Ecodynamic design as a boundary object

Consensus in Dutch society is that the existing coastal defence regime is not sustainable. Adaptation is not only a technical challenge, but affects elements like ecology, cultural heritage, recreation, urban development, making the issue complex both from a political and from a scientific point of view. And innovations must cope with the actual system of human beliefs, values and knowledges which constitute the old coastal management regime. One possible new regime is ecodynamic design. This is an approach using interactions between ecological processes and human interventions to create new coastal structures. The Building with Nature innovation program is implementing ecodynamic experiments along the Dutch coast. One of these is an experiment along the Frisian IJsselmeer coast in the Netherlands. Participating actors (governments, NGO’s, private partners) frame it as an adaptive action, potentially providing new flood defence methods to the region. The aim of this paper is to explore the role this Building with Nature experiment plays in the interactions between actors with different perspectives and how the experiment influences collaborative learning. This case is analysed using the concept of boundary objects

Towards Phytopia; A framework for reflection on phytosanitary policy

What is the ideal phytosanitary policy? The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Innovation has asked LEI to develop a framework based on which the government can review its role in phytosanitary policy. The framework should contain a step by step plan which can be used with regard to new developments and for a range of phytosanitary problems. This report contains the theoretical framework that can be used for this purpose. The 'Towards Phytopia' framework has been tested several times with representatives from the Ministry of EL&I. The framework has already played a role in the dialogue about phytosanitary responsibilities which the government is conducting with industry and social parties

C1− Continuous crack propagation for mixed-mode fracture problems

In this work a C1− continuous crack propagation algorithm is proposed to improve the numerical simulation of localized deformation patterns, using higher order elements. The algorithm is applied for a standard smeared crack model and is validated by a mixed-mode fracture problem. From the results a reduction of mesh-induced directional bias is observed

Infectious complications in hematology patients: A clinical focus on prevention

The aim of this thesis was to contribute to infection preventive strategies in hematology patients with prolonged neutropenia. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) develops by pulmonary deposition of conidia. A placebo-controlled trial on the efficacy of prophylactic aerosolized liposomal amphotericin-B (L-AmB) was performed in hematology patients during treatment-related neutropenia. For the intent-to-treat analysis, 18 of 132 placebo patients developed IPA, versus 6 of 139 in L-AmB patients (P=.005). Short-term prophylactic nebulization of liposomal amphotericin B was not associated with decline in pulmonary function or systemic adverse effects, only coughing was significantly more reported. In a study among acute leukemia patients, the mortality rate was 26% and 16%, respectively, in patients with and without IPA (P=.08), with corrected additional IPA-related costs of €15280 (P<.001), which makes IPA prevention both efficacious and cost-effective. Current guidelines advocate administration of 7-14 days of broad-spectrum antibiotics for unexplained ferver (UF) in neutropenic hematology patients. Effective antimicrobial prophylaxis reduces the incidence of gram-negative infections, which may allow shorter treatment. In the Erasmus MC, broad-spectrum antibiotics are initially administered, but discontinued when after 72 hours no bacterial etiology is documented. Among 166 hematology patients on selective antibiotic prophylaxis, 317 febrile episodes were observed; 56% were due to UF. Due to the restrictive antibiotic policy, the mean treatment duration was only 3.7 days. Overall-mortality after neutrophil recovery was 3.6% (6 of 166 patients). No patient died from untreated bacterial infection, suggesting that discontinuation of broad-spectrum antibiotics in this setting is safe, provided that no infectious etiology is documented. Diagnosing catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) often involves tip culture, using the conventional semi-quantitative roll-plate method. The quantitative sonication technique could have additional value, as it may also detect endoluminal microorganisms. However, in a prospective study of 313 tunnelled catheters from 279 hematology patients, the diagnostic performance in patients with suspected CRBSI was equally limited for both methods. Finally, in a placebo-controlled trial on the efficacy of a daily prophylactic 70%-ethanol lock on the prevention of endoluminal CRBSI in tunneled devices, a 3.6-fold, non-significant, reduction was observed for ethanol-treated hematology patients. Partially, the lack of significance may reflect a lack of power. More patients receiving ethanol discontinued lock-therapy, because of non-severe adverse events

Exoot gesignaleerd: onderkennen gevaren van uitheemse organismen van groot belang

Exoten vormen een grote bedreiging voor de biodiversiteit en kunnen voor de boomkwekerijsector grote economische gevolgen hebben. Naast de boomkwekerijsector komen dan de partijen in de groene ruimte, zoals gemeenten, terreinbeherende organisaties en groene belangenorganisaties in beeld. Boomkwekers en groene partijen vormen ieder een eigen wereld en dat zie je ook terug in de contacten en samenwerking met de overheid. Onderling is er weinig contact, is er sprake van soms negatieve beeldvorming, hoewel er sprake is van toenemende contacten tussen de belangenorganisaties van beide partijen

Impact of systematic errors in gravity and heights on a quasi-geoid model for the Netherlands and Belgium

In this study, we quantified systematic errors in surface gravity anomalies, which were caused by systematic errors in gravity and heights of the gravity stations, and computed their impact on the quasi-geoid model of the Netherlands and Belgium. We found that 70% of the gravity datasets have statistically significant biases ranging from −2 mGal to 1.5 mGal. The primary impact of the biases are long-wavelength systematic distortions in the quasi-geoid model with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 8 cm. We also found systematic errors in the height networks of the Netherlands and Belgium, which cause corresponding errors in the heights of the gravity stations. They range from −3.0 cm to 1.7 cm and −12.0 cm to 5.0 cm, respectively. They also introduce errors in the transformation parameters to EVRF2007 of several centimetres. However, the impact of the height errors on the quasi-geoid model is negligible with a peak-to-peak amplitude of less than 0.1 cm

Innovatief van nature? : impact van kennis uit de biologische sector

This report explores the innovative capacity of the organic sector and the relationship with farming. It also describes the impressions which organic and conventional farmers have about each other and the extent to which these impressions affect mutual knowledge exchange and use of each other's innovations. In view of the limited extent of the research, the report focuses on arable/ open air vegetable cultivatio