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The use of ionising radiation (IR) for medical diagnosis and treatment procedures has had a major impact on the survival of paediatric patients. Although the benefits of these techniques lead to efficient health care, evaluation of potential associated long-term health effects is required. HARMONIC aims to better understand the increased risk of cancer and non-cancer effects after exposure to medical IR in children with cancer treated with modern external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) – radiation energy in MeV range – and in children with cardiac defects diagnosed and treated with cardiac fluoroscopy procedures (CFP) – radiation energy in keV range. The project investigates, among survivors of paediatric cancer, potential endocrine dysfunction, cardiovascular and neurovascular damage, health-related quality of life and second (and subsequent) primary cancer (SPC). The cardiac component builds a pooled cohort of approximately 90 000 paediatric patients who underwent CFP during childhood and adolescence to investigate cancer risk following exposure to IR and explore the potential effects of conditions predisposing to cancer. HARMONIC develops software tools to allow dose reconstruction in both EBRT and CFP to enable epidemiological investigations and future optimisation of treatments. With the creation of a biobank of blood and saliva samples, HARMONIC aims to provide a mechanistic understanding of radiation-induced adverse health effects and identify potential biomarkers that can predict these effects.

In the original publication, the positions of the SNP markers from the 50K SNP array are given according toGDDH13 v1.0 version of the apple reference genome and not according to GDDH13 v1.1 version as stated in the original publication.

Acidity and sweetness are important qualities for apple breeders and understanding their genetic regulation can improve the breeding process. In previous QTL studies, fruit quality assessments were performed using instrumental measurements, leading to the identification of two major QTL Ma and Ma3. Here, we use sensorial data to investigate the role of known and unknown genetic factors in the perception of acidity and sweetness in three pedigreed full-sib families. For 2 years, these families were phenotyped by a trained panel, at harvest and after 2 months of cold storage, and genotyped with a new 50 K SNP array. FlexQTLTM analyses using both an additive and an additive + dominance model resulted in the identification of Ma and Ma3 for acidity as well as sweetness, whereas the use of the additive model yielded decisive evidence for the discovery of two additional QTL on LG1 and LG6 for acidity. QTL genotypes were qualified as the inverse of each other, which indicates that individuals with the less-acidity alleles of Ma and Ma3 are perceived sweeter. Due to the genetic configuration in the families studied, resulting from a link with the Pale Green Disorder locus, no incomplete dominance effect could be detected for the Ma locus, although previously reported in the literature. For the Ma3 locus, however, an incomplete dominance effect (58%) is reported here for the first time. The Ma3 locus was also further confined to a 2–4-cM region and a predictive marker for this locus was identified.

One-year-old, ‘Granny Smith’ apple ( Malus × domestica Borkh.) shoots were selected randomly from commercial orchards in 1999 and 2003, cold stored at temperatures between 1 and 13 °C for varied periods, following a 12/12 h freezing temperature pre-treatment of −1/13 °C (supposedly non-chilling temperatures) for 1 or 2 weeks. The rate of budburst, determined after forcing at 25 °C, was used to follow the progression of bud dormancy. The freezing pre-treatment clearly enhanced (deepened) bud dormancy in all experiments. Clearly definable influences due to the presence of leaves during the pre-treatment were not observed on shoots cold stored at chilling temperatures. Trees were defoliated before leaf drop in late summer/autumn under field conditions by hand (2001) and using a spray containing 3% urea and 1.8% zinc sulphate in 2003. In 2001 the first two hand defoliation dates significantly enhanced dormancy, while in 2003 chemical defoliation had no effect. These data indicate that the leaves are not clearly involved in the perception of factors that are responsible for dormancy induction. As with dormancy release it is possible that the perception of induction factors, i.e. low temperatures, and as shown in these data, freezing temperatures, occurs within the buds themselves.

Main shoot and sylleptic shoot growth characteristics were measured during and after the first year of growth of 255 Telamon x Braeburn apple seedlings. Although mean main shoot growth characteristics between branched and non-branched trees were significantly different, many non-branched trees expressed similar main shoot growth to branched trees. The variables describing length, number and position of the sylleptic shoots were used to classify branched trees into architecturally different groups. A continuum from trees with few and short shoots to trees with many long shoots is observed. The release of axillary buds from apical dominance is not under complete control by the apical meristem. Genetic seedling difference at the level of roots presumably plays an important role in sylleptic branching. Genetic variation in terms of number, position, and subsequent elongation of sylleptic shoots is clearly observed.

In dit artikel wordt het effect van een complexe interventie in de Achterhoek op kennis, houding, sociale norm en gedrag van ouders ten aanzien van alcoholgebruik van jongeren beschreven. Tevens wordt beschreven hoe door middel van de procesevaluatie het gebrek aan een controlegroep is ondervangen. Gegevens zijn verzameld via telefonische interviews bij 250 ouders bij aanvang van de studie en bij 250 andere ouders 15 maanden later. Veranderingen zijn voornamelijk waar te nemen rondom sociale norm, agendasetting en kennis over de negatieve gevolgen van alcohol. Ouders zijn zich meer zorgen gaan maken over het alcoholgebruik van jongeren. Minder ouders accepteren dat kinderen al voor hun zestiende jaar beginnen met drinken. Kennis over de negatieve gevolgen van alcohol is toegenomen. In deze korte tijdspanne zijn de veranderingen in het ouderlijk gedrag conform verwachting. Gezien het hoge bereik en het feit dat de gevonden veranderingen sterker zijn bij de groep respondenten met herinnering aan de interventieactiviteiten zijn er sterke aanwijzingen dat het alcoholmatigingsproject in de Achterhoek effectief is. Voor een structurele verandering en een verandering in het opvoedingsgedrag van de ouders zal de interventie de komende jaren worden voortgezet.