Vier zwaluwen maken wel een zomer : economische analyse van een model voor natuurontwikkeling in het Groene Hart

De Vereniging Natuurmonumenten heeft een visie opgesteld voor het Groene Hart waarbij de ontwikkeling van hoogwaardige moerasnatuur centraal staat. Voor de moeraszwaluw (zwarte stern) is dit ideale habitat. De gebieden daaromheen worden gekenmerkt als boerennatuur (boerenzwaluw), landbouw (huiszwaluw) en urbane natuur (gierzwaluw). In deze studie zijn de belangrijkste maatschappelijke kosten en baten van het 4-zwaluwenmodel berekend voor het veenweidegebied rond Zegveld. De uitkomst van deze studie - een positief maatschappelijk rendement - ondersteunt de potenties van het model voor de rest van het Westelijk Veenweidegebied. 'The Foundation for Nature Monuments (Vereniging Natuurmonumenten) has formulated its vision for the Green Heart, with a central role for the development of areas of rich marshland nature. This is the ideal habitat for the black tern. The surrounding areas are characterised as agricultural nature (barn swallow), agriculture (house martin) and urban nature (common swift). The most important social costs and benefits of the model of the four swallows have been calculated in this study for the grazing fenlands around Zegveld. The conclusion of this economic study - positive net social benefits - supports the potential of the model for the rest of the western grazing fenlands

Co-prescription of antiepileptic drugs and contraceptives

Background: Enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) reduce the efficacy of oral contraceptives. Little is known of contraceptive practice among reproductive-age women who receive AEDs. Study Design: We explored the use of contraceptive methods among Dutch women aged 15 to 49 years with prescriptions of AEDs using pharmacy dispensing database. Drug dispensing data of AEDs and contraceptives in 2006 was retrieved from the InterAction Database (IADB.nl database). The prevalence of contraceptives use and distribution of different contraceptive methods were calculated. Results: Of women who used enzyme-inducing AEDs in combination with any highly effective contraceptive method, over 40% were on an oral contraceptive (OC) containing Conclusion: Fertile-age women who received AEDs often relied on less effective contraceptive methods. Prescribers should be more aware of the interaction between AEDs and OCs. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The off-Shell Electromagnetic Vertex of the Nucleon in Chiral Perturbation Theory

We study the electromagnetic vertex of a nucleon in next-to-leading order chiral perturbation theory (CPT). We consider the case where one of the nucleons at the $\gamma$NN vertex is off its mass shell. We define relevant measures for the off-shell dependence in the limited kinematical range allowed, and analyze their expansion in the pion mass. The leading nonanalytic contributions are calculated to estimate their size.Comment: 12 pages (LaTeX), 1 figure (available upon request), NIKHEF 93-P

Analyzing generic and branded substitution patterns in the Netherlands using prescription data

BACKGROUND: As in other societies, pharmaceutical expenditures in the Netherlands are rising every year. As a consequence, needs for cost control are often expressed. One possible solution for cost control could come through increasing generic substitution by pharmacists. We aim to analyse the extent and nature of substitution in recent years and estimate the likelihood of generic or branded substitution in Dutch pharmacies in relation to various characteristics. METHODS: We utilized a linked prescription dataset originating from a general practitioner (GP) and a pharmacy database, both from the northern Netherlands. We selected specific drugs of interest, containing about 55,000 prescriptions from 15 different classes. We used a crossed generalized linear mixed model to estimate the effects that certain patient and pharmacy characteristics as well as timing have on the likelihood that a prescription will eventually be substituted by the pharmacist. RESULTS: Generic substitution occurred at 25% of the branded prescriptions. Generic substitution was more likely to occur earlier in time after patent expiry and to patients that were older and more experienced in their drug use. Individually owned pharmacies had a lower probability of generic substitution compared to chain pharmacies. Oppositely, branded substitution occurred in 10% of generic prescriptions and was positively related to the patients' experience in branded use. Individually owned pharmacies were more likely to substitute a generic drug to a branded compared to other pharmacies. Antidepressant and PPI prescriptions were less prone to generic and more prone to branded substitution. CONCLUSION: Analysis of prescription substitution by the pharmacist revealed strong relations between substitution and patient experience on drug use, pharmacy status and timing. These findings can be utilised to design further strategies to enhance generic substitution

Waarneming effect bodemberoering op de Klaverbank

In juni 2017 is de 11e duikexpeditie op de Noordzee georganiseerd, door Stichting Duik de Noordzee Schoon. Op 18 juni werd er een duik gemaakt op het grind- en stenensubstraat van de Klaverbank, op locatie 54.021019 N / 3.165225 O, waterdiepte 38 meter (Bijlage 1 en 2). Van dit gebied is het bekend dat er veel stenen liggen (Leewis et al., 2015). Op de Klaverbank komen op deze natuurlijke harde substraten uitgebreide epifaunagemeenschappen voor, gedomineerd door koudwaterkoralen (dodemansduim)

Sticky bubbles

We discuss the physical forces that are required to remove an air bubble immersed in a liquid from a corner. This is relevant for inkjet printing technology, as the presence of air bubbles in the channels of a printhead perturbs the jetting of droplets. A simple strategy to remove the bubble is to ush the ink past the bubble by providing a high pressure pulse. In this report we rst compute the viscous drag forces that such a ow exerts on the bubble. Then, we compare this to the \sticking forces" on the bubble, due to the capillary interaction with the wall. From this we can estimate the required ow velocities for bubble removal, as a function of channel geometry, contact angle and ink properties. Finally, we investigate other ways to exert a force on a trapped bubble. In particular we focus on forces induced by electric elds which can alter the contact angle of the drop, or by locally applying thermal gradients. Once again, these forces are compared to the sticking forces to identify the parameters where the bubble can be removed

Quantitative in vivo CT arthrography of the human osteoarthritic knee to estimate cartilage sulphated glycosaminoglycan content: Correlation with ex-vivo reference standards

Objective: Recently, computed tomography arthrography (CTa) was introduced as quantitative imaging biomarker to estimate cartilage sulphated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) content in human cadaveric knees. Our aim was to assess the correlation between in vivo CTa in human osteoarthritis (OA) knees and ex vivo reference standards for sGAG and collagen content. Design: In this prospective observational study 11 knee OA patients underwent CTa before total knee replacement (TKR). Cartilage X-ray attenuation was determined in six cartilage regions. Femoral and tibial cartilage specimens harvested during TKR were re-scanned using equilibrium partitioning of an ionic contrast agent with micro-CT (EPIC-μCT), which served as reference standard for sGAG. Next, cartilage sGAG and collagen content were determined using dimethylmethylene blue (DMMB) and hydroxyproline assays. The correlation between CTa X-ray attenuation, EPIC-μCT X-ray attenuation, sGAG content and collagen content was assessed. Results: CTa X-ray attenuation correlated well with EPIC-μCT (r = 0.76, 95% credibility interval (95%CI) 0.64 to 0.85). CTa correlated moderately with the DMMB assay (sGAG content) (r = -0.66, 95%CI -0.87 to -0.49) and to lesser extent with the hydroxyproline assay (collagen content) (r = -0.56, 95%CI -0.70 to -0.36). Conclusions: Outcomes of in vivo CTa in human OA knees correlate well with sGAG content. Outcomes of CTa also slightly correlate with cartilage collagen content. Since outcomes of CTa are mainly sGAG dependent and despite the fact that further validation using hyaline cartilage of other joints with different biochemical composition should be conducted, CTa may be suitable as quantitative imaging biomarker to estimate cartilage sGAG content in future clinical OA research