Verduurzaming voedselproductie : transportbewegingen van het Nederlandse voedsel

Beschreven is welke transportbewegingen het Nederlandse voedsel maakt, de plaatsen van bestemming, de manieren van transport, de omvang en wijze van het transport van levende dieren en de milieudruk die het transport oplevert

Electronic and thermal sequential transport in metallic and superconducting two-junction arrays

The description of transport phenomena in devices consisting of arrays of tunnel junctions, and the experimental confirmation of these predictions is one of the great successes of mesoscopic physics. The aim of this paper is to give a self-consistent review of sequential transport processes in such devices, based on the so-called "orthodox" model. We calculate numerically the current-voltage (I-V) curves, the conductance versus bias voltage (G-V) curves, and the associated thermal transport in symmetric and asymmetric two-junction arrays such as Coulomb-blockade thermometers (CBTs), superconducting-insulator-normal-insulator-superconducting (SINIS) structures, and superconducting single-electron transistors (SETs). We investigate the behavior of these systems at the singularity-matching bias points, the dependence of microrefrigeration effects on the charging energy of the island, and the effect of a finite superconducting gap on Coulomb-blockade thermometry.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures; Berlin (ISBN: 978-3-642-12069-5

Status of Grey Leaf Spot Disease In Kenyan Maize Production Ecosystems

Grey leaf spot disease (GLS), Cercospora zeae-maydis, which has previously been attributed to diverse pathogen species in other countries, has become a serious biotic constraint to production of maize ( Zea mays L.) in Kenya. It is necessary to determine the distribution and aetiology of the disease across all the maize production agro-ecologies in order to inform the development of appropriate management strategies against the disease. Samples were collected from maize growing areas in Kenya with GLS symptoms on maize crops and other plants. On the basis of cultural and morphological examinations, and restricted fragment length polymorphism and taxon-specific PCR analyses, Cercospora zeae-maydis group II and C. sorghi var. maydis were identified from typical GLS lesions on maize, with the former being predominant (>96% of the cases) and distributed throughout the country. The latter exhibited minor incidence (<4%) in western Kenya. Nucleotide sequence analyses further provided evidence that C. zeae-maydis group II and C. sorghi var. maydis were distinct fungi.La maladie de t\ue2che grise de la feuille (GLS), Cercospora zeae-maydis, attribu\ue9e aux esp\ue8ces de pathogens diverses dans d'autres pays, est devenue une s\ue9rieuse contrainte biotique \ue0 la production de ma\uefs ( Zea mays L.) au Kenya. Il est n\ue9cessaire de d\ue9terminer la distribution et l'\ue9tiologie de la maladie \ue0 travers toutes les r\ue9gions agro-\ue9cologques productrices de ma\uefs pour mieux d\ue9velopper des strat\ue9gies appropri\ue9es de gestion contre la maladie. Des \ue9chantillons \ue9taient recueillis dans des r\ue9gions producteurs du ma\uefs au Kenya tenant compte de la pr\ue9sence des sympt\uf4mes GLS sur les ma\uefs et autres cultures. Sur base des examens culturales et morphologiques ainsi que du polymorphisme de la longueur du fragment isol\ue9 et les analyses PCR du taxon sp\ue9cifique, Cercospora zeae-maydis le groupe II de Cercospora zeae-maydis et C. sorghi var. maydis \ue9taient identifi\ue9s par des l\ue9sions typiques de GLS sur le ma\uefs, ce dernier \ue9tant le plus pr\ue9dominant (> 96 % de tous les cas) et distribu\ue9 \ue0 travers tout le pays avec une incidence mineur de 4 % dans l'ouest du Kenya. L'analyse de s\ue9quences de nucl\ue9otides avait par la suite montr\ue9 avec evidence que le C. zeae-maydis group II et C. sorghi var. maydis \ue9taient de champignons distincts

Effects of electrical stimulation of dorsal raphe nucleus on neuronal response properties of barrel cortex layer IV neurons following long-term sensory deprivation

Abstract: Objective To evaluate the effect of electrical stimulation of dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) on response properties of layer IV barrel cortex neurons following long-term sensory deprivation. Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into sensory-deprived (SD) and control (unplucked) groups. In SD group, all vibrissae except the D2 vibrissa were plucked on postnatal day one, and kept plucked for a period of 60 d. After that, whisker regrowth was allowed for 8-10 d. The D2 principal whisker (PW) and the D1 adjacent whisker (AW) were either deflected singly or both deflected in a serial order that the AW was deflected 20 ms before PW deflection for assessing lateral inhibition, and neuronal responses were recorded from layer IV of the D2 barrel cortex. DRN was electrically stimulated at inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs) ranging from 0 to 800 ms before whisker deflection. Results: PW-evoked responses increased in the SD group with DRN electrical stimulation at ISIs of 50 ms and 100 ms, whereas AW-evoked responses increased at ISI of 800 ms in both groups. Whisker plucking before DRN stimulation could enhance the responsiveness of barrel cortex neurons to PW deflection and decrease the responsiveness to AW deflection. DRN electrical stimulation significantly reduced this difference only in PW-evoked responses between groups. Besides, no DRN stimulation-related changes in response latency were observed following PW or AW deflection in either group. Moreover, condition test (CT) ratio increased in SD rats, while DRN stimulation did not affect the CT ratio in either group. There was no obvious change in 5-HT2A receptor protein density in barrel cortex between SD and control groups. Conclusion: These results suggest that DRN electrical stimulation can modulate information processing in the SD barrel cortex

Positionering Greenports in de Nederlandse verssector. Productie, import en export van de Nederlandse verssector met een specificering van de Greenport positie

Dit rapport bevat de resultaten van de bijdrage van Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research aan het project Toegevoegde waarde Netwerk Greenports en Mainports. Het doel van dat project was: ‘Hoe kan een verbindend logistiek netwerk de positie van zowel de Greenports in Nederland als die van de Mainports versterken?

Vascular reactivity is altered in the placentas of fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Introduction: Infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) often develop pulmonary hypertension but frequently fail to respond to vasodilator therapy, for instance because of an altered pulmonary vasoreactivity. Investigating such alterations in vivo is impossible. We hypothesised that these alterations are also present in fetoplacental vessels, since both vasculatures are exposed to the same circulating factors (e.g. endothelin-1) and respond similarly to certain stimuli (e.g. hypoxia). As proof-of-concept, we compared fetoplacental vasoreactivity between healthy and CDH-affected placentas. Methods: Fetoplacental vascular function of healthy and antenatally diagnosed left-sided CDH fetuses was assessed by wire myography. Placental expression of enzymes and receptors involved in the altered vasoreactive pathways was measured using quantitative PCR. Results: CDH arteries (n = 6) constricted more strongly to thromboxane A2 agonist U46619 (p &lt; 0.001) and dilated less to bradykinin (p = 0.01) and nitric oxide (NO)-donor sodium nitroprusside (p = 0.04) than healthy arteries (n = 8). Vasodilation to prostacyclin analogue iloprost and adenylate cyclase stimulator forskolin, and vasoconstriction to endothelin-1 were not different between both groups. Angiotensin II did not induce vasoconstriction. Phosphodiesterase inhibitors sildenafil and milrinone did not affect responses to sodium nitroprusside, forskolin, or U46619. The mRNA expression of guanylate cyclase 1 soluble subunit alpha 1 (p = 0.003) and protein kinase cyclic guanine monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent 1 (p = 0.02) were reduced in CDH versus healthy placentas. Discussion: The identified changes in the thromboxane and NO-cGMP pathways in the fetoplacental vasculature correspond with currently described alterations in the pulmonary vasculature in CDH. Therefore, fetoplacental arteries may provide an opportunity to predict pulmonary therapeutic responses in infants with CDH.</p

Gemeenschappelijke visie op het VersKernNetwerk van (inter)nationale verbindingen en multimodale knooppunten voor en met de topsectoren Logistiek, Tuinbouw en Agrofood

Het Ministerie van Economische Zaken, Landbouw & Innovatie (EL&I) wil een gezamenlijke visie ontwikkelen op (inter)nationale vers stromen. Hiertoe heeft zij Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research (FBR), opdracht verleent dit onderzoek uit te voeren. FBR is hoofdaannemer en werkt in dit onderzoek samen met het Landbouw Economisch Instituut (LEI) Wageningen UR. De doelstelling luidt:Komen tot een gemeenschappelijke visie op het VersKernNetwerk van (inter)nationale verbindingen en multimodale knooppunten voor en met de topsectoren Logistiek, Tuinbouw & Uitgangsmaterialen en Agrofood

Polariton condensation and lasing in optical microcavities - the decoherence driven crossover

We explore the behaviour of a system which consists of a photon mode dipole coupled to a medium of two-level oscillators in a microcavity in the presence of decoherence. We consider two types of decoherence processes which are analogous to magnetic and non-magnetic impurities in superconductors. We study different phases of this system as the decoherence strength and the excitation density is changed. For a low decoherence we obtain a polariton condensate with comparable excitonic and photonic parts at low densities and a BCS-like state with bigger photon component due to the fermionic phase space filling effect at high densities. In both cases there is a large gap in the density of states. As the decoherence is increased the gap is broadened and suppressed, resulting in a gapless condensate and finally a suppression of the coherence in a low density regime and a laser at high density limit. A crossover between these regimes is studied in a self-consistent way analogous to the Abrikosov and Gor'kov theory of gapless superconductivity.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, submitted to PR

A systematic SNP selection approach to identify mechanisms underlying disease aetiology: Linking height to post-menopausal breast and colorectal cancer risk

Data from GWAS suggest that SNPs associated with complex diseases or traits tend to co-segregate in regions of low recombination, harbouring functionally linked gene clusters. This phenomenon allows for selecting a limited number of SNPs from GWAS repositories for large-scale studies investigating shared mechanisms between diseases. For example, we were interested in shared mechanisms between adult-attained height and post-menopausal breast cancer (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, because height is a risk factor for these cancers, though likely not a causal factor. Using SNPs from public GWAS repositories at p-values < 1 × 10-5 and a genomic sliding window of 1 mega base pair, we identified SNP clusters including at least one SNP associated with height and one SNP associated with either post-menopausal BC or CRC risk (or both). SNPs were annotated to genes using HapMap and GRAIL and analysed for significantly overrepresented pathways using ConsensuspathDB. Twelve clusters including 56 SNPs annotated to 26 genes were prioritised because these included at least one height- and one BC risk- or CRC risk-associated SNP annotated to the same gene. Annotated genes were involved in Indian hedgehog signalling (p-value = 7.78 × 10-7) and several cancer site-specific pathways. This systematic approach identified a limited number of clustered SNPs, which pinpoint potential shared mechanisms linking together the complex phenotypes height, post-menopausal BC and CRC

Development and Function of Immune Cells in an Adolescent Patient with a Deficiency in the Interleukin-10 Receptor

OBJECTIVE:: Monogenic defects in the interleukin-10 (IL-10) pathway are extremely rare and cause infantile-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-like pathology. Understanding how immune responses are dysregulated in monogenic IBD-like diseases can provide valuable insight in “classical” IBD pathogenesis. Here, we studied long-term immune cell development and function in an adolescent IL-10 receptor (IL10RA)-deficient patient who presented in infancy with severe colitis and fistulizing perianal disease and is currently treated with immune suppressants. METHODS:: Biomaterial was collected from the IL10RA-deficient patient, pediatric IBD patients and healthy controls. The frequency and phenotype of immune cells were determined in peripheral blood and intestinal biopsies by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. Functional changes in monocyte-derived dendritic cells and T cells were assessed by in vitro activation assays. RESULTS:: The IL10RA-deficient immune system developed normally with respect to numbers and phenotype of circulating immune cells. Despite normal co-stimulatory molecule expression, bacterial lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocyte-derived dendritic cells from the IL10RA-deficient patient released increased amounts of TNFα compared to healthy controls. Upon T-cell receptor ligation, IL10RA-deficient peripheral blood mononuclear cells released increased amounts of T cell cytokines IFNγ and IL-17 agreeing with high numbers of T-bet and IL-17 cells in intestinal biopsies taken at disease onset. In vitro, the immunosuppressive drug thalidomide used to treat the patient decreased peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived TNFα production. CONCLUSIONS:: With time and during immunosuppressive treatment the IL10RA- deficient immune system develops relatively normally. Upon activation, IL-10 is crucial for controlling excessive inflammatory cytokine release by dendritic cells and preventing IFNγ and IL-17-mediated T-cell responses