"Meer of minder gebruiksgrammatica? Een vergelijking van de ANS met ""Quirk""."

Wetensch. publicatieFaculteit der Lettere

Use of infrared thermography in the detection of superficial phlebitis in adult intensive care unit patients:A prospective single-center observational study

Common methods to detect phlebitis may not be sufficient for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). The goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of infrared (IR) thermography to objectively detect phlebitis in adult ICU patients. We included a total of 128 adult ICU-patients in a pilot and subsequent validation study. Median [interquartile range] age was 62 [54-71] years and 88 (69%) patients were male. Severity of phlebitis was scored using the visual infusion phlebitis (VIP)-score, ranging from 0 (no phlebitis) to 5 (thrombophlebitis). The temperature difference (ΔT) between the insertion site and a proximal reference point was measured with IR thermography. In 78 (34%) catheters early phlebitis and onset of moderate phlebitis was observed (VIP-score of 1-3). In both the pilot and the validation study groups ΔT was significantly higher when the VIP-score was ≥1 compared to a VIP-score of 0 (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis identified ΔT (p<0.001) and peripheral venous catheter (PVC) dwell time (p = 0.001) as significantly associated with phlebitis. IR thermography may be a promising technique to identify phlebitis in the ICU. An increased ΔT as determined with thermography may be a risk factor for phlebitis

Cost-utility of a visiting service for older widowed individuals: Randomised trial

Background. Despite a growing understanding of the effectiveness of bereavement interventions and the groups that benefit most from them, we know little about the cost-effectiveness of bereavement interventions. Methods. We conducted a cost-utility analysis alongside a randomized clinical trial on a visiting service for older widowed individuals (n = 110) versus care as usual (CAU; n = 106). The visiting service is a selective bereavement intervention that offers social support to lonely widows and widowers by a trained volunteer. Participants were contacted 6-9 months post-loss. Eleven percent of all contacted persons responded and eight percent participated in the trial. The primary outcome measure was quality adjusted life years (QALYs) gained (assessed with the EQ-5D), which is a generic measure of health status. Costs were calculated from a societal perspective excluding costs arising from productivity losses. Using the bootstrap method, we obtained the incremental cost utility ratio (ICUR), projected these on a cost-utility plane and presented as an acceptability curve. Results. Overall, the experimental group demonstrated slightly better results against slightly higher costs. Whether the visiting service is acceptable depends on the willingness to pay: at a willingness to pay equal to zero per QALY gained, the visiting service has a probability of 31% of being acceptable; beyond €20,000, the visiting service has a probability of 70% of being more acceptable than CAU. Conclusion. Selective bereavement interventions like the visiting service will not produce large benefits from the health economic point of view, when targeted towards the entire population of all widowed individuals. We recommend that in depth analyses are conducted to identify who benefits most from this kind of interventions, and in what subgroups the incremental cost-utility is best. In the future bereavement interventions are then best directed to these groups. Trial registration. Controlled trials ISRCTN17508307. © 2008 Onrust et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Conserved residues in the δ subunit help the E. coli clamp loader, γ complex, target primer-template DNA for clamp assembly

The Escherichia coli clamp loader, γ complex (γ3δδ′λψ), catalyzes ATP-driven assembly of β clamps onto primer-template DNA (p/tDNA), enabling processive replication. The mechanism by which γ complex targets p/tDNA for clamp assembly is not resolved. According to previous studies, charged/polar amino acids inside the clamp loader chamber interact with the double-stranded (ds) portion of p/tDNA. We find that dsDNA, not ssDNA, can trigger a burst of ATP hydrolysis by γ complex and clamp assembly, but only at far higher concentrations than p/tDNA. Thus, contact between γ complex and dsDNA is necessary and sufficient, but not optimal, for the reaction, and additional contacts with p/tDNA likely facilitate its selection as the optimal substrate for clamp assembly. We investigated whether a conserved sequence—HRVW279QNRR—in δ subunit contributes to such interactions, since Tryptophan-279 specifically cross-links to the primer-template junction. Mutation of δ-W279 weakens γ complex binding to p/tDNA, hampering its ability to load clamps and promote proccessive DNA replication, and additional mutations in the sequence (δ-R277, δ-R283) worsen the interaction. These data reveal a novel location in the C-terminal domain of the E. coli clamp loader that contributes to DNA binding and helps define p/tDNA as the preferred substrate for the reaction

Changing the classroom climate to lower the threshold for child abuse and neglect self-disclosure: a non-randomized cluster controlled trial

Health and self-regulatio

Earthworm activity and availability for meadow birds is restricted in intensively managed grasslands

Earthworms are an important prey for the endangered meadow birds of northwest Europe. Although intensive grassland management with high manure inputs generally promotes earthworm abundance, it may reduce the effective food availability for meadow birds through desiccation of the topsoil, which causes earthworms to remain deeper in the soil. We studied the response of Red Worm Lumbricus rubellus, a detritivore, and Grey Worm Aporrectodea caliginosa, a geophage, to soil moisture profiles in the field and under experimental conditions. Surfacing earthworms were counted weekly in eight intensively managed grasslands (treated with high inputs of slurry by slit injection) with variable groundwater tables in the Netherlands. At each count, soil penetration resistance, soil moisture tension and groundwater level were measured, while air temperature and humidity were obtained from a nearby weather station. The response to variation in the vertical distribution of soil moisture was also experimentally studied in the two earthworm species. In the field, earthworms’ surfacing activity at night was negatively associated with soil moisture tension and positively by relative air humidity. Surprisingly, there was no effect of groundwater level; an important management variable in meadow bird conservation. Under experimental conditions, both L. rubellus and A. caliginosa moved to deeper soil layers (&gt;20 cm) in drier soil moisture treatments, avoiding the upper layer when moisture levels dropped below 30%. Synthesis and applications. We propose that in intensively managed grasslands with slurry application, topsoil desiccation reduces earthworm availability for meadow birds. This can be counteracted by keeping soil moisture tensions of the top soil above −15 kPa. We suggest that the late raising of groundwater tables in spring and the disturbance of the soil by slit injection of slurry increase topsoil desiccation. This decreases earthworm availability when it matters most for breeding meadow birds. Meadow bird conservation will benefit from revised manure application strategies that promote earthworm activity near or at the soil surface.</p

Evolutionary Trace Annotation Server: automated enzyme function prediction in protein structures using 3D templates

Summary:The Evolutionary Trace Annotation (ETA) Server predicts enzymatic activity. ETA starts with a structure of unknown function, such as those from structural genomics, and with no prior knowledge of its mechanism uses the phylogenetic Evolutionary Trace (ET) method to extract key functional residues and propose a function-associated 3D motif, called a 3D template. ETA then searches previously annotated structures for geometric template matches that suggest molecular and thus functional mimicry. In order to maximize the predictive value of these matches, ETA next applies distinctive specificity filters—evolutionary similarity, function plurality and match reciprocity. In large scale controls on enzymes, prediction coverage is 43% but the positive predictive value rises to 92%, thus minimizing false annotations. Users may modify any search parameter, including the template. ETA thus expands the ET suite for protein structure annotation, and can contribute to the annotation efforts of metaservers

Valid publication of the names Caecibacterium and Caecibacterium sporoformans

Descriptions of the genus Caecibacterium and its proposed type species Caecibacterium sporoformans were published in the IJSEM by Onrust et al. (Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2017;67:4589-4594). The type strain was deposited as LMG 27730 and DSM 26959. DSM 26959 is a patent strain, and therefore the names were effectively, but not validly, published based on Rule 30 (4) of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. The type strain of C. sporoformans is now available from the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen as DSM 103070 and no restrictions have been placed on its distribution. We here present new descriptions of the genus and its type species so that the names can be validly published