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Netherlands
Kinds of Netherlands Terms modified by Netherlands Selected AbstractsCREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE NETHERLANDS: STRUCTURE, DEVELOPMENT, INNOVATIVENESS AND EFFECTS ON URBAN GROWTHGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2008Erik Stam ABSTRACT. Creativity is central in stimulating economic growth in cities, regions and advanced capitalist economies in general. There is, of course, no one-to-one relation of the number of firms in creative industries to economic growth. Innovation is a key mechanism explaining the relationship of creative industries with economic performance. Based on an empirical study in the Netherlands we explore the effect of creative industries on innovation, and ultimately on employment growth in cities. In the Netherlands the three specific domains of creative industries - arts, media and publishing, and creative business services - make up 9 per cent of the business population. Drawing on survey data we find that firms in creative industries are indeed relatively innovative. Yet substantial differences are found across the three domains: firms in the arts domain are clearly less innovative, most likely due to a different (less market-oriented) dominant ideology. In addition, firms in creative industries located in urban areas are more innovative than their rural counterparts. We go on to analyse how the concentration of creative industries across cities is connected with employment growth. With the exception of the metropolitan city of Amsterdam, we find no measurable spill-over effect from creative industries. The presence of the creative class (in all kinds of industries other than creative ones) appears to be a much stronger driver of employment growth than creative industries. [source] RESERVOIR POTENTIAL OF A LACUSTRINE MIXED CARBONATE / SILICICLASTIC GAS RESERVOIR: THE LOWER TRIASSIC ROGENSTEIN IN THE NETHERLANDSJOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2008D. Palermo The Lower Triassic Rogenstein Member of the Buntsandstein Formation produces gas at the De Wijk and Wanneperveen fields, NE Netherlands and consists mainly of claystones with intercalated oolitic limestone beds. The excellent reservoir properties of the oolites (,= 20-30%; k = 5-4000 mD) are predominantly controlled by depositional facies. Oolitic limestones are interpreted as the storm and wave deposits of a shallow, desert lake located in the Central European Buntsandstein Basin. The vertical sequence of lithofacies in the Rogenstein Member indicates cyclic changes of relative lake level. The reservoir rock is vertically arranged in a three-fold hierarchy of cycles, recognised both in cores and wireline logs. These cycles are a key to understanding the distribution of reservoir facies, and are used as the basis for a high-resolution sequence stratigraphic correlation of the reservoir units. Slight regional-scale thickness variations of the Rogenstein Member (in the order of tens of metres) are interpreted as the effects of differential subsidence associated with the inherited Palaeozoic structural framework. The depositional basin can be subdivided into subtle palaeo-highs and -lows which controlled facies distribution during Rogenstein deposition. Oolitic limestones show their greatest lateral extent and thickest development in the Middle Rogenstein during large-scale maximum flooding. Potential reservoir rocks (decimetre to metres thick) are present in the NE Netherlands, in particular in the Lauwerszee Trough and the Lower Saxony Basin, where abundant gas shows of 200 - 4000 ppm CH4 have been recorded. Preserved primary porosity is interpreted to be a result of rapid burial in subtle depositional palaeo-lows in this area. The thickest, amalgamated oolite intervals (tens of metres thick) occur in the eastern part of the Central Netherlands Basin. Because of poor reservoir properties, other areas appear to be less promising in terms of Rogenstein exploration potential. [source] PLACE-BASED AND RACE-BASED EXCLUSION FROM MORTGAGE LOANS: EVIDENCE FROM THREE CITIES IN THE NETHERLANDSJOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2007MANUEL B. AALBERS ABSTRACT:,Do place and race matter in mortgage loan applications? This article presents evidence from mortgage markets in the Dutch cities of Arnhem, The Hague, and Rotterdam, suggesting that place, and to a lesser extent also race, do matter. In general, race and place are not factors of direct exclusion, but (1) zip codes are included in credit scoring systems, and (2) both place and race are significant factors in the assessments by loan officers because applicants who do not meet all formal criteria are more often accepted ("overrides") for indigenous Dutch and low-risk neighborhoods than for ethnic minorities and high-risk neighborhoods. In addition, a "national mortgage guarantee" is compulsory for loan applications in high-risk neighborhoods and thereby used as a substitute for redlining, comparable to the compulsoriness of private mortgage insurance in the United States. Some lenders also engage in direct redlining by rejecting low-risk "national mortgage guarantee" loans in high-risk neighborhoods, a practice potentially explained by transaction cost economizing. Since the high-risk neighborhoods in all three cities accommodate relatively large shares of ethnic minority groups, they are hit twice: through place-based and through race-based exclusion. In other words, place-based disparate treatment results in race-based disparate impact. The neighborhood does matter; place-based exclusion in the mortgage market has a neighborhood effect. [source] SIMILAR PROBLEMS, DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS: COMPARING REFUSE COLLECTION IN THE NETHERLANDS AND SPAINPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2010GERMÀ BEL Because of differences in institutional arrangements, public service markets, and national traditions regarding government intervention, local public service provision can vary greatly. In this paper we compare the procedures adopted by the local governments of The Netherlands and Spain in arranging for the provision of solid waste collection. We find that Spain faces a problem of consolidation, opting more frequently to implement policies of privatization and cooperation, at the expense of competition. By contrast, The Netherlands, which has larger municipalities on average, resorts somewhat less to privatization and cooperation, and more to competition. Both options,cooperation and competition,have their merits when striving to strike a balance between transaction costs and scale economies. The choices made in organizational reform seem to be related to several factors, among which the nature of the political system and the size of municipalities appear to be relevant. [source] COMPOSITIONAL VARIATION IN ROMAN COLOURLESS GLASS OBJECTS FROM THE BOCHOLTZ BURIAL (THE NETHERLANDS)*ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 3 2009D. J. HUISMAN We investigated the major and trace element composition and Pb and Sr isotope characteristics of a series of about 20 colourless glass objects from a single high-status Roman burial from the Netherlands (Bocholtz). The major elements show a relatively homogeneous group, with one outlier. This is corroborated by the Sr isotopes. Based on the Sb and Pb content, three major groups can be discerned, with two other outliers. This grouping is corroborated by the contents of the trace elements Bi, Sn, Ag, As and Mo, and by variations in lead isotopic ratios. On the basis of these results, we conclude that the glass of all objects was probably made with sand and lime from the same source. The variation in trace elements and lead isotope composition is most likely the result of variations in the composition of the sulphidic antimony ore(s) that were used to decolourize the glass. The composition of the Bocholtz glass is compared with that of other Roman glass, and implications for production models, trade and use of colourless glass objects are discussed. On the basis of isotopic and major element variation, we conclude that the antimony ore presumably originated from different mines. [source] Reparallelization techniques for migrating OpenMP codes in computational gridsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 3 2009Michael Klemm Typical computational grid users target only a single cluster and have to estimate the runtime of their jobs. Job schedulers prefer short-running jobs to maintain a high system utilization. If the user underestimates the runtime, premature termination causes computation loss; overestimation is penalized by long queue times. As a solution, we present an automatic reparallelization and migration of OpenMP applications. A reparallelization is dynamically computed for an OpenMP work distribution when the number of CPUs changes. The application can be migrated between clusters when an allocated time slice is exceeded. Migration is based on a coordinated, heterogeneous checkpointing algorithm. Both reparallelization and migration enable the user to freely use computing time at more than a single point of the grid. Our demo applications successfully adapt to the changed CPU setting and smoothly migrate between, for example, clusters in Erlangen, Germany, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that use different kinds and numbers of processors. Benchmarks show that reparallelization and migration impose average overheads of about 4 and 2%, respectively. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A Quantitative Conservation Approach for the Endangered Butterfly Maculinea alconCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2004MICHIEL F. WallisDeVries The quality and size of habitat patches and their isolation from other patches are the main parameters for an assessment of population persistence, but translating persistence probabilities into practical measures is still a weak link in conservation management. I provide a quantitative conservation approach for the endangered myrmecophilous butterfly Maculinea alcon in the Netherlands. All 127 colonies known on heathland since 1990 were investigated for patch quality, size, and isolation. I assessed habitat quality in three 10 × 10 m plots for most colonies. Site occupancy in 1998,1999 was only 56%. Occupancy was best explained by a logistic regression including patch area, host ant presence, host plant abundance, overall heathland area, and connectivity between sites ( R2= 0.410, p < 0.0001); it correctly classified the occupied or vacant status for 82% of the sites. Connectivity contributed only 3.6% to the total explained variation of site occupancy, indicating that habitat characteristics were more important than isolation in determining population persistence at the examined scale level (>500 m). Grazing and sod cutting had a beneficial impact, but in combination these practices proved detrimental. Hydrological measures to prevent drainage were also associated with lowered occupancy. I used the different components in the logistic regression to formulate objective management recommendations. These consisted of sod cutting, reduction of management intensity, enlargement of habitat, or combinations of these recommendations. The results highlight the importance of careful management when site quality is determined by multiple factors. The quantitative conservation approach followed here can be fruitfully extended to other endangered species, provided enough is known about their ecological requirements and how management actions affect them. Resumen:,La preservación de fragmentos individuales es extremadamente importante para especies en peligro con capacidad de dispersión limitada. La calidad y tamaño de los fragmentos de hábitat y su aislamiento de otros fragmentos son los parámetros principales para la evaluación de la persistencia de la población, pero la traducción de probabilidades de persistencia en medidas prácticas aun es un eslabón débil en la gestión de conservación. Proporciono un método cuantitativo de conservación para la mariposa mirmecófila Maculinea alcon en peligro en Holanda. Se investigó a las 127 colonias conocidas en brezales desde 1990 para calidad, tamaño y aislamiento del fragmento. Evalué la calidad del hábitat en tres parcelas de 10 × 10 m en la mayoría de las colonias. La ocupación de sitios en 1998-1999 fue sólo 56%. La ocupación fue mejor explicada por regresión logística incluyendo la superficie del fragmento, presencia de hormigas huésped, abundancia de plantas huésped, superficie total del brezal y conectividad entre sitios ( R2= 0.410, p < 0.0001); clasificó el estatus de ocupado o vacante en 82% de los sitios. La conectividad contribuyó con solo 36% de la variación total de sitio de ocupación, lo que indica que las características de hábitat fueron más importantes que el aislamiento en la determinación de la persistencia de la población en el nivel de escala examinado (>500 m). El pastoreo y el corte de pasto tuvieron un impacto benéfico pero combinadas, estas prácticas fueron perjudiciales. Obras hidrológicas para prevenir la desecación también se asociaron con una disminución en la ocupación. Utilicé los diferentes componentes de la regresión logística para formular recomendaciones objetivas de gestión. Estas incluyeron el corte de pasto, reducción en la intensidad de manejo, aumento de hábitat o combinaciones de estas recomendaciones. Los resultados resaltan la importancia de la gestión cuidadosa cuando la calidad del sitio está determinada por múltiples factores. El método cuantitativo de preservación utilizado puede ser extendido exitosamente a otras especies en peligro, siempre que sean suficientemente conocidos sus requerimientos ecológicos y la forma en que le afectan las acciones de manejo. [source] FS09.1 Diacetylmorphine (heroin) allergyCONTACT DERMATITIS, Issue 3 2004Aliet J Hogen Esch Since heroin is delivered to a selected group of drug addicts under supervision of nurses in the Netherlands, we reported about several nurses who presented with work-related eczema and positive patch tests to heroin. To investigate the prevalence of heroin contact allergy among all workers in this heroin delivery project, a study was started using questionnaires. Altogether 31 nurses reported work-related complaints out of 100 who returned questionnaires. Besides reports of eczema, mainly of eyelids (probably airborne) and hands, there were mucosal and respiratory complaints. Patch tests were performed in 25 nurses with complaints; in 9 of them a heroin contact allergy could be confirmed. In 6 out of these 9 nurses this was combined with mucosal or respiratory complaints. There were also 6 nurses with mucosal or respiratory complaints without a contact allergy. Contact dermatitis from opioids, such as morphine and codeine, has been documented among opioid industry workers, nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and in patients. In conclusion heroin appears to be a potent contact allergen, causing contact dermatitis. Mucosal and respiratory complaints however, cannot be explained by this contact allergy; they might be caused by a type-1-allergy to heroin, or by a direct histamine liberating effect. Opioids are known histamine liberators causing urticaria, rhinitis and anaphylactoid reactions; therefore intracutaneous tests with heroin are unreliable. In an ongoing research project it will be attempted to detect specific IgE to heroin in the 12 workers with mucosal or respiratory complaints; within the next few months results will be available. [source] Modelling Product Innovation Processes, from Linear Logic to Circular ChaosCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2003Jan Buijs Product innovation is the focal point of the Delft Design School in the Netherlands. During its more than thirty years of existence different models of the product innovation process were and are used for education and for research. This paper will describe the development of these models. The first models tried to describe the product innovation process in a logical linear order, but recently this logical order has come under discussion. The most recent models try to show the more chaotic character of the product innovation processes in real corporate life. Although this chaotic model better reflects the product innovation practice, for educational purposes it seems to be less useful than the original logical ones. For our teaching we propose the two versions (logic and chaos) of our innovation model as two sides of one coin. This innovation coin is without proper value with one side left blank. [source] Senior Management Support in the New Product Development ProcessCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2001Jorge Gomes This paper studies the relationship between senior management support to new product development activities by means of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of questionnaire and interview data collected in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The quantitative analysis showed that there is a small to medium association between senior management support to new product development and project performance in the dimensions of time, cost, and end product quality. The qualitative analysis suggests that these weak links could be explained by separating the influence of senior management support on new product development activities into direct and indirect effects. Direct effects include issues such as the use of multifunctional senior teams and process champions, whereas indirect effects include issues such as organization mission and goals, and learning and knowledge management systems. [source] Social and emotional detachment: A cross-cultural comparison of the non-disruptive behavioural psychopathic traits in childrenCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2009Eirini Manti Background,Questions about the international reliability and validity of aspects of psychopathy have been raised for adults, but hardly considered when applying the constructs to children. Aims/objectives,Our aim was to compare the psychometrics of a new instrument to measure psychopathic traits in children between two countries , the Netherlands and Greece. We also tested the hypothesis that, in both countries, both narcissistic-egocentric and callous-unemotional dimensions would be related to observed behavioural disorders. Methods,The Social and Emotional Detachment Questionnaire was used to assess narcissistic-egocentric and callous-unemotional dimensions of personality in representative national and community samples of 4,12-year-old children in the Netherlands and Greece, respectively. Parents filled in the questionnaires anonymously and also provided ratings of conduct disorders. Results,A two-dimensional construct of the psychopathic syndrome depicting, respectively, narcissistic and unemotional traits was reliable and valid in both countries, although there was considerable correlation between these two dimensions, which we designated ,social detachment' and ,emotional detachment', respectively. In both countries, the composite of social and emotional detachment was associated with aggressive and antisocial conduct disorders. Conclusions/implications,The reliability, validity and predictive value of this questionnaire must be tested further, for example, through multiple informants and longitudinally, but our findings that the tool performs robustly in two very different European countries is encouraging in terms of its potential value as a clinical screening tool and a tool for furthering the understanding of serious behavioural disorders in children. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Filicide: A comparative study of maternal versus paternal child homicideCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2008Marieke Liem Background,Filicide is the murder of a child by a parent. Historically, filicide was regarded as a female crime, but nowadays, in the West, men have become increasingly likely to be convicted of killing their child. Previous research on filicide has primarily focussed on either maternal or paternal filicide rather than comparing the two. Aim,The aim of our study is to examine and compare the socio-demographic, environmental and psychopathological factors underlying maternal and paternal filicide. Methods,Data were extracted from records in a forensic psychiatric observation hospital in Utrecht, in the Netherlands for the period 1953,2004. Results,Seventy-nine men and 82 women were detained in the hospital under criminal charges in that period, having killed (132) or attempted to kill (29) their own child(ren). Differences between men and women were found with regard to age, methods of killing and motivation underlying the filicide. Conclusions,The categories of filicide identified corresponded to those in studies from other countries, indicating that filicide follows similar patterns throughout the Western world. The fact that 25% of fathers had killed in reaction to threatened separation or divorce, and that over a third of men and more than half of the women were mentally ill at the time may suggest that increased monitoring by primary care physicians under such circumstances might have preventive value. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Juvenile sexual delinquents: contrasting child abusers with peer abusersCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2004J. Hendriks MA Background There is growing concern regarding juvenile sex offenders, and concomitant interest in a more scientific database which could help direct management and treatment resources. Aims To investigate whether juveniles who sexually offend against children (or those at least five years younger than themselves) differ from those who sexually assault their peers or older victims. Method The study is based on data from psychological screenings conducted for the juvenile courts in the Netherlands. Results As hypothesized, juvenile child molesters scored higher on neuroticism, had experienced more social problems, and had been bullied more often at school than their peers who sexually assaulted same-age or older victims. Child molesters also reported a more negative self-image. When referred for screening, they were younger but had committed more sex offences, more often against males than females. Conclusions The results were suggestive of greater need for psychological interventions in the child molester group, although in both groups substantial minorities had had experience of early childhood deprivation or abuse. Copyright © 2004 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] EFFECTS OF ATTRACTIVENESS, OPPORTUNITY AND ACCESSIBILITY TO BURGLARS ON RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY RATES OF URBAN NEIGHBORHOODSCRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2003WIM BERNASCO This study assesses the effects of attractiveness, opportunity and accessibility to burglars on the residential burglary rates of urban neighborhoods, combining two complementary lines of investigation that have been following separate tracks in the literature. As a complement to standard measures of attractiveness and opportunity, we introduce and specify a spatial measure of the accessibility of neighborhoods to burglars. Using data on about 25, 000 attempted and completed residential burglaries committed in the period 1996,2001 in the city of The Hague, the Netherlands, we study the variation in burglary rates across its 89 residential neighborhoods. Our results suggest that all three factors, attractiveness, opportunity and accessibility to burglars, pull burglars to their target neighborhoods. [source] A Life Jacket or an Art of Living: Inequality in Social Competence EducationCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 2 2003Geert T. M. Ten Dam After a period in which the emphasis in education was on "the basics," increasing attention has been paid at the turn of the century to the "moral task of education" in the Netherlands. Schools are not only expected to prepare students for further education and/or the labour market but also for participating in society in the broadest sense, for example, in politics, care, and culture. In this article we will focus on one aspect of students' development as a task of the school, namely, the furthering of students' social competence. Six case studies were conducted in which projects aimed at social competence were analysed in general secondary education and prevocational education. The results show that in the general secondary education projects the emphasis was on the meaning of changes in society for students and the contribution they can make to such changes (social competence in education as an "art of living"). The prevocational education projects focused on improving the chances of students at school and in society by developing aspects of social competence that they have not acquired at home or earlier in their school careers, such as self-confidence and social and communicative skills (social competence as a "life jacket"). We interpret these different focuses in terms of the production and reproduction of social inequality and discuss how such reproduction processes can be countered in the context of educating for social competence. [source] Consistency of immigrant and country-of-birth suicide rates: a meta-analysisACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 4 2008M. Voracek Objective:, Multifaceted evidence (family, twin, adoption, molecular genetic, geographic and surname studies of suicide) suggests genetic risk factors for suicide. Migrant studies are also informative in this context, but underused. In particular, a meta-analysis of the associations of immigrant (IMM) and country-of-birth (COB) suicide rates is unavailable. Method:, Thirty-three studies, reporting IMM suicide rates for nearly 50 nationalities in seven host countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Sweden and the USA), were retrieved. Results:, Total-population IMM and COB suicide rates were strongly positively associated (combined rank-order correlation across 20 eligible studies: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.56,0.73, P < 10,9). The effect generalized across both sexes, host countries and study periods. Conclusion:, Following the logic of the migrant study design of genetic epidemiology, the correspondence of IMM and COB suicide rates is consistent with the assumption of population differences in the prevalence of genetic risk factors for suicide. [source] Assertive community treatment in the NetherlandsACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2008J. A. Jenner No abstract is available for this article. [source] Ethnic differences in the timely diagnosis of children with Type 1 diabetes mellitus in the Netherlands: clinical presentation at onsetDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 3 2007J. J. N. Van Laar Abstract Aims Little is known about ethnic differences in the timely diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes mellitus (Type 1 DM). This study aimed to assess ethnic inequalities in the timely diagnosis of Type 1 DM, as indicated by a more adverse clinical condition at onset. In addition, we assessed whether these differences could be explained by differences in socio-economic status. Methods From a national register, we selected 3128 children aged < 15 years with newly diagnosed Type 1 DM. Ethnic differences in serum glucose, blood pH, bicarbonate, presence of ketonuria, level of consciousness, hydration status, and diabetic ketoacidosis were assessed by logistic regression. A measure of socio-economic status based on postal codes was used as an explanatory variable. Results The risk of adverse clinical presentation was 1.5,2 times higher in non-Western immigrants than Dutch children, while Western immigrant children did not differ from Dutch children. Blood pH, bicarbonate level, and level of consciousness were lower in Turkish and Antillean children in particular. The adverse socio-economic position of immigrant children contributed very little to these differences in clinical presentation. Conclusions Non-Western children were likely to be sicker at first presentation of Type 1 DM, and thus diagnosis may have been delayed. These disparities were not accounted for by differences in socio-economic status. Possible explanations may be difficulties in recognition of symptoms, failure of GPs to take symptom reporting seriously and lack of awareness of the fact that Type 1 DM occurs more often in certain ethnic groups. [source] Patient-centred and professional-directed implementation strategies for diabetes guidelines: a cluster-randomized trial-based cost-effectiveness analysisDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 2 2006R. F. Dijkstra Abstract Aims Economic evaluations of diabetes interventions do not usually include analyses on effects and cost of implementation strategies. This leads to optimistic cost-effectiveness estimates. This study reports empirical findings on the cost-effectiveness of two implementation strategies compared with usual hospital outpatient care. It includes both patient-related and intervention-related cost. Patients and methods In a clustered-randomized controlled trial design, 13 Dutch general hospitals were randomly assigned to a control group, a professional-directed or a patient-centred implementation programme. Professionals received feedback on baseline data, education and reminders. Patients in the patient-centred group received education and diabetes passports. A validated probabilistic Dutch diabetes model and the UKPDS risk engine are used to compute lifetime disease outcomes and cost in the three groups, including uncertainties. Results Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) at 1 year (the measure used to predict diabetes outcome changes over a lifetime) decreased by 0.2% in the professional-change group and by 0.3% in the patient-centred group, while it increased by 0.2% in the control group. Costs of primary implementation were < 5 Euro per head in both groups, but average lifetime costs of improved care and longer life expectancy rose by 9389 Euro and 9620 Euro, respectively. Life expectancy improved by 0.34 and 0.63 years, and quality-adjusted life years (QALY) by 0.29 and 0.59. Accordingly, the incremental cost per QALY was 32 218 Euro for professional-change care and 16 353 for patient-centred care compared with control, and 881 Euro for patient-centred vs. professional-change care. Uncertainties are presented in acceptability curves: above 65 Euro per annum the patient-directed strategy is most likely the optimum choice. Conclusion Both guideline implementation strategies in secondary care are cost-effective compared with current care, by Dutch standards, for these patients. Additional annual costs per patient using patient passports are low. This analysis supports patient involvement in diabetes in the Netherlands, and probably also in other Western European settings. [source] Common variants in the ATP-sensitive K+ channel genes KCNJ11 (Kir6.2) and ABCC8 (SUR1) in relation to glucose intolerance: population-based studies and meta-analyses,DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 5 2005R. M. Van Dam Abstract Aims To evaluate the relation between common variants in the ATP-sensitive K+ channel genes and glucose intolerance. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis of reported association studies in Caucasian populations for common variants in the ABCC8 (exons 16 and 18) and the KCNJ11 (E23K) gene and examined sources of heterogeneity in the results. The meta-analysis was based on 7768,10216 subjects (depending on the gene variant), and included two new population-based studies in the Netherlands with 725 cases and 742 controls. Results For the KCNJ11 variant, the summary odds ratio (OR) for glucose intolerance was 1.12 (1.01,1.23, P = 0.03) for the EK genotype and 1.44 (1.17,1.78, P = 0.0007) for the KK genotype, as compared with the EE genotype. For the ABCC8 exon 16 variant, the OR was 1.06 (0.94,1.19, P = 0.34) for ct and 0.93 (0.71,1.20, P = 0.56) for tt, as compared with the cc genotype. For ABCC8 exon 18, the OR was 1.20 (0.97,1.49, P = 0.10) for CT/TT, as compared with the CC genotype. Studies of the ABCC8 variants that were published first or had smaller sample sizes (for the exon 18 variant) showed stronger associations, which may indicate publication bias. For the ABCC8 exon 18 and the KCNJ11 variant, associations were stronger for studies of clinical diabetes than newly detected glucose intolerance. The population attributable risk for clinical Type 2 diabetes was 6.2% for the KCNJ11 KK genotype and 10.1% for the KCNJ11 EK and KK genotype combined. Conclusions The common KCNJ11 E23K gene variant, but not the ABCC8 exon 16 or exon 18 variant, was consistently associated with Type 2 diabetes. [source] ,Numbness of the feet' is a poor indicator for polyneuropathy in Type 2 diabetic patientsDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 2 2000L. V. Franse Summary Aims To identify neuropathic sensory symptoms associated with a clinical neurological examination (CNE) and to investigate whether these symptoms could be used as a diagnostic or screening tool for diabetic polyneuropathy in general practice. Methods Five hundred and eighty-eight patients with Type 2 diabetes, recruited from 26 general practices in the Netherlands, underwent a CNE and completed a diabetes symptom checklist that included 10 items on neuropathic sensory symptoms. Linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association between neuropathic symptoms and CNE. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to assess the diagnostic properties of neuropathic symptoms. Results In this population, with a mean age of 66.8 years, 32% were identified with diabetic polyneuropathy according to the CNE. Variables that showed the strongest association with CNE score were age (, = 0.41), symptoms of sensory alteration (, = 0.27), and the item ,numbness of the feet' (, = 0.35) in particular. ROC curves showed that prediction of diabetic polyneuropathy from these symptoms was unsatisfying. The sensitivity and specificity of daily symptoms of ,numbness of the feet' were 28% and 93%, respectively, in patients <,68 years, and 22% and 92%, respectively, in patients ,,68 years. Conclusions Identification of neuropathic sensory symptoms is not useful as a diagnostic or even a screening tool in the assessment of diabetic neuropathy in daily practice. Therefore, the results reported in this paper mandate an annual foot examination by the general practitioner. [source] Childhood negative experiences and subclinical psychosis in adolescence: a longitudinal general population studyEARLY INTERVENTION IN PSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2007Ellen De Loore Abstract Background:, Accumulating evidence suggests that experiences of trauma and victimization during childhood are associated with an increased risk to develop clinical and subclinical psychosis in adulthood. A recent cross-sectional study showed a significant association between trauma and psychotic experiences in adolescents. The current study aimed to extend these findings by investigating the longitudinal effects of negative life experiences on the risk for subclinical psychotic symptoms 2 years later in an adolescent general community sample. Methods:, Data were derived from the standard health screenings of the Youth Health Care Divisions of the Public Health Services, in the South of the Netherlands. A total of 1129 adolescents filled out a self-report questionnaire at age 13/14 years and 2 years later (15/16 years), assessing psychotic experiences, as well as experiences of being bullied, sexual trauma, and negative life events. Results:, Logistic regression analyses revealed that sexual trauma increased the risk for psychotic symptoms 2 years later. Life events contributed to the risk for psychosis over time and psychosis in turn gave rise to new life events. No significant association with bullying was found after controlling for confounders. Conclusion:, The results provide further evidence for an association between childhood environment and psychosis in the crucial developmental period of early adolescence. Early and later psychological stress, if severe, may impact on the risk for psychosis in adolescence through mechanisms of person,environment interaction and correlation. [source] Testing abundance-range size relationships in European carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae)ECOGRAPHY, Issue 5 2003D. Johan Kotze Four of the eight hypotheses proposed in the literature for explaining the relationship between abundance and range size (the sampling artifact, phylogenetic non-independence, range position and resource breadth hypotheses) were tested by using atlas data for carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. A positive relationship between abundance and partial range size was found in all three countries, and the variation in abundance was lower for widespread species. Analysis of the data did not support three of the proposed hypotheses, but did support the resource breadth hypothesis (species having broader environmental tolerances and being able to use a wider range or resources will have higher local densities and be more widely distributed than more specialised species). Examination of species' characteristics revealed that widespread species are generally large bodied, generalists (species with wide niche breadths occurring in a variety of habitat types) and are little influenced by human-altered landscapes, while species with restricted distributions are smaller bodied, specialists (species with small niche breadths occurring in only one or two habitat types), and favour natural habitat. Landscape alteration may be an important factor influencing carabid abundance and range size in these three countries with a long history of human-induced environmental changes. [source] Bacterial traits, organism mass, and numerical abundance in the detrital soil food web of Dutch agricultural grasslandsECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 1 2005Christian Mulder Abstract This paper compares responses to environmental stress of the ecophysiological traits of organisms in the detrital soil food webs of grasslands in the Netherlands, using the relationship between average body mass M and numerical abundance N. The microbial biomass and biodiversity of belowground fauna were measured in 110 grasslands on sand, 85 of them farmed under organic, conventional and intensive management. Bacterial cell volume and abundance and electrophoretic DNA bands as well as bacterial activity in the form of either metabolic quotient (qCO2) or microbial quotient (Cmic/Corg) predicted the response of microorganisms to stress. For soil fauna, the logarithm of body mass log(M) was approximately linearly related to the logarithm of numerical abundance log(N) with slope near ,1, and the regression slope and the proportion of predatory species were lower in intensive agroecosystems (more reduced substrates with higher energy content). Linear regression of log(N) on log(M) had slope not far from ,3/4. The approach to monitoring data illustrated in this paper could be useful in assessing land-use quality. [source] Measurements in the Addictions for Triage and Evaluation (MATE): an instrument based on the World Health Organization family of international classificationsADDICTION, Issue 5 2010Gerard M. Schippers ABSTRACT Aims To present and evaluate a measurement tool for assessing characteristics of people with drug and/or alcohol problems for triage and evaluation in treatment. Measurements in the Addictions for Triage and Evaluation (MATE) is composed of 10 modules, selected on the basis of a detailed set of specifications. Conceptually, the MATE was constructed according to the ICD and International Classification of Functioning (ICF) in the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system. Two of the ICF-related modules were newly designed. Design Monitoring feasibility and field-testing in a treatment-seeking population with researcher and clinician-administered test,retest interviews, construct validation with related instruments and evaluation of the dimensional structure of the ICF-related modules. Setting The research was conducted in a large, regional substance abuse treatment centre in the Netherlands and at the Municipal Health Service of Amsterdam. Participants A total of 945 treatment-seeking patients were recruited during routine intakes, 159 of whom were interviewed twice; 32 problem drug users were also recruited from the Amsterdam cohort studies among problem drug users. Findings Completion time was reasonably short, and there were relatively few missing data. The factor structure of the ICF-related modules revealed a three-factor model with an acceptable fit. Inter-rater reliability ranged between 0.75 and 0.92 and was satisfactory, but interviewer reliability ranged between 0.34 and 0.73, indicating that some of subscales need to be improved. Concurrent validity was indicated by significant correlations (>0.50) between the ICF-related modules and the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHODAS II) and WHO Quality of Life brief version (WHOQOL-BREF). Conclusions The MATE can be used to allocate patients to substance abuse treatment. Because it is a comprehensive but flexible measurement tool that is also practical to use, the MATE is well suited for use in a heterogeneous population. [source] Geographies of Financialization in Disarray: The Dutch Case in Comparative PerspectiveECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2010Ewald Engelen abstract The securitization crisis that started in mid-2007 has demonstrated that we are indeed living in a "global financial village" and are all subject to the vagaries of financialization. Nevertheless, the fallout from the credit crisis has not been homogeneous across space. That some localities were hit harder than others suggests that there are distinct geographies of financialization. Combining insights from the "varieties of capitalism" literature with those from the literature on "financialization studies," the article offers a first take on what may explain these different geographies on the basis of an informal comparison of the trajectories of financialization and their political repercussions in the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands. The article ends with some reflections on how economic geography could be enriched by combining comparative studies on institutionalism and financialization, while its distinct research focus,detailed spatial analysis endowed with a well-developed sensitivity for geographic variegation,may help overcome the methodological nationalism of much comparative institutionalism. [source] The ,revolt of the early modernists' and the ,first modern economy': an assessmentECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 4 2002Jan Luiten Van Zanden Established views of the early modern economy have changed considerably. De Vries and Van der Woude maintain that the Dutch economy was exceptional in its process of ,modern economic growth' in 1500,1815. This article argues that economic growth in the Netherlands was probably not much faster than in England, as is clear from the development of real wages. The modernity of the Dutch economy in this period appears to be a product of economic and institutional changes in the middle ages. [source] The grain trade in northern Europe before 1350ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 2 2002Nils Hybel A network of interregional grain routes extended across northern Europe in the century before 1350. With an interlude from c . 1310 to 1330 English grain was shipped to western Norway and the last decades before 1350 witnessed increasing English deliveries to the Netherlands. The most important of these commercial links were the grain routes from Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and Prussia to Norway, England, and the Netherlands established on a regular basis c . 1300. In western Europe the Baltic grain deliveries were an alternative source of supply which affected prices, urbanization, and the profitability of arable farming. [source] Outcome of long-term heroin-assisted treatment offered to chronic, treatment-resistant heroin addicts in the NetherlandsADDICTION, Issue 2 2010Peter Blanken ABSTRACT Aims To describe 4-year treatment retention and treatment response among chronic, treatment-resistant heroin-dependent patients offered long-term heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) in the Netherlands. Design Observational cohort study. Setting and intervention Out-patient treatment in specialized heroin treatment centres in six cities in the Netherlands, with methadone plus injectable or inhalable heroin offered 7 days per week, three times per day. Prescription of methadone plus heroin was supplemented with individually tailored psychosocial and medical support. Participants Heroin-dependent patients who had responded positively to HAT in two randomized controlled trials and were eligible for long-term heroin-assisted treatment (n = 149). Measurements Primary outcome measures were treatment retention after 4 years and treatment response on a dichotomous, multi-domain response index, comprising physical, mental and social health and illicit substance use. Findings Four-year retention was 55.7% [95% confidence interval (CI): 47.6,63.8%]. Treatment Response was significantly better for patients continuing 4 years of HAT compared to patients who discontinued treatment: 90.4% versus 21.2% [difference 69.2%; odds ratio (OR) = 48.4, 95% CI: 17.6,159.1]. Continued HAT treatment was also associated with an increasing proportion of patients without health problems and who had stopped illicit drug and excessive alcohol use: from 12% after the first year to 25% after 4 years of HAT. Conclusions Long-term HAT is an effective treatment for chronic heroin addicts who have failed to benefit from methadone maintenance treatment. Four years of HAT is associated with stable physical, mental and social health and with absence of illicit heroin use and substantial reductions in cocaine use. HAT should be continued as long as there is no compelling reason to stop treatment. [source] Does Italy's plight threaten European Monetary Union?ECONOMIC OUTLOOK, Issue 3 2005Article first published online: 27 JUL 200 The Italian economy is in a mess. GDP is expected to contract by 0.6% this year and the budget deficit is heading towards 4% of GDP , it is hard to see a way out of the mire. And after the rejection of the European constitution in France and the Netherlands, questions are being asked about the very future of the European project. With Italy fundamentally uncompetitive across a whole range of both price and non-prices measures, and with an industrial structure ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of globalisation, Italy's long-term membership of the Euro is being debated. This article by Keith Church sets out Italy's problems and argues that, if the economy stagnates for a prolonged period, pressure to leave EMU will become irresistible. This can be avoided if the government finally implements structural reforms instead of continually ,muddling through'. At the same time, the ECB needs to realise the urgency of the current situation and start to show greater flexibility. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||