MijnOnderwijsdiensten2.0 (Evaluatie Google Apps Education voor gebruik binnen de Open Universiteit Nederland)

De doelstelling van het deelproject luidt: Het onderzoeken van de eventuele meerwaarde van Google Apps Education (GAE) binnen onze primaire onderwijsprocessen dan wel ondersteunende processen, rekening houdend met: * de functionele en technische (on)mogelijkheden van GAE, * Eventueel aanwezige, concrete behoeften van verschillende gebruikersgroepen (studenten, docenten en onderwijsondersteuners), * Reeds geboden ict-oplossingen binnen de organisatie. Het deelrapport levert een eindrapport met daarin een advies t.a.v. de mogelijke inzet van GAE, inclusief een eventueel implementatieplan op hoofdlijnen. Pilotdiensten zullen op enig moment worden stopgezet dan wel beheerst worden opgenomen in de staande organisatie. Deze pilotdiensten gaan ten principale niet 'stilzwijgend' over naar een exploitatie situatie

België ontsnapt niet aan het 'rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus-2'

Since 2016, an extensive spread of RHDV2, a virus variant of the classical rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is ongoing in the Belgian rabbit population. Both variants of the virus usually cause acute death without prior symptoms. Vaccination against both variants of the virus is possible. In Belgium, only a vaccine protecting against the classical RHDV has been registered. On their own responsibility, veterinarians are allowed to import a vaccine protecting against RHDV2 that is registered in another EU member state, in accordance with the so-called legislative waterfall-system. The current epidemiological situation warrants preventive vaccination of rabbits against RHD. It should be noted that myxomatosis is currently rather neglected in view of the increased attention for the RHDV2 spread. Myxomatosis also still causes a high mortality in both wild and domesticated rabbits. Veterinarians should correctly inform the public about the two important viral diseases in rabbits and the possibilities for prevention

Poultry as a host for the zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacteriosis is the most reported foodborne gastroenteritic disease and poses a serious health burden in industrialized countries. Disease in humans is mainly caused by the zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter jejuni. Due to its wide-spread occurrence in the environment, the epidemiology of Campylobacter remains poorly understood. It is generally accepted, however, that chickens are a natural host for Campylobacter jejuni, and for Campylobacter spp. in general, and that colonized broiler chicks are the primary vector for transmitting this pathogen to humans. Several potential sources and vectors for transmitting C. jejuni to broiler flocks have been identified. Initially, one or a few broilers can become colonized at an age of >2 weeks until the end of rearing, after which the infection will rapidly spread throughout the entire flock. Such a flock is generally colonized until slaughter and infected birds carry a very high C. jejuni load in their gastrointestinal tract, especially the ceca. This eventually results in contaminated carcasses during processing, which can transmit this pathogen to humans. Recent genetic typing studies showed that chicken isolates can frequently be linked to human clinical cases of Campylobacter enteritis. However, despite the increasing evidence that the chicken reservoir is the number one risk factor for disease in humans, no effective strategy exists to reduce Campylobachter prevalence in poultry flocks, which can in part be explained by the incomplete understanding of the epidemiology of C. jejuni in broiler flocks. As a result, the number of human campylobacteriosis cases associated with the chicken vector remains strikingly high

Campylobacter control in poultry by current intervention measures ineffective: urgent need for intensified fundamental research

International audienceCampylobacter-contaminated poultry meat is an important source of foodborne gastroenteritis and poses a serious health burden in industrialized countries. Broiler chickens are commonly regarded as a natural host for this pathogen and infected birds carry a very high Campylobacter load in their gastrointestinal tract, especially the ceca. This results in contaminated carcasses during processing. While hygienic measures at the farm and control measures during carcass processing can have some effect on the reduction of Campylobacter numbers on the retail product, intervention at the farm level by reducing colonization of the ceca should be taken into account in the overall control policy. This review gives an up-to-date overview of suggested on-farm control measures to reduce the prevalence and colonization of Campylobacter in poultry

Increased duration of mechanical ventilation is associated with decreased diaphragmatic force: a prospective observational study

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Respiratory muscle weakness is an important risk factor for delayed weaning. Animal data show that mechanical ventilation itself can cause atrophy and weakness of the diaphragm, called ventilator-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction (VIDD). Transdiaphragmatic pressure after magnetic stimulation (TwPdi BAMPS) allows evaluation of diaphragm strength. We aimed to evaluate the repeatability of TwPdi BAMPS in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients and to describe the relation between TwPdi and the duration of mechanical ventilation. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study in critically ill and mechanically ventilated patients, admitted to the medical intensive care unit of a university hospital. Nineteen measurements were made in a total of 10 patients at various intervals after starting mechanical ventilation. In seven patients, measurements were made on two or more occasions, with a minimum interval of 24 hours. RESULTS: The TwPdi was 11.5 +/- 3.9 cm H2O (mean +/- SD), indicating severe respiratory muscle weakness. The between-occasion coefficient of variation of TwPdi was 9.7%, comparable with data from healthy volunteers. Increasing duration of mechanical ventilation was associated with a logarithmic decline in TwPdi (R = 0.69; P = 0.038). This association was also found for cumulative time on pressure control (R = 0.71; P = 0.03) and pressure-support ventilation (P = 0.05; R = 0.66) separately, as well as for cumulative dose of propofol (R = 0.66; P = 0.05) and piritramide (R = 0.79; P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Duration of mechanical ventilation is associated with a logarithmic decline in diaphragmatic force, which is compatible with the concept of VIDD. The observed decline may also be due to other potentially contributing factors such as sedatives/analgesics, sepsis, or others.status: publishe

Medium-chain fatty acids and plant-derived antimicrobials to prevent Campylobacter colonization in broiler chickens

Campylobacter jejuni is the most common cause of bacterial-mediated diarrhoeal disease worldwide. Because poultry products are a major source of C. jejuni infections in humans, efforts should be taken to develop strategies to decrease Campylobacter colonization of poultry during primary production. Organic acids and plant-derived antimicrobial compounds possess marked bactericidal activity toward C. jejuni in vitro and might therefore have potential as feed additives to control C. jejuni colonization in broiler chickens. In vitro screening of several plant-derived compounds revealed strong anti-Campylobacter activity for trans-cinnamaldehyde in particular, while medium-chain fatty acids (caproic, caprylic and especially capric acid) were shown to be the most potent organic acids. However, supplementing these promising additives to the feed of broiler chickens before (prophylaxis) or after (therapeutic) oral inoculation with C. jejuni, did not result in a reduction of the cecal Campylobacter load in these animals. In a cecal loop experiment, neither sodium caprate nor trans-cinnamaldehyde were capable of killing or inhibiting growth of C. jejuni, despite direct injection into the ceca at concentrations of several times their respective minimal inhibitory concentration. When incubated in chicken intestinal mucus, C. jejuni was less susceptible to the antimicrobial effect of capric acid, indicating a protective role for the intestinal mucus layer. Thus, despite the marked bactericidal effect of organic acids and trans-cinnamaldehyde in vitro, neither supplementing these compounds to the feed, nor direct injection in the ceca was able to reduce cecal Campylobacter colonization in broiler chickens. Probably, the mucus layer forms a protective niche rendering the bacterium unresponsive to the bactericidal effects of these compounds observed in vitro, making their potential use as feed additives for controlling Campylobacter in poultry doubtful

Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts.

Generalised avoidance behaviours are a common diagnostic feature of anxiety-related disorders and a barrier to affecting changes in anxiety during therapy. However, strategies to mitigate generalised avoidance are under-investigated. Even less attention is given to reducing the category-based generalisation of avoidance. We therefore investigated the potential of an operant-based approach. Specifically, it was examined whether reinforcing competing (non-avoidance) behaviours to threat-predictive cues would interfere with the expression of generalised avoidance. Using a matching-to-sample task, artificial stimulus categories were established using physically dissimilar nonsense shapes. A member of one category (conditioned stimulus; CS1) was then associated with an aversive outcome in an Acquisition context, unless an avoidance response was made. Next, competing behaviours were reinforced in response to the CS1 in new contexts. Finally, we tested for the generalisation of avoidance to another member of the stimulus category (generalisation stimulus; GS1) in both a Novel context and the Acquisition context. The selective generalisation of avoidance to GS1 was observed, but only in the Acquisition context. In the Novel context, the generalisation of avoidance to GSs was significantly reduced. A comparison group (Experiment 2), which did not learn any competing behaviours, avoided GS1 in both contexts. These findings suggest that reinforcing competing behavioural responses to threat-predictive cues can lead to reductions in generalised avoidance. This study is among the first study to demonstrate sustained reductions in generalised avoidance resulting from operant-based protocols, and the clinical and research implications are discussed

Modelling test-interactions

This report presents the results of work package 2 ('Technology') of the Development programme of the OUNL. The activities reported upon have been carried out from October 2001 until the first week of December 2001 on the specific area of test-interactions. Initially the intended scope was to cover the whole process of creating an UML domain model within the area of test-interactions, validating this model by gathering relevant cases and working out best practices, and at last translating this model into a XML DTD binding. However, reallocation of the available human resources in the beginning of December 2001 forced us to stop the process temporarily. As a result this report does not cover the whole spectrum, but presents the interim results. The main focus in this report is on the process of constructing a coherent domain model on interactions. The WP2 handbook on interactions complements this report