Syntactic Structures in Irish-Language Proverbs

In recent years, linguistic studies into the concept of ‘proverbiality’ have provided paremiologists with a more comprehensive understanding of the form and function of proverbial markers in a wide range of languages. Unfortunately, the Irish language has, until now, not featured in any of these linguistic analyses. This paper seeks to re-address this imbalance and to bring the unique structure and style of Irish-language proverbs to the attention of the international community of paremiologistsfor the first time. This research study applies the general methodology adopted by such scholars as Mahgoub (1948), Silverman-Weinreich (1978) and Arora (1984), toa corpus sample of Irish proverbs and provides both a qualitative and quantitative account of the most salient syntactic structures contained in Irish-language proverbs. Proverbial patterns as well as the collocation of proverbial markers are also discussed.

Drivers of Supply Network Governance: An Explorative Study of the Dutch Chemical Industry.

The authors identify a number of drivers of supply network governance, a widely appraised governance form aimed at reaping the benefits of both vertical integration and market exchange. Case studies conducted in the Dutch chemical industry are used to explore these drivers. The findings identify interdependence of organizational activities and asset-specific investments as the key drivers of supply network governance in the chemical industry. Firms enjoy relational rents and tend to share knowledge in supply network relationships, however these factors seem to strengthen supply network relationships rather than create them.

"The Heart of Irish-Language Proverbs": A Linguo-Stylistic Analysis of Explicit Metaphor

Metaphor has featured frequently in attempts to define the proverb (see Taylor 1931, Whiting 1932, Mieder 1985, 1996), and since the advent of modern paremiological scholarship, it has been identified as one of the most salient markers of ‘proverbiality’ (Arora 1984) across a broad spectrum of world languages. Significant language-specific analyses, such as Klimenko (1946), Silverman-Weinreich (1981), and Arora (1984) have provided valuable qualitative information on the form and function of metaphor in Russian, Yiddish, and Spanish proverbs respectively. Unfortunately, no academic scholarship has engaged with the subject of metaphor in Irish proverbs. This study builds on international paremiological research on metaphor and provides for the first time a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the form, frequency, and nature of linguistic metaphors in Irish proverbs (1856-1952). Moreover, from the perspective of paremiology, it presents a methodological template and result-set that can be applied cross-linguistically to compare metaphor in the proverbs of other languages.

Interlocking directorates and conflicts of interest: The Rotterdamsche Bankvereeniging, Müller & Co. and the Dutch financial crisis of the 1920s

How can interlocking directorates cause financial instability for universal banks? A detailed history of the Rotterdamsche Bankvereeninging in the 1920s answers this question in a case study. This large commercial bank adopted a new German-style universal banking business model from the early 1910s, sharing directors with the firms it financed as a means of controlling its interests. Then, in 1924, it required assistance from the Dutch state in order to survive a bank run brought on by public concerns over its close ties with Müller & Co., a trading conglomerate that suffered badly in the economic downturn of the early 1920s. Using a new narrative history combined with an interpretive model, this article shows how the interlocking directorates between the bank and this major client, and in particular the direction of influence of these interlocks, resulted in a conflict of interest that could not be easily overcome.

The influence of culture on home-based family caregiving at end-of-life: A case study of Dutch reformed family care givers in Ontario, Canada

Families are facing increased pressure to provide care to their terminally-ill or dying kin in the home. It is known that balancing care with other personal and social roles can adversely affect family caregivers' (FCGs) health, yet access to supportive services which can mitigate burden is often inadequate. Cultural factors are known to shape the experience of caregiving; however, most research to date tends to neglect the experiences of FCGs from different cultural groups. This understanding is necessary to ensure that supportive services are both meaningful and culturally-appropriate. Using qualitative methods, we undertook longitudinal research with a sample of Dutch Reformed FCGs (n = 5) to understand their experiences of caregiving and bereavement. The results of the study are suggestive of a cultural specificity with respect to caregiving that impacts both responsibilities and reactions to care. Three themes were salient to this group as a cultural entity: cultural attitudes towards care, religious beliefs and coping, and c. ulturally-informed care-seeking behaviours. These three themes were seen to be a function of their religious and ethnic identities and were reinforced by ties to the communities in which they resided. Cultural identity provided a framework through which to understand and make sense of the experience, while group membership provided access to networks of informal support. This research contributes to the geographical literature on care/caregiving by providing insight into the social, cultural and religious context of informal family caregiving with a population who live in close geographic proximity. On a practical level, this case study indicates the importance of considering how these factors may operate in other settings in order to implement timely and appropriate interventions to better support FCGs who are caring for their terminally-ill loved-ones at home.

Initiating advance care planning on end-of-life issues in dementia: Ambiguity among UK and Dutch physicians

Background
In dementia, advance care planning (ACP) of end-of-life issues may start as early as possible in view of the patient’s decreasing ability to participate in decision making. We aimed to assess whether practicing physicians in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom who provide most of the end-of-life care, differ in finding that ACP in dementia should start at diagnosis.

Methods
In a cross-sectional study, we surveyed 188 Dutch elderly care physicians who are on the staff of nursing homes and 133 general practitioners from Northern Ireland. We compared difference by country in the outcome (perception of ACP timing), rated on a 1–5 agreement scale. Regression analyses examined whether a country difference can be explained by contrasts in demographics, presence, exposure and role perceptions.

Results
There was wide variability in agreement with the initiation of ACP at dementia diagnosis, in particular in the UK but also in the Netherlands (60.8% agreed, 25.3% disagreed and 14.0% neither agreed, nor disagreed). Large differences in physician characteristics (Dutch physicians being more present, exposed and adopting a stronger role perception) hardly explained the modest country difference. The perception that the physician should take the initiative was independently associated with agreeing with ACP at diagnosis.

Conclusions
There is considerable ambiguity about initiating ACP in dementia at diagnosis among physicians practicing in two different European health care systems and caring for different patient populations. ACP strategies should accommodate not only variations in readiness to engage in ACP early among patient and families, but also among physicians.

Euroscepticism in the Netherlands: Stirrings of Dissent

Recent years have seen the emergence of a markedly more critical discourse in the Netherlands as regards European integration. Concerns over both the size of the net national contribution to the European Union budget and the implications for the country of EU enlargement have given rise to high-profile public debates. An explicitly articulated discourse of national interest, centred on but not limited to the Liberal VVD, has become a staple of political debate. At the same time, movements with clearly Eurosceptic agendas (the Pim Fortuyn List and the Socialist Party) have enjoyed unparalleled levels of electoral success. Although not of significant electoral salience, 'Europe' has nevertheless emerged as an issue in Dutch politics. The present article examines these stirrings of dissent in an EU member state which had long been regarded as one of the most enthusiastic supporters of further integration.

Invader-invader interactions in relation to environmental heterogeneity leads to zonation of two invasive amphipods, Dikerogammarus villosus (Sowinsky) and Gammarus tigrinus Sexton: amphipod pilot species project (AMPIS) report 6

As biological invasions continue, interactions occur not only between invaders and natives, but increasingly new invaders come into contact with previous invaders. Whilst this can lead to species replacements, co-existence may occur, but we lack knowledge of processes driving such patterns. Since environmental heterogeneity can determine species richness and co-existence, the present study examines habitat use and its mediation of the predatory interaction between invasive aquatic amphipods, the Ponto-Caspian Dikerogammarus villosus and the N. American Gammarus tigrinus. In the Dutch Lake IJsselmeer, we found broad segregation of D. villosus and G. tigrinus by habitat type, the former predominating in the boulder zone and the latter in the soft sediment. However, the two species co-exist in the boulder zone, both on the short and longer terms. We used an experimental simulation of habitat heterogeneity and show that both species utilize crevices, different sized holes in a plastic grid, non-randomly. These amphipods appear to optimise the use of holes with respect to their 'C-shape' body size. When placed together, D. villosus adults preyed on G. tigrinus adults and juveniles, while G. tigrinus adults preyed on D. villosus juveniles. Juveniles were also predators and both species were cannibalistic. However, the impact on G. tigrinus of the superior intraguild predator, D. villosus, was significantly reduced where experimental grids were present as compared to absent. This mitigation of intraguild predation between the two species in complex habitats may explain the co-existence of these two invasive species.