Employer Attitudes towards Peak Hour Avoidance

Peak Hour Avoidance is a relatively new Dutch mobility management measure. To reduce congestion frequent car drivers are given a financial reward for reducing the proportion of trips that they make during peak hours on a specific motorway section. Although previous studies show that employers are not eager to support mobility management measures, employers are nevertheless an important stakeholder. They can provide their employees with alternatives such as other travel times, work locations or travel modes and encourage their use. This paper investigates the attitudes of Dutch employers towards Peak Hour Avoidance. Exploring the factors that influence these attitudes may help to fully utilise employer support. The data from 103 employers were collected through a web questionnaire. A structural equation model on the employer support for Peak Hour Avoidance was estimated. The results demonstrate that the size of the organisation and sector only have an indirect effect on the support for Peak Hour Avoidance. Results reveal that most support for Peak Hour Avoidance can be expected from organisations who feel responsible for influencing the commuting behaviour of employees, that have human resource managers with a positive attitude towards Peak Hour Avoidance, with flexible working times and that have already implemented mobility management measures. The largest contribution to PHA that can be expected from employers is providing employees with flexible working times and encouraging employees to fully utilise this option as an alternative for driving in peak hours. This would not only be beneficial for PHA but for a wide range of mobility management initiatives as well

Transport and the Greenhouse Effect

To date, 84 nations have signed the so-called Kyoto Protocol on the control of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. In the Netherlands the Kyoto agreement has resulted in quantitative national targets for 2008-2012 of -6% GHG emission reduction compared to 1990; this is a reduction of 19% compared to the emission forecasted for 2010. Two years ago the Dutch government launched a policy-making process for meeting the Kyoto target. In both the development and the evaluation of Dutch Kyoto-related policy, research has played a major role. For the transport sector no (a priori) targets were set; however, a list of measures and instruments to reduce transport GHG emissions were discussed in the Kyoto-related policymaking process. Nearly all transport instruments and measures on this list appeared to be car-related. The reason for this focus was an a priori choice of policymakers. However, costeffective options for other vehicle categories (road and non-road transport) may be available. The transport options finally chosen for the Policy document will reduce GHG emissions from transport by 3-5% compared to the forecasted 2010 emissions. Researchers estimated that tax differentiation for new cars and in-car instruments such as fuel economy meters and cruise control will be the most effective instruments. The selected transport measures were not really chosen to induce a technology push; rather, the selection was mainly policy driven to meet short-term targets. Although research played a significant role in the policy-making process, several research improvements can still be made. Important improvements identified are: a) using a better and clearer method for the calculation of the costs of the measures and b) using a broader evaluation method of measures; this will mean including more environmental, economic and social indicators

The effects of weather and climate change on cycling in northern Norway

Weather is identified as one of many factors that influence the demand for cycling. Weather patterns will change due to expected climate change. The aim of this article is to study the extent to which climate change influences the cycling frequency. The analysis in this article is conducted using an econometric model based on data spanning over four years on weather indicators and the cycling frequency in the Norwegian city of Bodø, which is located north of the Arctic Circle. According to the projections for climate change, both temperature and quantity of precipitation are expected to increase in this area during the next century. An important consequence of changes in the climate in the studied region is the reduced duration of what can be characterised as the winter season. However, this consequence is highly uncertain. When using Norway’s middle projections for climate change by 2050, the analysis shows a moderate increase in cycling frequency of 6.2%. For the reduced winter period, the cycle rate might be two and three times higher in 2050 compared to the current level. Both estimates assume that every other potential impact on cycling rates remain equal

Non-implementation of road pricing policy in the Netherlands: An application of the ‘Advocacy Coalition Framework’

The implementation of road pricing policies is dependent on political support for the policy. It is frequently argued that many pricing proposals fail to be implemented due to the opposition of one or a group of policy actors (e.g. political parties, interest groups). This study considers this issue and examines the reasons for non-implementation of proposals for Dutch road pricing policies by analysing the policy position changes of 26 major policy actors and the changes in consensus and conflict among these actors over a policy process of 16 years. The “Advocacy Coalition Framework” (ACF) is used as the theoretical lens. Our findings show that in the Netherlands non-implementation cannot be ascribed to only the opposition of one policy actor or to one group of policy actors, but rather to features of the Dutch political system/culture and complications peculiar to the road pricing subsystem (socio-cultural values related to mobility, complex design issues). We found that internal and external shocks, and policy-oriented learning affected the subsystem and alerted the power balance between pro-and anti-road pricing coalitions. However, these factors did not produce a major policy change, namely, the introduction of a road pricing scheme

Towards improved handling of uncertainty in cost-benefit analysis: addressing the ‘price-quality’ and ‘communication’ dilemmas

An important limitation of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is the inherent uncertainty in estimations of future welfare effects. In this paper, we argue that consideration of the ‘pricequality’ dilemma and the ‘communication’ dilemma is useful to explain and improve the handling of uncertainty in CBA. The ‘price-quality’ dilemma refers to the trade-off between the quality of welfare effect estimations and the costs of providing these estimations. Instruments to produce good quality effect estimates (including uncertainties) can be expensive both in monetary terms and time. We discuss the application of probabilistic traffic models as a promising example of how the ‘price-quality’ dilemma can be solved. The ‘communication’ dilemma refers to the observation that both a poor communication and a too prominent communication of uncertainties can cause problems for decision-makers. We argue that cognitive psychological theory provides useful perspectives to solve this dilemma, by providing a psychological framework which might help to explain why different types of people process CBA information differently. The results of this research may enhance first insights into the questions how the two dilemmas can be solved

The OCareCloudS project: toward organizing care through trusted cloud services

The increasing elderly population and the shift from acute to chronic illness makes it difficult to care for people in hospitals and rest homes. Moreover, elderly people, if given a choice, want to stay at home as long as possible. In this article, the methodologies to develop a cloud-based semantic system, offering valuable information and knowledge-based services, are presented. The information and services are related to the different personal living hemispheres of the patient, namely the daily care-related needs, the social needs and the daily life assistance. Ontologies are used to facilitate the integration, analysis, aggregation and efficient use of all the available data in the cloud. By using an interdisciplinary research approach, where user researchers, (ontology) engineers, researchers and domain stakeholders are at the forefront, a platform can be developed of great added value for the patients that want to grow old in their own home and for their caregivers

Group IIA Secretory Phospholipase A(2) Predicts Graft Failure and Mortality in Renal Transplant Recipients by Mediating Decreased Kidney Function

The acute phase protein group IIA secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)-IIA) has intrinsic proatherosclerotic properties. The present prospective cohort study investigated whether plasma sPLA(2)-IIA associates with graft failure, cardiovascular, and all-cause mortality in renal transplant recipients (RTRs), patients with accelerated atherosclerosis formation both systemically and within the graft. In 511 RTRs from a single academic center with stable graft function >1 year, baseline plasma sPLA(2)-IIA was determined by ELISA. Primary end points were death-censored graft failure and mortality (median follow-up, 7.0 years). Baseline sPLA(2)-IIA was higher in RTRs than in healthy controls (median 384 ng/dL (range 86-6951) vs. 185 ng/dL (range 104-271), p <0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated increased risk for graft failure (p = 0.002), as well as cardiovascular (p <0.001) and all-cause mortality (p <0.001), with increasing sPLA(2)-IIA quartiles. Cox regression showed strong associations of sPLA(2)-IIA with increased risks of graft failure (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.42 (1.11-1.83), p = 0.006), as well as cardiovascular (HR = 1.48 (1.18 1.85), p = 0.001) and all-cause mortality (HR = 1.39 (1.17 1.64), p <0.001), dependent on parameters of kidney function. Renal function during follow-up declined faster in RTRs with higher baseline sPLA(2)-IIA levels. In RTRs, sPLA(2)-IIA is a significant predictive biomarker for chronic graft failure, as well as overall and cardiovascular disease mortality dependent on kidney function. This dependency is conceivably explained by sPLA(2)-IIA impacting negatively on kidney function

Endobronchial ultrasound in diagnosing and staging of lung cancer by Acquire 22G TBNB versus regular 22G TBNA needles:A randomized clinical trial

Objectives: Endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has an important role in the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer. Evaluation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and molecular profiling has become standard of care but cytological samples frequently contain insufficient tumor cells. The 22G Acquire needle with Franseen needle tip was developed to perform transbronchial needle biopsy (TBNB) with improved tissue specimens. This study evaluated if the 22G Acquire TBNB needle results in enhanced PD-L1 suitability rate compared to the regular Expect 22G TBNA needle. Methods:In this multi-center randomized clinical trial (Netherlands Trial Register NL7701), patients with suspected (N)SCLC and an indication for mediastinal/hilar staging or lung tumor diagnosis were recruited in five university and general hospitals in the Netherlands, Poland, Italy and Czech Republic. Patients were randomized (1:1) between the two needles. Two blinded reference pathologists evaluated the samples. The primary outcome was PD-L1 suitability rate in patients with a final diagnosis of lung cancer. In case no malignancy was diagnosed, the reference standard was surgical verification or 6 month follow-up. Results: 154 patients were randomized (n = 76 Acquire TBNB; n = 78 Expect TBNA) of which 92.9% (n = 143) had a final malignant diagnosis. Suitability for PD-L1 analysis was 80.0% (n = 56/70; 95 %CI 0.68–0.94) with the Acquire needle and 76.7% (n = 56/73; 95 %CI 0.65–0.85) with the Expect needle (p = 0.633). Acquire TBNB needle specimens provided more frequent superior quality (65.3% (95 %CI 0.57–0.73) vs 49.4% (95 %CI 0.41–0.57, p = 0.005) and contained more tissue cores (72.0% (95 %CI 0.60-0.81) vs 41.0% (95 %CI 0.31–0.54, p &lt; 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences in tissue adequacy, suitability for molecular analysis and sensitivity for malignancy and N2/N3 disease. Conclusion: The 22G Acquire TBNB needle procured improved quality tissue specimens compared to the Expect TBNA needle but this did not result in an improved the suitability rate for PD-L1 analysis.</p