Does Self-directedness in Learning and Careers Predict the Employability of Low-Qualified Employees?

Employability has become a key element in sustaining successful vocational careers. The role of self-directedness is considered paramount in maintaining one's employability. However, it also requires certain competences on part of employees to invest in learning and career development. This study examines the influence of self-directedness in learning and career of low-qualified employees on their employability. In a follow-up study of 284 low-qualified employees, we find that higher levels of self-directedness in learning and career of employees corresponds with higher chance to be promoted to higher-level job positions (vertical job mobility). However, no relationship was found between different formats of self-directedness and job retention or horizontal job mobility of lower qualified personnel.</p

EKSPRESI DAN MUATAN VISUAL BATIK SUDAGARAN SURAKARTA Studi Kasus Batik Danar Hadi

INTISARI Apika Nurani Sulistyati. 2016. EKSPRESI DAN MUATAN VISUAL BATIK SUDAGARAN SURAKARTA STUDI KASUS BATIK DANAR HADI. Tesis. Batik Sudagaran Surakarta merupakan sebuah inovasi karena muncul di saat ragam hias batik di daerah Vorstenlanden masih berkiblat pada simbolisme dan makna filosofis batik Klasik. Dinamika yang tertuang dalam ekspresi dan muatan visual ragam hias batik Sudagaran menjadi suatu hal yang menarik untuk dikaji karena batik ini tumbuh dan berkembang di bawah bayangan batik Klasik, tetapi mampu menemukan karakternya sendiri. Permasalahan yang dikaji pada penelitian ini adalah bagaimana pola perubahan serta korelasi antara ekspresi dan muatan ragam hias batik Sudagaran Danar Hadi periode 1967 hingga sekarang. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisa pola perubahan, serta hubungan antara ekspresi dan muatan pada ragam hias batik Sudagaran dengan studi kasus batik Danar Hadi pada periode 1967 hingga sekarang. Teori semiotika Hjlemslev digunakan sebagai pendekatan untuk menganalisa ekspresi dan muatan visual pada ragam hias batik Sudagaran, sehingga pola perubahan ragam hias batik Sudagaran dapat teridentifikasi. Hasil temuan penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa ekspresi dan muatan motif pada batik Sudagaran pada dasarnya tidak merupakan satu kesatuan yang mengandung maksud tertentu, melainkan hanya merupakan susunan-susunan tradisional maupun kreasi baru yang mengandung nilai keindahan. Namun, jika dikaji menggunakan teori semiotika Hjlemslev, maka ekspresi dan muatan menjadi memiliki arti dan korelasi karena adanya tingkatan substansi dan bentuk. Pada batik, motif merupakan ekspresi bentuk yang tervisualisasi karena adanya ekspresi substansi dari faktor-faktor penyusun, seperti titik, garis, bidang, warna, dan tekstur. Ekspresi bentuk merupakan gambaran dari muatan substansi yang sifatnya bisa abstrak maupun nyata. Muatan substansi dan ekspresi bentuk memiliki hubungan bersifat arbitrer yang tertuang secara implisit pada muatan bentuk. Batik Sudagaran Danar Hadi pada periode 1967 hingga sekarang mengalami perubahan pola ragam hias, pertama, mengacu pada pola Klasik. Kedua, kombinasi pola klasik dan flora. Ketiga, gubahan atau berorientasi pada pola Klasik. Keempat, kreasi adaptif. Kata kunci: semiotika, ekspresi, muatan, substansi, bentuk, batik, sudagaran, Surakart

Toward an Integrated Competence-based System Supporting Lifelong Learning and Employability: Concepts, Model, and Challenges

Miao, Y., Van der Klink, M., Boon, J., Sloep, P. B., & Koper, R. (2009). Toward an Integrated Competence-based System Supporting Lifelong Learning and Employability: Concepts, Model, and Challenges. In M. Spaniol, Q. Li, R. Klamma & R. W. H. Lau (Eds.), Proceedings of the 8th International Conference Advances in Web Based Learning - ICWL 2009 (pp. 265-276). August, 19-21, 2009, Aachen, Germany. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5686; Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.Efficient and effective lifelong learning requires that people can make informed decisions about their continuous personal development in the different stages of their lives. In this paper we state that lifelong learners need to be characterized as decision-makers. In order to improve the quality of their decisions we propose the development of an integrated lifelong learning and employment support system, which traces learners’ competence development and provides a decision support environment. An abstract conceptual model has been developed and the main design ideas have been documented using Z notation. Moreover, we analyzed the main technical challenges for the realization of the target system: competence information fusion, decision analysis models, spatial indexing structures and browsing structures and visualization of competence related information objects.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org

Lung Transplantation for Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia and Kartagener Syndrome: A Multicenter Study.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia, with or without situs abnormalities, is a rare lung disease that can lead to an irreversible lung damage that may progress to respiratory failure. Lung transplant can be considered in end-stage disease. This study describes the outcomes of the largest lung transplant population for PCD and for PCD with situs abnormalities, also identified as Kartagener's syndrome. Retrospectively collected data of 36 patients who underwent lung transplantation for PCD from 1995 to 2020 with or without SA as part of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons Lung Transplantation Working Group on rare diseases. Primary outcomes of interest included survival and freedom from chronic lung allograft dysfunction. Secondary outcomes included primary graft dysfunction within 72 h and the rate of rejection ≥A2 within the first year. Among PCD recipients with and without SA, the mean overall and CLAD-free survival were 5.9 and 5.2 years with no significant differences between groups in terms of time to CLAD (HR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.27-3.14, p = 0.894) or mortality (HR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.14-1.43, p = 0.178). Postoperative rates of PGD were comparable between groups; rejection grades ≥A2 on first biopsy or within the first year was more common in patients with SA. This study provides a valuable insight on international practices of lung transplantation in patients with PCD. Lung transplantation is an acceptable treatment option in this population

The Endogenous Th17 Response in NO<inf>2</inf>-Promoted Allergic Airway Disease Is Dispensable for Airway Hyperresponsiveness and Distinct from Th17 Adoptive Transfer

Severe, glucocorticoid-resistant asthma comprises 5-7% of patients with asthma. IL-17 is a biomarker of severe asthma, and the adoptive transfer of Th17 cells in mice is sufficient to induce glucocorticoid-resistant allergic airway disease. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an environmental toxin that correlates with asthma severity, exacerbation, and risk of adverse outcomes. Mice that are allergically sensitized to the antigen ovalbumin by exposure to NO2 exhibit a mixed Th2/Th17 adaptive immune response and eosinophil and neutrophil recruitment to the airway following antigen challenge, a phenotype reminiscent of severe clinical asthma. Because IL-1 receptor (IL-1R) signaling is critical in the generation of the Th17 response in vivo, we hypothesized that the IL-1R/Th17 axis contributes to pulmonary inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in NO2-promoted allergic airway disease and manifests in glucocorticoid-resistant cytokine production. IL-17A neutralization at the time of antigen challenge or genetic deficiency in IL-1R resulted in decreased neutrophil recruitment to the airway following antigen challenge but did not protect against the development of AHR. Instead, IL-1R-/- mice developed exacerbated AHR compared to WT mice. Lung cells from NO2-allergically inflamed mice that were treated in vitro with dexamethasone (Dex) during antigen restimulation exhibited reduced Th17 cytokine production, whereas Th17 cytokine production by lung cells from recipient mice of in vitro Th17-polarized OTII T-cells was resistant to Dex. These results demonstrate that the IL-1R/Th17 axis does not contribute to AHR development in NO2-promoted allergic airway disease, that Th17 adoptive transfer does not necessarily reflect an endogenously-generated Th17 response, and that functions of Th17 responses are contingent on the experimental conditions in which they are generated. © 2013 Martin et al

Ethylene Receptors, CTRs and EIN2 Target Protein Identification and Quantification Through Parallel Reaction Monitoring During Tomato Fruit Ripening.

Ethylene, the plant ripening hormone of climacteric fruit, is perceived by ethylene receptors which is the first step in the complex ethylene signal transduction pathway. Much progress has been made in elucidating the mechanism of this pathway, but there is still a lot to be done in the proteomic quantification of the main proteins involved, particularly during fruit ripening. This work focuses on the mass spectrometry based identification and quantification of the ethylene receptors (ETRs) and the downstream components of the pathway, CTR-like proteins (CTRs) and ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE 2 (EIN2). We used tomato as a model fruit to study changes in protein abundance involved in the ethylene signal transduction during fruit ripening. In order to detect and quantify these low abundant proteins located in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum, we developed a workflow comprising sample fractionation and MS analysis using parallel reaction monitoring. This work shows the feasibility of the identification and absolute quantification of all seven ethylene receptors, three out of four CTRs and EIN2 in four ripening stages of tomato. In parallel, gene expression was analyzed through real-time qPCR. Correlation between transcriptomic and proteomic profiles during ripening was only observed for three of the studied proteins, suggesting that the other signaling proteins are likely post-transcriptionally regulated. Based on our quantification results we were able to show that the protein levels of SlETR3 and SlETR4 increased during ripening, probably to control ethylene sensitivity. The other receptors and CTRs showed either stable levels that could sustain, or decreasing levels that could promote fruit ripening

A multi-targeted approach to suppress tumor-promoting inflammation

Cancers harbor significant genetic heterogeneity and patterns of relapse following many therapies are due to evolved resistance to treatment. While efforts have been made to combine targeted therapies, significant levels of toxicity have stymied efforts to effectively treat cancer with multi-drug combinations using currently approved therapeutics. We discuss the relationship between tumor-promoting inflammation and cancer as part of a larger effort to develop a broad-spectrum therapeutic approach aimed at a wide range of targets to address this heterogeneity. Specifically, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, cyclooxygenase-2, transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, protein kinase B, and CXC chemokines are reviewed as important antiinflammatory targets while curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, lycopene, and anthocyanins are reviewed as low-cost, low toxicity means by which these targets might all be reached simultaneously. Future translational work will need to assess the resulting synergies of rationally designed antiinflammatory mixtures (employing low-toxicity constituents), and then combine this with similar approaches targeting the most important pathways across the range of cancer hallmark phenotypes