Kennis- en innovatieagenda : creatieve industrie 2018-2021

De creatieve industrie versterkt het innovatievermogen van Nederland. Met haar innovatie- en verbeeldingskracht kan zij mensen verbinden, in beweging krijgen en vertrouwen geven in de wereld van morgen. De sector is een onmisbare schakel in het geven van antwoorden op grote maatschappelijke vraagstukken en het bieden van een zinvolle betekenis aan nieuwe technologische mogelijkheden. Om deze impact te realiseren, maakt de creatieve professional gebruik van een kennisbasis van Key Enabling Methodologies; strategieën, methoden en modellen die structuur geven aan het creatieve proces en deze valideren. In deze methodologieën stelt de professional de mens centraal en is hij in staat om nieuwe werelden en visies te verbeelden en technologieën en actoren uit verschillende hoeken bij elkaar te brengen. De samenleving is het speelveld van de creatieve professional. In deze tijd, waarin transities in de maatschappij gaande zijn, verandert de manier waarop de professional werkt en samenwerkt. De rol van de creatieve professional is meer fluïde dan voorheen. Tegelijkertijd wordt er meer verwacht van de onderbouwing van ontwikkelde interventies en neemt de complexiteit van vraagstukken en oplossingen toe. Om de creatieve professional hierin te ondersteunen, is samenwerking tussen creatieve industrie en kennisinstellingen cruciaal

The synergistic neurotoxins of palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer L.) flour

Palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer L.) is consumed in various forms in different parts of Sri Lanka. Although a neurotoxic syndrome had been described in rats it is being consumed by humans. However, the chemical nature of the neurotoxin is unknown. Thus the objective of the present study was to determine the neurotoxic principle using palmyrah seed shoot and bioactivity directed separations. Two primary amines were isolated. These were not toxic individually but toxic when given together showing synergism. Studies of the amines by 1H NMR and 13C-NMR showed a steroidal aglycone (spirostane) linked to a carbohydrate moiety containing three a-rhamnosyl residues and a b-pyranosyl residue. Comparison with known spectral data showed that the b-pyranosyl is likely to be a β-glucosaminosyl which is probably in position 6 of glucose in one compound and most likely to be in the position 3 of glucose in the other. Synergism appears to be at two levels (i.e. at the absorption level) where the high content of neutral saponins present appears to be needed to facilitate absorption of the cationic toxin and at the point of action. The synergistic mechanism of the toxic amines remains to be explained

Psoas abscess: report of a series and review of the literature

We describe a series of twelve patients with a psoas abscess seen in a three-year period in a university hospital and a large teaching hospital in the Netherlands. In our series, five of the 12 patients had a primary psoas abscess. The predisposing conditions were intravenous drug use, diabetes mellitus, prostate carcinoma and haematoma in the psoas muscle in a patient with haemophilia A. Seven of the 12 patients had a secondary psoas abscess. Five cases were due to vertebral osteomyelitis including two cases of tuberculosis. In the other two cases it was due to colitis and urinary tract infection. It is remarkable that in our series there was only one patient with a psoas abscess secondary to a disease of the digestive tract, while this is the most common cause of a secondary psoas abscess in the literature. There were two cases of tuberculosis which is an emerging disease again

Adoption of smart structures for prevention of health hazards in buildings

Abstract: The importance of building quality to the health and well-being of occupants and surrounding neighbors cannot be overemphasized. Smart structures were construed to proffer solution to various issues of sustainable development including social factors that is concerned with health and safety of people. Based on existing literature materials on building quality, smart structures and general aspect of sustainable developments, this study examined the benefits of smart structures in the prevention of various health issues in infrastructural buildings, which has been a concern for stakeholders in the architecture, engineering and construction industry. The criterion for indoor environmental quality was adopted and various health and bodily issues related to building quality were explained. The adoption of smart structure concept will help to manage physical, chemical, biological and psychological factors of building with a view to enhancing better quality of life of occupants

With a Little Help from My Friends: Peer Coaching for Refugee Adolescents and the Role of Social Media

This intervention study investigated how much impact a specific peer-coaching (Peer2Peer) for refugee adolescents has on different factors of well-being for both sides: refugee adolescents (peers, N = 16) and their local peer coaches (buddies, N = 16). Next to pre- and post-tests, four buddies reflected on the process via weekly media diaries. We found that higher peer-loneliness and lower self-esteem was reported for peers in the beginning but these differences disappeared. These results were confirmed by buddies’ media diaries: lang

Interlaboratory comparison of sample preparation methods, database expansions, and cutoff values for identification of yeasts by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry using a yeast test panel

An interlaboratory study using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to determine the identification of clinically important yeasts (n35) was performed at 11 clinical centers, one company, and one reference center using the Bruker Daltonics MALDI Biotyper system. The optimal cutoff for the MALDI-TOF MS score was investigated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. The percentages of correct identifications were compared for different sample preparation methods and different databases. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the association between the number of spectra in the database and the percentage of strains that were correctly identified. A total of 5,460 MALDI-TOF MS results were obtained. Using all results, the area under the ROC curve was 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94 to 0.96). With a sensitivity of 0.84 and a specificity of 0.97, a cutoff value of 1.7 was considered optimal. The overall percentage of correct identifications (formic acid-ethanol extraction method, score>1.7) was 61.5% when the commercial Bruker Daltonics database (BDAL) was used, and it increased to 86.8% by using an extended BDAL supplemented with a Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (CBS)-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre in-house database (BDALCBS in-house). A greater number of main spectra (MSP) in the database was associated with a higher percentage of correct identifications (odds ratio [OR], 1.10; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.15; P<0.01). The results from the direct transfer method ranged from 0% to 82.9% correct identifications, with the results of the top four centers ranging from 71.4% to 82.9% correct identifications. This study supports the use of a cutoff value of 1.7 for the identification of yeasts using MALDI-TOF MS. The inclusion of enough isolates of the same species in the database can enhance the proportion of correctly identified strains. Further optimization of the preparation methods, especially of the direct transfer method, may contribute to improved diagnosis of yeast-related infections