Spatial and multidimensional analysis of the Dutch housing market using the Kohonen Map and GIS

In this work the idea is to analyse general spatially identifiable housing market related data on Dutch districts (wijken) with the SOM (Kohonen Map) and a GIS. One of the authors has earlier carried out purely visual SOM analysis of that data, where patterns formed on a larger ‘map’ (the output matrix of the SOM) were used as a basis for classification of the Dutch housing market segments on a nationwide level. This way the SOM was used as a method for exploratory data analysis. Now we attempt a more rigorous method of determining the segmentation using a smaller ‘map’ size, in order to be able to export the SOM-output directly to a GIS-system to analyse it further. Two technical issues interest us: one, the robustness of the results – do the five basic housing market segments found in the earlier analysis prevail (we call these urban, urban periphery, pseudo-rural, traditional, and low-income segments); and two, which classes fit the real situation better and which worse, when using the RMSE for a measure of goodness? We also keep an eye on policy implications and aim at comparing our classifications with the ‘actual’ ones used in official discourse.

Joseph Dewey Soper, 1893-1982

... "Dewey Soper is a man of action and acuity, in a particular sense l'homme engagé, second to none as a pioneer of the North whose courage, industry and initiative inspire us to find our country and extend all its benefits into our lives." Those well-chosen words stand today as an epitaphic tribute to a man who spent the early years of his career in arctic exploration and a lifetime in the study of natural history and in pursuit of scientific knowledge. ... - he was an outdoorsman first and his vocations and avocations stemmed from this prerequisite. ... In the context of his lifespan, arctic explorations occupied a small segment of his 89 years, yet they left an indelible imprint on his life and in his own mind forever stood as the pinnacle of his achievements. His three expeditions were conducted in 1923, 1924-26 and 1928-31. The latter two took him to southern Baffin Island and comprised eleven separate journeys of exploration. ... Viewed in perspective - considering the lack of modern equipment and the unsophisticated means of communication and travel - those ventures into the interior and across Baffin Island were remarkable conquests. ... Soper's successful crossing and return in January-February, 1926, covered 1050 kilometres. His courage and determination are reflected in two sentences from his own writings: "I still feel extraordinary admiration for the splendid efforts of Akatuga and Newkequak who endured so much fatigue and suffering without a murmur, and what seemed the incredible hardship for the dogs. It is impossible to forget the frightful cold of 70° below zero as we forged our way over the frozen Lake Nettilling and across the Great Plain of the Koukdjuak to Foxe Basin and back to the east coast." In 1929, newspapers published accounts of J.D. Soper and his successful six-year, 30 000-mile search for the nesting grounds of the blue goose. ... The location of the nesting grounds of the blue goose had been a mystery to naturalists.... In 1926 he met an Inuk hunter on the Tikkuut Islands ...who claimed that he knew the exact area where kungovik nested. Later another Inuk at Cape Dorset corroborated the story: the location was Bowman Bay on the west coast. ... Assignments that followed his return to the "south" included a two-year wildlife survey of Wood Buffalo Park ..., [and] Chief Federal Wildlife Officer for Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories. ... Soper was a prolific writer. ... - over 130 research papers, monographs and general-interest articles appeared in a variety of publications. ... In the years that followed his official retirement he continued to do field work, usually alone and in remote wilderness camps. ... He enjoyed sketching and watercolour painting, and much of his art was used to illustrate his writing. ... One quality that set him apart from so many of his peers was that he retained his boyish enthusiasm for the natural world to the end of his life. He only hung up his boots and binoculars for good when failing health forced him into hospital. ..

Keys to Profitable Fresh Market Cucumber Production.

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Cost effectiveness of treating multi-drug resistant tuberculosis by adding Deltyba™ to background regimens in Germany

SummaryObjectiveTo assess the cost-effectiveness of adding delamanid (Deltyba™) to a background regimen (BR) for treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Germany.MethodsThe incremental cost-effectiveness of treating a cohort of MDR-TB patients, 38-years old on average, with Deltyba™ plus BR versus a five drug- BR regimen alone was compared in a Markov model over a period of 10 years. Cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) were determined from a societal perspective. Recent data from a German cost calculation on MDR-TB were applied to the 24-month outcome results of patients participating in the placebo-controlled, phase II Otsuka's Trial 204. Costs and effectiveness were discounted at a rate of 3% and subjected to deterministic as well as probabilistic sensitivity analysis in a Monte Carlo simulation.ResultsBased on the current market prices the total discounted cost per patient on BR plus Deltyba™ was €142,732 compared to €150,909 for BR alone. The total discounted QALYs per patient were 8.47 for Deltyba™ versus 6.13 for BR alone. Accordingly, the addition of Deltyba™ proved to be dominant over the BR alone-strategy by simultaneously saving €8177 and gaining 2.34 QALYs. Deltyba™ was cost saving in 73% of probabilistic sensitivity analyses compared to BR alone and 100% cost effective at a willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of €10,000.ConclusionsUnder conditions prevalent in Germany, Deltyba™ added to a five drug BR regimen is likely to be cost-saving compared to BR alone under a wide range of assumptions. Adding delamanid remained cost-effective when costs due to loss of productivity were excluded as the QALYs gained by lower lethality and a higher proportion of successfully treated patients outweighed the delamanid drug costs. These results strongly support the application of Deltyba™ in treating MDR-TB patients

Keys to Profitable Fresh Market Cucumber Production.

4 p