Symbolic closure: Towards a renewed sociological perspective on the relationship between higher education, credentials and the graduate labour market

This article explores how our understanding of the graduate labour market can be improved by re-assessing some of the insights of the conflictual tradition within sociology. In particular, its theorising of ‘social closure’ and the use of educational credentials within the labour market remain highly relevant. Yet these ideas need to be modified to better deal with the current social, economic and educational contexts. This article extends the social closure literature to deal with some of the changes within the graduate labour market by turning to Pierre Bourdieu’s ideas on symbolic violence. I will argue that ‘symbolic closure’, the reliance on exclusion through categorisation and classification, becomes of greater importance in a graduate labour market that no longer offers any clarity about what graduate skills, jobs and rewards constitute and signify

Effect of food concentration and type of diet on Acartia survival and naupliar development

We have performed life table experiments to investigate the effects of different food types and concentrations on the larval development and survival up to adulthood of Acartia tonsa. The food species offered comprised a wide taxonomic spectrum: the pigmented flagellates Isochrysis galbana, Emiliania huxleyi, Rhodomonas sp., Prorocentrum minimum, the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii, grown on medium offering enriched macronutrient concentrations and the ciliate Euplotes sp. initially cultured on Rhodomonas. For the ciliate species, also the functional response was studied. In order to avoid limitation by mineral nutrients, food algae have been taken from the exponential growth phase of the nutrient replete cultures. The suitability of Rhodomonas as a food source throughout the entire life cycle was not a surprise. However, in contrast to much of the recent literature about the inadequacy or even toxicity of diatoms, we found that also Thalassiosira could support Acartia-development through the entire life cycle. On the other hand, Acartia could not complete its life cycle when fed with the other food items, Prorocentrum having adverse effects even when mixed with Rhodomonas and Thalassiosira. Isochrysis well supported naupliar survival and development, but was insufficient to support further development until reproduction. With Emiliania and Euplotes, nauplii died off before most of them could reach the first copepodite stages. Acartia-nauplii showed a behavioral preference for Euplotes-feeding over diatom feeding, but nevertheless Euplotes was an insufficient diet to complete development beyond the naupliar stages

Towards the clinical implementation of pharmacogenetics in bipolar disorder.

BackgroundBipolar disorder (BD) is a psychiatric illness defined by pathological alterations between the mood states of mania and depression, causing disability, imposing healthcare costs and elevating the risk of suicide. Although effective treatments for BD exist, variability in outcomes leads to a large number of treatment failures, typically followed by a trial and error process of medication switches that can take years. Pharmacogenetic testing (PGT), by tailoring drug choice to an individual, may personalize and expedite treatment so as to identify more rapidly medications well suited to individual BD patients.DiscussionA number of associations have been made in BD between medication response phenotypes and specific genetic markers. However, to date clinical adoption of PGT has been limited, often citing questions that must be answered before it can be widely utilized. These include: What are the requirements of supporting evidence? How large is a clinically relevant effect? What degree of specificity and sensitivity are required? Does a given marker influence decision making and have clinical utility? In many cases, the answers to these questions remain unknown, and ultimately, the question of whether PGT is valid and useful must be determined empirically. Towards this aim, we have reviewed the literature and selected drug-genotype associations with the strongest evidence for utility in BD.SummaryBased upon these findings, we propose a preliminary panel for use in PGT, and a method by which the results of a PGT panel can be integrated for clinical interpretation. Finally, we argue that based on the sufficiency of accumulated evidence, PGT implementation studies are now warranted. We propose and discuss the design for a randomized clinical trial to test the use of PGT in the treatment of BD

Diagnostic properties of metabolic perturbations in rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of diagnosing early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by measuring selected metabolic biomarkers. Methods: We compared the metabolic profile of patients with RA with that of healthy controls and patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsoA). The metabolites were measured using two different chromatography-mass spectrometry platforms, thereby giving a broad overview of serum metabolites. The metabolic profiles of patient and control groups were compared using multivariate statistical analysis. The findings were validated in a follow-up study of RA patients and healthy volunteers. Results: RA patients were diagnosed with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 70% in a validation study using detection of 52 metabolites. Patients with RA or PsoA could be distinguished with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 94%. Glyceric acid, D-ribofuranose and hypoxanthine were increased in RA patients, whereas histidine, threonic acid, methionine, cholesterol, asparagine and threonine were all decreased compared with healthy controls. Conclusions: Metabolite profiling (metabolomics) is a potentially useful technique for diagnosing RA. The predictive value was without regard to the presence of antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptides

High Genetic Diversity and Fine-Scale Spatial Structure in the Marine Flagellate Oxyrrhis marina (Dinophyceae) Uncovered by Microsatellite Loci

Free-living marine protists are often assumed to be broadly distributed and genetically homogeneous on large spatial scales. However, an increasing application of highly polymorphic genetic markers (e.g., microsatellites) has provided evidence for high genetic diversity and population structuring on small spatial scales in many free-living protists. Here we characterise a panel of new microsatellite markers for the common marine flagellate Oxyrrhis marina. Nine microsatellite loci were used to assess genotypic diversity at two spatial scales by genotyping 200 isolates of O. marina from 6 broad geographic regions around Great Britain and Ireland; in one region, a single 2 km shore line was sampled intensively to assess fine-scale genetic diversity. Microsatellite loci resolved between 1–6 and 7–23 distinct alleles per region in the least and most variable loci respectively, with corresponding variation in expected heterozygosities (He) of 0.00–0.30 and 0.81–0.93. Across the dataset, genotypic diversity was high with 183 genotypes detected from 200 isolates. Bayesian analysis of population structure supported two model populations. One population was distributed across all sampled regions; the other was confined to the intensively sampled shore, and thus two distinct populations co-occurred at this site. Whilst model-based analysis inferred a single UK-wide population, pairwise regional FST values indicated weak to moderate population sub-division (0.01–0.12), but no clear correlation between spatial and genetic distance was evident. Data presented in this study highlight extensive genetic diversity for O. marina; however, it remains a substantial challenge to uncover the mechanisms that drive genetic diversity in free-living microorganisms

Capabilities and quality of life in Dutch psycho-geriatric nursing homes: an exploratory study using a proxy version of the ICECAP-O

Contains fulltext : 110478.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)PURPOSE: To validate the ICECAP-O capability measure in psycho-geriatric elderly in nursing homes, we compared the capability scores of restrained and unrestrained clients. Both nursing staff and family were used as proxies for assessing clients' capabilities. METHOD: For 122 psycho-geriatric elderly, a total of 96 nursing professionals and 68 family members completed a proxy questionnaire. We investigated the convergent and discriminant validity of the ICECAP-O and measures of care dependency, health-related quality of life, and overall quality of life. We also directly compared ICECAP-O scores of the 56 clients for whom both nursing staff and family members had completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: Convergent validity between ICECAP-O and care dependency, health-related, and overall quality of life measures could be established, as well as discriminant validity for the restrained and unrestrained groups. Nursing and family proxy ICECAP-O tariffs were not significantly correlated. DISCUSSION: ICECAP-O measures a more general concept than health-related quality of life and can differentiate between restrained and non-restrained psycho-geriatric clients. Since nurses seem to be able to assess the current quality of life of clients using the ICECAP-O more precisely than the family proxies, for now the use of nursing proxies is recommended in a nursing home setting

Human NK Cells Differ More in Their KIR2DL1-Dependent Thresholds for HLA-Cw6-Mediated Inhibition than in Their Maximal Killing Capacity

In this study we have addressed the question of how activation and inhibition of human NK cells is regulated by the expression level of MHC class I protein on target cells. Using target cell transfectants sorted to stably express different levels of the MHC class I protein HLA-Cw6, we show that induction of degranulation and that of IFN-γ secretion are not correlated. In contrast, the inhibition of these two processes by MHC class-I occurs at the same level of class I MHC protein. Primary human NK cell clones were found to differ in the amount of target MHC class I protein required for their inhibition, rather than in their maximum killing capacity. Importantly, we show that KIR2DL1 expression determines the thresholds (in terms of MHC I protein levels) required for NK cell inhibition, while the expression of other receptors such as LIR1 is less important. Furthermore, using mathematical models to explore the dynamics of target cell killing, we found that the observed delay in target cell killing is exhibited by a model in which NK cells require some activation or priming, such that each cell can lyse a target cell only after being activated by a first encounter with the same or a different target cell, but not by models which lack this feature

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal