Results from campaign in the Channel-North Sea and Belgian Coastal Zone – RV <i>Simon Stevin</i>

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between iron storage and overall well-being in female college athletes. This was done to determine a cost-effective screening method for iron deficiency. Design: Retrospective Cohort Subjects and Settings: All subjects were 117 Division I Female Athletes at James Madison University. Subjects were ages 17-22 from different teams(Cross Country, Track & Field, Basketball, Field Hockey, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Golf, Swimming & Diving, Soccer, and Softball). We excluded 1 subject based on a medical diagnosis. Some subjects had more than one data entry based on their year at JMU. Main Outcome Measure: Data was recorded for individuals who have in the past received blood draws testing for ferritin levels and have completed a Henriques 10-Item Well-being Questionnaire(H10WB) within a year of the blood draw. Results: Correlations resulted in no significant relationship between ferritin levels and H10WB total scores with a 1-tailed p-value of .071. There was some significance seen with responses to individual questions within the questionnaire and ferritin(p=.02 and p= .032). Conclusion: Since there was very little significance found for this relationship we can conclude that the symptoms of changes in athlete’s overall well-being status are not present in those with iron deficiency. Research does support a relationship between these symptoms with iron deficiency anemia therefore, these results could represent that those symptoms are not experienced with iron deficiency. This suggests the increased need to find a screening tool for healthcare providers to use to determine an iron deficiency without requiring blood draws from everyone. This would allow professionals to determine this deficiency before it becomes anemia and these symptoms develop

Quantifying measures to limit wind driven resuspension of sediments for improvement of the ecological quality in some shallow Dutch lakes

Although phosphorus loadings are considered the main pressure for most shallow lakes, wind-driven resuspension can cause additional problems for these aquatic ecosystems. We quantified the potential effectiveness of measures to reduce the contribution of resuspended sediments, resulting from wind action, to the overall light attenuation for three comparable shallow peat lakes with poor ecological status in the Netherlands: Loosdrecht, Nieuwkoop, and Reeuwijk (1.8–2.7 m depth, 1.6–2.5 km fetch). These measures are: 1. wave reducing barriers, 2. water level fluctuations, 3. capping of the sediment with sand, and 4. combinations of above. Critical shear stress of the sediments for resuspension (Vcrit), size distribution, and optical properties of the suspended material were quantified in the field (June 2009) and laboratory. Water quality monitoring data (2002–2009) showed that light attenuation by organic suspended matter in all lakes is high. Spatial modeling of the impact of these measures showed that in Lake Loosdrecht limiting wave action can have significant effects (reductions from 6% exceedance to 2% exceedance of Vcrit), whereas in Lake Nieuwkoop and Lake Reeuwijk this is less effective. The depth distribution and shape of Lake Nieuwkoop and Lake Reeuwijk limit the role of wind-driven resuspension in the total suspended matter concentration. Although the lakes are similar in general appearance (origin, size, and depth range) measures suitable to improve their ecological status differ. This calls for care when defining the programme of measures to improve the ecological status of a specific lake based on experience from other lakes.

Optimized plankton imaging, clustering and visualization workflows through integrative data management and application of artificial intelligence

Phytoplankton is a diverse group of photosynthesizing organisms which account for approximately fifty percent of the primary production on Earth. Increasing our knowledge on phytoplankton dynamics (and plankton in general) is therefore of major importance. In the present research, we aimed to reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of the phyto- and zooplankton community in the Eastern English Channel, Southern Bight of the North Sea and the Thames estuary. To do so, we organized a JERICO-NEXT Lifewatch cruise in May 2017 on board of the RV Simon Stevin and sampled 44 stations, involving five research institutions from France (CNRS-LOG,), The Netherlands (RWS, NIOZ) and Belgium (UGENT, VLIZ). To quantify the biomass of the phytoplankton community we used a unique combination of three flow cytometers and two Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometerss that were coupled to the underway ferrybox system. These observations were complemented with Water Insight Spectrometer and water profile data (by means of a CTD) and samples for zooplankton, pigment and nutrient analysis. A dedicated data workshop was organized with all partners to conduct a joint analysis on both the biotic and abiotic data. A first exploration of the data, by means of regression-based models and multivariate statistics, suggested that mainly nutrient discharges from the rivers influence the plankton structure. Furthermore, water turbidity is controlling photosynthetic activity and horizontal and vertical variations of photosynthetic properties can be discriminated

Implementation of outpatient schema therapy for borderline personality disorder: study design

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Schema Therapy (ST) is an integrative psychotherapy based upon a cognitive schema model which aims at identifying and changing dysfunctional schemas and modes through cognitive, experiential and behavioral pathways. It is specifically developed for patients with personality disorders. Its effectiveness and efficiency have been demonstrated in a few randomized controlled trials, but ST has not been evaluated in regular mental healthcare settings. This paper describes the study protocol of a multisite randomized 2-group design, aimed at evaluating the implementation of outpatient schema therapy for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in regular mental healthcare and at determining the added value of therapist telephone availability outside office hours in case of crisis. METHODS/DESIGN: Patient outcome measures will be assessed with a semi-structured interview and self-report measures on BPD, therapeutic alliance, quality of life, costs and general psychopathology at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 36 months. Intention-to-treat analyses will be executed with survival analysis for dichotomous variables, and one-sample t-tests and ANCOVAs for continuous variables with baseline as covariate and condition as between group factor. All tests will be two-tailed with a significance level of 5%. DISCUSSION: The study will provide an answer to the question whether ST can be effectively implemented and whether phone support by the therapist has an additional value. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Dutch Cochrane Center, NTR (TC = 1781