Do Dutch Musea Compete Or Cooperate?

This paper looks into the effect of distance on market shares of Dutch museums. To this end, we assume a generic distance decay function for all museums. In addition, we allow for spatial dependence between museums to account for local competition or synergy effects. Using a unique transaction database with the visiting behavior of 80,821 museum cardholders to 108 Dutch museums, we are able to calculate market shares of each museum in all 484 Dutch municipalities. To account for possible measurement error in the market shares, we adopt a spatial two error component model. Finally, we allow for additional heterogeneity by segmenting the 108 museums using a mixture approach. Without segmenting, preliminary results indicate positive spatial dependence between museums, which points to the conclusion that -- in general -- museums benefit from each others presence.

Signal processing for a laser-Doppler blood perfusion meter

Two signal processing methods for laser-Dopper perfusion velocimetry are presented. The methods are based on the calculation of the moments of the frequency power spectrum. The first uses Vω-filtering (ω is the frequency) with analogous electronics, the second uses signal autocorrelation with digital electronics. Comparison is made with a third instrument: a spectrum analyzer coupled to a computer, using Fourier transform tecniques. The performance of these setups (sensitivity, limit sensitivity and accuracy) are investigated. We propose a calibration standard for signal processors to be used for blood perfusion measurements. The analogous instrument proved to be the cheapest but the digital instrument had the best performance

SPINSMEDE: a transnational taining experience on soil protection

SPinSMEDE, acronym of Soil Protection in Sloping Mediterranean Agri- Environments, an Erasmus Intensive Programme, funded by the EC Lifelong Learning Programme, was designed and implemented following the policy context of the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection in Europe. This document announced expectable demand for technical competences to meet increased requirements on the issue, most needed to cope with the specific soil degradation problems of Mediterranean hill-slopes. SPinSMEDE took place during three years (2008-2010), in three different places (Portugal, Greece and Spain), involving students and lecturers from five Universities. The presentation aims at reporting this transnational training experience on soil protection. The design, implementation and evaluation phases are described, outlining the main background elements, methodological approaches and outcomes of each phase. Namely, context-driven justification of the project, a description of the partnership and programme contents are included in the design phase. Programme implementation is addressed in terms of students profile, activities performed, assessment requirements, support material provided, and project deliverables. After describing the programme evaluation procedures developed and applied, the discussion focus on SPinSMEDE success, drawbacks, and problems arose and ways adopted to cope with them. Final remarks state main lessons learned and and programme follow-up activities envisaged

SPINSMEDE: first presentation of a transnational training experience on soil protection

SPinSMEDE, acronym of Soil Protection in Sloping Mediterranean Agri-Environments, an Erasmus Intensive Programme, funded by the EC Lifelong Learning Programme, was designed and implemented following the policy context of the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection in Europe. This document announced expectable demand for technical competences to meet increased requirements on the issue, most needed to cope with the specific soil degradation problems of Mediterranean hill-slopes. SPinSMEDE took place during three years (2008-2010), in three different places (Portugal, Greece and Spain), involving students and lecturers from five Universities. The presentation aims at reporting, at a preliminary stage of data exploration, this transnational training experience on soil protection. The design, implementation and evaluation phases are described, outlining the main background elements, methodological approaches and outcomes of each phase. Namely, context-driven justification of the project, a description of the partnership and programme contents are included in the design phase. Programme implementation is addressed in terms of students profile, activities performed, assessment requirements, support material provided, and project deliverables. After describing the programme evaluation procedures developed and applied, the discussion focuses on SPinSMEDE success, drawbacks, and problems arose and ways adopted to cope with them. Final remarks state main lessons learned and and programme follow-up activities envisaged

//Rondje Zilverling: COMMIT/TimeTrails

Het TimeTrails-project3 gaat over data mining in grote hoeveelheden gegevens over gebeurtenissen in ruimte en tijd, d.w.z. met coördinaten en time-stamps. Dergelijke gegevens worden doorgaans vergaard door mensen, sensoren en wetenschappelijke observaties. Gegevensanalyse richt zich vaak op de vier W’s: Wie, Wat, Waar en Wanneer. Een belangrijke kwestie is het kunnen behappen van de grote hoeveelheden gegevens, d.w.z. "big data". Vanuit de UT werken we, d.w.z. de groepen EWI/DB en ITC/GIP, aan twee applicaties:\ud * Het in kaart brengen van de mening van het publiek bij grote infrastructuurproject zoals de aanleg van een nieuw stuk snelweg. Dit doen we met Twitter-analyse en data-visualisatie.\ud • Het vinden van goede vakantiebestemmingen. Hierbij spelen Social media, web harvesting en analyse van GPS-traces een rol

Myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery and its association with short-term mortality

Background: To identify patients at risk for postoperative myocardial injury and death, measuring cardiac troponin routinely after noncardiac surgery has been suggested. Such monitoring was implemented in our hospital. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of postoperative myocardial injury, as measured by troponin elevation, on 30-day mortality after noncardiac surgery. Methods and Results: This observational, single-center cohort study included 2232 consecutive intermediate- to highrisk noncardiac surgery patients aged ≥60 years who underwent surgery in 2011. Troponin was measured on the first 3 postoperative days. Log binomial regression analysis was used to estimate the association between postoperative myocardial injury (troponin I level &gt;0.06 μg/L) and all-cause 30-day mortality. Myocardial injury was found in 315 of 1627 patients in whom troponin I was measured (19%). All-cause death occurred in 56 patients (3%). The relative risk of a minor increase in troponin (0.07-0.59 μg/L) was 2.4 (95% confidence interval, 1.3-4.2; P&lt;0.01), and the relative risk of a 10- to 100-fold increase in troponin (≥0.60 μg/L) was 4.2 (95% confidence interval, 2.1-8.6; P&lt;0.01). A myocardial infarction according to the universal definition was diagnosed in 10 patients (0.6%), of whom 1 (0.06%) had ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Conclusions: Postoperative myocardial injury is an independent predictor of 30-day mortality after noncardiac surgery. Implementation of postoperative troponin monitoring as standard of care is feasible and may be helpful in improving the prognosis of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.</p

Myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery and its association with short-term mortality

Background: To identify patients at risk for postoperative myocardial injury and death, measuring cardiac troponin routinely after noncardiac surgery has been suggested. Such monitoring was implemented in our hospital. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of postoperative myocardial injury, as measured by troponin elevation, on 30-day mortality after noncardiac surgery. Methods and Results: This observational, single-center cohort study included 2232 consecutive intermediate- to highrisk noncardiac surgery patients aged ≥60 years who underwent surgery in 2011. Troponin was measured on the first 3 postoperative days. Log binomial regression analysis was used to estimate the association between postoperative myocardial injury (troponin I level &gt;0.06 μg/L) and all-cause 30-day mortality. Myocardial injury was found in 315 of 1627 patients in whom troponin I was measured (19%). All-cause death occurred in 56 patients (3%). The relative risk of a minor increase in troponin (0.07-0.59 μg/L) was 2.4 (95% confidence interval, 1.3-4.2; P&lt;0.01), and the relative risk of a 10- to 100-fold increase in troponin (≥0.60 μg/L) was 4.2 (95% confidence interval, 2.1-8.6; P&lt;0.01). A myocardial infarction according to the universal definition was diagnosed in 10 patients (0.6%), of whom 1 (0.06%) had ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Conclusions: Postoperative myocardial injury is an independent predictor of 30-day mortality after noncardiac surgery. Implementation of postoperative troponin monitoring as standard of care is feasible and may be helpful in improving the prognosis of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.</p