Onderwijs in het Nationaal Programma Ouderenzorg

The Netherlands Organisation of Health Research and Development started in 2008 the Dutch National Care for the Elderly Programme (in Dutch abbreviated as NPO) with the aim to improve the quality of life for the frail older people through better quality of care (health, social, community) which is tailored to the needs and wants of older people. The delivery of good care is related with competent professional behaviour which is inextricably linked to the education of professionals. This article presents an overview of 32 educational programmes developed within the NPO. Within the NPO different educational programmes were developed on relevant themes to improve elderly care. However, the programmes focused mainly on professionals in health care, especially those working in primary care. For nurses and nursing assistants and more or less for physicians also different educational programmes were developed. Educational programmes for paramedics or professionals working in social care, housing or in the municipalities were scarce. This is also the case for specific themes in elderly care like loneliness or (domestic) violence. Moreover, none of the experiments focused on older people or informal care givers. Although 22 of the 32 projects developed educational programmes for different groups, multi – or interdisciplinary education is rare in these programmes. Based on the overview we advise the development of more educational programmes on: target groups which were less or not addressed in the NPO, like professionals in social care and paramedics; multi- or interdisciplinary collaboration; and themes, like loneliness in older people and elder abuse.     

Evidence that meiotic sex chromosome inactivation is essential for male fertility

The mammalian X and Y chromosomes share little homology and are largely unsynapsed during normal meiosis. This asynapsis triggers inactivation of X- and Y-linked genes, or meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI). Whether MSCI is essential for male meiosis is unclear. Pachytene arrest and apoptosis is observed in mouse mutants in which MSCI fails, e.g., Brca1(-/-), H2afx(-/-), Sycp1(-/-), and Msh5(-/-). However, these also harbor defects in synapsis and/or recombination and as such may activate a putative pachytene checkpoint. Here we present evidence that MSCI failure is sufficient to cause pachytene arrest. XYY males exhibit Y-Y synapsis and Y chromosomal escape from MSCI without accompanying synapsis/recombination defects. We find that XYY males, like synapsis/recombination mutants, display pachytene arrest and that this can be circumvented by preventing Y-Y synapsis and associated Y gene expression. Pachytene expression of individual Y genes inserted as transgenes on autosomes shows that expression of the Zfy 1/2 paralogs in XY males is sufficient to phenocopy the pachytene arrest phenotype; insertion of Zfy 1/2 on the X chromosome where they are subject to MSCI prevents this response. Our findings show that MSCI is essential for male meiosis and, as such, provide insight into the differential severity of meiotic mutations' effects on male and female meiosis.     

Cyclic-AMP mediated drugs: differential or global reduction of eicosanoid synthesis in the isolated rat lung?

In this study the question was addressed whether cAMP mediated drugs induce a differential reduction of branches of the arachidonic acid metabolism rather than a global reduction of eicosanoid synthesis. The isolated lungs of actively sensitized rats were employed to study prostaglandin and leukotriene release in the presence and absence of the cAMP mediated drugs theophylline, milrinone, sulmazole, isobutyl-methylxanthine and salbutamol. The release of eicosanoids as measured by RIA was predominantly basal and continuous, with a mild antigen induced stimulation only for TXB(2) and the leukotrienes. All drugs reduced eicosanoid release globally. It is concluded that cAMP mediated drugs interfere with arachidonic acid metabolism at a site proximal to the branching into lipoxygenase and cyclo-oxygenase pathways.     

Signalling steps in apoptosis by ether lipids

We have investigated the mechanisms of induction of apoptosis by the antineoplastic ether lipid ET-18-OCH₃ (ALP) in sensitive S49^wt mouse lymphoma cells and ALP-resistant S49^ar variants, both with wild-type p53, and in related L1210 cells with mutated p53. Ether lipid-resistant S49^ar cells were cross-resistant to extracellular stress factors (cold shock, heat shock, H₂O₂, dimethylsulfoxide) and to radiation-induced apoptosis but not to physiological apoptotic signals (dexamethasone, growth factor deprivation, thapsigargin, C₂-ceramide) and expressed similar levels of the apoptosis-regulating proteins Bcl-2, Bcl-X, Bax, Bad and Bak as did the parent S49^wt cells. The uptake of [³H]-ALP was strongly reduced in the stress-resistant cells but this was not associated with significant differences in membrane cholesterol:phospholipid content nor in membrane microviscosity. In S49^ar cells the activity of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) was increased 4-fold and depletion of glutathione with the drug L-buthionine-S-R-sulfoximine (L-BSO) lowered the resistance of S49^ar cells to ALP, stress factors and ionising radiation. The results indicate that ether lipids induce apoptosis by imposing a special form of physico-chemical stress, mediated by reactive oxygen species but independent of p53 status. The capacity of glutathione-dependent anti-oxidant defence appeared an important and shared determinant of the sensitivity to ether lipids, several types of extracellular stress and ionising radiation.     

Rap1 signalling: adhering to new models

Ras-like GTPases are ubiquitously expressed, evolutionarily conserved molecular switches that couple extracellular signals to various cellular responses. Rap1, the closest relative of Ras, has attracted much attention because of the possibility that it regulates Ras-mediated signalling. Rap1 is activated by extracellular signals through several regulatory proteins, and it might function in diverse processes, ranging from modulation of growth and differentiation to secretion, integrin-mediated cell adhesion and morphogenesis.     

Single-copy DNA-DNA hybridizations among five species ofLaminaria (Phaeophyceae): Phylogenetic and biogeographic implications

DNA-DNA hybridizations between single-copy nuclear DNA fromLaminaria digitata and total DNA fromL. saccharina, L. Hyperborea, L. rodriguezii, L. ochroleuca andChorda filum, respectively, show that these species ofLaminaria are genotypically closely related.Chorda filum is only distantly related withL. digitata. Based on the thermal elution patterns of the DNA hybrids, as quantified by ΔT_m(e) values, it is hypothesized that all five species ofLaminaria evolved at about the same time from their most recent common ancestor some 15–19 Ma ago. This phylogenetic hypothesis is discussed in relation to the history of modern laminarialean distribution patterns. Paper presented at the XIV International Botanical Congress (Berlin, 24 July–1 August, 1987), Symposium 6-15, “Biogeography of marine benthic algae”.