Gearing Up: An Interim Report on the Sectoral Employment Initiative

Gearing Up is the first P/PV report on the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation's Sectoral Employment Initiative. It provides information about the various strategies being pursued, who is participating, and the sites' successes and struggles through the initiative's first two years. The report concludes with observations on those factors that appear critical to participating organizations' attaining their goals

Elisabeth King on Researching Conflict in Africa : Insights and Experiences. Edited by Elisabeth Porter, Gillian Robinson, Marie Smyth, Albrecht Schnabel, and Eghosa Osaghae. New York : United Nations University Press, 2005. 160pp.

A review of: Researching Conflict in Africa : Insights and Experiences. Edited by Elisabeth Porter, Gillian Robinson, Marie Smyth, Albrecht Schnabel, and Eghosa Osaghae. New York : United Nations University Press, 2005. 160pp

Elisabeth King on Genocide: Truth, Memory and Representation edited by A. L. Hinton & K. L. O\u27Neill. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009. 352pp.

A review of: Genocide: Truth, Memory and Representation edited by A. L. Hinton & K. L. O\u27Neill. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009. 352pp

Labor Market Leverage: Sectoral Employment Field Report

Rapid economic change over the past 25 years has dramatically altered the character and performance of the labor market, making it increasingly difficult for workers, particularly those with low skills, to find jobs and careers that will enable them to attain a decent standard of living. A few workforce development programs are seeking to overcome this challenge by developing sectoral employment strategies that seek to alter the labor market in a targeted occupation to the benefit of all low-income workers in that sector, not just their own program participants. This report discusses the key elements of a sectoral employment strategy and highlights the experiences of thirteen seasoned workforce programs implementing such sectoral strategies as business development, job training, organizing, and research and policy analysis

Lameness in English lowland sheep flocks : farmers' perspectives and behaviour

Lameness in sheep is an important welfare concern causing financial loss through lost performance. This thesis increases epidemiological understanding of sheep lameness from the farmers’ perspective, using interdisciplinary approaches. Previous work indicated that routine foot trimming (RFT), used by >75% of farmers to control lameness, correlated with higher lameness prevalences. A within farm, clinical trial using stratified random sampling examined the effect of RFT versus no RFT on 173 ewes. RFT was not beneficial and over-trimming was detrimental. Thirty-five farms were visited to assess accuracy of farmers’ estimated lameness prevalence in their sheep flocks compared with a researcher’s observations. Farmers’ estimates were consistently, closely and significantly correlated with the researcher’s estimates. Successful knowledge transfer and research impact requires understanding lameness management from farmers’ perspectives. Qualitative interviews with 17 farmers examining attitudes towards lameness management were used to inform design of a questionnaire, sent to 1000 randomly selected farmers, to quantify farmers’ attitudes towards lameness. Farmers considered interdigital-dermatitis and footrot distinct. Barriers to prompt treatment (e.g. lack of time/labour) accounted for most observed variance, with non-financial motivators rated higher than financial motivators. Ineffective flock record keeping, environmental subsidies and market price fluctuation may reduce financial motivation. Consistent with the RFT trial, there was no difference (p>0.5) in lameness prevalence by RFT frequency/absence. Despite RFT trial evidence given, farmers were reluctant to stop RFT; with reluctance less from those with higher lameness prevalences, large, commercial flocks, infrequently using parenteral antibacterial treatments or not treating mildly lame sheep. This thesis provides evidence that farmers’ lameness estimates are sufficiently accurate and can be used in research. Routine foot trimming appears to be of no benefit to reduce lameness but farmers require further evidence to be convinced of this. Further farmer focused research into RFT, barrier cause and effect, and whole flock managements is required

Mechanical cell-matrix feedback explains pairwise and collective endothelial cell behavior in vitro

In vitro cultures of endothelial cells are a widely used model system of the collective behavior of endothelial cells during vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. When seeded in an extracellular matrix, endothelial cells can form blood vessel-like structures, including vascular networks and sprouts. Endothelial morphogenesis depends on a large number of chemical and mechanical factors, including the compliancy of the extracellular matrix, the available growth factors, the adhesion of cells to the extracellular matrix, cell-cell signaling, etc. Although various computational models have been proposed to explain the role of each of these biochemical and biomechanical effects, the understanding of the mechanisms underlying in vitro angiogenesis is still incomplete. Most explanations focus on predicting the whole vascular network or sprout from the underlying cell behavior, and do not check if the same model also correctly captures the intermediate scale: the pairwise cell-cell interactions or single cell responses to ECM mechanics. Here we show, using a hybrid cellular Potts and finite element computational model, that a single set of biologically plausible rules describing (a) the contractile forces that endothelial cells exert on the ECM, (b) the resulting strains in the extracellular matrix, and (c) the cellular response to the strains, suffices for reproducing the behavior of individual endothelial cells and the interactions of endothelial cell pairs in compliant matrices. With the same set of rules, the model also reproduces network formation from scattered cells, and sprouting from endothelial spheroids. Combining the present mechanical model with aspects of previously proposed mechanical and chemical models may lead to a more complete understanding of in vitro angiogenesis.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in PLoS Computational Biolog

Secondary Education for Youth Affected by Humanitarian Emergencies and Protracted Crises

This report draws on quantitative and qualitative methods to first examine trends in access to secondary education in CAC, then review policies and practices that can address barriers to access. We use case study methods in Kenya and Uganda to compare and contrast two different approaches to managing refugee education. The cases of Kenya and Uganda offer comparative insights that may inform policy responses for refugees across SSA. Whereas Kenya favors the encampment and separation of refugees from nationals, including through education, Uganda has pursued a policy of refugee inclusion and allows refugees to access its public primary and secondary schools. We consider the policy environment and state of secondary education for refugees in each case. Neither the Kenyan or Ugandan approach offers a clear solution to the lack of access to secondary education for refugees in CAC