Anatomy of extraordinary rainfall and flash flood in a Dutch lowland catchment

On 26 August 2010 the eastern part of The Netherlands and the bordering part of Germany were struck by a series of rainfall events lasting for more than a day. Over an area of 740 km2 more than 120 mm of rainfall were observed in 24 h. This extreme event resulted in local flooding of city centres, highways and agricultural fields, and considerable financial loss. In this paper we report on the unprecedented flash flood triggered by this exceptionally heavy rainfall event in the 6.5 km2 Hupsel Brook catchment, which has been the experimental watershed employed by Wageningen University since the 1960s. This study aims to improve our understanding of the dynamics of such lowland flash floods. We present a detailed hydrometeorological analysis of this extreme event, focusing on its synoptic meteorological characteristics, its space-time rainfall dynamics as observed with rain gauges, weather radar and a microwave link, as well as the measured soil moisture, groundwater and discharge response of the catchment. At the Hupsel Brook catchment 160 mm of rainfall was observed in 24 h, corresponding to an estimated return period of well over 1000 years. As a result, discharge at the catchment outlet increased from 4.4 × 10-3 to nearly 5 m3 s-1. Within 7 h discharge rose from 5 × 10-2 to 4.5 m3 s-1. The catchment response can be divided into four phases: (1) soil moisture reservoir filling, (2) groundwater response, (3) surface depression filling and surface runoff and (4) backwater feedback. The first 35 mm of rainfall were stored in the soil without a significant increase in discharge. Relatively dry initial conditions (in comparison to those for past discharge extremes) prevented an even faster and more extreme hydrological response

New Donors and Old Practices: Does the Rise of China Challenge Aid Effectiveness?

The rise of China in international development has raised much concern, with major questions regarding the future of a ‘Paris Consensus’ in the face of major emerging donors being hesitant about joining fora dominated by OECD countries, and about a ‘Beijing Consensus’ overtaking a ‘post-Washington Consensus’. The fierce and popular critique of aid as articulated by Dambisa Moyo adds an additional and critical spark to these debates. This paper contextualizes the differences between ‘old’ and ‘new’ approaches to aid, to enhance the understanding of differences, similarities, and potentials for collaboration. A main hypothesis is that the differences across old approaches (say, US vs UK) are as large as differences between Chinese and UK approaches. Moreover, while the debate has stressed that new donors tend to remain outside the consensus established by donors grouped within the DAC, the implementation of Paris principles by DAC donors themselves has remained limited, and it is important to understand the national politics and institutional constraints within donor countries, old and new. The emergence of new donors has partly led and partly coincided with a re-politicisation of aid, and for the study of aid effectiveness assessing whether aid worked it is critical to understand these dynamics. For this purpose, the paper makes three arguments

Are individual and group treatments equally effective in the treatment of depression in adults?

0.01). At follow-up no significant differences were found. Conclusions: Although individual therapy seems to be somewhat more effective than group therapy at the short term, it is not clear whether this is relevant from a clinical point of view. Because of the small number of studies and the limited quality, more research is needed to examine whether the difference between individual and group treatment is clinically relevant

The Politics of Aid Revisited: A Review of Evidence on State Capacity and Elite Commitment

Based on a systematic review of the impacts of aid on both state capacity for, and elite commitment to, sustainable development, we conclude that a better understanding of the impact of aid has the potential to directly inform practices of international development. This requires better empirical insight into how donors interact with formal and informal institutions in the countries where they work, particularly in aid-dependent countries. Furthermore, it is critical to see aid as part of a spectrum of international exchange, rather than in isolation. This implies a significant research agenda, combining quantitative and in-depth qualitative analysis, as there are barriers for more informed political analysis to inform practice; and little analysis exists of how donors, even where they do start adopting a political perspective, do influence local institutions and the people they work with. The paper develops this conclusion through a review of existing large research programmes on politics of international development, the role and impact of donors political economy approaches, a scan of the literature on aid modalities, and a brief review of the practices of emerging donors, particularly China

Differential Dynamics of ATR-Mediated Checkpoint Regulators

The ATR-Chk1 checkpoint pathway is activated by UV-induced DNA lesions and replication stress. Little was known about the spatio and temporal behaviour of the proteins involved, and we, therefore, examined the behaviour of the ATRIP-ATR and Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 putative DNA damage sensor complexes and the downstream effector kinase Chk1. We developed assays for the generation and validation of stable cell lines expressing GFP-fusion proteins. Photobleaching experiments in living cells expressing these fusions indicated that after UV-induced DNA damage, ATRIP associates more transiently with damaged chromatin than members of the Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 complex. Interestingly, ATRIP directly associated with locally induced UV damage, whereas Rad9 bound in a cooperative manner, which can be explained by the Rad17-dependent loading of Rad9 onto damaged chromatin. Although Chk1 dissociates from the chromatin upon UV damage, no change in the mobility of GFP-Chk1 was observed, supporting the notion that Chk1 is a highly dynamic protein

Current practices in the management of closed femoral shaft fractures in children:A nationwide survey among Dutch orthopaedic surgeons

Background: There remains a lack of high-quality evidence on the treatment of pediatric femur shaft fractures. Therefore, treatment choices may still be based on personal preference of treating surgeons. To gain insight in considerations regarding treatment options, we conducted a survey among Dutch trauma and orthopedic surgeons. Methods: This survey was conducted in 2020, regarding treatment considerations for closed femoral shaft fractures in children in different age and weight groups. Results: One hundred forty-two surgeons were included in the analysis. 31% of participating surgeons considers surgical fixation in children of 2–4 years old, compared to 83% in children of 4–6 years old. In terms of weight, 30% considers surgery in children of 10–15 kg, compared to 77% considering surgery in children weighing 15–20 kg. While most surgeons find traction and spica cast suitable options for children younger than 4 years, a minority also considers these treatment modalities for children older than 4 (traction: 81% versus 19%, spica cast 63% versus 29% respectively). 33% of surgeons considers ESIN under 4 years of age, compared to 88% in children older than 4. Conclusion: An age of 4 years and a weight of 15 kg seem to be cut off points regarding preference of non-surgical versus surgical treatment of closed femoral shaft fractures. There is a wide range of ages and sizes for which treatment options are still being considered, sometimes differing from the national guideline. This questions guideline adherence, which may be due to a lack of available high-quality evidence.</p

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of carboplatin administered in a high-dose combination regimen with thiotepa, cyclophosphamide and peripheral stem cell support.

The aim of this pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic study was to define the relationships of the carboplatin exposure with the toxicity in patients treated with high dose carboplatin (400 mg m-2 day-1), cyclophosphamide (1500 mg m-2 day-1) and thiotepa (120 mg m-2 day-1) for four consecutive days, followed by peripheral stem cell transplantation. Exposure to carboplatin was studied in 200 treatment days by measuring the area under the carboplatin plasma ultrafiltrate (pUF) concentration vs time curve (AUC). The AUC was obtained by using a previously validated limited sampling model. A total of 31 patients was studied who received one, two or three courses of this high-dose chemotherapy regimen. The unbound, plasma ultrafiltrate carboplatin was almost completely cleared from the body before each next treatment day in a course; the day-to-day AUC variation was 3.3%. The mean cumulative AUC over 4 days was 19.6 (range 14.1-27.2) mg ml-1 min-1. In 97 treatment days the carboplatin dose was calculated using the Calvert formula with the creatinine clearance as the measure for the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). For these courses, the inter-patient variability in pharmacokinetics was significantly reduced from 21% to 15% (P = 0.007) in comparison with the schemes where it was given as a fixed dose of 400 mg m-2. There were no relationships found between toxicity and the AUC of carboplatin, which may be due to the influence of overlapping toxicities of cyclophosphamide and thiotepa. However, the ototoxicity was strongly related to the cumulative carboplatin AUC. This toxicity was dose limiting for carboplatin in this schedule. It appeared that the carboplatin pharmacokinetics in these regimens were similar to those reported at conventional dosages. To reduce the inter-patient variation, the carboplatin dose can be calculated using the Calvert-formula with the creatinine clearance as the measure for the GFR