Indicatief consumentenonderzoek naar zuiveldesserts : vruchtenyoghurt en vanillevla met en zonder biologische claim

Met behulp van een indicatief consumentenonderzoek is getracht een antwoord te vinden op de vragen: - Kan er een optimum gevonden worden voor een aantal sensorische aspecten in vruchtenyoghurt en vla (met name voor zoetheid, romigheid en dikte)? - Welke invloed heeft de claim “biologisch” op de perceptie? - Is er verschil in perceptie tussen ‘reguliere’ en ‘biologische’ consumenten

Comparison of magnetic resonance with computed tomography angiography for preoperative localization of the Adamkiewicz artery in thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm patients

ObjectivePreoperative localization of the Adamkiewicz artery and its segmental supplier in advance of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair is proposed to be useful to prevent postoperative paraplegia. The diagnostic potential of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) was evaluated for the preoperative localization of the Adamkiewicz artery in white TAAA patients.MethodsThirty-nine consecutive patients with a TAA(A) scheduled for elective open surgical aortic repair preoperatively underwent MRA and CTA. Objective image quality was assessed by measuring the signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio of the Adamkiewicz artery and was related to patient thickness. Two independent observers scored the location of the Adamkiewicz artery and the subjective image quality of vessel-background contrast of the Adamkiewicz artery, image noise, spinal cord tissue enhancement, epidural venous enhancement, and overall image quality.ResultsAverage detection rate for Adamkiewicz artery localization was 71% (67% to 74%) for CTA and 97% (94% to 100%) for MRA. Interobserver agreement was 82% for CTA and 94% for MRA. Signal-to-noise ratio was significantly higher (P < .001) and contrast-to-noise ratio was significantly (P < .001) lower for CTA than for MRA. Contrast of the Adamkiewicz artery (P < .001) and overall image quality (P < .004) were judged to be significantly better for MRA. Spinal cord tissue enhancement was judged stronger at CTA (P < .03), with significantly less epidural venous enhancement (P < .001). No significant difference was found in image noise. Signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise decreased significantly (P < .001) with increasing patient thickness for CTA but not for MRA.ConclusionsLocalization of the Adamkiewicz artery in white TAAA patients is possible with both CTA and MRA. Compared with CTA, MRA is more favorable because of the higher Adamkiewicz artery detection rate, the higher contrast-to-noise ratio, and its independence of patient thickness

A kinesin-based approach for inducing chromosome-specific mis-segregation in human cells

Various cancer types exhibit characteristic and recurrent aneuploidy patterns. The origins of these cancer type-specific karyotypes are still unknown, partly because introducing or eliminating specific chromosomes in human cells still poses a challenge. Here, we describe a novel strategy to induce mis-segregation of specific chromosomes in different human cell types. We employed Tet repressor or nuclease-dead Cas9 to link a microtubule minus-end-directed kinesin (Kinesin14VIb) from Physcomitrella patens to integrated Tet operon repeats and chromosome-specific endogenous repeats, respectively. By live- and fixed-cell imaging, we observed poleward movement of the targeted loci during (pro)metaphase. Kinesin14VIb-mediated pulling forces on the targeted chromosome were counteracted by forces from kinetochore-attached microtubules. This tug-of-war resulted in chromosome-specific segregation errors during anaphase and revealed that spindle forces can heavily stretch chromosomal arms. By single-cell whole-genome sequencing, we established that kinesin-induced targeted mis-segregations predominantly result in chromosomal arm aneuploidies after a single cell division. Our kinesin-based strategy opens the possibility to investigate the immediate cellular responses to specific aneuploidies in different cell types; an important step toward understanding how tissue-specific aneuploidy patterns evolve.</p

FoodBattle : reductie milieudruk voedselverspilling op het snijvlak van supermarkt & consument

Huishoudens die bijhouden hoeveel eten ze weggooien en gestimuleerd worden om verspilling te beperken, brengen hun voedselverspilling binnen 3 weken met gemiddeld 20 procent terug. Dat blijkt uit een proef met zogenaamde Food Battles in Apeldoorn, Lochem, Brummen en Eerbeek

Control of restrictive supply chains : biomarkers as indicator for Erwinia infection on potato tuber

The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has financially supported the research programme named “Total use of unrefined and unprocessed food(crops)”. The programme consisted of a number of projects and one of the projects was entitled “Control of Restrictive Supply Chains; biomarkers as indicator for shelf life” ( KB 33 002 011). The aim of the project is to build up knowledge needed to optimize and re-design restrictive supply chains of fruit, vegetables and flowers to avoid postharvest losses, maintain high resource use efficiency and connect consumer demands to production and supply chain restrictions. The objective of this project is to measure the production of volatiles in healthy and rotten (infected) potatoes and as such identify volatiles that may be used as a biomarker for rot development. A key aspect of the envisaged experimental design is to measure the development of these volatiles over time. This will give insight in the potential of this idea as an early detection method to avoid the further expansion of a rot infection during storage of potatoes. An experimental set up was built to allow the production of volatiles and respective sampling. The potatoes were placed in a glass jar and an air flow was applied. The volatiles were sampled and measured in the air flow. Three treatments were applied: potatoes wounded and infected with the bacteria Pectobacterium polaris, wounded potatoes (without infection) and healthy potatoes. Each treatment was applied in duplicate. The six glass jars with the potatoes were kept at room temperature for maximal 17 days and the production of volatiles was daily monitored. The volatiles in the out coming air were measured with a thermo-desorption GC, a PTR-ToF-MS and a GC-MS (via a SPME). In addition, the amount of oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide produced was also measured in the air flow with a CompactGC. The amount of infection was visually quantified (through the glass jar). The following has been concluded: - Clear differences in volatile production between infected and non- infected potatoes were found. - Those differences are measurable very early upon the infection. Even when the infection is not yet visible. This indicates that the production of volatiles is a suitable biomarker for bacterial infection in potatoes. - Next to the volatile production, the effect of bacterial infection on the production of CO2 and the consumption of O2 (respiration rate) was studied. The respiration rate of infected potatoes is much higher than that of healthy or wounded potatoes. The tubers react prompt to the infection by increasing the production of CO2 and consumption of O2. Also this change in metabolism may be used as biomarker. - Several methods have been explored for the measurement of the volatile production. The measurements were done with a Thermo-Desorption GC, a PTR-ToF-MS and a GC-MS. Despite the differences in the type of gas analysis the results of the different methods show a good agreement with each other and seem to be suitable for measurement of produced volatiles. - Another important result of the project is the development of a suitable inoculation protocol for the bacteria Pectobacterium polaris (an Erwinia infection has been chosen for this project because this is an aggressive type of microorganism and commonly found in potatoes). The developed protocol makes it possible to successfully infect the tubers in a controlled manner and create a suitable model system. The results are directly relevant for the industry as this kind of micro-organism is responsible for a large amount of infections during storage hence contributing for product waste. The volatiles measured with the Thermo-Desorption GC and the PTR-ToF- MS have not yet been identified. The GC-MS results do not allow to identify all the volatile compounds as the column and the sampling methods differ too much from the ones used with the GC with desorption unit. Only 10 of the 45 volatiles were identified with their chemical names via GC-MS analysis. At this time, not all compounds have been identified with certainty

Regulation and role of differential ethylene biosynthesis in gravistimulated Antirrhinum majus L. cut flower stems

Gravistimulation induced differential ethylene production in Antirrhinum majus L. cut flower stems with highest levels in the lower halves of the gravistimulated stems. Expression levels of three different 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase (ACS) genes, an ACC oxidase (ACO) and an ethylene receptor (ETR/ERS homolog) gene were studied in the bending zone after 9 h of gravistimulation. One of the ACS genes (Am-ACS3) was abundantly expressed in the lower halves but not in the upper halves of gravistimulated stems. This strongly suggests that Am-ACS3 is responsible for the observed differential ethylene production in gravistimulated stems. Am-ACO and Am-ETR/ERS gene expression was increased in both the lower and upper halves of gravistimulated stems, suggesting that they play no role in differential ethylene production. When gravistimulation was performed in an environment enriched with either 20 µL/L ethylene or 100 nL/L 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), a slight stimulation of bending by 1-MCP and a slight inhibition of bending by ethylene were observed. The regulation and role of ethylene in gravitropism of cut snapdragon flowering stems is discussed

An auxin-responsive 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase is responsible for differential ethylene production in gravistimulated Antirrhinum majus L. flower stems

The regulation of gravistimulation-induced ethylene production and its role in gravitropic bending was studied in Antirrhinum majus L. cut flower stems. Gravistimulation increased ethylene production in both lower and upper halves of the stems with much higher levels observed in the lower half. Expression patterns of three different 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase (ACS) genes, an ACC oxidase (ACO) and an ethylene receptor (ETR/ERS homolog) gene were studied in the bending zone of gravistimulated stems and in excised stem sections following treatment with different chemicals. One of the ACS genes (Am-ACS3) was abundantly expressed in the bending zone cortex at the lower side of the stems within 2 h of gravistimulation. Am-ACS3 was not expressed in vertical stems or in other parts of (gravistimulated) stems, leaves or flowers. Am-ACS3 was strongly induced by indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) but not responsive to ethylene. The Am-ACS3 expression pattern strongly suggests that Am-ACS3 is responsible for the observed differential ethylene production in gravistimulated stems; its responsiveness to IAA suggests that Am-ACS3 expression reflects changes in auxin signalling. Am-ACS1 also showed increased expression in gravistimulated and IAA-treated stems although to a much lesser extent than Am-ACS3. In contrast to Am-ACS3, Am-ACS1 was also expressed in non-bending regions of vertical and gravistimulated stems and in leaves, and Am-ACS1 expression was not confined to the lower side cortex but evenly distributed over the diameter of the stem. Am-ACO and Am-ETR/ERS expression was increased in both the lower and upper halves of gravistimulated stems. Expression of both Am-ACO and Am-ETR/ERS was responsive to ethylene, suggesting regulation by IAA-dependent differential ethylene production. Am-ACO expression and in vivo ACO activity, in addition, were induced by IAA, independent of the IAA-induced ethylene. IAA-induced growth of vertical stem sections and bending of gravistimulated flowering stems were little affected by ethylene or 1-methylcyclopropene treatments, indicating that the differential ethylene production plays no pivotal role in the kinetics of gravitropic bending