Suchergebnisse

Dependent as they are on rare and remote open habitats for breeding and survival, shorebirds connect continents and hemispheres with their individual movements. Although many of the wetland systems on which shorebirds rely, especially in the rich West, have now some form of protection, two case studies on man-induced declines of Red Knots Calidris canutus in The Netherlands and the USA demonstrate that despite the legislation in these countries, the responsible authorities have tragically failed to provide the necessary safeguards. At the same time, these examples indicate how instructive shorebirds can be in elucidating ecosystem changes at local, and at global, scales. I advocate continued close scientific scrutiny of complementary sets of shorebird species so that we can be informed about their fate, and about the fate of ecosystems world-wide that are so effectively connected by their movements.

AbstractThis article presents the case of a high school student‐led protest movement in the Bosnian towns of Jajce and Travnik. Over the course of 2016 and 2017, the students developed opposition to a plan for an ethnically segregated high school in Jajce. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethnicity is strongly politicised and limits the political activities of citizens to what is prescribed by the elites of their respective ethnic groups. In particular, Bosnian youth is often named as part of an apathetic 'lost generation' whose voices are smothered by this ethno‐political framework. I argue that the political agency of ordinary young Bosnians should not be neglected, since the formulations of their relationship with the state form meaningful political activities. The student protests in Jajce and Travnik are telling examples of their political agency. In an analysis of the protest movement's actions, I show that the students adopt a narrative that opposes the ruling political class and their prevalence of personal interests over the future of younger generations.

Twintig jaar geleden maakte het Rijk voor het eerst geld vrij om de fietsenstallingen bij stations uit te breiden en de kwaliteit ervan fors te verbeteren. Het markeerde een andere manier van omgaan met de fietser als belangrijke spil in de ontwikkeling van centrum- en stationsgebieden en het stimuleren van de fiets-trein combinatie als vorm van duurzame kwaliteit. Het markeerde ook het blijvend veranderde aanzicht van de stationsomgevingen in Nederland. De afgelopen twintig jaar hebben ProRail, provincies, gemeentes en NS gemiddeld 25.000 fietsparkeerplaatsen per jaar gerealiseerd. En het einde is nog lang niet in zicht. Door groeiend gebruik van zowel de trein als de fiets zijn er meer en steeds grotere fietsenstallingen verschenen in het stationsgebied: we bouwen inmiddels de grond in, de lucht in, onder de sporen en zelfs... onder water. Het ontwikkelen, ontwerpen en realiseren van fietsenstallingen bij stations is een vak apart waar geen opleiding voor is. In dit boek nemen projectmanager Folkert Piersma en planontwikkelaar en fotograaf Wout Ritzema je mee in die wondere wereld. Gepassioneerd blikken ze terug op de ontstaansgeschiedenis van dit fenomeen en geven zij antwoord op de meest gestelde vragen van professionals uit binnen- en buitenland

During the occupation of the Netherlands, the Jewish population was systematically robbed and deprived of their property rights. Their economic and social isolation went hand in hand with a loss of social status, connectedness, security and identity, as homes were expropriated and furniture was confiscated. The process of depriving the Jews of everything they owned, which happened with such apparent ease by the seemingly all-powerful authorities, had a profound impact on the victims that went far beyond mere material loss. Furthermore, after the war, the restitution process confronted the survivors with bureaucratic procedures and formalities that evoked negative feelings among the persecuted victims. A strictly quantitative approach to compensation for the loss of furniture and other household items therefore seems to fall short. The view of loss as something that can be compensated with money does not take into account the psychological aspects of losing those personal possessions. This article pleads for a more qualitative approach to the subject of looting and restitution, free from the limitations imposed by the quantitative scope of official archives. The authors suggest that future research should relate more to the link between 'dignity taking' – a term that was coined by Bernadette Atuahene, professor of Law in Chicago – and 'emotional loss'. Looking into property loss from an emotional perspective will teach us more about the fragility of settledness against the backdrop of occupation and persecution.

With the increasing interest in decision support systems and the continuous advance of computer science, revenue management is a discipline which has received a great deal of interest in recent years. Although revenue management has seen many new applications throughout the years, the main focus of research continues to be the airline industry. Ever since LITTLEWOOD (1972) first proposed a solution method for the airline revenue management problem, a variety of solution methods have been introduced. In this paper we give an overview of the solution methods presented throughout the literature.

The nomination of the Dutch and German parts of the Wadden Sea as a World Heritage Site within the framework of the World Heritage Convention (WHC) represents high-level recognition of the global importance of this area for millions of migratory birds. It was not the first accolade for the unique wilderness area, but arguably the most prestigious. In its nomination, the World Heritage Convention requests the two countries to strengthen cooperation within the African-Eurasian Flyways, a system of global connectedness by migrant waterbirds in which the Wadden Sea plays a vital role. Here we review the origin and (lack of) implementation of the international conservation instruments available to protect values that are easily undervalued and forgotten, instruments that involve cooperation along the flyway axes. We describe how scientific information sometimes helps governments to implement their obligations, but also how, in spite of indisputable scientific data, governments take decisions contrary to their obligations under international conservation instruments. In some cases such decisions are reversed after scientists have shown measurable declines in the global populations of the migratory waterbirds and established the causality of such declines. At a global level, a few more regional flyway conservation instruments may be needed, but for most parts of the world the instrumentation to secure the well-being of the flyways are in place. It boils down to the determination by governments, informed by good science and under close scrutiny by NGOs, to put them into concrete action. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AbstractThis paper investigates criminal career characteristics and trajectories of domestic burglars, residential and commercial robbers, and street robbers in the Netherlands. We used longitudinal data which includes the criminal cases from 1997 until 2020 for all people of 12 years or older. We studied all 89,062 offenders that had at least one criminal case in the period between 2002 and 2004. Semiparametric group trajectory models were used to cluster these offenders into groups with similar criminal careers. Our results suggest that in order to predict who will follow the career path of a life-course persistent offender, it is important to distinguish between specific groups of offenders. Life-course persistent offenders are found amongst domestic burglars, residential and commercial robbers, and street robbers, but not amongst offenders of other types of crime. Furthermore, the size of the group of life-course persistent offenders varies between the domestic burglars, residential and commercial robbers, and street robbers and is largest for domestic burglars. Other criminal career characteristics, such as age of onset, age of termination, duration, and specialisation, are also compared between offender groups.

Various methods exist to calculate confidence intervals for the benchmark dose in risk analysis. This study compares the performance of three such methods in fitting nonlinear dose‐response models: the delta method, the likelihood‐ratio method, and the bootstrap method. A data set from a developmental toxicity test with continuous, ordinal, and quantal dose‐response data is used for the comparison of these methods. Nonlinear dose‐response models, with various shapes, were fitted to these data. The results indicate that a few thousand runs are generally needed to get stable confidence limits when using the bootstrap method. Further, the bootstrap and the likelihood‐ratio method were found to give fairly similar results. The delta method, however, resulted in some cases in different (usually narrower) intervals, and appears unreliable for nonlinear dose‐response models. Since the bootstrap method is more time consuming than the likelihood‐ratio method, the latter is more attractive for routine dose‐response analysis. In the context of a probabilistic risk assessment the bootstrap method has the advantage that it directly links to Monte Carlo analysis.

Abstract
For almost a century, the term 'flyways' has been used to order relations over time and space. It has been used to coordinate scientific research and communication as well as monitoring and management efforts for waterbird conservation. In this article, we revisit the concept of 'boundary object' (Star and Griesemer 1989) to investigate how this term 'flyways' has been central to common efforts while also having multiple meanings for the actors it connects. The article discusses both contemporary and historical achievements of the term by analysing its underlying knowledge infrastructure. We account for the complex assemblages of social, material, natural, and technical systems that shape how the term 'flyway' has been functioning as a boundary object and how this has changed over time. By discussing how the term 'flyways' as a boundary object and its underlying knowledge infrastructure shape each other, we empower the actors to define, visualise, communicate, and imagine flyways in more purposeful ways. Our analysis contributes to the literature on boundary objects and knowledge infrastructures by expanding their original definitions, arguing for a co-productive relation between them.

There is a widespread concern about the direct and indirect effects of industrial fisheries; this concern is particularly pertinent for so-called "marine protected areas" (MPAs), which should be safeguarded by national and international law. The intertidal flats of the Dutch Wadden Sea are a State Nature Monument and are protected under the Ramsar convention and the European Union's Habitat and Birds Directives. Until 2004, the Dutch government granted permission for ~75% of the intertidal flats to be exploited by mechanical dredgers for edible cockles (Cerastoderma edule). Here we show that dredged areas belonged to the limited area of intertidal flats that were of sufficient quality for red knots (Calidris canutus islandica), a long-distance migrant molluscivore specialist, to feed. Dredging led to relatively lower settlement rates of cockles and also reduced their quality (ratio of flesh to shell). From 1998 to 2002, red knots increased gizzard mass to compensate for a gradual loss in shellfish quality, but this compensation was not sufficient and led to decreases in local survival. Therefore, the gradual destruction of the necessary intertidal resources explains both the loss of red knots from the Dutch Wadden Sea and the decline of the European wintering population. This study shows that MPAs that do not provide adequate protection from fishing may fail in their conservation objectives. ; There is a widespread concern about the direct and indirect effects of industrial fisheries; this concern is particularly pertinent for so-called "marine protected areas" (MPAs), which should be safeguarded by national and international law. The intertidal flats of the Dutch Wadden Sea are a State Nature Monument and are protected under the Ramsar convention and the European Union's Habitat and Birds Directives. Until 2004, the Dutch government granted permission for ~75% of the intertidal flats to be exploited by mechanical dredgers for edible cockles (Cerastoderma edule). Here we show that dredged areas belonged to the limited area of intertidal flats that were of sufficient quality for red knots (Calidris canutus islandica), a long-distance migrant molluscivore specialist, to feed. Dredging led to relatively lower settlement rates of cockles and also reduced their quality (ratio of flesh to shell). From 1998 to 2002, red knots increased gizzard mass to compensate for a gradual loss in shellfish quality, but this compensation was not sufficient and led to decreases in local survival. Therefore, the gradual destruction of the necessary intertidal resources explains both the loss of red knots from the Dutch Wadden Sea and the decline of the European wintering population. This study shows that MPAs that do not provide adequate protection from fishing may fail in their conservation objectives.

There is a widespread concern about the direct and indirect effects of industrial fisheries; this concern is particularly pertinent for so-called "marine protected areas" (MPAs), which should be safeguarded by national and international law. The intertidal flats of the Dutch Wadden Sea are a State Nature Monument and are protected under the Ramsar convention and the European Union's Habitat and Birds Directives. Until 2004, the Dutch government granted permission for similar to 75% of the intertidal flats to be exploited by mechanical dredgers for edible cockles (Cerastoderma edule). Here we show that dredged areas belonged to the limited area of intertidal flats that were of sufficient quality for red knots (Calidris canutus islandica), a long-distance migrant molluscivore specialist, to feed. Dredging led to relatively lower settlement rates of cockles and also reduced their quality ( ratio of flesh to shell). From 1998 to 2002, red knots increased gizzard mass to compensate for a gradual loss in shellfish quality, but this compensation was not sufficient and led to decreases in local survival. Therefore, the gradual destruction of the necessary intertidal resources explains both the loss of red knots from the Dutch Wadden Sea and the decline of the European wintering population. This study shows that MPAs that do not provide adequate protection from fishing may fail in their conservation objectives.

AbstractRisk assessment of chemicals can be based on toxicology and/or epidemiology. The choice of toxicological or epidemiological data can result in different health‐based guidance values (HBGVs). Communicating the underlying argumentation is important to explain these differences to the public and policymakers. In this article, we explore the argumentation used to justify the use of toxicological or epidemiological data in the derivation of HBGVs in four different risk assessments for the chemical Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The pragma‐dialectical argumentation theory (PDAT) is hereby applied. The argumentations to select relevant health endpoints or certain studies to infer causality appeared mainly based on "symptomatic relations," that is, study results are used as characteristic of what was claimed to be a causal relation without delving into the actual causal argumentation that preceded it. Starting points that are at the basis of the chain of arguments remained implicit. Argumentation to use epidemiological and/or toxicological data was only briefly mentioned and the underlying argumentative foundation that led to the conclusion was seldom found or not addressed at all. The decision to include/exclude information was made based on the availability of data, or the motives for the choice remained largely unclear. We conclude that more depth in argumentation and a subordinative chain of arguments is needed to better disclose the underlying reasoning leading to a certain health‐based guidance value (HBGV). More explicit identification and discussion of starting points could be a valuable addition to general risk assessment frameworks for maximum use of toxicological and epidemiological data and shared conclusions of the assessment.

AbstractWhy do countries regulate, or prefer to regulate, environmental health risks such as radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and endocrine disruptors differently? A wide variety of theories, models, and frameworks can be used to help answer this question, though the resulting answer will strongly depend on the theoretical perspective that is applied. In this theoretical review, we will explore eight conceptual frameworks, from different areas of science, which will offer eight different potential explanations as to why international differences occur in environmental health risk management. We are particularly interested in frameworks that could shed light on the role of scientific expertise within risk management processes. The frameworks included in this review are the Risk Assessment Paradigm, research into the roles of experts as policy advisors, the Psychometric Paradigm, the Cultural Theory of Risk, participatory approaches to risk assessment and risk management, the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the Social Amplification of Risk Framework, and Hofstede's Model of National Cultures. We drew from our knowledge and experiences regarding a diverse set of academic disciplines to pragmatically assemble a multidisciplinary set of frameworks. From the ideas and concepts offered by the eight frameworks, we derive pertinent questions to be used in further empirical work and we present an overarching framework to depict the various links that could be drawn between the frameworks.

What criteria are most suitable to identify endocrine disrupting substances (EDSs) for regulatory purposes in the EU? The results of the European Commission's public consultation, as part of the process to establish identification criteria for EDSs, show that different regulatory options are supported. Some respondents prefer an option including hazard characterization considerations, whereas others prefer an option that avoids these considerations and introduces several hazard-identification based weight-of-evidence categories. In this study, the argumentation underlying the different preferences for identification criteria are analyzed and compared using pragma-dialectical argumentation theory (PDAT). All responses of non-anonymous, national governments that submitted a response in English (n = 17) were included. Responses of other stakeholder organizations were included if a Google News search returned an opinionated presence in the media on the subject (n = 9). Five topical themes and 21 underlying issues were identified. The themes are 1) mechanistic understanding of EDSs, 2) regulatory considerations related to the identification of EDSs, 3) consistency with existing regulatory frameworks, and 4) evaluations of specific issues related to a category approach and 5) related to including potency. We argue that two overarching (implicit) 'advocacy coalitions' can be discerned, that adopted contrasting positions towards the identified themes and issues. Among these 'coalitions', there appears to be consensus about the necessity of having 'science-based' criteria, though different perspectives exist as to what the most accurate mechanistic understanding of EDSs entails. To move the discussion forward, we argue that a societal dialogue would be beneficial, where EDS science and regulation are discussed as interrelated themes.