Maritime Boundaries in the North Sea: a Review

In this paper an overview is given of the geodetic factors that should be taken into account when defining boundaries at sea. Particular attention is given to the North Sea, a sea surrounded by a relatively large number of countries. First, differences between several geodetic and vertical (chart) datums and their international standardisation on nautical charts are considered. Next, precision and reliability aspects of computed median lines are discussed. Attention in a technical way is given to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in relation to national rules and regulations. For The Netherlands in particular, this includes the mining legislation for the continental shelf, the fishing legislation and the regulations with regard to large infrastructural works. Finally, some recommendations will be given to preclude future ambiguities in boundaries at sea

Effect of the 24 September 2011 solar radio burst on precise point positioning service

An intense solar radio burst occurred on 24 September 2011, which affected the tracking of Global Navigation Satellite Systems’ (GNSS) signals by receivers located in the sunlit hemisphere of the Earth. This manuscript presents for the first time the impacts of this radio burst on the availability of Fugro’s real-time precise point positioning service for GNSS receivers and on the quality of the L band data link used to broadcast this service. During the peak of the radio burst (12:50–13:20 UT), a reduction in the L band signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is observed. For some receiver locations, a reset in the position filter is observed, which can be either due to the reduction in the L band SNR or the reduction in the number of tracked GNSS satellites. This reset in the position filter is accompanied by degradation in the positioning accuracy, which is also discussed herein

Capital Structure Policies in Europe: Survey Evidence

In this paper we present the results of an international survey among 313 CFOs on capital structure choice. We document several interesting insights on how theoretical concepts are being applied by professionals in the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, and France and we directly compare our results with previous findings from the U.S. Our results emphasize the presence of pecking-order behavior. At the same time this behavior is not driven by asymmetric information considerations. The static trade-off theory is confirmed by the importance of a target debt ratio in general, but also specifically by tax effects and bankruptcy costs. Overall, we find remarkably low disparities across countries, despite the presence of significant institutional differences. We find that private firms differ in many respects from publicly listed firms, e.g. listed firms use their stock price for the timing of new issues. Finally, we do not find substantial evidence that agency problems are important in capital structure choice

Corporate Finance In Europe Confronting Theory With Practice

In this paper we present the results of an international survey among 313 CFOs on capital budgeting, cost of capital, capital structure, and corporate governance. We extend previous results of Graham and Harvey (2001) by broadening their sample internationally, by including corporate governance, and by applying multivariate regression analysis. We document interesting insights on how theoretical concepts are applied by professionals in the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, and France and compare these results with the U.S. We discover compelling variations between large and small firms across all markets. While large firms frequently use present value techniques and the capital asset pricing model when assessing the financial feasibility of an investment opportunity, CFOs of small firms still rely on the payback criterion. Regarding debt policy we document more subtle disparities across firms and national samples. We also find substantial variation in corporate governance structures, which turn out to be more oriented at shareholder wealth in the Anglo-Saxon countries. Corporate finance practice appears to be influenced mostly by firm size, to a lesser extent by shareholder orientation, while national differences are weak at best

Interface Modeling for Quality and Resource Management

We develop an interface-modeling framework for quality and resource management that captures configurable working points of hardware and software components in terms of functionality, resource usage and provision, and quality indicators such as performance and energy consumption. We base these aspects on partially-ordered sets to capture quality levels, budget sizes, and functional compatibility. This makes the framework widely applicable and domain independent (although we aim for embedded and cyber-physical systems). The framework paves the way for dynamic (re-)configuration and multi-objective optimization of component-based systems for quality- and resource-management purposes

“It’s my life and it’s now or never”:Transplant recipients empowered from a service-dominant logic perspective

Patient well-being after an organ transplant is a major outcome determinant and survival ofthe graft is crucial. Before surgery, patients are already informed about how they caninfluence their prognosis, for example by adhering to treatment advice and remainingactive. Overall, effective selfmanagement of health-related issues is a major factor insuccessful long-term graft survival. As such, organ transplant recipients can be consideredas co-producers of their own health status. However, although keeping the graft in goodcondition is an important factor in the patient’s well-being, it is not enough. To have ameaningful life after a solid organ transplant, patients can use their improved health statusto once again enjoy time with family and friends, to travel and to return to work -in short toget back on track. Our assertion in this article is twofold. First, healthcare providers shouldlook beyond medical support in enhancing long-term well-being. Second, organ recipientsshould see themselves as creators of their own well-being. To justify our argument, we usethe theoretical perspective of service-dominant logic that states that patients are the truecreators of real value-in-use. Or as Bon Jovi sings, “It’s my life and it’s now or never.”<br/

Patients' perspectives on ethical principles to fairly allocate scarce surgical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands:a Q-methodology study

OBJECTIVES: During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals were faced with prioritisation dilemmas due to limited surgical capacity. While the views of healthcare professionals on fair allocation have been given considerable attention, the views of patients have been overlooked. To address this imbalance, our study aimed to identify which ethical principles are most supported by patients regarding the fair allocation of surgical resources. DESIGN: A Q-methodology study was conducted. Participants ranked ordered 20 statements covering different viewpoints on fair allocation according to their point of view, followed by an interview. Principal component analysis followed by varimax rotation was used to identify subgroups who broadly agreed in terms of their rankings. SETTING: The setting of this study was in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: 16 patient representatives were purposively sampled. RESULTS: Two perspectives were identified, both of which supported utilitarianism. In perspective 1, labelled as 'clinical needs and outcomes', resource allocation should aim to maximise the health gains based on individual patient characteristics. In perspective 2, labelled as 'population outcomes and contribution to society', allocation should maximise health gains as with perspective 1, but this should also consider societal gains. CONCLUSIONS: There was a broad agreement among patient representatives that utilitarianism should be the guiding ethical principle for fair allocation of scarce surgical resources. The insights gained from this study should be integrated into policymaking and prioritisation strategies in future healthcare crises.</p

Facing the challenges of PROM implementation in Dutch dialysis care:Patients' and professionals' perspectives

BACKGROUND: Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are increasingly used in routine clinical practice to facilitate patients in sharing and discussing health-related topics with their clinician. This study focuses on the implementation experiences of healthcare professionals and patients during the early implementation phase of the newly developed Dutch set of dialysis PROMs and aims to understand the process of early implementation of PROMs from the users' perspectives. METHODS: This is a qualitative study among healthcare professionals (physicians and nursing staff: n = 13) and patients (n = 14) of which 12 were receiving haemodialysis and 2 peritoneal dialysis. Semi-structured interviews were used to understand the barriers and facilitators that both professionals and patients encounter when starting to implement PROMs. RESULTS: The early PROM implementation process is influenced by a variety of factors that we divided into barriers and facilitators. We identified four barriers: patient´s indifference to PROMs, scepticism on the benefits of aggregated PROM data, the limited treatment options open to doctors and organizational issues such as mergers, organizational problems and renovations. We also describe four facilitators: professional involvement and patient support, a growing understanding of the use of PROMs during the implementation, quick gains from using PROMs such as receiving instant feedback and a clear ambition on patient care such as a shared view on patient involvement and management support. CONCLUSIONS: In this qualitative study carried out during the early implementation phase of the Dutch dialysis PROM set, we found that patients did not yet consider the PROM set to be a useful additional tool to share information with their doctor. This was despite the professionals' primary reason for using PROMs being to improve patient-doctor communication. Furthermore, the perceived lack of intervention options was frustrating for some of the professionals. We found that nurses could be important enablers of further implementation because of their intensive relationship with dialysis patients.</p