Een archeologische evaluatie en waardering van houtskoolmeilers in het Zoerselbos (Zoersel, provincie Antwerpen)

Dit waarderend onderzoek van de restanten van houtskoolmeilers in het Zoerselbos biedt een historische en archeologische onderbouwing voor het behoud van dit bijzondere erfgoed. Naast het Grotenhout (Gierle) en het s Herenbos (Malle) is het Zoerselbos één van de weinige oudboskernen in het Kempisch district. Het behoort tot de meest waardevolle en belangrijke bosgebieden in Vlaanderen. Het gebied is beschermd als landschap en maakt deel uit van een ankerplaats. Bovenop vroeger onderzoek naar o.a. de ecohydrologie en biotoopkarteringen, die naast bijzondere ecologische elementen ook al cultuurhistorische elementen opnamen zoals houtskoolmeilers, ijskelders, mottes, laagovens, biedt dit interdisciplinaire onderzoeksproject op basis van archiefmateriaal, natuurhistorische waarden en landschappelijke relicten een beter beeld van dit oude bos als historisch (gebruikt) landschap. Concreet levert het archeologisch en paleo-ecologisch terreinonderzoek inzicht in het aantal, de ligging, het type, de opbouw en de bijhorende structuren, de omvang, de gebruikte houtsoorten, de ouderdom, de diachronische ontwikkeling, de seizoenaliteit en het hergebruik van de historische houtskoolmeilers in Zoerselbos. Restanten van houtskoolmeilers vormen historisch erfgoed dat buiten de oude bosgebieden door grondbewerking volledig verdwenen is. Het onderzoek in Zoerselbos toonde ook aan hoe weinig er van deze houtskoolmeilers gekend is. Het rapport besluit met een concreet beschermingsvoorstel en met aanbevelingen voor verder onderzoek en beheer van deze relicten

Hypertrophic abductor hallucis muscle with nerve compression syndrome

A 13-year-old girl presented with a soft tissue swelling at the posteromedial side of the foot. This swelling had been present since birth but recently started to cause discomfort and radiating pain to the plantar aspect of the first and second toes. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a soft tissue mass (2,6 x 3,7 x 13 centimetres) at the posteromedial side of the foot with signal-intensity similar to the intensity of muscle tissue on all the different sequences. There was no pathological contrast enhancement. Anatomically this mass was located at the abductor hallucis muscle (AH), representing a prominence or hypertrophy of the abductor hallucis muscle (Fig A). The diagnosis was made of a hypertrofic abductor hallucis muscle with narrowing the space for the medial plantar branches of the tibial nerve (circle) at the crossover between the flexor hallucis longus and flexor digitorum longus tendons (arrow), the quadratus plantae muscle (QP) and flexor digitorum brevis muscle (FDB) (Fig B). Example of a normal fibromuscular tunnel (Fig. C). Our patient was treated conservatively first and referred to a foot surgeon

Schwannoma of the seminal vesicle

A 61-year -old male presented with a five month history of atypical left lower quadrant abdominal discomfort. There was no relevant past medical history and routine laboratory tests and physical examination were unremarkable. Work up included an abdominal CT of the lower abdomen. It revealed a well-delineated left intrapelvic soft tissue mass with some low attenuation areas, indistinguishable of the left seminal vesicle (Fig. A). He subsequently underwent a MRI of the pelvis. Axial T2-weighted MRI (Fig. B) demonstrated a well encapsulated mass, indistinguishable of the left seminal vesicle and a normal appearance of the right seminal vesicle. Coronal T1-weighted MRI (Fig. C) with fat saturation after the injection of intravenous gadolinium revealed the avid contrast uptake of the lesion with a small non-enhancing cystic component. It also depicted the extrinsic compression of the mass on the sigmoid colon and rectum

Sinus venosus ASD

A 32-year-old man presented at the cardiology department for a routine check-up. He had no symptoms, particularly no cardio - logical symptoms. Clinical examination and ECG revealed no abnormalities. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a mild dilatation of the right heart

Work-related physical strain and development of joint inflammation in the trajectory of emerging inflammatory and rheumatoid arthritis:a prospective cohort study

Objectives:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) mainly affects small joints. Despite the mechanical function of joints, the role of mechanical stress in the development of arthritis is insufficiently understood. We hypothesised that mechanical stress/physical strain is a risk factor for joint inflammation in RA. Therefore, we studied work-related physical strain in subjects with clinically suspected arthralgia (CSA) as a risk factor for the presence of imaging-detected subclinical joint inflammation and the development of clinical arthritis/RA. Methods: In 501 CSA patients and 155 symptom-free persons’ occupation-related physical strain was quantified using the International Standard Classification of Occupations. Contrast-enhanced hand-MRIs were made and evaluated for joint inflammation (sum of synovitis/tenosynovitis/osteitis). CSA patients were followed on RA development. Age relationship was studied using an interaction term of physical strain with age. Results: The degree of physical strain in CSA is associated with the severity of joint inflammation, independent of educational-level/BMI/smoking (interaction physical strain-age p=0.007; indicating a stronger association with increasing age). Physical strain is associated with higher tenosynovitis scores, in particular. In symptom-free persons, physical strain was not associated with imaging-detected joint inflammation. Higher degrees of physical strain also associated with higher risks for RA development in an age-dependent manner (HR=1.20 (1.06–1.37)/10-year increase in age), independent of educational-level/BMI/smoking. This association was partly mediated by an effect via subclinical joint inflammation. Conclusions:Work-related physical strain increases the risk of subclinical joint inflammation and of developing RA. The age relationship suggests an effect of long-term stress or that tenosynovium is more sensitive to stress at older age. Together, the data indicate that mechanical stress contributes to the development of arthritis in RA.</p

Left ventricular diverticulum: incidental finding on dual source cardiac ct

The purpose of this retrospective study is to describe the prevalence, size and location of left ventricular (LV) diverticulum- diverticuli on cardiac dual source CT. Dual source computed tomography cardiac angiography (DS CTCA) was performed in 482 patients. Where literature states their rare occurrence, this retrospective study demonstrates the fairly common finding of incidental LV diverticulum on DS CTCA examinations. LV diverticuli were found incidentally in 20 out of 482 patients (4.1%), a substantially higher incidence than previously reported. Although diverticuli were most common along the inferoseptal wall (45%) they also occurred in all parts of the left ventricular wall. Multiple diverticuli were found in 30% of patients. Dimensions of the LV diverticuli varied enormously. LV diverticuli are reported to be frequently associated with other congenital anomalies. Complications ranging from sudden death and heart failure to embolic events have been described in literature. No relevant associated anomaly or complication was present in the studied 20 patients. Our data support the hypothesis that LV diverticuli, incidentally found in adulthood, follow a benign course and can be managed conservatively. More knowledge is however required to understand history and prognosis about this condition

Toward Detecting Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Planetary Objects with ORIGIN

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are found on various planetary surfaces in the solar system. They are proposed to play a role in the emergence of life, as molecules that are important for biological processes could be derived from them. In this work, four PAHs (pyrene, perylene, anthracene, and coronene) were measured using the ORganics Information Gathering INstrument system (ORIGIN), a lightweight laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometer designed for space exploration missions. In this contribution, we demonstrate the current measurement capabilities of ORIGIN in detecting PAHs at different concentrations and applied laser pulse energies. Furthermore, we show that chemical processing of the PAHs during measurement is limited and that the parent mass can be detected in the majority of cases. The instrument achieves a 3σ detection limit in the order of femtomol mm−2 for all four PAHs, with the possibility of further increasing this sensitivity. This work illustrates the potential of ORIGIN as an instrument for the detection of molecules important for the emergence or presence of life, especially when viewed in combination with previous results by the instrument, such as the identification of amino acids. ORIGIN could be used on a lander or rover platform for future in situ missions to targets in the solar system, such as the icy moons of Jupiter or Saturn

Characterization of novel components of the baculovirus per os infectivity factor complex

Baculovirus occlusion-derived virus (ODV) infects insect midgut cells under alkaline conditions, a process mediated by highly conserved per os infectivity factors (PIFs), P74 (PIF0), PIF1, PIF2, PIF3, PIF4, and PIF5 (ODV-E56). Previously, a multimolecular complex composed of PIF1, PIF2, PIF3, and P74 was identified which was proposed to play an essential role during ODV entry. Recently, more proteins have been identified that play important roles in ODV oral infectivity, including PIF4, PIF5, and SF58, which might work in concert with previously known PIFs to facilitate ODV infection. In order to understand the ODV entry mechanism, the identification of all components of the PIF complex is crucial. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify additional components of the PIF complex. Coimmunoprecipitation (CoIP) combined with proteomic analysis was used to identify the components of the Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) PIF complex. PIF4 and P95 (AC83) were identified as components of the PIF complex while PIF5 was not, and this was confirmed with blue native PAGE and a second CoIP. Deletion of the pif4 gene impaired complex formation, but deletion of pif5 did not. Differentially denaturing SDS-PAGE further revealed that PIF4 forms a stable complex with PIF1, PIF2, and PIF3. P95 and P74 are more loosely associated with this complex. Three other proteins, AC5, AC68, and AC108 (homologue of SF58), were also found by the proteomic analysis to be associated with the PIF complex. Finally the functional significance of the PIF protein interactions is discussed

Disentangling the lipid divide: Identification of key enzymes for the biosynthesis of membrane-spanning and ether lipids in Bacteria

Bacterial membranes are composed of fatty acids (FAs) ester-linked to glycerol-3-phosphate, while archaea have membranes made of isoprenoid chains ether-linked to glycerol-1-phosphate. Many archaeal species organize their membrane as a monolayer of membrane-spanning lipids (MSLs). Exceptions to this “lipid divide” are the production by some bacterial species of (ether-bound) MSLs, formed by tail-to-tail condensation of FAs resulting in the formation of (iso) diabolic acids (DAs), which are the likely precursors of paleoclimatological relevant branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether molecules. However, the enzymes responsible for their production are unknown. Here, we report the discovery of bacterial enzymes responsible for the condensation reaction of FAs and for ether bond formation and confirm that the building blocks of iso-DA are branched iso-FAs. Phylogenomic analyses of the key biosynthetic genes reveal a much wider diversity of potential MSL (ether)–producing bacteria than previously thought, with importantt implications for our understanding of the evolution of lipid membranes