Search

Introduction: The Fear-Avoidance Components Scale (FACS) has been developed within the framework of the most current fear-avoidance model.1 This study aimed to translate the FACS into Dutch, and to investigate its measurement properties in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Methods: The original English FACS was translated in Dutch through forward-backward translation. The FACS-D's measurement properties were evaluated in 224 persons with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability and measurement error were assessed with the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (a), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM) and smallest detectable change (SDC). Construct validity (including structural validity and hypothesis testing) was assessed through inter-item correlation analyses, exploratory factor analysis and by examining relationships between the FACS-D and other patient-reported instruments. Results: Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were high (a = 0.92; ICC = 0.92), and the SEM was 5.6 points. Regarding structural validity, low inter-item correlations were found for item 12. A two-factor model was found to best fit the data: one factor covered pain-related cognitions and emotions, the second factor covered items regarding avoidance behaviour. Five out of seven of the a priori-formulated hypotheses were confirmed. Discussion: The FACS-D has good reliability and validity, and can be used to evaluate fear-avoidance in persons with chronic musculoskeletal pain. It's a two-dimensional scale that assesses two clinically relevant constructs of fear-avoidance behaviour. One factor covers pain-related cognitions and emotions, while the other factor covers avoidance behaviour. Process evaluation: Notwithstanding the sound methodology, the paper's content is considered of low priority by editors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There is growing acknowledgement of the benefits of incorporating a bio-psychosocial model of understanding pain within physical therapist practice1. Consequently this has led to an increasing interest in interventions such Pain neuroscience education (PNE). However, pain management strategies developed by clinicians in one culture may not necessarily be understood, appropriate, or effective in another culture2 Methods: This study is part of a broader research in the development of culturally sensitive pain neuroscience education for the Lebanese population. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to first gain an in-depth understanding of the Lebanese physiotherapists' perceptions towards the management of chronic low back pain as well as the knowledge regarding PNE. A qualitative one-to-one semi-structured interviews with 10 practicing physical therapists were conducted. The transcribed text from the interviews was analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Several themes were generated, identified, and constructed by the researchers: (1) physiotherapists use of a biomechanical approach. (2) Poor knowledge about the bio-psychosocial approach or PNE. (3) Barrier and facilitation for the implementation of PNE. Discussion: The preliminary results showed a limited knowledge of the bio-psychosocial approach, or PNE, and that the Lebanese physical therapist use more a biomechanical approach in the treatment and assessment of people with chronic low back pain. Process evaluation: The results showed that training is needed for physiotherapists to deliver a broader model of care, and that future research should focus on developing a culturally sensitive PNE material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Psychosocial factors predict recovery in patients with spinal pain. Several of these factors are modifiable. However, physiotherapists indicate that they do not feel sufficiently equipped to address these factors. We developed an eHealth intervention to support physiotherapists in managing psychosocial factors in patients with spinal pain. This paper describes the protocol for a pragmatic randomised clinical trial which evaluates the effectiveness of this eHealth intervention blended with physiotherapy compared to physiotherapy alone. Methods: Participants with non-specific low back pain and/or neck pain for at least six weeks who also experience psychosocial symptoms will be recruited in a pragmatic multi-centre cluster randomised clinical trial. The experimental intervention consists of physiotherapy blended with six online modules of pain education and behavioural activation. The control intervention consists of usual care physiotherapy. The primary outcomes are disability and perceived effect. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, and at 2, 6 and 12 months after baseline. The results will be analysed using linear mixed models. Results: At this moment, 357 patients were assessed for eligibility and 140 patients are included. Our hypothesis is that the blended intervention is more effective than usual physiotherapy at 12 month follow-up. Process evaluation: Inclusion of participants has proven challenging, we have extended the inclusion phase with 1.5 years and recruited more physiotherapy practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External peer review was introduced in general hospitals in the Netherlands in 1994 to assess and improve the multidisciplinary team approach in cancer care. This paper aims to explore the value, perceived impact, and (future) role of external peer review in cancer care. Semistructured interviews were held with clinicians, oncology nurses, and managers from fifteen general hospitals that participated in three rounds of peer review over a period of 16 years. Interviewees reflected on the goals and expectations, experiences, perceived impact, and future role of external peer review. Transcriptions of the interviews were coded to discover recurrent themes. Improving clinical care and organization were the main motives for participation. Positive impact was perceived on multiple aspects of care such as shared responsibilities, internal prioritization of cancer care, improved communication, and a clear structure and position of cancer care within general hospitals. Establishing a direct relationship between the external peer review and organizational or clinical impact proved to be difficult. Criticism was raised on the content of the program being too theoretical and organization-focussed after three rounds. According to most stakeholders, external peer review can improve multidisciplinary team work in cancer care; however, the acceptance is threatened by a perceived disbalance between effort and visible clinical impact. Leaner and more clinically focused programs are needed to keep repeated peer reviews challenging and worthwhile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we attempt to get a better understanding of command and control practices of incident commanders from Dutch fire services (battalion chiefs, BCs) by examining the recordings made by helmet-mounted cameras during 55 real incidents. The aim is to examine the degree to which the BCs issued orders to front-line workers and the degree to which these orders were carried out appropriately. The results indicate that incident commanders were able to influence the work at the front line, but were generally not in control of what happened at the front line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was threefold, namely (1) to differentiate between multiproblem families and control families on characteristics and processes within the family based on a theoretical framework, (2) to identify multiproblem families by establishing cut-off scores on various questionnaires, and (3) to categorize multiproblem families into subtypes by cluster analyses. Various questionnaires were administered to multiproblem families (n = 85) and control families (n = 150). Results showed that what we propose to refer to as multiproblem families present a broad range of problems on seven domains: (1) child factors, (2) parental factors, (3) childrearing problems (inadequate or inconsistent parenting), (4) family functioning problems, (5) contextual problems, (6) social network problems, and (7) mental health care problems. Further, reliable cut-off scores were established for various questionnaires. Finally, three types of families were found: (1) community-problem families, (2) multiproblem families, and (3) child-focused mild-problem families. This paper looks to advance an evidence-based definition and assessment of 'multiproblem families' suggesting the possible value of defining and assessing multiproblem families in relation to these seven dimensions. Moreover, the classification of multiproblem families stresses the importance of providing tailored treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to improve our understanding of demonstrators' atmosphere perceptions, that is, demonstrators' affective state, which is induced by the protest environment. We examined how demonstrators perceive protest atmosphere, why they do so, and whether atmosphere perceptions influence demonstrators' future collective action preparedness. We hypothesized that demonstrators' atmosphere perceptions diverge on a dimension of pleasure, and relate to their grievance (i.e., perceived societal intolerance), group identification, empowerment, and perceived police aggression. A pleasant atmosphere perception was expected to stimulate a demonstrator's future action preparedness. We tested these hypotheses with a mixed-methods dataset of two Dutch protests, staged by Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgenders and anti-monarchists. Our analyses revealed that demonstrators' atmosphere perceptions diverge on a dimension of pleasure, and relate to group identification, empowerment, and, for anti-monarchists, perceived societal intolerance. A pleasant atmosphere perception deters a demonstrator's future action preparedness and also stimulates his or her group identification and empowerment, which, then, stimulate his or her action preparedness. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper starts from a care ethical perspective on care and reports on a phenomenological study into older patients' experiences of hospitalisation. Although hospital care for older patients is at the centre of attention, questions what is at stake and what defines quality of care are rarely discussed with a view to the perspective of older patients themselves. The qualitative observational method of shadowing was used. Ten patients of 75 years old or older were shadowed from admission until discharge. The reflective lifeworld approach, based on phenomenological philosophy, was used to analyse the collected data. For the older patients included in the study, the essential meaning of hospitalisation can be described as feeling an outsider left in uncertainty. The word 'left' reveals how hospitalisation is experienced as a solitary struggle with various uncertainties that are related both to the hospital environment and to the patient's personal situation. The essential meaning is composed of the following three constituents: (i) staying in an inhospitable place, (ii) feeling constrained and (iii) experiencing disruption. The busy walking back and forth of care professionals and the functional character of involvement, restrain older patients from participating and make them feel abandoned. Feeling constrained reveals the feelings brought on by the ageing body which are emphasised by hospitalisation but often neglected by hospital staff. The failure of healthcare professionals to recognise and respond to who older patients are aside from their illness exacerbate the experience of disruptions. To improve care, hospital staff must be more sensitive to older patients' uncertainties. Also, hospital staff should provide older patients with understandable information and explanation which besides offering patients the possibility to feel involved, meets their need for recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a dataset consisting of longitudinal data gathered in the BRXXX project. The aim of the project was to investigate the effectiveness of online mathematics mini-games in enhancing primary school students' multiplicative reasoning ability (multiplication and division). The dataset includes data of 719 students from 35 primary schools in the Netherlands, who were followed from end Grade 1 to end Grade 3. Participating schools were randomly divided over three experimental conditions (playing at school, at home or at home with debriefing at school) and a control group. Tests of multiplicative reasoning ability were administered at the end of Grade 1 (pretest) and the end of Grade 2 and Grade 3 (posttests). In addition to the scores on these tests, the dataset includes measures of gameplay behavior, ie, the time and effort students put in the games, and some student background variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a dataset with data from three individually randomized educational technology experiments on differentiation, formative testing and feedback during one school year for a group of 8th grade students in the Netherlands, using administrative data and the online motivation questionnaire of Boekaerts. The dataset consists of pre- and posttest scores for each experiment, as well as background information on the students, such as gender, age, ability, grade repetition and neighborhood characteristics. It also includes motivation of students. The dataset, or parts of it, could be interesting to use in future studies, focusing on effects of the use of educational technology, for comparison with similar and/or slightly different experiments, and for studies such as meta-analyses or replication studies, especially given the individual experimental setup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-assisted instruction ( CAI) programs are considered as a way to improve learning outcomes of students. However, little is known on the schools who implement such programs as well as on the effectiveness of similar information and communication technology programs. We provide a literature review that pays special attention to the existing causal evidence of computer-assisted programs on learning outcomes. The paper relies on a rich data set consisting of (i) pupil-level information on the use of a Dutch computer-assisted program and (ii) detailed school-level information on, among others, outcomes on national exams. The results suggest that schools with lower educational attainments use more frequently CAI programs. This suggests that they use CAI programs to catch up on learning outcomes. Moreover, using an instrumental variable design, we argue that given the participation in the CAI program, making more exercises leads to higher test results. Working with a CAI program seems therefore effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses whether the basic monocentric model of urban structure and commuting explains actual commuting in Europe, i.e. The Netherlands. As in the USA much wasteful commuting is established. The basic model has a low degree of explanatory power. In order to get more in line with actual commuting, the paper elaborates two alternatives to the basic model. Besides a deconcentrated model, a cross-traffic model is developed. Particularly the latter is quite successful in explaining actual commuting. The paper pleads for endogenising employment and stresses heterogeneity in labour demand and supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extension scientists in the Netherlands have recently developed two approaches for conceptualizing new roles for communicative intervention (i.e. extension) in complex ‘multi- actor’ settings. Against the background of the development and adoption of communication technologies in Dutch agriculture, this paper argues that both the Knowledge and Information Systems perspective (which proposes looking at extension as a facilitating function for developing higher quality collective agency) and the Policy Instrument perspective (which looks at extension as an instrument to secure rationally argumented behavioral change) still fail to conceptualize adequately the social dimensions of communication, knowledge, and information. Moreover, it is argued that Habermas' theory of communicative action is less satisfactory in this respect than a slightly constructive interpretation of Giddens' theory of structuration. The paper provides some empirical mate- rial on agro-informatics in order to illustrate the usefulness of Giddens' perspective, and discusses implications for extension science in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Glock and Stark theoretical framework on Christian beliefs and anti-Semitism implies that orthodox religious beliefs perpetuate secular anti-Semitism via particularism and religious anti-Semitism. Several critics have argued that the major weakness of this study is its failure to examine explanatory variables other than religious beliefs. This paper addresses these issues using data from a 1990-91 national Dutch survey. Although the results tend to support the assumption that nonreligious variables are far more important to the explanation of anti-Semitism and, too, that they attenuate the impact of Christian orthodoxy, the effects of the latter are by no means spurious. The most important conclusion of this paper is therefore that there still is, in Holland at least, a religious factor at work, albeit a modest one, generating anti-Semitic beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper derives its main hypothesis from results of the Health and Lifestyle Survey as reported in Blaxter's monograph Health and Lifestyles. In this book it is argued that in a favourable social environment a healthy lifestyle matters but in a unfavourable social environment a healthy lifestyle does not make much difference. This hypothesis is tested with data from health surveys from the Netherlands and Denmark. The Dutch data showed a highly significant relationship of unfavourable material and social circumstances with both poor health and an unhealthy lifestyle. In turn, an unhealthy lifestyle was also related to poor health. The Danish study showed similar, although generally weaker, associations. When the British findings would apply to Denmark and the Netherlands, we should find an interaction between material and social circumstances and health related behaviour in their association with health and illness. Neither the Dutch nor the Danish data showed an interaction of the type that the British study assumes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the reasons why the findings from the UK could not be replicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information regarding the research papers presented in the 9th conference of the European Society for Psychosocial Oncology, Amsterdam, Netherlands. One of the papers studies the motivation for changing or maintaining sun tanning and protection behaviour among adolescents. It was a multiple-case study with semi structured qualitative interviews. The research population were 20 persons by the age of 15 to 27. The data material were divided into three groups according to position in a process of change of behaviour. The aim of this study is to register cancer patients evaluation of their quality of life (QOL) in the last period of their life. This type of registration is considered difficult because of the advanced disease of the patient. Therefore we also tested QOL assessment, performed by the patient's nurse.

With a comparably high degree of de-commodification in the urban housing market, Amsterdam has been long considered a prime example of a ' European city' and a 'just city'. This paper looks at how the city's housing tenure sectors have changed since the 1990s due to neo-liberalisation processes and specifies effects for housing conditions of the poor. It highlights how restructuring has been driven by policy changes at different scales, and analyses the effects of reform on issues of accessibility and affordability. We identify a gap between insiders and outsiders, with affordability for the poor inside the system not yet deteriorating, but accessibility for poor outsiders emerging as a key problem. In the conclusion we speculate on future developments of the Amsterdam housing market and relate our findings to debates about the ' European city' and the 'just city'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper analyses a uniquely detailed data set of social integration characteristics of immigrants belonging to four non-native ethnic groups (i.e., Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese, and Antilleans) living in Dutch neighborhoods. It is well known that an individual's level of social integration is related to the ethnic composition and economic development of an immigrant's residential locality, as well as the generation of the immigrant. Yet, what is not known is whether the social and economic characteristics of adjacent or neighboring localities also influence an individual's level of social integration. Using a multilevel hierarchical analysis with spatial interaction effects, we examine the extent to which four social integration aspects of the bridging social capital of these immigrant groups are related to their ethnicity, their generation, their immediate locality, and the effects of the neighboring localities. Our findings regarding the effects of the ethnic concentration and economic development of the immediate locality along with the immigrant's generation broadly concur with existing studies. At the same time, however, we also find that the features of neighboring localities exert an additional influence on an individual's social integration over and above those related to the immigrant's generation and immediate locality. These additional spatial spillover effects are broadly in line with those associated with the immediate locality, but they are also sensitive to particular proxies for social integration which are employed. These spatial spillover effects on social capital and social integration have not been observed before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a contrastive study of on the one hand ('t) schijnt ('it seems'), a form of the Dutch verb of appearance schijnen ('seem'), and on the other hand, a similar use of the German cognate scheinen, viz. scheint(')s (lit. 'seems it'). On the basis of corpus data, using a mainly qualitative methodology, we argue that these forms of schijnen and scheinen have grammaticalized into evidential particles. We demonstrate that ('t) schijnt and scheint(')s evolved via distinct grammaticalization paths, the former via the path outlined by matrix-clause hypothesis and the latter via that of the parataxis hypothesis, and that ('t) schijnt has reached a higher degree of grammaticalization than scheint(')s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial use in farm animals might contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance in humans and animals, and there is an urgent need to reduce antimicrobial use in farm animals. Veterinarians are typically responsible for prescribing and overseeing antimicrobial use in animals. A thorough understanding of veterinarians' current prescribing practices and their reasons to prescribe antimicrobials might offer leads for interventions to reduce antimicrobial use in farm animals. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of factors that influence prescribing behaviour of farm animal veterinarians. Semi-structured interviews with eleven farm animal veterinarians were conducted, which were taped, transcribed and iteratively analysed. This preliminary analysis was further discussed and refined in an expert meeting. A final conceptual model was derived from the analysis and sent to all the respondents for validation. Many conflicting interests are identifiable when it comes to antimicrobial prescribing by farm animal veterinarians. Belief in the professional obligation to alleviate animal suffering, financial dependency on clients, risk avoidance, shortcomings in advisory skills, financial barriers for structural veterinary herd health advisory services, lack of farmers' compliance to veterinary recommendations, public health interests, personal beliefs regarding the veterinary contribution to antimicrobial resistance and major economic powers are all influential determinants in antimicrobial prescribing behaviour of farm animal veterinarians. Interventions to change prescribing behaviour of farm animal veterinarians could address attitudes and advisory skills of veterinarians, as well as provide tools to deal with (perceived) pressure from farmers and advisors to prescribe antimicrobials. Additional (policy) measures could probably support farm animal veterinarians in acting as a more independent animal health consultant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale, aims and objectives Interventions aimed at improving guideline adherence should take into account the specific features of the target users; however, it is unclear how general practitioners ( GPs) evaluate the different types of interventions. The aim of this paper was to identify GPs' preferences for interventions to improve guideline adherence in practice and whether these differ across key guideline recommendations. Method An electronic survey was conducted among 703 GPs working in the south-western part of the Netherlands. Each survey focused on two of four guidelines: cerebrovascular accident, eye inflammation, thyroid disorders and urinary tract infection. GPs were asked to rate potential interventions in terms of their usefulness in improving guideline adherence in general and for specific key guideline recommendations. Results 264 GPs (38%) completed the questionnaire. In general, GPs preferred interactive small group meetings (84% rated this as much or very much encouraging), audit and feedback (53%), organizational interventions (50%) and the use of local opinion leaders (50%) as methods for improving guideline adherence. Financial interventions (24%), distribution of educational materials (22%) and big group educational meetings (21%) were of least interest. Some interventions were preferred by GPs irrespective of the specific key recommendations (e.g. audit and feedback), while ratings for other interventions differed across key recommendations (reminders/computer support). Conclusions To implement guidelines, interventions need to be identified that are acceptable and appealing to the target group. GPs seem to have general and recommendation-specific preferences regarding interventions, these should be taken into account when developing plans for guideline implementation to encourage the uptake of guidelines in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass can be used for energy purposes by either combustion to heat and power or refining into solid and liquid biofuels. The majority of biomass is used for residential purposes in developing countries. Modern biomass use in industrialized countries is increasing, and more and more biomass is also traded to be used for energy purposes. The purpose of this paper is to locate the 15 largest ethanol, biodiesel, and wood pellet plants. Facilities generating heat, steam and electricity were left out. Secondly it is not generally known what share of biomass users are large plants. Also an effort is made to find out how much these large-scale biomass refining plants use imported feedstock. For the most part, very large industrial processing facilities are found in a small number of countries. The largest ethanol mills are found almost exclusively in the United States, with one very large plant in the Netherlands. The distribution of biodiesel and wood pellet plants is more dispersed. The countries with the most large biodiesel plants include the USA, Brazil, Spain, and the Netherlands. The countries with the most very large wood pellet plants include the USA, Canada, Russia, and Germany. Torrefaction and pyrolysis technologies are still rarely used on industrial scale. Ethanol and wood pellet plants tend to be sourced from local feedstocks, while biodiesel plants are much more likely to use imported feedstocks or a mix of imports and local biomass. All of these fuels are increasingly traded through the international market. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the technical and economic advantages of combining conversion technologies into a multi-dimensional plant primarily using regional biomass residues are investigated. The main objective is to show how locally available biomass can be used more efficiently as a source for renewable energy and bio-based products. Therefore, not only is the theoretical perspective considered, but also a reality check for the local situation is taken into account. Although industrial attitude toward biorefineries is positive, the efficient production of a portfolio of bio-based products has not yet been implemented. A biorefinery concept for Moerdijk (the Netherlands) was developed, focusing on grass refining, production of pyrolysis oil, biodiesel production, and bio- LNG production. Grass refining is the most experimental technique of all proposed conversion techniques. In terms of development, pyrolysis oil and bio- LNG production are in the demonstration phase. Anaerobic digestion and biodiesel production are proven techniques. It is shown that this concept allows for synergies with regard to the utilization of residue flows from internal processes. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that by integrating different conversion technologies, an economically feasible concept can be developed in which technologies, currently residing in a demonstration phase, can also be brought to the market. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If any organization ought to be immune to the forces of financialization, it is a publicly funded university in corporatist Europe. Shielded from the intrusion by financial metrics, values and professionals through a strong historically rooted tradition of self-management by powerful professional guilds, continental universities should largely have avoided the marketization and managerialization of Anglophone universities. Not so, this case study of a Dutch public university suggests. From 1995 onwards, a shift in real estate management-devolving responsibilities from the Dutch state to universities-served as a Trojan horse for financialization, triggering changes in organizational culture and a power shift from teaching and research professionals to accountants, real-estate developers, financiers and their ilk. This case suggests that the power of finance is such that no societal domain is immune. The paper ends with a call for more non-metropolitan case studies of financialization and argues that the only hope for salvation is a more self-conscious defense of traditional academic values by the guardians of higher learning themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the rise and decline of social movements in Amsterdam and Paris, focusing in particular on the organizations of left-wing immigrant workers. These organizations performed crucial roles for new social movements in the 1970s and 1980s but were isolated and coopted in the 1990s and early 2000s. To explain why this is so, we engage in a dialogue with Jacques Rancière and develop an understanding of cities as strategic sites for both politicization and policing. Cities serve as sites of politicization because they are incubators of the relational conduits that enable activists from different sectors to engage with one another's struggles and look beyond narrow temporal and spatial horizons. However, cities also serve as sites of policing because authorities constantly attempt to reconfigure governmental arrangements in such a way that civil society serves as an extension of the government and comes to fulfill an instrumental role in the development and implementation of policy. Just as politicizing implies the widening of temporal and spatial horizons, policing implies the narrowing of such horizons. The analysis shows the social movements of the 1960s lost steam in two of the major hubs of the new left and reveals some of the more universal mechanisms through which cities generate or quell dissent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim was to determine predictors for the development of complaints of temporomandibular disorders ( TMD) in a large sample of Dutch scuba divers who were free of any TMD complaints before they started diving actively. Five-hundred and thirty-six scuba divers (mean ± SD age = 40·4 ± 11·9 years; 34·1% women) completed a specifically developed questionnaire, either online or on paper. Stepwise forward logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the presence of TMD pain, with several potential risk factors as predictors. Four hundred and eighty-five of the 536 respondents were free of any TMD pain before they started diving actively. In this sample, TMD pain was present in 214 persons (44·1%). Four predictors contributed significantly to the presence of TMD pain, viz., clenching ( OR = 2·466), warm water ( OR = 1·685), biting on the mouthpiece ( OR = 1·598), and the quality rating of the mouthpiece ( OR = 0·887, that is, a higher rating means a smaller odds of having TMD pain). TMD pain is a common complaint among scuba divers who were free of such complaints before they started diving actively. Clenching, biting on the mouthpiece, and a low rating of the mouthpiece are predictors for the presence of TMD pain in scuba divers, while diving in cold water serves as a protective factor for TMD pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims A strong correlation exists between smoking and the use of alcohol and cannabis. This paper uses polygenic risk scores to explore the possibility of overlapping genetic factors. Those scores reflect a combined effect of selected risk alleles for smoking. Methods Summary-level P-values were available for smoking initiation, age at onset of smoking, cigarettes per day and smoking cessation from the Tobacco and Genetics Consortium ( n between 22 000 and 70 000 subjects). Using different P-value thresholds (0.1, 0.2 and 0.5) from the meta-analysis, sets of 'risk alleles' were defined and used to generate a polygenic risk score (weighted sum of the alleles) for each subject in an independent target sample from the Netherlands Twin Register ( n = 1583). The association between polygenic smoking scores and alcohol/cannabis use was investigated with regression analysis. Results The polygenic scores for 'cigarettes per day' were associated significantly with the number of glasses alcohol per week ( P = 0.005, R2 = 0.4-0.5%) and cannabis initiation ( P = 0.004, R2 = 0.6-0.9%). The polygenic scores for 'age at onset of smoking' were associated significantly with 'age at regular drinking' ( P = 0.001, R2 = 1.1-1.5%), while the scores for 'smoking initiation' and 'smoking cessation' did not significantly predict alcohol or cannabis use. Conclusions Smoking, alcohol and cannabis use are influenced by aggregated genetic risk factors shared between these substances. The many common genetic variants each have a very small individual effect size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A traditional view of decision-making for evacuation planning is that, given an uncertain threat, there is a deterministic way of defining the best decision. In other words, there is a linear relation between threat, decision, and execution consequences. Alternatives and the impact of uncertainties are not taken into account. This study considers the 'top strategic decision-making' for mass evacuation owing to flooding in the Netherlands. It reveals that the top strategic decisionmaking process itself is probabilistic because of the decision-makers involved and their crisis managers (as advisers). The paper concludes that deterministic planning is not sufficient, and it recommends probabilistic planning that considers uncertainties in the decision-making process itself as well as other uncertainties, such as forecasts, citizens responses, and the capacity of infrastructure. This results in less optimistic, but more realistic, strategies and a need to pay attention to alternative strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we use insights from postcolonial feminism to explore the identity narratives of three Muslim businesswomen of Turkish descent in the Netherlands. We identify some of the ways in which contemporary political discourse in the Netherlands constructs Muslim ' Others' and discuss how this discursive positioning impacts on the multiple identities these women create for themselves in response. Postcolonial feminism challenges the discursive and material relations of both patriarchy and Eurocentric feminisms, which work together to obscure the rich diversity of women's lived experiences, their agency and identities. By exploring how Othering impacts on these women's multiple identities, we aim to enrich understandings of women's migrant entrepreneurship. These identity narratives, shared by women who each describe quite different ways of experiencing, interpreting and responding to marginalization, shed light on the West's relationship to the Other and reveal some of the underlying relations of power that shape identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of gentrification through the lens of the interactions and perceptions which can be found in local, neighbourhood pubs. By interviewing predominantly Dutch, non-gentrifying customers in the rapidly gentrifying Indische Buurt neighbourhood in Amsterdam, we uncovered discourses which are both welcoming to, and cautious of the process. Three themes were examined: changes in the neighbourhood, changes in the role of pubs in daily life and changes in the interactions within pubs. In many respects, the process of gentrification is welcomed because it represents something ' Dutch' coming into the neighbourhood after years of immigration. Divisions between gentrifiers and non-gentrifiers are not experienced as starkly as is often portrayed in the literature; our respondents tended to be much more ambivalent than other non-gentrifying groups portrayed in studies elsewhere. This may be due to the more managed-nature of Dutch gentrification. However, there is a sense that one's pub is impervious to the changes in the rest of the neighbourhood, a discourse which must be taken into account when drawing any long-term conclusions from this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims School ethnic desegregation has been a topic of strong societal and educational concern. Research has examined the effects of ethnic school composition on students' interethnic relations with diverging outcomes and sometimes inconsistent results. In this review paper, we provide an assessment of this literature to explain why and when school desegregation might improve or worsen ethnic relations and to identify important future research directions. Approach We discuss different theoretical perspectives predicting positive versus negative aspects of school ethnic diversity: intergroup contact theory and the perspectives of group threat and power differences. Subsequently, we consider a number of school and educational characteristics that can moderate the impact of ethnic diversity on students' interethnic relations and that could be considered in future research. Furthermore, we discuss the need for studying underlying psychological and social processes as well as the importance of investigating interethnic relations in combination with academic adjustment. Conclusions School ethnic diversity is not enough to promote interethnic tolerance. It is important to examine diversity in relation to other aspects of the school environment that may influence how students respond to the ethnic diversity within school. Important factors to consider are the presence of multicultural education and inclusive school identities, student-teacher relationships, and peer norms and networks, but also the role of parents and of peer relations outside the school context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs a dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis ( DEA) model to measure the composition of productivity growth of pesticides and the environmental impacts of pesticides. The application focuses on panel data of Dutch arable farms over the period 2003-07. A bootstrap regression model is used to explain farmers' performance, providing empirical evidence of the impact of producer-specific characteristics and environmental factors. The results show that Dutch arable farms have substantial inefficiency in the use of pesticides and high pesticide environmental inefficiency, and appear rather unconcerned about the environmental impacts of their current pesticide use decisions on next period's production environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a single-item social identification measure ( SISI) that involves rating one's agreement with the statement 'I identify with my group (or category)' followed by a 7-point scale. Three studies provide evidence of the validity (convergent, divergent, and test-retest) of SISI with a broad range of social groups. Overall, the estimated reliability of SISI is good. To address the broader issue of single-item measure reliability, a meta-analysis of 16 widely used single-item measures is reported. The reliability of single-item scales ranges from low to reasonably high. Compared with this field, reliability of the SISI is high. In general, short measures struggle to achieve acceptable reliability because the constructs they assess are broad and heterogeneous. In the case of social identification, however, the construct appears to be sufficiently homogeneous to be adequately operationalized with a single item. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies autochthony-the belief that a place belongs to its original inhabitants and that they are therefore more entitled-as a relevant new determinant of out-group prejudice. We hypothesized that autochthony uniquely predicts prejudice towards migrant groups and that it mediates the relationship between national identification and prejudice. The mediation process was anticipated to be especially strong for people who perceive out-group encroachment, that is, those who feel that immigrants are 'getting out of place'. These hypotheses were tested in two studies using nationally representative samples of native Dutch participants. In Study 1 (N = 793), we showed that autochthony is an empirically distinct construct and that it is a unique predictor of prejudice. Furthermore, higher national identifiers expressed stronger claims of autochthony, and these claims were in turn associated with more negative feelings towards migrant groups. Study 2 (N = 466) showed support for a moderated mediation model: Beliefs in autochthony were only related to prejudice for participants who perceived out-group encroachment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper investigates how people identify with groups depending on the clarity of a group's identity content. According to self-categorization theory, self-stereotyping (i.e., projection of group prototypes onto self) should be the cognitive process underlying social identification. We argue, however, that this is only plausible in clearly defined groups. If a group is unclear in terms of its identity content, we argue that self-anchoring (i.e., projection of personal self onto group) accounts for social identification. In line with these hypotheses, two studies (with minimal and real groups) reveal that self-anchoring positively predicts the level of social identification and entitativity in unclearly, but not clearly defined groups. Conversely, self-stereotyping positively predicts the level of social identification in clearly, but not unclearly defined groups. Together, these findings are the first to demonstrate the differential impact of cognitive projection processes on social identification depending on group clarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Test plants are often used for broad screening for plant viruses. Mechanical inoculation of a series of test plants enables generic detection of mechanically transmitted viruses in only 1 assay. Moreover, such an assay is suitable for known as well as unknown viruses and their variants. However, in comparison to serological and molecular methods, quality control in bioassays is almost never addressed. The system of positive and negative controls, blind samples and proficiency tests is applicable, provided that a broader interpretation of positive and negative controls is used. For validation, performance criteria can only be determined for individual viruses. However, results can often be extrapolated. Sensitivity is addressed by dilution and expressed as a relative value. Specificity has to consider the virus species and the plant species to be tested. Selectivity mostly depends on the plant species tested, because some hosts contain components that inhibit transmission. Repeatability and reproducibility, determined for a limited number of samples, appears high, as also substantiated by the authors' experience. This paper details how EPPO Standards on quality control were implemented by the National Plant Protection Organization of the Netherlands ( NPPO-NL). This information will be of use for other laboratories that wish to introduce quality control in bioassays for virus testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this paper is to discuss the impact on nursing education in the Netherlands since the implementation of the Bologna Agreement. Background: In 1999, the Bologna Agreement was constructed to establish a comparable and transferable degree system in universities within the European Union for nine subject areas (chemistry, physics, mathematics, geology, history, business, education science, nursing and European studies). The target date for implementation of the undergraduate and graduate degrees is 2010. Conclusion: Since 2004, Rotterdam University of Applied Science has offered a Master in Advance Nursing Practice degree. This graduate study offers nursing students the opportunity to continue career and academic mobility within the nursing profession. This paper reports on the need for internationalization within nursing curriculum to meet the demands of the increasingly mobile nursing workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the side activities of non-farmers in rural areas in the Netherlands and more specifically on their impact on rural development. Empirical evidence from 36 Dutch municipalities on three key aspects was examined: economy, social and physical environment. The findings indicate that although side activities do not have a large direct impact on the local economy and employment, their contribution in terms of local collaboration and promoting rural tourism is highly valued. Furthermore, side activities have an important role in building and strengthening social capital in rural communities. Where their impacts on physical environment is concerned, side activities are not perceived to damage or alter rural morphology but are considered a reinforcement of the character of rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Lambeek A, De Hundt M, Vlemmix F, Akerboom B, Bais J, Papatsonis D, Mol B, Kok M. Risk of developmental dysplasia of the hip in breech presentation: the effect of successful external cephalic version. BJOG 2012; DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.12013. Objective To evaluate the effect of successful external cephalic version on the incidence of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) requiring treatment in singleton breech presentation at term. Design Observational cohort study. Setting Three large teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. Population Women with a singleton breech presentation of 34 weeks of gestation or more, who underwent an external cephalic version attempt. Methods We made a comparison of the incidence of DDH between children born in breech presentation and children born in cephalic presentation after a successful external cephalic version. Main outcome measure The incidence of DDH requiring either conservative treatment, with a harness, or surgical treatment. Results A total of 498 newborns were included in the study, of which 40 (8%) were diagnosed with DDH and 35 required treatment. Multivariate analysis showed that female gender (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.23-6.35) and successful external cephalic version (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.09-0.95) were independently associated with DDH. Conclusions A successful external cephalic version is associated with a lower incidence of DDH, although a high percentage of children born after a successful external cephalic version still appear to have DDH. A larger cohort study is needed to establish the definite nature of this relationship. Until then, we recommend the same screening policy for infants born in cephalic position after a successful external cephalic version as for infants born in breech position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is a commonly used rehabilitation intervention to improve upper limb function after stroke. CIMT was originally developed for patients with a chronic upper limb paresis. Although there are indications that exercise interventions should start as early as possible after stroke, only a few randomized controlled trials have been published on either CIMT or modified forms of CIMT (mCIMT) during the acute phase after stroke. The implementation of (m)CIMT in published studies is very heterogeneous in terms of content, timing and intensity of therapy. Moreover, mCIMT studies often fail to provide a detailed description of the protocol applied. The purpose of the present paper is therefore to describe the essential elements of the mCIMT protocol as developed for the EXplaining PLastICITy after stroke (EXPLICIT-stroke) study. The EXPLICIT-stroke mCIMT protocol emphasizes restoring body functions, while preventing the development of compensatory movement strategies. More specifically, the intervention aims to improve active wrist -and finger extension, which is assumed to be a key factor for upper limb function. The intervention starts within 2 weeks after stroke onset. The protocol retains two of the three key elements of the original CIMT protocol, that is, repetitive training and the constraining element. Repetitive task training is applied for 1 hour per working day, and the patients wear a mitt for at least 3 hours per day for three consecutive weeks. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increased attention to students leaving secondary education without a diploma numerous students still dropout yearly. This paper makes a distinction between the 'individual perspective' and the 'institutional perspective' of dropping out. The former is explored by multinominal logit models. We observe that particularly motivation of the student and interest in schooling of his/her parents are crucial predictors of the individual dropout decision. The institutional perspective is examined by ordered logit models. In particular, we discuss the influence of the first year of secondary education by analyzing the large differences in the number of dropouts in Dutch first year classes. We observe that, more than motivation, the first year of secondary education is crucial in shaping the dropping out decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Previous research has shown that observation can be effective for learning in various domains, for example, argumentative writing and mathematics. The question in this paper is whether observational learning can also be beneficial when learning to perform creative tasks in visual and verbal arts. Aims. We hypothesized that observation has a positive effect on performance, process, and motivation. We expected similarity in competence between the model and the observer to influence the effectiveness of observation. Sample. A total of 131 Dutch students (10th grade, 15 years old) participated. Method. Two experiments were carried out (one for visual and one for verbal arts). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions; two observational learning conditions and a control condition (learning by practising). The observational learning conditions differed in instructional focus (on the weaker or the more competent model of a pair to be observed). Results. We found positive effects of observation on creative products, creative processes, and motivation in the visual domain. In the verbal domain, observation seemed to affect the creative process, but not the other variables. The model similarity hypothesis was not confirmed. Conclusions. Results suggest that observation may foster learning in creative domains, especially in the visual arts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper identifies the impact of cultural diversity on local economies, by explaining spatial disparities in wages and housing prices across Dutch cities using unique individual panel data of homeowners during the period 1999 and 2008. We distinguish between the effects of spatial sorting based on individual heterogeneity, interactions-based productivity effects, and consumer amenities while controlling for interactions between the labor and housing market. In line with previous literature, we find a positive effect of cultural diversity on average housing prices. After controlling for spatial sorting, the effect of cultural diversity on housing prices is negative. The negative impact of cultural diversity on local housing markets is likely driven by a causal effect between the presence of immigrants and neighborhood quality that outweighs a positive effect of immigrant-induced diversity in consumption goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides insights into the spatial mobility patterns of young graduates in the Netherlands. Both home-to- HEI (higher education institution) as well as HEI-to-work mobility results in net flows towards the central economic region of the Netherlands. However, many graduates move within the larger central and peripheral regions and these flows are focused on cities. There is a strong regional component to graduate mobility as origins and destinations tend to be relatively close to the chosen HEI. Flows seem to be influenced by regional familiarity, with relatively many graduates moving back to familiar home regions. Often, a city's young graduate labour force and graduate residents have studied at a local HEI. Cities close to the economic core areas benefit from outflows of graduates from the largest employment centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background To optimise the health of pregnant women and their children by evidence-based primary and secondary prevention, more scientific knowledge is needed. To overcome the methodological limitations of many studies on pregnancy and child health, which often use a retrospective design, we established the PRIDE ( PRegnancy and Infant DEvelopment) Study. Methods and Results The PRIDE Study is a large prospective cohort study that aims at including 150 000-200 000 women in early pregnancy to study a broad range of research questions pertaining to pregnancy complications, maternal and child health, and adverse developmental effects in offspring. Women are invited to participate by their prenatal care provider before or at their first prenatal care visit and are asked to fill out web-based questionnaires in gestational weeks 8-10, 17, and 34, as well as biannually throughout childhood. In addition, a food frequency questionnaire and a paternal questionnaire are administered and medical records are consulted. Multiple validation studies will be conducted and paper-and-pencil questionnaires are available for women who cannot or do not want to participate through the Internet. For subgroups of participants, blood and saliva samples for genetic and biochemical analyses are being collected. The pilot phase, which started in July 2011, showed a response rate of 47%. Recruitment will eventually cover all of the Netherlands. Conclusions We expect that this study, which will be the largest birth cohort in the world so far, will provide new insights in the aetiology of disorders and diseases that originate in pregnancy. The PRIDE Study is open for collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Several studies have investigated preferences and experiences of adolescents with different chronic conditions and their parents. Some have included the provider's perspective. Studies comparing the three perspectives on satisfaction with (transitional) care for different chronic conditions, however, are lacking. The main aim of this paper was to explore differences and similarities in perspectives between adolescents with chronic conditions, their parents and providers on transitional care. A secondary aim was to explore the extent to which such perspectives are disease-specific. Methods This quantitative study included 127 adolescents with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), neuromuscular disorder with chronic ventilation (NMD), or diabetes Type I; 166 parents; and 19 care providers. To assess the experiences and perceptions of adolescents and parents on transitional care, we used the 'Mind the Gap' instrument. The survey for providers included a checklist of shortcomings in transitional care. Results Adolescents rate current care significantly worse than parents on opportunities to make their own decisions and be seen without parents present. Adolescents also rated providers' current social skills lower than parents. Adolescents are more satisfied than their parents about transitional care process aspects such as co-ordination and communication between providers, but both groups indicated that the care process offers most room for improvement. Providers reported other aspects such as adolescents' lack of responsibility with regard to self-care and parents' difficulties with ceding control to their children. When looking at the three disease groups - JRA, NMD, diabetes, we found only small differences. According to providers, shortcomings in the care process with respect to guidelines, protocols and co-ordination are most prevalent. Conclusion Adolescents, parents and providers all report that there is room for improvement with regard to aspects of the care delivery process in transitional care. With respect to disease-specific issues we only found small differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper investigated age-related differences in the relations of psychological contract breach with work outcomes over time. Based on affective events theory, we expected job satisfaction to mediate the longitudinal relationship of contract breach with changes in job performance. Moreover, based on socio-emotional selectivity theory, it was predicted that reactions to contract breach on job satisfaction and job performance would be stronger among younger workers than older workers. This two-wave panel study among 240 employees investigated interactions of age with psychological contract breach in relation to changes in job satisfaction and job performance over time. Moderated structural equation modeling showed that job satisfaction partially mediated the longitudinal relationships between contract breach and job performance. Moreover, the analyses supported socio-emotional selectivity theory; older workers reacted less intensely to psychological contract breach towards job satisfaction and job performance, indicating a general decreased responsiveness of older workers towards the psychological contract. It is concluded that age plays an important role in how contract breaches relate to changes in work outcomes over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban regeneration in Dutch cities is increasingly accompanied by the cultural sector in general and by artists in particular. This paper presents comparative case studies on current artists-accompanied urban regeneration initiated by housing corporations in Utrecht and Rotterdam. On the basis of discourse analysis on the voices of decisive actors, it explores the rationale behind artists-accompanied urban regeneration and the sociospatial implications thereof. It empirically indicates that housing corporations are more inclined to deploy artists in urban regeneration when there are sufficient vacant buildings. It also illustrates that more decentralised housing corporations have a stronger and more long-term commitment to urban regeneration. The latter includes a greater commitment to interventions by artists within urban public space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In half of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) patients the disorder runs a chronic course despite treatment. The factors determining this unfavourable outcome remain unknown. The Netherlands Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Association (NOCDA) study is a multicentre naturalistic cohort study of the biological, psychological and social determinants of chronicity in a clinical sample. Recruitment of OCD patients took place in mental health organizations. Its design is a six-year longitudinal cohort study among a representative clinical sample of 419 OCD patients. All five measurements within this six-year period involved validated semi-structured interviews and self-report questionnaires which gathered information on the severity of OCD and its co-morbidity as well as information on general wellbeing, quality of life, daily activities, medical consumption and key psychological and social factors. The baseline measurements also include DNA and blood sampling and data on demographic and personality variables. The current paper presents the design and rationale of the study, as well as data on baseline sample characteristics. Demographic characteristics and co-morbidity ratings in the NOCDA sample closely resemble other OCD study samples. Lifetime co-morbid Axis I disorders are present in the majority of OCD patients, with high current and lifetime co-morbidity ratings for affective disorders (23.4% and 63.7%, respectively) and anxiety disorders other than OCD (36% current and 46.5% lifetime). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]