In het verlengde van de PvdA

Politiek begint niet pas op een bepaalde leeftijd. Je kunt al actief worden vanaf een jonge leeftijd door lid te worden van een politieke jongerenvereniging. We spraken met de voorzitter van de jongerenpartij van de PvdA, de Jonge Socialisten: Toon Geenen. We vroegen hem naar zijn mening over het nieuwe kabinet, hoe het bevalt om voorzitter van de Jonge Socialisten te zijn en hoe de samenwerking is met andere jongeren partijen

In gesprek met Carla Dik-Faber

Carla Dik-Faber heeft 7 jaar op lokaal niveau gewerkt voor de gemeente Veenendaal en met een tussenstap van 5 jaar bij de Provincie Utrecht is zij nu Tweede Kamerlid voor de ChristenUnie. We zijn met haar in gesprek gegaan om te kijken wat volgens haar de kracht is van de gemeente

Queue merge : a binary operator for modeling queueing behavior

We propose a process algebra QA, in which it is possible to describe a queue process. This process models a queue data structure in the same way as it is possible to model a bag data structure and a stack data structure using other process algebras. Furthermore we give a proof sketch that every process in this algebra is branching bisimilar to a regular process communicating with this queue. We try to establish a link between processes in QA and languages generated by queue grammars, but fail to map either of those to the other, conjecturing that no algebraic operator can exist which directly models the class of grammars that use a queue

Long-Term follow up after intra-Uterine transfusionS; the LOTUS study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) is the Dutch national referral centre for pregnancies complicated by haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) caused by maternal alloimmunization. Yearly, 20-25 affected fetuses with severe anaemia are transfused with intra-uterine blood transfusions (IUT). Mothers of whom their fetus has undergone IUT for HDFN are considered high responders with regard to red blood cell (RBC) antibody formation. Most study groups report high perinatal survival, resulting in a shift in attention towards short- and long-term outcome in surviving children.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>We set up a large long-term observational follow-up study (LOTUS study), in cooperation with the Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation and the LUMC departments of Obstetrics, Neonatology and ImmunoHematology & Bloodtransfusion.</p> <p>The first part of this study addresses several putative mechanisms associated with blood group alloimmunization in these mothers. The second part of this study determines the incidence of long-term neurodevelopment impairment (NDI) and associated risk factors in children treated with IUT. All women and their life offspring who have been treated with IUT for HDFN in the LUMC from 1987-2008 are invited to participate and after consent, blood or saliva samples are taken. RBC and HLA antigen profile and antibodies are determined by serologic or molecular techniques. Microchimerism populations are tested by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR).</p> <p>All children are tested for their neurological, cognitive and psychosocial development using standardised tests and questionnaires. The primary outcome is neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI), a composite outcome defined as any of the following: cerebral palsy, cognitive or psychomotor development < 2 standard deviation, bilateral blindness and/or bilateral deafness.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The LOTUS study includes the largest cohort of IUT patients ever studied and is the first to investigate post-IUT long-term effects in both mother and child. The results may lead to a change in transfusion policy, in particular future avoidance of certain incompatibilities. Additionally the LOTUS study will provide clinicians and parents better insights in the long-term neurodevelopmental outcome in children with HDFN treated with IUTs, and may improve the quality of antenatal counselling and long-term guidance.</p

Purpose in life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

To evaluate the role of purpose in life among people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a questionnaire comprising the Purpose in Life test (PIL) and the purpose in life dimension of the Psychological Well-Being test (PWB-pil) was sent to a random sample of 300 patients with RA. Additional questions comprised sociodemographic and disease characteristics, physical, mental and social functioning, coping (Coping with rheumatic stressors questionnaire), and quality of life (RAND-36). Associations between sociodemographic and disease characteristics, physical, mental and social functioning, and coping on the one side and the two measures of purpose in life on the other side and associations between the two purpose of life measures and physical and mental dimensions of quality of life were assessed by means of univariate and multivariate regression analyses. The response rate was 156 of 300 (52%). The median PIL and PWB-pil scores were 103 (range 63–131) and 82 (41–110), respectively. A lower age, a better mental health status, and an optimistic coping style were significantly associated with both higher PIL and PWB-pil scores, whereas more participation in leisure and/or social activities was associated with a higher PIL score. It was found that the PIL and PWB-pil contributed independently and significantly to the mental component summary scale of the RAND-36. In RA patients, lower age, a better mental health status, an optimistic coping style, and participation in leisure and/or social activities were significantly associated with more sense of purpose in life. Purpose in life pays a significant and independent contribution to the mental component of quality of life. These findings highlight the significance of the concept of purpose in life in patients with RA

Activities of daily living in lower limb amputees with a bone-anchored prosthesis:a retrospective case series with 24 months’ follow-up

Background and purpose:Little is known about the activities of daily living (ADL) of patients with a bone-anchored prosthesis (BAP). We aimed to objectively measure ADL without and with BAP during standard care of follow-up. Our secondary aim was to measure mobility and walking ability. Patients and methods:Patients aged 18–99 years who underwent surgery for transfemoral or transtibial BAP between September 11, 2017, and February 11, 2021, were eligible for inclusion in this retrospective case series of patients with socket prosthesis. ADL was measured with a continuous recording activity monitor (hours [h]) before surgery, and at 6, 12, and 24 months with BAP. Mobility and walking ability were assessed by the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) (seconds [s]) and 6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT) (meters [m]), respectively. Results:48 of the 57 eligible patients provided informed consent and were included. Their age was 59 (1st quartile to 3rd quartile 51–63) years. Total daily activity before BAP was 1.6 h (0.82–2.1) and increased to 2.1 h (1.4–2.5) at 6, 2.0 h (1.5–2.7) at 12, and 2.7 h (2.0–3.3) at 24 months with BAP. Daily walking increased from 1.3 h (0.79–1.9) before BAP to 1.8 h (1.6–2.3) at 6, to 1.7 h (1.2–2.4) at 12, and 2.0 h (1.6–2.6) at 24 months. Median TUG decreased from 12 s (9.1–14) before BAP to 8.9 s (7.7–10) at 24 months. Mean 6MWT increased from 272 m (SD 92) before BAP to 348 m (SD 68) at 24 months.Conclusion:Objective measurements on ADL positively changed in patients with BAP. This effect was also seen in mobility and walking ability at 24 months.</p

Nonergodicity transitions in colloidal suspensions with attractive interactions

The colloidal gel and glass transitions are investigated using the idealized mode coupling theory (MCT) for model systems characterized by short-range attractive interactions. Results are presented for the adhesive hard sphere and hard core attractive Yukawa systems. According to MCT, the former system shows a critical glass transition concentration that increases significantly with introduction of a weak attraction. For the latter attractive Yukawa system, MCT predicts low temperature nonergodic states that extend to the critical and subcritical region. Several features of the MCT nonergodicity transition in this system agree qualitatively with experimental observations on the colloidal gel transition, suggesting that the gel transition is caused by a low temperature extension of the glass transition. The range of the attraction is shown to govern the way the glass transition line traverses the phase diagram relative to the critical point, analogous to findings for the fluid-solid freezing transition.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev. E (1 May 1999

Comparative simulation study of colloidal gels and glasses

Using computer simulations, we identify the mechanisms causing aggregation and structural arrest of colloidal suspensions interacting with a short-ranged attraction at moderate and high densities. Two different non-ergodicity transitions are observed. As the density is increased, a glass transition takes place, driven by excluded volume effects. In contrast, at moderate densities, gelation is approached as the strength of the attraction increases. At high density and interaction strength, both transitions merge, and a logarithmic decay in the correlation function is observed. All of these features are correctly predicted by mode coupling theory

Confirmation of Anomalous Dynamical Arrest in attractive colloids: a molecular dynamics study

Previous theoretical, along with early simulation and experimental, studies have indicated that particles with a short-ranged attraction exhibit a range of new dynamical arrest phenomena. These include very pronounced reentrance in the dynamical arrest curve, a logarithmic singularity in the density correlation functions, and the existence of `attractive' and `repulsive' glasses. Here we carry out extensive molecular dynamics calculations on dense systems interacting via a square-well potential. This is one of the simplest systems with the required properties, and may be regarded as canonical for interpreting the phase diagram, and now also the dynamical arrest. We confirm the theoretical predictions for re-entrance, logarithmic singularity, and give the first direct evidence of the coexistence, independent of theory, of the two coexisting glasses. We now regard the previous predictions of these phenomena as having been established.Comment: 15 pages,15 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.