MBA Student Sectioning

Maastricht University is offering a MBA program for people that have a bachelor degree and at least 5 years of working experience. Within the MBA program, students work in groups of 5 during a two year cycle. This thesis is about the formation of the student groups. The MBA program contains 60 students. Every year, two intake moments take place that usually allow 15 new students to enter. All 60 students follow the same course at the same time, implying that the order in which a student follows the courses depends only on the moment at which he/she starts the program. Every two periods, The university creates new student groups according to a set of hard and soft constraints, such that well-diversified groups are formed. Therefore, the student-with-student history, gender, nationality, and level of expertise of each student is taken into account. Hence a mapping from a set of students to groups is created that takes into account the corresponding constraints. The university chooses a group leader for each group. Two general solution methods are applied to the MBA sectioning problem. The first method uses the simplex algorithm to solve the problem. Therefore an integer linear program formulation of the problem was needed, and used as an input for an efficient ILP solver. The second approach starts with an initial feasible solution and improves upon this feasible solution using different improvement algorithms. The quality of each feasible solution depends on the calculated objective function value that measures the level of satisfaction of the different constraints. Different initial solution and improvement algorithms are discussed that help to obtain a feasible solution with an objective function value that is as low as possible. The implemented improvement algorithms are the Descent Improvement algorithm, Tabu Search, Simulated Annealing, and the Bipartite Weighted Matching Improvement algorithm. The first three algorithms make individual students swap between existing group formations. The Bipartite Weighted Matching Improvement algorithm iteratively selects a student from each group, and finds local optimal solutions for a bipartite matching problem in order to improve the overall objective value of the whole problem. In order to test the algorithms, one has to make sure that the instance on which the algorithms are tested mimics a real life example. Therefore, a simulation program is established that mimics the two year cycle and produces such an instance. Empirical results show that the best improvement algorithm considered is the Bipartite Weighted Matching Improvement algorithm. This algorithm, combined with an initial solution algorithm, is now being implemented into the current computer system of Maastricht University

Did Neoliberalizing West African Forests Produce a New Niche for Ebola?

A recent study introduced a vaccine that controls Ebola Makona, the Zaire ebolavirus variant that has infected 28,000 people in West Africa. We propose that even such successful advances are insufficient for many emergent diseases. We review work hypothesizing that Makona, phenotypically similar to much smaller outbreaks, emerged out of shifts in land use brought about by neoliberal economics. The epidemiological consequences demand a new science that explicitly addresses the foundational processes underlying multispecies health, including the deep-time histories, cultural infrastructure, and global economic geographies driving disease emergence. The approach, for instance, reverses the standard public health practice of segregating emergency responses and the structural context from which outbreaks originate. In Ebola's case, regional neoliberalism may affix the stochastic "friction" of ecological relationships imposed by the forest across populations, which, when above a threshold, keeps the virus from lining up transmission above replacement. Export-led logging, mining, and intensive agriculture may depress such functional noise, permitting novel spillovers larger forces of infection. Mature outbreaks, meanwhile, can continue to circulate even in the face of efficient vaccines. More research on these integral explanations is required, but the narrow albeit welcome success of the vaccine may be used to limit support of such a program.SCOPUS: re.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Modelling effectiveness of herd level vaccination against Q fever in dairy cattle

Q fever is a worldwide zoonosis caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. The control of this infection in cattle is crucial: infected ruminants can indeed encounter reproductive disorders and represent the most important source of human infection. In the field, vaccination is currently advised in infected herds but the comparative effectiveness of different vaccination protocols has never been explored: the duration of the vaccination programme and the category of animals to be vaccinated have to be determined. Our objective was to compare, by simulation, the effectiveness over 10 years of three different vaccination strategies in a recently infected dairy cattle herd

Основні риси сучасної правової системи України

Правова система, що досліджується в науковій статті, має суттєве значення в процесі створення та функціонування правових інститутів. Проаналізована категорія має важливе значення, оскільки сприяє реалізації визнаних державою завдань та перспектив. Тому, цілком правомірним є дослідження значення правової системи для формування та розвитку громадського суспільства та правової держави. Ключові слова: правова система, правовий інститут, громадянське суспільство, правова держава.В статье анализируются теоретические и практические проблемы развития правовой системы Украины. Обосновывается мысль о необходимости подготовки и принятия концепции развития правового регулирования общественных отношений в Украине и законодательных актов. Проанализировано взгляды ученых относительно научных подходов к исследованию правовой системы. Анализируется соотношение и взаимодействие таких важных категорий, как правовая система и правовое государство. Ключевые слова: правовая система, правовой институт, гражданское общество, правовое государство.Theoretical and practical problems of Ukrainian legal system development are analyzed in the article. The thought about the necessity of preparation and adoption of concept of the development of social relations legal regulation in Ukraine and legislative regulations is grounded. The scientist’s views as for scientific approaches to the legal system study are analyzed. The correlation and interaction of such important categories as legal system and law-governed state are analyzed. Key words: legal system, legal institution, civil society, law-governed stare

Did Ebola emerge in West Africa by a policy-driven phase change in agroecology? Ebola's social context

SCOPUS: no.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Respiratory syncytial, parainfluenza and influenza virus infection in young children with acute lower respiratory infection in rural Gambia.

Respiratory viral infections contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality worldwide, but representative data from sub-Saharan Africa are needed to inform vaccination strategies. We conducted population-based surveillance in rural Gambia using standardized criteria to identify and investigate children with acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI). Naso- and oropharyngeal swabs were collected. Each month from February through December 2015, specimens from 50 children aged 2-23 months were randomly selected to test for respiratory syncytial (RSV), parainfluenza (PIV) and influenza viruses. The expected number of viral-associated ALRI cases in the population was estimated using statistical simulation that accounted for the sampling design. RSV G and F proteins and influenza hemagglutinin genes were sequenced. 2385 children with ALRI were enrolled, 519 were randomly selected for viral testing. One or more viruses were detected in 303/519 children (58.4%). RSV-A was detected in 237 and RSV-B in seven. The expected incidence of ALRI associated with RSV, PIV or influenza was 140 cases (95% CI, 131-149) per 1000 person-years; RSV incidence was 112 cases (95% CI, 102-122) per 1000 person-years. Multiple strains of RSV and influenza circulated during the year. RSV circulated throughout most of the year and was associated with eight times the number of ALRI cases compared to PIV or IV. Gambian RSV viruses were closely related to viruses detected in other continents. An effective RSV vaccination strategy could have a major impact on the burden of ALRI in this setting

Effects of long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution on COVID-19 incidence: A population-based cohort study accounting for SARS-CoV-2 exposure levels in the Netherlands

Several studies have linked air pollution to COVID-19 morbidity and severity. However, these studies do not account for exposure levels to SARS-CoV-2, nor for different sources of air pollution. We analyzed individual-level data for 8.3 million adults in the Netherlands to assess associations between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and SARS-CoV-2 infection (i.e., positive test) and COVID-19 hospitalisation risks, accounting for spatiotemporal variation in SARS-CoV-2 exposure levels during the first two major epidemic waves (February 2020-February 2021). We estimated average annual concentrations of PM 10, PM 2.5 and NO 2 at residential addresses, overall and by PM source (road traffic, industry, livestock, other agricultural sources, foreign sources, other Dutch sources), at 1 × 1 km resolution, and weekly SARS-CoV-2 exposure at municipal level. Using generalized additive models, we performed interval-censored survival analyses to assess associations between individuals' average exposure to PM 10, PM 2.5 and NO 2 in the three years before the pandemic (2017-2019) and COVID-19-outcomes, adjusting for SARS-CoV-2 exposure, individual and area-specific confounders. In single-pollutant models, per interquartile (IQR) increase in exposure, PM 10 was associated with 7% increased infection risk and 16% increased hospitalisation risk, PM 2.5 with 8% increased infection risk and 18% increased hospitalisation risk, and NO 2 with 3% increased infection risk and 11% increased hospitalisation risk. Bi-pollutant models suggested that effects were mainly driven by PM. Associations for PM were confirmed when stratifying by urbanization degree, epidemic wave and testing policy. All emission sources of PM, except industry, showed adverse effects on both outcomes. Livestock showed the most detrimental effects per unit exposure, whereas road traffic affected severity (hospitalisation) more than infection risk. This study shows that long-term exposure to air pollution increases both SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 hospitalisation risks, even after controlling for SARS-CoV-2 exposure levels, and that PM may have differential effects on these COVID-19 outcomes depending on the emission source

Global mapping of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 and H5Nx clade 2.3.4.4 viruses with spatial cross-validation.

Global disease suitability models are essential tools to inform surveillance systems and enable early detection. We present the first global suitability model of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 and demonstrate that reliable predictions can be obtained at global scale. Best predictions are obtained using spatial predictor variables describing host distributions, rather than land use or eco-climatic spatial predictor variables, with a strong association with domestic duck and extensively raised chicken densities. Our results also support a more systematic use of spatial cross-validation in large-scale disease suitability modelling compared to standard random cross-validation that can lead to unreliable measure of extrapolation accuracy. A global suitability model of the H5 clade 2.3.4.4 viruses, a group of viruses that recently spread extensively in Asia and the US, shows in comparison a lower spatial extrapolation capacity than the HPAI H5N1 models, with a stronger association with intensively raised chicken densities and anthropogenic factors

Flying Over an Infected Landscape: Distribution of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Risk in South Asia and Satellite Tracking of Wild Waterfowl

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus persists in Asia, posing a threat to poultry, wild birds, and humans. Previous work in Southeast Asia demonstrated that HPAI H5N1 risk is related to domestic ducks and people. Other studies discussed the role of migratory birds in the long distance spread of HPAI H5N1. However, the interplay between local persistence and long-distance dispersal has never been studied. We expand previous geospatial risk analysis to include South and Southeast Asia, and integrate the analysis with migration data of satellite-tracked wild waterfowl along the Central Asia flyway. We find that the population of domestic duck is the main factor delineating areas at risk of HPAI H5N1 spread in domestic poultry in South Asia, and that other risk factors, such as human population and chicken density, are associated with HPAI H5N1 risk within those areas. We also find that satellite tracked birds (Ruddy Shelduck and two Bar-headed Geese) reveal a direct spatio-temporal link between the HPAI H5N1 hot-spots identified in India and Bangladesh through our risk model, and the wild bird outbreaks in May–June–July 2009 in China (Qinghai Lake), Mongolia, and Russia. This suggests that the continental-scale dynamics of HPAI H5N1 are structured as a number of persistence areas delineated by domestic ducks, connected by rare transmission through migratory waterfowl