Enige oriënterende proeven met Broadleaf P4 worteldip/Phormizakken toegepast bij coniferen en heesters in de aanlegfase : is worteldip al dan niet met toepassing van Phormizakken een alternatief voor het traditionele kluiten?

Veel boomkwekerijproducten worden ingegaasd met een acryl-gaaslap. Weliswaar bestaan er ook jute gaaslappen, maar in de praktijk wenst de klant van de boomkwekers in 95% van de gevallen een acryl-gaaslap. Deze lappen zijn een bron van milieuverontreiniging, doordat ze niet afbreken in de grond. Tevens gaat er met het kluiten een aanzienlijke hoeveelheid grond het land af, waaronder organische stof. Dit moet weer aangevuld worden. Uit onderzoek in binnen- en buitenland is bekend dat Broadleaf P4 granulaat en worteldip positief uit kunnen werken op een gewas. Het doel van de in 2000 uitgevoerde proeven was dan ook te onderzoeken of Broadleaf P4 worteldip een goede vervanger zou kunnen zijn voor de traditionele kluit. Ook plastic Phormizakken werden in de proeven meegenomen. De proeven werden te Boskoop en Horst uitgevoerd. In Horst alleen met Thuja occidentalis ‘Brabant’. Te Boskoop werd gewerkt met Prunus laurocerasus ‘Otto Luyken’ en een conifeer: Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’ (voorjaar) resp. Th. occ. ‘Brabant’ (najaar). Boskoop betreft veengrond; Horst is zandgrond. De proeven werden in voor- en najaar ingeplant. Worteldip werd direct na oprooien middels dippen aangebracht. Vervolgens bleven de planten 4 tot 14 dagen liggen onder dekzeil. Dit is niet gebruikelijk in de praktijk tot nu toe. De proef te Boskoop in het voorjaar werd uitgevoerd met hele, halve, geen kluit en gedipt in worteldip. De najaarsproef te Boskoop en beide proeven te Horst werden uitgevoerd met kluit/ kluit + Phormizak/ kluit + worteldip/ etc. Uit de resultaten blijkt dat worteldip en/of Phormizak geen goede vervanger is voor de traditionele kluit. De behandelingen kluit en kluit + Phormizak behaalden altijd de beste resultaten. Worteldip doet wel iets: logisch want uit de literatuur was al duidelijk geworden dat Broadleaf P4 wel degelijk een werking heeft. De reden waarom worteldip niet 100% werkte kan de volgende zijn: de planten hadden alle een dicht vertakte goede wortelpruik. De gel van worteldip kon niet doordringen tot in de kern van de wortelpruik. Kortom: alleen de buitenste wortels waren beschermd tegen uitdrogen. Samenvattend waren de conclusies uit dit onderzoek: Uit de in dit rapport gemelde proeven lijkt de conclusie gerechtvaardigd dat planten die met kluit of met kluit + zak worden verhandeld betere aanslagkansen hebben dan coniferen en sierheesters die zonder kluit worden verhandeld. Broadleaf worteldip al dan niet in combinatie met Phormizak heeft wel enig effect: planten die op een dergelijke manier worden behandeld direct na oprooien doen het beter dan planten met kale wortel zonder enige vorm van bescherming. Hoe korter planten worden bewaard, des te beter is dit voor kans van slagen van de aanplant. Verschillen tussen kluit, kluit + zak en de rest lijken bij in het najaar uitplanten groter te zijn dan bij het in voorjaar uitplanten. Bij het in najaar uitplanten kan er na de winter sterfte optreden bij de planten die zonder kluit zijn uitgeplant

Genotoxic effects of neutrophils and hypochlorous acid

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Monitoring the spread of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in The Netherlands from a reference laboratory perspective

SummaryBackgroundIn The Netherlands, efforts to control meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals have been largely successful due to stringent screening of patients on admission and isolation of those that fall into defined risk categories. However, Dutch hospitals are not free of MRSA, and a considerable number of cases are found that do not belong to any of the risk categories. Some of these may be due to undetected nosocomial transmission, whereas others may be introduced from unknown reservoirs.AimIdentifying multi-institutional clusters of MRSA isolates to estimate the contribution of potential unobserved reservoirs in The Netherlands.MethodsWe applied a clustering algorithm that combines time, place, and genetics to routine data available for all MRSA isolates submitted to the Dutch Staphylococcal Reference Laboratory between 2008 and 2011 in order to map the geo-temporal distribution of MRSA clonal lineages in The Netherlands.FindingsOf the 2966 isolates lacking obvious risk factors, 579 were part of geo-temporal clusters, whereas 2387 were classified as MRSA of unknown origin (MUOs). We also observed marked differences in the proportion of isolates that belonged to geo-temporal clusters between specific multi-locus variable number of tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) clonal complexes, indicating lineage-specific transmissibility. The majority of clustered isolates (74%) were present in multi-institutional clusters.ConclusionThe frequency of MRSA of unknown origin among patients lacking obvious risk factors is an indication of a largely undefined extra-institutional but genetically highly diverse reservoir. Efforts to understand the emergence and spread of high-risk clones require the pooling of routine epidemiological information and typing data into central databases

Cross Border Comparison of MRSA Bacteraemia between The Netherlands and North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany): A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: We describe the impact of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in two neighbouring regions in Europe with a comparable population size, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in Germany and the Netherlands. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We compared the occurrence of MRSA in blood cultures from surveillance systems. In the Netherlands in 2009, 14 of 1,510 (0.9%) Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia episodes under surveillance were MRSA. Extrapolation using the number of clinical admissions results in a total of 29 MRSA bacteraemia episodes in the Netherlands or 1.8 episodes per 1,000,000 inhabitants. In 2010 in NRW, 1,029 MRSA bacteraemias were reported, resulting in 57.6 episodes of MRSA bacteraemia per 1,000,000 inhabitants: a 32-fold higher incidence than in the Netherlands. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Based on an estimated attributable mortality of 15%, the Dutch approach would save approximately 150 lives per year by the prevention of bacteraemia only

The semisynthetic flavonoid monoHER sensitises human soft tissue sarcoma cells to doxorubicin-induced apoptosis via inhibition of nuclear factor-κB

Background:Despite therapeutic advances, the prognosis of patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (STS) remains extremely poor. The results of a recent clinical phase II study, evaluating the protective effects of the semisynthetic flavonoid 7-mono-O-(beta-hydroxyethyl)-rutoside (monoHER) on doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, suggest that monoHER enhances the antitumour activity of doxorubicin in STSs.Methods:To molecularly explain this unexpected finding, we investigated the effect of monoHER on the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin, and the potential involvement of glutathione (GSH) depletion and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) inactivation in the chemosensitising effect of monoHER.Results:MonoHER potentiated the antitumour activity of doxorubicin in the human liposarcoma cell line WLS-160. Moreover, the combination of monoHER with doxorubicin induced more apoptosis in WLS-160 cells compared with doxorubicin alone. MonoHER did not reduce intracellular GSH levels. On the other hand, monoHER pretreatment significantly reduced doxorubicin-induced NF-kappaB activation.Conclusion:These results suggest that reduction of doxorubicin-induced NF-kappaB activation by monoHER, which sensitises cancer cells to apoptosis, is involved in the chemosensitising effect of monoHER in human liposarcoma cells

Relating Differently to Intrusive Images: The Impact of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on Intrusive Images in Patients With Severe Health Anxiety (Hypochondriasis).

Recurrent distressing intrusive images are a common experience in hypochondriasis. The aim of the current study was to assess the impact of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for hypochondriasis on the occurrence and nature of distressing intrusive imagery in hypochondriasis. A semi-structured interview was used to assess intrusive imagery, and an adapted version of the Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire (SMQ) was used to assess participants’ relationship with their intrusive images. A consecutive series of participants (N = 20) who were receiving MBCT for hypochondriasis as part of an ongoing research program were assessed prior to participating in an 8-week MBCT intervention, immediately following the intervention, and at three month follow-up. As compared to the baseline assessment, the frequency of intrusive images, the distress associated with them, and the intrusiveness of the images were all significantly reduced at the post-MBCT assessment. Participants’ adapted SMQ scores were significantly increased following the MBCT intervention, suggesting that participants’ relationship with their intrusive images had changed in that they had developed a more ‘mindful’ and compassionate response to the images when they did occur. Effect sizes from pre- to post-intervention were medium to large (Cohen’s d = 0.75 - 1.50). All treatment gains were maintained at 3 month follow-up. Results suggest that MBCT may be an effective intervention for addressing intrusive imagery in hypochondriasis

Cross-Species Comparison of Genes Related to Nutrient Sensing Mechanisms Expressed along the Intestine

Introduction Intestinal chemosensory receptors and transporters are able to detect food-derived molecules and are involved in the modulation of gut hormone release. Gut hormones play an important role in the regulation of food intake and the control of gastrointestinal functioning. This mechanism is often referred to as “nutrient sensing”. Knowledge of the distribution of chemosensors along the intestinal tract is important to gain insight in nutrient detection and sensing, both pivotal processes for the regulation of food intake. However, most knowledge is derived from rodents, whereas studies in man and pig are limited, and cross-species comparisons are lacking. Aim To characterize and compare intestinal expression patterns of genes related to nutrient sensing in mice, pigs and humans. Methods Mucosal biopsy samples taken at six locations in human intestine (n = 40) were analyzed by qPCR. Intestinal scrapings from 14 locations in pigs (n = 6) and from 10 locations in mice (n = 4) were analyzed by qPCR and microarray, respectively. The gene expression of glucagon, cholecystokinin, peptide YY, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor, taste receptor T1R3, sodium/glucose cotransporter, peptide transporter-1, GPR120, taste receptor T1R1, GPR119 and GPR93 was investigated. Partial least squares (PLS) modeling was used to compare the intestinal expression pattern between the three species. Results and conclusion The studied genes were found to display specific expression patterns along the intestinal tract. PLS analysis showed a high similarity between human, pig and mouse in the expression of genes related to nutrient sensing in the distal ileum, and between human and pig in the colon. The gene expression pattern was most deviating between the species in the proximal intestine. Our results give new insights in interspecies similarities and provide new leads for translational research and models aiming to modulate food intake processes in man