Design of TOLERANT: phase I/II safety assessment of intranodal administration of HSP70/mB29a self-peptide antigen-loaded autologous tolerogenic dendritic cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Introduction: In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), immunosuppressive therapies may achieve symptomatic relief, but do not induce long-term, drug-free remission. Meanwhile, the lifelong use of immunosuppressive drugs confers increased risk for malignancy and infections. As such, there is an unmet need for novel treatments that selectively target the pathogenic immune response in RA by inducing tolerance to autoantigens.

Characterising the gut microbiome of stranded harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in rehabilitation.

Animal rehabilitation centres provide a unique opportunity to study the microbiome of wild animals because subjects will be handled for their treatment and can therefore be sampled longitudinally. However, rehabilitation may have unintended consequences on the animals' microbiome because of a less varied and suboptimal diet, possible medical treatment and exposure to a different environment and human handlers. Our study describes the gut microbiome of two large seal cohorts, 50 pups (0-30 days old at arrival) and 23 weaners (more than 60 days old at arrival) of stranded harbour seals admitted for rehabilitation at the Sealcentre Pieterburen in the Netherlands, and the effect of rehabilitation on it.

First Case of Human Brucella canis Infection in the Netherlands.

A patient was diagnosed with Brucella canis following exposure to infected dogs in her breeding facility. Transboundary spread of B. canis through (illegal) import of infected dogs to non-endemic countries in Europe suggest that B.

Study protocol of the European Urban Burden of Disease Project: a health impact assessment study.

Introduction: Cities have long been known to be society's predominant engine of innovation and wealth creation, yet they are also hotspots of pollution and disease partly due to current urban and transport practices. The aim of the European Urban Burden of Disease project is to evaluate the health burden and its determinants related to current and future potential urban and transport planning practices and related exposures in European cities and make this evidence available for policy and decision making for healthy and sustainable futures.

Methods And Analysis: Drawing on an established comparative risk assessment methodology (ie, Urban and Transport Planning Health Impact Assessment) tool), in nearly 1000 European cities we will (1) quantify the health impacts of current urban and transport planning related exposures (eg, air pollution, noise, excess heat, lack of green space) (2) and evaluate the relationship between current levels of exposure, health impacts and city characteristics (eg, size, density, design, mobility) (3) rank and compare the cities based on exposure levels and the health impacts, (4) in a number of selected cities assess in-depth the linkages between urban and transport planning, environment, physical activity and health, and model the health impacts of alternative and realistic urban and transport planning scenarios, and, finally, (5) construct a healthy city index and set up an effective knowledge translation hub to generate impact in society and policy.

Occupational exposure and risk of colon cancer: a nationwide registry study with emphasis on occupational exposure to zoonotic gastrointestinal pathogens.

Objectives: While colon cancer (CC) risk is associated with several lifestyle-related factors, including physical inactivity, smoking and diet, the contribution of occupation to CC morbidity remains largely unclear. Growing evidence indicates that gastrointestinal infections like salmonellosis could contribute to CC development. We performed a nationwide registry study to assess potential associations between occupation (history) and CC, including also those occupations with known increased exposure to gastrointestinal pathogens like METHODS: Person-level occupational data for all residents in The Netherlands were linked to CC diagnosis data.

Effect of a high-intensity one-week training programme and student-level variables on the bovine transrectal palpation and pregnancy diagnosis skills of final-year veterinary students.

Background: To improve bovine transrectal palpation (TRP) and pregnancy diagnosis (PD) training, the effect of a high-intensity one-week training programme for veterinary elective students (N=59) with an interest in production animal practice was evaluated.

Methods: Training consisted of exposure to rectal examination simulators, abattoir organs, theory materials and live cow PDs supervised by experienced large animal practitioners. Palpation skills were assessed before and after training using a validated TRP Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in non-pregnant cows.

Dominance in Domestic Dogs: A Quantitative Analysis of Its Behavioural Measures.

A dominance hierarchy is an important feature of the social organisation of group living animals. Although formal and/or agonistic dominance has been found in captive wolves and free-ranging dogs, applicability of the dominance concept in domestic dogs is highly debated, and quantitative data are scarce. Therefore, we investigated 7 body postures and 24 behaviours in a group of domestic dogs for their suitability as formal status indicators.

A stereological method for estimating the feto-maternal exchange surface area in the bovine placentome at 135 days gestation.

The feto-maternal relationships within the bovine placentome at 135 days gestation were investigated using unbiased stereology. This provides an estimate of the feto-maternal interface without physically separating these. The functional surface area, the volume of the fetal and maternal components, volumetric tissue shrinkage due to processing, and the feto-maternal surface amplification factor were estimated and quantified in standard units.