Is parliamentary attention to the EU strongest when it is needed the most? National parliaments and the selective debate of EU policies

When do parliaments debate European Union policies? Normative arguments suggest that debates enhance government accountability. Others warn of government bias, declining debate near elections, and parties avoiding Eurosceptic publics. Our conclusions are more differentiated. We argue that rank-and-file parliamentarians rather than leaders initiate debates. Political incentives guide their debate selection towards salient policies in the countries in which voters care most. However, where the motivation Eurosceptic publics provide and institutions facilitating rank-and-file agenda-setting are lacking, EU law-making and European Council priorities will raise little parliamentary attention. Analysis of original data, using a Bayesian and multilevel framework, lends credibility to our views. Claims of a government bias, election effects, or trends towards more debate are unlikely to hold in all countries

Social Presence and Use of Internet-Delivered Interventions: A Multi-Method Approach

Objective Internet-delivered interventions can effectively change health risk behaviors and their determinants, but adherence to intervention websites once they are accessed is very low. This study tests whether and how social presence elements can increase website use. Methods A website about Hepatitis A, B, and C virus infections was used in a preparatory lab-based eye-tracking study assessing whether social presence elements attract participants\u27 attention, because this is a prerequisite for affecting website use. In the following field study, 482 participants representative of the Dutch population were randomized to either a website with or a website without social presence elements. Participants completed a questionnaire of validated measures regarding user perceptions immediately after exposure to the website. Server registrations were used to assess website use. Results Participants in the experimental condition focused on the social presence elements, both in terms of frequency (F(1, 98) = 40.34, p<.001) and duration (F(1, 88) = 39.99, p<.001), but did not differ in website use in comparison with the control condition; neither in terms of the number of pages visited (t(456) = 1.44, p = .15), nor in terms of time on the website (t(456) = 0.01, p = .99). Conclusions Adding social presence elements did not affect actual use of an intervention website within a public health context. Possible reasons are limited attention for these elements in comparison with the main text and the utilitarian value of intervention websites

MR-Linac Radiotherapy - The Beam Angle Selection Problem

BACKGROUND: With the large-scale introduction of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), selection of optimal beam angles for coplanar static-beam IMRT has increasingly become obsolete. Due to unavailability of VMAT in current MR-linacs, the problem has re-gained importance. An application for automated IMRT treatment planning with integrated, patient-specific computer-optimization of beam angles (BAO) was used to systematically investigate computer-aided generation of beam angle class solutions (CS) for replacement of computationally expensive patient-specific BAO. Rectal cancer was used as a model case. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 23 patients treated at a Unity MR-linac were included. BAO(x) plans (x=7-12 beams) were generated for all patients. Analyses of BAO(12) plans resulted in CS(x) class solutions. BAO(x) plans, CS(x) plans, and plans with equi-angular setups (EQUI(x), x=9-56) were mutually compared. RESULTS: For x>7, plan quality for CS(x) and BAO(x) was highly similar, while both were superior to EQUI(x). E.g. with CS(9), bowel/bladder D(mean) reduced by 22% [11%, 38%] compared to EQUI(9) (p<0.001). For equal plan quality, the number of EQUI beams had to be doubled compared to BAO and CS. CONCLUSIONS: Computer-generated beam angle CS could replace individualized BAO without loss in plan quality, while reducing planning complexity and calculation times, and resulting in a simpler clinical workflow. CS and BAO largely outperformed equi-angular treatment. With the developed CS, time consuming beam angle re-optimization in daily adaptive MR-linac treatment could be avoided. Further systematic research on computerized development of beam angle class solutions for MR-linac treatment planning is warranted

Short term fasting does not aggravate immunosuppression in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) with high body burdens of organochlorines

Two groups of 11 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) with different body burdens of organochlorines were subjected to an experimental 15-day fasting period, during which they lost an average 16.5% of their body weights. Blood levels of the most persistent organochlorines showed an approximate twofold increase, while levels of aryl hydrocarbon receptor-binding organochlorines remained largely unaffected. Few differences in immunological parameters were observed between the two dietary groups. Numbers of circulating lymphocytes dropped to about 65% of the initial values and NK cell activity showed a slight increase in both groups. Mitogen- and antigen-induced lymphoproliferative responses of the Baltic group of seals remained within normal ranges. These results suggest that relatively short-term fasting periods do not present an additional immunotoxicological risk to seals with high body burdens of organochlorines

Parliamentary scrutiny of methods of open coordination. The involvement of the Dutch and British parliament in the EU governance of the knowledge-based society

Although the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) – a policy tool aimed at fostering mutual policy learning between EU member states – adds an EU dimension to national policies, no competences are shifted to the EU level. In addition, the OMC promises to involve a broad range of actors, among which members of parliament. Scholars have studied the OMC employment and OMC social inclusion and showed that the OMC breaks this promise by affecting the national policy making process outside of the control of national parliaments. This paper investigates the involvement of two national parliaments across three under-researched OMCs, related with the knowledge-based society theme

Variations on a Theme. Governing the Knowledge-Based Society in the EU through Methods of Open Coordination in Education and R&D

This article focuses on one of the more elaborate new modes of governance in function in the EU context — the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) — and examines its varying degree of institutionalization on policy fields. Three explanations for differences in institutionalization of OMCs are tested through a comparative study of two OMCs adopted in policy fields related with the knowledge-based society theme. The empirical findings indicate that the institutionalization of an OMC can be best explained by a particular constellation of member-state preferences, in combination with a catalytic role of the European Commission

EU soft law and the functioning of representative democracy: the use of methods of open co-ordination by Dutch and British parliamentarians

The Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC) promises to involve a broad range of actors, including members of national parliaments. Several scholars showed that the OMC breaks this promise by affecting the national policy-making process outside of the control of national parliaments. However, this finding can be called into question; scholars drew heavily on anecdotal evidence and did not take sufficiently into account differences between OMCs and member states. This article empirically investigates the use of three OMCs by parliamentarians in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to assess the performance of national policies related to the knowledge-based society theme. It will be shown that the use of information from OMCs by parliamentarians is dependent on the information provided by the government on the policies OMCs touch upon and the presence of simple benchmarks in an OMC. Moreover, parliamentarians in a consensus democracy use the OMC more frequently