Do we need to rethink our waterways? Values of ageing waterways in current and future society

In the past canals were developed, and some rivers were heavily altered, driven by the need for good transportation infrastructure. Major investments were made in navigation locks, weirs and artificial embankments, and many of these assets are now reaching the end of their technical lifetime. Since then the concept of integrated water resource management (IWRM) emerged as a concept to manage and develop water-bodies in general. Two pressing problems arise from these developments: (1) major reinvestment is needed in order to maintain the transportation function of these waterways, and (2), it is not clear how the implementation of the concept of IWRM can be brought into harmony with such reinvestment. This paper aims to illustrate the problems in capital-intensive parts of waterway systems, and argues for exploring value-driven solutions that rely on the inclusion of multiple values, thus solving both funding problems and stakeholder conflicts. The focus on value in cooperative strategies is key to defining viable implementation strategies for waterway projects

Type 2 diabetes risk factors among the unemployed

Unemployment is a significant social problem which has numerous negative health consequences. Findings of numerous researches provide  data on the range of the consequences of unemployment with risk of health deterioration being one of the most important. Unemployment remains an area of interest for the following fields of science: psychology, economics, sociology. More and more researches prove that there is a link between the increase of disease occurrence and death rate and long-term unemployment. Both in Poland and all over the world a steady increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes is being observed. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, taking into consideration present dynamics of changes, in 2025 there will be 300 million people diagnosed with diabetes. That is why a diabetes epidemic is such a topical issue, and according to some epidemic data this epidemic is starting to reach Poland as well. Data provided by IDF (International Diabetes Federation) show that in Poland the percentage of diabetes patients is 9,1% of the whole population and it is a little higher than the European average (8,6%). It is predicted that by 2015 the percentage will rise to 11%. Identification of adverse health behaviors and introducing actions promoting health in a given population group can prove to be beneficial for the present condition of members of a given group as well as decrease the risk connected with the occurrence of diseases associated with the progress of civilization in the future. The aim of the article is to indicate type 2 diabetes risk factors among the unemployed in Poland

Invloedsvlakken voor de berekening van buigende momenten in de dekplaat van een orthotrope plaatconstructie

Een benaderende methode wordt ontwikkeld om uit in de literatuur beschikbare invloedsvlakken voor buigende momenten in enkelvoudige platen, voor orthotrope plaatconstructies de momenten te bepalen via een grafische integratie. De methode richt zich in het bijzonder op het berekenen van buigende momenten veroorzaakt door gelijkmatige partiiile belasting der velden.Civil Engineering and Geoscience