The Dutch COIN approach: three years in Uruzgan, 2006–2009

Political Culture and National Identit

Correlation between periodontal status and Parkinson's disease; a literature review

This systematic review aims to explore the relationship between chronic inflammation of periodontal disease and neurodegenerative disorders (especially Parkinson's disease), focusing primarily on pathophysiological, clinical and immunological aspects. An exhaustive search on this topic was performed in several databases (including PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science) selecting articles published between 2006 and 2023. After reviewing the titles, abstracts and protocols of each study, 13 articles were extracted for detailed assessment. The main indicators in the study included clinical signs of gingival inflammation, bleeding on probing (BoP), bone loss (BL), periodontal probing depth (PPD), and clinical attachment loss (CAL). Additionally, levels of inflammatory markers such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-17 (IL-17), interferon γ-induced protein 10 (IP-10), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were monitored. The investigation also explored the presence of one of the main periodontal pathogens (Porphyromonas gingivalis) in the microbiota of Parkinson's disease patients. In conclusion, the data presented further support the intricated relationship between periodontal health and neurodegenerative processes, including aspects related to changes in clinical periodontal indices, immunological indices, as well as oral hygiene and patient medication

Fighting the War at Home : Strategic Narratives, Elite Responsiveness, and the Dutch Mission in Afghanistan, 2006–2010

This paper analyzes the Dutch deployment in Uruzgan between 2006 and 2010 with an eye to the challenge of garnering public support for protracted military missions abroad. The hypothesis is that public support can be shaped and sustained by strategic narratives regarding the use of force. Ringsmose and Børgesen's model on strategic narratives is discussed and tested, and expanded in two ways. First, by including the role of “counternarratives,” that is, of narratives presented by factions that oppose deployment decisions. Our data suggest that narrative dominance (the combination of narratives and counternarratives) accounts for the waxing and waning of public support for a given mission. Second, the nexus between negative narrative dominance and the ensuing drop of public consent will be teased out. Using the notion of “elite responsiveness,” we demonstrate when and how weak strategic narratives trigger a political fallout

Fighting the War at Home : Strategic Narratives, Elite Responsiveness, and the Dutch Mission in Afghanistan, 2006–2010

This paper analyzes the Dutch deployment in Uruzgan between 2006 and 2010 with an eye to the challenge of garnering public support for protracted military missions abroad. The hypothesis is that public support can be shaped and sustained by strategic narratives regarding the use of force. Ringsmose and Børgesen's model on strategic narratives is discussed and tested, and expanded in two ways. First, by including the role of “counternarratives,” that is, of narratives presented by factions that oppose deployment decisions. Our data suggest that narrative dominance (the combination of narratives and counternarratives) accounts for the waxing and waning of public support for a given mission. Second, the nexus between negative narrative dominance and the ensuing drop of public consent will be teased out. Using the notion of “elite responsiveness,” we demonstrate when and how weak strategic narratives trigger a political fallout

Das Handels-, Wechsel-, Konkurs und Seerecht Rumäniens

Berlin : R. v. Decker's Verlag, 190

Sources of outperformance in equity markets

The general portfolio construction model described here is designed to replicate the first principal component of a group of stocks instead of a traditional benchmark, thus capturing only the common trend in stock returns. Reduction of the noise in stock returns facilitates the replication considerably, and the optimal portfolio structure is very stable. Analysis of the portfolio performance over different time horizons in European and U.S. equity markets reveals a time-varying structure. Throughout most of the period studied, the portfolio’s value component dominated the market and the volatility components, but during the volatile periods of the last few years the strategy earned a significant volatility premium. One explanation for the mean-reversion is behavioral; portfolio performance is influenced by the extent of investor herding toward the common trend in stock returns