Monitoring ethnic minorities in the Netherlands

Item does not contain fulltextThe article first summarises the history of ethnic minority policy in the Netherlands and the development of the ‘ethnic minority’ and ‘allochthonous’ categories, which are peculiar in comparative perspective in emphasising socio-economic disadvantage as a constitutive dimension of minority status and in setting the minority question within the broader Dutch political principle of ‘pillarisation’. The article then examines the use of statistics in public policy, in a context where the national census has been discontinued since 1971, focusing more specifically on the case of education, where major statistical efforts have been devoted to identifying patterns of disadvantage and integration. Finally, the article briefly examines current debates on the situation of ethnic minorities in the Netherlands in the context of growing questioning of established Dutch models of minority policy.13 p

Decrease in pulmonary function during bleomycin-containing combination chemotherapy for testicular cancer: not only a bleomycin effect.

This study was performed to determine the changes in pulmonary function in patients randomised to receive treatment with four cycles of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin (BEP) (27 patients) or with four cycles of etoposide and cisplatin (EP) (27 patients) for disseminated non-seminomatous testicular cancer. This enabled us to establish whether effects other than those due to bleomycin determined the detrimental effects of BEP on lung function assessments. Slow inspiratory vital capacity (VC), the transfer factor of the lungs for carbon monoxide (TLCO), the diffusing capacity of the alveolo-capillary membrane (Dm), the pulmonary capillary blood volume (Vc) and the transfer factor of the lungs for carbon monoxide per unit alveolar volume (KCO) were determined before and at 3 week intervals during chemotherapy. Both groups, similar in terms of factors that may influence pulmonary function, showed during therapy a significant decrease in TLCO compared with the pretreatment value. Only at the end of the therapy was a significant difference in TLCO between both groups observed. Dm diminished also significantly in both groups during treatment, but differences between both groups were not seen. VC and Vc decreased in patients receiving BEP but remained constant during treatment with EP. It can be concluded that the Dm, KCO, and the widely used TLCO are not suitable parameters to monitor specifically pulmonary toxicity induced by bleomycin as part of a multidrug regimen. However, VC and Vc appear to be proper lung function assessments which reflect specifically alterations induced by bleomycin