Near-bed hydrodynamics and turbulence below a large-scale plunging breaking wave over a mobile barred bed profile

Funded by The research presented in this paper is part of the SINBAD project. Grant Number: STW (12058) and EPSRC (EP/J00507X/1, EP/J005541/1)Peer reviewedPublisher PDFPublisher PD

Measuring water sorption isotherm of mortar containing chloride

The water sorption isotherm of materials is of great importance to predict their durability. Many different methods are used in the literature to measure this water sorption isotherm. Chloride present in concrete elements/structures e.g. in marine exposure, can change the water sorption of the material. In this paper, the water sorption isotherm of a standard mortar with and without chloride is measured with a hygroscopic method. The chloride penetration into the sample is obtained by the vacuum saturation method. Subsequently the sample is placed in a glass vessel and dried. By injecting a known amount of water into the vessel, the water evaporates and is partly adsorbed by the sample until an equilibrium state is reached. With the known amount of the injected water into the vessel, the humidity inside the vessel and the volume of the vessel, one point of the adsorption isotherm is determined. For measuring the next point, more water is injected into the vessel. More points are measured in the same manner until the sample is saturated and with this the adsorption isotherm is completed. Afterwards, the measurement of the desorption isotherm starts with blowing dry air with a known flow, humidity and duration into the vessel. After reaching equilibrium, the first point of the desorption curve is measured. The next point is measured by blowing more dry air into the vessel. This continues until the sample is completely dry and with it the desorption isotherm is also completed

Representing composition, spatial structure and management intensity of European agricultural landscapes: A new typology

Comprehensive maps that characterize the variation in agricultural landscapes across Europe are lacking. In this paper we present a new Europe-wide, spatially-explicit typology and inventory of the diversity in composition, spatial structure and management intensity of European agricultural landscapes. Agricultural landscape types were characterized at a 1 k

Suspended sediment transport around a large-scale laboratory breaker bar

The authors wish to thank the staff of CIEMLAB (Joaquim Sospedra, Oscar Galego and Ricardo Torres) and Mick Poppe from the University of Twente for their contributions to the experiments. We are also grateful to fellow SINBAD researchers and to prof. Peter Thorne for their feedback on preliminary results and to two anonymous reviewers and prof. dr. Suzanne J.M.H. Hulscher for their feedback on the draft manuscript. The research presented in this paper is part of the SINBAD project, funded by STW (12058) and EPSRC (EP/J00507X/1, EP/J005541/1). We further acknowledge the European Community’s FP7 project Hydralab IV (contract no. 261520) for funding the accompanying SandT-Pro experiments and the ACVP development by CNRS-LEGI (D. Hurther, P.-A. Barraud, J.-M. Barnoud).Peer reviewedPostprin

Wave Boundary Layer Hydrodynamics and Sheet Flow Properties under Large-Scale Plunging-Type Breaking Waves

The authors wish to thank the staff of CIEMLAB, in particular Joaquim Sospedra, Oscar Galego and Ricardo Torres, for their hospitality and hard work during the experimental campaign. This research was funded by the European Community’s Horizon 2020 Programme through the Integrated Infrastructure Initiative HYDRALAB+ COMPLEX (no. 654110), the French DGA funded ANR Astrid Maturation project MESURE (no. ANR-16- ASMA-0005-01) and the SINBAD project funded by STW (12058) in the Netherlands and by EPSRC (EP/J00507X/1, EPJ005541/1) in the UK. Data of this study are available at U. Twente repository doi (10.4121/uuid:753f1d84-36e5-47fa-b74b-55c288545b9b). Comments and remarks raised by the two anonymous reviewers helped to improve the quality of the paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Synthetic (N,N-dimethyl)doxorubicin glycosyl diastereomers to dissect modes of action of anthracycline anticancer drugs

Anthracyclines are effective drugs in the treatment of various cancers, but their use comes with severe side effects. The archetypal anthracycline drug, doxorubicin, displays two molecular modes of action: DNA double-strand break formation (through topoisomerase II alpha poisoning) and chromatin damage (via eviction of histones). These biological activities can be modulated and toxic side effects can be reduced by separating these two modes of action through alteration of the aminoglycoside moiety of doxorubicin. We herein report on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of a coherent set of configurational doxorubicin analogues featuring all possible stereoisomers of the 1,2-amino-alcohol characteristic for the doxorubicin 3-amino-2,3-dideoxyfucoside, each in nonsubstituted and N,N-dimethylated forms. The set of doxorubicin analogues was synthesized using appropriately protected 2,3,6-dideoxy-3-amino glycosyl donors, equipped with an alkynylbenzoate anomeric leaving group, and the doxorubicin aglycon acceptor. The majority of these glycosylations proceeded in a highly stereoselective manner to provide the desired axial alpha-linkage. We show that both stereochemistry of the 3-amine carbon and N-substitution state are critical for anthracycline cytotoxicity and generally improve cellular uptake. N,N-Dimethylepirubicin is identified as the most potent anthracycline that does not induce DNA damage while remaining cytotoxic.Chemical Immunolog

Synthetic (N,N-dimethyl)doxorubicin glycosyl diastereomers to dissect modes of action of anthracycline anticancer drugs

Bio-organic Synthesi

Simulating and delineating future land change trajectories across Europe

Explorations of future land use change are important to understand potential conflicts between competing land uses, trade-offs associated with particular land change trajectories, and the effectiveness of policies to steer land systems into desirable states. Most model-based explorations and scenario studies focused on conversions in broad land use classes, but disregarded changes in land management or focused on individual sectors only. Using the European Union (EU) as a case study, we developed an approach to identifying typical combinations of land cover and management changes by combining the results of multimodel simulations in the agriculture and forest sectors for four scenarios from 2000 to 2040. We visualized land change trajectories by mapping regional hotspots of change. Land change trajectories differed in extent and spatial pattern across the EU and among scenarios, indicating trajectory-specific option spaces for alternative land system outcomes. In spite of the large variation in the area of change, similar hotspots of land change were observed among the scenarios. All scenarios indicate a stronger polarization of land use in Europe, with a loss of multifunctional landscapes. We analyzed locations subject to change by comparing location characteristics associated with certain land change trajectories. Results indicate differences in the location conditions of different land change trajectories, with diverging impacts on ecosystem service provisioning. Policy and planning for future land use needs to account for the spatial variation of land change trajectories to achieve both overarching and location-specific targets

Maternal risk factors for posterior urethral valves

Introduction: Posterior urethral valves (PUV) is a congenital disorder causing an obstruction of the lower urinary tract that affects approximately 1 in 4,000 male live births. PUV is considered a multifactorial disorder, meaning that both genetic and environmental factors are involved in its development. We investigated maternal risk factors for PUV. Methods: We included 407 PUV patients and 814 controls matched on year of birth from the AGORA data- and biobank and three participating hospitals. Information on potential risk factors (family history of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT), season of conception, gravidity, subfertility, and conception using assisted reproductive techniques (ART), plus maternal age, body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and use of alcohol and folic acid) was derived from maternal questionnaires. After multiple imputation, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were estimated using conditional logistic regression corrected for minimally sufficient sets of confounders determined using directed acyclic graphs. Results: A positive family history and low maternal age (&lt;25 years) were associated with PUV development [aORs: 3.3 and 1.7 with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 1.4–7.7 and 1.0–2.8, respectively], whereas higher maternal age (&gt;35 years) was associated with a lower risk (aOR: 0.7 95% CI: 0.4–1.0). Maternal preexisting hypertension seemed to increase PUV risk (aOR: 2.1 95% CI: 0.9–5.1), while gestational hypertension seemed to decrease this risk (aOR: 0.6 95% CI: 0.3–1.0). Concerning use of ART, the aORs for the different techniques were all above one, but with very wide 95% CIs including one. None of the other factors studied were associated with PUV development. Conclusion: Our study showed that family history of CAKUT, low maternal age, and potentially preexisting hypertension were associated with PUV development, whereas higher maternal age and gestational hypertension seemed to be associated with a lower risk. Maternal age and hypertension as well as the possible role of ART in the development of PUV require further research.</p