Bergen Op Zoom Research Articles

A Delta of Time

In the early modern Low Countries, narrative cartography was a thriving new medium aimed at disseminating information about events concerning the Dutch Revolt. News maps combined spatial and narrative information in order to tell the story of a recent event to a large audience, representing actions, moments, and (spatial) change. They were in essence temporal products. To keep the maps topical, map publishers released new map states by modifying their copperplates and adding the latest news, sometimes multiple times. This article analyses the ‘updated’ map series by the Amsterdam publisher Claes Jansz Visscher that reported on events in the Scheldt river area between Bergen op Zoom and Antwerp (such as the 1631 Battle of the Slaak). The central question is how and why Visscher incorporated temporal information into his news maps. First, it shows the tools and strategies how Visscher, in comparison to other Northern and Southern Netherlandish news map publishers, added temporal information to his maps. Then, the rhythm of mapping and the map narratives are put in the context of real-time events and news culture, and the circulation and use of the maps are interpreted in the context of memory culture and historical consciousness. The article shows how news maps imply specific narratives of events and invite contemporary and later users to engage with and ‘navigate’ the past, present, and future in ways that transcend the limiting idea of time as a linear progress.

Jan Moffet and Scottish Merchants in Bergen op Zoom in the Early Sixteenth Century

Jan Moffet and Scottish Merchants in Bergen op Zoom in the Early Sixteenth Century

Waarom die vorm en oriëntatie van Borssele?

The village of Borssele was founded in 1616 in a polder of the same name on the island of Zuid-Beveland in the province of Zeeland. The driving force behind both the diking of the polder and the construction of the village during the Twelve Year Truce (1609-1621) in the young Dutch Republic was the mayor of the city of Goes, Cornelis Soetwater. This article argues that the unusual form and orientation of the Borssele village plan reflects a conscious decision by Soetwater to combine and improve on the best of the Zeeland’s impoldering and village planning tradition, and on the most striking old Zuid-Beveland villages.
 Soetwater’s decision to give Borssele’s main square a resolutely northern orientation and an unconventional, rotated positioning within the polder grid, and to model its plan on that of the most distinctive medieval villages on the islands of Zuid-Beveland, Nisse and Kloetinge, served to anchor the new village emphatically in its immediate surroundings.
 Moreover, Borssele represents the culmination of an honourable tradition initiated during the fifteenth century by the Zeeland nobleman Adriaan van Borssele with the construction of ringstraatdorpen[1] such as Dirksland, Sommelsdijk and Middelharnis, in the large Flakkee polders. The marquises of Bergen op Zoom and the family of Orange continued this tradition during the sixteenth century in the construction of Willemstad and Colijnsplaat, among others.
 Soetwater exploited the symbolic significance of these new villages, which was as important to Adriaan van Borssele and his followers as their economic and administrative function, for his own purposes. By continuing a trend towards orthogonality and symmetry in the layout of sixteenth-century ringstraatdorpen in the double symmetry of the Borssele street plan, Soetwater was able to emphasize the victory of rationality over chaos. Not just in the sense that the wild water had been turned into orderly cultural landscape, but also in the sense that after many years of war, the Twelve Year Truce had ushered in a period of peace, order and the prospect of a bright future.
 [1] The ringstraatdorp was a combination of two older types of Zeeland village plans, the kerkringdorp and the voorstraatdorp. Its main street (voorstraat) was perpendicular to the polder dike and its landward end terminated in a kerkring (church encircled by a street).

Seeking Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Father: Pieter Bruegel the Eldest (†1566), Pensioner in Sint-Janshuis Retirement Home, Bergen op Zoom

In 1553-1554, one Pieter Bruegel retired to Sint-Janshuis, Bergen op Zoom: a home where former servants of the Marquises of Bergen could spend their old age. The main argument of the article is that this retiree, who was the former barber-surgeon of Marquis Jan IV (1541-1567), should be considered as the father of the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The latter’s origins are almost completely unknown, yet heavily debated: was he the son of a peasant who painted scenes of life in the countryside, or was he born and raised in an urban environment and did he satirise peasants in his artistic work? An historical reconstruction of the background of the retired barber-surgeon, and the retirement home he spent his final years in, shows he is a strong candidate for having fathered the famous painter. Evidence from the discipline of art history provides further support for the claim that the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder was the son of a barber-surgeon and came from an urban social-middling-group background with close ties to one of the most important courts and artistic milieus in the Low Countries, the Renaissance palace Markiezenhof in Bergen op Zoom.

Predictors of care dependency in nursing home residents with moderate to severe dementia: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundNursing home residents with dementia show a rapid decline in their ability to perform activities of daily living. This decline is linked to a greater care dependency, which is associated with a reduced quality of life. Care dependency is influenced by multiple predictors, yet current research often focuses on the contribution of a single or a small number of predictors of care dependency. ObjectivesTo examine the contribution of multiple predictors in predicting care dependency. DesignThe present study analyzed baseline data from a 6-month double-parallel randomized controlled trial which examined the effect of three physical activity interventions on multiple outcomes. SettingThis study was conducted in eleven nursing homes in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands. ParticipantsIn total, 85 nursing home residents with moderate to severe dementia were included in the study, of which 75 were included for analysis. MethodsPredictors considered were cognitive, physical, neuropsychiatric, demographic, and disease related factors. The outcome measure care dependency was assessed with the Care Dependency Scale and the Erlangen Test of Activities of Daily Living. Linear multilevel regression analyses were used to identify the most important predictors of care dependency. ResultsApathy, physical endurance, number of comorbidities, and global cognition were significant predictors of care dependency. The model explained 66% of the variance in care dependency. Global cognition was a significant predictor of ability to perform activities of daily living and explained 60% percent of its variance. ConclusionThe present study shows that multiple predictors (i.e., apathy, cognitive and physical abilities, and disease-related factors) contribute to predicting care dependency. Future research could focus on the effectiveness of multifactorial interventions to maintain the highest possible level of independence in nursing home residents with dementia.

How Many Paths Must a Choirbook Tread Before it Reaches the Pope?

In this article, I argue that Pope Leo X may not have been the first owner of the Alamire manuscript Vatican, Capella Sistina 160 [VatS 160]. The pronounced presence of music by Obrecht in the manuscript, the virtual absence of compositions by La Rue, the use of Flemish, and indicative heraldry suggest that the manuscript’s first owner may have been Lord John III of Bergen op Zoom. The conversion of VatS 160 into a gift for the pope further suggests a contextual connection with the Mechelen choirbook [MechAS s.s.], which is seen here as a gift to Maximilian, in the expectation that he, not Giovanni de’Medici, would be elected Pope in 1513.

SABIC invests in engineering plastics

The Saudi chemical maker SABIC will build a third plant for its Ultem polyetherimide resin and restart a plant for its Noryl polyphenylene ether resin. The Ultem plant will be built in Singapore, joining facilities in Mt. Vernon, Ind., and Cartagena, Spain, and expanding the firm’s capacity by 50%. Restarting a Noryl plant in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands, will expand SABIC’s capacity for that polymer by 40%. “Global demand for both product lines has increased significantly,” says Ernesto Occhiello, head of SABIC’s specialties business.

Regional and interregional trading networks and commercial practices at the port of Antwerp in the 14th and 15

In the 14th and 15th centuries Antwerp was a port of considerable dimensions and commercial importance. The Brabant fairs of Bergen op Zoom and Antwerp were a major meeting point for merchants from the Low Countries, the Rhineland and England from the fourteenth century onwards. This article gives a short synthesis of the existing literature on the earliest period of the commercial history of Antwerp, little of which has been published in English so far, and map the commercial activity in Antwerp in the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. It focuses on the trade with the staple goods grain, fish and salt. The testimonies related to the litigation concerning the staple between Antwerp and the towns of Brussels and Mechlin in the early fifteenth century provide detailed information concerning the destinations, traded products as well as trading practices and strategies, so that a picture of the commercial networks and practices of Antwerp during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century can be established which is complementary to the older historiography concerning the international trade at the Antwerp fairs.

Charles Buys (1942-2014).

Charles Buys (1942-2014).

Evaluation of primary and secondary stability of titanium implants using different surgical techniques

To investigate the influence of different surgical techniques on the primary and secondary implant stability using trabecular bone of goats as an implantation model. In the iliac crest of eight goats, 48 cylindrical-screw-type implants with a diameter of 4.2mm (Dyna(®) ; Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands) were installed, using three different surgical techniques: (i) 5% undersized, using a final drill diameter of 4mm; (ii) 15% undersized, using a final drill diameter of 3.6mm; and (iii) 25% undersized, using a final drill diameter of 3.2mm. Peak insertion torque values were measured by a Digital(®) (MARK-10 Corporation, New York, NY, USA) torque gauge instrument during placement. At 3weeks after implantation, removal torque was measured. Histomorphometrically, the peri-implant bone volume was measured in three zones; the inner zone (0-500μm), the middle zone (500-1000μm) and the outer zone (1000-1500μm). Evaluation of the obtained data demonstrated no statistically significant difference between different surgical techniques regarding removal torque values. With respect to the percentage peri-implant bone volume (%BV), also no significant difference could be observed between all three applied surgical techniques for both the inner, middle and outer zone. However, irrespective of the surgical technique, it was noticed that the %BV was significantly higher for the inner zone as compared to middle and outer zone (P<0.05) around the implant. At 3weeks after implant installation, independent of the used undersized surgical technique, the %BV in the inner zone (0-500μm) peri-implant area was improved due to both condensation of the surrounding bone as also the translocation of host bone particles along the implant surface. Surprisingly, no mechanical beneficial effect of the 25% undersized surgical technique could be observed as compared to the 5% or 15% undersized surgical technique to improve primary or secondary implant stability.

Genees &amp; Kunst 6: Sixth Biannual Symposium on Medical Problems of Dancers and Musicians, Den Haag, April 1, 2008

On Tuesday, April 1, 2008, the Dutch Performing Arts Medicine Association (NVDMG) organized a scientific, artistic and, above all, festive symposium, "Genees &amp; Kunst 6," for its sixth member assembly. The assembly, held at the Medical Centre of The Hague, was co-hosted by Dr. A.B.M. (Boni) Rietveld, President of NVDMG and head of the Medical Centre for Dancers &amp; Musicians, and by Mr. P.E. (Peter) van der Meer, MBA, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Medical Centre of The Hague (MCH). Scientific presentations, interspersed with dance and music performances, were given by NVDMG members and by two special guest presenters: Dr. W.J.B. (Walter) Mastboom, surgeon in the Medisch Spectrum Twente, in Enschede, The Netherlands, talked about parotid gland surgery and its consequences for the embouchure in wind players. And Dr. A. (Bert) Roldaan, pulmonologist in the Haga Ziekenhuis in The Hague and past director of the Nederlands Astmacentrum in Davos, Switzerland, addressed artists with shortness of breath and COPD. The scientific program continued with NVDMG presenters including: P.A.M. (Peter) de Beer, medical adviser of the world famous André Rieu Orchestra in Maastricht, on medical care of an orchestra touring internationally; M.E. (Mamie) Air, medical student at Yale University and Fulbright Scholar to The Netherlands 2007-08, working with Dr. Rietveld, on successful treatment of Freibergs disease in a preprofessional dancer; A.L. (Bram) de Blécourt, psychiatrist, Bergen op Zoom, on the impending dissonance between dancers/musicians and audience and the role of the psychiatrist; and F.M. (Frits) van der Linden, surgeon at Groene Hart Ziekenhuis, Gouda, on the hair of Beethoven.

Industrial application of RAM modeling: Development and implementation of a RAM simulation model for the Lexan ® plant at GE Industrial, Plastics

A RAM (reliability, availability and maintenance) model has been built for the GE Industrial, Plastics Lexan ® plant in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands. It was based on a Reliability Block Diagram with a Monte Carlo simulation engine. The model has been validated against actual plant data from two different sources, and against local expert opinions, resulting in a satisfactory simulation model. The model was used to assess two key decisions that were (to be) made by GE Industrial, Plastics concerning operation and shutdown policies of the plant. The model results showed that the operation and maintenance could be further improved, and that in doing so the annual production loss could be reduced further.

GREENHOUSE DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE WITH A CLADDING MATERIAL COMBINING HIGH INSULATION CAPACITY WITH HIGH LIGHT TRANSMITTANCE

For the world exhibition Floriade 2002 in The Netherlands a greenhouse design is developed by IMAG together with General Electric Plastics, Bergen op Zoom with polycarbonate double-web sheets with a zigzag-shaped surface. Intensive research was completed to develop the special zigzag shape of the plastic sheets resulting in an enhanced light transmittance and energy saving of approximately 20% over the whole year. The optimal dimensions for the sheets with respect to light transmittance, strength and insulation is a pattern of 50 mm for the zigzag shape, a thickness of 25 mm and the inclination of the pattern is 50°. The transmittance for diffuse light of the entire greenhouse with the double-web sheets is 78.8%.

The Canadian Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting, Montréal, Quebec, 2003

The Canadian Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting, Montréal, Quebec, 2003

Comparative study of 2 electric and 2 manual toothbrushes in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances

The objective of this prospective single-blind crossover clinical trial was to evaluate the efficacy of 4 toothbrushes in 33 children undergoing fixed appliance orthodontic therapy. The toothbrushes included in this study were the Braun Oral-B 3D Plaque Remover (Kronberg, Germany), the Philips-Jordan HP 510 (Philips Domestic Appliances, Groningen, The Netherlands), the Lactona orthodontic toothbrush (Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands), and the Oral-B Advantage Control Grip (Braun); the first 2 are electric, and the last 2 are manual. Every patient tested each type of toothbrush in a randomly designed sequence. Plaque and gingival scores were recorded at baseline and after every 4-week test period. All patients received professional prophylaxis after each clinical evaluation. The data were analyzed with the Friedman test, which showed no significant differences among the 4 brushes for any of the parameters measured. The Wilcoxon signed rank test, comparing the plaque and the gingival scores between the upper and lower jaw for each brush, indicated that plaque removal was more efficient in the lower jaw than in the upper. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2001;120:353-60)

High-performance liquid chromatography analysis, preliminary pharmacokinetics, metabolism and renal excretion of methylprednisolone with its C6 and C20 hydroxy metabolites in multiple sclerosis patients receiving high-dose pulse therapy

A gradient eluent HPLC analysis in human plasma and urine was developed and validated for methylprednisolone (MP), its prodrug methylprednisolone-21-hemisuccinate (MPS) with the metabolites 6β-hydroxy-6α-methylprednisolone (MPA), 20-hydroxymethylprednisolone (MPC), 6β-hydroxy-20α-hydroxymethylprednisolone (MPB), 6β-hydroxy-20β-hydroxymethylprednisolone (MPE), 20-carboxymethylprednisolone (MPD), methylprednisolone-glucuronide (MPF) and 21-carboxymethylprednisolone (MPX). The column was Cp Spherisorb C8 5 μm, 250 mm×4.6 mm I.D. (Chrompack, Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands) with a guard column 75 mm×2.1 mm, packed with pellicular reversed-phase. The eluent was a mixture of acetonitrile and 0.067 M KH 2PO 4 buffer, pH 4.5. At t=0, the eluent consisted of 2% acetonitrile and 98% buffer (v/v). Over the following 35 min the eluent changed linearly until it attained a composition of 50% acetonitrile and 50% buffer (v/v). At 37 min ( t=37) the eluent was changed over 5 min to the initial composition, followed by equilibration over 3 min. The flow-rate was 1.5 ml/min and UV detection was achieved at 248 nm. Preliminary pharmacokinetic data were obtained from one patient who showed illustrative plasma concentration–time curves and renal excretion-time profiles after a short-lasting infusion (0.5 h) of 1 g of methylprednisolone hemisuccinate. The half-life of prodrug methylprednisolone-21-hemisuccinate (MPS) was 0.3 h, that of metabolite MPX (21-carboxy MP) was 0.4 h and that of the parent drug methylprednisolone (MP) was 1.4 h. The half-lives of the metabolites are almost similar (4 h). The main compounds in the urine are methylprednisolone hemisuccinate (prodrug, 15.0%), methylprednisolone (parent drug, 14.6%), metabolite MPD (20-carboxy, 11.7%), and metabolite MPB (13.2%). The renal clearance values of metabolites MPB, MPC and MPD are approximately 500 ml/min, that of MP is 100 ml/min.

Een Middelburgs tapijt aan de vergetelheid ontrukt: The last fight of the Revenge, 1598

AbstractSix tapestries depict the resistance of Zeeland's Sea Beggars to the Spaniards during the Eighty Years' War. Between 1572 and 1576 the fight for freedom was waged in the Scheldt delta. In 1591 the Estates of Zeeland ordered the first tapestry, a representation of the battle of Bergen op Zoom, from Francois Spierinx, a weaver in Delft. When it arrived in 1595, the Estates decided to have a series of tapestries made for the Prinsenlogement, or royal apartments, in Middelburg Abbey. The five tapestries were woven in the De Maecht workshop in less than ten years. Four of them, representing naval engagements, were designed by Hendrick Cornelisz. Vroom: The Battle of Rammekens, The Battle of Lillo, The Battle of Zierikzee and The Battle of Den Haak. The fifth, the Arms Tapestry, was woven after a design by Carel van Mander. Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, Earl of Nottingham (1536-1624) ordered from Spierinx a series of ten tapestries depicting the English victory over the Spanish Armada. These tapestries, which had hung in the House of Lords since 1650, were destroyed in a fire at the Houses of Parliament in 1834. Vroom based his designs for the Armada tapestries on maps by Robert Adams, engraved by Augustine Ryther. Compared with the Armada series, the composition of the Zeeland tapestries is fluent and vigorous. Vroom had actually visited Zeeland and spoken with eye-witnesses such as Joos dc Moor. The silhouettes of the towns are rendered in detail. Lord Thomas Howard ordered The Last Fight of the Revenge, dated 1598, from the De Maecht workshop in Middelburg. This fairly unknown tapestry, in a private collection since 1934, was on show at the Armada exhibition in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich in 1988. It was erroneously presumed to have been woven by Spierinx in Brussels. Spierinx, however, came from Antwerp, and moved to Delft in 1591. In view of the dating and an art-historical comparison, an attribution to the Dc Maccht workshop is more likely. Hendrick Vroom designed The Revenge. It bears a marked resemblance to the Zierikzee and Den Haak tapestries in the Zeeland series; the border, too, is similar. Wool, silk, gold and silver thread were used. The latter were costly materials and rarely used in North Netherlandish tapestry production. The tapestry may have been ordered to commemorate Sir Richard Grenville's valiant action. On August 31 1591 Admiral Howard led his fleet to the Azores, off Pico island. His intention was to intercept a Spanish treasure fleet on its return voyage from the West. However, the English were taken by surprise by Armada ships. Howard ordered the retreat, but Grenville, vice-admiral and commander of the Revenge, ignored these orders. He engaged in battle with the attackers, was wounded and died on the Spanish flagship. The composition, a bird's-eye view, of the Revenge tapestry, bears a strong resemblance to the Zierikzee (1599-1603) and Den Haak (1600-1602) tapestries, both of which were woven under the supervision of Hendrick de Maecht, Jan de Maecht's successor. The borders of the tapestries woven in Middelburg echo Spierinx's Bergen op Zoom. The colours in the Bergen op Zoom tapestry are bright and soft, the figures are plastic and the surround merges harmoniously with the representation. Unfortunately this cannot be said of the Zeeland borders. Various alterations in the border of the Revenge mar the harmony and symmetry. The word 'Anno' and the year in the top corners are in the wrong order. In view of the woven rendering of the composition, the use of dark colours and the rather clumsy borders, The Last Fight of The Revenge is more likely to have come from Hendrick de Maecht's studio than from Jan de Maecht's. The latter's products are distinguished by the use of lighter colours and more accurate weaving, as is particularly evident in De Battle of Rammekens and to a lesser extent in The Battle of Lillo.

A randomized comparison of oxytocin, sulprostone and placebo in the management of the third stage of labour

Objective— To compare the effect on post partum bloodloss of the postpartum prophylactic administration of oxytocin or sulprostone in low risk women having an expectant management of the third stage. Design— Randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind trial. Setting— Radboud University Hospital, Nijmegen (67 women) and Lievensberg Hospital, Bergen op Zoom (10 women). Participants— 77 women entered the trial (three were excluded). Interventions— The intramuscular injection, immediately after the birth of the baby, of either oxytocin 5 IU, sulprostone 500 ng or 0.9% saline. Main outcome measures— Quantitative postpartum blood loss and length of third stage. Results— Postpartum blood loss was reduced almost equally, by about 35%, by oxytocin (P = 0.02), or sulprostone (P = 0.05). The mean length of the third stage was shorter in both groups receiving the active treatment, this effect was significant in the sulprostone group (P = 0.01). Conclusion— Prophylactic administration of oxytocin or sulprostone directly after delivery followed by expectant management of the third stage reduces post partum blood loss and shortens the third stage.

Influence of dynamic stall in the aerodynamic study of HAWTs

In order to evaluate the global unsteady loads on a HAWT, subjected to dynamic stall, some semi-theoretical models have been introduced in the static force calculation program FORAER developed at the Department of Fluid Mechanics of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The models are derived from retreating blade stall on helicopters. Among models, the Boeing-Vertol, Strickland, Machielse, Favier, ONERA models have been used. The purpose of this study is to gain better knowledge of HAWT behaviour under the dynamic stall influence, and to evaluate the surplus or energy loss with respect to steady flow. Comparison is made between numerical and experimental results for two prototype HAWT, the VUB H8.5 located in Zeebrugge and a 500 kW Windmaster at Bergen op Zoom.

A randomized comparison of oxytocin, sulprostone and placebo in the management of the third stage of labour

To compare the effect on post partum bloodloss of the postpartum prophylactic administration of oxytocin or sulprostone in low risk women having an expectant management of the third stage. Randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind trial. Radboud University Hospital, Nijmegen (67 women) and Lievensberg Hospital, Bergen op Zoom (10 women). 77 women entered the trial (three were excluded). The intramuscular injection, immediately after the birth of the baby, of either oxytocin 5 IU, sulprostone 500 micrograms or 0.9% saline. Quantitative postpartum blood loss and length of third stage. Postpartum blood loss was reduced almost equally, by about 35%, by oxytocin (P = 0.02), or sulprostone (P = 0.05). The mean length of the third stage was shorter in both groups receiving the active treatment, this effect was significant in the sulprostone group (P = 0.01). Prophylactic administration of oxytocin or sulprostone directly after delivery followed by expectant management of the third stage reduces post partum blood loss and shortens the third stage.