From the Instrument of Delivery to the Actual Agent of Harm: Fighting the Criminal Purchase of Ammunition

The illegal trade in ammunition in the Netherlands seems to be a small-scale problem. However, as a result of high profits and a small chance of being caught, it is an extremely attractive criminal activity for malicious individuals. The criminal purchase of ammunition is facilitated by weaknesses in the logistic supply chain for legal ammunition, current legislation on the purchase, possession, transport and use of ammunition and the inadequacy with which Dutch government agencies enforce the laws. The fight against the criminal purchase of ammunition could benefit from the adoption of an automated registration system by arms dealers, the use of a different type of freighting method for legal ammunition transport and a common approach by European law enforcement agencies.\u

The potential of South Africa as a developmental state : a political economy critique

At a time when most countries in the world adopted the principles of the Washington consensus with regard to government and the principles of New Public Management with regard to its governance, developments in South Africa from the early 1990s onward seemingly went the other way. Departing from an apartheid-system before 1994 the new democratic state of South Africa inherited a regime based on neoliberal principles with regard to socio-economic development with consequently a minimalist role of the state in terms of its intervention in the economic arena. Where everywhere in the world government was seen as the problem, the ANC government evidently had other views regarding its role in socio-economic development. The government enacted and promulgated various people-centred policies and strategic programmes, and the ANC adopted the principles of the developmental state with the belief that state economic intervention could enhance and strengthen the government or state capacity to deal with the challenges of poverty, unemployment and gross inequalities. The questions this article tries to answer are whether it is possible for a nation state to go counter to dominant international developments, which dilemmas it faces, which hurdles it has to overcome and whether it could have been effective and efficient in a globalised world in which the dominant powers were clearly opposed to such policies. The article further explores the potential as well as challenges embedded within an aspiring developmental state endorsing a policy philosophy in favour of state intervention within an international context in which the dominant policy theory is opposed to state intervention. The main question to be answered is what kind of difficulties a state government faces when it moves, with regard to its presumed role vis-à-vis society, against the (international) grain and whether it is possible in this era of globalisation to survive nonetheless

Effects of heatwaves on lake composition derived from satellite observations

As a consequence of the ever-increasing global temperature, not only the air, and surface, but also lakes are warming up. This is expressed by steadily increasing base temperatures, but also in increases in the frequency and intensity of lake heatwaves. Land-based organisms may adapt to a changing climate by migrating to more suitable habitats, but this is usually not an option for lake-dwellers. Because many livelihoods depend on the ecosystem services of lakes, understanding the effects of heatwaves on lake composition form an important input for the assessment of climate change impacts and design of adaptation strategies.Using satellite data of lake temperature and water quality observations, we here investigate the effects of heatwaves on lake composition by studying the relationship between heatwaves and water quality variables of temperature, chlorophyll-a , colored dissolved organic matter, and suspended particulate matter . The latter can be used to infer effects of heat stress on health and populations of phyto- and zooplankton communities and higher aquatic organisms. Satellite-based data sets provided by the Climate Change Initiative of the European Space Agency, CCI-Lakes (https://climate.esa.int/en/projects/lakes/) are used in conjunction with the 2SeaColor model to determine depth-dependent attenuation coefficients and water quality variables.These data are complemented with and compared to data from Copernicus Global Land Services (https://land.copernicus.eu/global/products/). The co-occurrence of heatwaves and changes in lake composition is investigated using statistical tools, and the causality is examined by comparison with biophysical models. The results from this study are discussed in light of previously published projected changes in heatwave frequency and intensity

Effects of early nutrition and transport of 1-day-old chickens on production performance and fear response

The importance of optimal early life conditions of broilers to sustain efficient and healthy production of broiler meat is increasingly recognized. Therefore, novel husbandry systems are developed, in which immediate provision of nutrition post hatch is combined with on-farm hatching. In these novel systems, 1-day-old-chick handling and transport are minimized. To study whether early nutrition and reduced transport are beneficial for broiler performance and behavior, the effects of early or delayed nutrition and post-hatch handling and transport were tested from hatch until 35 d of age, in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. In total, 960 eggs were hatched in 36 floor pens. After hatch, chicks were given immediate access to water and feed (early nutrition) or after 54 h (delayed nutrition). Eighteen hours after hatch, chicks remained in their pens (non-transported control), or were subjected to short-term handling and transport to simulate conventional procedures. Subsequently, chicks returned to their pens. Compared with delayed-fed chickens, early-fed chickens had greater body weight up to 21 d of age, but not at slaughter (35 d of age). No effects of transport or its interaction with moment of first nutrition were found on performance. At 3 d post hatch, transported, early-fed chicks had a greater latency to stand up in a tonic immobility test than transported, delayed-fed chicks, but only in chicks that were transported. At 30 d post hatch, however, latency was greater in transported, delayed-fed chickens than in transported, early-fed chicks. This may indicate long-term deleterious effects of delayed nutrition on fear response in transported chickens. It is concluded that early nutrition has mainly beneficial effects on performance during the first 2 wk post hatch, but these beneficial effects are less evident in later life. The combination of transport and early nutrition may influence the chicken's strategies to cope with stressful events in early and later life