A Novel Standardized Method for Aiding to Determine Left Atrial Enlargement on Lateral Thoracic Radiographs in Dogs

BACKGROUND: Left atrial enlargement indicates severe cardiac disease. Although the gold standard for determining left atrial size is echocardiography, many veterinary practices lack the necessary equipment and expertise. Therefore, thoracic radiography is often used to differentiate cardiogenic pulmonary edema from primary respiratory diseases and to facilitate distinguishing dogs with stage B1 and B2 mitral valve degeneration. METHODS: The goal was to test a new standardized method for identifying radiographic left atrial enlargement. On a lateral radiograph, a straight line was drawn from the dorsal border of the tracheal bifurcation to the crossing point of the dorsal border of the caudal vena cava and the most cranial crus of the diaphragm. If a part of the left atrium extended this line dorsally, it was considered enlarged. Echocardiographic left atrial to aortic ratio (LA:Ao) was used as a reference. Thirty-nine observers with various levels of experience evaluated 90 radiographs, first subjectively, then applying the new method. RESULTS: The new method moderately correlated with LA:Ao (r = 0.56-0.66) in all groups. The diagnostic accuracy (72-74%) of the subjective assessment and the new method showed no difference. CONCLUSIONS: Though the new method was not superior to subjective assessment, it may facilitate learning and subjective interpretation

Subsidence reveals potential impacts of future sea level rise on inhabited mangrove coasts

Human-induced land subsidence causes many coastal areas to sink centimetres per year, exacerbating relative sea level rise (RSLR). While cities combat this problem through investment in coastal infrastructure, rural areas are highly dependent on the persistence of protective coastal ecosystems, such as mangroves and marshes. To shed light on the future of low-lying rural areas in the face of RSLR, we here studied a 20-km-long rural coastline neighbouring a sinking city in Indonesia, reportedly sinking with 8–20 cm per year. By measuring water levels in mangroves and quantifying floor raisings of village houses, we show that, while villages experienced rapidly rising water levels, their protective mangroves experience less rapid changes in RSLR. Individual trees were able to cope with RSLR rates of 4.3 (95% confidence interval 2.3–6.3) cm per year through various root adaptations when sediment was available locally. However, lateral retreat of the forest proved inevitable, with RSLR rates up to four times higher than foreshore accretion, forcing people from coastal communities to migrate as the shoreline retreated. Whereas local RSLR may be effectively reduced by better management of groundwater resources, the effects of RSLR described here predict a gloomy prospect for rural communities that are facing globally induced sea level rise beyond the control of local or regional government

Klimaatatelier Rheden

De Provincie Gelderland wil vanuit haar klimaatprogramma klimaatbestendigheid stimuleren. Naast aandacht voor klimaatverandering in provinciaal beleid wordt ook actief richting regio’s en gemeenten gewezen op het belang en de meerwaarde van klimaatadaptatie. Dat gebeurt onder andere door het houden van een klimaatatelier. Een van de klimaatateliers is op 25 november 2013 georganiseerd voor de gemeente Rheden. Dit atelier werd goed bezocht en had een primeur: 2 wethouders waren bij het ochtendprogramma aanwezig. Het klimaatatelier bestond uit 3 ‘blokken’: • Doel en kader door vertegenwoordigers van de gemeente en de provincie Gelderland • Toelichtingen op het klimaatbeleid en de gevolgen voor Rheden, én op de situatie van bodem, water en groen in de gemeente. • Aanzet voor een adaptatiestrategie door het schetsen op ruimtelijke mogelijkheden en een discussie over governance, samenwerking en beleid

Klaar voor klimaatverandering - Opmaak van een risico- en kwetsbaarheidsanalyse in functie van klimaatadaptatie en uitwerken van adaptatiebeleid op maat van en voor de provincie Antwerpen

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Promoting the Aesthetic Experience: The Rise of Receptive Art Education in the Netherlands

In 1999, a mandatory and interdisciplinary art course, Cultural and Artistic Education (Culturele en Kunstzinnige Vorming, or CKV), was introduced in the Dutch secondary school system. The course focuses on receptive, rather than active, art education. Cultural activities, such as visiting an art exhibition or a theatre performance, form the core elements. This article describes a qualitative field study about CKV with a special focus on the selection of cultural activities and the quality criteria that inform these choices. The study was performed using open, in-depth interviews with schoolteachers, students, and educators working at theatres and theatre companies. This article not only summarizes the results of the study but also deals with the question of how public authorities, schools, teachers, and cultural organizations can improve the quality of art education within the curriculu

Maternal Ratings of Attention Problems in ADHD: Evidence for the Existence of a Continuum

To investigate whether items assessing attention problems provide evidence of quantitative differences or categorically distinct subtypes of attention problems (APs) and to investigate the relation of empirically derived latent classes to DSM-IV diagnoses of subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), for example, combined subtype, predominantly inattentive type, and predominantly hyperactive/impulsive type. Data on attention problems were obtained from maternal ratings on the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL). Latent class models, which assume categorically different subtypes, and factor mixture models, which permit severity differences, are fitted to data obtained from Dutch boys at age 7 (N = 8,079), 10 (N = 5,278), and 12 years (N = 3,139). The fit of the different models to the data is compared to decide which model, and hence, which corresponding interpretation of AP, is most appropriate. Next, ADHD diagnoses are regressed on latent class membership in a subsample of children. At all the three ages, models that distinguish between three mainly quantitatively different classes (e.g., mild, moderate, and severe attention problems) provide the best fit to the data. Within each class, the CBCL items measure three correlated continuous factors that can be interpreted in terms of hyperactivity/impulsivity, inattentiveness/dreaminess, and nervous behavior. The AP severe class contains all of the subjects diagnosed with ADHD-combined subtype. Some subjects diagnosed with ADHD-predominantly inattentive type are in the moderate AP class. Factor mixture analyses provide evidence that the CBCL AP syndrome varies along a severity continuum of mild to moderate to severe attention problems. Children affected with ADHD are at the extreme of the continuum. These data are important for clinicians, research scholars, and the framers of the DSM-V as they provide evidence that ADHD diagnoses exist on a continuum rather than as discrete categorie

Designing Competence-Based Vocational Curricula at the School-Work Boundary

In this chapter, competence-based education (CBE) will be studied from the perspective of the curriculum. We will give an overview of what CBE entails, and review current practice and research on the status quo of CBE in Dutch VET. For this, we shall use peer-reviewed research and more practical, so-called ‘grey publications’. After a brief historical sketch of its rise in the Netherlands, we will give a characterisation of CBE. The conclusion is that CBE curricula in the Netherlands share the following characteristics: (1) integration of knowledge, skills, and attitude in competencies; (2) orientation on acting and integration in the professional domain, both in learning and assessment processes; (3) focus on the individual (i.e. flexibility) supported by the teachers; and, (4) focus on the development of the individual’s career competencies. The main difficulties of CBE implementation are introduced, which are pedagogical, conceptual, and cultural in nature and may help to explain why implementing CBE to its full extent is a time-consuming process. Although all the difficulties described hinder smooth CBE implementation, the difficulty in connecting learning in schools with learning in the workplace must be considered the central problem in implementing CBE in VET curricula. The remainder of this chapter takes a closer look at insights concerning the school-work boundary; it is first explored at the institutional level of co-development between education and workplaces, second with the aid of learning mechanisms in learning environments and after that through the means of a two-dimensional model. The chapter concludes with a closer look inside a learning environment at the intersection of the school-work-boundary that is the result of co-development efforts.</p

Designing Competence-Based Vocational Curricula at the School-Work Boundary

<p>In this chapter, competence-based education (CBE) will be studied from the perspective of the curriculum. We will give an overview of what CBE entails, and review current practice and research on the status quo of CBE in Dutch VET. For this, we shall use peer-reviewed research and more practical, so-called ‘grey publications’. After a brief historical sketch of its rise in the Netherlands, we will give a characterisation of CBE. The conclusion is that CBE curricula in the Netherlands share the following characteristics: (1) integration of knowledge, skills, and attitude in competencies; (2) orientation on acting and integration in the professional domain, both in learning and assessment processes; (3) focus on the individual (i.e. flexibility) supported by the teachers; and, (4) focus on the development of the individual’s career competencies. The main difficulties of CBE implementation are introduced, which are pedagogical, conceptual, and cultural in nature and may help to explain why implementing CBE to its full extent is a time-consuming process. Although all the difficulties described hinder smooth CBE implementation, the difficulty in connecting learning in schools with learning in the workplace must be considered the central problem in implementing CBE in VET curricula. The remainder of this chapter takes a closer look at insights concerning the school-work boundary; it is first explored at the institutional level of co-development between education and workplaces, second with the aid of learning mechanisms in learning environments and after that through the means of a two-dimensional model. The chapter concludes with a closer look inside a learning environment at the intersection of the school-work-boundary that is the result of co-development efforts.</p