The Cultural Landscape & Heritage Paradox; Protection and Development of the Dutch Archeological-Historical Landscape and its European Dimension

To what extent can we know past and mainly invisible landscapes, and how we can use this still hidden knowledge for actual sustainable management of landscape’s cultural and historical values. It has also been acknowledged that heritage management is increasingly about ‘the management of future change rather than simply protection’. This presents us with a paradox: to preserve our historic environment, we have to collaborate with those who wish to transform it and, in order to apply our expert knowledge, we have to make it suitable for policy and society. The answer presented by the Protection and Development of the Dutch Archaeological-Historical Landscape programme (pdl/bbo) is an integrative landscape approach which applies inter- and transdisciplinarity, establishing links between archaeological-historical heritage and planning, and between research and policy. This is supported by two unifying concepts: ‘biography of landscape’ and ‘action research’. This approach focuses upon the interaction between knowledge, policy and an imagination centered on the public. The European perspective makes us aware of the resourcefulness of the diversity of landscapes, of social and institutional structures, of various sorts of problems, approaches and ways forward. In addition, two related issues stand out: the management of knowledge creation for landscape research and management, and the prospects for the near future. Underlying them is the imperative that we learn from the past ‘through landscape’

The G(1) cyclin Cln3 promotes cell cycle entry via the transcription factor Swi6

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast), commitment to cell division in late G1 is promoted by the G1 cyclin Cln3 and its associated cyclin-dependent kinase, Cdc28. We show here that all known aspects of the function of Cln3 in G1 phase, including control of cell size, pheromone sensitivity, cell cycle progress, and transcription, require the protein Swi6. Swi6 is a component of two related transcription factors, SBF and MBF, which are known to regulate many genes at the G1-S transition. The Cln3-Cdc28 complex somehow activates SBF and MBF, but there was no evidence for direct phosphorylation of SBF/MBF by Cln3-Cdc28 or for a stable complex between SBF/MBF and Cln3-Cdc28. The activation also does not depend on the ability of Cln3 to activate transcription when artificially recruited directly to a promoter. The amino terminus and the leucine zipper of Swi6 are important for the ability of Swi6 to respond to Cln3 but are not essential for the basal transcriptional activity of Swi6. Cln3-Cdc28 may activate SBF and MBF indirectly, perhaps by phosphorylating some intermediary protein

Henk Wijnen (Art Forum)

Artist, Henk Wijnen lives and works in the famous Het Veem studios in Central Amsterdam. His work spans video, photography and installation

Geluidmonitor 2014

Het RIVM heeft in 2013 geluidmetingen verricht op 23 locaties langs rijkswegen en op 26 locaties langs spoorwegen. Langs rijkswegen bleek het gemiddelde geluidniveau substantieel (2,4 decibel) hoger te liggen dan de berekende waarde. Langs het spoor was er gemiddeld geen significant verschil (0,5 dB). Afhankelijk van de meetlocatie kunnen de verschillen groter of kleiner zijn. De verschillen langs rijkswegen worden veroorzaakt door het feit dat de wettelijk voorgeschreven rekenmethode uitgaat van stille banden op een droog wegdek bij een standaardtemperatuur van 20 graden Celsius. De omstandigheden zijn vaak ongunstiger. Daarnaast draagt de variatie in akoestische kwaliteit van het wegdek bij aan de verschillen. Het meetprogramma vloeit voort uit een motie van de Tweede Kamer naar aanleiding van geluidwetgeving uit 2012. De wet stelt grenswaarden aan het geluid langs rijkswegen en spoorwegen. De wegen spoorbeheerder (Rijkswaterstaat en ProRail) dienen met een jaarlijkse berekening aan te tonen hieraan te voldoen. Onderdeel van de wet is ook een validatie van de rekenuitkomsten met metingen. Het RIVM verricht hiertoe jaarlijks geluidmetingen en vergelijkt die met de berekende geluidproductie die de weg- en spoorbeheerder rapporteren. Dit rapport gaat in op de verschillen tussen reken en meetresultaten in 2013. Het rapport geeft ook de meetresultaten uit 2014 langs rijkswegen en spoorwegen op 92 meetlocaties. Deze zullen worden vergeleken met de rekenresultaten die door de weg- en spoorbeheerder gepubliceerd worden in september 2015. Hierover zal het RIVM in 2016 rapporteren. Als blijkt dat de verschillen tussen de meet- en rekenwaarden structureel zijn, is nader onderzoek nodig naar de gezondheidskundige relevantie voor de Nederlandse bevolking en naar de vraag of aanpassingen van de rekenmethode nodig zijn.In 2013 RIVM has conducted noise measurements at 23 locations along motorways and at 26 locations along railways. Along motorways, the average measured noise level was substantially (2,4 dB) higher than the calculated value. Along the track, on average no significant difference was found (0,5 dB). Depending on the measurement location, larger or smaller differences can be found. The differences along motorways are partly due to the calculation method, which is based on low-noise tires on dry surfaces at a standard temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. The average conditions are less favorable. Also the variation in acoustic quality of the road surface contributes to the differences. For rail, no clear causes of differences are yet to be declared. The measurement program stems from a motion of the House in response to noise legislation (Swung) proposed and accepted in 2012. This Act sets limits on noise along motorways and railways. The administrators, Rijkswaterstaat and ProRail, annually demonstrate by a statutory calculation to fulfill this requirement. The legislation also requires validation of the calculation results by measurements. To this aim RIVM annually conducts measurements and compares the results with the calculated noise production as reported by the road- and railway administrator. This report discusses the differences between calculation and measurement results in 2013. It also contains the measurement results from 2014, along motorways and railroads on a sample of 92 measuring sites. These results will be compared with the calculation results, after they are published in September 2015 by the road- and railway administrator. If it appears that the differences between measurement and calculation are structural, further research is needed into the health implications for the Dutch population and whether adjustments to the calculation methods are needed.Ministerie van I&

Centralization of pediatric surgical care in the Netherlands:Lessons learned

Centralization of care is a difficult process, as there are several stakeholders that are involved and should be heard. What can be the best option for a small group of patients may be detrimental to a larger group of patients that cannot be adequately treated close to home. The weighing of these factors is different in every environment. One universal rule however is: if you don't do it yourselves, others will do it for you. In the Netherlands, pediatric oncology, including surgery, is centralized in one center (Utrecht) with the help of several shared care centers scattered throughout the country for things that can be managed close to home. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Esophageal atresia: Long-term morbidities in adolescence and adulthood

Survival rates in esophageal atresia (EA) patients have reached 90%. In long-term follow-up studies the focus has shifted from purely surgical or gastrointestinal evaluation to a multidisciplinary approach. We evaluated the long-term morbidity in adolescent and adult EA patients and discussed mainly nonsurgical issues. Dysphagia is common and reported in up to 85% of patients. In young adults gastroesophageal reflux disease occurs frequently with development of Barrett esophagus in 6% reported in different series. It is difficult to estimate respiratory morbidity from the literature because many different definitions, questionnaires, and study designs have been used. However, many patients seem to suffer from respiratory problems even into adulthood. In conclusion, morbidity is not only restricted to surgical problems but many different domains are involved. These are all related and together determine to a large extent the quality of life of EA patients and also of their families. We assume that a multidisciplinary care approach seems best to address their special needs

Measuring primary school teachers’ attitudes towards new technology use: development and validation of the TANT questionnaire

This study concerns the development and validation of a questionnaire to measure primary school Teachers’ Attitudes towards New Technology use in teaching (TANT). Many researchers, policy makers and educators have emphasized the importance of using new technology in teaching. However, no instrument is available to measure teachers’ attitudes towards using new technology in teaching. In a previous literature study (authors), we used the well-known Theory of Planned Behaviour to identify and structure eight underlying factors that make up primary school teachers’ attitudes towards using technology in teaching. In the current study we aim to measure these factors. To that end, we developed eight corresponding scales, as well as a scale to measure primary school teachers’ use of new technology. Results of the validation study among 659 pre- and in-service teachers showed adequate convergent and discriminant validity for six attitudinal factors and teachers’ use of new technology. In addition, we explored the predictive validity of the attitudinal factors for explaining variability in teachers’ use of new technology and established configural, metric and scalar measurement invariance