[Review of] Hoerder, Dirk. Cultures in Contact: World Migrations in the Second Millennium

Cultures in Contact is an ambitious tome of the annotated world history of human mass migrations both within and between national boundaries. This book provides a glorious descriptive wealth of when, where, and to a lesser extent why mass migrations have occurred across the largest and most populous regions of the planet earth over the span of the past millennium. In this regard it may serve as a valued reference work for anyone curious about the bigger picture of migration flows; however, those seeking a simplistic theoretical synthesis that would account for the myriad patterns of human migrations over the past millennium will not be much gratified by Hoerder\u27s tome. As the author highlights in his introductory chapter, human migration flows may be either voluntary or coerced and in either case must be viewed in a socio-historically specific systems context

Prevention of cervical cancer in the Netherlands : Studies on cytology and HPV infections

Meijer, C.J.L.M. [Promotor]Snijders, P.J.F. [Promotor]Rozendaal, L. [Copromotor]Kemenade, F.J. van [Copromotor

Hmong on the Move : Understanding Secondary Migration

Between the time of first arrival of the Hmong refugees in 1975 and the mid-1990s, there has been much geographic movement of these new Americans. An initial pattern of Hmong residential dispersal throughout the American states has gradually transformed into a predominantly tri-state concentration (California, Wisconsin, and Minnesota). This highly distinctive resettlement pattern is the result of delicately balancing the most essential substance of Hmong tradition with pragmatic considerations such as job prospects (especially farming work), access to language and job training programs, extended family and clan obligations, changing federal policies for Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA), changing welfare eligibility regulations between the states (especially as it relates to AFDC-UP), climate and topographical considerations, and the like

Quantitative analysis of the mechanical environment in the embryonic heart with respect to its relationship in cardiac development

Includes bibliographical references.2015 Fall.In order to understand the causes of congenital heart defects, which afflict at least 4 infants per 1,000 live births, research has implemented the use of animal models to study embryonic heart development. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have become one of the more prominent of these animal models due to the fact that their heart morphology at the earliest stages of development is remarkably similar to humans, and because embryos lack pigmentation, rendering them transparent. This transparency allows for high-speed images of blood flow to be acquired in the developing heart so that the mechanotransductive relationship between the intracardiac flow environment and myocardial progenitor cell differentiation can be understood. One particular aspect of the flow environment, a cyclic retrograde flow at the junction of the forming atrium and ventricle, has been shown to be necessary for valve formation, though the mechanisms causing it to occur had previously been unknown. By comparing the results of two-dimensional spatiotemporal analysis applied to embryos both with normal retrograde flow and inhibited retrograde flow, this study shows that a particular range of pressures associated with the pumping mechanics of the heart as well as resistance due to systolic contractile closure must exist in order to maintain adequate retrograde flow to induce valve formation. The use of two-dimensional spatiotemporal analysis was sufficient to acquire these results, however when applied to analysis of other aspects of the intracardiac flow environment, this computational method is subject to critical limitations. Therefore, this study includes the development of methodology to integrate the results of spatiotemporal analysis on multiple focal planes bisecting the heart into a more accurate, three-dimensional result. The results of this study not only increase our understanding of the mechanics behind an important factor in embryonic development, but also enable future experiments pertaining to the measurement of embryonic intracardiac blood flow to be performed with increased certainty

Qualitative and quantitative nature of mutual interactions dictate chemical noise in a democratic reaction network

The functions of a living cell rely on a complex network of biochemical reactions that allow it to respond against various internal and external cues. The outcomes of these chemical reactions are often stochastic due to intrinsic and extrinsic noise leading to population heterogeneity. The majority of calculations of stochasticity in reaction networks have focused on small regulatory networks addressing the role of timescales, feedback regulations, and network topology in propagation of noise. Here we computationally investigated chemical noise in a network with democratic architecture where each node is regulated by all other nodes in the network. We studied the effects of the qualitative and quantitative nature of mutual interactions on the propagation of both intrinsic and extrinsic noise in the network. We show that an increased number of inhibitory signals lead to ultrasensitive switching of average and that leads to sharp transition of intrinsic noise. The intrinsic noise exhibits a biphasic power-law scaling with the average, and the scaling coefficients strongly correlate with the strength of inhibitory signal. The noise strength critically depends on the strength of the interactions, where negative interactions attenuate both intrinsic and extrinsic noise

Production of organic seeds: Status, Challenges and Prospects

General article on the requirements of organic agriculture for seed production. Beside this the organic agricultural system has other demands for organic seed since it does not use chemical control measures and uses natural fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers. Research can offer an important contribution in the production of seed without diseases

"And BAM. You Have a Connection”: Blind/Partially Blind Students and the Belonging in Academia Model

Belonging has significant impacts on success in postsecondary. Blind people are underrepresented in postsecondary and lack equitable opportunities to develop a sense of belonging. To build a better understanding of this underrepresented experience, this study shares narratives of 28 Blind students from across Turtle Island (and what is colonially called Canada) using Teng et al.’s (2020) Belonging in Academia Model (BAM) as a conceptual framework. Thematically analyzed findings suggest that blind students’ perspectives offer nuance to the BAM’s conceptualization of how belonging develops. For blind students, external factors such as class size are especially important in determining affiliation with an institution. Blind students elucidated the importance of familiarity with different ways of being in the world, including blindness. Third, acceptance involved having their blind embraced in postsecondary contexts. Forth, interdependence was key to building trusting connections for blind students. Fifth, blind participants discussed equity at length related to access, the added work of trying to obtain access, and the emotional work involved. This study helps fill a gap regarding the experiences of these traditionally underrepresented postsecondary students in Canada. The BAM may raise the consciousness of stakeholders in considering the unique factors impacting belonging for blind people. By attending to these perspectives, stakeholders can become more responsive to the experiences of people from equity-deserving groups. Understanding facilitators and barriers to belonging could result in culturally safer practices and inclusive pedagogical practices and system policies. Only when we create a space where everyone can belong will higher education be truly inclusive

Improvement of the quality of propagation material for organic farming system

The use of organic propagation material is obligatory according to the current EU regulations for organic production. However, frequently difficulties are en-countered regarding the availability, the costs or the quality. In the Netherlands a national research program aims at developing solutions, needed for improving the production of high quality organic propagation material. The main emphasis in the pro-gram is on the model crops cabbage, onion, wheat and potato. Individual projects within the program include epidemiological studies of seed borne dis-eases to develop disease prevention strategies, meth-ods to improve resistance of seeds and seedlings towards pathogens and methods to control silver scurf in seed potatoes, development of multi-spectral analysis and sorting techniques and methods for analysis and improvement of seed vigour. Active involvement of producers and users of the seeds or seed potatoes ensures that the results will be imple-mented in practice. The program also aims at strengthening the international collaboration, amongst others through involvement in international research projects

The need for a supply of high quality organic vegetable seeds

Production of high quality organic vegetable seeds encounters several challenges. Research is performed to support seed companies in producing vigorous and healthy organic vegetable seeds. Examples are provided with respect to research on seed vigour, determining critical control points to avoid disease transmission to the seeds, seed treatments with natu-ral compounds, new seed sorting techniques and enhancement of the natural plant defence. It is noticed that the restrictions in EU regulation 2092/91 on organic production are at present blocking the use of promising natural and sustainable components for seed treatments