The cause of axial rotation of the scoliotic spine

To explain the cause of axial rotation in a scoliotic vertebral column, the influence of the gravitation force on a spine with a C-scoliosis has been investigated by means of a mechanical model. In this model the gravitation force takes hold of the three-dimensionally curved vertebral column eccentrically. From these reflections it appears that the axial rotation in the scoliotic spine can be explained by the moment distribution caused by this eccentrical gravitation force. The moment distribution, necessary for correction of the spine, is supposed to be opposite to the moments caused by the gravitation force. The moment distribution caused by the Harrington and the Luque spinal correction systems are compared to the calculated optimum correction moments. It appears that the moment distribution for the Harrington and Luque methods, necessary for the correction of the lateral deviation, are almost the same as the calculated correction moments. But the axial rotation appears to be increasing instead of decreasing in both correction systems

The relativistic precession of the orbits

The relativistic precession can be quickly inferred from the nonlinear polar orbit equation without actually solving it.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Entangling power and operator entanglement in qudit systems

We establish the entangling power of a unitary operator on a general finite-dimensional bipartite quantum system with and without ancillas, and give relations between the entangling power based on the von Neumann entropy and the entangling power based on the linear entropy. Significantly, we demonstrate that the entangling power of a general controlled unitary operator acting on two equal-dimensional qudits is proportional to the corresponding operator entanglement if linear entropy is adopted as the quantity representing the degree of entanglement. We discuss the entangling power and operator entanglement of three representative quantum gates on qudits: the SUM, double SUM, and SWAP gates.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Version 3: Figure was improved and the MS was a bit shortene

Kleinschalige bioraffinage in de Achterhoek; een duurzame oplossing voor het mestprobleem

We kampen in Nederland al decennia met een mestprobleem, in feite een mest overschot. In dit rapport worden nieuwe aanpakken van dit probleem voorgesteld, gedeeltelijk gecombineerd met verlaging van mineralen in het voer. De nieuwe aanpak wordt mogelijk indien we er in slagen de efficiëntie van de diervoeders te verbeteren en indien we de belangrijkste componenten van het diervoeder, eiwit en de energie behoefte van de dieren, in Nederland zelf te produceren. Bioraffinage van met name gras en in op termijn ook van mais, is doorslaggevend omdat we daarmee de componenten voor de rundveevoeders kunnen ontsluiten waardoor een hoger rendement wordt bereikt. Door graseiwit in te zetten als varkensvoeder zijn we niet langer afhankelijk van de import van sojaschroot en andere restproducten uit de plantaardige olie verwerkende industrie. Wanneer we deze bioraffinage uitvoeren in kleinschalige fabriekjes, voor de maisraffinage het liefst gekoppeld aan een biogas vergistingsinstallatie, dan kunnen de mineralen die niet voor het dier nodig zijn, direct zonder dure concentreringsbehandelingen naar het agrarische veld terug gebracht worden als bemesting

Entanglement capability of self-inverse Hamiltonian evolution

We determine the entanglement capability of self-inverse Hamiltonian evolution, which reduces to the known result for Ising Hamiltonian, and identify optimal input states for yielding the maximal entanglement rate. We introduce the concept of the operator entanglement rate, and find that the maximal operator entanglement rate gives a lower bound on the entanglement capability of a general Hamiltonian.Comment: 4 pages, no figures. Version 3: small change

Can the Pioneer anomaly be of gravitational origin? A phenomenological answer

In order to satisfy the equivalence principle, any non-conventional mechanism proposed to gravitationally explain the Pioneer anomaly, in the form in which it is presently known from the so-far analyzed Pioneer 10/11 data, cannot leave out of consideration its impact on the motion of the planets of the Solar System as well, especially those orbiting in the regions in which the anomalous behavior of the Pioneer probes manifested itself. In this paper we, first, discuss the residuals of the right ascension \alpha and declination \delta of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto obtained by processing various data sets with different, well established dynamical theories (JPL DE, IAA EPM, VSOP). Second, we use the latest determinations of the perihelion secular advances of some planets in order to put on the test two gravitational mechanisms recently proposed to accommodate the Pioneer anomaly based on two models of modified gravity. Finally, we adopt the ranging data to Voyager 2 when it encountered Uranus and Neptune to perform a further, independent test of the hypothesis that a Pioneer-like acceleration can also affect the motion of the outer planets of the Solar System. The obtained answers are negative.Comment: Latex2e, 26 pages, 6 tables, 2 figure, 47 references. It is the merging of gr-qc/0608127, gr-qc/0608068, gr-qc/0608101 and gr-qc/0611081. Final version to appear in Foundations of Physic

Uitkomsten Mestinnovaties in een notendop

De minister van LNV heeft Wageningen UR verzocht om inzichtelijk te maken welke technische innovaties er mogelijk zijn die aansluiten bij de ontwikkelingen in de markt om tot een betere mestverwerking te komen. De innovaties zijn gericht op het inbreken van de fosfaatkringloop in Nederland

Classification of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia based on miRNA expression profiles

Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease with respect to biology as well as outcome. In this study, we investigated whether known biological subgroups of pediatric AML are reflected by a common microRNA (miRNA) expression pattern. We assayed 665 miRNAs on 165 pediatric AML samples. First, unsupervised clustering was performed to identify patient clusters with common miRNA expression profiles. Our analysis unraveled 14 clusters, seven of which had a known (cyto-)genetic denominator. Finally, a robust classifier was constructed to discriminate six molecular aberration groups: 11q23-rearrangements, t(8;21)(q22;q22), inv(16)(p13q22), t(15;17) (q21;q22), NPM1 and CEBPA mutations. The classifier achieved accuracies of 89%, 95%, 95%, 98%, 91% and 96%, respectively. Although lower sensitivities were obtained for the NPM1 and CEBPA (32% and 66%), relatively high sensitivities (84%-94%) were attained for the rest. Specificity was high in all groups (87%-100%). Due to a robust double-loop cross validation procedure employed, the classifier only employed 47 miRNAs to achieve the aforementioned accuracies. To validate the 47 miRNA signatures, we applied them to a publicly available adult AML dataset. Albeit partial overlap of the array platforms and molecular differences between pediatric and adult AML, the signatures performed reasonably well. This corroborates our claim that the identified miRNA signatures are not dominated by sample size bias in the pediatric AML dataset. In conclusion, cytogenetic subtypes of pediatric AML have distinct miRNA expression patterns. Reproducibility of the miRNA signatures in adult dataset suggests that the respective aberrations have a similar biology both in pediatric and adult AML

Frequency and prognosis of associated malignancies in 504 patients with lymphomatoid papulosis

Background: Lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP) can be associated with other haematological malignancies (HM), but reported percentages vary from 20% to over 50%. Objective: To evaluate the frequency and prognostic significance of associated HM and non-HM in LyP patients. Methods: In this multicentre cohort study, the complete Dutch LyP population was included from the Dutch Cutaneous Lymphoma Registry between 1985 and 2018. Clinical and histopathological information was retrieved from every individual patient. Results: After a median follow-up of 120 months (range, 6–585), an associated HM was observed in 78/504 (15.5%) patients. Most common associated HM were mycosis fungoides (MF; n = 31) and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL; n = 29), while 19 patients had another HM of B-cell (n = 14) or myeloid origin (n = 5). Even after a 25-year follow-up period, percentages of associated HM did not exceed 20%. Thirty-nine of 465 patients (8.4%) without a prior or concurrent associated HM developed an associated HM during follow-up, after a median of 68 months (range of 3–286 months). Nine of 78 patients died of associated HM, including 6/22 patients developing extracutaneous ALCL, while all patients with associated MF or skin-limited ALCL had an excellent prognosis. Compared with the general population, LyP patients showed an increased risk (relative risk, 2.8; 95% confidence intervals, 2.4–3.3) for non-HM, in particular cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma and intestinal/lung/bladder cancer. Conclusions: An associated HM was reported in 15.5% of the LyP patients, particularly MF and ALCL. Although the frequency of associated HM is lower than suggested and the prognosis of most patients with associated HM is excellent, a small subgroup will develop aggressive disease, in particular extracutaneous ALCL. Furthermore, LyP patients have a higher risk of developing other malignancies. Clinicians should be aware of these risks, and LyP patients require close monitoring

Efficiënter gebruik van voedermiddelen en (geïmporteerde) diervoedergrondstoffen : mogelijkheden als grondstoffenbron voor de Biobased Economy

In this study it was estimated that 6.4 out of 35.0 million tons (dry matter) of animal feeds and raw feed materials that are annually available in the Netherlands, can be used as a resource for application in the biobased economy. Biorefinery enables us to extract feed components that cannot be utilized by animals. The challenge is to add value by applying these components in various value chains (cascading)