The things (we think) we (ought to) do: Ideological processes and practices in teaching

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Improving Quality and Achieving Equity: A Guide for Hospital Leaders

Outlines the need to address racial/ethnic disparities in health care, highlights model practices, and makes step-by-step recommendations on creating a committee, collecting data, setting quality measures, evaluating, and implementing new strategies

COVID-19, Inequality, and Social Stratification in Africa

The global health emergency reflects systemic global inequalities central to which is social stratification in Africa. While existing analyses frame Africa as needy of global ‘help’, this editorial argues that whether in terms of the economics of inequality, pandemics, or recovery, Africa can teach the rest of the world key lessons.Non peer reviewe

Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

Pacioli 16 : changing agricultural markets: consequences for FADN

The PACIOLI network explores the need for and feasibility of innovation in farm accounting and its consequences for data gathering for policy analysis in Farm Accountancy Data Networks (FADNs). PACIOLI 16 took place in Zagreb, Croatia in June 2008. The theme of the workshop was 'Changing agricultural markets: Consequences for FADN'

Modelling adult skills in OECD countries [WP]

Research in the social sciences has focused extensively on the relationship between family background, educational attainment and social destination, on the one hand, and on the processes of skills creation and skills use, on the other. This paper brings these two branches of the literature together by examining the correlation between a range of social factors. The methodology we adopt provides a comprehensive approach to the study of the channels through which literacy skills are acquired, taking into account the interrelation of family background, educational attainment, and the use of skills at work and at home. We use the Programme of International Assessment of Adult Competences (PIAAC) dataset and apply a structural equation model (SEM). Our results show that family background and education play an important role in the configuration of adult skills and skill practices. Unequal family access to resources has a strong impact at later stages in life and strongly affects educational attainment and skills outcomes. Additionally, skills use has a positive and direct impact on adult skills

Not just a pipe's dream : plumbing the contribution of cell diversity to oesophageal homeostasis

Epithelial barrier tissues like the skin, intestine, and oesophagus form a physical barrier that protects our body from external threats. To accurately fulfil their function, epithelial barriers are subject to constant epithelial cell renewal throughout our lifespan. Recurrent tissue turnover requires the precise control of epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation to maintain homeostasis and health. Adult tissue stem cells residing in epithelial barriers are of pivotal importance for tissue homeostasis and repair. The stem cell niche, composed of a variety of cells, mechanical and chemical elements, provides decisive signalling cues that influence stem cell behaviour and fate. The major part of this thesis investigates behaviour of the mouse oesophageal epithelial progenitor cell and sets out to uncover and characterise the contribution of cellular diversity to oesophageal homeostasis. In paper III, we demonstrated that a subpopulation of oesophageal progenitor cells expressed Tnfrsf19 (Troy) and contributed long-term to oesophageal homeostasis. Using lineage tracing in combination with mathematical modelling we proposed that Troy progenitor cell fate is predominantly symmetrical. In addition, functional TROY knockout in vivo suggested that TROY regulates progenitor proliferation and facilitates differentiation. Thus, TROY might be involved in context dependent cellular decision making processes providing a basis for behavioural progenitor heterogeneity. In paper IV, we characterise regional oesophageal cell composition utilising single cell RNA sequencing. Combining cell-cell communication inference and organoid culture we reveal regionally diverse contributions of fibroblasts and immune cells as well as signalling pathways such as BMP and IGF that differently influence epithelial cell behaviour. In paper II, we developed an organoid co-culture system of oesophageal epithelial cells and fibroblasts that allows for detailed functional investigations of cell-cell communication in vitro. The generation of the stratified squamous epithelium of the skin is governed by intricate and interwoven processes of proliferation, cell cycle exit, differentiation, and stratification. In paper I, we probed the function of ID1 in epidermal development and demonstrated ID1 binding to the transcription factor TCF3. We propose that ID1-CEBPA crosstalk regulates epidermal cell fate decision within a ID1-TCF3-CEBPA axis. The work provided within this thesis demonstrates molecular mechanisms and signalling cues that impinge on epithelial cell behaviour during homeostasis and development

Computing Sampling Weights in Large-scale Assessments in Education

Sampling weights are a reflection of sampling design; they allow us to draw valid conclusions about population features from sample data. This paper explains the fundamentals of computing sampling weights for large-scale assessments in educational research. The relationship between the nature of complex samples and best practices in developing a set of weights to enable computation of unbiased population estimates is described. Effects of sampling weights on estimates are shown, as well as potential consequences of not using weights when analysing data from complex samples. Illustrative examples are provided in order to make it easy to understand the rationale behind the mathematical foundations

Does income inequality change the relationship between environmental attitudes and subjective well-being? Evidence for 27 European countries

This paper explores the effects of income inequality on the relationship between environmental attitudes and life satisfaction across 27 European countries. Furthermore, it assesses the influence of the European Union on their citizens’ behavior regarding the link between environmental attitudes and happiness. Using data from European Values Study, it applies an ordered probit model. The findings suggest that subjective and objective income inequality do not change the relationship between environmental attitudes and welfare, providing evidence of the “commitment effect”. The results also show similar performance of the relationship between environmental attitudes and well-being between EU-members and non-EU members.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio