984 research outputs found
Besturen in commissie
Nederland bestuurt in commissie. Bepaald niet iedereen
is daar gelukkig mee. Regelmatig klinkt de
roep om het mes te zetten in het aantal commissies
(zie bijvoorbeeld Duyvendak en Van de Koppel
2005).1 Commissies zouden vooral dienen als werkverschaffing
voor bestuurders van weleer. Ze worden
opgevat als synoniem voor alles wat stroperig is,
geen resultaat oplevert en afbreuk doet aan het politieke
primaat. In dat licht verzocht de Tweede
Kamer al eerder per motie het aantal onderzoeks- en
adviescommissies te beperken.2 De minister van
Bestuurlijke Vernieuwing uit het vorige kabinet,
Alexander Pechtold, liet weten ‘gek te worden van
adviescommissies’ toen hij een bundel met opstellen
over het verschijnsel kreeg aangeboden.3 Diverse
ministers uit eerdere kabinetten hebben hun tanden
er al op stukgebeten, maar een beroep doen op commissies
lijkt onuitroeibaar als fenomeen. Dat vraagt
om een nader onderzoek naar ‘besturen in commissie’.
Want wat weten we er eigenlijk precies vanaf?
Hoeveel commissies worden er ingesteld? Waarom
worden ze ingesteld? Wie wil afrekenen met de veelheid
aan commissies die Nederland kent, doet er
goed aan zich eerst te verdiepen in de redenen die
er zijn om keer op keer toch weer van hun diensten
gebruik te maken
Emotion dysregulation and heart rate variability improve in US veterans undergoing treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder: Secondary exploratory analyses from a randomised controlled trial
Background
Emotion regulation (ER) is a key process underlying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet, little is known about how ER changes with PTSD treatment. Understanding these effects may shed light on treatment processes.
Methods
We recently completed a non-inferiority design randomised controlled trial demonstrating that a breathing-based yoga practice (Sudarshan kriya yoga; SKY) was not clinically inferior to cognitive processing therapy (CPT) across symptoms of PTSD, depression, or negative affect. Here, in secondary exploratory analyses (intent-to-treat N = 85; per protocol N = 59), we examined whether self-reported ER (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; DERS) and physiological ER (heart rate variability; HRV) improved with treatment for clinically significant PTSD symptoms among US Veterans.
Results
DERS-Total and all six subscales improved with small-to-moderate effect sizes (d = .24–.66) following CPT or SKY, with no differences between treatment groups. Following SKY (but not CPT), HR max–min (average difference between maximum and minimum beats per minute), LF/HF (low-to-high frequency) ratio, and normalised HF-HRV (high frequency power) improved (moved towards a healthier profile; d = .42–.55).
Conclusions
To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that a breathing-based yoga (SKY) improved both voluntary/intentional and automatic/physiological ER. In contrast, trauma-focused therapy (CPT) only reliably improved self-reported ER. Findings have implications for PTSD treatment and interventions for emotional disorders more broadly.
Trial registration
Secondary analyses of ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02366403
Superconductivity and Charge Density Wave in a Quasi-One-Dimensional Spin Gap System
We consider a model of spin-gapped chains weakly coupled by Josephson and
Coulomb interactions. Combining such non-perturbative methods as bosonization
and Bethe ansatz to treat the intra-chain interactions with the Random Phase
Approximation for the inter-chain couplings and the first corrections to this,
we investigate the phase diagram of this model. The phase diagram shows both
charge density wave ordering and superconductivity. These phases are seperated
by a line of critical points which exhibits an approximate an SU(2) symmetry.
We consider the effects of a magnetic field on the system. We apply the theory
to the material Sr_2 Ca_12 Cu_24 O_41 and suggest further experiments.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure; submitted to PRB; Revised with new version:
references added; section on the flux state remove
Staggered flux and stripes in doped antiferromagnets
We have numerically investigated whether or not a mean-field theory of spin
textures generate fictitious flux in the doped two dimensional -model.
First we consider the properties of uniform systems and then we extend the
investigation to include models of striped phases where a fictitious flux is
generated in the domain wall providing a possible source for lowering the
kinetic energy of the holes. We have compared the energetics of uniform systems
with stripes directed along the (10)- and (11)-directions of the lattice,
finding that phase-separation generically turns out to be energetically
favorable. In addition to the numerical calculations, we present topological
arguments relating flux and staggered flux to geometric properties of the spin
texture. The calculation is based on a projection of the electron operators of
the model into a spin texture with spinless fermions.Comment: RevTex, 19 pages including 20 figure
Tomonaga-Luttinger features in the resonant Raman spectra of quantum wires
The differential cross section for resonant Raman scattering from the
collective modes in a one dimensional system of interacting electrons is
calculated non-perturbatively using the bosonization method. The results
indicate that resonant Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying
Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid behaviour in quasi-one dimensional electron systems.Comment: 4 pages, no figur
Spin-orbit coupling and crystal-field splitting in the electronic and optical properties of nitride quantum dots with a wurtzite crystal structure
We present an tight-binding model for the calculation of the
electronic and optical properties of wurtzite semiconductor quantum dots (QDs).
The tight-binding model takes into account strain, piezoelectricity, spin-orbit
coupling and crystal-field splitting. Excitonic absorption spectra are
calculated using the configuration interaction scheme. We study the electronic
and optical properties of InN/GaN QDs and their dependence on structural
properties, crystal-field splitting, and spin-orbit coupling.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
The potential of discs from a "mean Green function"
By using various properties of the complete elliptic integrals, we have
derived an alternative expression for the gravitational potential of axially
symmetric bodies, which is free of singular kernel in contrast with the
classical form. This is mainly a radial integral of the local surface density
weighted by a regular "mean Green function" which depends explicitly on the
body's vertical thickness. Rigorously, this result stands for a wide variety of
configurations, as soon as the density structure is vertically homogeneous.
Nevertheless, the sensitivity to vertical stratification | the Gaussian profile
has been considered | appears weak provided that the surface density is
conserved. For bodies with small aspect ratio (i.e. geometrically thin discs),
a first-order Taylor expansion furnishes an excellent approximation for this
mean Green function, the absolute error being of the fourth order in the aspect
ratio. This formula is therefore well suited to studying the structure of
self-gravitating discs and rings in the spirit of the "standard model of thin
discs" where the vertical structure is often ignored, but it remains accurate
for discs and tori of finite thickness. This approximation which perfectly
saves the properties of Newton's law everywhere (in particular at large
separations), is also very useful for dynamical studies where the body is just
a source of gravity acting on external test particles.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 11 page
Genome-wide association analysis of the anthocyanin and carotenoid contents of rose petals
Petal color is one of the key characteristics determining the attractiveness and therefore the commercial value of an ornamental crop. Here, we present the first genome-wide association study for the important ornamental crop rose, focusing on the anthocyanin and carotenoid contents in petals of 96 diverse tetraploid garden rose genotypes. Cultivated roses display a vast phenotypic and genetic diversity and are therefore ideal targets for association genetics. For marker analysis, we used a recently designed Axiom SNP chip comprising 68,000 SNPs with additionally 281 SSRs, 400 AFLPs and 246 markers from candidate genes. An analysis of the structure of the rose population revealed three subpopulations with most of the genetic variation between individual genotypes rather than between clusters and with a high average proportion of heterozygous loci. The mapping of markers significantly associated with anthocyanin and carotenoid content to the related Fragaria and Prunus genomes revealed clusters of associated markers indicating five genomic regions associated with the total anthocyanin content and two large clusters associated with the carotenoid content. Among the marker clusters associated with the phenotypes, we found several candidate genes with known functions in either the anthocyanin or the carotenoid biosynthesis pathways. Among others, we identified a glutathione-S-transferase, 4CL, an auxin response factor and F3’H as candidate genes affecting anthocyanin concentration, and CCD4 and Zeaxanthine epoxidase as candidates affecting the concentration of carotenoids. These markers are starting points for future validation experiments in independent populations as well as for functional genomic studies to identify the causal factors for the observed color phenotypes. Furthermore, validated markers may be interesting tools for marker-assisted selection in commercial breeding programmes in that they provide the tools to identify superior parental combinations that combine several associated markers in higher dosages.BMWi/ZI
Holons on a meandering stripe: quantum numbers
We attempt to access the regime of strong coupling between charge carriers
and transverse dynamics of an isolated conducting ``stripe'', such as those
found in cuprate superconductors. A stripe is modeled as a partially doped
domain wall in an antiferromagnet (AF), introduced in the context of two
different models: the t-J model with strong Ising anisotropy, and the Hubbard
model in the Hartree-Fock approximation. The domain walls with a given linear
charge density are supported artificially by boundary conditions. In both
models we find a regime of parameters where doped holes lose their spin and
become holons (charge Q=1, spin S_z=0), which can move along the stripe without
frustrating AF environment. One aspect in which the holons on the AF domain
wall differ from those in an ordinary one-dimensional electron gas is their
transverse degree of freedom: a mobile holon always resides on a transverse
kink (or antikink) of the domain wall. This gives rise to two holon flavors and
to a strong coupling between doped charges and transverse fluctuations of a
stripe.Comment: Minor revisions: references update
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