Air travel and venous thrombosis. Results of the WRIGHT study. Part II: Mechanism

Air travel has become a well-known risk factor for venous thrombosis with an absolute risk of 1 in 4600 long-haul flights and a dose-response relationship with duration and number of flights. In this thesis we studied the pathophysiology that underlies the risk as well as the effect of behaviour of passengers on the risk of thrombosis after air travel. To study the pathophysiology, we conducted a case-crossover study in which we investigated the effect on the coagulation system of 8 hours of air travel, 8 hours of immobilisation in a cinema and 8 hours of daily activities in 71 volunteers. Behaviour of passengers was studied in the MEGA study, a large case-control study on risk factors of venous thrombosis. The main conclusion of this thesis is that immobilisation alone does not explain coagulation activation after air travel. A factor that seems to contribute is hypoxia. The results of this thesis do not support the theories that fluid loss, air pollution, infection or stress play a role in coagulation activation after air travel. Certain kinds of behaviour during air travel affect the risk of venous thrombosis. Lastly, harmless prevention methods possibly counter the effect of immobilisation.European Commision, UK GovernmentUBL - phd migration 201

Specialised Government Publishing: the Law Pocket and Linked Legal Data in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands an infrastructure for collecting, linking and disseminating legal public data is gradually being created. One of the first end-user applications built on this infrastructure is the Law Pocket: a free app with which government officials, lawyers, students and citizens have the up-to-date legislation from the national and regional level always at hand. It gives access to more than 3,400 automatically updated law books, containing full texts and linked resources. The app also gives access to a growing number of manually composed books on specific topics, edited and annotated by specialised civil servants. The backgrounds of this linked data project are described, as well as the main components of the architecture and the functionalities of the Law Pocket. Also its use, future work and position on the legal information market are discusse

The effect of a simulated commercial Flight environment with hypoxia and low humidity on clotting, Platelet, and endothelial Function in Participants with Type 2 Diabetes - A cross-over study

Aims: To determine if clotting, platelet, and endothelial function were affected by simulated short-haul commercial air flight conditions (SF) in participants with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) compared to controls. Methods: 10 participants with T2DM (7 females, 3 males) and 10 controls (3 females, 7 males) completed the study. Participants were randomized to either spend 2 h in an environmental chamber at sea level conditions (temperature: 23°C, oxygen concentration 21%, humidity 45%), or subject to a simulated 2-h simulated flight (SF: temperature: 23°C, oxygen concentration 15%, humidity 15%), and crossed over 7 days later. Main outcome measures: clot formation and clot lysis parameters, functional platelet activation markers, and endothelial function measured by reactive hyperemia index (RHI) by EndoPAT and serum microparticles. results: Comparing baseline with SF conditions, clot maximal absorption was increased in controls (0.375 ± 0.05 vs. 0.39 ± 0.05, p < 0.05) and participants with T2DM (0.378 ± 0.089 vs. 0.397 ± 0.089, p < 0.01), while increased basal platelet activation for both fibrinogen binding and P-selectin expression (p < 0.05) was seen in participants with T2DM. Parameters of clot formation and clot lysis, stimulated platelet function (stimulated platelet response to ADP and sensitivity to prostacyclin), and endothelial function were unchanged. conclusion: While SF resulted in the potential of denser clot formation with enhanced basal platelet activation in T2DM, the dynamic clotting, platelet, and endothelial markers were not affected, suggesting that short-haul commercial flying adds no additional hazard for venous thromboembolism for participants with T2DM compared to controls