Vegetatie en grote grazers

Overal ter wereld hebben de verschillende vegetatiestructuren geleid tot aangepaste gebruikers van die vegetatie. De invloed van de gebruikers, met name de grote grazers (herbivoren) op de vegetatie en het landschap wordt in dit artikel belich

Een 'natuurlijk' graassysteem in de Arctis

Begrazing door rendieren, de aanpassing aan het ongunstige seizoen van herbivoren, klimaat en ondergrond in verband met rendierpopulaties en aandacht voor begrazing en begroeiin

Reasons why patients by-pass their GP to visit a hospital Emergency Department.

Knowledge about what motivates patients to visit the emergency department (ED) of a hospital for minor complaints, instead of visiting their general practitioner (GP), can help to reduce unnecessary utilization of expensive services. This paper reports on a study designed to investigate the reasons why patients visit the ED and to determine the influence of patient characteristics on specific motives. A multidimensional measurement instrument was designed to identify the motives of patients who bypass their GP and visit the ED. The instrument assessed 21 motives, all measured by means of three questions in Likert format. During a period of 1 week, all patients who visited the ED of two hospitals in Amsterdam were asked to complete a questionnaire when they were 'self-referred' with minor complaints. A total of 403 questionnaires were analysed, and the results show that motives relating to the GP play a minor role in the decision of patients to visit the ED. Profiles of two major patient groups could be identified. One group comprised patients with a high socio-economic status living in suburbs, whose motives for visiting the ED are mainly of a financial nature. Patients in the second group mainly lived in the inner-city, and preferred the expertise and facilities provided by the ED