Stadsplanten en bijen

De belangstelling voor de natuur in de stad is sinds de jaren 90 van de vorige eeuw enorm toegenomen. Uit allerlei gegevens blijkt dat de biodiversiteit in de stad veel groter is dan men op het eerste gezicht zou verwachten. Voor het beleven van de natuur hoef je niet helemaal naar een natuurreservaat te gaan. In het jaar 2000 verscheen ‘Stadsecologie’ van Jelle Reumer en in 2004 ‘Stadsplanten’ van Ton Denters. Beide boeken inspireerden biologen van allerlei pluimage om eens goed rond te kijken in de stad

Colloid-oil-water-interface interactions in the presence of multiple salts: charge regulation and dynamics

We theoretically and experimentally investigate colloid-oil-water-interface interactions of charged, sterically stabilized, poly(methyl-methacrylate) colloidal particles dispersed in a low-polar oil (dielectric constant $\epsilon=5-10$) that is in contact with an adjacent water phase. In this model system, the colloidal particles cannot penetrate the oil-water interface due to repulsive van der Waals forces with the interface whereas the multiple salts that are dissolved in the oil are free to partition into the water phase. The sign and magnitude of the Donnan potential and/or the particle charge is affected by these salt concentrations such that the effective interaction potential can be highly tuned. Both the equilibrium effective colloid-interface interactions and the ion dynamics are explored within a Poisson-Nernst-Planck theory, and compared to experimental observations.Comment: 13+2 pages, 5+3 figures; V2: small clarifications in the tex

Broiler excreta composition and its effect on wet litter : aspects of nutrition

In commercial broiler farms, birds are usually housed on litter, composed of bedding materials like wood shavings. Wet litter is a condition in which the litter reaches its saturation threshold for water and cannot hold more moisture. It causes increased microbial activity and, as a result, ammonia is produced and emitted into the air. Wet litter can result in negative welfare issues (e.g., footpad dermatitis) and also a reduced performance. Wet litter is a multifactorial problem, involving management, housing, disease, diet, and gut health factors. In this thesis, nutritional aspects on excreta moisture content were studied in four different experiments. Different dietary compositions were evaluated and the results show that reductions in excreta water content were related to increased transit time and/or reduced water reabsorption in the hindgut. Insoluble fibers, if they are combined with a coarse diet, can be used to slow down transit time and optimize digestibility, thereby improving both excreta and litter quality. Minerals (e.g., Mg) and other undigested nutrients increase the osmotic load of the digesta in the hindgut and, as a result, more water is moving into the gut lumen. Changing the type or level of nutrients that reach the hindgut by varying dietary ingredients (medium-chain fatty acids, nonstarch polysaccharides, and starch) had limited effects on the ileal microbiota composition. Additionally, no effects of variations in commensal bacteria and excreta quality were observed. In this thesis, different parameters to assess the status of water in excreta and litter samples were evaluated. Water in the excreta or litter can be present in free form or bound, therefore solely total moisture content may not be sufficient to describe excreta and litter quality. Water activity correlates well with microbial growth. However, its use is limited in high moisture (> 30%) content samples. Free water, even though this parameter is dependent of the centrifugal speed applied, seems to be a more valuable parameter to assess excreta quality. The results from this thesis show that nutrition can be used to manipulate excreta and litter moisture content. The effects of nutritional manipulation can be related to (in)digestibility of nutrients, although transit time also seems to be an important factor determining excreta moisture output. Current feed strategies need to aim at optimizing the gastro-intestinal tract functions via the diet. Besides assessment of litter quality, also monitoring excreta quality throughout the growing period is highly recommended for managing litter quality, broiler health, and environmental impact. This should not be limited to measuring total excreta moisture, as the results of this thesis show that the status of the water in the excreta can be different.</p

Інформаційне суспільство як нова утопічна модель розвитку світу

У статті аналізується утопія як нова суперечлива інформаційно-технічна ідилія. Автор розглядає утопію інформаційного суспільства як орієнтацію на те, що відсутнє у суспільстві. Досліджується формування утопій ХХ ст., котрі, залежно він поставленої мети, впливають на особистість і творять нові цінності.The article examines utopia as a new contradictory information and technical idyll. The utopia of the information society is considered to be an orientation on what is missing in society. The author investigates the formation of utopias of the twentieth century, which affect personality and create new values depending on their persecuted goals

Intensive care unit depth of sleep:proof of concept of a simple electroencephalography index in the non-sedated

INTRODUCTION: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are known to experience severely disturbed sleep, with possible detrimental effects on short- and long- term outcomes. Investigation into the exact causes and effects of disturbed sleep has been hampered by cumbersome and time consuming methods of measuring and staging sleep. We introduce a novel method for ICU depth of sleep analysis, the ICU depth of sleep index (IDOS index), using single channel electroencephalography (EEG) and apply it to outpatient recordings. A proof of concept is shown in non-sedated ICU patients. METHODS: Polysomnographic (PSG) recordings of five ICU patients and 15 healthy outpatients were analyzed using the IDOS index, based on the ratio between gamma and delta band power. Manual selection of thresholds was used to classify data as either wake, sleep or slow wave sleep (SWS). This classification was compared to visual sleep scoring by Rechtschaffen & Kales criteria in normal outpatient recordings and ICU recordings to illustrate face validity of the IDOS index. RESULTS: When reduced to two or three classes, the scoring of sleep by IDOS index and manual scoring show high agreement for normal sleep recordings. The obtained overall agreements, as quantified by the kappa coefficient, were 0.84 for sleep/wake classification and 0.82 for classification into three classes (wake, non-SWS and SWS). Sensitivity and specificity were highest for the wake state (93% and 93%, respectively) and lowest for SWS (82% and 76%, respectively). For ICU recordings, agreement was similar to agreement between visual scorers previously reported in literature. CONCLUSIONS: Besides the most satisfying visual resemblance with manually scored normal PSG recordings, the established face-validity of the IDOS index as an estimator of depth of sleep was excellent. This technique enables real-time, automated, single channel visualization of depth of sleep, facilitating the monitoring of sleep in the ICU

Integrating Geodesign and game experiments for negotiating urban development

In this article we explore an expansion of geodesign to analyze processes of competition and cooperation by combining it with game-theoretical modelling and experiments. We test the applicability of facilitating these two fields in an integrated workshop by analysing the case study of oversupply of development sites in the Liemers corridor. Two workshops were held, with representatives of the six municipalities involved and with the regional and provincial authority, in which participants negotiated over the distribution of the supply of development sites. The workshops were performed around an interactive MapTable, with spatial information (from GIS) and financial information (from the game-theoretical model) being visualized in real-time. The integrated workshops were assessed to discover differences in terms of process and outcomes, and they examine whether and how learning takes place. We conclude that the combination of game theory and geodesign provides added value for planning support by facilitating a realistic discussion, and negotiation that is strongly connected to real-life locations, and by aiming at designing a common, collaborative solution. Through the integrated workshop learning about the problem of oversupply in financial and geographical terms and also about each other’s motives and behaviour is stimulated