We will moreover have the preliminary evidence of the physiological underpinnings responsible for reducing the perceived pain during a music intervention, from which hypotheses for future research may be derived.CONCLUSIONS: Live music can provide relief from pain experienced by patients recovering from surgery; however, it is not known to what degree live music improves the patients' pain experience than the logistically simpler alternative of recorded music. Upon completion, this study will be able to statistically compare live versus recorded music. This study will moreover be able to provide insight into the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in reduced pain perception as a result of postoperative music listening.TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Netherlands Central Commission on Human Research NL76900.042.21; https://www.toetsingonline.nl/to/ccmo_search.nsf/fABRpop?readform&amp;unids=F2CA4A88E6040A45C1258791001AEA44.INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/40034.</p

Public exhibit for demonstrating the quantum of electrical conductance

We present a new robust setup that explains and demonstrates the quantum of electrical conductance for a general audience and which is continuously available in a public space. The setup allows users to manually thin a gold wire of several atoms in diameter while monitoring its conductance in real time. During the experiment, a characteristic step-like conductance decrease due to rearrangements of atoms in the cross-section of the wire is observed. Just before the wire breaks, a contact consisting of a single atom with a characteristic conductance close to the quantum of conductance can be maintained up to several seconds. The setup is operated full-time, needs practically no maintenance and is used on different educational levels

Lisfranc and Chopart amputation:A systematic review

Background: Lisfranc and Chopart amputations are historically controversial procedures. To obtain evidence for the pros and cons we performed a systematic review to analyze wound healing, the need for re-amputation at a higher level, and ambulation after a Lisfranc or Chopart amputation. Methods: A literature search was performed in 4 databases (Cochrane, Embase, Medline, and PsycInfo), using database-specific search strategies. Reference lists were studied to include relevant studies that were missed in the search. Of the 2881 publications found, 16 studies could be included in this review. Excluded publications concerned editorials, reviews, letters to the editor, no full text available, case reports, not meeting the topic, and written in a language other than English, German, or Dutch. Results: Failed wound healing occurred in 20% after Lisfranc amputation, in 28% after modified Chopart amputation, and 46% after conventional Chopart amputation. After Lisfranc amputation, 85% of patients were able to ambulate without prosthesis for short distances, and after modified Chopart 74%. After a conventional Chopart amputation, 26% (10/38) had unlimited household ambulation. Conclusions: The need for re-amputation because wound healing problems occurred most frequently after conventional Chopart amputation. All 3 types of amputation levels do, however, provide a functional residual limb, with the remaining ability to ambulate without prosthesis for short distances. Lisfranc and modified Chopart amputations should be considered before proceeding to a more proximal level of amputation. Further studies are needed to identify patient characteristics to predict favorable outcomes of Lisfranc and Chopart amputations.</p

Application of a finite-difference modeling scheme for ultrasonic defect characterization

Modeling schemes, which compute the propagation of ultrasonic wave fields, serve as research tools in NDE. The objectives to use such schemes are diverse. Firstly, they may be used to set the requirements for the ultrasonic data acquisition method and the processing algorithm. Secondly, they may be used to improve understanding of the actual measurement, i.e. for interpretation. Thirdly, they may play a central role in the inversion of the measurement for defect characterization, i.e. model driven inversion and neural network training

Reframing the future: the role of reflexivity in governance networks in sustainability transitions

Contains fulltext : 183569.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)30 november 201