Religion between State and Society

In contrast to mainstream historiography, secularisation was not a distinct process in nineteenth-century Europe, since the century was a period of religious revival. In the late nineteenth century, in spite of weakening church attendance and rising agnosticism brought on by urbanisation and migration, religion remained attractive for the middle class and social movements related to church membership emerged in politics. In this chapter the diversity of religion in Europe is treated. The author distinguishes between hierarchical and nonhierarchical types of Christian churches, and between four religious regions in Europe. This situation had effects on the relationship between state and religion

The Decline of Industry. The Rurh Area in Germany

The effects of the decline of industry on urban development can particularly be felt in the former nineteenth-century industrial regions in Europe. In Germany the Ruhr Area was one of the most important industrial regions with a dominance of heavy industry (coal, steel, chemicals and energy). Although the area had a strong urbanisation level, the urbanisation pattern was strongly influ-enced by the development of industry. Thus, the southern parts were more urbanised as the later developed northern parts and suburbs in the neighbourhood of the plants soon dominated the urban fabric to the detriment of the former centres. Although the area had a population of over 5 million inhabitants and the urbanisation level was quite high, plans to make one administrative region never were successful. The decline of heavy industry, which started in the 1970s., showed a comparable pattern as in other European (and American) industrial regions. Compared to other regions of Europe, which were affected by the decline of industry, the Ruhr Area did not collapse totally.Thanks to the policies of the central and regional government (Bund and Land) it was possible to transform the area partially (ecological, cultural and educational policies). However, the existence of independent urban communities could be seen as a problem, because it led to strong inter-urban competition at a moment that the incomes of these communities dimin-ished. The decline of industry not only meant the development of social weaker traditional urban centres with mass unemployment, but also placed a heavy burden on urban governments to supply social help

Terugblik en Vooruitblik

College gehouden ter gelegenheid van het afscheid als hoogleraar aan de Faculteit der Historische en Kunstwetenschappen, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, op 9 februari 2007Verstedelijking is een van de belangrijkste veranderingsprocessen die zich momenteel in de wereld voordoet. In Europa en Amerika woont al een zeer groot gedeelte van de bevolking in steden en deze ontwikkeling zet zich versneld ook door in andere werelddelen. Binnen korte tijd zal een groot gedeelte van de wereldbevolking in steden leven. In dit college wordt vanuit een vergelijkend historisch perspectief ingegaan op een aantal problemen die samenhangen met deze ontwikkelingen. In het bijzonder wordt aandacht besteed aan de huisvesting, watervoorziening en de sociaal-ruimtelijke verdeling van steden. Tevens wordt een pleidooi gehouden voor een structurele benadering van historisch onderzoek

The effect of temperature on the in vitro transcriptase reaction of bluetongue virus, epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus and African horsesickness virus

Virions of bluetongue virus (BTV), epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) and African horsesickness virus (AHSV) can be converted to core particles by treatment with chymotrypsin and magnesium. The conversion is characterized by the removal of the 2 outer capsid polypeptides of the virion. The loss of these 2 proteins results in an increase in density from 1,36g/ml to 1,40g/ml on CsC1 gradients. The BTV, EHDV and AHSV core particles have an associated double-stranded RNA dependent RNA transcriptase that appears to transcribe mRNA optimally at 28⁰C. It was found, at least in the case of BTV, that this low temperature preference is not an intrinsic characteristic of the transcriptase, but is due to a temperature-dependent inhibition of transcription at high core concentrations.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

The identification of factors capable of reversing the core-mediated inhibition of the bluetongue virus transcriptase

The in vitro transcription reaction of bluetongue virus (BTV) is characterized by a core-mediated, temperature-dependent inhibition at high core concentrations and temperatures (Van Dijk & Huismans, 1980; Huismans, Van D1jk & Els, 1987a). It has been found that this inhibition is reversible and that an inactivated transcriptase reaction mixture can be reactivated by lowering the temperature of the reaction from 37°C to 28 °C. In the same way it is possible to inactivate a reaction by increasing the incubation temperature from 28 °C to 37 °C. It was also found that the inhibition is counteracted by the addition of sucrose or glycerol. At relatively low core concentrations and in the presence of sucrose it is possible to obtain conditions under which transcription at 37 °C is more efficient than at 28 °C. The latter conditions probably reflect much better the in vivo temperature optimum for the BTV transcriptase than the in vitro conditions at very high core concentrations.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.lmchunu2014mn201

Estimating non-response bias in a survey on alcohol consumption: comparison of response waves

AIMS: According to 'the continuum of resistance model' late respondents can be used as a proxy for non-respondents in estimating non-response bias. In the present study, the validity of this model was explored and tested in three surveys on alcohol consumption. METHODS: The three studies collected their data by means of mailed questionnaires on alcohol consumption whereby two studies also performed a non-response follow-up. RESULTS: Comparisons of early respondents, late respondents and non-respondents in one study showed some support for 'the continuum of resistance model', although another study could not confirm this result. Comparison of alcohol consumption between three time response groups showed no significant linear pattern of differences between response waves. CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis that late respondents are more similar to non-respondents than early respondents, could not be confirmed or rejected. Repeated mailings are effective in obtaining a greater sample size, but seem ineffective in improving the representativeness of alcohol consumption surveys

Detection of bluetongue virus and African horsesickness virus in co-infected cell cultures with NS1 gene probes

The serogroup specificity of the bluetongue virus (BTV) NS1 and VP3 gene probes was confirmed by means of northern blot hybridization. Under high-stringency conditions both probes hybridized to 22 BTV serotypes (18 South African serotypes, BTV3 from Cyprus and BTV16 from Pakistan) but not to serotypes that originate from Australia and India. Furthermore, NS1 gene probes of BTV and African horsesickness virus (AHSV) were used in a dot-spot in situ hybridization procedure to differentiate between BTV and AHSV in co-infected cell cultures. The method detects viral RNA directly in glutaraldehyde-fixed infected cell cultures without prior nucleic-acid extraction or purification. AHSV could be detected in cells infected with AHSV at a multiplicity of infection of 10¯⁴ PFU/cell in the presence of a hundredfold excess of co-infecting BTV. The method may have an application in epidemiological surveys to detect different orbiviruses in the same Culicoides population.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Type 2 diabetes seems not to be a risk factor for the carpal tunnel syndrome:a case control study

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that the carpal tunnel syndrome seems to occur more frequently in patients with diabetes mellitus and might be associated with the duration of diabetes mellitus, microvascular complications and degree of glycaemic control. Primary aim was to determine if type 2 diabetes can be identified as a risk factor for carpal tunnel syndrome after adjusting for possible confounders. Furthermore, the influence of duration of diabetes mellitus, microvascular complications and glycaemic control on the development of carpal tunnel syndrome was investigated. METHODS: Retrospective, case-control study using data from electronic patient charts from the Isala (Zwolle, the Netherlands). All patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in the period from January 2011 to July 2012 were included and compared with a control group of herniated nucleus pulposus patients. RESULTS: A total of 997 patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and 594 controls were included. Prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 11.5% in the carpal tunnel syndrome group versus 7.2% in the control group (Odds Ratio 1.67 (95% confidence interval 1.16-2.41)). In multivariate analyses adjusting for gender, age and body mass index, type 2 diabetes was not associated with carpal tunnel syndrome (OR 0.99 (95% CI 0.66-1.47)). No differences in duration of diabetes mellitus, microvascular complications or glycaemic control between groups were detected. CONCLUSION: Although type 2 diabetes was more frequently diagnosed among patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, it could not be identified as an independent risk factor

Transcription-coupled and global genome repair differentially influence UV-B-induced acute skin effects and syste

Exposure to UV-B radiation impairs immune responses in mammals by inhibiting especially Th1-mediated contact hypersensitivity and delayed-type hypersensitivity. Immunomodulation is not restricted to the exposed skin, but is also observed at distant sites, indicating the existence of mediating factors such as products from exposed skin cells or photoactivated factors present in the superficial layers. DNA damage appears to play a key role, because enhanced nucleotide excision repair (NER) strongly counteracts immunosuppression. To determine the effects of the type and genomic location of UV-induced DNA damage on immunosuppression and acute skin reactions (edema and erythema) four congenic mouse strains carrying different defects in NER were compared: CSB and XPC mice lacking transcription-coupled or global genome NER, respectively, as well as XPA and TTD/XPD mice carrying complete or partial defects in both NER subpathways, respectively. The major conclusions are that 1) transcription-coupled DNA repair is the dominant determinant in protection against acute skin effects; 2) systemic immunomodulation is only affected when both NER subpathways are compromised; and 3) sunburn is not related to UV-B-induced immunosuppression

Cardiovascular risk management in people with type 1 diabetes:performance using three guidelines

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Cardiovascular risk management is therefore essential in the management of individuals with T1DM. This study describes the performance of lipid and blood pressure management in individuals with T1DM using three guidelines. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Individuals ≥18 years with T1DM, treated with insulin for ≥1 year, visiting Diabeter or the University Medical Center Groningen between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018, were included. Lipid and blood pressure management were examined using the Dutch, American Diabetes Association (ADA) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. Concordance of recommended and prescribed lipid-lowering (LLM) or antihypertensive medication (AHM) was assessed per guideline and 10-year age groups. Achievement of treatment targets was assessed for those prescribed medication. RESULTS: A total of 1855 individuals with T1DM were included. LLM and AHM was prescribed in 19% and 17%, respectively. In individuals recommended LLM, this was prescribed in 22%-46% according to Dutch, ADA or NICE guideline recommendations. For individuals recommended AHM, this was prescribed in 52%-75%. Recommended and actual prescription of LLM and AHM increased over age for all three guidelines. However, discordance between treatment recommendation and medication prescribed was higher in younger, compared with older, age groups. Low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol targets were achieved by 50% (without CVD) and 31% (with CVD) of those prescribed LLM. The blood pressure target was achieved by 46% of those prescribed AHM. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that there is undertreatment of lipid and blood pressure according to guideline recommendations, particularly in younger age groups. Treatment targets are not met by most individuals prescribed medication, while guidelines recommendations differ considerably. We recommend to investigate the factors influencing undertreatment of lipid and blood pressure management in individuals with T1DM