Seeing through the archival prism: A history of the representation of Muslims on Dutch television

Since 9/11 and the murder of Theo van Gogh, Islam is centre-stage in the Dutch public debate and the media. Television coverage of Islam and Muslims has often presented particular stereotypes of the Dutch Muslim community, and has depicted Islam as monolithic and homogenous. This book offers an historical perspective to these recent developments and explores the history of Dutch television coverage of Muslims, from the arrival of the first Islamic guest workers in the sixties until the recent era of the 2000’s, in which Islam became such a salient and contested issue. By turning the spotlight on the historical dimensions of Dutch television coverage of Muslims and Islam, this study deepens the understanding of the emergence, the transformation, and the resilience of stereotypical stories and images of Muslims and Islam on Dutch television

Communication: Nanosecond folding dynamics of an alpha helix: Time-dependent 2D-IR cross peaks observed using polarization-sensitive dispersed pump-probe spectroscopy

We present a simple method to measure the dynamics of cross peaks in time-resolved two-dimensional vibrational spectroscopy. By combining suitably weighted dispersed pump-probe spectra, we eliminate the diagonal contribution to the 2D-IR response, so that the dispersed pump-probe signal contains the projection of only the cross peaks onto one of the axes of the 2D-IR spectrum. We apply the method to investigate the folding dynamics of an alpha-helical peptide in a temperature-jump experiment and find characteristic folding and unfolding time constants of 260 ± 30 and 580 ± 70 ns at 298 K

Design, manufacturing and testing of a rotorcraft access panel door from recycled carbon fiber reinforced polyphenylenesulfide

An integrally-stiffened access panel for a rotorcraft is selected for detail design, testing and actual flight to demonstrate a novel recycling route for thermoplastic composites. The design, development and validation followed the ‘Building Block approach’. The used material is post-industrial carbon fiber reinforced polyphenylene sulfide waste. This material originates from thermoplastic components of the very same rotorcraft as the panel will be mounted on, improving traceability, logistics and fixing supply and demand. Material data have been gathered from mechanical tests and used to predict the panels strength and stiffness. A critical design detail was selected and tested for validation. This section was included in a manufacturing demo, along with other integrated design features, enabling testing the processability. The final panel design was successfully produced and tested on component level. The re-manufacturing process includes simultaneously applied heat and low-shear mixing, followed by compression molding in an isothermal mold. This offers the possibility to retain long fibers and therefore high mechanical properties at short cycle times. In comparison to the current carbon/epoxy solution, the resulting product is lighter, significantly more cost-effective and made of recycled material (fiber and matrix). The prototype panel is targeted for flight testing on the rotorcraft in 2019.Dutch Organization of Applied Research – SIA, projeto SIA-RAAK 2014-01-72PR

Athletes treated for inguinal-related groin pain by endoscopic totally extraperitoneal (TEP) repair:long-term benefits of a prospective cohort

Purpose: Inguinal-related groin pain (IRGP) in athletes is a multifactorial condition, posing a therapeutic challenge. If conservative treatment fails, totally extraperitoneal (TEP) repair is effective in pain relief. Because there are only few long-term follow-up results available, this study was designed to evaluate effectiveness of TEP repair in IRGP-patients years after the initial procedure. Methods: Patients enrolled in the original, prospective cohort study (TEP-ID-study) were subjected to two telephone questionnaires. The TEP-ID-study demonstrated favorable outcomes after TEP repair for IRGP-patients after a median follow-up of 19 months. The questionnaires in the current study assessed different aspects, including, but not limited to pain, recurrence, new groin-related symptoms and physical functioning measured by the Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS). The primary outcome was pain during exercise on the numeric rating scale (NRS) at very long-term follow-up.Results: Out of 32 male participants in the TEP-ID-study, 28 patients (88%) were available with a median follow-up of 83 months (range: 69–95). Seventy-five percent of athletes were pain free during exercise (p &lt; 0.001). At 83 months follow-up, a median NRS of 0 was observed during exercise (IQR 0–2), which was significantly lower compared to earlier scores (p &lt;0.01). Ten patients (36%) mentioned subjective recurrence of complaints, however, physical functioning improved on all HAGOS subscales (p &lt;0.05).Conclusion:This study demonstrates the safety and effectivity of TEP repair in a prospective cohort of IRGP-athletes, for whom conservative treatment had failed, with a follow-up period of over 80 months.</p

The structure of salt bridges between Arg +

Salt bridges play an important role in protein folding and in supramolecular chemistry, but they are difficult to detect and characterize in solution. Here, we investigate salt bridges between glutamate (Glu−) and arginine (Arg+) using two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy. The 2D-IR spectrum of a salt-bridged dimer shows cross peaks between the vibrational modes of Glu− and Arg+, which provide a sensitive structural probe of Glu−⋯Arg+ salt bridges. We use this probe to investigate a β-turn locked by a salt bridge, an α-helical peptide whose structure is stabilized by salt bridges, and a coiled coil that is stabilized by intra- and intermolecular salt bridges. We detect a bidentate salt bridge in the β-turn, a monodentate one in the α-helical peptide, and both salt-bridge geometries in the coiled coil. To our knowledge, this is the first time 2D-IR has been used to probe tertiary side chain interactions in peptides, and our results show that 2D-IR spectroscopy is a powerful method for investigating salt bridges in solution

Highly Parallel and Short-Acting Amplification with Locus-Specific Primers to Detect Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms by the DigiTag2 Assay

The DigiTag2 assay enables analysis of a set of 96 SNPs using Kapa 2GFast HotStart DNA polymerase with a new protocol that has a total running time of about 7 hours, which is 6 hours shorter than the previous protocol. Quality parameters (conversion rate, call rate, reproducibility and concordance) were at the same levels as when genotype calls were acquired using the previous protocol. Multiplex PCR with 192 pairs of locus-specific primers was available for target preparation in the DigiTag2 assay without the optimization of reaction conditions, and quality parameters had the same levels as those acquired with 96-plex PCR. The locus-specific primers were able to achieve sufficient (concentration of target amplicon ≥5 nM) and specific (concentration of unexpected amplicons <2 nM) amplification within 2 hours, were also able to achieve detectable amplifications even when working in a 96-plex or 192-plex form. The improved DigiTag2 assay will be an efficient platform for screening an intermediate number of SNPs (tens to hundreds of sites) in the replication analysis after genome-wide association study. Moreover, highly parallel and short-acting amplification with locus-specific primers may thus facilitate widespread application to other PCR-based assays

Development of a single tube 640-plex genotyping method for detection of nucleic acid variations on microarrays

Detection of DNA sequence variation is critical to biomedical applications, including disease genetic identification, diagnosis and treatment, drug discovery and forensic analysis. Here, we describe an arrayed primer extension-based genotyping method (APEX-2) that allows multiplex (640-plex) DNA amplification and detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mutations on microarrays via four-color single-base primer extension. The founding principle of APEX-2 multiplex PCR requires two oligonucleotides per SNP/mutation to generate amplicons containing the position of interest. The same oligonucleotides are then subsequently used as immobilized single-base extension primers on a microarray. The method described here is ideal for SNP or mutation detection analysis, molecular diagnostics and forensic analysis. This robust genetic test has minimal requirements: two primers, two spots on the microarray and a low cost four-color detection system for the targeted site; and provides an advantageous alternative to high-density platforms and low-density detection systems

Genetically encoded photocross-linkers determine the biological binding site of exendin-4 peptide in the N-terminal domain of the intact human glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R)

The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) is a key therapeutic target in the management of type II diabetes mellitus, with actions including regulation of insulin biosynthesis and secretion, promotion of satiety, and preservation of β-cell mass. Like most class B G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), there is limited knowledge linking biological activity of the GLP-1R with the molecular structure of an intact, full-length, and functional receptor·ligand complex. In this study, we have utilized genetic code expansion to site-specifically incorporate the photoactive amino acid p-azido-l-phenylalanine (azF) into N-terminal residues of a full-length functional human GLP-1R in mammalian cells. UV-mediated photolysis of azF was then carried out to induce targeted photocross-linking to determine the proximity of the azido group in the mutant receptor with the peptide exendin-4. Cross-linking data were compared directly with the crystal structure of the isolated N-terminal extracellular domain of the GLP-1R in complex with exendin(9–39), revealing both similarities as well as distinct differences in the mode of interaction. Generation of a molecular model to accommodate the photocross-linking constraints highlights the potential influence of environmental conditions on the conformation of the receptor·peptide complex, including folding dynamics of the peptide and formation of dimeric and higher order oligomeric receptor multimers. These data demonstrate that crystal structures of isolated receptor regions may not give a complete reflection of peptide/receptor interactions and should be combined with additional experimental constraints to reveal peptide/receptor interactions occurring in the dynamic, native, and full-length receptor state