Market Monitor: Development of the Wholesale Electricity Market in 2006

Competition in the Dutch electricity market is stagnating. The market remains concentrated, with relatively high prices. The north-west European market must be further integrated by expanding the available interconnection capacity in order to achieve a structural improvement. That could cut consumers’ annual energy bills by several dozen euros per household. Consumers would also benefit indirectly since electricity prices for business would also fall, putting downward pressure on prices of other products. In order to achieve these benefits for consumers, the TSO’s must make headway with the expansion of the available interconnection capacity.Monitoring, electricity, competition, infrastructure

Dyadic analyses of chronic conditions and distress within marriage : a gendered perspective

textChronic conditions negatively impact well-being, and the negative impact of a chronic condition can extend beyond the diagnosed person to his or her spouse. This association may be further influenced by gender, as gender can shape how individuals experience their own chronic conditions-- including what conditions they develop-- and how they react to the conditions and distress of their spouses. In my dissertation, I examine how one spouse’s chronic conditions are related to the other spouse's psychological distress over time. I address this using quantitative analysis of the Health and Retirement Study and qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews. In my quantitative analysis, I find that the association between one spouse’s chronic conditions and the other spouse’s distress differs by gender, number of conditions, whether one or both spouses have chronic conditions, and type of condition. Regarding number of conditions, a husband’s number of chronic conditions increases his wife’s distress more so than a wife’s number of chronic conditions increases her husband’s. These associations are mitigated by the chronically ill spouse’s own distress and functional limitations. Additionally, this gender difference is more pronounced if both spouses have chronic conditions compared to if only one has chronic conditions. Regarding type of condition, lung disease and stroke are the most negatively impactful for spouses’ distress, whereas high blood pressure, cancer, and arthritis are not related to spouses’ distress. All conditions, except for stroke, relate to husbands’ and wives’ distress similarly, but a husband's stroke increases a wife's distress initially whereas the wife's stroke increases the husband's distress over time. In my qualitative analysis, I find that when women are chronically ill, they continue to emotionally care for their husbands, which likely protects their husbands from psychological distress but exacerbates women’s own distress. My results point to the importance of promoting the psychological well-being of both spouses during periods of chronic conditions. This is especially critical for spouses of people with more than one condition, chronically ill women whose husbands are also chronically ill, and spouses of people experiencing stroke and lung disease.Sociolog

Gehechtheid, sociaal netwerk en thuisloosheid bij jongeren

Wetensch. publicatieFaculteit der Sociale Wetenschappe

Management and outcome of hepatocellular adenoma with massive bleeding at presentation

AIM To evaluate outcome of acute management and risk of rebleeding in patients with massive hemorrhage due to hepatocellular adenoma (HCA). METHODS This retrospective cohort study included all consecutive patients who presented to our hospital with massive hemorrhage (grade II or III) due to ruptured HCA and were admitted for observation and/or intervention between 1999-2016. The diagnosis of HCA was based on radiological findings from contrastenhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or pathological findings from biopsy or resection of the HCA. Hemorrhage was diagnosed based on findings from computed tomography or MRI. Medical records were reviewed for demographic features, clinical presentation, tumor features, initial and subsequent management, short- and long-term complications and patient and lesion follow-up. RESULTS All patients were female (n = 23). Treatment in the acute phase consisted of embolization (n = 9, 39.1%), conservative therapy (n = 13, 56.5%), and other intervention (

The impact of injury of the chorda tympani nerve during primary stapes surgery or cochlear implantation on taste function, quality of life and food preferences:A study protocol for a double-blind prospective prognostic association study

BACKGROUND: The chorda tympani nerve (CTN) is a mixed nerve, which carries sensory and parasympathetic fibres. The sensory component supplies the taste sensation of the anterior two-thirds of the ipsilateral side of the tongue. During middle ear surgery the CTN is exposed and frequently stretched or sacrificed, because it lacks a bony covering as it passes through the middle ear. Injury may cause hypogeusia, ageusia or altered taste sensation of the ipsilateral side of the tongue. To date, there is no consensus regarding which type of CTN injury (sacrificing or stretching), during middle ear surgery, leads to the least burden for the patient.METHODS: A double-blind prospective prognostic association study was designed in a single medical centre in the Netherlands to determine the effect of CTN injury on postoperative taste disturbance and quality of life. 154 patients, who will undergo primary stapes surgery or cochlear implantation will be included. The taste sensation, food preferences and quality of life of these patients will be evaluated preoperatively and at one week, six weeks and six months postoperatively using the Taste Strip Test, Electrogustometry, supplementary questionnaire on taste disturbance, Macronutrient and Taste Preference Ranking Task, Appetite, Hunger and Sensory Perception questionnaire and Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders to assess the association of these outcomes with CTN injury. Evaluation of olfactory function will only take place preoperatively and at one week postoperatively using the Sniffin' Sticks. The patient and outcome assessor are blinded to the presence or absence of CTN injury.DISCUSSION: This study is the first to validate and quantify the effect of chorda tympani nerve injury on taste function. The findings of this study may lead to evidence-based proof of the effect of chorda tympani injury on taste function with consequences for surgical strategies.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register NL9791. Registered on 10 October 2021.</p

Diagnosis of Lung Cancer: What Metabolomics Can Contribute

The reprogrammed metabolism of cancer cells reflects itself in an alteration of metabolite concentrations, which in turn can be used to define a specific metabolic phenotype or fingerprint for cancer. In this contribution, a metabolism-based discrimination between lung cancer patients and healthy controls, derived from an analysis of human blood plasma by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy, is described. This technique is becoming widely used in the field of metabolomics because of its ability to provide a highly informative spectrum, representing the relative metabolite concentrations. Cancer types are characterized by decreased or increased levels of specific plasma metabolites, such as glucose or lactate, compared to controls. Data analysis by multivariate statistics provides a classification model with high levels of sensitivity and specificity. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics might not only contribute to the diagnosis of lung cancer but also shows potential for treatment follow-up as well as for paving the way to a better understanding of disease-related diverting biochemical pathways