Physical and Social Engineering in the Dutch Polders:The Case of the Noordoostpolder

This chapter provides an overview of the Zuiderzee project and describes the design and development of the Noordoostpolder. It focuses on the design and development of the Noordoostpolder. Planning projects such as the Zuiderzee project fitted very well into the international Zeitgeist of the interwar period. The reclamation of the Zuiderzee became an object of national pride, attractive to the whole nation and a useful symbol of the Dutch national identity. In the 1960s and 1970s, following sociocultural changes in Dutch society, the selection procedures were criticised more strongly and, in the polders of Oostelijk Flevoland and Zuidelijk Flevoland, they were applied much less strictly. The plans for and implementation of the partial reclamation of the Zuiderzee coincided with the development of the social sciences in the Netherlands. The physical and social planning of the Noordoostpolder reached new heights after 1945. Engineers, architects, spatial planners and social scientists became involved in the development of this polder

Performance and long-term stability of the barley hordothionin gene in multiple transgenic apple lines

Introduction of sustainable scab resistance in elite apple cultivars is of high importance for apple cultivation when aiming at reducing the use of chemical crop protectants. Genetic modification (GM) allows the rapid introduction of resistance genes directly into high quality apple cultivars. Resistance genes can be derived from apple itself but genetic modification also opens up the possibility to use other, non-host resistance genes. A prerequisite for application is the long-term performance and stability of the gene annex trait in the field. For this study, we produced and selected a series of transgenic apple lines of two cultivars, i.e. ‘Elstar’ and ‘Gala’ in which the barley hordothionin gene (hth) was introduced. After multiplication, the GM hth-lines, non-GM susceptible and resistant controls and GM non-hth controls were planted in a random block design in a field trial in 40 replicates. Scab resistance was monitored after artificial inoculation (first year) and after natural infection (subsequent years). After the trial period, the level of expression of the hth gene was checked by quantitative RT-PCR. Four of the six GM hth apple lines proved to be significantly less susceptible to apple scab and this trait was found to be stable for the entire 4-year period. Hth expression at the mRNA level was also stable

A proof of principle for using adaptive testing in routine Outcome Monitoring: the efficiency of the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire -Anhedonic Depression CAT

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) there is a high demand for short assessments. Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) is a promising method for efficient assessment. In this article, the efficiency of a CAT version of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire, - Anhedonic Depression scale (MASQ-AD) for use in ROM was scrutinized in a simulation study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The responses of a large sample of patients (<it>N </it>= 3,597) obtained through ROM were used. The psychometric evaluation showed that the items met the requirements for CAT. In the simulations, CATs with several measurement precision requirements were run on the item responses as if they had been collected adaptively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CATs employing only a small number of items gave results which, both in terms of depression measurement and criterion validity, were only marginally different from the results of a full MASQ-AD assessment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It was concluded that CAT improved the efficiency of the MASQ-AD questionnaire very much. The strengths and limitations of the application of CAT in ROM are discussed.</p

Social capital in rural communities in the Netherlands

The quality of life in Dutch rural communities is high in comparison with urban communities in the Netherlands because of the residential quality of villages, the mobility of the inhabitants and the strong commitment by the inhabitants to the local society. However, today’s Dutch villages bear no resemblance to the traditional village and neither is social capital self-evident nowadays. This article presents evidence from two projects. It summarizes some results of a national survey organised within the framework of the research programme entitled ‘The Social State of the Countryside’, as carried out by the Social and Cultural Planning Office of The Netherlands (SCP) and a project in one of the most rural parts of the Netherlands (Zeeland). In the Zeeland villages, social capital is analysed from the point of view of the relationship between quality of life, social cohesion and local community care in small villages

Leefbaarheid en het Vlaamse platteland als woondorpennetwerk

status: publishe