Morfologische, ecologische en governance principes voor ecodynamisch ontwerpen: toegespitst op de 'Bouwen met Natuur' pilots Friese IJsselmeerkust : building with nature, case Markermeer IJsselmeer, MIJ 4.2, Deliverable 1.6

Het concept ‘Bouwen met Natuur’ richt zich op gebiedsgerichte ontwerpprocessen langs kusten met het doel om de interactie tussen menselijke ingrepen en ecosysteem processen te vergroten. Het concept maakt maximaal gebruik van dynamiek van natuurlijke processen en van de inzet van bio@engineers bij de ontwikkeling van nieuwe kustlandschappen. De uitdaging bij ‘Bouwen met Natuur’ projecten is om een menselijke ambitie m.b.t. waterbouw te realiseren op een wijze die maximaal gebruik maakt van het ecosysteem en tevens dit ecosysteem versterkt. Het zoeken naar een win@win situatie voor zowel de menselijke waterbouwambitie als voor de natuurwaarden is dus iets anders dan natuur behouden die er is of nieuwe natuur ontwikkelen. Ook is het concept fundamenteel anders dan het compenseren van natuur die elders verloren gaat

Catalytic reforming of glycerol in supercritical water over bimetallic Pt-Ni catalyst

Catalytic reforming of pure glycerol for the production of hydrogen at low temperature and short residence times in supercritical water was investigated using a bimetallic Pt–Ni catalyst supported on alumina. Initial tests were carried out to study the reforming activity of bimetallic Pt–Ni catalysts by reforming different model compounds having different carbon numbers in supercritical water at 400–450 °C. The influence of different operating parameters such as reaction temperature, initial feed concentration, location of the catalyst bed, and weight hourly space velocity on the carbon to gas conversion and product gas distribution is studied. Continuous experiments were carried out using a fixed bed reactor for a temperature range of 380–500 °C, feed concentrations of up to 20 wt %, at space velocities of up to 45 h–1. The product gas mainly consisted of CO2, H2 and alkanes (CH4 and C2H6) and the liquid effluent after the reaction primarily consisted of unconverted glycerol, 1,2-propanediol, and ethanol, with trace amounts of acetaldehyde, ethanol, and 1,3-propanediol. A comparison of the reforming activity of the catalyst and process with respect to the feedstock characteristics was made by comparing the carbon to gas conversion and product distribution for pure and crude glycerol. The carbon to gas conversion and the product gas distribution of pure and crude glycerol are comparable. Complete conversion of 15 wt % (pure) glycerol in water to gaseous products was achieved at 450–500 °C and the product gas mainly consisted of H2, CO2, and CH4. However, whereas the catalyst deactivated rapidly with crude glycerol, for pure glycerol the catalyst showed stable performance for a long duration run up to 85 h, indicating that catalyst deactivation by for example, coke formation in the gasification reaction system is not a major issue. It is anticipated that with a proper catalyst support material, the gasification of concentrated aqueous glycerol streams can be developed into a viable proces

Vibrotactile pedals : provision of haptic feedback to support economical driving

The use of haptic feedback is currently an underused modality in the driving environment, especially with respect to vehicle manufacturers. This exploratory study evaluates the effects of a vibrotactile (or haptic) accelerator pedal on car driving performance and perceived workload using a driving simulator. A stimulus was triggered when the driver exceeded a 50% throttle threshold, past which is deemed excessive for economical driving. Results showed significant decreases in mean acceleration values, and maximum and excess throttle use when the haptic pedal was active as compared to a baseline condition. As well as the positive changes to driver behaviour, subjective workload decreased when driving with the haptic pedal as compared to when drivers were simply asked to drive economically. The literature suggests that the haptic processing channel offers a largely untapped resource in the driving environment, and could provide information without overloading the other attentional resource pools used in driving

Who Is at Risk for Diagnostic Discrepancies? Comparison of Pre- and Postmortal Diagnoses in 1800 Patients of 3 Medical Decades in East and West Berlin

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Autopsy rates in Western countries consistently decline to an average of <5%, although clinical autopsies represent a reasonable tool for quality control in hospitals, medically and economically. Comparing pre- and postmortal diagnoses, diagnostic discrepancies as uncovered by clinical autopsies supply crucial information on how to improve clinical treatment. The study aimed at analyzing current diagnostic discrepancy rates, investigating their influencing factors and identifying risk profiles of patients that could be affected by a diagnostic discrepancy.</p> <h3>Methods and Findings</h3><p>Of all adult autopsy cases of the Charité Institute of Pathology from the years 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008, the pre- and postmortal diagnoses and all demographic data were analyzed retrospectively. Based on power analysis, 1,800 cases were randomly selected to perform discrepancy classification (class I-VI) according to modified Goldman criteria. The rate of discrepancies in major diagnoses (class I) was 10.7% (95% CI: 7.7%–14.7%) in 2008 representing a reduction by 15.1%. Subgroup analysis revealed several influencing factors to significantly correlate with the discrepancy rate. Cardiovascular diseases had the highest frequency among class-I-discrepancies. Comparing the 1988-data of East- and West-Berlin, no significant differences were found in diagnostic discrepancies despite an autopsy rate differing by nearly 50%. A risk profile analysis visualized by intuitive heatmaps revealed a significantly high discrepancy rate in patients treated in low or intermediate care units at community hospitals. In this collective, patients with genitourinary/renal or infectious diseases were at particularly high risk.</p> <h3>Conclusions</h3><p>This is the current largest and most comprehensive study on diagnostic discrepancies worldwide. Our well-powered analysis revealed a significant rate of class-I-discrepancies indicating that autopsies are still of value. The identified risk profiles may aid both pathologists and clinicians to identify patients at increased risk for a discrepant diagnosis and possibly suboptimal treatment intra vitam.</p> </div

Advances in structure elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry

The structural elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry plays an important role in modern life sciences and bioanalytical approaches. This review covers different soft and hard ionization techniques and figures of merit for modern mass spectrometers, such as mass resolving power, mass accuracy, isotopic abundance accuracy, accurate mass multiple-stage MS(n) capability, as well as hybrid mass spectrometric and orthogonal chromatographic approaches. The latter part discusses mass spectral data handling strategies, which includes background and noise subtraction, adduct formation and detection, charge state determination, accurate mass measurements, elemental composition determinations, and complex data-dependent setups with ion maps and ion trees. The importance of mass spectral library search algorithms for tandem mass spectra and multiple-stage MS(n) mass spectra as well as mass spectral tree libraries that combine multiple-stage mass spectra are outlined. The successive chapter discusses mass spectral fragmentation pathways, biotransformation reactions and drug metabolism studies, the mass spectral simulation and generation of in silico mass spectra, expert systems for mass spectral interpretation, and the use of computational chemistry to explain gas-phase phenomena. A single chapter discusses data handling for hyphenated approaches including mass spectral deconvolution for clean mass spectra, cheminformatics approaches and structure retention relationships, and retention index predictions for gas and liquid chromatography. The last section reviews the current state of electronic data sharing of mass spectra and discusses the importance of software development for the advancement of structure elucidation of small molecules

PLANTAS HOSPEDEIRAS DE Thyrinteina arnobia (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE) AFETAM O DESENVOLVIMENTO DO PARASITOIDE Palmistichus elaeisis (HYMENOPTERA: EULOPHIDAE)1

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência do parasitismo e a biologia da prole do parasitoide Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare e La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) em pupas de Thyrinteina arnobia Stoll (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) quando criadas em plantas de Psidium guajava ou Eucalyptus cloeziana. Ovos de T. arnobia foram coletados e colocados em sacos de tecido tipo organza envolvendo galhos de plantas de P. guajava (T1) e E. cloeziana (T2) até as lagartas alcançarem a fase de pupa. Trinta pupas de cada tratamento foram individualizadas em tubos de vidro e expostas ao parasitismo por quatro fêmeas de P. elaeisis por 24 h. Avaliaram-se a emergência da progênie do parasitoide por pupa; a porcentagem de parasitismo, pupas mortas e de adultos de T. arnobia emergidos; a duração do ciclo de vida (ovo-adulto);a longevidade; a razão sexual; e o tamanho da cápsula cefálica e do corpo do parasitoide. A porcentagem de parasitismo, a emergência de P. elaeisis por pupa, a longevidade das fêmeas e o tamanho da cápsula cefálica e do corpo dos machos do parasitoide foram menores quando seu hospedeiro foi criado em plantas de eucalipto. Isso pode ter ocorrido devido à grande quantidade de compostos do metabolismo secundário presentes nesta planta, que podem ser acumulados no corpo do herbívoro ao se alimentar, afetando negativamente o inimigo natural. Palmistichus elaeisis mostrou-se mais adaptado à mirtácea nativa da América P. guajava

Clinical- and cost-effectiveness of the STAR care pathway compared to usual care for patients with chronic pain after total knee replacement: study protocol for a UK randomised controlled trial.

Approximately 20% of patients experience chronic pain after total knee replacement. There is little evidence for effective interventions for the management of this pain, and current healthcare provision is patchy and inconsistent. Given the complexity of this condition, multimodal and individualised interventions matched to pain characteristics are needed. We have undertaken a comprehensive programme of work to develop a care pathway for patients with chronic pain after total knee replacement. This protocol describes the design of a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of a complex intervention care pathway compared with usual care.This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Additional Link above to access the full-text via the publisher's site