The Value of Information in Container Transport: Leveraging the Triple Bottom Line

Planning the transport of maritime containers from the sea port to final destinations while using multiple transport modes is challenged by uncertainties regarding the time the container is released for further transport or the transit time from the port to its final destination. This paper assesses the value of information in container transport in terms of multiple performance dimensions, i.e. logistics costs, reliability, security, and emissions. The analysis is done using a single period model where a decision maker allocates arriving containers to two transport modes (slow, low price, no flexible departure times, versus fast, high price, flexible departure times). We construct a frontier of Pareto optimal decisions under each of the information scenarios and show that these frontiers move in a favorable direction when the level of information progresses. Each of the Pareto frontiers help strike the balance between the aforementioned performance dimensions. The mathematical results are illustrated using two numerical examples involving barge transport and train transport

COVID-19 outbreaks among crew on commercial ships at the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2020 to 2021

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, international shipping activity was disrupted as movement of people and goods was restricted. The Port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe, remained operational throughout.AimWe describe the burden of COVID-19 among crew on sea-going vessels at the port and recommend improvements in future infectious disease event notification and response at commercial ports.MethodsSuspected COVID-19 cases on sea-going vessels were notified to port authorities and public health (PH) authorities pre-arrival via the Maritime Declaration of Health. We linked data from port and PH information systems between 1 January 2020 and 31 July 2021, derived a notification rate (NR) of COVID-19 events per arrival, and an attack rate (AR) per vessel (confirmed cases). We compared AR by vessel type (workship/tanker/cargo/passenger), during wildtype-, alpha- and delta-dominant calendar periods.ResultsEighty-four COVID-19 events were notified on ships, involving 622 cases. The NR among 45,030 new arrivals was 173 per 100,000 impacting 1% of vessels. Events per week peaked in April 2021 and again in July 2021, when the AR was also highest. Half of all cases were notified on workships, events occurring earlier and more frequently than on other vessels.ConclusionNotification of COVID-19 events on ships occurred infrequently, although case under-ascertainment was likely. Pre-agreed protocols for data-sharing between stakeholders locally and across Europe would facilitate more efficient pandemic response. Public health access to specimens for sequencing and environmental sampling would give greater insight into viral spread on ships.</p

Impact of personality functioning and pathological traits on mental wellbeing of older patients with personality disorders

BACKGROUND: Although personality disorders are common and consequential, they are largely ignored in geriatric mental healthcare. We examined the relative contributions of different aspects of personality disorders and comorbid mental disorders to the impairment of mental wellbeing in older adults. METHODS: Baseline data were used of 138 patients who participated in a randomized controlled trial on schema therapy for geriatric mental health outpatients with a full or subthreshold cluster B or C personality disorder. Personality was assessed according to both the categorical and dimensional model of DSM-5. Aspects of mental wellbeing assessed were; psychological distress, positive mental health, subjective health, and life satisfaction. The current study uses baseline data of the RCT to examine the associations between different aspects of personality pathology and mental wellbeing by multivariate regression analysis, controlling for age, sex, level of education, and number of chronic somatic illnesses. RESULTS: The vast majority of patients (79.0%) had one or more mental disorders in addition to personality disorder. Personality pathology was responsible for the core of the mental health burden experienced by patients, and negated the influence of co-occurring mental disorders when entered subsequently in multivariate analysis. Personality dimensions proved to be highly predictive of mental wellbeing, and this contrasted with absence of influence of personality disorder diagnosis. Although the personality functioning dimensions – and in particular Identity integration (large effect size with partial eta-squared = 0.36) – were the primary predictors of mental wellbeing, personality trait dimensions added significant predictive value to that (Disinhibition 0.25 and Negative affect 0.24). CONCLUSIONS: Personality disorders seriously affect the mental wellbeing of patients, and this overshadows the impact of comorbid mental disorders. In particular personality functioning and pathological traits of the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) of DSM-5 contribute to this impact on mental wellbeing. Alertness for and treatment of personality disorders in geriatric mental healthcare seems warranted. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-022-03857-8

Social cognition impairments after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage::associations with deficits in interpersonal behaviour, apathy and impaired self-awareness

Behavioural disturbances are frequently found after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH). Social cognition impairments have been suggested as a possible underlying mechanism for behavioural problems. Also, aSAH is likely to result in damage affecting frontal-subcortical circuits underlying social cognition. Therefore, we aimed to investigate social cognition after aSAH and its associations with behavioural problems (deficits in interpersonal behaviour, apathy, and impaired self-awareness) and focal as well as diffuse brain damage. 88 aSAH patients (in the subacute phase post-aSAH) and 60 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls participated. Tasks for emotion recognition, Theory of Mind (ToM), and empathy as well as questionnaires were used. Cortical infarctions in frontal and non-frontal areas on MRI, aneurysm circulation and aSAH-related events were taken into account. Compared to healthy controls, aSAH patients performed significantly worse on tasks for emotion recognition, ToM and empathy. Poor performance on ToM and emotion recognition was associated with proxy-ratings indicating impaired interpersonal behaviour and apathy and with indications of impaired self-awareness. No associations were found between deficits in social cognition and frontal or non-frontal cortical lesions on MRI. Also, aneurysm circulation and aSAH-related events such as hydrocephalus, vasospasm, and treatment method did not explain why and how social cognitive deficits did occur after aSAH. In conclusion, emotion recognition, ToM and empathy were clearly impaired in aSAH patients and these deficits were related to apathy and deficits in interpersonal behaviour as reported by proxies and to impaired self-awareness. This association strengthens the assumption of impaired social cognition as an underlying construct of behavioural problems after aSAH. Consequently, social cognition tests and proxy-ratings should be used in clinical practice, irrespective of lesion location on MRI or aneurysm circulation, to improve the detection and treatment of apathy and deficits in interpersonal behaviour after aSAH

Grutto Landschap Project, Jaarverslag 2021:De staat van ons landschap: biomonitoring van duurzame landbouw innovaties

Dit onderzoek werd in 2021 gefinancierd door het Ministerie van LNV, Vogelbescherming Nederland, Provincie Fryslân, EU LIFE IP GrassBirdHabitats en Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Het bouwt voort op de onderzoekinvesteringen in 2004-2019 door het Ministerie van LNV, het Ministerie van Economische Zaken, de Provincie Fryslân, de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) vanwege de TOP-subsidie ‘Shorebirds in space’ en de Spinoza Premie 2014 aan T. Piersma, en door bijdragen van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Vogelbescherming-Nederland en Wereld Natuur Fonds aan de leerstoel Trekvogelecologie aan de RuG, grote investeringen van anonieme donoren, het Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds, en door bijdragen van het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds (via It Fryske Gea) en de Van der Hucht De Beukelaar Stichting. In dit jaarverslag presenteren we de achtergrond van ons onderzoek en een overzicht van de voorlopige resultaten van de monitoring van de gruttopopulatie, predatoren en alternatieve prooien, insecten, bodemleven en landgebruik in 2021 en/of voorgaande jaren. We beschrijven de inzichten en ideeën die we daaruit halen voor verdere analyse van de data en toekomstig onderzoek. Let op dat het hier gaat om voorlopige bevindingen en dat de variatie in veel gevallen nog statistisch moeten worden getoetst. Kortom, dat deze resultaten nog lang niet definitief zijn. We lichten in ons jaarverslag een tipje van de sluier op van wat we tot nu toe hebben waargenomen en voor de statistische onderbouwing verwijzen we u naar onze peer-reviewed verschenen (zie paragraaf 4.1) en nog te verschijnen artikelen

Skunk River Review Fall 1995, Vol 7

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/skunkriver/1016/thumbnail.jp