725 research outputs found
Immigrant gender convergence in education and on the labor market
Immigration tends to have a mitigating effect on the socioeconomic gender gap among immigrants. To explain this finding, we propose a gender convergence hypothesis that states that migration to a modern ‘open’ society offers women the opportunity to improve their position relative to that of men. In such a society, there are (almost) equal chances to participate in education and paid labor. The equalizing effect will be larger if the immigrants come from less developed regions, since women then have more room to improve their position. However, there may also be countervailing cultural powers within the immigrant group. The gender convergence hypothesis proposed here is tested for immigrants in the Netherlands. Using survey data, we investigate the educational and labor market position of Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese, and Antillean males and females. We find convergent trends, particularly among Moroccan immigrants who come from less developed regions in their country of origin and who meet less cultural in-group barriers than, for example, Turkish immigrants.
Education and Health: The Role of Cognitive Ability
We aim to disentangle the relative contributions of (i) cognitive ability, and (ii) education on health and mortality using a structural equation model suggested
by Conti et al. (2010). We extend their model by allowing for a duration dependent variable, and an ordinal educational variable. Data come from a Dutch cohort born around 1940, including detailed measures of cognitive
ability and family background at age 12. The data are subsequently linked to the mortality register 1995-2011, such that we observe mortality between ages 55 and 75. The results suggest that the treatment effect of education
(i.e. the effect of entering secondary school as opposed to leaving school after primary education) is positive and amounts to a 4 years gain in life expectancy, on average. Decomposition results suggest that the raw survival differences between educational groups are about equally split between a 'treatment effect' of education, and a 'selection effect' on basis of cognitive ability and family background
Unequal changes on the transitional labour market, the case of the Netherlands.
The emergence of a transitional labour market offers new opportunities to
workers, but at the same time bears the risk of (new) inequalities. This paper
deals with unequal chances on the transitional labour market in the
Netherlands, in particular for workers from the four largest immigrant groups:
Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese and Antilleans. The data used are from the SPVA,
the survey `Social Position and Use of Public Utilities by Migrants' for the
years 1998 and 2002. These are based on stock sampling. Since for some
individuals labour market transitions occur at a very low rate, these
individuals may stay in their current state till they reach the retirement age
of 65. We estimate hazard rate models that account for both the stock-sampling
and the possible maximum duration for the transitions from unemployment,
household care and disability to employment. Then we decompose the difference
in expected duration between the immigrant groups and the Dutch into the
contribution of differences in observable characteristics, coefficient
estimates and baseline hazard parameters. The main results of the analyses are
that unequal chances exist, but to a different degree for the various groups
and with variations per transition type
Immigrant gender convergence in education and on the labor market
Immigration tends to have a mitigating effect on the socioeconomic gender gap among immigrants. To explain this finding, we propose a gender convergence hypothesis that states that migration to a modern ‘open’ society offers women the opportunity to improve their position relative to that of men. In such a society, there are (almost) equal chances to participate in education and paid labor. The equalizing effect will be larger if the immigrants come from less developed regions, since women then have more room to improve their position. However, there may also be countervailing cultural powers within the immigrant group. The gender convergence hypothesis proposed here is tested for immigrants in the Netherlands. Using survey data, we investigate the educational and labor market position of Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese, and Antillean males and females. We find convergent trends, particularly among Moroccan immigrants who come from less developed regions in their country of origin and who meet less cultural in-group barriers than, for example, Turkish immigrants
PERFEX: Classifier Performance Explanations for Trustworthy AI Systems
Explainability of a classification model is crucial when deployed in
real-world decision support systems. Explanations make predictions actionable
to the user and should inform about the capabilities and limitations of the
system. Existing explanation methods, however, typically only provide
explanations for individual predictions. Information about conditions under
which the classifier is able to support the decision maker is not available,
while for instance information about when the system is not able to
differentiate classes can be very helpful. In the development phase it can
support the search for new features or combining models, and in the operational
phase it supports decision makers in deciding e.g. not to use the system. This
paper presents a method to explain the qualities of a trained base classifier,
called PERFormance EXplainer (PERFEX). Our method consists of a meta tree
learning algorithm that is able to predict and explain under which conditions
the base classifier has a high or low error or any other classification
performance metric. We evaluate PERFEX using several classifiers and datasets,
including a case study with urban mobility data. It turns out that PERFEX
typically has high meta prediction performance even if the base classifier is
hardly able to differentiate classes, while giving compact performance
explanations
EU Ringonderzoek voedsel-I (2006) Bacteriologische detectie van Salmonella in rundergehakt
De Europese Nationale Referentie Laboratoria (NRLs) voor Salmonella hebben in een ringonderzoek hoge en lage concentraties Salmonella aangetoond in rundergehakt. Hiermee hebben ze laten zien dat ze voldoen aan de gestelde eisen. De Modified Semi-solid Rappaport Vassiliadis (MSRV), een analysemethode die veel gebruikt wordt voor Salmonella in dierenmest, bleek de beste methode voor het aantonen van Salmonella in rundergehakt. Vijfentwintig referentielaboratoria deden in september 2006 mee aan een ringonderzoek van het Communautair Referentie Laboratorium (CRL) voor Salmonella. Doel was in eerste instantie om na te gaan of de laboratoria Salmonella in gehakt goed konden aantonen. In tweede instantie werd ook onderzocht wat de beste analysemethode was voor het aantonen van Salmonella in rundergehakt. Ieder laboratorium kreeg een pakket toegestuurd met rundergehakt en 35 gelatine capsules met melkpoeder van verschillende besmettingsniveaus Salmonella. De laboratoria moesten volgens voorschrift gehakt en capsules samenvoegen en onderzoeken op de aanwezigheid van Salmonella. Voor het onderzoek gebruikten de laboratoria drie methoden: Rappaport Vassiliadis Soya broth (RVS), Mueller Kauffmann Tetrathionaat met novobiocine (MKTTn) en Modified Semi-solid Rappaport Vassiliadis (MSRV). De eerste twee methoden (RVS en MKKTn) staan bekend als internationaal voorgeschreven voor de analyse van Salmonella in levensmiddelen. De derde methode (MSRV) wordt gebruikt om Salmonella in dierlijke mest aan te tonen. Met een van de levensmiddelenmethoden (MKTTn) vonden alle laboratoria in slechts 88% van de monsters Salmonella. De methode voor dierlijke mest (MSRV) bleek de beste resultaten te geven. Hiermee vonden alle laboratoria in 99% van de besmette monsters Salmonella. De levensmiddelenmethode MKTTn blijkt dus niet de meest optimale methode te zijn voor het aantonen van Salmonella in rundergehakt.The European National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) for Salmonella were able to detect high and low levels of Salmonella in a ring trial using minced beef as matrix, thereby reaching the level of good performance. The Modified Semi-solid Rappaport Vassiliadis (MSRV), a method often used for the detection of Salmonella in animal faeces, turned out to be the best method for minced beef. This was one outcome of the inter-laboratory comparison study organized by the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) for Salmonella on the detection of Salmonella spp. in a food matrix in September 2006. The first, and most important goal, was to see if the 25 participating laboratories in this study could detect Salmonella in minced beef. The second goal was to compare the different analysis methods for the detection of Salmonella in minced beef. Each laboratory received a package containing minced beef and 35 gelatin capsules containing different levels of Salmonella. According to the instructions, the laboratories spiked the meat with the capsules and tested those samples for the presence of Salmonella. The laboratories used three methods for running this test: Rappaport Vassiliadis Soya broth (RVS), Mueller Kauffmann Tetrathionate novobiocin broth (MKTTn) and Modified Semi-solid Rappaport Vassiliadis (MSRV). The first two methods are internationally prescribed for the detection of Salmonella in food, while the third (MSRV) is prescribed for the detection of Salmonella in veterinary faeces. All laboratories found Salmonella in just 88% of the samples using one of the food methods (MKTTn). The method for the veterinary samples, MSRV, gave the best results, with 99% of all laboratories detecting Salmonella in the spiked samples. The MKTTn food method is therefore not the optimal medium for the detection of Salmonella in minced beef.European CommissionLegislation Veterinaire et Zootechniqu
New solutions in the ferrates(VI) process with the use of SnО₂–modified electrodes
Изучены особенности образования ферратов(VI) из соединений Fe(III) в растворах с различным ионным
составом на инертных SnО₂-электродах, легированных Ru, Pt, Pd и Sb. Установлено, что изменением природы и
содержания легирующего металла можно целенаправленно регулировать электро-каталитические свойства анодов, в
частности величину перенапряжения выделения О₂. Показана принципиальная возможность электрохимического
окисления на поверхности электрода и химического окисления в объеме раствора частиц Fe(ОН)₃ и Fe(ОН)₄.
Разработаны рекомендации для синтеза ферратов(VI) с использованием анодов, обеспечивающих длительный режим
работы без ухудшения их эксплуатационных характеристик.Disadvantages of traditional synthesis methods of ferrates (VI) - promising green oxidants - stimulate the search of new
technological solutions which meet the requirements of modern production. The purpose of this work was to study the ferrates (VI)
formation from Fe (III) compounds in solutions with different pH on inert SnО₂ electrodes doped with Pt, Ru, Pd, and Sb. The
influence of the nature and the content of the alloying metal on the electrocatalytic properties of the electrode was studied by the
stationary voltammetry method, as well as by determining the current yields of hypochlorite and sodium chlorate during the
electrolysis of a slightly alkaline NaCl solution. Coatings based on SnО₂, doped with palladium and platinum, show maximal
electrocatalytic activity according to ClO – synthesis. It has been established that the oxygen evolution overvoltage on the electrodes
with comparable dopant concentrations increases in the Ru-Pd-Pt-Sb series. It has been shown that for effective synthesis of ferrates
(VI), flat Ti anodes of a large area with an electroactive layer based on SnО₂-Sb2О₃ should be used. It is noted that electrochemical
oxidation of Fe (III) in Fe (VI) is more energetically favorable on these electrodes than О₂ evolution, which opens up new
possibilities for these processes in ferrate (VI) synthesis technology. We have shown the principal possibility of increasing the
productivity of the Fe (VI) process due to the direct interaction of the Fe(ОН)₃ and Fe(ОН)₄− particles in the solution volume with
ClO− anions generated on an inert electrode when Сl− anions are preliminarily added to the system. Technological solutions have
been proposed to increase the life of inert electrodes when 5-10% TiO2 is introduced into the SnО₂ matrix, providing a long-term
operating mode without degradation of their performance characteristics
- …