The productivity of industrial land in the Netherlands

In regional science the interest in spatial distribution of productivity is focussed on labour productivity. In our research we focus on another important production factor that is land. By planning local authorities allocate land to different categories of land use. As part of research on the efficiency of this allocation process in the Netherlands, a method is developed to determine the productivity of industrial land (added value per hectare industrial land). To calculate this ‘spatial productivity’, data from the Dutch industrial estates database are used in combination with regional employment and regional output statistics. The paper will explain the method used and show some results. The research outcomes show that there are substantial differences in spatial productivity in the Netherlands. These differences seem to correlate positively with the urban density. On the other hand the share of added value created on industrial estates by region seems to correlate negatively with urban density. Therefore there is some evidence for the hypothesis that industrial land in urbanised regions is used more efficiently than in other areas, indicating that agglomeration effects are observable in spatial productivity

Analysis of the Reduced Wake Effect for Available Wind Power Calculation during Curtailment - Including Validation Experiments

With increasing wind power capacity, the impact of wind power on power system operation increases. For a mature integration of large amounts of wind power, controlling wind farm output by temporary curtailment becomes increasingly relevant. Wind farm curtailment provides valuable technical and economic opportunities for balancing the power system. However, quantifying the exact amount of curtailed wind power at the wind farm level is not trivial. This is because curtailment induces a reduction of the wake effects, complicating the determination of the available power in the wind. Understanding the reduced wake effect is important to improve the technical reliability and business case of wind power curtailment, especially for very large offshore wind farms. The purpose of this research is to present and validate an algorithm to determine the available power of a wind farm during curtailment. Current best practices in available power estimation is to sum the individual turbine available power signals. This leads to an overestimation, as the reduced wake effect is not accounted for. In the algorithm developed in this thesis, existing wake models play a key role in quantifying the reduced wake effect. These wake models have been validated first for wind turbine operation without curtailment and then for operation during curtailment. For the latter, curtailment experiments were prepared and executed on the existing nearshore wind farm Westermeerwind, consisting of 48 wind turbines in commercial operation. Based on that, the developed algorithm has been validated for wind turbines in a straight row and for sub-rated wind speeds. In the experiments, the first turbine in the row was curtailed and the reduced wake effect was clearly observed at the second turbine. The reduced wake effect led to a power increase of the second turbine of 45% to 80% of the curtailed power of the first turbine. However, it also led to a power decrease for the third turbine in a range of 5% to 40% of the curtailed power. No noticeable structural changes in power production were observed from the fourth turbine onward. The algorithm was shown to perform well in calculating the available power at the second turbine, with the Jensen wake model delivering the lowest error. For the third turbine, the algorithm did not perform well, due to relatively large errors of the wake models for the third turbine. The Larsen wake model resulted in the lowest error considering the available power of the whole row of turbines. Overall, it is concluded that the algorithm proposed and validated in this thesis delivers a significantly improved estimation of the available power during curtailment. It is recommended to continue study of the proposed algorithm by testing the performance of other wake models, performing more (types of) curtailment experiments and obtaining higher quality wind data

One job, one deal...or not: do generations respond differently to psychological contract fulfillment?

This paper investigates generational differences in the relations between psychological contract fulfillment and work attitudes. Data were collected from a sample of 909 employees in the Dutch service sector. Structural equation modeling analyses were used to test the moderating effects of generational differences on the influence of psychological contract fulfillment on affective commitment and turnover intention. The relationship between psychological contract fulfillment and these work outcomes was moderated by generational differences. Furthermore, results indicate that different generations respond differently to different aspects of psychological contract fulfillment, such as career development, job content, organizational policies, social atmosphere and rewards. The study provides evidence that generational differences impact the reciprocal relationship between employer and employee. Results from this study suggest that Baby Boomers and Generation X may be more motivated by social atmosphere, whereas Generation Y may be more motivated by job content and career development. Fair organizational policies are particularly motivating to Generation X, and providing rewards, though more important to Generation Y, seem mostly unrelated to work outcomes. This article is the first to study the moderation of generational differences in the relationships between psychological contract fulfillment and work outcomes

An empirical study of the variability in the composition of British freight trains

As part of the broader sustainability and economic efficiency agenda, European transport policy places considerable emphasis on improving rail’s competitiveness to increase its share of the freight market. Much attention is devoted to infrastructure characteristics which determine the number of freight trains which can operate and influence the operating characteristics of these trains. However, little attention has been devoted to the composition of the freight trains themselves, with scant published data relating to the practicalities of this important component of system utilisation and its impacts on rail freight viability and sustainability. This paper develops a better understanding of the extent to which freight train composition varies, through a large-scale empirical study of the composition of British freight trains. The investigation is based on a survey of almost 3,000 individual freight trains, with analysis at four levels of disaggregation, from the commodity groupings used in official statistics down to individual services. This provides considerable insight into rail freight operations with particular relevance to the efficiency of utilisation of trains using the available network paths. The results demonstrate the limitations of generalising about freight train formations since, within certain commodity groupings, considerable variability was identified even at fairly high levels of disaggregation

A dog with protothecosis in the Netherlands

Prototheca spp. are parasitic algae that can infect humans, cattle, cats and dogs. Although it is rarely seen, if protothecosis occurs in dogs, it is often fatal due to dissemination of the algae and a poor response to treatment. A 3-year-old, Scottish Collie dog, female, neutered, was presented with large bowel diarrhoea, weight loss and lethargy of 2 months. The dog had also experienced a short transient episode of acute horizontal nystagmus, left-sided head tilt and cervical pain 2 weeks before presentation. Histology of the colon demonstrated an erosive neutrophilic colitis with periodic acid–Schiff stain-positive structures compatible with Prototheca spp. confirmed using polymerase chain reaction. Treatment with nystatin (100,000 IU orally every 8 hours) was unsuccessful, and euthanasia was performed soon after diagnosis. This case report documents the first reported case of canine protothecosis in the Netherlands, and demonstrates that nystatin treatment is not successful in every canine protothecosis case

A Study of the Feasibility and Potential Implementation of Metro-Based Freight Transportation in Newcastle upon Tyne

The concept of using a metropolitan railway network to transport freight directly to a city centre from the surrounding businesses has been the subject of much research. This paper looks in depth at the Tyne and Wear Metro system, situated in Newcastle upon Tyne, to determine if such a scheme would be feasible. Through research into the modes of transport available, along with a review of literature and case studies, it was found that the current method of transporting the majority of freight by road is unsustainable and damaging to both the environment and local communities. Other options for the transportation of freight have been reviewed, and results showed that a modal shift will be necessary in the near future. The system was then modelled using software provided by the Department for Transport, which demonstrated that the implementation of such a scheme would provide vast accident savings, a reduction in the number of casualties on the road, and a monetary saving as a result of the lower casualty rate. The conclusion was reached that the scheme is viable, however further research and study is necessary before implementation

Incisional Wound Irrigation for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infection:A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Importance: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are common postoperative complications and associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and costs. Prophylactic intraoperative incisional wound irrigation is used to reduce the risk of SSIs, and there is great variation in the type of irrigation solutions and their use. Objective: To compare the outcomes of different types of incisional prophylactic intraoperative incisional wound irrigation for the prevention of SSIs in all types of surgery. Data Sources: PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, and CINAHL databases were searched up to June 12, 2023. Study Selection: Included in this study were randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing incisional prophylactic intraoperative incisional wound irrigation with no irrigation or comparing irrigation using different types of solutions, with SSI as a reported outcome. Studies investigating intracavity lavage were excluded. Data Extraction and Synthesis: This systematic review and network meta-analysis is reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement. Two reviewers independently extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias within individual RCTs using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool and the certainty of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework. A frequentist network meta-analysis was conducted, and relative risks (RRs) with corresponding 95% CIs were reported. Main Outcome and Measure: The primary study outcome was SSI. Results: A total of 1587 articles were identified, of which 41 RCTs were included in the systematic review, with 17188 patients reporting 1328 SSIs, resulting in an overall incidence of 7.7%. Compared with no irrigation, antiseptic solutions (RR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.44-0.81; high level of certainty) and antibiotic solutions (RR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.29-0.73; low level of certainty) were associated with a beneficial reduction in SSIs. Saline irrigation showed no statistically significant difference compared with no irrigation (RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.63-1.09; moderate level of certainty). Conclusions and Relevance: This systematic review and network meta-analysis found high-certainty evidence that prophylactic intraoperative incisional wound irrigation with antiseptic solutions was associated with a reduction in SSIs. It is suggested that the use of antibiotic wound irrigation be avoided due to the inferior certainty of evidence for its outcome and global antimicrobial resistance concerns.</p

Elements for European logistics policy - A discussion paper

Following a Finnish initiative the European Commission is preparing a communication on logistics in 2006. To support the preparations Finland arranged the so called EULOC-process in which logistics experts from different countries were invited to participate. First, an industry foresight of European logistics in 2015 was created. Next, the mission, vision and policy priorities of the European logistics policy were discussed. The mission for European logistics policy was created from the viewpoint of citizens, companies, states and Europe. Seven vision elements were created. The driving visions are “Seamless systems” and “Intelligent regulation”. The guiding and enabling visions are “Resources” and “Cost efficiency”. The outcome visions are “Europe’s competitiveness”, “Equal business opportunity” and “Sustainability”. According to the experts’ views the priority areas of European logistics policy are Infrastructure – Seamless systems require investments Research, development and training – Strengthen the competitiveness of the European Union Enterprises – The reinforcement of logistic industry Regulation – Innovative and intelligent Cost Efficiency – Effective logistics Sustainability – From environmental, social and economic viewpoint, a must in modern logistics Co-Operation – A strategic issue in network society Public-Private Partnership – Agile solutions for investments

Mortality and surgery-related complications in very low and extreme low birth weight infants treated for esophageal atresia:a multi-center cohort study

Introduction: Surgical esophageal atresia (EA) repair is a complex operation with high risk of perioperative complications. Infants born with very low or extreme low birth weight (VLBW or ELBW) might be even at higher risk for developing perioperative complications. However, studies about this specific patient group are scarce, resulting in a knowledge gap on the outcomes of these infants. This hampers identifying the optimal treatment strategy, but also good counselling of parents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mortality and surgery-related complication rates of VLBW and ELBW infants with EA after surgical esophageal repair in a multi-center cohort. Methods: A multi-center retrospective cohort study was performed in five academic hospitals in the Netherlands. Data was extracted from the medical record of patients born with EA and birthweight 1000–1500 g (VLBW) or &lt;1000 g (ELBW) between 2000 and 2019. The main outcomes were overall mortality and specific surgery-related morbidity 90 days postoperative. Only descriptive analyses were performed. Results: In total, 44 children were born with EA and VLBW/ELBW, of which 39 were included who underwent EA repair, 10 ELBW and 29 VLBW. Of the 39 infants, 25 had additional congenital anomalies. Six out of 29 VLBW infants and three out of 10 ELBW infants deceased. Complications occurred in 17 VLBW and two ELBW infants. Anastomotic stricture was the most frequent complications (VLBW n = 12, ELBW n = 1), others were anastomotic leakage (VLBW n = 5, ELBW n = 0), pneumothorax (VLBW n = 5, ELBW n = 0), surgical site infection (VLBW n = 1, ELBW n = 1) and recurrent fistula (VLBW n = 0, ELBW n = 1). Conclusion: Mortality and surgery-related complication rates in VLBW/ELBW infants after surgical EA repair in this large cohort are in line with previous studies. However, outcomes after surgical repair of EA are worse compared to infants born with a normal birthweight. This information is important to consider during parent counseling and multidisciplinary consultation.</p