Institutions for Climate Adaptation: An Inventory of Institutions in the Netherlands that are Relevant for Climate Change

One of the goals of project IC12, a research project of the Climate changes Spatial Planning programme, is to assess if the formal institutions operating in the Netherlands are improving or hampering adaptive capacity. In order to answer the research question, the most important documents referring to those institutions need to be evaluated. This document presents an initial inventory of these adaptation institutions – i.e. policy plans, laws and directives, reports and other documents that seemed relevant to the question at hand

The effects of memantine on prepulse inhibition.

Reduced prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle provides evidence of deficient sensorimotor gating in several disorders, including schizophrenia. The role of NMDA neurotransmission in the regulation of PPI is unclear, due to cross-species differences in the effects of NMDA antagonists on PPI. Recent reports suggest that drug effects on PPI differ in subgroups of normal humans that differ in the levels of baseline PPI or specific personality domains; here, we tested the effects of these variables on the sensitivity of PPI to the NMDA antagonist, memantine. PPI was measured in male Sprague-Dawley rats, after treatment with memantine (0, 10 or 20 mg/kg, s.c.). Baseline PPI was then measured in 37 healthy adult men. Next, subjects were tested twice, in a double-blind crossover design, comparing either (1) placebo vs 20 mg of the NMDA antagonist memantine (n=19) or (2) placebo vs 30 mg memantine (n=18). Tests included measures of acoustic startle amplitude, PPI, autonomic indices and subjective self-rating scales. Memantine had dose- and interval-dependent effects on PPI in rats. Compared with vehicle, 10 mg/kg increased short-interval (10-20 ms) PPI, and 20 mg/kg decreased long-interval (120 ms) PPI. In humans, memantine caused dose-dependent effects on psychological and somatic measures: 20 mg was associated with increased ratings of happiness, and 30 mg was associated with increased ratings of dizziness. PPI at the 120 ms prepulse interval was increased by 20 mg, but not 30 mg of memantine. Subgroups most sensitive to the PPI-enhancing effects of memantine were those with low baseline PPI, or with personality scale scores suggestive of high novelty seeking, high sensation seeking, or high disinhibition. NMDA blockade with memantine appears to have dose- and interval-dependent effects on sensorimotor gating in rats and humans, particularly among specific subgroups of normal human subjects. These findings are discussed as they relate to consistencies across other studies in humans, as well as apparent inconsistencies in the NMDA regulation of PPI across species

Zuinig omgaan met het Wad : Casus natuur in het Waddengebied van het Klimaat voor Ruimte project IC12‘Adaptieve capaciteit en instituties’

Dit werkdocument analyseert de adaptieve capaciteit in het Waddengebied om de natuurwaarden te beschermen en ontwikkelen bij klimaatverandering. De verwachting is dat de Waddenzee zou kunnen‘verdrinken’ door een stijgende zeespiegel en dat de soortensamenstelling zou kunnen verschuiven door een hogere watertemperatuur. Uit de toepassing van het adaptatiewiel met zes dimensies en 22 criteria komt naar voren dat de instituties maar beperkte mogelijkheden bieden voor tijdige aanpassing aan klimaatverandering. Er is wel voldoende leervermogen aanwezig in het Waddengebied maar op alle andere dimensies zijn problemen gesignaleerd. Vooral leiderschap en hulpbronnen moeten verbeterd worden

How Dutch Institutions Enhance the Adaptive Capacity of Society

This report examines the adaptive capacity of the institutional framework of the Netherlands to cope with the impacts of climate change. Historically, institutions have evolved incrementally to deal with existing social problems. They provide norms and rules for collective action and create continuity rather than change. However, the nature of societal problems is changing as a result of the processes of globalization and development. With the progress made in the natural sciences, we are able to predict in advance, to a certain extent, the potential environmental impacts of various human actions on society, for example, climate change. This raises some key questions: Are our institutions capable of dealing with this new knowledge about future impacts and, more importantly, with the impacts themselves? Are our institutions capable of dealing with the inherent uncertainty of the predictions

Linear Categorical Marginal Modeling of solicited symptoms in vaccine clinical trials

Analysis of the occurrence of adverse events, and in particular of solicited symptoms, following vaccination is often needed for the safety and benefit-risk evaluation of any candidate vaccine, and typically involves taking repeated measurements. In this article, it is shown that Linear Categorical Marginal Models (LCMMs) are well suited to take into account the dependencies in the data arising from the repeated measurements and provide detailed and useful information for comparing safety profiles of different products while remaining relatively easy to interpret. LCMMs are presented and applied to a Phase III clinical trial of a candidate meningococcal pediatric vaccine

Foot placement variables of pedestrians in community setting during curve walking

Background: There is no precise description of changes of gait during curve walking. Research in curve walking is exclusively performed in clinical settings. Research question: Is there a difference in foot placement variables between the inner- and the outer leg during curve walking in a natural environment? And are these differences correlated with time or the curvature of the path? Method: During this observational study, camera footage was shot on a crossing where pedestrians were not aware of being filmed. Participants (n = 21, male, 18?40 yrs) were selected from this video footage. Using the software package ?Movieprocessing?, the kinematic variables (time, curvature, stride length, step length, step width and relative foot angle (RFA)) were extracted from the collected data. A MANOVA and Pearson correlation test were performed to explore the data. Results: MANOVA showed no significant differences in stride length and step length between inner- and outer leg. In contrast, a significant difference between the inner (M = 0.06, SD = 0.05) and outer leg (M = 0.10, SD = 0.06, F(20,256) = 3.577, p < .001) for the step width, and the inner (M = 11.72, SD = 7.99) and outer leg (M = 11.30, SD = 8.07, F(20,256) = 4.542, p < .001) for RFA was found. Pearson correlation was significant for curvature and step width for both legs pooled (r = .28, p < .01) and the outer leg (r = .64, p < .01), as well for time and RFA in the inner (r= -.25, p < .01) and outer leg (r = .213, p < .01). Significance: This research funds further research in curve walking in natural conditions, since curve walking is found to be performed non-symmetrically and not determined by geometrics but by choice. Foot placement variables change gradually and differently for both legs during walking a curve

Lagere Rijnafvoer bij veranderingen in klimaat en landgebruik

Alterra onderzocht samen met Wageningen Universiteit de gevolgen van klimaat- en landgebruikverandering op lage afvoeren in de Rijn. Hiervoor maakten ze gebruik van het grond- en oppervlaktewatermodel SIMGRO. Uit het onderzoek komt naar voren dat extreme klimaatscenario’s in 2050 zullen leiden tot aanzienlijk lagere afvoeren in de Rijn en bovendien een toename in de duur. Verder blijkt dat veranderingen in het landgebruik een veel kleiner effect hebben op lage afvoeren dan veranderingen in het klimaat. Hierdoor kunnen lagere afvoeren door klimaatverandering moeilijk opgevangen worden met alleen aanpassingen in het landgebrui

Геомеханика разрушения и регламент тампонажного упрочнения пород вокруг наклонных стволов вязкопластическими растворами

Наведено підсумки шахтних досліджень руйнування порід навколо стволів вугільних шахт та обґрунтовано параметри їх зміцнення вязкопластичними розчинами.Research results are mine destruction of rocks around the shafts of coal mines and reasonable options to strengthen viscoplastic solutions

What can research organizations learn from their spin-off companies?: Six case studies in the water sector

Merit, Expertise and Measuremen