Between Choice and Stigma:Identifications of Economically Successful Migrants

In this contribution, we draw on the unusual but interesting comparison between ‘immigrants’ and ‘expats’, with the aim of scrutinizing identity construction and the tensions between stigma and identity of choice against the background of the (reluctant) superdiverse city of Rotterdam. We focus on two types of socioeconomically successful migrants which, despite their similarities in class position, are generally regarded as rather different. First, middle-class migrants and members of the second generation from ‘classic’ migration groups in the Netherlands (with roots in Surinam, Turkey and Morocco, including descendants of former guest workers). Second, expatriates or knowledge workers of various national backgrounds (including American, English, Indian, Chinese) who came to the Netherlands on a temporary basis because of their highly-skilled jobs (or the jobs of their partners, as we also included trailing spouses). We address the questions of how these migrants perceive themselves, how they think that others perceive them, and how discrepancies between these two affect their feelings of belonging in the city of Rotterdam and the Netherlands. Our findings suggest that while both ‘immigrants’ and ‘expatriates’ combine various identities, immigrants have more difficulty to adopt alternative identities (such as ‘cosmopolitan’) than expatriates because of their dominant label as ‘allochtoon’ (non-native Dutch).</p

Contrast enhancement by differently sized paramagnetic MRI contrast agents in mice with two phenotypes of atherosclerotic plaque

Interest in the use of contrast-enhanced MRI to enable in vivo specific characterization of atherosclerotic plaques is increasing. In this study the intrinsic ability of three differently sized gadolinium-based contrast agents to permeate different mouse plaque phenotypes was evaluated with MRI. A tapered cast was implanted around the right carotid artery of apoE-/- mice to induce two different plaque phenotypes: a thin cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) and a non-TCFA lesion. Both plaques were allowed to develop over 6 and 9 weeks, leading to an intermediate and advanced lesion, respectively. Signal enhancement in the carotid artery wall, following intravenous injection of Gd-HP-DO3A as well as paramagnetic micelles and liposomes was evaluated. In vivo T1-weighted MRI plaque enhancement characteristics were complemented by fluorescence microscopy and correlated to lesion phenotype. The two smallest contrast agents, i.e. Gd-HP-DO3A and micelles, were found to enhance contrast in T1-weighted MR images of all investigated plaque phenotypes. Maximum contrast enhancement ranged between 53 and 70% at 6¿min after injection of Gd-HP-DO3A with highest enhancement and longest retention in the non-TCFA lesion. Twenty-four hours after injection of micelles maximum contrast enhancement ranged between 24 and 35% in all plaque phenotypes. Administration of the larger liposomes did not cause significant contrast enhancement in the atherosclerotic plaques. Confocal fluorescence microscopy confirmed the MRI-based differences in plaque permeation between micelles and liposomes. Plaque permeation of contrast agents was strongly dependent on size. Our results implicate that, when equipped with targeting ligands, liposomes are most suitable for the imaging of plaque-associated endothelial markers due to low background enhancement, whereas micelles, which accumulate extravascularly on a long timescale, are suited for imaging of less abundant markers inside plaques. Low molecular weight compounds may be employed for target-specific imaging of highly abundant extravascular plaque-associated target

Noem vaccin-critici geen wappies, dat werkt averechts

The politics and administration of institutional chang

Coronavaccinatie in Nederland: over uitvergrote tegenstellingen en lessen voor de toekomst

The politics and administration of institutional chang

On the map: Nature and Science editorials

Bibliometric mapping of scientific articles based on keywords and technical terms in abstracts is now frequently used to chart scientific fields. In contrast, no significant mapping has been applied to the full texts of non-specialist documents. Editorials in Nature and Science are such non-specialist documents, reflecting the views of the two most read scientific journals on science, technology and policy issues. We use the VOSviewer mapping software to chart the topics of these editorials. A term map and a document map are constructed and clusters are distinguished in both of them. The validity of the document clustering is verified by a manual analysis of a sample of the editorials. This analysis confirms the homogeneity of the clusters obtained by mapping and augments the latter with further detail. As a result, the analysis provides reliable information on the distribution of the editorials over topics, and on differences between the journals. The most striking difference is that Nature devotes more attention to internal science policy issues and Science more to the political influence of scientists

COSNET-a coherent optical subscriber network

A complete coherent multichannel system, designed for application in the local loop, is presented. The concept of a uni- and bidirectional system and its technical realization in a laboratory demonstrator are described. The network control, including frequency management of the bidirectional channels, and network security are discussed. Attention is paid to the scenario for evolution from a narrowband to a complete broadband system. All aspects are integrated in a demonstrator, which is capable of supporting a large number of narrowband and broadband distributive and communicative services. Novel technical solutions for frequency management, data induced polarization switching (DIPS), high-speed encryption, and network signaling are presented

De laag-vertrouwensamenleving: de maatschappelijke impact van COVID-19 in Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam & Nederland.

The politics and administration of institutional chang

Performance of the Electromagnetic Pixel Calorimeter Prototype EPICAL-2

The first evaluation of an ultra-high granularity digital electromagnetic calorimeter prototype using 1.0-5.8 GeV/c electrons is presented. The $25\times10^6$ pixel detector consists of 24 layers of ALPIDE CMOS MAPS sensors, with a pitch of around 30~$\mu$m, and has a depth of almost 20 radiation lengths of tungsten absorber. Ultra-thin cables allow for a very compact design. The properties that are critical for physics studies are measured: electromagnetic shower response, energy resolution and linearity. The stochastic energy resolution is comparable with the state-of-the art resolution for a Si-W calorimeter, with data described well by a simulation model using GEANT and Allpix$^2$. The performance achieved makes this technology a good candidate for use in the ALICE FoCal upgrade, and in general demonstrates the strong potential for future applications in high-energy physics.Comment: 30 pages, 19 figures, submitted to JINS

Performance of the electromagnetic pixel calorimeter prototype Epical-2

The first evaluation of an ultra-high granularity digital electromagnetic calorimeter prototype using 1.0-5.8 GeV/c electrons is presented. The 25 × 106 pixel detector consists of 24 layers of ALPIDE CMOS MAPS sensors, with a pitch of around 30 μm, and has a depth of almost 20 radiation lengths of tungsten absorber. Ultra-thin cables allow for a very compact design. The properties that are critical for physics studies are measured: electromagnetic shower response, energy resolution and linearity. The stochastic energy resolution is comparable with the state-of-the art resolution for a Si-W calorimeter, with data described well by a simulation model using Geant4 and Allpix2. The performance achieved makes this technology a good candidate for use in the ALICE FoCal upgrade, and in general demonstrates the strong potential for future applications in high-energy physics