Adaptive learning to speed-up control of prosthetic hands: A few things everybody should know

Domain adaptation methods have been proposed to reduce the training efforts needed to control an upper-limb prosthesis by adapting well performing models from previous subjects to the new subject. These studies generally reported impressive reductions in the required number of training samples to achieve a certain level of accuracy for intact subjects. We further investigate two popular methods in this field to verify whether this result also applies to amputees. Our findings show instead that this improvement can largely be attributed to a suboptimal hyperparameter configuration. When hyperparameters are appropriately tuned, the standard approach that does not exploit prior information performs on par with the more complicated transfer learning algorithms. Additionally, earlier studies erroneously assumed that the number of training samples relates proportionally to the efforts required from the subject. However, a repetition of a movement is the atomic unit for subjects and the total number of repetitions should therefore be used as reliable measure for training efforts. Also when correcting for this mistake, we do not find any performance increase due to the use of prior models

The labour market position of Turkish immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands; reason for migration, naturalisation and language proficiency

On the basis of two datasets, the German Socio-Economic Panel 2002 and the Dutch Social Position and Use of Provision Survey 2002, we investigate the importance of characteristics related to immigration for the labour market position of Turkish immigrants. We use regression techniques to correct for composition effects in employment rates, tenured job rates and job prestige scores (ISEI). First, we find that educational attainment and language proficiency have a higher return in the Netherlands than in Germany. Second, we find that second generation immigrants have improved their labour market position relative to the first generation of labour migrants and their partners. The improvement is largely due to an improvement in educational attainment and language proficiency. Third, for the Netherlands we find a positive relation between naturalisation and labour market position, while for Germany we find a negative relation with tenured employment. The contrasting results on tenured employment may be explained partly by differences in immigration rules. In Germany, economic self-reliance is more important than in the Netherlands, and this may lead to a stronger incentive to naturalise for workers with a temporary contract.

Cat in the Throat: Caroline Bergvall's plurilingual bodies

Scholarships & Prizes Office. University of Sydne

Perceived Group Discrimination among Polish Migrants to Western Europe: Comparing Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Ireland. ESRI WP502. May 2015

Discrimination is a problem for both minority groups and the societies in which they live. Perceived group discrimination reflects the direct experiences of immigrants but is also an indicator of the wider societal context and its level of social cohesion. This paper draws on new longitudinal survey data to examine perceptions of group discrimination among new Polish immigrants to four Western European countries (Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany). Are there cross-national differences in perceived group discrimination, and how is discrimination related to exposure to, and experiences in, the host country? Perceived discrimination is found to be higher among Polish migrants in the Netherlands in Wave 1 (2011) than in the other three countries; perceptions of discrimination also increased more there between waves of the survey, as well as in the UK. Perceptions of group discrimination are related to some aspects of exposure to the host country (e.g. duration in the country), but are most strongly associated with negative experiences in the host country. Differences in country contexts - attitudinal climate and national discourses - seem to play a strong role in understanding perceived group discrimination among new Polish immigrants in Western Europe

Predictors of spiritual care provision for patients with dementia at the end of life as perceived by physicians : a prospective study

Background: Spiritual caregiving is part of palliative care and may contribute to well being at the end of life. However, it is a neglected area in the care and treatment of patients with dementia. We aimed to examine predictors of the provision of spiritual end-of-life care in dementia as perceived by physicians coordinating the care. Methods: We used data of the Dutch End of Life in Dementia study (DEOLD; 2007-2011), in which data were collected prospectively in 28 Dutch long-term care facilities. We enrolled newly admitted residents with dementia who died during the course of data collection, their families, and physicians. The outcome of Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) regression analyses was whether spiritual care was provided shortly before death as perceived by the on-staff elderly care physician who was responsible for end-of-life care (last sacraments or rites or other spiritual care provided by a spiritual counselor or staff). Potential predictors were indicators of high-quality, person-centered, and palliative care, demographics, and some other factors supported by the literature. Resident-level potential predictors such as satisfaction with the physician's communication were measured 8 weeks after admission (baseline, by families and physicians), physician-level factors such as the physician's religious background midway through the study, and facility-level factors such as a palliative care unit applied throughout data collection. Results: According to the physicians, spiritual end-of-life care was provided shortly before death to 20.8% (43/207) of the residents. Independent predictors of spiritual end-of-life care were: families' satisfaction with physicians' communication at baseline (OR 1.6, CI 1.0; 2.5 per point on 0-3 scale), and faith or spirituality very important to resident whether (OR 19, CI 5.6; 63) or not (OR 15, CI 5.1; 47) of importance to the physician. Further, female family caregiving was an independent predictor (OR 2.7, CI 1.1; 6.6). Conclusions: Palliative care indicators were not predictive of spiritual end-of-life care; palliative care in dementia may need better defining and implementation in practice. Physician-family communication upon admission may be important to optimize spiritual caregiving at the end of life

The labour market position of Turkish immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands: reason for migration, naturalisation and language proficiency

On the basis of the German Socio-Economic Panel 2002 and the Dutch Social Position and Use of Provision Survey 2002, we investigate the importance of characteristics related to immigration for the labour market position of Turkish immigrants. We use regression techniques to correct for composition effects in employment rates, tenured job rates and job prestige scores (ISEI). First, we find that educational attainment and language proficiency have a higher return in the Netherlands than in Germany. Second, we find that second generation immigrants have improved their labour market position relative to the first generation of labour migrants and their partners. The improvement is largely due to an improvement in educational attainment and language proficiency. Third, for the Netherlands we find a positive relation between naturalisation and labour market position, while for Germany we find a negative relation with tenured employment. The contrasting results on tenured employment may be explained partly by differences in immigration rules. In Germany economic self-reliance is more important than in the Netherlands, and this may lead to a stronger incentive to naturalise for workers with a temporary contract

Immigration, integration and the labour market: Turkish immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands

On the basis of three micro datasets, the German Socio-Economic Panel 2002, the Dutch Social Position and Use of Provision Survey 2002 and the Dutch Labour Force Survey 2002, we investigate the labour market position of Turkish immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands. We compare labour market outcomes of Turkish immigrants, including both the first and second generation, and natives in both countries by using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method. We find that Turkish immigrants have lower employment rates, lower tenured job rates and lower job prestige scores than natives. In both countries, the lower level of education and the age composition of the Turkish immigrants partly explains the unfavourable labour market position. The standardized gap the gap that remains after correction for the observed individual characteristics - in the employment and tenured job rate remains large for the Netherlands, while the standardized gap in the job prestige score remains large for Germany. Differences in past immigration policies between Germany and the Netherlands are likely to be important for explaining the labour market position of Turkish men in both countries

Spiritual Care in Palliative Care

Palliative care has always included spiritual care, but the provision and inclusion of spiritual care within and across palliative care services internationally is sub-optimal. In this summary overview, we address understandings and meanings of spirituality and related terms, both generally and in the context of healthcare, and outline the importance of spiritual well-being and spiritual care at the end of life. We summarise what spiritual care involves, its benefits for palliative care patients and their families, and consider how its provision might be helped or hindered. There is currently a limited evidence base for the efficacy of interventions including spiritual and/or religious care, and large-scale studies in particular are lacking. However, those mostly small-scale and/or qualitative studies which have been conducted to date show that addressing the spiritual needs of patients in palliative care is associated with many positive outcomes for both patients and their relatives. More research in this area is necessary to develop and enhance the evidence base, and optimal provision of spiritual care requires that providers explicitly recognise the need for such care, including through providing training and support for staff