Monitoring mosselzaadinvang met MZI Wieringen in Waddenzee 2008

In de Waddenzee is in 2008 een experiment uitgevoerd ten behoeve van verbreding van kennis over mosselzaadinvang (MZI) op de percelen Wieringen 36 en 37. Hierbij is gebruik gemaakt van twee op de bodem geplaatste kooiconstructies met daarin collectortouwen die het zaad in kunnen vangen. Doel van het project is het onderzoeken van de mogelijkheden voor mosselinvang met behulp van speciaal ontwikkelde kooiconstructies met ‘fuzzy rope’ touw als collectoren. Hierbij is door Wageningen IMARES de invangcapaciteit, invangefficiëntie en groei-efficiëntie op de collectortouwen bepaald en zijn het aantal mossellarven in het water gemonitord. Een ander doel voor de ondernemer was ervaring opdoen met het plaatsten en oogsten van de installatie. Verder zijn observaties van en door de kweker gerapporteerd; dit betreft (1) de oogst, (2) de aanwezigheid van vogels en zeezoogdieren en (3) de visuele kenmerken van de invangsystemen, waarbij de landschappelijke effecten met behulp van foto’s in beeld zijn gebracht. Voor effecten op bodem en bodemfauna wordt gerefereerd aan het PRODUS project. De gekozen locatie is geschikt voor mosselzaadinvang; dit blijkt uit de aanwezigheid van schelpdierlarven in het water en schelpdierbroed en -zaad op de touwen. Ook de constructie is technisch/biologisch geschikt voor zaadinvan

PRODUS 1 d: Rendement MZI zaad op percelen 2005-2008

Fluctuaties in aanbod van mosselzaad en druk op de visserij hebben er toe geleid dat de sector mosselzaadinvangsystemen (MZI's) is gaan ontwikkelen. Door de extra kosten aan arbeid en materiaal is MZI zaad duurder dan traditioneel gevist zaad, daarom is een hoog rendement van het mosselzaad tijdens doorkweek op de percelen van belang. Dit is het onderwerp van studie van PRODUS deelproject 1d. Het rendement wordt bepaald door groei en overleving van het zaad. Het onderzoek heeft zich gericht op factoren die de groei en overleving van MZI zaad kunnen beïnvloeden. Het huidige rapport geeft een samenvatting van het onderzoek dat is uitgevoerd in de periode 2005-2008

MZI Monitoring en oogst van vier experimenten in Waddenzee en Oosterschelde 2008

Doel van het onderzoek was om met een viertal ondernemers een gezamelijke mzi monitoring uit te voeren op de oogst van vier verschillende MZI projecten: EMERGO, MIOS, de Rooij Mosselkweek en Mosselkweek Barbé B.V. De monitoring heeft plaatsgevonden op een uniforme wijze, aan boord van het oogstschip. De resultaten van de monitoring zijn collectief gerapporteerd. De eigen waarneming en monitoringgegevens van iedere ondernemer over ecologische effecten, landschappelijke effecten en totale oogst zijn apart onderdeel van de rapportage

Hydrosurgical and conventional debridement of burns:randomized clinical trial

Background: Tangential excision of burned tissue followed by skin grafting is the cornerstone of burn surgery. Hydrosurgery has become popular for tangential excision, with the hypothesis that enhanced preservation of vital dermal tissue reduces scarring. The aim of this trial was to compare scar quality after hydrosurgical versus conventional debridement before split-skin grafting. Methods: A double-blind randomized within-patient multicentre controlled trial was conducted in patients with burns that required split-skin grafting. One wound area was randomized to hydrosurgical debridement and the other to Weck knife debridement. The primary outcome was scar quality at 12 months, assessed with the observer part of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS). Secondary outcomes included complications, scar quality, colour, pliability, and histological dermal preservation. Results: Some 137 patients were randomized. At 12 months, scars of the hydrosurgical debrided wounds had a lower POSAS observer total item score (mean 2.42 (95 per cent c.i. 2.26 to 2.59) versus 2.54 (95 per cent c.i. 2.36 to 2.72; P =0.023)) and overall opinion score (mean 3.08 (95 per cent c.i. 2.88 to 3.28) versus 3.30 (95 per cent c.i. 3.09-3.51); P = 0.006). Patient-reported scar quality and pliability measurements were significantly better for the hydrosurgically debrided wounds. Complication rates did not differ between both treatments. Histologically, significantly more dermis was preserved with hydrosurgery (P < 0.001). Conclusion: One year after surgery scar quality and pliability was better for hydrosurgically debrided burns, probably owing to enhanced histological preservation of dermis

Long-term scar quality after hydrosurgical versus conventional debridement of deep dermal burns (HyCon trial): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Deep dermal burns require tangential excision of non-viable tissue and skin grafting to improve wound healing and burn-scar quality. Tangential excision is conventionally performed with a knife, but during the last decade hydrosurgery has become popular as a new tool for tangential excision. Hydrosurgery is generally thought to be a more precise and controlled manner of burn debridement leading to preservation of viable tissue and, therefore, better scar quality. Although scar quality is considered to be one of the most important outcomes in burn surgery today, no randomized controlled study has compared the effect of these two common treatment modalities with scar quality as a primary outcome. The aim of this study is, therefore, to compare long-term scar quality after hydrosurgical versus conventional tangential excision in deep dermal burns. Methods/design: A multicenter, randomized, intra-patient, controlled trial will be conducted in the Dutch burn centers of Rotterdam, Beverwijk, and Groningen. All patients with deep dermal burns that require excision and grafting are eligible. Exclusion criteria are: a burn wound 30%, full-thickness burns, chemical or electrical burns, infected wounds (clinical symptoms in combination with positive wound swabs), insufficient knowledge of the Dutch or English language, patients that are unlikely to comply with requirements of the study protocol and follow-up, and patients who are (temporarily) incompetent because of sedation and/or intubation. A total of 137 patients will be included. Comparable wound areas A and B will be appointed, randomized and either excised conventionally with a knife or with the hydrosurgery system. The primary outcome is scar quality measured by the observer score of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS); a subjective scar-assessment instrument, consisting of two separate six-item scales (observer and patient) that are both scored on a 10-point rating scale. Discussion: This study will contribute to the optimal surgi

Health status and psychological outcomes after trauma: A prospective multicenter cohort study

Introduction Survival after trauma has considerably improved. This warrants research on non-fatal outcome. We aimed to identify characteristics associated with both short and long-term health status (HS) after trauma and to describe the recovery patterns of HS and psychological outcomes during 24 months of follow-up. Methods Hospitalized patients with all types of injuries were included. Data were collected at 1 week 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post-trauma. HS was assessed with the EuroQol-5D-3L (EQ-5D3L) and the Health Utilities Index Mark 2 and 3 (HUI2/3). For the screening of symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression, the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) subscale anxiety (HADSA) and subscale depression (HADSD) were used. Recovery patterns of HS and psychological outcomes were examined with linear mixed model analyses. Results A total of 4,883 patients participated (median age 68 (Interquartile range 53–80); 50% response rate). The mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) pre-injury EQ-5D-3L score was 0.85 (0.23). One week post-trauma, mean (SD) EQ-5D-3L, HUI2 and HUI3 scores were 0.49 (0.32), 0.61 (0.22) and 0.38 (0.31), respectively. These scores significantly improved to 0.77 (0.26), 0.77 (0.21) and 0.62 (0.35), respectively, at 24 months. Most recovery occurred up until 3 months. At long-term follow-up, patients of higher age, with comorbidities, longer hospital stay, lower extremity fracture and spine injury showed lower HS. The mean (SD) scores of the IES, HADSA and HADSD were respectively 14.80 (15.80), 4.92 (3.98) and 5.00 (4.28), respectively, at 1 week post-trauma and slightly improved over 24 months post-trauma to 10.35 (14.72), 4.31 (3.76) and 3.62 (3.87), respectively. Discussion HS and psychological symptoms improved over time and most improvements occurred within 3 months post-trauma. The effects of severity and type of injury faded out over time. Patients frequently reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02508675

Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles as a Powerful Systems Biology. Characterization Tool in the Physiological Context

Recently, functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been utilized for protein separation and therapeutic delivery of DNA and drugs. The development of new methods and tools for the targeting and identification of specific biomolecular interactions within living systems is of great interest in the fields of systems biology, target and drug identification, drug delivery, and diagnostics. Magnetic separation of organelles and proteins from complex whole-cell lysates allows enrichment and elucidation of intracellular interaction partners for a specific immobilized protein or peptide on the surface of SPIONs

Efficiency of stress-adaptive traits chlorophyll fluorescence and membrane thermo- stability in wheat under high temperature

Despite developments in targeted gene sequencing and whole-genome analysis techniques, the robust detection of all genetic variation, including structural variants, in and around genes of interest and in an allele-specific manner remains a challenge. Here we present targeted locus amplification (TLA), a strategy to selectively amplify and sequence entire genes on the basis of the crosslinking of physically proximal sequences. We show that, unlike other targeted re-sequencing methods, TLA works without detailed prior locus information, as one or a few primer pairs are sufficient for sequencing tens to hundreds of kilobases of surrounding DNA. This enables robust detection of single nucleotide variants, structural variants and gene fusions in clinically relevant genes, including BRCA1 and BRCA2, and enables haplotyping. We show that TLA can also be used to uncover insertion sites and sequences of integrated transgenes and viruses. TLA therefore promises to be a useful method in genetic research and diagnostics when comprehensive or allele-specific genetic information is needed

Epidemiology of injuries, treatment (costs) and outcome in burn patients admitted to a hospital with or without dedicated burn centre (Burn-Pro)

INTRODUCTION: The Emergency Management of Severe Burns (EMSB) referral criteria have been implemented for optimal triaging of burn patients. Admission to a burn centre is indicated for patients with severe burns or with specific characteristics like older age or comorbidities. Patients not meeting these criteria can also be treated in a hospital without burn centre. Limited information is available about the organisation of care and referral of these patients. The aims of this study are to determine the burn injury characteristics, treatment (costs), quality of life and scar quality of burn patients admitted to a hospital without dedicated burn centre. These data will subsequently be compared with data from patients with<10% total bodysurface area (TBSA) burned who are admitted (or secondarily referred) to a burn centre. If admissions were in agreement with the EMSB, referral criteria will also be determined. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In this multicentre, prospective, observational study (cohort study), the following two groups of patients will be followed: 1) all patients (no age limit) admitted with burn-related injuries to a hospital without a dedicated burn centre in the Southwest Netherlands or Brabant Trauma Region and 2) all patients (no age limit) with<10% TBSA burned who are primarily admitted (or secondarily referred) to the burn centre of Maasstad Hospital. Data on the burn injury characteristics (primary outcome), EMSB compliance, treatment, treatment costs and outcome will be collected from the patients' medical files. At 3 weeks and at 3, 6 and 12 months after trauma, patients will be asked to complete the quality of life questionnaire (EuroQoL-5D), and the patient-reported part of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS). At those time visits, the coordinating investigator or research assistant will complete the observer-reported part of the POSAS. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been exempted by the medical r