127 research outputs found
Article Souther Settlements Published in De Hope by A. C. Van Raalte
No full textIn an article, entitled, Southern Settlements, written on this date by Albertus C. Raalte and published in De Hope on June 24, the proposed settlement in Virginia is outlined. Berend J. Veeneklaassen, Albert Bolks, H. Grebel, J. H. Boone, Jan van de Riet, Meeuwis Hulsebos and others are negotiating to purchase 4,500 acres of land thirty eight miles from Richmond and call the settlement, Richmonds Westpoint. The price is $12 per acre. V.R. asked the editor to have this article copied also in the Netherlands to encourage emigrants to come to America to this new colony. He said, We want and desire to see the Dutch, their language and their churches flourish in this open and cultivated region, with such a favorable climate, so rich in raw materials, and so near the Atlantic ocean. Van Raalte is very optimistic about the proposed colony and its prospects.https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/vrp_1860s/1472/thumbnail.jp
Essays in financial economics
No full textThesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, May, 2020Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation consists of three essays in financial economics, with a focus on household financial decisions and their implications for asset pricing and macroeconomic dynamics. In Chapter 1, I use data on the portfolio holdings and income of millions of US retirement investors to show that positive and persistent shocks to income lead to a significant increase in the equity share of investor portfolios, while increases in financial wealth due to realized returns lead to a small decline in the equity share. In a standard homothetic life-cycle model with human capital and constant risk aversion, the portfolio responses to these two wealth shocks should be of equal magnitude and opposite sign. The positive net effect in the data is evidence for risk aversion that decreases in total wealth. In Chapter 2, I show that decreasing relative risk aversion preferences have significant long-run implications for inequality and asset prices.I estimate the structural parameters of a life-cycle consumption and portfolio choice model that accounts for inertia in portfolio rebalancing. The model matches reduced-form estimates of the portfolio responses to wealth shocks with a significant degree of non-homotheticity in risk preferences, such that a 10% permanent income growth leads to a decrease in risk aversion by 1.7%. I find that decreasing relative risk aversion in the model doubles the share of wealth at the top, as equity is concentrated in the hands of the wealthy. The model also implies that rising income inequality in the US has led to a 15% decline in the equity premium over the past three decades. In joint work with Jonathan Parker, Antoinette Schoar, and Duncan Simester, we document in Chapter 3 how agents who believe in different models of the world change their investment behavior differently in response to a public signal.We use a proprietary dataset of the portfolio holdings of millions of US households and identify households ex ante that hold different models of the world using political party affiliation (probabilistically inferred from zip code). Our public signal is the unexpected outcome of the US national election of 2016. Relative to Democrats, Republican investors actively increase the equity share and market beta of their portfolios following the election. The rebalancing is due to a small share of investors making large adjustments. We conclude that this behavior is driven by belief heterogeneity because of extensive controls for differential hedging needs or preferences, including detailed controls for age, wealth, income, state, and even county-employer fixed effects.by Maarten Meeuwis.1. Wealth Fluctuations and Risk Preferences: Evidence from US Investor Portfolios -- 2. Portfolio Choice with Non-Homothetic Preferences -- 3. Belief Disagreement and Portfolio Choice -- A. Appendix for "Wealth Fluctuations and Risk Preferences: Evidence from US Investor Portfolios" -- B. Appendix for "Portfolio Choice with Non-Homothetic Preferences" --C. Appendix for "Belief Disagreement and Portfolio Choice".Ph. D.Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Managemen
Het elektronenbundellassen van molybdeenlegering TZM
No full textMechanical, Maritime and Materials EngineeringTechnische Materiaalwetenschappe
Zr- and Zr- based bulk metallic glasses: a multifunctional coating by plasma electrolytic oxidation containing Ag nanoparticles for trauma and orthopaedic implants
No full textTo keep patients mobile and to treat injuries to improve the quality of life, functional biomaterials for implants and prosthesis are designed. Apart from growing demand in orthopaedic replacement and trauma surgeries, the number of revisions surgeries is increasing as well. Revisions surgeries are performed after the life-time of the implant has exceeded, but also due to implant failure. The latter is mainly caused by mechanical failure. Metallic glasses form a promising class of metallic materials possessing an amorphous structure. When such an alloy can be formed in rods over 1 mm in diameter, it is called a bulk metallic glass (BMG). Compared to the currently used crystalline alloys, BMGs possess several beneficial mechanical properties over the currently applied crystalline biomaterials. Next to mechanical failure, implant loosening by lack of osseointegration and an implant associated infection (IAI) are a reason for necessary revision. In the US, 2% joint prostheses and 5% of fracturefixation devices become infected. After bone implantation, there is a competition in the colonisation of the implant by human bone cells and bacteria, in which the surface morphology and biochemistry have influence. Predominantly S. aureus cause IAI. In most cases, antibiotics are effective, but there is a rising incidence in stems, like methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), resistant to commonly used antibiotics. A local general antiseptic effect from the implant material is desired. There is a rising interest for the use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which a potent bactericidal effect, while the cytotoxicity is low to mammalian cells. Also desired is improved osteointegration sought after by a large specific surface area that is osteoconductive. Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) can create a firmly adhered coating with high porosity on some materials. AgNPs in a PEO coating on BMGs is a strategy to reduce revision surgeries by better mechanical properties, improved osteointegration, and protection against IAI. The synthesis of a multi-functional PEO coating on Ti- and Zr- based BMGs is described by a total approach. Ni and Be-free BMGs were produced in cooperation with the ETH Zürich of nominal compositions; Zr60.5Cu10.2Al8.9Fe10.2Ag9.7Ti0.5 (Zr605), Zr62.5Cu22.5Al10Fe5 (Zr625), and Ti47Zr7.5Cu38-Fe2.5Ag2Sn2Si1 (Ti47). A PEO coating was successfully made on BMGs with a DC power supply in combined galvanostatic and potentiostatic mode of 4 A and 350 V, respectively. Incorporation of Ag-NPs in the coating was achieved, confirmed with EDS. The surface morphology was characterised with XRD, SEM and EDS. The viability of MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts was confirmed on the untreated, PEO treated BMGs, and PEO treated with AgNPs. Moreover, the antibacterial effect of the PEO coated BMGs with AgNPs against MRSA was demonstrated in vitro by a zone of inhibition in an agar leaching assay. Ag-containing BMGs has a small zone of inhibition as well after PEO treatment. Probably, there is a (synergistic) bactericidal effect with Cu and Ag, deduced from the ion release kinetics in PBS measured by ICP-OES. From initial tests, the strategy of a multi-functional coating to reduce revision surgeries and improve the quality of life for patients holds promise. The described PEO process with DC could be a starting point from where PEO coating on BMG coatings can be optimised. The mechanical performance, especially the fatigue endurance with and without coating, should be assessed. The in vitro and biological performance of should be extensively evaluated before proceeding to in vivo experiments.Biomedical Engineerin
Abstract P4-02-08: Opto-acoustic imaging of the breast: Downclassification and upclassification of suspicious breast masses
No full textAbstract
Background
Imagio® is an opto-acoustic (OA) breast imaging system designed to concomitantly collect OA images together with diagnostic ultrasound (CDU). The device is intended to improve distinction between benign and malignant masses. In this interim analysis of the post-market surveillance MAESTRO study we report the results of 75 patients who had breast masses classified as BI-RADS 4a and 4b by CDU.
Aim
We assessed OA's sensitivity, specificity, and its ability to downgrade benign masses and upgrade malignant masses based on the probability of malignancy (POM) and BI-RADS category.
Methods
Seventy-five patients with 78 breast masses were evaluated with OA prior to biopsy. For each mass, the radiologist scored 5 OA features, assigned a POM and BI-RADS category. OA sensitivity, specificity, and BI-RADS downgrade and upgrade percentages were assessed with and without contribution from a previously derived nomogram.
Results
The mean POM difference between malignant and benign masses was higher for OA (37%) than for CDU (27%). OA specificity was 43% without the nomogram and 68% with the nomogram. OA sensitivity was 97% with and without the nomogram. With OA 43% of benign masses could be downgraded and 47% of malignant masses could be upgraded in BIRADS category.
Conclusion
These results appear to confirm the previously reported ability of OA to improve the differentiation between benign and malignant masses compared to CDU alone, to potentially decrease negative biopsies, and to upgrade BI-RADS category in malignant masses. The MAESTRO study (n=200) may further confirm these results.
Citation Format: Menezes GLG, Pijnappel RM, Meeuwis C, Bisschops B, Veltman J, Lavin PT, Mann RM. Opto-acoustic imaging of the breast: Downclassification and upclassification of suspicious breast masses [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-02-08.</jats:p
Romanticising the Writer: Biopics and Authorship in Finding Neverland (2004) and Saving Mr Banks (2013).
No full textThis thesis explores the theme of authorship in two biographical films: Saving Mr Banks (2004) and Finding Neverland (2013). The starting point of this thesis was the question of how filmmakers capture the seemingly inaccessible process of a literary imagination at work. This concept was elaborated to incorporate the representation of authorship in more general terms. This thesis analyses Finding Neverland and Saving Mr Banks to explore how these films represent authorship and visualise the writing process, but also how these films depict two famous authors of English children’s literature: P.L. Travers as the author of Mary Poppins in Saving Mr Banks, and J.M. Barrie as the author of Peter Pan in Finding Neverland. The research question of this thesis is: how do Finding Neverland (2004) and Saving Mr Banks (2013) represent literary authorship through depicting the figure of the author and the creation of their work(s)? At the heart of this thesis is how these films are both a celebration of authorship and a subversion of it
Flecainide in the treatment of ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias
No full textChapter 1 gives an overview on the development and application of antiarrhythmic drugs in general and the classification of antiarrhythmic drugs. The development of flecainide acetate, a "fluorine-for-hydrogen substitution" derivative of procainamide, started in7966. The most important pharmacokinetic properties are its good absorption
without significant first pass effect by the liver, its metabolisation (dealkylation) by the liver and inactivation of metabolites by glucuronidation and their excretion by the kidneys. ...
Zie: Summary
Une conférence sur le lingala tenue à Nouvelle Anvers en 1918: Edition du texte préparatoire de Mgr C. Van Ronslé
No full textAssociations Between Interindividual Differences, Expectations and Placebo and Nocebo Effects in Itch
No full textIntroduction: Placebo and nocebo effects are positive and negative health outcomes that can be elicited by the psychosocial context. They can be mediated by expectations, and may emerge in somatic symptoms even when people are aware of these effects. Interindividual differences (e.g., in personality, affective states) could impact placebo and nocebo responding, but findings are inconsistent. Methods: The current work examined expectation as a mediator of the association between verbal placebo and nocebo suggestions (VSs) and histamine-induced itch across three experimental studies. Moreover, we examined whether interindividual differences (e.g., in optimism, neuroticism, behavioral activation system (BAS), body ignorance) modulated: (1) the direct association between VSs and itch (direct moderation), and (2) the indirect, expectation-mediated association between VSs and itch (moderated mediation). Positive VSs were compared to neutral instructions (Study 1; n = 92) or negative VSs (Studies 2+3; n = 203) in an open-label (i.e., explaining placebo and nocebo effects) or closed-label (concealed) context using PROCESS. First, mediation of VSs effects on itch by expectations was tested. Next, moderation by individual traits was explored using conditional process analyses. Results: The effects of VSs on itch were significantly mediated by expectation in Study 1 and in the open-label (but not closed-label) contexts of Studies 2 and 3. Ignorance of bodily signals marginally moderated the direct effects of VSs on itch when closed-label suggestions were given: at low levels of body ignorance, effects of positive and negative VSs were stronger. Moreover, moderated mediation was observed in the open-label groups of Studies 2 and 3: The expectation-mediated effects of VSs on itch were stronger when BAS drive was lower. Conclusion: Overall, the effects of VSs on itch were mediated by expectations in the open-label, but not the closed-label context. Moreover, the current work suggests that placebo and nocebo effects may be moderated by ignorance of bodily signals and the BAS. There was limited evidence that other interindividual differences modulated placebo and nocebo responding in itch.Applied Ergonomics and DesignHR Healt
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