Dopamine transporter (DAT1) and dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) genotypes differentially impact on electrophysiological correlates of error processing

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Overdiagnosis and overtreatment of breast cancer: Microsimulation modelling estimates based on observed screen and clinical data

There is a delicate balance between the favourable and unfavourable side-effects of screening in general. Overdiagnosis, the detection of breast cancers by screening that would otherwise never have been clinically diagnosed but are now consequently treated, is such an unfavourable side effect. To correctly model the natural history of breast cancer, one has to estimate mean durations of the different pre-clinical phases, transition probabilities to clinical cancer stages, and sensitivity of the applied test based on observed screen and clinical data. The Dutch data clearly show an increase in screen-detected cases in the 50 to 74 year old age group since the introduction of screening, and a decline in incidence around age 80 years. We had estimated that 3% of total incidence would otherwise not have been diagnosed clinically. This magnitude is no reason not to offer screening for women aged 50 to 74 years. The increases in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are primarily due to mammography screening, but DCIS still remains a relatively small proportion of the total breast cancer problem

Lessons Learned from Creating a Mobile Version of an Educational Board Game to Increase Situational Awareness

This paper reports on an iterative design process for a serious game, which aims to raise situational awareness among different stakeholders in a logistics value chain by introducing multi-user role-playing games. It does so in several phases: After introducing the field of logistics as a problem domain for an educational challenge, it firstly describes the design of an educational board game for the field of disruption handling in logistics processes. Secondly, it de-scribes how the board game can be realized in an open-source mobile serious games platform and identifies lessons learned based on advantages and issues found. Thirdly, it derives requirements for a re-design of the mobile game and finally draws conclusions.SALOM

Complex Odor from Plants under Attack: Herbivore's Enemies React to the Whole, Not Its Parts

Background: Insect herbivory induces plant odors that attract herbivores ’ natural enemies. Assuming this attraction emerges from individual compounds, genetic control over odor emission of crops may provide a rationale for manipulating the distribution of predators used for pest control. However, studies on odor perception in vertebrates and invertebrates suggest that olfactory information processing of mixtures results in odor percepts that are a synthetic whole and not a set of components that could function as recognizable individual attractants. Here, we ask if predators respond to herbivoreinduced attractants in odor mixtures or to odor mixture as a whole. Methodology/Principal Findings: We studied a system consisting of Lima bean, the herbivorous mite Tetranychus urticae and the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis. We found that four herbivore-induced bean volatiles are not attractive in pure form while a fifth, methyl salicylate (MeSA), is. Several reduced mixtures deficient in one component compared to the full spider-mite induced blend were not attractive despite the presence of MeSA indicating that the predators cannot detect this component in these odor mixtures. A mixture of all five HIPV is most attractive, when offered together with the noninduced odor of Lima bean. Odors that elicit no response in their pure form were essential components of the attractive mixture. Conclusions/Significance: We conclude that the predatory mites perceive odors as a synthetic whole and that th

Degree of tumour vascularity correlates with drug accumulation and tumour response upon TNF-α-based isolated hepatic perfusion

Isolated hepatic perfusion (IHP) with melphalan with or without tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is currently performed in clinical trials in patients with hepatic metastases. Previous studies led to the hypothesis that the use of TNF-α in isolated limb perfusion causes specific destruction of tumour endothelial cells and thereby induces an increased permeability of tumour vasculature. However, whether TNF-α contributes to the therapeutic efficacy in IHP still remains unclear. In an in vivo rat liver metastas

Isolated Hypoxic Hepatic Perfusion with Retrograde Outflow in Patients with Irresectable Liver Metastases; A New Simplified Technique in Isolated Hepatic Perfusion

Background: Isolated hepatic perfusion with high-dose chemotherapy is a treatment option for patients with irresectable metastases confined to the liver. Prolonged local control and impact on survival have been claimed. Major drawbacks are magnitude and costs of the procedure. We developed an isolated hypoxic h

Scaffolds with a standardized macro-architecture fabricated from several calcium phosphate ceramics using an indirect rapid prototyping technique

Calcium phosphate ceramics, commonly applied as bone graft substitutes, are a natural choice of scaffolding material for bone tissue engineering. Evidence shows that the chemical composition, macroporosity and microporosity of these ceramics influences their behavior as bone graft substitutes and bone tissue engineering scaffolds but little has been done to optimize these parameters. One method of optimization is to place focus on a particular parameter by normalizing the influence, as much as possible, of confounding parameters. This is difficult to accomplish with traditional fabrication techniques. In this study we describe a design based rapid prototyping method of manufacturing scaffolds with virtually identical macroporous architectures from different calcium phosphate ceramic compositions. Beta-tricalcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite (at two sintering temperatures) and biphasic calcium phosphate scaffolds were manufactured. The macro- and micro-architectures of the scaffolds were characterized as well as the influence of the manufacturing method on the chemistries of the calcium phosphate compositions. The structural characteristics of the resulting scaffolds were remarkably similar. The manufacturing process had little influence on the composition of the materials except for the consistent but small addition of, or increase in, a beta-tricalcium phosphate phase. Among other applications, scaffolds produced by the method described provide a means of examining the influence of different calcium phosphate compositions while confidently excluding the influence of the macroporous structure of the scaffolds