Industrie- en dienstenbeleid: een nadere verdieping

In dit onderzoek wordt een overzicht gegeven van de wetenschappelijke stand van zaken op het gebied van het industrie- en dienstenbeleid. In dat kader komt een drietal verschillende invalshoeken aan de orde, namelijk een internationale vergelijking van de beleidspraktijk, het debat over 'competitiveness' en het onderscheidende karakter van industrie- en dienstenbeleid. Om te beginnen wordt de beleidspraktijk van een aantal OESO-landen nader bekeken. Uit deze vergelijking komt naar voren dat in de ge?ndustrialiseerde wereld grofweg drie typen industriebeleid onderscheiden kunnen worden: het Angelsaksische, Rijnlandse en Mediterrane model. Traditioneel verschillen deze prototypen sterk van elkaar wat betreft doelstellingen, instrumenten, institutionele vormgeving en aandachtspunten in het beleid. Toch lijkt er momenteel sprake te zijn van een zekere mate van beleidsconvergentie. Zo is het industrie- en dienstenbeleid van veel landen tegenwoordig gericht op het versterken van de 'competitiveness' van de nationale economie. Van dit begrip bestaat echter geen eenduidige definitie. Sommige auteurs brengen het concurrentievermogen van een land in verband met exogene comparatieve voordelen, terwijl anderen wijzen op het belang van endogeen bepaalde competitieve voordelen. Binnen de laatste stroming verschilt men bovendien van mening of het landen of juist bedrijven zijn die met elkaar concurreren. Deze verschillende stromingen komen ieder tot een andere invulling van het begrip industriebeleid. Tenslotte wordt in het voorliggende onderzoeksrapport aandacht geschonken aan het specifieke karakter van industrie- en dienstenbeleid ten opzichte van andere vormen van overheidsbeleid. Een belangrijk aspect hierbij is dat veelal getracht wordt met behulp van industriebeleid bepaalde vormen van marktfalen te corrigeren. Gezien het feit dat het niet mogelijk is een pasklaar antwoord te geven op de vraag wat industrie- en dienstenbeleid nu feitelijk inhoudt, worden verschillende kennislacunes gesignaleerd. Het onderzoek wordt afgesloten met een aantal vragen die in vervolgonderzoek beantwoord zouden moeten worden

Between a rock and a hard place: A geosocial approach to water insecurity in Kabul

Approximately 50% of the global population currently experiences severe water scarcity, a situation likely to intensify due to climate change. At the same time, the poorest population segments bear the greatest burden of water insecurity. This intersection of geophysical, geochemical, and socio-economic dimensions of water (in)security challenges requires a geosocial perspective, one that attends simultaneously to geophysical, geochemical, and socio-economic dimensions. Our qualitative study, conducted through 68 semi-structured interviews across two distinct sub-basins in Kabul, revealed disparities in groundwater levels, water quality, water prices, and lived experiences of water insecurity. While environmental stressors like drought and groundwater contamination contribute to water insecurity, socio-economic factors such as gender and property ownership exacerbate these impacts: Women and children bear a heavy burden of securing water, with children’s involvement in water-fetching leading to instances of violence. Furthermore, trucked water costs 33 times that of piped water, echoing alarming global trends where less privileged communities endure disproportionately greater challenges of water inaccessibility. We outline policy implications for monitoring groundwater abstraction and underscore the need for tailored strategies to combat water scarcity, such as pro-poor water strategies. Additionally, our work draws attention to the role of local gatekeepers who have informally regulated water usage in response to drought-induced scarcity, particularly in the absence of functioning government policies, underscoring the importance of collaboration with local stakeholders to ensure sustainable access to water. We argue that a geosocial approach to water (in)security can provide high-resolution findings and reveal critical gaps between common metrics and the realities of water (in)security, which also underlines the need for integrated approaches incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research

CpG-A and B oligodeoxynucleotides enhance the efficacy of antibody therapy by activating different effector cell populations

Immunostimulatory CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) can enhance the therapeutic effect of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) by enhancing antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Distinct classes of CpG ODNs have been found recently to stimulate different effector cell populations. We used murine cancer models to explore the role of various effector cell populations in the antitumor activity seen with mAbs combined with CpG ODNs of the A and B classes. In the 38C13 syngeneic murine lymphoma model, both CpG A and CpG B enhanced the efficacy of murine antilymphoma mAb. Depletion of natural killer (NK) cells alone markedly decreased the efficacy of therapy with mAbs plus CpG A. In contrast, depletion of both NK cells and granulocytes was required to decrease the efficacy of mAb plus CpG B. A human (h) Fc gamma receptor I (FcgammaRI)-expressing transgenic (Tg) mouse model was used to explore the role of FcgammaRI in therapy with mAb and CpG ODN. CpG B induced up-regulation of FcgammaRI in hFcgammaRI Tg mice, whereas CpG A did not. In vitro CpG B also enhanced ADCC of HER-2/neu-expressing tumor cells by the FcgammaRI-directed bispecific antibody MDX-H210 using hFcgammaRI-positive effector cells. In a solid tumor model, tumor growth was inhibited in Tg mice treated with a combination of MDX-H210 and CpG B. These data suggest that CpG A enhance ADCC largely by activating NK cells. In contrast, other effector cell populations, including granulocytes, contribute to the antitumor activity of CpG B and mAbs. FcgammaRI plays an important role in this activity

The effect of parental work history and public assistance use on the transition to adulthood

Though available data suggest a relationship between poverty and emerging adulthood, fewer studies have been conducted to assess whether parental work or public assistance mediates these outcomes. Using the National Survey of Families and Households, this study examines the effect of work reliant versus welfare-reliant households on youth outcomes (i.e., welfare use, education, idleness, and income) during the transition to adulthood. Examining parents from Wave 1 and older youth from Wave 2, researchers linked childhood poverty, parents' work history, family income from work, years on public assistance, and family income from public assistance with youth outcomes. Consistent with previous research, links exist between poverty in childhood and transition outcomes; however, these outcomes are not mediated by parental work history or extent of welfare reliance during childhood. Multivariate analyses indicate that growing up in a heavily work-oriented environment or a heavily welfare-reliant environment made little difference in the youth's ability to successfully transition to adulthood. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for welfare policy

Molecular epidemiology of seal parvovirus, 1988-2014

A novel parvovirus was discovered recently in the brain of a harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) with chronic meningo-encephalitis. Phylogenetic analysis of this virus indicated that it belongs to the genus Er

Higher meson resonances in ρ→π0π0γ\rho \to \pi^0 \pi^0 \gamma and ω→π0π0γ\omega \to \pi^0 \pi^0 \gamma

The role of higher meson resonances with spin 1 and 2 is investigated quantitatively in the decay processes of $\rho \to \pi^0\pi^0 \gamma$ and $\omega \to \pi^0 \pi^0 \gamma$. Among the higher resonances, we find that the $f_2(1270)$ tensor meson can give a nontrivial contribution especially to the $\omega \to \pi^0 \pi^0 \gamma$ decay process. When the $f_2$ contribution is combined with the processes involving the vector and scalar meson intermediate states, a good agreement with the recent measurements is achieved for both decays. The effect of the $f_2(1270)$ is found to be sizable at the intermediate photon energies and may be verified by precise measurements of the recoil photon spectrum of the $\omega \to \pi^0 \pi^0 \gamma$ decay. The dependence of the decay widths on various models for the $\rho$-$\omega$ mixing in the literature is also investigated.Comment: 16 pages, REVTeX, 6 figures, revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Novel B19-like parvovirus in the brain of a harbor seal

Using random PCR in combination with next-generation sequencing, a novel parvovirus was detected in the brain of a young harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) with chronic non-suppurative meningo-encephalitis that was rehabilitated at the Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre (SRRC) in the Netherlands. In addition, two novel viruses belonging to the family Anelloviridae were detected in the lungs of this animal. Phylogenetic analysis of the coding sequence of the novel parvovirus, tentatively called Seal parvovirus, indicated that this virus belonged to the genus Erythrovirus , to which human parvovirus B19 also belongs. Although no other seals with similar signs were rehabilitated in SRRC in recent years, a prevalence study of tissues of seals from the same area collected in the period 2008-2012 indicated that the Seal parvovirus has circulated in the

Developmental alterations in noxious-evoked EEG activity recorded from rat primary somatosensory cortex

Primary somatosensory cortex (S1) contains a nociceptive map that localizes potential tissue damage on the body and encodes stimulus intensity. An objective and specific biomarker of pain however is currently lacking and is urgently required for use in non-verbal clinical populations as well as in the validation of pre-clinical pain models. Here we describe studies to see if the responses of the S1 in juvenile rats are different to those in the adult. We recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) responses from S1 of lightly-anesthetized Sprague–Dawley rats at either postnatal day 21 or postnatal day 40 during the presentation of noxious (55 °C) or innocuous (30 °C) thermal stimuli applied to the plantar surface of the left hindpaw. The total EEG power across the recording period was the same in both ages after stimulation but the frequency distribution was significantly affected by age. Noxious heat evoked a significant increase in theta band (4–8 Hz) activity in adults only (P < 0.0001 compared to baseline; P < 0.0001 compared to juveniles). There were no significant differences in EEG responses to innocuous thermal stimuli. These data show that there are significant alterations in the processing of nociceptive inputs within the maturing cortex and that cortical theta activity is involved only in the adult cortical response to noxious stimulation

First-in-Human Phase I Clinical Trial of an SFV-Based RNA Replicon Cancer Vaccine against HPV-Induced Cancers

A first-in-human phase I trial of Vvax001, an alphavirus-based therapeutic cancer vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced cancers was performed assessing immunological activity, safety, and tolerability. Vvax001 consists of replication-incompetent Semliki Forest virus replicon particles encoding HPV16-derived antigens E6 and E7. Twelve participants with a history of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were included. Four cohorts of three participants were treated per dose level, ranging from 5 × 105 to 2.5 × 108 infectious particles per immunization. The participants received three immunizations with a 3-week interval. For immune monitoring, blood was drawn before immunization and 1 week after the second and third immunization. Immunization with Vvax001 was safe and well tolerated, with only mild injection site reactions, and resulted in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses against E6 and E7 antigens. Even the lowest dose of 5 × 105 infectious particles elicited E6/E7-specific interferon (IFN)-γ responses in all three participants in this cohort. Overall, immunization resulted in positive vaccine-induced immune responses in 12 of 12 participants in one or more assays performed. In conclusion, Vvax001 was safe and induced immune responses in all participants. These data strongly support further clinical evaluation of Vvax001 as a therapeutic vaccine in patients with HPV-related malignancies

Study of Tau-pair Production in Photon-Photon Collisions at LEP and Limits on the Anomalous Electromagnetic Moments of the Tau Lepton

Tau-pair production in the process e+e- -> e+e-tau+tau- was studied using data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP2 during the years 1997 - 2000. The corresponding integrated luminosity is 650 pb^{-1}. The values of the cross-section obtained are found to be in agreement with QED predictions. Limits on the anomalous magnetic and electric dipole moments of the tau lepton are deduced.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.