Explaining new trends in the gender gap of mortality: Insights from a regional trend- analysis of the Netherlands

The recent decrease of the male-female mortality gap in Western Europe has been accompanied by changes in the life style, educational level, family roles and employment of women. In this paper we try to find out whether a relationship indeed exists between the increase in gender equality and the decrease in the male/female mortality difference. We used regional-level data for the Netherlands for the periods 1980-83 and 1996-99 on gender differences in life expectancy, by age group and cause of death, and various measures of gender inequality on the same regional level. In doing this we followed as far as possible a framework recently developed by Ingrid Waldron to analyse changes in gender differences in mortality in the US. The cross-sectional analyses showed that in 1980-83 it was rather socioeconomic than gender role variables that were important in explaining gender difference in mortality, while in the period 1996-99, it was the other way around.

Pragma-Dialectics and Health Communication: Arguing for behavioural change in advisory health brochures

In this paper, it is argued that a pragma-dialectical perspective on advisory health brochures can complement current research in the medical domain and vice versa. Advisory health brochures are characterized as a particular communicative activity type to show how this context influences the argumentative process. It is argued that the quality of argumentation in health communication needs more attention. Insights from behavioural theory and persuasion research may help to detect possibly fallacious manoeuvres

Numerical Methods for Simulating Multiphase Electrohydrodynamic Flows with Application to Liquid Fuel Injection

One approach to small-scale fuel injection is to capitalize upon the benefits of electrohydrodynamics (EHD) and enhance fuel atomization. There are many potential advantages to EHD aided atomization for combustion, such as smaller droplets, wider spray cone, and the ability to control and tune the spray for improved performance. Electrohydrodynamic flows and sprays have drawn increasing interest in recent years, yet key questions regarding the complex interactions among electrostatic charge, electric fields, and the dynamics of atomizing liquids remain unanswered. The complex, multi-physics and multi-scale nature of EHD atomization processes limits both experimental and computational explorations. In this work, novel, numerically sharp methods are developed and subsequently employed in high-fidelity direct numerical simulations of electrically charged liquid hydrocarbon jets. The level set approach is combined with the ghost fluid method (GFM) to accurately simulate primary atomization phenomena for this class of flows. Surface effects at the phase interface as well as bulk dynamics are modeled in an accurate and robust manner. The new methods are implemented within a conservative finite difference scheme of high-order accuracy that employs state-of-the-art interface transport techniques. This approach, validated using several cases with exact analytic solutions, demonstrates significant improvements in accuracy and efficiency compared to previous methods used for EHD simulations. As a final validation, the computational scheme is applied in direct numerical simulation of a charged and uncharged liquid kerosene jet. Then, a detailed numerical study of EHD atomization is conducted for a range of relevant dimensionless parameters to predict the onset of liquid break-up, identify characteristic modes of liquid disintegration, and report elucidating statistics such as drop size and spray dispersion. Because the methodologies developed and validated in this work open new, simulations-based avenues of exploration within a broader category of electrohydrodynamics, some perspectives on extensions or continuations of this work are offered in conclusion

The study of metaphor in argumentation theory

This paper offers a review of the argumentation-theoretical literature on metaphor in argumentative discourse. Two methodologies are combined: the pragma-dialectical theory is used to study the argumentative functions attributed to metaphor, and distinctions made in metaphor theory and the three-dimensional model of metaphor are used to compare the conceptions of metaphor taken as starting point in the reviewed literature. An overview is provided of all types of metaphors distinguished and their possible argumentative functions. The study reveals that not all possible argumentative functions of metaphor have been taken into account, such as the role of conventional direct metaphors in standpoint and starting point. Novel direct metaphor as part of an analogy argument has received most attention, while indirect metaphor can constitute argumentative moves as well, such as the introduction of a standpoint, starting point or connection premise. The overview also shows that certain combinations of variables seem to be impossible of unlikely to occur. These results have a bearing on the analysis of metaphors in argumentative discourse and show the omission in current studies of metaphor. Being aware of these dimensions of metaphor ánd of its potential in argumentation would enrich argumentation studies and metaphor studies alike

150 Years of temperature-related excess mortality in the Netherlands

Even in present-day high-income countries, there is a lot of evidence of a high degree of vulnerability of the population to both high and low outdoor temperatures. The magnitude of temperature-related mortality is strongly related to a wide variety of social, economic, and behavioural factors. To gain insight into the changing impact of cold and heat on mortality, we analyze Dutch individual death records in relation to daily temperature for the period 1855-2006 for one of the 11 Dutch provinces. Making use of negative binomial regression analysis, we study whether the effect of temperature varied by age, sex, and social class, and analyze the changes in the vulnerability to temperature fluctuations.cold spells, heat waves, infant mortality, mortality, Netherlands, temperature

Evaluation of degarelix in the management of prostate cancer

Medical castration using gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor agonists currently provides the mainstay of androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. Although effective, these agents only reduce testosterone levels after a delay of 14 to 21 days; they also cause an initial surge in testosterone that can stimulate the cancer and lead to exacerbation of symptoms (“clinical flare”) in patients with advanced disease. Phase III trial data for the recently approved GnRH receptor blocker, degarelix, demonstrated that it is as effective and well tolerated as GnRH agonists. However, it has a pharmacological profile more closely matching orchiectomy, with an immediate onset of action and faster testosterone and PSA suppression, without a testosterone surge or microsurges following repeated injections. As a consequence, with this GnRH blocker, there is no risk of clinical flare and no need for concomitant antiandrogen flare protection. Degarelix therefore provides a useful addition to the hormonal armamentarium for prostate cancer and offers a valuable new treatment option for patients with hormone-sensitive advanced disease. Here, we review key preclinical and clinical data for degarelix, and look at patient-focused perspectives in the management of prostate cancer

Anticipating resistance to health advice: A speech act perspective

This article addresses the problem of resistance to health advice. It is argued that potential criticism against advice in health settings can be systematically defined with the help of the felicity conditions of the speech act of advising. By taking into account the setting in which health advice is delivered, specified conditions for advising in health settings are proposed. The objective of this study is to present a systematic overview of relevant criticism showing what issues could provoke resistance to advice and thus need to be anticipated or answered. The relevance of these points is illustrated in a case study of advice on achieving a healthy weight on webpages from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A content analysis of the webpages shows that each of the possible points of criticism can be dealt with to prevent resistance