Dutch Institute Research Articles

O Jogo da Formação Docente no caso Early Bird: lances, disputas e rupturas

ABSTRACT Assuming teacher education as a game played among agents in the educational field, this paper analyzes the case of Early Bird Project, which introduced the English language in primary public schools in the state of São Paulo/Brazil through a partnership between the Sa?o Paulo State Secretary of Education and Dutch Institutions. Through the lens of the field concept developed by Pierre Bourdieu, and analyzing documentary and bibliographic data and also semi-structured interviews with teachers from the project, this paper focuses on the ramifications of the proposal’s teacher education of the project, highlighting elements that, together, put at stake the continuity of the game of teacher education and the role of university in this competitive space.

266. EXTENSION OF FDG-PET-BASED RADIOMIC MODELS ON IDENTIFICATION OF PATIENTS WITH RESIDUAL ESOPHAGEAL CANCER AFTER NEOADJUVANT CHEMORADIOTHERAPY

Abstract For esophageal cancer patients, detection of residual tumor after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is important for guiding treatment decisions regarding standard esophagectomy or active surveillance. Prediction models incorporating clinical variables and FDG-PET quantitative radiomic features have been previously developed in a single-center setting (‘development cohort’, Beukinga et al. 2018) to identify patients with residual tumor after nCRT. The aim was to improve generalizability by redeveloping the models (i.e. ‘model extension’) using a multicenter prospectively acquired cohort. The development cohort was combined with a patient cohort collected from a prospective multicenter study in four Dutch institutes. Patients underwent nCRT according to the CROSS regimen followed by esophagectomy 6–14 weeks after nCRT between 2013–2019. Outcome was tumor regression grade (TRG) 1–2 (0–10% tumor) vs TRG 3–4 (>10% tumor). FDG-PET/CT was performed 6–12 weeks after nCRT. Post-treatment FDG-PET-radiomic features were calculated from gross tumor volumes. Features were standardized per scanner. A bootstrapped least absolute shrinkage and selection (LASSO) model using clinical variables and radiomic features was developed and a model incorporating clinical variables was developed for reference. Some 262 patients were included. Median age was 65 years (IQR 60–70), 158 of 262 were male (82%) and outcomes were 129/262 TRG 1–2 (49%) and 133/262 TRG 3–4 (51%). The extended LASSO model included seven radiomic features and the clinical variables cT stage and histology (internally validated AUC, 0.59). At a probability threshold to obtain 90% sensitivity for detection of TRG 3–4 (benchmark with bite-on-bite biopsies + fine-needle aspiration of suspected lymph nodes), specificity was 36% and accuracy 63%. A LASSO clinical reference model (including cT, sex, histology) achieved an internally validated AUC of 0.58 (Fig. 1). The extended internally validated LASSO model incorporating post-treatment radiomic features and clinical variables yielded moderate discriminative ability. The improvement in predictive performance with this model compared with a model using only clinical variables was marginal. The application of radiomics to post-treatment FDG-PET/CT scans is of no help in decision-making in individual patients regarding the choice for active surveillance after nCRT.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical care in the Netherlands.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption of regular healthcare leading to reduced hospital attendances, repurposing of surgical facilities, and cancellation of cancer screening programmes. This study aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on surgical care in the Netherlands. A nationwide study was conducted in collaboration with the Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing. Eight surgical audits were expanded with items regarding alterations in scheduling and treatment plans. Data on procedures performed in 2020 were compared with those from a historical cohort (2018-2019). Endpoints included total numbers of procedures performed and altered treatment plans. Secondary endpoints included complication, readmission, and mortality rates. Some 12 154 procedures were performed in participating hospitals in 2020, representing a decrease of 13.6 per cent compared with 2018-2019. The largest reduction (29.2 per cent) was for non-cancer procedures during the first COVID-19 wave. Surgical treatment was postponed for 9.6 per cent of patients. Alterations in surgical treatment plans were observed in 1.7 per cent. Time from diagnosis to surgery decreased (to 28 days in 2020, from 34 days in 2019 and 36 days in 2018; P < 0.001). For cancer-related procedures, duration of hospital stay decreased (5 versus 6 days; P < 0.001). Audit-specific complications, readmission, and mortality rates were unchanged, but ICU admissions decreased (16.5 versus 16.8 per cent; P < 0.001). The reduction in the number of surgical operations was greatest for those without cancer. Where surgery was undertaken, it appeared to be delivered safely, with similar complication and mortality rates, fewer admissions to ICU, and a shorter hospital stay.

Linda de Vries: intervening early to improve young lives

Linda de Vries, Emeritus Professor in Neonatal Neurology at Utrecht University and Leiden University, has had an illustrious career in these Dutch institutions spanning more than 30 years. “I officially retired 3 years ago, but I’m still doing research, as there are so many questions to be answered. And I have more time for it now”, she explains. Her research focuses on prediction of neurodevelopmental outcomes in high-risk preterm and full-term neonates using neurophysiology and neuroimaging methods.

Werkt De Weddenschap? Opvattingen van (v)mbo-docenten en vmbo-leerlingen over leesbevorderingscampagne De Weddenschap en leescoaches DIO, Famke Louise en Jeangu Macrooy

In 2020, Stichting Lezen (a Dutch institution aimed at reading promotion amongst youngsters) announced that three Dutch celebrities would star in its campaign De Weddenschap (The Bet): rapper DIO, singer/vlogger/model Famke Louise, and singer-songwriter Jeangu Macrooy. This article examines how teachers and pupils in preparatory secondary vocational education evaluate this campaign. First, the results of a questionnaire amongst L1-teachers of Dutch are reported. According to this survey, teachers have little trust in the campaign’s efficacy, but they still seem to believe that pupils might achieve reading satisfaction once they are seduced to read. However, the survey amongst pupils indicates that even a campaign starring celebrities does not convince youngsters in preparatory secondary vocational education to pick up a book. While they responded generally positively towards the efforts of one of the celebrities (Jeangu Macrooy), the large majority nevertheless did not consider participating in the campaign.

Medication Use and Clinical Outcomes by the Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing Medicines Program: Quantitative Analysis

BackgroundThe Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing (DICA) Medicines Program was set up in September 2018 to evaluate expensive medicine use in daily practice in terms of real-world effectiveness using only existing data sources.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to describe the potential of the addition of declaration data to quality registries to provide participating centers with benchmark information about the use of medicines and outcomes among patients.MethodsA total of 3 national population-based registries were linked to clinical and financial data from the hospital pharmacy, the Dutch diagnosis treatment combinations information system including in-hospital activities, and survival data from health care insurers. The first results of the real-world data (RWD) linkage are presented using descriptive statistics to assess patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics. Time-to-next-treatment (TTNT) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.ResultsA total of 21 Dutch hospitals participated in the DICA Medicines Program, which included 7412 patients with colorectal cancer, 1981 patients with metastasized colon cancer, 3860 patients with lung cancer, 1253 patients with metastasized breast cancer, and 7564 patients with rheumatic disease. The data were used for hospital benchmarking to gain insights into medication use in specific patient populations, treatment information, clinical outcomes, and costs. Detailed treatment information (duration and treatment steps) led to insights into differences between hospitals in daily clinical practices. Furthermore, exploratory analyses on clinical outcomes (TTNT and OS) were possible.ConclusionsThe DICA Medicines Program shows that it is possible to gather and link RWD about medicines to 4 disease-specific population-based registries. Since these RWD became available with minimal registration burden and effort for hospitals, this method can be explored in other population-based registries to evaluate real-world efficacy.

Colonialism, Context and Critical Thinking: First Steps Toward Decolonizing the Dutch Legal Curriculum

In the summer of 2020, tens of thousands of people took to streets and squares around the Netherlands under the banner of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Many speakers called for Dutch institutions to ‘decolonize’ by reckoning with their own colonial history and racialized legacies. Addressing institutional racism at universities should be a multi-layered process. Recruitment and admission of students, curriculum design, hiring of academic staff, retention, promotion and teaching practices should all be considered. Those of us teaching at Dutch law schools, however, do not have to wait; by incorporating critical theoretical approaches and existing historical research on race and colonialism, Dutch law school teachers can begin to address structural racism and colonial legacies as soon as the next teaching term. This article gives concrete examples of where and how to begin.

Long-term outcome and bridging success of patients evaluated and bridged to lung transplantation on the ICU.

Evaluating and bridging patients to lung transplantation (LTx) on the intensive care unit (ICU) remains controversial, especially without a previous waitlist status. Long term outcome data after LTx from ICU remains scarce. We compared long-term survival and development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) in elective and LTx from ICU, with or without previous waitlist status. Patients transplanted between 2004 and 2018 in 2 large academic Dutch institutes were included. Long-term survival and development of CLAD was compared in patients who received an elective LTx (ELTx), those bridged and transplanted from the ICU with a previous listing status (BTT), and in patients urgently evaluated and bridged on ICU (EBTT). A total of 582 patients underwent a LTx, 70 (12%) from ICU, 39 BTT and 31 EBTT. Patients transplanted from ICU were younger than ELTx (46 vs 51 years) and were bridged with mechanical ventilation (n=42 (60%)), extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (n=28 (40%)), or both (n = 21/28). Bridging success was 48% in the BTT group and 72% in the EBTT group. Patients bridged to LTx on ICU had similar 1 and 5 year survival (86.8% and 78.4%) compared to elective LTx (86.8% and 71.9%). This was not different between the BTT and EBTT group. 5 year CLAD free survival was not different in patients transplanted from ICU vs ELTx. Patients bridged to LTx on the ICU with and without prior listing status had excellent short and long-term patient and graft outcomes, and was similar to patients electively transplanted.

56: EXTERNAL VALIDATION OF PET-BASED RADIOMIC MODELS TO IDENTIFY PATIENTS WITH RESIDUAL ESOPHAGEAL CANCER AFTER NEOADJUVANT CHEMORADIOTHERAPY

Abstract Background and aim High-throughput quantitative imaging (‘radiomics’) has been proposed to predict tumor response in various types of cancer. Internally validated radiomic models based on post-treatment PET features plus cT-stage have been developed (Beukinga et al. 2018) to detect residual tumor after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer. The aim of the present study was to externally validate the published models. Methods The external validation cohort comprised esophageal cancer patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy according to the CROSS regimen followed by immediate resection in four Dutch institutes between 2013–2019. Outcome was tumor regression grade (TRG) 1 (0% residual vital tumor) versus TRG-2-3-4 (≥ 1% tumor). Preoperative FDG-PET/CT was performed 6–12 weeks after nCRT. Gross tumor volumes on CT were transposed to post-treatment PET scans and were manually adapted in consensus by two investigators. Radiomic features were extracted using the open-source software ‘Pyradiomics’, with settings similar to the published models. Discrimination and calibration were assessed for the 6 internally validated models with optimism-corrected AUCs&amp;gt;0.77. Results Some 189 patients were included in the external validation cohort. Baseline characteristics and outcome (TRG-1: 40/189 patients (21%); TRG2–3-4: 149/189 patients (79%)) were comparable to the derivation sample. Since features were dependent on different scanner manufacturers (data not shown), the cohort was reduced with only scans from Siemens scanners (n = 130), similar to the derivation sample. The model including cT-stage and the grey-level-co-occurrence-matrix feature ‘Joint Energy’ had highest AUC of 0.71 (95% CI 0.60–0.81), and a calibration slope and intercept of −0.19 and 2.83 respectively. At a probability threshold of 0.5, sensitivity was 81%, specificity 31% and balanced accuracy 56%. Conclusion The predictive performance of the previously developed radiomic models could not be replicated in the present multicenter external validation cohort. The decreased overall performance indicates overfitting of the models to the derivation sample. Possible causes are unintentional dependency of radiomic features on scanner types, scanning protocols, tumor delineation methods and timing of post-treatment FDG-PET/CT. We aim at improving the generalizability of the models, to enable future application in clinical decision-making for individual patients.

Preface VEIT 2021

The International Summer School on Vacuum, Electron and Ion Technologies (VEIT) has been organized biennially since 1978, when the series of VEIT Schools was launched by the Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, with the aim to act as a forum for exchange and dissemination of knowledge and ideas on the latest developments in electron-, ion-, and plasma-assisted technologies. The organizers of the 2021 edition of the event were the Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria and the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The School is a major scientific event and a meeting place for young scientists involved in research and development associated with high-tech industries. Many former School participants went on to become successful scientists in their field of research in leading institutions and companies all over the world. The School Proceedings have been published in Special issues of the international journals Vacuum, Plasma Processes and Polymers, Journal of Physics: Conference Series.The twentieth-second edition of VEIT took place virtually via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 20 to 24 September 2021. It was attended by 106 participants (24 students and young researchers) from 16 countries on three continents: Algeria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine, USA.

Neonatal early-onset infections: Comparing the sensitivity of the neonatal early-onset sepsis calculator to the Dutch and the updated NICE guidelines in an observational cohort of culture-positive cases.

SummaryBackgroundThe early-onset sepsis calculator (EOSC) reduces unnecessary antibiotic treatment in newborns. However, its performance in identifying cases with early-onset disease (EOD) is unclear. We compared the sensitivity of the EOSC to the current Dutch and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines when applied to a cohort of newborns with culture-positive early-onset sepsis and meningitis.MethodsCulture-positive Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) sepsis and meningitis patients ≤3 days old with a gestational age ≥34 weeks, identified between 1/1/2018 and 31/1/2021 in a Dutch prospective nationwide cohort study were included. Cases were identified by treating physicians and microbiological surveillance. Primary outcome was the proportion of patients that would have been treated according to the EOSC, the Dutch, and the NICE EOD prevention guidelines. Differences between proportions were analysed using McNemar's test.FindingsWe included 81 GBS and 7 E. coli EOD cases. At 4 h after birth, the EOSC would have recommended antibiotic treatment in 32 (36%) patients, compared to 44 (50%) by the Dutch (p<0·01) and 48 (55%) by the NICE guideline (p<0·01). The EOSC would have initially recommended routine care for 52% of patients compared to 31% and 30% for the Dutch and NICE guidelines (p<0·01). At 24 h after birth, the EOSC would have recommended antibiotic treatment in 54 (61%) infants compared to 64 (73%) by the Dutch (p = 0·02) and 63 (72%) by the NICE guidelines (p = 0·06).InterpretationThe sensitivity of the EOSC in identifying cases of EOD is lower compared to both Dutch and NICE guidelines, especially directly after birth. The EOSC relies more on clinical symptoms and results in less overtreatment of healthy newborns at the cost of later antibiotic treatment in initially well-appearing EOD patients.FundingThis work was supported by grants received from Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw; NWO-Vidi-Grant (grant number 917·17·308); NWO-Vici-Grant (grant number 918·19·627)), the Academic Medical Centre (AMC Innovative Impulse Grant) and Steun Emma Foundation Grant.

Development of an ADL-practice guideline: The next step towards guidance in essential nursing care activities

Supporting and respecting care receivers in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) lies at the essence of nursing care, irrespective of diagnosis or healthcare setting. ADL-care is an intimate form of caring, and therefore close and personal to the care receiver, aiming to enhance their independence and comfort. Even though ADL-care is indispensable and highly valued by care receivers, the scientific foundation of ADL-care is weak. This leaves nursing professionals with insufficient guidance as to what constitutes quality ADL-care and what activities are necessary and effective. Therefore, we developed an ADL practice guideline according to the framework of the Dutch Institute for Health (AQUA-guideline) and AGREE II. The guideline was developed over three stages: (1) Determination of the target population and scope, (2) Analysis of problems leading to guiding questions and answering these based on literature search and consensus, (3) Testing and validation. A multidisciplinary working group determined the purpose, target group, and five clinical questions. We used literature search and consensus procedures to answer these questions in close collaboration with care receivers and professional care providers. This guideline provides guidance for nursing professionals to choose appropriate ADL-care options in five modules covering recommendations: (1) Involving care receivers in ADL-related care choices, (2) Identifying ADL-care needs, (3) Choosing effective interventions to enhance ADL-independence and comfort, (4) Supporting informal caregivers in ADL-care, and (5) Using ADL-care for early detection of health problems. These modules are considered leading for future developments in essential nursing care and will be evaluated in a pilot implementation.

Recognition &amp; Rewards in the Netherlands

In this episode, Kim Huijpen from the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) tells about the programme following the publication of Room for Everyone's Talent, a position paper aiming for a wholescale overhaul of the practices of research assessment in the Netherlands. The podcast interview was made in conjunction with the 16th Munin Conference on Scholarly publishing in November 2021 (see abstract and video recording of Kim Huijpen's conference paper).&#x0D; The nation-wide follow-up programme, named Recognition &amp; Rewards, is coordinated by Kim Huijpen. In her dialogue with stakeholder at Dutch institutions, she often meets dilemmas and concerns that are familiar from similar debates in other countries. Nevertheless, more and more institutions are now implementing the the principles and guidelines laid out in the 2019 position paper, thereby stimulating the growth of open science practices and the diversification of career paths in Dutch academia. The on-going process can be followed on several platforms, including:&#x0D; Twitter: https://twitter.com/recogrewards?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/recognition-rewards/Youtube: Recognition &amp; Rewards playlist Newsletter: https://recognitionrewards.nl/blog/newsletter-recognition-rewards/DORA Repository: Updated information on the Dutch Recognition &amp; Rewards Programme &#x0D; See also a recap of the Recognition &amp; Rewards Festival (January 2021) and recorded webinars on rewarding teaching (November 2020). A summary of The Dutch Recognition &amp; Rewards Programme can also be found in the DORA Repository

Behind the Mirror, the Black Box of Registries

In this issue of the Journal, Alberga et al.,1 from the Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing, have described trends in outcomes of non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms from a compulsory national quality registry of all aortic aneurysm repairs treated in the Netherlands between 2014 and 2019.

Defiant memories in confronting the Chinese stereotype in Indonesia: the politics of memory of Souw Beng Kong

ABSTRACT This study considers Batavia’s first Chinese captain, Souw Beng Kong (1580–1644) as an example of the memory politics of urban Chinese Indonesians in Jakarta. It explores how and why he has been remembered in the contemporary era. While the stereotype of Chinese Indonesians has its roots in the Dutch colonial period, this study takes the Dutch institution of the captain as a framework to examine what is remembered as a way to bind group members together in a shared community of memory. This study argues that remembering Souw represents an implicit but defiant response to a long-standing negative stereotype that the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia are perennially alien outsiders.

Radiotherapy as nose preservation treatment strategy for cancer of the nasal vestibule: The Dutch experience

Background and purposePrimary radiotherapy is often preferred for early-stage cancer of the nasal vestibule (CNV), combining high disease control with preservation of nasal anatomy. However, due to practice variation and an absence of comparative trials, no consensus exists on preference for brachytherapy (BT) or external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). We compared these modalities in terms of disease control, nose preservation rates and toxicity. Materials and methodsMedical records of 225 patients with T1-T2 squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal vestibule treated with 3D image-guided primary radiotherapy between Jan 2010 and Dec 2016 in 6 Dutch institutions were reviewed retrospectively. Results153 of 225 patients were treated with BT, 65 with EBRT and 7 with other modalities. Median follow-up was 46 months. Overall 3-year local control (LC) and regional control (RC) were 87% and 89%. Five-year disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) were 94% and 82%. Three-year survival with preserved nose (SPN) was 76%.BT provided higher 3-year LC (95% vs 71%, p < 0.01) and SPN compared with EBRT (82% vs 61%, p < 0.01). Multivariable and propensity-score-matched cohort analyses confirmed better outcomes after BT. No difference was seen in DSS or OS. Five-year incidence of CTCAE 5.0 grade ≥2 toxicity was higher after BT (20% vs 3%, p = 0.03) and consisted mostly of radiation ulcers. 50% of all late toxicity recovered. ConclusionIn this largest-to-date multicenter analysis of T1-T2 CNV, BT achieved superior LC and SPN compared with EBRT. Grade 1–2 radiation ulcers occurred more frequently after brachytherapy, but were transient in half the cases. Considering these results, BT can be recommended as first-line treatment for T1-T2 CNV.

Commentary: Development of a Comparative European Orthohantavirus Microneutralization Assay With Multi-Species Validation and Evaluation in a Human Diagnostic Cohort.

In this otherwise excellent article (Hoornweg et al., 2020) cited “Three human SEOV infections were confirmed, of which one was previously described as the first [2018] proven SEOV case in The Netherlands, based on IFT [immuno-fluorescence test] serology and an epidemiological link to SEOV RNA-positive [wild] rats) (Swanink et al., 2018), and now confirmed by comparative VNT [virus neutralization test].” This is historically incorrect: 27 years before Swanink et al, Groen et al. already reported wild rat-induced human SEOV infections in The Netherlands, moreover, in the same Dutch Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, Bilthoven, and with the same IFT (or IFA) technique (Groen et al., 1991). In addition, this 1991 report compared 14 non-laboratory cases of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), caused by the common European arvicolid orthohantavirus Puumala (PUUV), to 13 cases infected by the then rare (at least in early 1990s Western literature) orthohantavirus Seoul (SEOV), a juxtaposition in one single paper of two different local Dutch pathogenic orthohantaviruses, thus constituting at that moment the earliest such confrontation in nascent Western hantavirus literature (Figure 1). Moreover, not only 11 Dutch and/or Belgian laboratory rat-induced early 1980s SEOV-HFRS cases were detected, but also two wild rat-induced cases (arrows in Figure 1), thereby scoring yet another “first” in western hantavirus literature. Open in a separate window Figure 1 IFA: immuno-fluorescence assay or immuno-fluorescence test (IFT). ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. CTB ELISA, complex-trapping blocking, an inhibition ELISA variant. Closed circles: 1980s laboratory rat-acquired human hantavirus infections. Open circles: non-laboratory rat-acquired or “wild” human hantavirus infections, mostly being 1980s PUUV-induced, except for two “wild” cases (arrows), being 1980s wild rat-induced SEOV infections. Thick arrow: Dutch farmer, thin arrow: Belgian homeless vagabond, both with wild rat-exposure. In these two cases, SEOV infection was missed in IFA, showing surprisingly high cross-reacting PUUV titers (A), but confirmed, albeit with lower titers, in ELISA (B), and unmistakably ascertained in CTB-ELISA (C). Consequently, these two cases would have been mistaken for PUUV infections, if relying only on IFT/IFA. Adapted from Groen et al., 1991. Copyright © 1991 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Classifications at Work: Social Categories and Dutch Bureaucracy in Colonial Sri Lanka

AbstractFeeding into current debates on ethnic identities in colonial South Asia, this article questions to what extent Dutch institutions articulated and impacted social categories of people living in coastal Sri Lanka during the eighteenth century. A thorough analysis of three spheres of Dutch bureaucracy (reporting, registering, and litigating) makes it clear that there was no uniform ideology that steered categorisation practices top-down throughout the studied colonial institutions. Rather, the rationale of the organisation as such affected the way people were classified, depending to a large extent on what level of bureaucracy individuals were dealing with, and what the possible negotiation strategies were for the people recorded. Future research should perhaps not ask “when” certain ethnicities were “made up,” but strive to understand the process in which they were created, the institutional contexts in which they were recorded, and how changing bureaucratic practices not only articulated, but also transformed, social categories in the long run.

“With Marx against Moscow”: the backstage of editing Karl Marx’s manuscripts about Romanians

"“With Marx against Moscow”: the backstage of editing Karl Marx’s manuscripts about Romanians. In mid-1960s, a book containing unknown manuscripts attributed to Karl Marx was published in Romania. The documents were discovered at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam by the Polish historian Stanislav Schwann. The sources of the most important notes were reprised from a book written by the French historian Élias Regnault in mid-19th century. For the Romanian communist leadership, the Russian presence in the Romanian Principalities during the first half the 19th century was the most relevant part of the texts signed by Marx. As such, the historical discourse was co-opted in the political plan aimed to emancipation from Soviet authority in Romania. The main Romanian historian involved in the plan for editing Karl Marx’ writings was Andrei Oţetea. As Director of the Institute of History of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest, he received the main mission of maintaining the correspondence with the Institute of Amsterdam. The study aims to establish the evolution of Romanian-Dutch treaties, in order to exploit the manuscripts, as well as the involvement of the historiographical circles. Although the question was treated as a strictly political one, the project experienced several phases influenced in particular by the changes of attitude from the Dutch Institute. Thus, an important objective of the study is to highlight the reactions produced by the Romanians’ intentions to bring to light some important data attributed to Karl Marx Keywords: Andrei Oţetea, Karl Marx manuscripts, Institute of Social History Amsterdam. "

Process safety education: A comparative study

More than a decade ago Dutch and German Institutions expressed their worries about the decline in education on and research in the field of Process Safety. More recently the IChemE (UK) published a report “Improve Process Safety Education in Undergraduate engineering”. In France several publications from teaching staff of multiple universities raise questions on “why, what, and how to teach Process Safety”. The Dutch Institution AGS† made a number of recommendeations to counter-act the decline, the German Institution Dechema-ProcessNet released a position paper with recommendations for Education, in France the discussion continues, especially for the content of the study prgramme of the Engineering Schools.Time to investigate if the worries are still valid and what has been done with the recommendations.From a selection European universities, the curricula Chemical Engineering (both BSc and MSc) were examined for the presence of courses ‘Process Safety’. If present, the topics taught within and the time involved (as % ECTS from the total ECTS of the curriculum) were analysed. The analysis shows that the time taken to teach process safety subjects is on average 1.6 % of the total ECTS of the BSc curriculum and 3.4 % for the MSc curriculum. Next, the study searched for key-words in the description of the courses Process Safety. The key-words were categorised to allow a sensible analysis. The gathered data have been clustered into topics, using domains (AGS) and taxonomy (MKOPSC) as a guide. Furthermore, the study reveals that there is no consensus on what subjects to be educated as the ‘absolute minimum’ in curricula Chemical Engineering. Neither in the regular curricula nor in the ‘Advanced MSc’ ones, is a common base found on what to teach as a minimum. A foreseeable consequence of the limited amount of time devoted to Process Safety in regular BSc and MSc curricula, is that the subjects are taught in one or two courses rather than spread evenly over years or semesters. Rather than in one single course, educationalists would prefer to teach engineering and safety courses alternately.Examination of the course contents shows that the subjects taught within process safety courses are well-known, leaving less room to discuss new theories. This is quite acceptable for undergraduate education but for graduate programmes and especially the Advanced MSc, subjects at the forefront of knowledge would be expected. Operating in the forefront of knowledge will originate from research and as pointed out by the Dutch AGS report, a critical mass of research staff is needed to safeguard the development of new knowledge. Alas, the opposite is seen. As the number of students choosing science declines, staff is reduced, chairs are abolished and research effort diminishes accordingly. However, the needs of industry doesn’t decline proportionally. For that reason a plea is made to join forces and build an Advanced MSc programme ‘Process Safety’ taught by a partnership of several universities, with some distribution of safety research in partnership.