Chronic Rejection in the Aorta Transplantation Model

Since the first successful heart transplantation in man in 1967, cardiac transplantation has become an accepted form of therapy for certain types of end-stage heart diseases.! After transplantation of a cadaveric heart graft, the immune system of the recipient will come in contact with donor cells. As clinical heart transplantation is an allogeneic type of grafting (genetically non-identical members of the same species), an immune response, which may result in graft rejection, will be inevitable. Of the foreign antigens that may be recognized by the immune system of the recipient, the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), in man the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) system, is the most important.2 - 4 In short, the HLA system consists of a group of closely linked genes, located on the short arm of chromosome-6 and divided in three regions, which encode class I and class II cell surface glycoproteins and several components of the complement system respectively. Class I is expressed on the surfaces of all nucleated cells. Class II is mainly expressed on antigen presenting cells (e.g, macrophages, dendritic cells, and B cells). After transplantation, T cell receptors of recipient CD4+ cells are able to recognize HLA class II, resulting in activation of type I and type 2 helper (THI and TH2) cells.' The activated THI cell start to preferentially synthesize and release interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-y). IL-2 stimulates CD8+ T cells to develop into mature cytotoxic effector cells. Binding of these cells to donor HLA class I may result in graft cell lysis. IFN-y is respo

Bedrijfsbeëindiging in de land- en tuinbouw

Vroeg of laat krijgt elke ondernemer er mee te maken: de bedrijfsbeëindiging. Voor sommigen is het een strategisch genomen beslissing, anderen worden er toe gedwongen. Een deel van de ondernemers heeft moeite met het accepteren er van. Een goede planning en bewustwording van het proces in financieel, sociaal en emotioneel opzicht kan vaak een problematisch einde voorkome

Adults Learning To Reflect: A Study Of The Assessment Of Private Learning

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a process used by many postsecondary institutions to award academic credit to adult learners for knowledge derived from life experiences. For the most part, PLA has focused on occupational or work-related experiences. A few institutions have extended this assessment process to significant life experiences not related to work, such as divorce, job loss, or drug and alcohol recovery. However, we know relatively little about adult learners’ experiences in these programs. The life events that are often the focus of this process represent powerful, emotional experiences in the learners’ lives. For this reason, we sought to develop a deeper understanding of their experiences with such a process. In-depth interviews were conducted with six learners enrolled in an accelerated, degree-completion program at Covenant College. The adults’ experiences in the assessment module reflect a preoccupation with meeting its technical and instrumental challenges. While they describe strong emotions and feelings associated with this process, there is less evidence that the process facilitates a reworking of their prior experiences or greater self-awareness as learners

Biodiversiteit op akkers roept verschillende reacties op

Mengteelten, zoals gerst-erwt of rogge-erwt, vergroten de biodiversiteit van akkers. In dit artikel is de belevingswaarde van dergelijke akkers beschreven. Een vraag die hierbij aan de orde komt is of dergelijke biodiverse akkers ook de waarde van het Nederlandse landschap vergroten

Triple helix networks matching knowledge demand and supply in seven Dutch horticulture Greenport regions

This paper investigates the triple helix (industry, knowledge workers and governments) cooperation on knowledge co-production and valorisation for innovation, which took place in seven horticultural regions in the Netherlands. It thus provides more empirical insight into the functioning of this form of cooperation. Based on a secondary multiple case study analysis, this paper sets out to ascertain what enabled triple helix cooperation in the seven regions with respect to the organisation, the formulation and support for goals and action on knowledge co-production and valorisation. The results indicate that in order to stimulate innovation through triple helix cooperation, the different partners fi rst need to build a proper working relationship and a common language. In order to accomplish this, primary aims for innovation should not be formulated too ambitiously (i.e. too far beyond the entrepreneurs’ daily practice, in particular SMEs). Knowledge workers and policy makers often want to stimulate knowledge co-production and valorisation more radically and quickly. Hence, they have to temper their ambitions. Procedures regarding the cooperation should be rather simple and fl exible. Once a steady working relationship and a common language are developed, then the triple helix collaboration can focus on taking the innovation ambition to a higher level in order to realise more valuable change. At first, entrepreneurs have to experience how they can profit from the cooperation and learn to incorporate knowledge co-production and valorisation step-by-step in their business strategy, including fi nancial investments

Wandelingen door het kennislandschap : ervaringen met samenwerking tussen Beleidsondersteunend Onderzoek en Groen Onderwijs

Het is de wens van LNV dat onderzoekskennis beter benut wordt in het groene onderwijs. Om hieraan tegemoet te komen hebben een aantal clusterleiders van Wageningen UR het initiatief genomen een Taskforce BO-GO in het leven te roepen. Deze Taskforce heeft in 2007 het project ‘Versterking kenniscirculatie tussen Beleidsondersteunend Onderzoek en Groen Onderwijs – Pilots 2007’ gestart. In het afgelopen jaar zijn in alle clusters van het beleidsondersteunend onderzoek (BO), dat Wageningen UR uitvoert in opdracht van het ministerie van Landbouw Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV), pilots gestart om de samenwerking met het groene onderwijs (GO) te initiëren en te versterken

Nurse-Midwives’ Knowledge and Promotion of Lactational Amenorrhea and Other Natural Family-Planning Methods for Child Spacing

The purpose of this study was to describe and assess certified nurse-midwives’ (CNMs) knowledge and promotion of two modalities for child spacing, natural family-planning (NFP) and the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM). One thousand two hundred CNMs were randomly selected from a national membership list and mailed a 24-item questionnaire on NFP and LAM. Of the 514 respondents (42.8% return rate), 450 (87.5%) were currently practicing as CNMs. Respondents had an average age of 46 years, with an average of 10 years of practice. CNMs ranked NFP as the ninth most used and the eighth most effective family-planning method in their practice, with an average perceived method-effectiveness of 88% and use-effectiveness of 70%. Although most respondents felt somewhat prepared during their education program to provide NFP, only 22% would offer NFP as a family-planning option for child spacing

Injection of recombinant tumor necrosis factor directly into liver metastases: an experimental and clinical approach

__Abstract__ Systemic treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is associated with side-effects, limiting its clinical use in the treatment of malignancies. To investigate the feasibility of other routes of administration experimental and clinical studies were started to establish the toxicity and antitumor activity of TNF after intratumoral (i.t.) injection. In a rat model for colon adenocarcinoma, tumor fragments, implanted subcutaneously or under the hepatic capsule, were treated with TNF injected i.v. or i.t. A dosage of 40 μg/kg was lethal when given i.v., but not i.t. Injection of TNF (40 μg/kg) directly into the tumor resulted in inhibition of tumor growth in the subcutaneous as well as subhepatic tumor model. A phase I study was started in patient