Working hard but not working out? The impact of cognitively demanding work on physical activity

Contains fulltext : 253674.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Radboud University, 02 november 2022Promotores : Geurts, S.A.E., Beckers, D.G.J., Veling, H.P., Kompier, M.A.J.211 p

Ablation observations for 2008–2011 from the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE)

Recent estimates from the glaciological community agree that the Greenland ice sheet is losing mass at an accelerated pace due to climate change (Velicogna 2009; Khan et al. 2010; Rignot et al. 2011). This has caught the attention of the public and policy makers due to the potential impact on sea-level rise (Dahl-Jensen et al. 2009). The mass loss can be attributed approximately equally to increases in meltwater runoff from surface melt and iceberg production (van den Broeke et al. 2009)

Disodium Cromoglycate (Lomudal) in Asthma with Emphasis on Lung Function Tests

Twenty allergic asthmatics were treated with inhaled disodium cromoglycate (Lomudallt in addition to extant therapy. Improvement was assessed by the patient, clinically by the physician, by analysis of the patients' diary cards and by a battery of pulmonary function tests, after 3 months' treatment. Eighteen patients were improved. At the end of 1 year's treatment, only 1 failed to maintain improvement. No serious side-effects were encountered. Lung function tests demonstrated less hyperinflation in 9 out of 11 patients tested, less airway obstruction in 14 out of 20, no change in a standardized exercise test and an improvement in acid-base balance from compensated respiratory alkalosis to normal. The results in this trial are discussed in relation to others in this literature. The value of DSCG in facilitating reduction of corticosteroid and sympathomimetic therapy for asthma is emphasized. Some practical points in the use of DSCG are listed. Disodium cromoglycate is safe and efficacious in allergic bronchial asthma and is a very useful adjunct in the therapy of this common, potentially serious condition

Energy metabolism in human pluripotent stem cells and their differentiated counterparts

Background: Human pluripotent stem cells have the ability to generate all cell types present in the adult organism, therefore harboring great potential for the in vitro study of differentiation and for the development of cell-based therapies. Nonetheless their use may prove challenging as incomplete differentiation of these cells might lead to tumoregenicity. Interestingly, many cancer types have been reported to display metabolic modifications with features that might be similar to stem cells. Understanding the metabolic properties of human pluripotent stem cells when compared to their differentiated counterparts can thus be of crucial importance. Furthermore recent data has stressed distinct features of different human pluripotent cells lines, namely when comparing embryo-derived human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) reprogrammed from somatic cells. Methodology/Principal Findings: We compared the energy metabolism of hESCs, IPSCs, and their somatic counterparts. Focusing on mitochondria, we tracked organelle localization and morphology. Furthermore we performed gene expression analysis of several pathways related to the glucose metabolism, including glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. In addition we determined oxygen consumption rates (OCR) using a metabolic extracellular flux analyzer, as well as total intracellular ATP levels by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Finally we explored the expression of key proteins involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism. Conclusions/Findings: Our results demonstrate that, although the metabolic signature of IPSCs is not identical to that of hESCs, nonetheless they cluster with hESCs rather than with their somatic counterparts. ATP levels, lactate production and OCR revealed that human pluripotent cells rely mostly on glycolysis to meet their energy demands. Furthermore, our work points to some of the strategies which human pluripotent stem cells may use to maintain high glycolytic rates, such as high levels of hexokinase II and inactive pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). © 2011 Varum et al

Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE): first temperature and ablation records

The Greenland ice sheet is reacting to climate change. Yet, mass-budget estimates differ considerably, partly due to climatic variability and partly to uncertainties in the techniques of assessing mass change (IPCC 2007). Nevertheless, all recent estimates agree that the ice sheet is losing mass (e.g. 286 Gt/yr; Velicogna 2009) at an accelerating rate (Rignot et al. 2011). On top of this, the area with a negative mass budget is expanding rapidly (Khan et al. 2010). The mass loss is attributed equally to increases in both iceberg production and melting of the ice sheet (Van den Broeke et al. 2009). The increasing mass loss in recent years has caught public attention and given rise to concern worldwide due to its potential impact on sea level. In the light of this, the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) was initiated in 2007 (Ahlstrøm & PROMICE project team 2008), lead by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). PROMICE undertakes surface mass-budget measurements using automatic weather stations, quantifies the mass loss by iceberg calving using remotely sensed data from satellites and airborne surveys and tracks changes in the extent of glaciers. In this paper, we focus on weather station measurements, which are crucial in calculating the energy exchange between the atmosphere and the ice sheet, and in validating model calculations of the surface mass budget. In particular, we present the observed temperatures and investigate how their high 2010 values affected ablation in southern Greenlan

Dispersive wave runup on non-uniform shores

Historically the finite volume methods have been developed for the numerical integration of conservation laws. In this study we present some recent results on the application of such schemes to dispersive PDEs. Namely, we solve numerically a representative of Boussinesq type equations in view of important applications to the coastal hydrodynamics. Numerical results of the runup of a moderate wave onto a non-uniform beach are presented along with great lines of the employed numerical method (see D. Dutykh et al. (2011) for more details).Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 18 references. This preprint is submitted to FVCA6 conference proceedings. Other author papers can be downloaded at http://www.lama.univ-savoie.fr/~dutykh

Nonlinear Dynamics in Distributed Systems

We build on a previous statistical model for distributed systems and formulate it in a way that the deterministic and stochastic processes within the system are clearly separable. We show how internal fluctuations can be analysed in a systematic way using Van Kanpen's expansion method for Markov processes. We present some results for both stationary and time-dependent states. Our approach allows the effect of fluctuations to be explored, particularly in finite systems where such processes assume increasing importance.Comment: Two parts: 8 pages LaTeX file and 5 (uuencoded) figures in Postscript forma

Short emergency department length of stay attributed to full-body digital radiography - a review of 3 paediatric cases

Multiple casualties strain the resources of emergency departments. Two polytraumatised patients arriving simultaneously can overwhelm a small community hospital, while the capacity of a large urban emergency department does not extend beyond the treatment of 3 - 4 severely injured patients at the same time using the routine trauma protocol.1 Emergency department overcrowding because of multiple casualties leads to increased length of stay and can have an adverse effect on patient outcome. Variations from the norm in trauma management, particularly during the initial assessment and resuscitation phase of care, during a multiple casualty incident, has been associated with 10% and 9% incidence of preventable morbidity and mortality, respectively.2 Inadequate evaluation may contribute to up to 30% of early deaths in children with polytrauma.