Osteoarthritis and a high-fat diet: the full 'OA syndrome' in a small animal model

Obesity is one of the main risk factors for osteoarthritis (OA) and due to the global rise in obesity this will increasingly contribute to OA development. The article of Griffin and co-workers in this issue of Arthritis Research and Therapy shows that a high-fat diet leads to obesity and OA in the studied animals and that this is related to alterations in locomotor function. Furthermore, a high-fat diet leads to pain sensitization and depression/anxiety-like behavior unrelated to structural OA changes in the knee. Their findings demonstrate that the majority of features of the human 'OA syndrome' can be reproduced in a small animal model

The development of Demand-driven care as a new governance concept

Demand-driven care is oriented towards an empowerment of patients/consumers through a redistribution of responsibilities and control among government, healthcare providers, insurers and patients. Different normative approaches can be distinguished in the discussion about the implementation and development of demand-driven care. The economic approach is aimed at competition and consumerism. The democratic approach of demand-driven care focuses on shared social responsibilities and accountability between the actors involved. In practice both approaches don’t get full meaning. The characteristics of sub-sectors within the healthcare system, institutional inertia and conflicting interests hamper a real shift form supply-oriented towards demand-oriented health care.Session 4: Public Managemen

The influence of the polyene filipin on the extrinsic pathway of blood coagulation

The inhibition by filipin in the extrinsic blood clotting system takes place at two sites: (1) at the interaction of factor VII, tissue thromboplastin and Ca++, and (2) at the prothrombinase level. Both formation and enzymatic activity of the prothrombinase are inhibited.The cholesterol content of the lipid that is used to form the prothrombinase complex determines the degree of inhibition by filipin. The inhibition increases the higher the sterol content. The adsorption of factors Xa and V onto lipid surface is enhanced by filipin. This increased adsorption does not lead to an increase in prothrombinase production

Visible diode lasers can be used for flow cytometric immunofluorescence and DNA analysis

This report describes a feasibility study concerning the use of a visible diode laser for two important fluorescence applications in a flow cytometer. With a 3 mW 635 nm. diode laser, we performed immunofluorescence measurements using the fluorophore allophycocyanin (APC). We have measured CD8 positive lymphocytes with a two-step labeling procedure and the resulting histograms showed good separation between the negative cells and the dim and the bright fluorescent subpopulations. As a second fluorescence application, we chose DNA analysis with the recently developed DNA/ RNA stains TOTO-3 and TO-PRO-3. In our setup TO-PRO-3 yielded the best results with a CV of 3.4%. Our results indicate that a few milliwatts of 635 nm light from a visible diode laser is sufficient to do single color immunofluorescence measurements with allophycocyanin and DNA analysis with TO-PRO-3. The major advantages of using a diode laser in a flow cytometer are the small size, the low price, the high efficiency, and the long lifetime

Alternative administration routes and delivery technologies for polio vaccines.

Global polio eradication is closer than ever. Replacement of the live attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) by inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) is recommended to achieve complete eradication. Limited global production capacity and relatively high IPV costs compared to OPV spur the need for improved polio vaccines. The target product profile of these vaccines includes not only dose sparing but also high stability, which is important for stockpiling, and easy application important for (emergency) vaccination campaigns. In this review, the current status of alternative polio vaccine delivery strategies is given. Furthermore, we discuss the feasibility of these strategies by highlighting challenges, hurdles to overcome, and formulation issues relevant for optimal vaccine delivery

Vraag naar vraagsturing: Een verkennend onderzoek naar de betekenis van vraagsturing in de Nederlandse gezondheidszorg

De gezondheidszorg kenmerkt zich door een samenspel van actoren die in onderlinge samenhang en afhankelijkheid vormgeven aan de gezondheidszorg. Dit is echter verre van een stabiel samenspel. Allerlei maatschappelijke, politieke, economische en demografische ontwikkelingen zorgen voor een continue dynamiek en herdefiniering van taken en verantwoordelijkheden van overheid, verzekeraars, aanbieders en zorgvragers. De introductie van het concept "vraagsturing" kan ook in dit kader worden geplaatst

Sulfidation and activity of Co/C catalysts having extremely low cobalt-loading: A Moessbauer emission spectroscopy and thiophene hydrodesulfurization study

Up to a sulfiding temp. of 473 K, the behavior of Co/C catalysts with extremely low cobalt loadings (ppm range) agrees with the trend obsd. before in the Moessbauer emission spectroscopy (MES) spectra of Co/C catalysts with much higher cobalt loadings (0.04-43. wt.%). Sulfiding at 573 K results in a rather well-defined very highly dispersed (most likely monatomically) Co sulfide species which shows a doublet with the extremely large value Q.S. = 4.11 mm/s. In this species the cobalt atoms may be four-fold (square-planar) or five-fold (square-pyramid) coordinated by sulfur. Sulfiding at 673 K results in the disappearance of this highly dispersed Co sulfide species and the newly formed species are again similar to the one previously found for Co/C catalysts with higher cobalt loadings. This finally formed Co sulfide species does not exhibit the Co-Mo-S MES spectrum (Q.S. between 1.0 and 1.3 mm/s) whereas its intrinsic thiophene hydrodesulfurization (HDS) activity equals that of cobalt in the Co-Mo-S phase. Thus, there is no general relation between the thiophene HDS activity (measured at atm. pressure) and the amt. of cobalt exhibiting a Co-Mo-S MES spectrum. [on SciFinder (R)

Behavior of the resonant absorption area of a 57Fe-doped Ni/C catalyst during sulfidation

In-situ Moessbauer spectroscopy measurements down to 4.2 K were performed on a 57Fe-doped Ni/C catalyst after various successive sulfidation treatments. After exposure of the catalysts to the H2S/H2 gas mixt. at room temp., part of the 57Fe becomes sulfidic. The rest is present as a sulfate-like intermediate species. The interaction between this intermediate species and the carbon support material is influenced by water. A