Het nieuwe telen : energie onder de knie : komkommer

Vanuit het idee dat energiezuinig telen bereikt kan worden door goede isolatie, beheersing van de luchtvochtigheid en aanpassing van het teeltplan is project Het Nieuwe Telen komkommer uitgevoerd. Als doelstelling is geformuleerd een energieinput voor warmte van gelijk aan 25 m3 aardgas en handhaving van de de productie op 80 kg of wel 200 stuks per m2. Om de haalbaarheid van deze doelstelling te onderzoeken is een afdeling van 1000 m2 uitgerust met drie schermen- één vast folie en twee beweegbare schermen- en een installatie voor geavanceerde ventilatie

Urinary Eosinophil Protein X in Children with Atopic Asthma

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between urinary eosinophil protein X (uEPX) and asthma symptoms, lung function, and other markers of eosinophilic airway inflammation in asthmatic school children. Methods. A cross-sectional study was performed in 180 steroid dependent atopic children with stable moderately severe asthma, who were stable on 200 or 500μg of fluticasone per day. uEPX was measured in a single sample of urine and was normalized for creatinine concentration (uEPX/c). Symptom scores were kept on a diary card. FEV1 and PD20 methacholine were measured. Sputum induction was performed in 49 and FENO levels measured in 24 children. Results. We found an inverse correlation between uEPX/c and FEV1 (r = −.20, P = .01) and a borderline significant correlation between uEPX/c and PD20 methacholine (r = −.15, P = .06). Symptom score, %eosinophils and ECP in induced sputum and FENO levels did not correlate with uEPX/c. Conclusion. uEPX/c levels did not correlate with established markers of asthma severity and eosinophilic airway inflammation in atopic asthmatic children

Will HIV Vaccination Reshape HIV Risk Behavior Networks? A Social Network Analysis of Drug Users\u27 Anticipated Risk Compensation

Background An HIV vaccine could substantially impact the epidemic. However, risk compensation (RC), or post-vaccination increase in risk behavior, could present a major challenge. The methodology used in previous studies of risk compensation has been almost exclusively individual-level in focus, and has not explored how increased risk behavior could affect the connectivity of risk networks. This study examined the impact of anticipated HIV vaccine-related RC on the structure of high-risk drug users\u27 sexual and injection risk network. Methods A sample of 433 rural drug users in the US provided data on their risk relationships (i.e., those involving recent unprotected sex and/or injection equipment sharing). Dyad-specific data were collected on likelihood of increasing/initiating risk behavior if they, their partner, or they and their partner received an HIV vaccine. Using these data and social network analysis, a post-vaccination network was constructed and compared to the current network on measures relevant to HIV transmission, including network size, cohesiveness (e.g., diameter, component structure, density), and centrality. Results Participants reported 488 risk relationships. Few reported an intention to decrease condom use or increase equipment sharing (4% and 1%, respectively). RC intent was reported in 30 existing risk relationships and vaccination was anticipated to elicit the formation of five new relationships. RC resulted in a 5% increase in risk network size (n = 142 to n = 149) and a significant increase in network density. The initiation of risk relationships resulted in the connection of otherwise disconnected network components, with the largest doubling in size from five to ten. Conclusions This study demonstrates a new methodological approach to studying RC and reveals that behavior change following HIV vaccination could potentially impact risk network connectivity. These data will be valuable in parameterizing future network models that can determine if network-level change precipitated by RC would appreciably impact the vaccine\u27s population-level effectiveness

'Reaching the hard to reach' - lessons learned from the VCS (voluntary and community Sector). A qualitative study.

Background The notion 'hard to reach' is a contested and ambiguous term that is commonly used within the spheres of social care and health, especially in discourse around health and social inequalities. There is a need to address health inequalities and to engage in services the marginalized and socially excluded sectors of society. Methods This paper describes a pilot study involving interviews with representatives from eight Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations . The purpose of the study was to explore the notion of 'hard to reach' and perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to accessing services for 'hard to reach' groups from a voluntary and community sector perspective. Results The 'hard to reach' may include drug users, people living with HIV, people from sexual minority communities, asylum seekers, refugees, people from black and ethnic minority communities, and homeless people although defining the notion of the 'hard to reach' is not straight forward. It may be that certain groups resist engaging in treatment services and are deemed hard to reach by a particular service or from a societal stance. There are a number of potential barriers for people who may try and access services, including people having bad experiences in the past; location and opening times of services and how services are funded and managed. A number of areas of commonality are found in terms of how access to services for 'hard to reach' individuals and groups could be improved including: respectful treatment of service users, establishing trust with service users, offering service flexibility, partnership working with other organisations and harnessing service user involvement. Conclusions: If health services are to engage with groups that are deemed 'hard to reach' and marginalised from mainstream health services, the experiences and practices for engagement from within the VCS may serve as useful lessons for service improvement for statutory health services

Technical performance and diagnostic utility of the new Elecsys (R) neuron-specific enolase enzyme immunoassay

This international multicenter study was designed to evaluate the technical performance of the new double-monoclonal, single-step Elecsys neuron-specific enolase (NSE) enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and to assess its utility as a sensitive and specific test for the diagnosis of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Intra and interassay coefficients of variation, determined in five control or serum specimens in six laboratories, ranged from 0.7 to 5.3 (interlaboratory median: 1.3%) and from 1.3 to 8.5 (interlaboratory median: 3.4%), respectively. Laboratory-to-laboratory comparability was excellent with respect to recovery and interassay coefficients of variation. The test was linear between 0.0 and 320 ng/ml (highest measured concentration). There was a significant correlation between NSE concentrations measured using the Elecsys NSE and the established Cobas Core NSE EIA II in all subjects (n=723) and in patients with lung cancer (n=333). However, NSE concentrations were systematically lower (approximately 9%) with the Elecsys NSE than with the comparison test. Based on a specificity of 95% in comparison with the group suffering from benign lung diseases (n=183), the cutoff value for the discrimination between malignant and benign conditions was set at 21.6 ng/ml. NSE was raised in 73.4% of SCLC patients (n=188) and was significantly higher (p<0.01) in extensive (87.8%) as opposed to limited disease (56.7%). NSE was also elevated in 16.0% of the cases with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, n=374). It is concluded that the Elecsys NSE EIA is a reliable and accurate diagnostic procedure for the measurement of NSE in serum samples. The special merits of this new assay are the wide measuring range (according to manufacturers declaration up to 370 ng/ml) and a short incubation time of 18 min

The Geometry and Moduli of K3 Surfaces

These notes will give an introduction to the theory of K3 surfaces. We begin with some general results on K3 surfaces, including the construction of their moduli space and some of its properties. We then move on to focus on the theory of polarized K3 surfaces, studying their moduli, degenerations and the compactification problem. This theory is then further enhanced to a discussion of lattice polarized K3 surfaces, which provide a rich source of explicit examples, including a large class of lattice polarizations coming from elliptic fibrations. Finally, we conclude by discussing the ample and Kahler cones of K3 surfaces, and give some of their applications.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figures. (R. Laza, M. Schutt and N. Yui, eds.

Succesvol herstel van zeegrasvelden : het verhaal van een natuurlijke biobrouwer

Een bijna vergeten beeld: glinsterend water met daarin de slanke groene linten van zeegras. Zacht wuivend en golvend onder het wateroppervlak bij vloed, liggend met de stroom, meewijzend als het eb wordt. Prachtig. Maar zo’n ondiepe zeebodem begroeid met een tapijt van zeegras is niet alleen fraai om te zien, het is het ook nuttig. Zeker in tijden van klimaatverandering en zeespiegelstijging. Zoals helmgras langswaaiend zand kan invangen en zo duinen laat groeien, zo kan zeegras helpen de zeebodem op te hogen door zand en slibdeeltjes in te vangen. Het is een echte ‘biobouwer’. Als wadplaten hoger worden, geeft dat meer golfbreking op en vervolgens veiligheid voor de dijken. Door een virusinfectie en de aanleg van de Afsluitdijk zijn de zeegrasvelden echter bijna volledig verdwenen. Een herstelproject biedt hoop

Klimaatbuffers: wat bedoelen we eigenlijk?

Klimaatbuffers zijn bedoeld om stad en land te beschermen tegen klimaatverandering. Maar klimaatbuffers gaan ook over natuurlijke oplossingen en meer kansen voor natuur en landschap. De coalitie Natuurlijke Klimaatbuffers, een coalitie van zeven natuurorganisaties, zag de mogelijkheden en ging samenwerken met waterbeherend Nederland om natuurwinst te realiseren bij concrete inrichtingsprojecten die ons land klimaatbestendiger moeten maken. Dit themanummer brengt voorbeeldprojecten, opinie en verdieping bij elkaar om te onderstrepen dat dit nodig is en ook werkt

Efficient Photoionization-Loading of Trapped Cadmium Ions with Ultrafast Pulses

Atomic cadmium ions are loaded into radiofrequency ion traps by photoionization of atoms in a cadmium vapor with ultrafast laser pulses. The photoionization is driven through an intermediate atomic resonance with a frequency-quadrupled mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser that produces pulses of either 100 fsec or 1 psec duration at a central wavelength of 229 nm. The large bandwidth of the pulses photoionizes all velocity classes of the Cd vapor, resulting in high loading efficiencies compared to previous ion trap loading techniques. Measured loading rates are compared with a simple theoretical model, and we conclude that this technique can potentially ionize every atom traversing the laser beam within the trapping volume. This may allow the operation of ion traps with lower levels of background pressures and less trap electrode surface contamination. The technique and laser system reported here should be applicable to loading most laser-cooled ion species.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

What about if buildings respond to my mood?

This work analyzes the possibilities of interaction between the built environment and its users, focused on the responsiveness of the first to the emotions of the latter. Transforming the built environment according to the mood, feelings, and emotions of users, moment by moment, is discussed and analyzed. The main goal of this research is to define a responsive model by which the built environment can respond in a personalized way to the users’ emotions. For such, computational technical issues, building construction elements and users’ interaction are identified and analyzed. Case studies where occurs an interaction between the physical space and users are presented. We define a model for an architecture that is responsive to the user’s emotions assuming the individual at one end and the space at the other. The interaction between both ends takes place according to intermediate steps: the collection of data, the recognition of emotion, and the execution of the action that responds to the detected emotion. As this work focuses on an innovative and disruptive aspect of the built environment, the recognition of the new difficulties and related ethical issues are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio