De sociale onderneming: een kat die een hond wil zijn

Het maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen is tegenwoordig een vast onderdeel van het bestuursbeleid. Sommige ondernemers gaan nog verder en stellen een maatschappelijke doelstelling centraal: zij verdienen geld om daarmee een maatschappelijk probleem op te lossen. Binnen het politieke debat gaan regelmatig stemmen op om dit type onderneming een eigen rechtsvorm te geven of anderszins te ondersteunen. In deze bijdrage wordt de sociale onderneming nader belicht, waarbij uiteengezet wordt of wetgeving noodzakelijk is

Qualitative composition of the diet of the shrimp Artemesia longinaris Bate, 1888 (Decapoda, Penaeidae) from Engaño Bay, Chubut, Argentina

Diet composition of the shrimp Artemesia longinaris Bate, 1888 from Engaño Bay, Chubut, Argentina is described. Stomach contents of 392 prawns caught in July and October of 1999 and January and April 2000 were analysed. Results show a strong tendency towards predation, rather than a passive ingestion of detritus. Crustaceans, polychaetes, vegetable matter and diatoms are the main components of the diet. No differences were observed regarding sex, size and seasons, or the sustrata.El objetivo es describir la composición cualitativa de la dieta del camarón Artemesia longinaris Bate, 1888 de Bahía Engaño (Chubut), Argentina. Para ello, se analizó el contenido estomacal de 392 camarones capturados en julio y octubre de 1999 y enero y abril de 2000. Los resultados indican una marcada tendencia a la depredación, más que a la ingesta pasiva de detrito. Crustáceos, poliquetos, restos vegetales y diatomeas son los elementos esenciales que componen la dieta del camarón. No se evidencian diferencias en la composición de la dieta por sexos, tallas, estaciones anuales y tipos de sustrato.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Oxygen Reserve Index (ORI): Validation of a new variable

Conclusion: In the flat part of the haemoglobin-oxygen binding curve, where oxygen saturation is >97%, a decrease in ORI indicates a falling PaO2 prior to oxygen desaturation. As such, the non-invasive and continuously available ORI may offer additional information at maximum SpO2 values and help guide clinicians in estimating Fig. 1 Study flow chart the body’s oxygen reserve

Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS): Impact on on-scene times

BACKGROUND: This study compared prehospital on-scene times (OSTs) for patients treated by nurse-staffed emergency medical services (EMS) with OST for patients treated by a combination of EMS and physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS). A secondary aim was to investigate the relationship between length of OST and mortality. METHODS: All trauma patients treated in the priority 1 emergency room of a Level I trauma center between January 2002 and 2004 were included in the study. To determine OST and outcome, hospital and prehospital data were entered into the trauma registry. OSTs for EMS and combined EMS/HEMS-treated patients were compared using linear regression analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to compare mortality rates. RESULTS: The number of trauma patients included for analysis was 1,457. Of these, 1,197 received EMS assistance only, whereas 260 patients received additional care by an HEMS physician. HEMS patients had longer mean OSTs (35.4 vs. 24.6 minutes; p < 0.001) and higher Injury Severity Scores (24 vs. 9; p < 0.001). After correction for patient and trauma characteristics, like the Revised Trauma Score, age, Injury Severity Scores, daytime/night-time, and mechanism of trauma, the difference in OSTs between the groups was 9 minutes (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analyses showed a higher uncorrected chance of dying with increasing OST by 10 minutes (OR, 1.2; p < 0.001). This apparent effect of OST on mortality was explained by patient and trauma characteristics (adjusted OR, 1.0; p = 0.89). CONCLUSIONS: Combined EMS/HE

Accuracy and feasibility of point-of-care and continuous blood glucose analysis in critically ill ICU patients

INTRODUCTION: To obtain strict glucose regulation, an accurate and feasible bedside glucometry method is essential. We evaluated three different types of point-of-care glucometry in seriously ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The study was performed as a single-centre, prospective, observational study in a 12-bed medical ICU of a university hospital. METHODS: Patients with an expected ICU stay of more than 48 hours were included. Because the reference laboratory delivers glucose values after approximately 30 to 60 minutes, which is too slow to use in a glucose regulation protocol and for calibration of the subcutaneous continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) (CGMS System Gold), we first validated the ICU-based blood gas/glucose analyser ABL715 (part 1 of the study). Subsequently, part 2 was performed: after inserting (and calibrating) the subcutaneous CGMS, heparinised arterial blood samples were drawn from an arterial line every 6 hours and analysed on both the Precision PCx point-of-care meter using test strips and on the blood gas/glucose analyser ABL715. CGMS glucose data were downloaded after 24 to 72 hours. The results of the paired measurements were analysed as a scatter plot by the method of Bland and Altman and were expressed as a correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Part 1: Four hundred and twenty-four blood samples were drawn from 45 critically ill ICU patients. The ICU-based blood gas/glucose analyser ABL715 provided a good estimate of conventional laboratory glucose assessment: the correlation coefficient was 0.95. In the Clarke error grid, 96.8% of the paired measurements were in the clinically acceptable zones A and B. Part 2: One hundred sixty-five paired samples were drawn from 19 ICU patients. The Precision PCx point-of-care meter showed a correlation coefficient of 0.89. Ninety-eight point seven percent of measurements were within zones A and B. The correlation coefficient for the subcutaneous CGMS System Gold was 0.89. One hundred percent of measurements were within zones A and B. CONCLUSION: The ICU-based blood glucose analyser ABL715 is a rapid and accurate alternative for laboratory glucose determination and can serve as a standard for ICU blood glucose measurements. The Precision PCx is a good alternative, but feasibility may be limited because of the blood sample handling. The subcutaneous CGMS System Gold is promising, but real-time glucose level reporting is necessary before it can be of clinical use in the ICU. When implementing a glucose-insulin algorithm in patient care or research, one should realise that the absolute glucose level may differ systematically among various measuring methods, influencing targeted glucose levels

Locational memory of macrovessel vascular cells is transcriptionally imprinted

Vascular pathologies show locational predisposition throughout the body; further insights into the transcriptomics basis of this vascular heterogeneity are needed. We analyzed transcriptomes from cultured endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells from nine adult canine macrovessels: the aorta, coronary artery, vena cava, portal vein, femoral artery, femoral vein, saphenous vein, pulmonary vein, and pulmonary artery. We observed that organ-specific expression patterns persist in vitro, indicating that these genes are not regulated by blood flow or surrounding cell types but are likely fixed in the epigenetic memory. We further demonstrated the preserved location-specific expression of GATA4 protein in cultured cells and in the primary adult vessel. On a functional level, arterial and venous endothelial cells differed in vascular network morphology as the arterial networks maintained a higher complexity. Our findings prompt the rethinking of the extrapolation of results from single-origin endothelial cell systems

Genetic Basis of Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Dogs and Its Potential as a Bidirectional Model

Cardiac disease is a leading cause of death for both humans and dogs. Genetic cardiomyopathies, including dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), account for a proportion of these cases in both species. Patients may suffer from ventricular enlargement and systolic dysfunction resulting in congestive heart failure and ventricular arrhythmias with high risk for sudden cardiac death. Although canine DCM has similar disease progression and subtypes as in humans, only a few candidate genes have been found to be associated with DCM while the genetic background of human DCM has been more thoroughly studied. Additionally, experimental disease models using induced pluripotent stem cells have been widely adopted in the study of human genetic cardiomyopathy but have not yet been fully adapted for the in-depth study of canine genetic cardiomyopathies. The clinical presentation of DCM is extremely heterogeneous for both species with differences occurring based on sex predisposition, age of onset, and the rate of disease progression. Both genetic predisposition and environmental factors play a role in disease development which are identical in dogs and humans in contrast to other experimental animals. Interestingly, different dog breeds have been shown to develop distinct DCM phenotypes, and this presents a unique opportunity for modeling as there are multiple breed-specific models for DCM with less genetic variance than human DCM. A better understanding of DCM in dogs has the potential for improved selection for breeding and could lead to better overall care and treatment for human and canine DCM patients. At the same time, progress in research made for human DCM can have a positive impact on the care given to dogs affected by DCM. Therefore, this review will analyze the feasibility of canines as a naturally occurring bidirectional disease model for DCM in both species. The histopathology of the myocardium in canine DCM will be evaluated in three different breeds compared to control tissue, and the known genetics that contributes to both canine and human DCM will be summarized. Lastly, the prospect of canine iPSCs as a novel method to uncover the contributions of genetic variants to the pathogenesis of canine DCM will be introduced along with the applications for disease modeling and treatment