Working Paper 07-09 - The Belgian environment industry (1995-2005)

This study presents an overview of the evolution of the size, the composition and the economic importance of the environment industry in Belgium between 1995 and 2005. It shows which industries are involved and which environmental domains are most important.Industry study, Environmental goods and services

Report of the Regional Co-ordination Meeting for the North Sea and Eastern Arctic (RCM NS&EA) 2016

The Regional Coordination Meeting NS&EA met in Edinburgh from 5th to 9th September 2016. Thirty four participants from 12 members states, representatives from Commission and ICES were in attendance. The meeting was largely devoted to subgroup work relating to regional sampling, cost sharing models, data needs and the sampling of anadromous and catadromous specie

Predictors of Sexual Distress in Women With Desire and Arousal Difficulties: Distinguishing Between Personal, Partner, and Interpersonal Distress

Although impaired sexual function is relatively common, not all sexual impairments are associated with distress. To date, most studies on protective and risk factors for sexual distress have asked about distress in a more general manner and have failed to distinguish different dimensions of sexual distress.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Predictors of Sexual Distress in Women With Desire and Arousal Difficulties: Distinguishing Between Personal, Partner, and Interpersonal Distress journaltitle: The Journal of Sexual Medicine articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2016.09.016 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2016, International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Bioactive rather than total IGF-I is involved in acute responses to nutritional interventions in CAPD patients

Aim of the study. The aim of the study was to investigate in CAPD patients whether circulating insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) bioactivity may offer a more sensitive index to acute nutritional interventions than total IGF-I. Methods. An open-label, randomized, crossover study of 2 days-with a 1-week interval-was performed in 12 CAPD patients in the fed state to compare a mixture of amino acids (Nutrineal 1.1%) plus glucose (AA plus G) (Physioneal 1.36% to 3.86%) dialysate versus G only as control dialysate. Fed-state conditions were created by identical liquid hourly meals. IGF-I bioactivity was measured by the kinase receptor activation assay (IGF-I KIRA); total IGF-I was measured by immunoassay. Results. In the fed state, both after AA plus G as well as after G dialysis IGF-I bioactivity increased compared to baseline, while no changes in circulating total IGF-I levels were observed in both treatment arms. However, the increase in IGF-I bioactivity was only significant after AA plus G dialysis (P = 0.02). Conclusions. Our results provide evidence that in CAPD patients changes in circulating IGF-I bioactivity are associated with nutrient intake and that IGF-I bioactivity rather than total IGF-I is involved in acute responses to nutritional interventions in CAPD patients

Mutation update on the CHD7 gene involved in CHARGE syndrome

CHD7 is a member of the chromodomain helicase DNA-binding (CHD) protein family that plays a role in transcription regulation by chromatin remodeling. Loss-of-function mutations in CHD7 are known to cause CHARGE syndrome, an autosomal-dominant malformation syndrome in which several organ systems, for example, the central nervous system, eye, ear, nose, and mediastinal organs, are variably involved. In this article, we review all the currently described CHD7 variants, including 183 new pathogenic mutations found by our laboratories. In total, we compiled 528 different pathogenic CHD7 alterations from 508 previously published patients with CHARGE syndrome and 294 unpublished patients analyzed by our laboratories. The mutations are equally distributed along the coding region of CHD7 and most are nonsense or frameshift mutations. Most mutations are unique, but we identified 94 recurrent mutations, predominantly arginine to stop codon mutations. We built a locus-specific database listing all the variants that is easily accessible at . In addition, we summarize the latest data on CHD7 expression studies, animal models, and functional studies, and we discuss the latest clinical insights into CHARGE syndrome. Hum Mutat 33:11491160, 2012. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

A novel classification system to predict the pathogenic effects of CHD7 missense variants in CHARGE syndrome

CHARGE syndrome is characterized by the variable occurrence of multisensory impairment, congenital anomalies, and developmental delay, and is caused by heterozygous mutations in the CHD7 gene. Correct interpretation of CHD7 variants is essential for genetic counseling. This is particularly difficult for missense variants because most variants in the CHD7 gene are private and a functional assay is not yet available. We have therefore developed a novel classification system to predict the pathogenic effects of CHD7 missense variants that can be used in a diagnostic setting. Our classification system combines the results from two computational algorithms (PolyPhen-2 and Align-GVGD) and the prediction of a newly developed structural model of the chromo- and helicase domains of CHD7 with segregation and phenotypic data. The combination of different variables will lead to a more confident prediction of pathogenicity than was previously possible. We have used our system to classify 145 CHD7 missense variants. Our data show that pathogenic missense mutations are mainly present in the middle of the CHD7 gene, whereas benign variants are mainly clustered in the 5' and 3' regions. Finally, we show that CHD7 missense mutations are, in general, associated with a milder phenotype than truncating mutations. Hum Mutat 33:12511260, 2012. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Het belang van de oceaan voor onze gezondheid

Dit rapport van de Ostend Working Group on Ocean and Human Health (OWGOHH), is een samenvattend document over de algemene interacties tussen de gezondheid van de oceaan en die van de mens. Het rapport biedt beleidsmakers een algemeen overzicht van strategieën om de menselijke gezondheid te verbeteren door de voordelen van de oceaan te benutten, en tegelijkertijd te zorgen voor het behoud en beheer van de oceaan voor toekomstige generaties. Het rapport identificeert drie assen waar de oceaan kan bijdragen aan positieve gezondheidseffecten: 1. De oceaan als bron van innovatie en nieuwe inzichten in de geneeskunde en biotechnologie; 2. De oceaan als bron van duurzaam voedsel; 3. De oceaan als bron van fysieke, mentale, en sociale gezondheid. Het rapport benadrukt dat een gezonde en welvarende leefomgeving niet mogelijk is zonder een gezonde oceaan. Klimaatverandering, vervuiling, verlies van biodiversiteit en andere omgevingsstressoren bedreigen het vermogen van de oceaan om onze gezondheid te ondersteunen. Om die uitdagingen aan te pakken, bespreken we drie algemene acties: 1. Bescherm, herstel en beheer van de biodiversiteit van de oceaan; 2. Bestrijd klimaatverandering en minimaliseer vervuiling; 3. Ontwikkel indicatoren die de gezondheid van de oceaan en onze gezondheid meten, integreer die in monitoringprogramma’s en zorg voor transparantie en toegankelijkheid van gegevens om beleidsvorming te ondersteunen. Gezien het inherente interdisciplinaire karakter van de interacties tussen de oceaan en onze gezondheid is het belangrijk dat experts uit diverse disciplines samenkomen om het belang van de oceaan voor onze gezondheid te erkennen en acties en maatregelen om de oceaan te beschermen voor te stellen