Publications by authors named "Valk L"

Wastewater treatment plants rely on complex microbial communities for bioconversion and removal of pollutants, but many process-critical species are still poorly investigated. One of these genera is Rhodoferax, an abundant core genus in wastewater treatment plants across the world. The genus has been associated with many metabolic traits such as iron reduction and oxidation and denitrification.

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In some countries, pharmacists have obtained prescribing rights to improve quality and accessibility of care and reduce physician workload. This case study explored pharmacists' current roles in and potential for prescribing in primary care in the Netherlands, where prescribing rights for pharmacists do not exist. Participatory observations of pharmacists working in either general practice or community pharmacy were conducted, as were semi-structured interviews about current and potential practice.

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The family within the phylum Bacteroidota is commonly present and highly abundant in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) worldwide, but little is known about its role. In this study, we used MiDAS 4 global survey with samples from 30 countries to analyze the abundance and distribution of members of . Phylogenomics were used to delineate five new genera from a set of 31 high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes from Danish WWTPs.

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Nitrous oxide is a highly potent greenhouse gas and one of the main contributors to the greenhouse gas footprint of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Although nitrous oxide can be produced by abiotic reactions in these systems, biological NO production resulting from the imbalance of nitrous oxide production and reduction by microbial populations is the dominant cause. The microbial populations responsible for the imbalance have not been clearly identified, yet they are likely responsible for strong seasonal nitrous oxide patterns.

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Taking the dynamics of everyday life into account is important for health behavior change. Surveys were conducted to gain insight into available health promoting physical activity and nutrition initiatives in the everyday life of people with intellectual disability (ID). Researchers considered characteristics of the initiatives and the attention they give to resources and hindering factors of healthy living for people with ID.

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Acetogens have the ability to fixate carbon during fermentation by employing the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WLP), which is highly conserved across Bacteria and Archaea. In a previous study, product stoichometries in galacturonate-limited, anaerobic enrichment cultures of " Galacturonibacter soehngenii," from a novel genus within the , suggested the simultaneous operation of a modified Entner-Doudoroff pathway for galacturonate fermentation and a WLP for acetogenesis. However, a draft metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) based on short reads did not reveal homologs of genes encoding a canonical WLP carbon-monoxide-dehydrogenase/acetyl-Coenzyme A synthase (CODH/ACS) complex.

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D-galacturonate, a key constituent of pectin, is a ubiquitous monomer in plant biomass. Anaerobic, fermentative conversion of D-galacturonate is therefore relevant in natural environments as well as in microbial processes for microbial conversion of pectin-containing agricultural residues. In currently known microorganisms that anaerobically ferment D-galacturonate, its catabolism occurs via the galacturonate-isomerase pathway.

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The long-term morphodynamic evolution of estuaries depends on a combination of antecedent topography and boundary conditions, including fluvial input, sea-level change and regional-landscape interactions. Identifying effects of such boundary conditions on estuary evolution is important to anticipate future changes in specific boundary conditions and for hindcasting with numerical and physical models. A comprehensive synthesis of the evolution of the former Old Rhine estuary is presented here, together with its boundary conditions over its full lifespan from 6,500 to 1,000 cal.

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Agricultural residues such as sugar beet pulp and citrus peel are rich in pectin, which contains galacturonic acid as a main monomer. Pectin-rich residues are underexploited as feedstocks for production of bulk chemicals or biofuels. The anaerobic, fermentative conversion of d-galacturonate in anaerobic chemostat enrichment cultures provides valuable information toward valorization of these pectin-rich feedstocks.

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Feather damaging behaviour is common in captive psittacine birds and there is a need for reliable methods to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic and preventive interventions. This study compared the inter- and intra-observer reliabilities of a novel feather scoring system with an existing system to assess the plumage of grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Regions of the body were photographed separately at 1 week intervals and shown at random to 35 examiners (avian veterinarians and veterinary students), who used the two scoring systems to assess plumage.

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Two comatose patients with a psychiatric history were admitted to our hospital. On admission both presented with major cardiovascular instability and needed urgent intensive care treatment. Although initially not suspected, the coma was caused by tricyclic antidepressant intoxication (TCA).

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A 67-year-old man presented with isolated pain of the right testicle. He was admitted and treated for epididymitis. His symptoms did not improve and lower abdominal pain developed.

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Although the troponins are the serum proteins most frequently used nowadays to diagnose myocardial infarction, controversy continues about whether troponins are released later from infarcted myocardium than the cytoplasmic enzymes used previously, like lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The present study compared the release kinetics of troponin-I (TnI) and LDH from necrotic cardiomyocytes in vitro. Cardiomyocytes prepared from neonatal rat ventricles were grown for 3 days.

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The discovery of a national inquiry into health funds in the 1840s gives cause to reconsider the traditional view on this subject. After a prosperous period under the guild regime commercial interests penetrated the health market. Its directors supposedly enriched themselves at the expense of both the insured and the professionals (general practitioners (gp's) and chemists).

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A low blood pressure is common in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). A diminished vascular resistance appears to be an important cause. The endogenous production of nitric oxide (NO), a mediator of vascular smooth muscle relaxation, has been shown to be higher in infants with RDS than in those without.

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Unlabelled: A poorly controlled cerebral circulation, caused by excessive production of nitric oxide, has been suggested as predisposing to peri/intraventricular haemorrhage (PIVH) in the immature neonate. It is hypothesized that a relation exists between plasma cyclic GMP (cGMP) as an effector of endogenous vasodilatory nitric oxide production and severity of PIVH. In 83 consecutively admitted preterm neonates, nitric oxide production was assessed by measuring plasma cGMP at 0, 24, 48, 72 and 168 h of age.

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Several studies have demonstrated that static stretch of cardiomyocytes induces cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. We investigated the effects of cyclic stretch, a more physiological stimulus, on protein synthesis and DNA synthesis of rat ventricular cardiomyocytes and cardiofibroblasts. Further-more, we investigated whether these effects are caused by autocrine mechanisms.

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We studied the effect of external pH (pHe) on cell injury, ATP content, and intracellular concentration of Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i), Na+ ([Na+]i), and H+ (pHi) during metabolic inhibition (NaCN + 2-deoxyglucose) in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Cell death during metabolic inhibition decreased at pHe < 7.4, with almost no cell death at pHe 6.

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We examined whether metabolic inhibition (5 mM NaCN + 10 mM 2-deoxyglucose) affects sarcolemmal fluidity in cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes. As a measure of sarcolemmal fluidity we determined the fluorescence steady-state anisotropy (rss, which is reciprocally related to membrane fluidity) of cardiomyocytes labeled with 1-(4-trimethylammoniumphenyl)-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene, p-toluenesulfonate. During metabolic inhibition, membrane fluidity increased progressively: after 30 min rss had fallen by 6.

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Calcium-activated neutral protease (CANP), also known as calpain, has been implicated in the development of cell death in ischemic hearts. CANP is thought to be activated by the calcium overload that develops during ischemia. We studied the involvement of CANP in cell death in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes during metabolic inhibition (5 mmol/L NaCN + 10 mmol/L 2-deoxyglucose).

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The purpose of this study was to investigate whether vasodilatation induced by doxazosin, an alpha 1 adrenoceptor blocker, during postischaemic reperfusion was able to accelerate reflow in unperfused myocardium. Isolated isovolumetrically beating rat hearts were exposed to global ischaemia by perfusion at 15 mm Hg for 2 h, resulting in an end ischaemic coronary flow rate of 2.3 (SD 1.

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Spontaneously beating monolayer cultures of neonatal rat heart cells first exposed to depletion of oxygen and metabolic substrates for 1 to 7 h (anoxia). Subsequently the cultures were resupplied with oxygen and substrates (reoxygenation). The release of alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBDH) from the cells, the extent of necrosis, and the changes in spontaneous contractile activity were measured.

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