Het bestrijden van verstuiven op landbouwgronden

Ruim 10% van de Nederlandse landbouwgrond is min of meer stuifgevoelig. In totaal 80.000 ha heeft deze eigenschap van nature. Als stuifgevoelig worden in Nederland algemeen aangemerkt: zandgronden met een organisch-stofgehalte van 7% of lager en veenkoloniale grond (dalgrond) met 15% of minder organische-stofdelen. De laatste jaren zijn diverse mogelijkheden onderzocht via het PAGV samen met regionale centra in noordoostelijk en zuidoostelijk Nederland. De belangrijkste resultaten worden in dit verslag samengeva

The relationship between mental disorders and actual and desired subjective social status

Mental disorders are associated with lower subjective social status (SSS), but a more nuanced understanding of this relationship is needed. We examined the influence of disorder age of onset and recency on SSS and studied whether mental disorders are also associated with the discrepancy between actual and desired SSS.Method Data are from the baseline and second wave of the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2 (NEMESIS-2). Mental disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 3.0), while both actual and desired SSS were assessed with a ten-rung ladder. Linear regression was used to examine the association between mental disorders and SSS.Results Of 5303 participants, 2237 had a lifetime mental disorder at baseline. These participants reported significantly lower actual SSS (6.28) at follow-up than healthy participants (6.66, B = -0.38 [95% CI -0.48 to -0.27], p < 0.001) and a significantly greater actual-desired SSS discrepancy (1.14 v. 1.05 after controlling for actual SSS, B = 0.09 [0.01-0.17], p = 0.024). Lower age of onset of the first mental disorder was marginally significantly associated with lower actual SSS (B = 0.006 [0.000-0.012], p = 0.046). More recent disorders were also associated with lower actual SSS (B = 0.015 [0.005-0.026], p = 0.005), such that participants whose disorder remitted a ≥6 years before baseline were statistically indistinguishable from healthy participants.Conclusions Lifetime mental disorders are associated with lower actual SSS and a slightly greater discrepancy between actual and desired SSS. However, people with mental disorders in (long-term) remission have a similar social status as healthy participants

Looking outside the box : access and benefit sharing for family farmers in Zimbabwe

What is successful access and benefit sharing’ for smallholder family farmers? This contribution argues it is not about legal contracts or mechanisms that regulate the international transfer of plant genetic resources. It is about farmers’ access to seed diversity and the ability to share in the benefits of the continuing cycles of seed conservation and development. The Community Technology Development Trust in Zimbabwe supports mechanisms that, in practice, do result in substantial access to and benefit sharing of local and modern varieties

Evidence-b(i)ased psychiatry:research into the evidence for effectiveness and safety of antidepressants in depression and anxiety disorders

BACKGROUND: Antidepressants remain controversial, partly due to allegations that disappointing results were buried and because of their modest average efficacy.&lt;br/&gt; AIM: To investigate bias in the antidepressant literature and the possibilities for predicting which patients with depression or anxiety do receive significant benefits from antidepressants.&lt;br/&gt; METHOD: We investigated bias by comparing information from the US Food and Drug Administration with the published literature. To predict response, we used patient data from randomized trials.&lt;br/&gt; RESULTS: Of all studies on depression or anxiety, 50% and 72% were positive, compared to 95% and 96% of all published studies. Safety outcomes were poorly reported in published articles and unpublished studies were often 'bundled' into pooled-trials publications with positive conclusions. We found an association between severity and antidepressant efficacy for some, but not all, anxiety disorders; previous research has found inconsistent evidence for this association for depression. Furthermore, patients with depression that showed early improvement were more likely to attain a good response, irrespective of which symptoms improved.&lt;br/&gt; CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate the severe impact of bias on the antidepressant literature. Severity and early improvement predicted a good response, but more information is needed to improve predictions. The increased accessibility of individual patient data will hopefully soon enable further progress in this area.</p