Policing organized crime : a new direction

Recent criminological research in the Netherlands underscores the fact that organized crime is embedded in society and the overall picture makes it clear that police emphasis on a crime fighting model of the police, based solely on criminal law will not be entirely effective. Therefore, the Twente police force developed a new strategy of policing organized crime in their region. This strategy is based on criminological knowledge and on the approach of community policing: preventive, pro-active and integrated actions taken by various partners of the police in order to reduce illegal activities of organized crime groups. This strategy, however, can only succeed when two conditions are satisfied. First, this approach can only function in an open democratic society in which numerous public and private organizations and the public feel responsible for the emergence of organized crime in their environment. Secondly, the police force and their partners must be (relatively) free of corruption. This implies that this strategy can only be effective in societies in which organized crime has not deeply penetrated democratic institutions and business organizations

The Netherlands – Transatlantic litigation: the Bijlmer air crash case

Article reporting on the international litigation aspects of the crash of an El Al cargo plane into two apartment buildings in the south-eastern (“Bijlmer”) district of Amsterdam on Sunday 4 October 1992. Published in the Letter from … section of Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and its Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

DNA Spools under Tension

DNA-spools, structures in which DNA is wrapped and helically coiled onto itself or onto a protein core are ubiquitous in nature. We develop a general theory describing the non-equilibrium behavior of DNA-spools under linear tension. Two puzzling and seemingly unrelated recent experimental findings, the sudden quantized unwrapping of nucleosomes and that of DNA toroidal condensates under tension are theoretically explained and shown to be of the same origin. The study provides new insights into nucleosome and chromatin fiber stability and dynamics

Organized condensation of worm-like chains

We present results relevant to the equilibrium organization of DNA strands of arbitrary length interacting with a spherical organizing center, suggestive of DNA-histone complexation in nucleosomes. We obtain a rich phase diagram in which a wrapping state is transformed into a complex multi-leafed, rosette structure as the adhesion energy is reduced. The statistical mechanics of the "melting" of a rosette can be mapped into an exactly soluble one-dimensional many-body problem.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures in a pdf fil

Investigating how students’ learning environment, social and physical well-being influence their resilience and feelings of depression and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

In response to COVID-19 pandemic-related social restrictions, university students have reported being more depressed, lonelier, and less resilient, potentially affected by changes within the academic system. The present study investigates how students’ social and physical well-being affect their psychological well-being and additionally explores the role of the learning environment. To this end, we analyzed secondary data collected during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with multiple regression and explorative analysis. Results indicate that social resources–in particular, the quality rather than the quantity–positively influenced students’ psychological well-being. Engaging in physical exercise appeared beneficial, whereas consuming drugs remained a contradictory predictor. Emergency remote teaching appeared a main factor that predicted students’ well-being. This powerful effect masked the positive influence the teachers could have had. Given the profound changes in the academic system due to persistent social distancing requirements, these insights could provide valuable input when designing a healthy post-pandemic learning environment.</p