REPCO contribution to the development of products for apple scab control

Natural compounds were sprayed according the RimPro scab warning system from start of bud break until the mid of June. Scab incidence was measured on the leaves and the fruit. Phytotoxicitiy and russet-ing was assessed. The natural compounds were sprayed together with sulphur and were compared with the standard biological fungicides copper hy-droxide and sulphur alone. Compound E73 + sulphur was the most effective on fruit. Armicarb and Resis-tim both sprayed with sulphur were comparable in efficacy with Funguran-OH. In our study laminarin (GL 32) did not shown any effect on the control of scab on apple

Enhancement of degradation of fallen apple leaves

Leaves from organic apple trees were dipped with different organic materials and leaves were placed on the orchard floor in autumn. Leaf area and the amount of ascospores of Venturia inaequalis were measured in spring. The objective of this research was to find alternatives for urea that simulate the decomposition of apple leaves and reduces the asco-spore production. In both years urea gave an increase of the leaf degradation and a significant reduction of the number of ascospores. The antagonist Coniothyrium minitans had no significant effect on the ascospore production in both years but decreased the leaf degradation. Beet pulp showed a significant reduction of the number of spores but reduced the leaf degradation rate. Applying extra earthworms increased the degradation

Further detections of OH masers in carbon stars with silicate features

A sample of J-type carbon stars was searched for OH maser emission. The new detection of three OH lines towards two silicate carbon stars is reported. In V778 Cyg, previously known as the main-lines (1665 and 1667 MHz) maser source, the satellite 1612 MHz emission was discovered while in NSV 2814 the main OH lines were detected. The presence of OH maser lines confirms the former suggestion that oxygen-rich material is located in the vicinity ($\approx$ $10^{15-16}$ cm) of silicate carbon stars.Comment: LaTeX2e, 4 pages with 2 figure

Frequency of occurrence of medication discrepancies and associated risk factors in cases of acute hospital admission

Background: Medication discrepancies are a common occurrence following hospital admission and carry the potential for causing harm. However, little is known about the potential risk factors involved in medication discrepancies. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine how frequently medication discrepancies occur and their associated risk factors, in patients hospitalized via the emergency department of the Spaarne Gasthuis Hospital, located in The Netherlands. Methods: This retrospective observational study examines 832 hospital admissions which took place between April 1st and June 30th, 2015. Medication reconciliation was performed within 24 hours of admission and medication discrepancies were registered. The primary outcome recorded in the study was the proportion of patients experiencing one or more medication discrepancies, as verified by the physician. As a secondary outcome, the association between these discrepancies and pre-specified variables was analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: At least one medication discrepancy was found to have occurred with 97 of the 832 patients (11.7%), the most common discrepancies involving incorrect drug dose (44.9%) and omission of medication (36.4%). In the univariate analysis, age (OR=1.03 [95% CI 1.02:1.04] p<0.001) and number of pre-admission medications taken (OR=1.13 [95%CI 1.09:1.17] p<0.001) were revealed to be significantly associated with the risk of medication discrepancies. Sex, type of medical specialty, and surgical versus non-surgical specialty were found not to be significantly associated with discrepancies. In the multivariate analysis, both the number of pre-admission medications (OR=1.10 [95%CI 1.06:1.15] p<0.001) and age (OR=1.02 [95%CI 1.01:1.03] p=0.004) were independently associated with the risk of medication discrepancy. Conclusions: Of the total number of patients, 11.7% experienced one or more medication discrepancies following admission to the hospital. Elderly patients taking multiple drugs were found to be particularly at risk

Lack of high BMI-related features in adipocytes and inflammatory cells in the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP)

BACKGROUND: Obesity is associated with the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Although the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) could be involved in this association, due to its intracapsular localization in the knee joint, there is currently little known about the effect of obesity on the IFP. Therefore, we investigated cellular and molecular body mass index (BMI)-related features in the IFP of OA patients. METHODS: Patients with knee OA (N = 155, 68% women, mean age 65 years, mean (SD) BMI 29.9 kg/m2 (5.7)) were recruited: IFP volume was determined by magnetic resonance imaging in 79 patients with knee OA, while IFPs and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) were obtained from 106 patients undergoing arthroplasty. Crown-like structures (CLS) were determined using immunohistochemical analysis. Adipocyte size was determined by light microscopy and histological analysis. Stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells were characterized by flow cytometry. RESULTS: IFP volume (mean (SD) 23.6 (5.4) mm(3)) was associated with height, but not with BMI or other obesity-related features. Likewise, volume and size of IFP adipocytes (mean 271 pl, mean 1933 μm) was not correlated with BMI. Few CLS were observed in the IFP, with no differences between overweight/obese and lean individuals. Moreover, high BMI was not associated with higher SVF immune cell numbers in the IFP, nor with changes in their phenotype. No BMI-associated molecular differences were observed, besides an increase in TNFα expression with high BMI. Macrophages in the IFP were mostly pro-inflammatory, producing IL-6 and TNFα, but little IL-10. Interestingly, however, CD206 and CD163 were associated with an anti-inflammatory phenotype, were the most abundantly expressed surface markers on macrophages (81% and 41%, respectively) and CD163(+) macrophages had a more activated and pro-inflammatory phenotype than their CD163(-) counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: BMI-related features usually observed in SCAT and visceral adipose tissue could not be detected in the IFP of OA patients, a fat depot implicated in OA pathogenesis

Attitudes toward integrative paediatrics: a national survey among youth health are physicians in the Netherlands

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Integrative Medicine (IM) is an emerging field in paediatrics, especially in the USA. The purpose of the present study was to assess the attitudes and beliefs of Youth Health Care (YHC) physicians in the Netherlands toward IM in paediatrics.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In October 2010, a link to an anonymous, self-reporting, 30-item web-based questionnaire was mailed to all members of the Dutch Organisation of YHC physicians. The questionnaire included questions on familiarity with IM, attitudes towards Integrative Paediatrics (IP), use and knowledge of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), demographic and practice characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 276 YHC physicians (response rate of 27%) responded to the survey. Of the respondents, 52% was familiar with IM and 56% had used some kind of CAM therapy during the past 2 years, of which self-medicated herbal and/or homeopathic remedies (61%) and supplements (50%) were most frequently mentioned. Most of the YHC physicians (62%) seldom asked parents of clients about CAM use. One third of the YHC physicians recommended CAM to their clients. In general, about 50% or more of the respondents had little knowledge of CAM therapies. Predictors for a positive attitude towards IP were familiarity with IM, own CAM use, asking their clients about CAM use and practising one or more forms of CAM therapy. Logistic regression analysis showed that the following factors were associated with a higher recommendation to CAM therapies: own CAM use (odds ratio (OR) = 3.8; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.1-6.9, <it>p </it>= 0.001) and practising CAM (OR 4.4; 95% CI = 1.6-11.7, <it>p </it>= 0.003).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In general Dutch YHC physicians have a relative positive attitude towards IP; more than half of the respondents used one or more forms of CAM and one third recommended CAM therapies. However, the majority of YHC physicians did not ask their clients about CAM use and seemed to have a lack of knowledge regarding CAM.</p

Prolonged Antibiotic Treatment does not Prevent Intra-Abdominal Abscesses in Perforated Appendicitis

Contains fulltext : 89619.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Children with perforated appendicitis have a relatively high risk of intra-abdominal abscesses. There is no evidence that prolonged antibiotic treatment after surgery reduces intra-abdominal abscess formation. We compared two patient groups with perforated appendicitis with different postoperative antibiotic treatment protocols. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients younger than age 18 years who underwent appendectomy for perforated appendicitis at two academic hospitals between January 1992 and December 2006. Perforation was diagnosed during surgery and confirmed during histopathological evaluation. Patients in hospital A received 5 days of antibiotics postoperatively, unless decided otherwise on clinical grounds. Patients in hospital B received antibiotics for 5 days, continued until serum C-reactive protein (CRP) was <20 mg/l. Univariate logistic regression analysis was performed on intention-to-treat basis. p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 149 children underwent appendectomy for perforated appendicitis: 68 in hospital A, and 81 in hospital B. As expected, the median (range) use of antibiotics was significantly different: 5 (range, 1-16) and 7 (range, 2-32) days, respectively (p < 0.0001). However, the incidence of postoperative intra-abdominal abscesses was similar (p = 0.95). Regression analysis demonstrated that sex (female) was a risk factor for abscess formation, whereas surgical technique and young age were not. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged use of antibiotics after surgery for perforated appendicitis in children based on serum CRP does not reduce postoperative abscess formation.1 december 201

A review of elliptical and disc galaxy structure, and modern scaling laws

A century ago, in 1911 and 1913, Plummer and then Reynolds introduced their models to describe the radial distribution of stars in `nebulae'. This article reviews the progress since then, providing both an historical perspective and a contemporary review of the stellar structure of bulges, discs and elliptical galaxies. The quantification of galaxy nuclei, such as central mass deficits and excess nuclear light, plus the structure of dark matter halos and cD galaxy envelopes, are discussed. Issues pertaining to spiral galaxies including dust, bulge-to-disc ratios, bulgeless galaxies, bars and the identification of pseudobulges are also reviewed. An array of modern scaling relations involving sizes, luminosities, surface brightnesses and stellar concentrations are presented, many of which are shown to be curved. These 'redshift zero' relations not only quantify the behavior and nature of galaxies in the Universe today, but are the modern benchmark for evolutionary studies of galaxies, whether based on observations, N-body-simulations or semi-analytical modelling. For example, it is shown that some of the recently discovered compact elliptical galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 may be the bulges of modern disc galaxies.Comment: Condensed version (due to Contract) of an invited review article to appear in "Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems"(www.springer.com/astronomy/book/978-90-481-8818-5). 500+ references incl. many somewhat forgotten, pioneer papers. Original submission to Springer: 07-June-201

The Distribution of Dust and Gas in Elliptical Galaxies

Results from IRAS and recent optical CCD surveys are examined to discuss the distribution and origin of dust and ionized gas in elliptical galaxies. In strong contrast with the situation among spiral galaxies, masses of dust in elliptical galaxies as derived from optical extinction are an order of magnitude LOWER than those derived from IRAS data. I find that this dilemma can be resolved by assuming the presence of a diffusely distributed component of dust which is not detectable in optical data. The morphology of dust lanes and their association with ionized gas in elliptical galaxies argues for an external origin of BOTH components of the ISM.Comment: Invited talk given at conference on "NEW EXTRAGALACTIC PERSPECTIVES IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA: Changing Perceptions of the Morphology, Dust Content and Dust-Gas Ratios in Galaxies", Held in Johannesburg, South Africa, during January 22-26, 1996. Proceedings will be edited by D.L. Block and published by Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. uuencoded, gzipped LaTeX file of 8 pages; figures included as PostScript files (enclosed). Uses crckapb.sty (enclosed) and psfig.st