Background Anxiety and challenging behaviour (CB) often occur simultaneously in people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Understanding the associations between anxiety and CB may contribute to more accurate diagnoses and management of both anxiety and CB in this population. Aims To examine the relationship between anxiety and CB. Methods A literature review covering the period from January 2000 to January 2012. Results Seven studies about the relationship between psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, and CB were identified. These studies confirm the relationship between anxiety and CB in people with ID, although the precise nature of this relationship remains unclear. Conclusions The study points toward the existence of a moderate association between anxiety and CB. Further research is needed to clarify the complex nature of the association between anxiety and CB.
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(‘Co’-)Designing for healthy behaviour greatly benefits from integrating insights about individual behaviour and systemic influences. This study reports our experiences in using insights about individual and systemic determinants of behaviour to inform a large co-design project. To do so, we used two design tools that encourage focusing on individual determinants (Behavioural Lenses Approach) and social / systemic aspects of behaviour (Socionas). We performed a qualitative analysis to identify 1) when and how the team applied the design tools, and 2) how the tools supported or obstructed the design process. The results show that both tools had their distinctive uses during the process. Both tools improved the co-design process by deepening the conversations and underpinnings of the prototypes. Using the Behavioural Lenses under the guidance of a behavioural expert proved most beneficial. Furthermore, the Socionas showed the most potential when interacting with stakeholders, i.c. parents and PPTs.
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Chronic diseases represent a significant burden for the society and health systems; addressing this burden is a key goal of the European Union policy. Health and other professionals are expected to deliver behaviour change support to persons with chronic disease. A skill gap in behaviour change support has been identified, and there is room for improvement. Train4Health is a strategic partnership involving seven European Institutions in five countries, which seeks to improve behaviour change support competencies for the self-management of chronic disease. The project envisages a continuum in behaviour change support education, in which an interprofessional competency framework, relevant for those currently practising, guides the development of a learning outcomes-based curriculum and an educational package for future professionals (today’s undergraduate students).
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How does a specific lung cancer become resistant towards medication.The occurrence of a chromosomal translocation resulting in a ROS1 gene fusion in lung cancer is relatively rare with around 1-2% of all cases. Both Dutch (Stichting Merels Wereld) and world-wide (ROS1ders) patient advocacy groups work hard to raise awareness and bring researchers together to close the knowledge gap on ROS1 driven oncogenesis and increase the optionsfor treatment. A notorious hurdle is to achieve durable responses due to development of resistance.Ongoing mutations occurring in tumour cells lead to a heterogeneous genomic landscape and will result in outgrowth of the fastest growing tumour cell population resistant to the applied drug. The currently known resistance mechanisms can be divided in on-target (i.e. mutations in the kinasedomain of ROS1) and off-target (providing ROS1 independent growth support) mechanisms. The currently available drugs target the ROS1-fusion gene positive lung cancer cells. In addition, some of the drugs also target cancer cells with specific ROS1 resistance mutations allowing effective sequentialtreatment upon disease progression. Selection of the most optimal treatment is largely a ‘trial and error’ approach. Patients and their doctors ask for better prediction of the most effective follow-up treatment upon development of resistance. Medical Life Science & Diagnostics can help to improvetreatment by developing cell culture models which mimic the situation in resistant tumour cells.Understanding the impact of specific mutations on disease behaviour will aid in the development of patient-tailored therapeutic approaches, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
The Ph.D. candidate will investigate the seismic response of connection details frequently used in traditional Dutch construction practice, specifically in the Groningen area. The research will focus on the experimental and numerical definition of the complete load-deflection behaviour of each considered connection; specifically, the tests will aim at identifying stiffness, strength, ductility, and dissipative behaviour of the connections. The experiments will be conducted on scaled or full-scale components that properly resemble the as-built and retrofitted as well connection details. The tests will involve monotonic and cyclic loading protocols to be able to define the load and displacement response of the connection to reversal loads, such as earthquakes, as well as the development of failure mechanisms under such loading cases. Possibly, also dynamic tests will be performed. Numerical models will be created and calibrated versus the experimental findings. Characteristic hysteretic behaviours of the examined connection types will be provided for the use of engineers and researchers.
How the availability of residential parking facilities affects travel behaviour has received little attention. Some studies show that longer distances between home and the residential parking facility reduce the car’s modal share. However, no insight exists in the question whether a change in residential parking facilities would lead to a change in attitudes and transport mode choice of residents. Therefore, the research question the proposed research aims to answer is: to what extent do travel mode attitudes, travel behaviours (walking, cycling, bus, train, car use) and car ownership of residents change after the removal of parking spaces in residential areas? In 2020, parking spots will be removed in several areas in the city centre of Utrecht. Residents of these areas will have to park their car further away from home after the removal. We apply a mixed-methods design in order to: 1) gain insight in impacts of the removal of residential parking spots (effect evaluation), and 2) gain insight in the underlying mechanisms that may explain these changes (qualitative interviews). The results of our project are highly relevant for the municipality of Utrecht, as for other cities in the Netherlands. Having parking spaces nearby (home and/or destination) is often seen as having positive effects (for economic competitiveness). Our research can show that parking further away can also have important positive effects, namely all the beneficial effects of a modal shift from car to walking, cycling or public transport use, in terms of health, environment, use of space, and social aspects.
