A plea to implement robustness into a breeding goal: poultry as an example

The combination of breeding for increased production and the intensification of housing conditions have resulted in increased occurrence of behavioral, physiological, and immunological disorders. These disorders affect health and welfare of production animals negatively. For future livestock systems, it is important to consider how to manage and breed production animals. In this paper, we will focus on selective breeding of laying hens. Selective breeding should not only be defined in terms of production, but should also include traits related to animal health and welfare. For this we like to introduce the concept of robustness. The concept of robustness includes individual traits of an animal that are relevant for health and welfare. Improving robustness by selective breeding will increase (or restore) the ability of animals to interact successfully with the environment and thereby to make them more able to adapt to an appropriate husbandry system. Application of robustness into a breeding goal will result in animals with improved health and welfare without affecting their integrity. Therefore, in order to be ethically acceptable, selective breeding in animal production should accept robustness as a breeding goa

Patient participation in treatment decision-making in the last phase of life: Preferences, experiences and daily practice

Philipsen, B.D. [Promotor]Widdershoven, G.A.M. [Promotor]Pasman, H.R.W. [Copromotor

Magnetic dipolar ordering and relaxation in the high-spin molecular cluster compound Mn6

Few examples of magnetic systems displaying a transition to pure dipolar magnetic order are known to date, and single-molecule magnets can provide an interesting example. The molecular cluster spins and thus their dipolar interaction energy can be quite high, leading to reasonably accessible ordering temperatures, provided the crystal field anisotropy is sufficiently small. This condition can be met for molecular clusters of sufficiently high symmetry, as for the Mn6 compound studied here. Magnetic specific heat and susceptibility experiments show a transition to ferromagnetic dipolar order at T_{c} = 0.16 K. Classical Monte-Carlo calculations indeed predict ferromagnetic ordering and account for the correct value of T_{c}. In high magnetic fields we detected the contribution of the ^{55}Mn nuclei to the specific heat, and the characteristic timescale of nuclear relaxation. This was compared with results obtained directly from pulse-NMR experiments. The data are in good mutual agreement and can be well described by the theory for magnetic relaxation in highly polarized paramagnetic crystals and for dynamic nuclear polarization, which we extensively review. The experiments provide an interesting comparison with the recently investigated nuclear spin dynamics in the anisotropic single molecule magnet Mn12-ac.Comment: 19 pages, 11 eps figures. Contains extensive discussions on dipolar ordering, specific heat and nuclear relaxation in molecular magnet

Superconductivity in a Molecular Metal Cluster Compound

Compelling evidence for band-type conductivity and even bulk superconductivity below $T\_{\text{c}}\approx 8$ K has been found in $^{69,71}$Ga-NMR experiments in crystalline ordered, giant Ga$\_{84}$ cluster-compounds. This material appears to represent the first realization of a theoretical model proposed by Friedel in 1992 for superconductivity in ordered arrays of weakly coupled, identical metal nanoparticles.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Density of states and magnetoconductance of disordered Au point contacts

We report the first low temperature magnetotransport measurements on electrochemically fabricated atomic scale gold nanojunctions. As $T \to 0$, the junctions exhibit nonperturbatively large zero bias anomalies (ZBAs) in their differential conductance. We consider several explanations and find that the ZBAs are consistent with a reduced local density of states (LDOS) in the disordered metal. We suggest that this is a result of Coulomb interactions in a granular metal with moderate intergrain coupling. Magnetoconductance of atomic scale junctions also differs significantly from that of less geometrically constrained devices, and supports this explanation.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. Accepted to PRB as Brief Repor

Social consequences of advanced cancer in patients and their informal caregivers:A qualitative study

Purpose Cancer threatens the social well-being of patients and their informal caregivers. Social life is even more profoundly affected in advanced diseases, but research on social consequences of advanced cancer is scarce. This study aims to explore social consequences of advanced cancer as experienced by patients and their informal caregivers. Methods Seven focus groups and seven in-depth semi-structured interviews with patients (n = 18) suffering from advanced cancer and their informal caregivers (n = 15) were conducted. Audiotapes were transcribed verbatim and open coded using a thematic analysis approach. Results Social consequences were categorized in three themes: "social engagement," "social identity," and "social network." Regarding social engagement, patients and informal caregivers said that they strive for normality by continuing their life as prior to the diagnosis, but experienced barriers in doing so. Regarding social identity, patients and informal caregivers reported feelings of social isolation. The social network became more transparent, and the value of social relations had increased since the diagnosis. Many experienced positive and negative shifts in the quantity and quality of their social relations. Conclusion Social consequences of advanced cancer are substantial. There appears to be a great risk of social isolation in which responses from social relations play an important role. Empowering patients and informal caregivers to discuss their experienced social consequences is beneficial. Creating awareness among healthcare professionals is essential as they provide social support and anticipate on social problems. Finally, educating social relations regarding the impact of advanced cancer and effective support methods may empower social support systems and reduce feelings of isolation

Exendin-4 analogs in insulinoma theranostics

Contains fulltext : 209104.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Insulinomas, neuroendocrine tumors arising from pancreatic beta cells, often show overexpression of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor. Therefore, imaging with glucagon-like peptide analog exendin-4 can be used for diagnosis and preoperative localization. This review presents an overview of the development and clinical implementation of exendin-based tracers for nuclear imaging, and the potential use of exendin-4 based tracers for optical imaging and therapeutic applications such as peptide receptor radionuclide therapy or targeted photodynamic therapy

Shot noise suppression at room temperature in atomic-scale Au junctions

Shot noise encodes additional information not directly inferable from simple electronic transport measurements. Previous measurements in atomic-scale metal junctions at cryogenic temperatures have shown suppression of the shot noise at particular conductance values. This suppression demonstrates that transport in these structures proceeds via discrete quantum channels. Using a high frequency technique, we simultaneously acquire noise data and conductance histograms in Au junctions at room temperature and ambient conditions. We observe noise suppression at up to three conductance quanta, with possible indications of current-induced local heating and $1/f$ noise in the contact region at high biases. These measurements demonstrate the quantum character of transport at room temperature at the atomic scale. This technique provides an additional tool for studying dissipation and correlations in nanodevices.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures + supporting information (6 pages, 6 figures

Direct link between Coulomb blockade and shot noise in a quantum coherent structure

We analyze the current-voltage characteristic of a quantum conduction channel coupled to an electromagnetic environment of arbitrary frequency-dependent impedance. In the weak blockade regime the correction to the ohmic behavior is directly related to the channel current fluctuations vanishing at perfect transmission in the same way as shot noise. This relation can be generalized to describe the environmental Coulomb blockade in a generic mesoscopic conductor coupled to an external impedance, as the response of the latter to the current fluctuations in the former.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let