Academic studies, vocational training, or both? Educational pathways of school leavers with higher education entrance qualification

Vor dem Hintergrund deutlich gestiegener Studienberechtigtenzahlen stellt sich die Frage, für welche Qualifizierungswege in den Beruf sich Studienberechtigte entscheiden. Es wird daher untersucht, welche Faktoren bei der Wahl der Alternativen "Berufsausbildung", "Studium" und "Doppelqualifizierung" wirksam werden und wie sich soziale Disparitäten erklären lassen. Es zeigt sich, dass die Studienaufnahme unabhängig davon, ob sie im Anschluss an eine Ausbildung erfolgt oder nicht, von soziodemografischen Merkmalen, Schulleistungen sowie Studienerfolgsaussichten, antizipierten Bildungskosten und -erträgen abhängt. (DIPF/Orig.)Against the background of increased numbers of school leavers with a higher education entrance qualification the authors have a look at educational pathways of these school leavers. The paper explores factors of choice of transition into (1) vocational training, (2) higher education, or (3) a combination of vocational training and higher education one after another. Furthermore, the authors would like to explain the social inequality that reveals within these processes. Their findings indicate that enrolment in higher education (after school or after a vocational training) depends on sociodemographic characteristics, school performances, and expectation of success, as well as anticipated costs, and benefit expectations. (DIPF/Orig.

Consequences of the Bologna-Reform: Why Do Social Differences Exist at the Transition from Bachelor to Master Degree Programs?

Im Zuge der Bologna-Reform wurden mit den neuen Bachelor- und Masterstudiengängen zusätzliche Selektionsschwellen und zwei Hochschulabschlüsse eingeführt, die mit unterschiedlichen Karrierechancen einhergehen. Obwohl die Reform soziale Ungleichheit vermindern sollte, verzichten insbesondere Bachelorabsolventen aus weniger privilegierten Elternhäusern auf ein Masterstudium. Hierfür lassen sich aus theoretischer Sicht verschiedene Erklärungen anführen, jedoch finden sich bislang kaum empirisch abgesicherte Erkenntnisse über die in dieser Übergangsphase stattfindenden Entscheidungsprozesse. Der vorliegende Beitrag skizziert aus der Perspektive einer rationalen Entscheidungstheorie, vor dem Hintergrund kultureller Reproduktionsprozesse sowie aus einer Lebensverlaufsperspektive verschiedene Mechanismen, die den Herkunftsdisparitäten zugrunde liegen könnten. Die verschiedenen Erklärungsansätze werden anhand eines repräsentativen Studienberechtigtenpanels hinsichtlich ihrer empirischen Evidenz betrachtet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die sozialen Disparitäten am Bachelor-/Masterübergang vorwiegend auf vorgelagerte Bildungsentscheidungen, leistungsbezogene Unterschiede und höhere Kostensensibilität weniger privilegierter Herkunftsgruppen zurückzuführen sind.In the course of the Bologna process, traditional one-cycle German higher education degrees were transformed into two-cycle bachelor and subsequent master programs. This has established new transition points in higher eduction and different employment prospects for bachelor and master graduates. Although the intention of the reform was to reduce social inequality, students from less privileged families often forgo graduate studies. While different explanations can be offered for this phenomenon, the underlying decision processes are not well understood. The present contribution draws on rational choice and cultural reproduction theories and on life course analysis in discussing some of the mechanisms that may explain the pattern of social inequality. By using a panel dataset representative of Germany it discusses the empirical evidence. Results indicate that social inequality at the transition from bachelor to master studies mainly results from differences in students' previous educational biographies, differences in their academic ability, and a higher cost sensitivity on the part of less privileged groups

High-resolution Transcriptomic and Epigenetic Profiling Identifies Novel Regulators of COPD

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are still waiting for curative treatments. Considering its environmental cause, we hypothesized that COPD will be associated with altered epigenetic signaling in lung cells. We generated genome-wide DNA methylation maps at single CpG resolution of primary human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) across COPD stages. We show that the epigenetic landscape is changed early in COPD, with DNA methylation changes occurring predominantly in regulatory regions. RNA sequencing of matched fibroblasts demonstrated dysregulation of genes involved in proliferation, DNA repair, and extracellular matrix organization. Data integration identified 110 candidate regulators of disease phenotypes that were linked to fibroblast repair processes using phenotypic screens. Our study provides high-resolution multi-omic maps of HLFs across COPD stages. We reveal novel transcriptomic and epigenetic signatures associated with COPD onset and progression and identify new candidate regulators involved in the pathogenesis of chronic lung diseases. The presence of various epigenetic factors among the candidates demonstrates that epigenetic regulation in COPD is an exciting research field that holds promise for novel therapeutic avenues for patients

High-resolution transcriptomic and epigenetic profiling identifies novel regulators of COPD

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are still waiting for curative treatments. Considering its environmental cause, we hypothesized that COPD will be associated with altered epigenetic signaling in lung cells. We generated genome-wide DNA methylation maps at single CpG resolution of primary human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) across COPD stages. We show that the epigenetic landscape is changed early in COPD, with DNA methylation changes occurring predominantly in regulatory regions. RNA sequencing of matched fibroblasts demonstrated dysregulation of genes involved in proliferation, DNA repair, and extracellular matrix organization. Data integration identified 110 candidate regulators of disease phenotypes that were linked to fibroblast repair processes using phenotypic screens. Our study provides high-resolution multi-omic maps of HLFs across COPD stages. We reveal novel transcriptomic and epigenetic signatures associated with COPD onset and progression and identify new candidate regulators involved in the pathogenesis of chronic lung diseases. The presence of various epigenetic factors among the candidates demonstrates that epigenetic regulation in COPD is an exciting research field that holds promise for novel therapeutic avenues for patients

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe