Utrecht University

Beach and shoreface nourishments are widely used to mitigate erosion of sandy coasts. Since 1990, large stretches of the Dutch coast have been repeatedly nourished, with efforts expected to increase further. However, the cumulative effects of repeated sand nourishments on coastal evolution remain poorly understood. This study uses satellite imagery to quantify how repeated nourishments have influenced shoreline dynamics and long-term trends between 1985 and 2025 at two sites with contrasting wave climates: (1) Egmond-Bergen, with a bimodal directional wave climate and limited net alongshore transport and (2) Ameland, dominated by a single prevailing wave direction and stronger alongshore transport. The two sites showed distinct responses to the repeated nourishments. At Egmond-Bergen, shoreface nourishments produced a cumulative but localised effect on the shoreline, leading to a positive trend of almost 2 m/yr. In contrast, shoreface nourishments at Ameland barely affected the shoreline, presumably because of the high alongshore transport. Beach nourishments at both sites, when not combined with a shoreface nourishment, only affected the shoreline temporarily ( < 1 − 2 years). Seasonal shoreline cycles (amplitude ≈ 10 m or less) were out-of-phase with seasonality in the offshore wave height and did not differ between nourished and non-nourished sections. Our results highlight how especially long-term shoreline dynamics can differ between sites, despite comparable nourishment strategies. • Contrasting long-term shoreline response to repeated shoreface nourishments. • Cumulative shoreline progradation observed when alongshore sand transport is limited. • Beach nourishments result in short-lived shoreline progradation only. • Directional wave climate may affect shoreline response to repeated nourishments.

Worldwide, billions of day-old male chicks are culled each year in the egg industry due to the low market value of layer-type males. As a result of public pressure on this ethical issue, some countries banned the practice, leading to changes in animal welfare legislation. In addition to the use of dual-purpose chicken for egg and meat production, technologies for in-ovo sex determination, aiming to cull male embryos during early development and prior to the onset of pain perception, are feasible alternatives. However, the temporal onset of pain perception in chick embryos is still unknown, and its determination is challenging. Here we embed a review of the existing literature of in-ovo pain research under the country-specific umbrella of societal discussions and culling alternatives. Recently, a study on nociception measured first signs of responses by the embryo at day 13 of incubation. Still, neither the depiction of nociceptive pathways nor an EEG, which includes signals of general muscle contraction, provide definitive proof of the perception of pain. We urge that more knowledge about the development of pain perception in chick embryos is key to the ethical framework that should underpin policy decisions.

• Adaptive performance is important in the constant changing environment of healthcare. • Personality traits – the Big Five – of nursing professionals are possible related to adaptive performance. • Nursing professionals’ rate themselves mostly as agreeable and conscientious. • Agreeableness and conscientiousness are not related to adaptive performance. • Openness is positively and significantly related to adaptive performance. • Neuroticism is negatively and significantly related to adaptive performance Improvements in healthcare are imperative. In response, healthcare professionals should continue to learn and develop innovative solutions. This means healthcare organizations require adaptive performers. Personality traits may be related to adaptive performance. This study investigates this possible relationship. Professionals (N = 583) working in the field of nursing in the Netherlands and the United States completed a survey measuring adaptive performance and the personality traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and neuroticism. We studied to what extent personality traits were related to adaptive performance. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to test whether personality traits were related to adaptive performance. We found that nurses openness and extraversion were positively related to adaptive performance, while neuroticism was negatively related. We found that nursing professionals characterized themselves predominantly as agreeable and conscientious. These personality traits were not related to adaptive performance. Human resource departments of healthcare organizations could include these outcomes in their assessments and learning and development programs. Healthcare organizations could adopt a strategy that considers the findings of this study when implementing changes. Educational institutions should integrate these findings on adaptive performance when implementing changes.

To explore barriers and facilitators in implementing the Safety Climate Thermometer (SCT), a new tool designed to support team-level safety culture improvement in surgical settings. The SCT acts through visual insights into safety culture themes, acting as a conversation starter, and interdisciplinary team meetings about this topic. It aims to facilitate daily practice changes. The SCT has previously been developed using user-centered design methods, which consisted of a scoping literature review and international survey. A qualitative implementation study using semi-structured interviews and observational data, guided by the implementation outcomes framework. Three surgical teams from Dutch hospitals of varying size participated between 2021 and 2023 and used the SCT's visual input and interdisciplinary team meeting structure for 7 months. Seventeen healthcare professionals, including nurses, surgeons, and managers, took part in the SCT process and subsequent interviews. The SCT facilitated an anonymous, online assessment followed by structured interprofessional discussions and goal-setting for safety improvement. Participants reported high usability and acceptability due to the tool's intuitive design and anonymity. The SCT was adaptable to different surgical contexts, though smaller teams with motivated champions and in-person facilitation appeared most suitable. Key barriers included high turnover and work pressure, competing priorities, lack of trust, and survey fatigue. Facilitators include in-person external facilitation and "protected time." Reported positive effects included strengthened team cohesion and a greater sense of being heard. The SCT is a practice-oriented, user-friendly tool for improving safety culture through team-based reflection and dialogue. Future use should prioritize exploration of contextual factors.

In cartilage tissue engineering, there is a growing interest in dynamic hydrogels that promote spheroid fusion and cartilaginous matrix deposition, while maintaining sufficient stability for long-term construct maturation. In this study, Diels-Alder click chemistry is employed as a dynamic-covalent crosslinking method to create hydrogels composed of hyaluronic acid, gelatin, and PEG. By adjusting the pH during crosslinking, the tuneability of hydrogel stiffness and stability at pH values around the physiological pH of native cartilage is demonstrated. This pH modulation does not compromise hydrogel functionality, as encapsulated equine articular cartilage progenitor cell spheroids remain viable and functional for a culture period of 28 days. The hydrogel environment supports the deposition of cartilaginous extracellular matrix components, including collagens and sulphated glycosaminoglycans. Enhanced chondrogenesis and deposition of collagen type II are observed at higher spheroid concentrations, corresponding to inter-spheroid distances of 100-150µm following hydrogel swelling, compared to lower concentrations at a distance of >500µm. To further improve construct robustness, the hydrogel constructs can be reinforced on day 1 with a melt electrowritten scaffold, increasing the compressive modulus 100-fold by day 28 compared to non-reinforced constructs, highlighting the potential of this system for engineering cartilage implants.

Biological grafts are proposed as an alternative to synthetic grafts in sacrocolpopexy (SC) to reduce complications such as graft exposure and immunologic reactions. However, concerns remain long-term durability. This systematic review and meta-analysis assess recurrence rates and graft-related complications (GRC) in minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy (MISC) using biological grafts. To evaluate the recurrence and GRC following MISC with biological grafts and to compare outcomes across different materials. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched up to August 2024. Studies with ≥ 10 patients undergoing MISC with biological grafts, reporting recurrence or GRC with ≥ 6 months follow-up, were included. Two independent reviewers assessed study quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). A random-effects meta-analysis estimated pooled recurrence and GRC with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Five studies (353 patients) met inclusion criteria. Recurrence rates ranged from 2.4% to 52.6% (pooled: 25.6% [95% CI: 8.1%-48.2%]). Graft exposure occurred in 0.8% (95% CI: 0.0%-4.2%). ADM had the lowest recurrence (2.4%) with no reported exposures, whereas Tutoplast cadaveric fascia lata showed the highest recurrence (52.6%) and exposure (5.3%). The pooled reoperation rate for recurrence was 16.8% (95% CI: 0.0%-51.7%). This systematic review identified a higher recurrence rate with biological grafts in MISC than typically reported for synthetic grafts in other literature, while exposure rates appeared to be comparable. Given study heterogeneity, further research is required to determine the optimal graft choice balancing durability and complication risk.

The extent to which adult second language (L2) learners can achieve native-like neural processing of complex inflectional morphology remains unresolved. This study used event-related fMRI to examine neural mechanisms underlying the potential gradual achievement of L1-like proficiency in adult learners of Finnish (L2) with Russian as their first language (L1). Three groups participated: late beginner learners (N = 15, mean exposure to Finnish 24.9 months), late advanced learners (N = 15, mean exposure to Finnish 131.8 months), and native Finnish speakers (N = 15). Participants completed overt and covert word generation tasks. In the overt task, they spoke an inflected word aloud; in the covert task, they silently generated a form and judged a visually presented form as correct or incorrect. Stimuli included high-, medium-frequency, and pseudoword stems, with or without consonant gradation (stem allomorphy). Beginners had significantly higher error rates in both tasks than advanced learners and native speakers, indicating challenges in morphological encoding and recognition. Advanced learners performed comparably to native speakers. Furthermore, only advanced learners and native speakers exhibited increased BOLD responses in the LIFG and MFG for stems requiring consonant gradation, suggesting a mechanism for the lexical lookup of stems. These findings indicate that proficient adult L2 learners can develop native-like neural patterns of morphological processing, particularly in handling complex inflectional forms. This research contributes to understanding the neural mechanisms underlying morphological development in adult L2 acquisition and underscores the critical role of proficiency in achieving native-like processing of morphological complexity. • Advanced L2 learners show native-like brain activation during word inflection. • Beginners rely on word frequency, showing higher BOLD for high freq. and pseudo words. • CG stems cause more errors and stronger BOLD than NoCG stems across all groups. • Only natives and advanced learners show ROI activation differences for CG stems.

This study explores processes of change for individuals who responded to low-intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for depression, Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), or panic disorder. Routinely collected data from NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression (TTad) services (N = 11, 396, 69.2% female) were analysed using network analyses. Nine Gaussian graphical models (GGMs) were conducted: for each disorder, across three time phases (assessment to start-of-treatment; start to mid-point of treatment; mid-point to end-of-treatment). Each GGM included 19 nodes, based on PHQ-9, GAD-7,and NHS TTad phobia scores, using residuals as indices of change for each node. Networks of symptom change were largely similar. Estimated network matrix similarity ranged between r = .74 and r = .91 across disorders, with depression and GAD networks more similar to each other than to panic disorder. Networks varied over time within the same disorder, more so for panic disorder (r = .61-.63) than GAD (r = .86-.90) or depression (r = .87-.93). There were close links between changes in worry-related items and feeling nervous or anxious, and between depressed mood and anhedonia across all networks, as well as links between sleep disturbance, appetite, trouble relaxing and irritability. Findings suggest shared patterns of co-change across anxiety and depression. There is a potential indication that therapy may work by leveraging existing natural change mechanisms rather than by creating entirely new patterns of symptom interaction. Networks also show associations between symptom changes specific to certain disorders at certain points in therapy.