Patient education and disease activity: A study among rheumatoid arthritis patients

Objective: To determine whether patients experiencing high disease activity derive more benefit from patient education than those experiencing low disease activity. - \ud Methods: Data from a randomized study on the effects of a program of patient education were analyzed retrospectively. Four subgroups were studied: the high disease activity subgroup of patients who had participated in the educational program, the complementary low disease activity subgroup, the high disease activity subgroup of controls, and its low disease activity complement. Patients with erythrocyte sedimentation rate >28 mm/first hour were classified as having high disease activity. Effects on frequency of physical exercises, endurance exercises, and relaxation exercises and effects on health status (Modified Health Assessment Questionnaire, Dutch Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales [AIMS]) were measured. - \ud Results: There were no significant differences between the adherence parameters of the various pairs of groups. Four months after the educational program began, anxiety and depression scores on the Dutch-AIMS had increased among participating patients who were experiencing high disease activity and decreased among those who were experiencing low disease activity. - \ud Conclusions: Patients experiencing high disease activity did not derive more benefit from patient education than those experiencing low disease activity. On the contrary, an increase of anxiety and depression is found in these patients. Further study is needed to confirm our findings

Towards a Soil Information System with quantified accuracy : a prototype for mapping continuous soil properties

This report describes the potential and functionality of software for spatial analysis, prediction and stochastic simulation of continuous soil properties using data from the Dutch Soil Information System (BIS). A geostatistical framework and R codes were developed. The geostatistical model of a soil property has a deterministic component representing the mean value within a soil category, and a stochastic component of standardized residuals. The standardized residuals are interpolated or simulated based on the simple kriging system. The software was tested in four case studies: exchangeable soil pH, clay content, organic matter content and Mean Spring Water table depth (MSW). It is concluded that the geostatistical framework and R codes developed in this study enable to predict values of continuous soil properties spatially, and to quantify the inaccuracy of these predictions. The inaccuracy of a spatial prediction at a certain location is quantified by the kriging variance, which can be interpreted as an indication of the uncertainty about the true value

Excitons and high-order optical transitions in individual carbon nanotubes

We examine the excitonic nature of high-lying optical transitions in single-walled carbon nanotubes by means of Rayleigh scattering spectroscopy. A careful analysis of the principal transitions of individual semiconducting and metallic nanotubes reveals that in both cases the lineshape is consistent with an excitonic model, but not one of free-carriers. For semiconducting species, side-bands are observed at ~200 meV above the third and fourth optical transitions. These features are ascribed to exciton-phonon bound states. Such side-bands are not apparent for metallic nanotubes,as expected from the reduced strength of excitonic interactions in these systems

Probing the Intrinsic Properties of Exfoliated Graphene: Raman Spectroscopy of Free-Standing Monolayers

The properties of pristine, free-standing graphene monolayers prepared by mechanical exfoliation of graphite are investigated. The graphene monolayers, suspended over open trenches, are examined by means of spatially resolved Raman spectroscopy of the G-, D-, and 2D-phonon modes. The G-mode phonons exhibit reduced energies (1580 cm-1) and increased widths (14 cm-1) compared to the response of graphene monolayers supported on the SiO2 covered substrate. From analysis of the G-mode Raman spectra, we deduce that the free-standing graphene monolayers are essentially undoped, with an upper bound of 2x10^11 cm-2 for the residual carrier concentration. On the supported regions, significantly higher and spatially inhomogeneous doping is observed. The free-standing graphene monolayers show little local disorder, based on the very weak Raman D-mode response. The two-phonon 2D mode of the free-standing graphene monolayers is downshifted in frequency compared to that of the supported region of the samples and exhibits a narrowed, positively skewed line shape

Kaarten met grondwaterstandverloop nader bekeken; kan de kwaliteit van grondwaterstandkaarten die gemaakt zijn met ruimtelijke modellen verbeterd worden door aanvullend veldwerk?

Onderzocht is of de kwaliteit van regionale, met een ruimtelijk model, gemaakte kaarten van de Gemiddeld Hoogste Grondwaterstand en Gemiddeld Laagste Grondwaterstand kan worden verbeterd door middel van aanvullend veldwerk. Hiervoor is de kwaliteit onderzocht van de modelmatig gemaakte kaart van het waterschap Rijn en IJssel en van de in het veld opgenomen grondwatertrappenkaart in een studiegebied in de omgeving van Vorden-Wichmond. Geconcludeerd wordt dat de in het veld opgenomen grondwatertrappenkaart nauwkeuriger is dan de modelmatig gemaakte kaart. Dit komt tot uiting in een kleinere systematische fout en een kleinere toevallige fout. De kosten van dit aanvullende veldwerk zijn echter hoog. Nader onderzoek naar de efficiëntie van alternatieve methoden om de kwaliteit van de modelmatig gemaakte kaart te vergroten is daarom gewenst

Bodemmeetnet provincie Noord-Holland; 3e meetjaar en eindrapportage

Gegeven worden de resultaten van het derde meetjaar van het bodemmeetnet van de provincie Noord-Holland. De planning is dat in drie jaren de bodems van alle belangrijke bodem-landgebruik-hydrologie eenheden van de provincie Noord-Holland representatief bemonsterd worden. In 2003 vond de eerste reeks bemonsteringen plaats, en in 2004 de tweede reeks. Dit rapport gaat over de derde reeks bemonsteringen welke plaats had in 2005. In eerste instantie was gepland om dit in 2005 en 2006 uit te voeren. Beschreven wordt het verloop van de meetronden, de aangetroffen locaties en de analyses. Statische kenmerken zoals de gemiddelden, en cumulatieve frequentieverdelingen worden gegeven per bemonsterde bodem-landgebruik-hydrologie eenheid, en ten slotte wordt als voorbeeld van een toepassing landkaarten van de zware metalengehalten in Noord-Holland gegeve