Etude du module de l'essai de chargement de pointe E CLT dans un site sableux à Utrecht (Pays-Bas)

Une comparaison est établie ici entre le module (E CLT ) et le module triaxial des éprouvettes de sable reconstituées en laboratoire. On montre que le module triaxial reste dans des proportions acceptables par rapport au module CLT, tant que l'état initial de l'éprouvette est représentatif de la densité en place. Cet essai constitue une alternative intéressante pour obtenir un module dans les sables

Differences in quality-of-life dimensions of Adult Strabismus Quality of Life and Amblyopia & Strabismus Questionnaires

Purpose: The Adult Strabismus Quality of Life Questionnaire (AS-20) and the Amblyopia & Strabismus Questionnaire (A&SQ) both measure health-related quality of life in strabismus patients. We evaluated to what extent these instruments cover similar domains by identifying the underlying quality-of-life factors of the combined questionnaires. Methods: Participants were adults from a historic cohort with available orthoptic childhood data documenting strabismus and/or amblyopia. They had previously completed the A&SQ and were now asked to complete the AS-20. Factor analysis was performed on the correlation-matrix of the combined AS-20 and A&SQ data to identify common underlying factors. The identified factors were correlated with the clinical variables of angle of strabismus, degree of binocular vision, and visual acuity of the worse eye. Results: One hundred ten patients completed both questionnaires (mean age, 44 years; range, 38–51 years). Six factors were found that together explained 78% of the total variance. The factor structure was dominated by the first four factors. One factor contained psychosocial and social-contact items, and another factor depth-perception items from both questionnaires. A third factor contained seven items—only from the AS-20—on eye strain, stress, and difficulties with reading and with concentrating. A fourth factor contained seven items—only from the A&SQ—on fear of losing the better eye and visual disorientation, specific for amblyopia. Current visual acuity of the worse eye correlated with depth-perception items and vision-related items, whereas current binocular vision correlated with psychosocial and social-contact items, in 93 patients. Conclusions: Factor analysis suggests that the AS-20 and A&SQ measure a similar psychosocial quality-of-life domain. However, functional problems like avoidance of reading, difficulty in concentrating, eye stress, reading problems, inability to enjoy hobbies, and need for frequent breaks when reading are represented only in the AS-20. During the development of the A&SQ, asthenopia items were considered insufficiently specific for strabismus and were excluded a priori. The patients who generated the items for the AS-20 had, in majority, adulthood-onset strabismus and diplopia and were, hence, more likely to develop such complaints than our adult patients with childhood-onset strabismus and/or amblyopia

Compounds for treatment of alzheimer’s disease

The invention relates to certain chromanol, quinone or hydroquinone compounds and ‘ derivatives thereof for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and/or for improving memory , function. Specifically, the present invention relates to chromanol compounds chosen from (6— \ 5 hydroxy-2,5,7,8—tetramethylchroman—Zyl)(piperazin-l -yl)methanone, ((S)-6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8~ tetramethyl—N—((R)-piperidin—3—yl)chroman—2—carboxamide hydrochloride and S-(6—hydroxy— 2,5 ,7, 8~tetramethylchroman—2-yl)(4-(2—hydroxyethyl)piperazin- 1 -y1)methanone, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof

Are Dutch Skylarks partial migrants? Ring recovery data and radio-telemetry suggest local coexistence of contrasting migration strategies

In western Europe, farmland birds have declined in recent decades by almost 50% (BirdLife International 2004, EBCC 2009, PECBMS 2009. While declines are frequently associated with changed or changing conditions during the breeding season and deterioration of the breeding habitat In The Netherlands, the Skylark Alauda arvensis is one of the farmland species with the steepest decline: numbers dropped by almost 95% from around 700,000 Are Dutch Skylarks partial migrants? Ring recovery data and radio-telemetry suggest local coexistence of contrasting migration strategies In recent years, Skylarks Alauda arvensis have undergone dramatic population declines in many European countries. Evidence exists for deteriorating conditions during the breeding season, but little is known about the situation during the rest of the annual cycle. Here we use two approaches to test if the Dutch breeding population of Skylarks consists of resident and/or migratory individuals. First, we present an analysis of ring recoveries from the Dutch Ringing Centre "Vogeltrekstation". Out of 25 recoveries, 12 Skylarks were resident in winter, 10 migrated and three were classified as probable migrants. Resident birds were accompanied during winter by birds from northern and eastern Europe. Very limited natal and breeding dispersal recorded in the same dataset suggests that our results were not influenced by long dispersal distances. Next, we compared these results to a local radio-telemetry study in the northern Netherlands. During two different years we equipped a total of 27 Skylarks from a breeding population with radio-transmitters and followed them during the subsequent winter. Four birds were found to winter locally. Out of 23 individuals that we did not find in winter, 14 returned in the following breeding season to the study area, all with a working transmitter, suggesting that they wintered outside our study area. Two ring recoveries of birds from the same study population indeed showed migration to south-west Europe. Based on these two lines of evidence, we conclude local coexistence of a resident and a migrant strategy in Dutch Skylarks. The findings of our study are important for the planning of conservation efforts, as we can only protect this rapidly declining species when we know their behaviour and whereabouts throughout the entire annual cycle. Skylark populations from northern Europe migrate to south-west Europe, mainly to France and Spain, whereas southern European and British populations are thought to be resident Futhermore, it is unclear whether resident and migratory strategies occur within a single Skylark population. Partial migration is defined as occurring when one part of the population remains in the breeding area year round and another part migrates In this study we investigated migration strategies of Skylarks in The Netherlands using two different approaches. First, we analysed all ring recoveries of Skylarks from the database of the Dutch ringing centre "Vogeltrekstation". Second, we conducted a radio-telemetry study in a local breeding population of Skylarks in the northern Netherlands. We combine the results of both approaches to evaluate whether Skylarks that breed in The Netherlands migrate or winter locally. Additionally, we analyse the ring recoveries of Skylarks that spend the winter in The Netherlands, to trace their origin. Finally, we present data on natal and breeding dispersal of Skylarks ringed in The Netherlands during the breeding season to verify that our results on the migratory strategies of Skylarks are not in fact influenced by long-distance dispersal. METHODS Ring recoveries Since 1911 more than 88,000 Skylarks have been ringed in The Netherlands (Vogeltrekstation data until November 2008), of which 497 were recovered. The database contains an additional 35 recoveries of birds ringed in other countries and found in The Netherlands. We selected all cases where distinction between migration strategies (resident in winter vs. migrant) is possible (n = 25, Appendix 1). These include birds that were (1) ringed during the breeding season in The Netherlands (either as nestling or as breeding adult) and recovered in any winter, or during any autumn or spring migration; (2) ringed during winter and reported during the breeding season in The Netherlands; and (3) ringed during migration and recovered during the breeding season within The Netherlands. We define migration based on distance between ringing and recovery site by visually deriving a divide in travelled distance between residents and migrants (see To evaluate whether, in addition to Dutch birds, Skylarks from northern origins also winter in The Netherlands, we selected all birds that were ringed during winter (20 Nov -29 Jan) in The Netherlands and were later recovered further north. We additionally checked for the origin of late migrants (1 Nov -19 Nov). If long-distance natal or breeding dispersal occurs in Skylarks, this could potentially influence our results given the selection criteria we used to classify migrants. Therefore we performed an analysis of natal and breeding dispersal by selecting all recoveries from birds ringed during the breeding season as either nestlings or adults and that were recovered during any subsequent breeding season (n = 43). Of these 43 recoveries, 23 birds were found by the ringer and 20 by another person, and thus estimated dispersal is not only based on birds recaptured by a ringer within a study population. Study area for radiotelemetry We obtained detailed information on a breeding population in the "Aekingerzand", part of the National Park Drents-Friese Wold in the northern Netherlands (52°55'N; 6°18'E). The area is a mixture of open sand, groups of trees, heath-and grasslands on nutrient-poor soil and surrounded by a thin belt of forests. The wider surroundings are characterised by agricultural fields and small villages. The study population consists of about 100 pairs; the vast majority of individuals are colour-ringed. Radio-tracking We equipped 28 Skylarks with radio-transmitters. Eight birds (3 adult males, 4 adult females, 1 juvenile female) received the transmitter in the period 13 Jul -26 Sep 2007 and another 20 (9 adult males, 4 adult females, 4 juvenile males, 2 juvenile females and 1 male of unknown age) in the period 3 Aug -22 Sep 2008 when all birds showed active moult. Ageing of the birds was based on previous ringing or on plumage characteristics; sex was determined by wing length and in doubtful cases confirmed by molecular sexing. The radio-transmitters (172 MHz-band) were specifically designed for this project by JDJC Corp. d.b.a. Sparrow Systems, United States. The life-time was assumed by the manufacturer to be at least 6-7 months. In fact, in all cases where birds returned to the breeding grounds, transmitters continued to work for longer than this expected life-span and one transmitter was still working one year after attachment. Transmitters were fixed on the back of a bird using figure-eight-harnesses (Rappole & Tipton 1991) made from elasticated cotton thread. Transmitters, including harness, ranged in weight from 1.29 to 1.50 g, equalling 3.1-5.2% of a bird's body weight at time of attachment. During the period when transmitters were attached, Skylarks in this study population are close to their minimum weight in the annual cycle (A. Hegemann, unpubl.). From when transmitters were attached until the end of September we carried out repeated searches for birds in the study area to check if birds were still present and to determine if transmitters produced regular signals on the supposed frequency. One transmitter attached to a bird in 2007 failed to work properly due to an antenna that was broken two weeks after attachment. Therefore we excluded this bird from further analysis. Starting in October when birds left the Aekingerzand, we searched for radio-tagged birds using two portable ICOM IC-R20-receivers with hand-held 5-element yagi-antennas. In a radius of up to 8 km around the Aekingerzand, the agricultural landscape was checked for the presence of radio-tagged birds by one person searching for 4-5 days per week and about five hours per day. In the open landscape (excluding villages and wooded areas) we scanned for all used frequencies, conducting scans at regular distances of not more than 1 km apart. In addition we used a dipole antenna mounted on the roof of a car with a automatically scanning receiver to search for birds while driving around the search area. During winter 2008/09 the hand-held antenna was mounted on a 4-m long plastic pole to increase reception. Furthermore we conducted telemetry from a small aircraft (Cessna skyhawk), flying for 2-4 hours at a height of 250-300 m and with a speed of 100-110 km/h in circles over the study area. Flights were completed once in winter 2007/08 (on 8 December) and twice in winter 2008/09 (on 16 January and 6 February). With these flights we covered an area with a radius of about 12 km around the Aekingerzand. During the flight on 8 December 2007 we received signals from one bird we did not find previously by ground telemetry. During the two flights in winter 2008/09 we did not find any additional birds. During all flights radio-tagged birds with known location, or one additional transmitter that was not attached to a 137 bird, were used as references values. From the air we were able to detect these references signals from a distance of at least 2 km. Another search flight was flown in spring 2009 (on 3 March) to search for potentially dispersed birds, but none were found. RESULTS Migration strategies from ringing data Based on 25 ring recoveries, we classified 12 birds as residents, 10 as migrants and three as probable migrants Origin of birds wintering in The Netherlands Eleven birds ringed in winter in The Netherlands were recovered in or on their way towards breeding areas outside The Netherlands, in Denmark (n = 8), Russia (n = 1), Sweden (n = 1) and Norway (n = 1) (Appendix 2). Additionally two birds ringed during the breeding season in Denmark and Norway, respectively, were found in winter in The Netherlands. Furthermore, birds that were ringed during the last part of the southward migration period in The Netherlands (1 Nov -19 Nov) were later reported in Denmark (n = 8) and Russia (n = 1) (Appendix 2). Natal and breeding philopatry Thirty Skylarks ringed as nestlings were reported during a later year as breeding birds. Twenty-six of these birds (1 male, 18 female, 7 unknown) were found within 4 km of the ringing site, and four (all unknown sex) had dispersed further than 10 km from the place of hatching. The furthest recovery was found in a fresh pellet of a Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus one year after being ringed as a nestling, at a distance of 41 km from its place of hatching (H.J. Ottens, pers. comm.). Because Montagu's Harriers of this specific population hunt over distances of more than 18 km from their nest site (C. Trierweiler, pers. comm.), the actual dispersal distance of this bird remains uncertain. Of the 13 birds ringed as adults (5 males, 7 females, 1 unknown) during the breeding season all were reported in subsequent years within 2 km of the site of ringing. Radio-telemetry of Aekingerzand population In the winter of 2007/08 all radio-tagged birds had left the Aekingerzand by 2 October. In the course of the winter we detected signals from three of the seven radio-tagged birds (43%) at distances of 0-9 km from the Aekingerzand. These included two adult males and one adult female ( In the winter of 2008/09 we located only one of the 20 radio-tagged birds in the search area around the Aekingerzand (5%, Both winters combined, we found three of 17 males and one of 10 females to winter locally (Fisher's Exact Test, P = 1). Four adults were found to winter locally, while we did not detect any of the seven juveniles in winter (Fisher's Exact Test, P = 0.55). The proportion of birds we found in our study area during winter, differed between the two years (Fisher's Exact Test, P = 0.04). DISCUSSION Ring recoveries from the entire Netherlands for the past 100 years clearly demonstrate that Dutch Skylarks are partial migrants; some birds migrate to the southwest and others winter close to their breeding grounds. Our radio-telemetry study on a local breeding population in the northern part of The Netherlands confirmed that some birds winter very close to the breeding location while others were not found in winter in the immediat

Construct validation of the Amblyopia and Strabismus Questionnaire (A&SQ) by factor analysis

Background: The Amblyopia and Strabismus Questionnaire (A&SQ) was previously developed to assess quality of life (QoL) in amblyopia and/or strabismus patients. Here, factor analysis with Varimax rotation was employed to confirm that the questions of the A&SQ correlated to dimensions of quality of life (QoL) in such patients. Methods: Responses on the A&SQ from three groups were analyzed: healthy adults (controls) (n = 53), amblyopia and/or strabismus patients (n = 72), and a historic cohort of amblyopes born between 1962-1972 and occluded between 1968-1974 (n = 173). The correlations among the responses to the 26 A&SQ items were factor-analysed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). As the development of the A&SQ was intuitive-deductive, it was expected that the pattern of correlation could be explained by the five a priori hypothesized dimensions: fear of losing the better eye, distance estimation, visual disorientation, diplopia, and social contact and cosmetic problems. Distribution of questions along the factors derived by PCA was examined by orthogonal Varimax rotation. Results: Data from 296 respondents were analyzed. PCA provided that six factors (cutoff point eigenvalue >1.0) accumulatively explained 70.5% of the variance. All A&SQ dimensions but one matched with four factors found by Varimax rotation (factor loadings >0.50), while two factors pertained to the fifth dimension. The six factors explained 33.7% (social contact and cosmetic problems); 10.3% (near distance estimation); 8.7% (diplopia); 7.2% (visual disorientation); 6.3% (fear of losing the better eye); and 4.3% (far distance estimation), together 70.48% of the item variance. Conclusion: The highly explained variance in the A&SQ scores by the factors found by the PCA confirmed the a priori hypothesized dimensions of this QoL instrument

NEXT: Generating tailored ERP applications from ontological enterprise models

Tailoring Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to the needs of the enterprise still is a technical endeavor, often requiring the (de)activation of modules, modification of configuration files or even execution of database queries. Considering the large body of work on Enterprise Modeling and Model-Driven Software Engineering, this is remarkable: Ideally, one models one’s own enterprise and, at the press of a button, ERP software tailored to the needs of the modeled enterprise is generated. In this paper, we introduce NEXT, a novel model-driven software generation approach being developed with precisely this goal in mind. It uses the expressive power of ontological enterprise models (OEMs) to generate ERP cloud applications. An OEM only describes the real-world phenomena essential to the enterprise, using terms and customizations specific to the enterprise. We present our considerations during development of the OEM modeling language, which is designed to capture the specifics of enterprise phenomena in a way that technical details can be derived from it. We expect NEXT to drastically shorten the time-to-market of ERP software, from months–years to hours–days