Levenslang in het Koninkrijk. Een rechtsvergelijkend onderzoek naar de tenuitvoerlegging van de levenslange gevangenisstraf binnen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden.

In deze scriptie is onderzocht of de tenuitvoerleggingregimes van de levenslange gevangenisstraf van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden voldoen aan de eisen van 3 EVRM alsmede welke aanbevelingen kunnen worden gedaan ter verbetering van de verschillende stelsels binnen het Koninkrijk. Geconcludeerd kan worden dat de recente beleidswijziging in Nederland op een aantal onderdelen spanning laat zien met 3 EVRM, met name ten aanzien van het moment waarop moet worden begonnen met re-integratie activiteiten. Op de eilanden bestaat er al jaren een herbeoordelingsprocedure. Er is echter geconcludeerd dat met betrekking tot het detentieregime, er sprake is van ernstige tekortkomingen. Het gevolg hiervan is dat de stelsels niet voldoen aan de eisen van artikel 3 EVRM. Nederland kan op de volgende punten leren van de stelsels op de eilanden: • Leg de herbeoordelingsprocedure in handen van de rechter. • Maak de procedure eenvoudiger: een tussenstap is niet nodig. Een herbeoordelingsprocedure voorafgegaan door een op maat gemaakt detentieplan, is eenduidiger. • Neem onduidelijkheid weg met betrekking tot termijnen. • Kies voor een wettelijke regeling. • Bouw resocialisatie rustig en stapsgewijs op, bijvoorbeeld via een detentieplan of een penitentiair programma. Aanbevelingen met betrekking tot de eilanden: • Verbetering van het detentieregime en het vrijmaken van middelen en capaciteit hiervoor

Radial velocity measurements of B stars in the Scorpius-Centaurus association

We derive single-epoch radial velocities for a sample of 56 B-type stars members of the subgroups Upper Scorpius, Upper Centaurus Lupus and Lower Centaurus Crux of the nearby Sco-Cen OB association. The radial velocity measurements were obtained by means of high-resolution echelle spectra via analysis of individual lines. The internal accuracy obtained in the measurements is estimated to be typically 2-3 km/s, but depends on the projected rotational velocity of the target. Radial velocity measurements taken for 2-3 epochs for the targets HD120307, HD142990 and HD139365 are variable and confirm that they are spectroscopic binaries, as previously identified in the literature. Spectral lines from two stellar components are resolved in the observed spectra of target stars HD133242, HD133955 and HD143018, identifying them as spectroscopic binaries.Comment: accepted for publication in A&

Deploying the ICT architecture of a residential demand response pilot

The Flemish project Linear was a large scale residential demand response pilot that aims to validate innovative smart grid technology building on the rollout of information and communication technologies in the power grid. For this pilot a scalable, reliable and interoperable ICT infrastructure was set up, interconnecting 240 residential power grid customers with the backend systems of energy service providers (ESPs), flexibility aggregators, distribution system operators (DSOs) and balancing responsible parties (BRPs). On top of this architecture several business cases were rolled out, which require the sharing of metering data and flexibility information, and demand response algorithms for the balancing of renewable energy and the mitigation of voltage and power issues in distribution grids. The goal of the pilot is the assessment of the technical and economical feasibility of residential demand response in real life, and of the interaction with the end-consumer. In this paper we focus on the practical experiences and lessons learnt during the deployment of the ICT technology for the pilot. This includes the real-time gathering of measurement data and real-time control of a wide range of smart appliances in the homes of the participants. We identified a number of critical issues that need to be addressed for a future full-scale roll-out: (i) reliable in-house communication, (ii) interoperability of appliances, measurement equipment, backend systems, and business cases, and (iii) sufficient backend processing power for real-time analysis and control

Radial velocities of early-type stars in the Perseus OB2 association

We present radial velocities for 29 B- and A-type stars in the field of the nearby association Perseus OB2. The velocities are derived from spectra obtained with AURELIE, via cross correlation with radial velocity standards matched as closely as possible in spectral type. The resulting accuracy is ~2 - 3 km s$^{-1}$. We use these measurements, together with published values for a few other early-type stars, to study membership of the association. The mean radial velocity (and measured velocity dispersion) of Per OB2 is 23.5 \pm 3.9 km s$^{-1}$, and lies ~15 km s$^{-1}$ away from the mean velocity of the local disk field stars. We identify a number of interlopers in the list of possible late-B- and A-type members which was based on Hipparcos parallaxes and proper motions, and discuss the colour-magnitude diagram of the association.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, minor revision

The role of affective teacher–student relationships in bullying and peer victimization: A multilevel meta-analysis

This meta-analysis synthesizes evidence about the associations of affective teacher–student relationships with bullying perpetration and peer victimization. A systematic database search resulted in 65 primary studies (k) that met the inclusion criteria. The final sample included 185,881 students from preschool to high school. Separate multilevel analyses were conducted for bullying perpetration (k = 25, N = 97,627) and peer victimization (k = 57, N = 151,653). Results showed small to medium, negative overall correlations between teacher-student relationship quality and both bullying perpetration (r = −.17, 95% CI [−.21, −.14]) and peer victimization (r = −.14, 95% CI [−.17, −.11]). Teacher-student relationship quality was also related to less subsequent peer victimization (b = −0.05, 95% CI [−0.08, −0.02]). Associations between teacher-student relationship quality and bullying were stronger for ethnic minority students and when the same informant reported about both variables. Associations with peer victimization were stronger for negative (e.g., conflict) than for positive (e.g., closeness) relationship indicators and when the same informant was used for both variables. Generally, findings demonstrate that higher-quality teacher-student relationships are related to less bullying perpetration and less peer victimization. Hence, promoting positive and minimizing negative teacher-student relationships may help to tackle school-based bullying and peer victimization

Repositioning the Catalytic Triad Aspartic Acid of Haloalkane Dehalogenase: Effects on Stability, Kinetics, and Structure

Haloalkane dehalogenase (DhlA) catalyzes the hydrolysis of haloalkanes via an alkyl-enzyme intermediate. The covalent intermediate, which is formed by nucleophilic substitution with Asp124, is hydrolyzed by a water molecule that is activated by His289. The role of Asp260, which is the third member of the catalytic triad, was studied by site-directed mutagenesis. Mutation of Asp260 to asparagine resulted in a catalytically inactive D260N mutant, which demonstrates that the triad acid Asp260 is essential for dehalogenase activity. Furthermore, Asp260 has an important structural role, since the D260N enzyme accumulated mainly in inclusion bodies during expression, and neither substrate nor product could bind in the active-site cavity. Activity for brominated substrates was restored to D260N by replacing Asn148 with an aspartic or glutamic acid. Both double mutants D260N+N148D and D260N+N148E had a 10-fold reduced kcat and 40-fold higher Km values for 1,2-dibromoethane compared to the wild-type enzyme. Pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of the D260N+N148E double mutant showed that the decrease in kcat was mainly caused by a 220-fold reduction of the rate of carbon-bromine bond cleavage and a 10-fold decrease in the rate of hydrolysis of the alkyl-enzyme intermediate. On the other hand, bromide was released 12-fold faster and via a different pathway than in the wild-type enzyme. Molecular modeling of the mutant showed that Glu148 indeed could take over the interaction with His289 and that there was a change in charge distribution in the tunnel region that connects the active site with the solvent. On the basis of primary structure similarity between DhlA and other α/β-hydrolase fold dehalogenases, we propose that a conserved acidic residue at the equivalent position of Asn148 in DhlA is the third catalytic triad residue in the latter enzymes.

Altered leverage around the ankle in people with diabetes: A natural strategy to modify the muscular contribution during walking?

Diabetes patients display gait alterations compared to controls including a higher metabolic cost of walking. This study aimed to investigate whether differences in external moment arm (ExtMA) and effective mechanical advantage (EMA) at the ankle in diabetes patients could partly explain the increased cost of walking compared to controls. Thirty one non-diabetic controls (Ctrl); 22 diabetes patients without peripheral neuropathy (DM) and 14 patients with moderate/severe diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) underwent gait analysis using a motion analysis system and force plates. The internal Achilles tendon moment arm length was determined using magnetic resonance imaging during weight-bearing and ExtMA was calculated using gait analysis. A greater value (P<0.01) for the EMA at the ankle was found in the DPN (0.488) and DM (0.46) groups compared to Ctrl (0.448). The increased EMA was mainly caused by a smaller ExtMA in the DPN (9.63cm; P<0.01) and DM (10.31cm) groups compared to Ctrl (10.42cm) These findings indicate that the ankle plantarflexor muscles would need to generate lower forces to overcome the external resistance during walking compared to controls. Our findings do not explain the previously observedhigher metabolic cost of walking in the DM and DPN groups, but uncover a new mechanism through which patients with diabetes and particularly those with DPN reduce the joint moment at the ankle during walking: by applying the ground reaction force more proximally on the foot, or at an angle directed more towards the ankle, thereby increasing the EMA and reducing the ankle joint moment

Social Actors “to Go”:An Analytical Toolkit to Explore Agency in Business Discourse and Communication

We argue that language awareness and discourse analytical skills should be part of business communication curricula. To this end, we propose a three-step analytical model drawing on organizational and critical discourse studies, and approaches from systemic-functional linguistics, to explore agency and action in business communication. Focusing on language and discourse helps students to analyze texts more systematically, researchers to gain deeper insights into organizational discourse, and practitioners to reflect on communication processes and produce texts with more impact. We view discourse as central to organizational processes and render a specific approach accessible and easy to integrate into business communication curricula

The effect of the dynamical state of clusters on gas expulsion and infant mortality

The star formation efficiency (SFE) of a star cluster is thought to be the critical factor in determining if the cluster can survive for a significant (>50 Myr) time. There is an often quoted critical SFE of ~30 per cent for a cluster to survive gas expulsion. I reiterate that the SFE is not the critical factor, rather it is the dynamical state of the stars (as measured by their virial ratio) immediately before gas expulsion that is the critical factor. If the stars in a star cluster are born in an even slightly cold dynamical state then the survivability of a cluster can be greatly increased.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Review talk given at the meeting on "Young massive star clusters - Initial conditions and environments", E. Perez, R. de Grijs, R. M. Gonzalez Delgado, eds., Granada (Spain), September 2007, Springer: Dordrecht. Replacement to correct mistake in a referenc