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Vitamin D intake in children aged 0-4: A comparison of cultural and motivational beliefs between native and Islamic parents
Get PDFVitamin D is very important for children in order to strengthen bones and teeth and to prevent some types of cancer and both diabetes type I and II later in life. The Dutch Health Council therefore advices to provide children aged 0-4 with an additional 10 mcg of vitamin D on a daily basis, preferably via supplements. Great sources of vitamin D are sunlight, fatty fish, eggs and vitamin D fortified foods like infant milk and dairy for children. The importance of vitamin D is not only emphasized by The Dutch Health Council but also via child health centers and on the internet. The compliance, nevertheless, is not optimal, especially amongst Islamic children which results in an insufficient intake of vitamin D by two third of Islamic children. This study aimed at exploring religious and motivational beliefs regarding vitamin D intake. It was expected Islamic religion and a bad motivation to provide sufficient vitamin D would be important determinants of bad compliance. This thesis had an explorative-observational character and a qualitative research design was practiced. A semi-structured questionnaire was chosen to investigate the differences in beliefs. Ten native and five Islamic mothers participated in an individual interview. In order to structure the audio-taped interviews ‘free nodes’ were developed in the coding programme Nvivo. The ‘free nodes’ were based on the concepts of the theoretical framework. Examples of the ‘free nodes’ were ‘knowledge of advantages’, ‘severity of insufficient consumption’ and ‘religious beliefs’. The tree map retrieved from Nvivo showed the different beliefs per concept of the questionnaire and improved the comparison. Both groups had limited knowledge about the (natural) sources of vitamin D and most participants were not able to mention health benefits. Islamic participants used sunscreen less often than native participants did because of less fear of sunburn and skin cancer. Islamic participants indicated Islamic beliefs did not reject the provision of supplements, fortified foods or sunlight exposure to children. Both groups mentioned to provide their child(ren) with any kind of fortified food although some participants rejected the great amounts of sugar in dairy for children a preferred low-sugar dairy without added vitamin D. The main difference in beliefs regarding vitamin D intake between native and Islamic mothers is related to the high frequency of sunscreen and greater feelings of anxiety and guilt if child(ren) would be unprotected amongst the native mothers. Islamic beliefs could justify the consumption of supplements; fortified foods and exposure to sunlight in order produce vitamin D. The limited level of knowledge about the sources and effects of sufficient vitamin D intake could be a reason for improvement of the communication and information on vitamin D provided in a child health center. This investigation could be improved by a focus group interview in order to stimulate discussion and furthermore be complemented by a quantitative questionnaire to gain more information about the amounts and frequencies of vitamin D consumption and sunscreen use
De rol van kindkenmerken op de relatie tussen voedingspraktijken van ouders en het eet- en drinkgedrag van kinderen. De rol van geslacht, BMI, temperament en slaapduur
Get PDFAchtergrond: Het aantal kinderen met overgewicht is in de periode van 1980 tot 2009 gestegen. In Nederland had 14% van de kinderen overgewicht in 2009 (Schönbeck et al., 2011). Wanneer een kind overgewicht heeft stijgt het risico voor verschillende ziekten, zoals diabetes, kanker of hart- en vaatziekten. The ouders van een kind hebben een invloed op het gewicht van hun kind. Door het eet- en drinkgedrag van een kind te beinvloeden, kunnen ze het gewicht van een kind bevinvloeden. Ouders kunnen met verschillende voedingspraktijken invloed hebben op het eet- en drinkgedrag van het kind: beloning, emotioneel eten geven, controle of druk uitoefenen. Methode: Het onderzoek vindt plaats binnen de KOALA studie. Deze studie is een prospectief cohort onderzoek dat is gestart in 2002. De ouders van kinderen vullen verschillende vragenlijsten. Voor dit onderzoek hebben ouders een vragenlijst ingevuld over voedingspraktijken (zoals controle, beperking en druk uitoefenen). Verder hebben de ouders een vragenlijst ingevuld over de eet- en drinkgewoontes van het kind en het temperament van het kind. Aan de hand van linieare regessieanalyses is gekeken of er een verband bestaat tussen het eeten drinkgedrag van het kind en de voedingspraktijken van ouders. Ten slotte is de rol van de moderator bekeken door regressie analyses. Resultaten: Het onderzoek laat zien dat verschillende voedingspraktijken een verband hebben met het eet- en drinkgedrag van het kind. Emotioneel eten geven, beperking van voedsel en covert controle (wanneer het kind de controle niet ervaart) hebben een gunstig verband met het eet- en drinkgedrag van het kind (gezonde inname stijgt en/of ongezonde inname daalt). Aan de andere kant laten de voedingspraktijken beloning en druk uitoefenen een ongunstig verband zien (de ongezonde inname stijgt en/of gezonde inname daalt). Verder werd geslacht, BMI, temperament en slaapduur als een moderator op het verband gevonden. Conclusie: Deze studie laat een gunstig en ongunstig verband zien tussen voedingspraktijken van ouders en het eet- en drinkgedrag van het kind. Verder wordt de modererende rol aangetoond van geslacht, BMI, temperament en slaapduur. Deze informatie kan gebruikt worden om tailored interventies te ontwikkelen
Preface
Get PDFThis collection of essays is the result of a Maastricht Research Based Learning (MARBLE) Project that was carried out at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) at Maastricht University in the academic year 2013-2014. The project went under the title ‘Conservation Controversies’ – funnily misspelled at the university website as ‘Conversation Controversies’. Next to having agreeable conversations about conservation, this MARBLEproject aimed to provide so-called research-based learning. Under the guidance of Raf de Bont, five third year students from the Bachelor programs ‘Arts and Culture’ and ‘European Studies’ explored the role of experts in controversies about nature and the environment. They did so via particular case studies. Four of these are presented in this volume.
Climate Plumbing: The Use of Experts in Framing the Geoengineering Controversy in German News Media
Get PDFControlling and manipulating the weather is surely a human fantasy as old as the desire to fly. At the beginning of the Trojan War, King Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to appease Artemis, providing good wind and allowing him to cross the Aegean Sea. Witches were frequently accused of brewing potent potions producing heavy storms and Native Americans like the Zuni made it rain by dancing. More recently, China’s hightech war against rain clouds at the 2008 Olympics and US American research into climatic warfare raised eyebrows everywhere. Tinkering with such elementary forces might sound very much like human hubris – Icarus’ fate is well remembered. But humanity’s impact on the planet has never been so severe and now seems to reach a critical limit. Adapting to the modern environment we created is probably humanity’s greatest challenge. Global warming and the changing climate in general appear to be the most pressing issues today with many people already being under direct threat of droughts, floods and extreme storm
The Oostvaardersplassen: ‘Making Space’ (for) Wilderness
Get PDFDutch conservationist Thomas van Slobbe claims to have created real wilderness outside the human order by placing a hedge around a small piece of land in an unknown nature reserve somewhere in the Netherlands. Out of sight and out of mind, this place cannot be experienced, valued or made subject to human plans (2005). He presents this event in a fictional story about the perfect crime: Expropriating a piece of land from humankind, from the right to own, to allocate and to experience. His story is a response to the deconstruction of the received wilderness idea, an understanding of wilderness as pristine and untrammeled by man. This on-going deconstruction has not yet reached a conclusion, and thus all of our current interactions with nature, including the Oostvaardersplassen project, the site of this study, are part of it
The Implementation of the “Authorized OECD Approach” under German Law and its Relation to Already Existing Double Tax Conventions – Can the “Authorized OECD Approach” be Applied Retrospectively?
Get PDFThe attribution of profits to PEs has become increasingly complex during the last years and it is expected to become even more complex in the future. This increased complexity can, inter alia, be attributed to the introduction of the “Authorized OECD Approach” in 2010. The AOA is a method for attributing profits to PEs in two steps and was meant to facilitate the international profit attribution to PEs. The intention of the OECD was to achieve a higher level of legal certainty and to harmonize the differing rules on profit attribution to PEs in the OECD countries. Another reason for the implementation of the AOA brought forward by the OECD was the avoidance of double taxation and double non-taxation arising from divergent rules on profit allocations to PEs. However, the AOA was highly disputed and it is noticeable that it is not accepted as an appropriate approach to attribute profits to PEs in the United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention (DTC). Even the OECD accepted the introduction of this approach by majority vote only. This implies that there is no international consensus on the application of the AOA. While it is expected to result in problems in international co-operations, it is also expected to lead to complications in national law since it is built up on fictions that are difficult to determine for tax law practitioners.
Is the Deduction of Interest on Acquisition Loans Possible? New Developments in LBO Acquisition Structuring in the Netherlands and Switzerland
Get PDFThe publication intends, based on a hypothetical case, to answer the question what the position of the national legislation and tax authorities is with regard to the deductibility of interest payments in an LBO acquisition. Therefore, possible scenarios about the structuring process in two different countries and its treatment by the tax authorities will be made visible and compared with the position of academics. By considering the legislative changes of 2012 in the Netherlands with regard to the deductibility of interest on acquisition loans and the cantonal differences in Switzerland recent developments will be shown and an outlook will be presented. This comparative analysis fosters in addition the understanding of and the meaning by the authorities of national anti-avoidance rules and the term "tax avoidance".
Influence of GENE-X1 promotor methylation on the susceptibility to develop PTSD
Get PDFTraumatic events are a prevalent and high risk factor to develop psychiatric disorder like post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, people differ strictly in the susceptibility or resilience to develop such disorders. The exact underlying mechanisms are unknown, but epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation might play a major role. This was demonstrated by a recent study from our group, who showed significant hypomethylation of GENE-X in the blood of subjects with PTSD. To study brain methylation patterns, the protein expression in PTSD related brain areas of social defeat (SD) mice was compared to control mice (CTR). Expression was visualized by immunohistochemistry (biotin, ABC-kit, DAB), on human tissue immunofluorescence (biotin, streptavidin) was conducted too. The GENE-X antibody was demonstrated to be specific, since the signal was reduced when performing a pre-incubation with the blocking peptide. Double labelled fluorescence showed GENE-X expression in human temporal neocortex in the cytoplasm and nucleus of neurons, and to a lower extend in astrocytic cytoplasm The staining on SD and CTR mice tissue gave no results about expression sites. This problem was expected to be caused by incorrect fixation of the brain tissue. To conclude, indirect immunohistochemistry allowed visualization of specific GENE-X expression in the human brain. However, the research on the human tissue is not related to stress. Therefore, further research on SD versus CTR material is needed, to prove a causal link between GENE-X hypomethylation in the brain and increased susceptibility to develop PTSD
The Need for Psychosocial Interventions in Oncology Care
Get PDFIn a recent report, the College van Zorgverzekeringen (CVZ) is proposing to remove the costs for psychosocial interventions in oncology care from the basic health insurance repayments. Is this justified or are psychosocial interventions a valuable treatment for cancer patients? The prevalence of psychosocial problems is unclear in cancer patients. However, it is clear that without screening, these patients do not receive a proper treatment. Psychosocial interventions can be divided in five groups: provision of information, group therapy, training in coping skills, psychotherapy and spiritual/existential therapy. The effectiveness of these interventions is proven by some studies but refuted by other studies. Several reasons are described for this contrast in results. Despite the uncertainty of the effectiveness of these interventions some patients gain a lot from these interventions. That’s why the CVZ should keep covering these costs in their basic health insurance.
European border surveillance systems running a self-fulfilling circle
Get PDF"The background for storing information in the SIS is wide and discretionary, many items of information are evaluative, and \u27discreet surveillance\u27 quite clearly opens for political surveillance and surveillance of a wide circle of individuals around the main person."As early as 1999 Thomas Mathiesen drew this conclusion based on an analysis of the first generation Schengen Information System (SIS). We intend to take up this line of reasoning, and highlight the exclusionary mechanisms built into the EU\u27s common asylum policy, enforced through the development of a "vast \u27panoptical machine\u27", potentially being "the most repressive political instrument of modernity".Since 2013 a network of border surveillance systems is in place, grounded on the advanced and interlinked functions of the Second Generation of the internal border surveillance system SIS (SIS II) and the introduction of the external European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR). Both systems have been designed to monitor the influx of individuals, such as economic migrants and asylum seekers. This has become a highly topical issue, as the dividing line between asylum seekers and "illegal" immigrants has become blurred. Both groups are perceived as threats by a growing segment of the public and by right wing political parties throughout Europe (Aradau, 2004; Huysmans & Squire, 2009). In this line Squire (2009) stresses the emergence of the notion of "asylum-seeker-cum-illegal-immigrant" (p.12). Accordingly, it is suggested that surveillance by EU systems leads to the exclusion of undocumented asylum seekers that become conflated with illegal immigrants and thereby are depicted as a threat to the Union\u27s security. Against this background, this paper examines the question as to what degree the workings of EU surveillance systems foster this conflation of asylum with "illegal" immigration, in particular through a strengthened interoperability of the EU border surveillance systems, leading to an increasing exclusion of asylum seekers