Ideologie ontmoet economie; Private investeringen in Nederlands bos, natuur en landschap

Meer investeringen van burgers en bedrijven in bos, natuur en landschap. Dat is wat de overheid graag wil. Private investeringen komen echter nauwelijks van de grond, ondanks de vele verschillende initiatieven om deze te stimuleren. De vraag die we ons daarom moeten stellen, is of private financiering überhaupt wel toekomst heeft. Wageningen Universiteit deed daarom onderzoek naar de motieven van verschillende private partijen om wel of niet in bos, natuur en landschap te investeren. Via streekrekening, landschapsveilingen en groene financierin

Monocular and binocular vision in the performance of a complex skill

The goal of this study was to investigate the role of binocular and monocular vision in 16 gymnasts as they perform a handspring on vault. In particular we reasoned, if binocular visual information is eliminated while experts and apprentices perform a handspring on vault, and their performance level changes or is maintained, then such information must or must not be necessary for their best performance. If the elimination of binocular vision leads to differences in gaze behavior in either experts or apprentices, this would answer the question of an adaptive gaze behavior, and thus if this is a function of expertise level or not. Gaze behavior was measured using a portable and wireless eye-tracking system in combination with a movement-analysis system. Results revealed that gaze behavior differed between experts and apprentices in the binocular and monocular conditions. In particular, apprentices showed less fixations of longer duration in the monocular condition as compared to experts and the binocular condition. Apprentices showed longer blink duration than experts in both, the monocular and binocular conditions. Eliminating binocular vision led to a shorter repulsion phase and a longer second flight phase in apprentices. Experts exhibited no differences in phase durations between binocular and monocular conditions. Findings suggest, that experts may not rely on binocular vision when performing handsprings, and movement performance maybe influenced in apprentices when eliminating binocular vision. We conclude that knowledge about gaze-movement relationships may be beneficial for coaches when teaching the handspring on vault in gymnastics

Application of in silico and in vitro methods in the development of adverse outcome pathway constructs in wildlife

There is a long history of using both in silico and in vitro methods to predict adverse effects in humans and environmental species where toxicity data are lacking. Currently, there is a great deal of interest in applying these methods to the development of so-called ‘adverse outcome pathway’ (AOP) constructs. The AOP approach provides a framework for organizing information at the chemical and biological level, allowing evidence from both in silico and in vitro studies to be rationally combined to fill gaps in knowledge concerning toxicological events. Fundamental to this new paradigm is a greater understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity and, in particular, where these mechanisms may be conserved across taxa, such as between model animals and related wild species. This presents an opportunity to make predictions across diverse species, where empirical data are unlikely to become available as is the case for most species of wildlife

Real-time monitoring of metabolic function in liver-on-chip microdevices tracks the dynamics of mitochondrial dysfunction

Microfluidic organ-on-a-chip technology aims to replace animal toxicity testing, but thus far has demonstrated few advantages over traditional methods. Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a critical role in the development of chemical and pharmaceutical toxicity, as well as pluripotency and disease processes. However, current methods to evaluate mitochondrial activity still rely on end-point assays, resulting in limited kinetic and prognostic information. Here, we present a liver-on-chip device capable of maintaining human tissue for over a month in vitro under physiological conditions. Mitochondrial respiration was monitored in real time using two-frequency phase modulation of tissue-embedded phosphorescent microprobes. A computer-controlled microfluidic switchboard allowed contiguous electrochemical measurements of glucose and lactate, providing real-time analysis of minute shifts from oxidative phosphorylation to anaerobic glycolysis, an early indication of mitochondrial stress. We quantify the dynamics of cellular adaptation to mitochondrial damage and the resulting redistribution of ATP production during rotenone-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and troglitazone (Rezulin)-induced mitochondrial stress. We show troglitazone shifts metabolic fluxes at concentrations previously regarded as safe, suggesting a mechanism for its observed idiosyncratic effect. Our microfluidic platform reveals the dynamics and strategies of cellular adaptation to mitochondrial damage, a unique advantage of organ-on-chip technology

Short-Term Effects of Elastic Taping on Dancer's Postural Control Performance

It was explored whether three different applications of elastic tape on the lower limbs of active, healthy dancers influence their postural control performance. 15 active, healthy dancers randomly performed demi-pointes and sissone ouvertes on a force platform in four experimental conditions: 1. no tape application, 2. ankle joint tape application, 3. leg muscle tape application, and 4. control tape application. Four kinetic parameters were calculated in order to represent postural control performance: 1) variable error of force magnitude in forward-backward direction, 2) variable error of force magnitude in side to side direction. 3) peak impact force during landing phase and 4) episodes of overall duration. Results revealed a task-dependent performance-enhancing effect and an application-specific performance-influencing effect concerning vertical ground reaction force measurements. It is concluded that the application of elastic tape for healthy, active dancers may on the one hand enhance parameters of postural control, whereas the same elastic tape application may hamper other performance related aspects of typical modern and classical ballet dance routines. Conflicting scientific results may thus indicate that generalized effects are controversial and positive influences in one specific characteristic can induce a decrease in another performance influencing characteristic

Proposal of an in silico profiler for categorisation of repeat dose toxicity data of hair dyes

This study outlines the analysis of repeat dose toxicity data taken from Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) opinions for commonly used hair dyes in the European Union. Structural similarity was applied to group these chemicals into categories. Subsequent mechanistic analysis suggested that toxicity to mitochondria is potentially a key driver of repeat dose toxicity for chemicals within each of the categories. The mechanistic hypothesis allowed for an in silico profiler consisting of mechanism-based structural alerts to be proposed. This in silico profiler is intended for grouping chemicals into mechanism-based categories within the Adverse Outcome Pathway paradigm

Nifedipine-Induced Changes in the Electrohysterogram of Preterm Contractions: Feasibility in Clinical Practice

Objective. Evaluating changes in the power spectral density (PSD) peak frequency of the electrohysterogram (EHG) caused by nifedipine in women with preterm contractions. Methods. Calculation of the PSD peak frequency in EHG contraction bursts at different times of nifedipine treatment in women in gestational age 24 to 32 weeks with contractions. Results. A significant (P < .05) decrease of PSD peak frequency between EHG signals measured before and 15 minutes after administration of nifedipine. A significant (P < .05) decrease in PSD peak frequency comparing signals recorded within 24 hours after administration of nifedipine to signals 1 day after tocolytic treatment. A higher average PSD peak frequency for patients delivering within 1 week than that for patients delivering after 1 week from nifedipine treatment (P > .05). Conclusions. EHG signal analysis has great potential for quantitative monitoring of uterine contractions. Treatment with nifedipine leads to a shift to lower PSD peak frequency in the EHG signal

Worldwide biogenic soil NOx emissions inferred from OMI NO2 observations

Biogenic NOx emissions from soils are a large natural source with substantial uncertainties in global bottom-up estimates (ranging from 4 to 15 Tg N yr-1). We reduce this range in emission estimates, and present a top-down soil NOx emission inventory for 2005 based on retrieved tropospheric NO2 columns from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We use a state-of-science soil NOx emission inventory (Hudman et al., 2012) as a priori in the GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model to identify 11 regions where tropospheric NO2 columns are dominated by soil NOx emissions. Strong correlations between soil NOx emissions and simulated NO2 columns indicate that spatial patterns in simulated NO2 columns in these regions indeed reflect the underlying soil NOx emissions. Subsequently, we use a mass-balance approach to constrain emissions for these 11 regions on all major continents using OMI observed and GEOS-Chem simulated tropospheric NO2 columns. We find that responses of simulated NO2 columns to changing NOx emissions are suppressed over low NOx regions, and account for these non-linearities in our inversion approach. In general, our approach suggests that emissions need to be increased in most regions. Our OMI top-down soil NOx inventory amounts to 10.0 Tg N for 2005 when only constraining the 11 regions, and 12.9 Tg N when extrapolating the constraints globally. Substantial regional differences exist (ranging from -40% to +90%), and globally our top-down inventory is 4–35% higher than the GEOS-Chem a priori (9.6 Tg N yr-1). We evaluate NO2 concentrations simulated with our new OMI top-down inventory against surface NO2 measurements from monitoring stations in Africa, the USA and Europe. Although this comparison is complicated by several factors, we find an encouraging improved agreement when using the OMI top-down inventory compared to using the a priori inventory. To our knowledge, this study provides, for the first time, specific constraints on soil NOx emissions on all major continents using OMI NO2 columns. Our results rule out the low end of reported soil NOx emission estimates, and suggest that global emissions are most likely around 12.9 ± 3.9 Tg N yr-1

Comparison of base-line and chemical-induced transcriptomic responses in HepaRG and RPTEC/TERT1 cells using TempO-Seq

The utilisation of genome-wide transcriptomics has played a pivotal role in advancing the field of toxicology, allowing the mapping of transcriptional signatures to chemical exposures. These activities have uncovered several transcriptionally regulated pathways that can be utilised for assessing the perturbation impact of a chemical and also the identification of toxic mode of action. However, current transcriptomic platforms are not very amenable to high-throughput workflows due to, high cost, complexities in sample preparation and relatively complex bioinformatic analysis. Thus, transcriptomic investigations are usually limited in dose and time dimensions and are, therefore, not optimal for implementation in risk assessment workflows. In this study, we investigated a new cost-effective, transcriptomic assay, TempO-Seq, which alleviates the aforementioned limitations. This technique was evaluated in a 6-compound screen, utilising differentiated kidney (RPTEC/TERT1) and liver (HepaRG) cells and compared to non-transcriptomic label-free sensitive endpoints of chemical-induced disturbances, namely phase contrast morphology, xCELLigence and glycolysis. Non-proliferating cell monolayers were exposed to six sub-lethal concentrations of each compound for 24 h. The results show that utilising a 2839 gene panel, it is possible to discriminate basal tissue-specific signatures, generate dose-response relationships and to discriminate compound-specific and cell type-specific responses. This study also reiterates previous findings that chemical-induced transcriptomic alterations occur prior to cytotoxicity and that transcriptomics provides in depth mechanistic information of the effects of chemicals on cellular transcriptional responses. TempO-Seq is a robust transcriptomic platform that is well suited for in vitro toxicity experiments.Horizon 2020(H2020)68100