Reducing russeting of organically grown Elstar to increase quality

Sales organisations indicated that opportunities for organic apples sales can increase when quality increases, in particular reducing the amount of russeting. The use of copper is probably the most important factor for russeting. Therefore a worst case scheme was compared with a scheme with reduced copper application. Furthermore, there was a particular interest in the effects on russeting of potassium bicarbonate (Armicarb) because this product might be an important element in a copper free fungicide scheme. Application of Armicarb was investigated on wet or dry canopy and effects of two different dosages were studied. All the schemes were compared with a worst case organic fungicide scheme with copper. The experiment was done on two year old Elstar trees because Elstar is the most important organically grown cultivar in the Netherlands. Effects of the schedules on russet and scab control were evaluated. At harvest no effects were found on scab. Between the different schemes with copper no differences were found in amount of russet. Only the highest dosage of Armicarb (10 kg/ha) and the schedules with Armicarb on a wet canopy gave more russet compared with the worst case scheme. Also effects on fruit rot were evaluated

Samenwerking Wageningen UR met Koppert Biological Systems

Wageningen UR werkt in haar onderzoeksprogramma’s samen met het bedrijfsleven. In dit artikel een nadere kennismaking met een van deze partners: Koppert Biological Systems. Koppert Biological Systems ontwikkelt systemen voor natuurlijke bestuiving en biologische/geïntegreerde gewasbescherming voor bedekte en onbedekte teelten

Testosterone: Bad for Men, Good for Women?

# The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Generally, high testosterone levels within the physiological range are associated with a more favourable cardiometabolic profile. Although the FDA has approved testosterone for use only in men with hypogonadism, whose sex glands produce extremely low amounts of testosterone, off-label use has dramatically increased in recent years. In the past two decades, there has been a huge increase in testosterone prescriptions, and many trials have shown benefit in terms of risk factor modification and symptoms. These observations fit also into the picture that reduced testosterone levels in men are associated with increased cardiovascular risk inducing elevated triglyceride levels, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, central obesity, glucose intolerance, and diabetes. This has recently been demonstrated by Malkin et al. (October 26 issue, 2010, Heart), who showed that low testosterone levels (total testosterone <8.1 nmol/l) are associated with early death in men with heart disease. The longitudinal follow-up study involved 930 men with coronary heart disease for a period of about 7 years. During the study period, 41 of 194 (21%) men with low testosterone levels died compared with 88 of 736 (12%) men with normal levels of the hormone (p=0.002). It was concluded that, if androgen deficiency is part of the underlying pathophysiology of atherosclerotic disease in men, the serum testosterone level could be viewed as a favourable modifiable risk factor. However, this view has been challenged by Basaria et al

Dying to be born again: Mortality, immortality and the fashion model

The primary focus of this thesis is limited to the relationship between sartorial fashion and the fashion model within the world of representation. This includes the forms of fashion display and dissemination that existed prior to the establishment of the modern fashion system—fashion dolls, fashion plates and illustration and the mannequin de monde—as well as the fields where the fashion model as a modern phenomenon came into being—fashion photography and the fashion parade. While the portrait of feminine beauty and ideals in the fashion image betrays the imprint of the representation of the female body in art, pornography and the entertainment industries, this thesis argues for a reading of the fashion image and the fashion model specifically through the prism of fashion which, as a quasi-autonomous system, operates according to its own rules and has its own mode of being. Since its inception, fashion has frustrated its critics and delighted its proponents with a nonchalant rejection of the creations it had hitherto enthroned as essential. This dedication to perpetual change and the ephemeral—the ‘death-wish’ that ensures the continuation of fashion as a structure even as individual fashions are discarded—has fascinated both those who have seriously contemplated fashion and those who document the vicissitudes of fashion’s creations. For its critics, the sin fashion commits in refusing to manifest itself in a permanent form of beauty is compounded by its perceived attacks upon the body, cloaking it in a layer of artifice that distorts it into ‘unnatural’ forms. This imposition by fashion on the body made from flesh and blood is never fully realised. Rather it is only on the body in representation that fashion can begin to escape the limitations imposed upon it by the human form and give full reign to its creative impulse. In the fashion image the fundamental principles of fashion—change and artifice—are metaphorically expressed by the interplay of mortality and immortality on the body of the model which, ultimately, serves as the blank canvas where fashion is free to invent its imaginary self

Identifying user preferences for a digital educational solution for young seniors with diabetes

The Eindhoven Diabetes Education Simulator project was initiated to develop an educational solution that helps diabetes patients understand and learn more about their diabetes. This article describes the identification of user preferences for the development of such solutions. Young seniors (aged 50-65 years) with type 2 diabetes were chosen as the target group because they are likely to have more affinity with digital devices than older people and because 88% of the Dutch diabetes population is > 50 years of age. Data about the target group were gathered through literature research and interviews. The literature research covered data about their device use and education preferences. To gain insight into the daily life of diabetes patients and current diabetes education processes, 20 diabetes patients and 10 medical experts were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using affinity diagrams. Those diagrams, together with the literature data, formed the basis for two personas and corresponding customer journey maps. Literature showed that diabetes prevalence is inversely correlated to educational level. Computer and device use is relatively low within the target group, but is growing. The interviews showed that young seniors like to play board, card, and computer games, with others or alone. Family and loved ones play an important role in their lives. Medical experts are crucial in the diabetes education of young senior diabetes patients. These findings are translated into a list of design aspects that can be used for creating educational solutions