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Biomedical scientific research in the Netherlands has a good reputation worldwide. Quantitatively, the university medical centres (UMCs) deliver about 40 % of the total number of scientific publications of this research. Analysis of the bibliometric output data of the UMCs shows that their research is highly cited. These output-based analyses also indicate the high impact of cardiovascular scientific research in these centres, illustrating the strength of this research in the Netherlands. A set of six joint national cardiovascular research topics selected by the UMCs can be recognised. At the top are heart failure, rhythm disorder research and atherosclerosis. National collaboration of top scientists in consortia in these three areas is successful in acquiring funding of large-scale programs. Our observations suggest that funding national consortia of experts focused on a few selected research topics may increase the international competitiveness of cardiovascular research in the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results of classifying document types in various electronic representations of the same scientific literature. Research evaluation assessment procedures at the Leiden University Medical Centre have shown that the classifications of research letters in the highly prolific general medicine journals occurs in various ways, resulting in discrepancies in representation of these documents. these discrepancies create problems, if 'research letters' are classified sometimes as articles, or sometimes as letters. And although the representations of these documents in the citation indexes do vary with the original journal, the classification of research letters in the citation indexes follows certain specific guidelines that do right by the specific characteristics of these publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the Netherlands, university medical centres (UMCs) bear primary responsibility for conducting medical research and delivering highly specialized care. The TopCare program was a policy experiment lasting 4 years in which three non-academic hospitals received funding from the Dutch Ministry of Health to also conduct medical research and deliver highly specialized care in specific domains. This study investigates research collaboration outcomes for all Dutch UMCs and non-academic hospitals in general and, more specifically, for the domains in the non-academic hospitals participating in the TopCare program. Additionally, it explores the organizational boundary work employed by these hospitals to foster productive research collaborations., Methods: A mixed method research design was employed combining quantitative bibliometric analysis of publications and citations across all Dutch UMCs and non-academic hospitals and the TopCare domains with geographical distances, document analysis and ethnographic interviews with actors in the TopCare program., Results: Quantitative analysis shows that, over the period of study, international collaboration increased among all hospitals while national collaboration and single institution research declined slightly. Collaborative efforts correlated with higher impact scores, and international collaboration scored higher than national collaboration. A total of 60% of all non-academic hospitals' publications were produced in collaboration with UMCs, whereas almost 30% of the UMCs' publications were the result of such collaboration. Non-academic hospitals showed a higher rate of collaboration with the UMC that was nearest geographically, whereas TopCare hospitals prioritized expertise over geographical proximity within their specialized domains. Boundary work mechanisms adopted by TopCare hospitals included aligning research activities with organizational mindset (identity), bolstering research infrastructure (competence) and finding and mobilizing strategic partnerships with academic partners (power). These efforts aimed to establish credibility and attractiveness as collaboration partners., Conclusions: Research collaboration between non-academic hospitals and UMCs, particularly where this also involves international collaboration, pays off in terms of publications and impact. The TopCare hospitals used the program's resources to perform boundary work aimed at becoming an attractive and credible collaboration partner for academia. Local factors such as research history, strategic domain focus, in-house expertise, patient flows, infrastructure and network relationships influenced collaboration dynamics within TopCare hospitals and between them and UMCs., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Plant-herbivore interactions promote the generation and maintenance of both plant and herbivore biodiversity. The antagonistic interactions between plants and herbivores lead to host race formation: the evolution of herbivore types specializing on different plant species, with restricted gene flow between them. Understanding how ecological specialization promotes host race formation usually depends on artificial approaches, using laboratory experiments on populations associated with agricultural crops. However, evidence on how host races are formed and maintained in a natural setting remains scarce. Here, we take a multidisciplinary approach to understand whether populations of the generalist spider mite Tetranychus urticae form host races in nature. We demonstrate that a host race co-occurs among generalist conspecifics in the dune ecosystem of The Netherlands. Extensive field sampling and genotyping of individuals over three consecutive years showed a clear pattern of host associations. Genome-wide differences between the host race and generalist conspecifics were found using a dense set of SNPs on field-derived iso-female lines and previously sequenced genomes of T. urticae. Hybridization between lines of the host race and sympatric generalist lines is restricted by post-zygotic breakdown, and selection negatively impacts the survival of generalists on the native host of the host race. Our description of a host race among conspecifics with a larger diet breadth shows how ecological and reproductive isolation aid in maintaining intra-specific variation in sympatry, despite the opportunity for homogenization through gene flow. Our findings highlight the importance of explicitly considering the spatial and temporal scale on which plant-herbivore interactions occur in order to identify herbivore populations associated with different plant species in nature. This system can be used to study the underlying genetic architecture and mechanisms that facilitate the use of a large range of host plant taxa by extreme generalist herbivores. In addition, it offers the chance to investigate the prevalence and mechanisms of ecological specialization in nature., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Spider mites are important crop pests that rapidly develop resistance to acaricides. To investigate whether acaricide resistance is a threat to greenhouse rose culture in the Netherlands, the susceptibility of 15 strains of Tetranychus urticae was tested to several currently used acaricides, and resistance mechanisms were investigated., Results: Although the observed levels of susceptibility differed between strains and acaricides, resistance was detected in most strains. The activity of detoxifying enzymes was significantly increased in most field-collected strains, and a number of amino acid substitutions known to be involved in resistance were detected., Conclusions: Resistance levels to traditional acaricides such as bifenthrin and abamectin were prominent, and might result in control failure under field conditions. Resistance to more recently registered compounds was detected in several populations. Resistance levels were generally unstable in the laboratory without selection pressure. The toxicological, biochemical and genetic data in this study will be essential in devising an efficient resistant management for Dutch rose culture., (Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.)

This paper presents the results of the Dutch monitoring program for agriculture in the clay regions for the period 1996-2000 and evaluates the monitoring strategy. A wide range of farms (25 to 85%) had a NO3--N concentration in tile drainwater higher than the EU standard of 11.3 mg/l. The low figure is related to wet winters; the high, to dry winters. Arable farms are more prone to NO3- leaching than dairy farms. On arable farms, about 25% of the N surplus leached to groundwater and tile drainwater, on dairy farms this was about 15%. N in tile drainwater has shown to be the best indicator for monitoring the effects of farming practice changes in the clay regions. The average NO3--N concentration in tile drainwater was 18.8 and 3.2 mg/l in borehole water on farms where both were monitored. It is known that N use has a relationship with NO3- in tile drainwater and not with NH4+ and organic N. The presented results indicate that crop rotation and precipitation strongly influence NO3- concentration in tile drainwater.