Examination of peripheral circulation is easily done by touching the skin, measuring capillary refill time (CRT) or even by observing the skin mottling pattern. The cutaneous vascular bed plays an important role in thermoregulation of the body, and this process can result in skin circulation alterations that have direct effects on skin temperature and colour, i.e., a cold, clammy, white and mot...

S urgery in the Netherlands is performed by 700 surgeons in 148 hospitals that serve a population of more than 15 million. Surgical standards are high and among the best in Western medicine. Training in surgery requires 6 years. In 1998, one third of the medical doctors applying to the surgical training program were women. The practice of surgery and surgical training are under pressure by the ...

Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 30 (2002): 95–104. © 2002 by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics. he Dutch experience has influenced the debate on euthanasia and death with dignity around the globe, especially with regard to whether physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia should be legitimized or legalized. Review of the literature reveals complex and often contradictory views a...

Many regions in the world are protected against flooding by a dike, which may be either natural or artificial. We deal with a model for finding the optimal heights of such a dike in the future. It minimizes the sum of the investments costs for upgrading the dike in the future and the expected costs due to flooding. The model is highly nonlinear, nonconvex, and infinite-dimensional. Despite this...