Integrated planning of water and land-use

The role of water in spatial planning has received increasing attention in recent years. It was, for example, one of the leading motives in the preparation of the latest National Spatial Planning Note for The Netherlands. For the preparation of such spatial plans, and to support the associated policy analysis, there is a need to fully identify and characterize the interactions between the water sector and spatial planning and establish the process for making consistent joint projections for the water sector and land-use. This should account for spatial claims from the water sector, balance those claims with claims from other sectors, and feed back spatial constraints and opportunities. Land-use markets and government policies (translated e.g. in spatial reservations) form an important input in this balance. Modeling is indispensable to keep track of spatial characteristics and trace changes. Most of the available modeling considers a layered structure with a layer for national/regional projections and a GIS based layer to keep track of land use changes. Basically such model makes a distribution (rule based) of the national projections into the GIS based spatial raster, followed by an impact assessment based on the changes in the raster. Those models are generally weak in representing the processes driving land use changes such as the housing and labor market and – the water sector. The challenge remains to set up a suitable module covering these spatial - and water sector development processes. Based on the experience of the authors with many water studies and the recent development of a space-transport modeling tool (integration of transport and land-use), a sketch will be made of the requirements for such module. The scope for such planning tool will be illustrated (with data for The Netherlands), addressing key aspects such as competition for space, costs, risk, and environmental impact.

Integrated planning of water and land-use

The role of water in spatial planning has received increasing attention in recent years. It was, for example, one of the leading motives in the preparation of the latest National Spatial Planning Note for The Netherlands. For the preparation of such spatial plans, and to support the associated policy analysis, there is a need to fully identify and characterize the interactions between the water sector and spatial planning and establish the process for making consistent joint projections for the water sector and land-use. This should account for spatial claims from the water sector, balance those claims with claims from other sectors, and feed back spatial constraints and opportunities. Land-use markets and government policies (translated e.g. in spatial reservations) form an important input in this balance. Modeling is indispensable to keep track of spatial characteristics and trace changes. Most of the available modeling considers a layered structure with a layer for national/regional projections and a GIS based layer to keep track of land use changes. Basically such model makes a distribution (rule based) of the national projections into the GIS based spatial raster, followed by an impact assessment based on the changes in the raster. Those models are generally weak in representing the processes driving land use changes such as the housing and labor market and – the water sector. The challenge remains to set up a suitable module covering these spatial - and water sector development processes. Based on the experience of the authors with many water studies and the recent development of a space-transport modeling tool (integration of transport and land-use), a sketch will be made of the requirements for such module. The scope for such planning tool will be illustrated (with data for The Netherlands), addressing key aspects such as competition for space, costs, risk, and environmental impact

Growth Hormone Protects Against Ovariectomy-Induced Bone Loss in States of Low Circulating Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1)*

Early after estrogen loss in postmenopausal women and ovariectomy (OVX) of animals, accelerated endosteal bone resorption leads to marrow expansion of long bone shafts that reduce mechanical integrity. Both growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) are potent regulators of bone remodeling processes. To investigate the role of the GH/IGF-1 axis with estrogen deficiency, we used the liver IGF-1-deficient (LID) mouse. Contrary to deficits in controls, OVX of LID mice resulted in maintenance of cortical bone mechanical integrity primarily owing to an enhanced periosteal expansion affect on cross-sectional structure (total area and cortical width). The serum balance in LID that favors GH over IGF-1 diminished the effects of ablated ovarian function on numbers of osteoclast precursors in the marrow and viability of osteocytes within the cortical matrix and led to less endosteal resorption in addition to greater periosteal bone formation. Interactions between estrogen and the GH/IGF-1 system as related to bone remodeling provide a pathway to minimize degeneration of bone tissue structure and osteoporotic fracture. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Researc

Recruitment Strategies and Colony Size in Ants

Ants use a great variety of recruitment methods to forage for food or find new nests, including tandem running, group recruitment and scent trails. It has been known for some time that there is a loose correlation across many taxa between species-specific mature colony size and recruitment method. Very small colonies tend to use solitary foraging; small to medium sized colonies use tandem running or group recruitment whereas larger colonies use pheromone recruitment trails. Until now, explanations for this correlation have focused on the ants' ecology, such as food resource distribution. However, many species have colonies with a single queen and workforces that grow over several orders of magnitude, and little is known about how a colony's organization, including recruitment methods, may change during its growth. After all, recruitment involves interactions between ants, and hence the size of the colony itself may influence which recruitment method is used—even if the ants' behavioural repertoire remains unchanged. Here we show using mathematical models that the observed correlation can also be explained by recognizing that failure rates in recruitment depend differently on colony size in various recruitment strategies. Our models focus on the build up of recruiter numbers inside colonies and are not based on optimality arguments, such as maximizing food yield. We predict that ant colonies of a certain size should use only one recruitment method (and always the same one) rather than a mix of two or more. These results highlight the importance of the organization of recruitment and how it is affected by colony size. Hence these results should also expand our understanding of ant ecology

Improving quality of life through the routine use of the Patient Concerns Inventory for head and neck cancer patients: a cluster preference randomized controlled trial

This trial is funded by the RfPB on behalf of the NIHR (PB-PG-0215-36047).Background: The consequences of treatment for Head and Neck cancer (HNC) patients has profound detrimental impacts such as impaired QOL, emotional distress, delayed recovery and frequent use of healthcare. The aim of this trial is to determine if the routine use of the Patients Concerns Inventory (PCI) package in review clinics during the first year following treatment can improve overall quality of life, reduce the social-emotional impact of cancer and reduce levels of distress. Furthermore, we aim to describe the economic costs and benefits of using the PCI. Methods: This will be a cluster preference randomised control trial with consultants either ‘using’ or ‘not using’ the PCI package at clinic. It will involve two centres Leeds and Liverpool. 416 eligible patients from at least 10 consultant clusters are required to show a clinically meaningful difference in the primary outcome. The primary outcome is the percentage of participants with less than good overall quality of life at the final one-year clinic as measured by the University of Washington QOL questionnaire version 4 (UWQOLv4). Secondary outcomes at one-year are the mean social-emotional subscale (UWQOLv4) score, Distress Thermometer (DT) score ≥ 4, and key health economic measures (QALY-EQ-5D-5 L; CSRI). Discussion: This trial will provide knowledge on the effectiveness of a consultation intervention package based around the PCI used at routine follow-up clinics following treatment of head and neck cancer with curative intent. If this intervention is (cost) effective for patients, the next step will be to promote wider use of this approach as standard care in clinical practice. Trial registration: 32,382. Clinical Trials Identifier, NCT03086629. Protocol: Version 3.0, 1st July 2017.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Prolactin Receptor in Primary Hyperparathyroidism – Expression, Functionality and Clinical Correlations

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is an endocrine disorder most commonly affecting women, suggesting a role for female hormones and/or their receptors in parathyroid adenomas. We here investigated the prolactin receptor (PRLr) which is associated with tumours of the breast and other organs.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>PRLr expression was investigated in a panel of 37 patients with sporadic parathyroid tumours and its functionality in cultured parathyroid tumour cells. In comparison with other tissues and breast cancer cells, high levels of prolactin receptor gene (<em>PRLR</em>) transcripts were demonstrated in parathyroid tissues. PRLr products of 60/70 kDa were highly expressed in all parathyroid tumours. In addition varying levels of the 80 kDa PRLr isoform, with known proliferative activity, were demonstrated. In parathyroid tumours, PRLr immunoreactivity was observed in the cytoplasm (in all cases, n = 36), cytoplasmic granulae (n = 16), the plasma membrane (n = 12) or enlarged lysosomes (n = 4). In normal parathyroid rim (n = 28), PRLr was uniformly expressed in the cytoplasm and granulae. In <em>in vitro</em> studies of short-term cultured human parathyroid tumour cells, prolactin stimulation was associated with significant transcriptional changes in JAK/STAT, RIG-I like receptor and type II interferon signalling pathways as documented by gene expression profiling. Moreover, <em>PRLR</em> gene expression in parathyroid tumours was inversely correlated with the patients’ plasma calcium levels.</p> <h3>Conclusions</h3><p>We demonstrate that the prolactin receptor is highly abundant in human parathyroid tissues and that PRLr isoforms expression and PRLr subcellular localisation are altered in parathyroid tumours. Responsiveness of PRLr to physiological levels of prolactin was observed in the form of increased PTH secretion and altered gene transcription with significant increase of RIG-I like receptor, JAK-STAT and Type II interferon signalling pathways. These data suggest a role of the prolactin receptor in parathyroid adenomas.</p> </div

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

Plastic Deformation of Irradiated Zirconium Alloys: TEM Investigations and Micro-Mechanical Modeling

International audienc