Causes and trends of the digital divide: a European perspective

"Starting point of the author's research is the appearance of a new form of social inequality: the digital divide. He defines this abstract notion as the opening cleavage between the information poor and the information rich, forming an additional source of inequality within the already established social ordering. He deals with reasons for private computer and internet use. The general question is who uses internet for her or his private ends and how do we explain possible differences. Research on this topic sometimes is challenged by charges of studying a non-existent myth or 'luxury' problem. However, computer literacy seems to be significantly related to socioeconomic positions. Most of the studies deal with the numbers and counts of computers, hosts, internet connections, indicating a predominantly economistic view towards the problem. This approach, however, disregards all other social, cultural, or technological implications. His results indicate that human capital and social capital are more important than economic capital when looking at the pathways of innovation diffusion. All in all, money seems to be the least important measure to understand patterns of the unequal technology diffusion. He concludes that successful new technologies do not diffuse haphazardly but systematically into our society. The usual diffusion process is a vertical movement from the highest to the lowest status position along the socio-economic strata until most households directly or indirectly are included." (author's abstract

Digitale Spaltung in Deutschland: geringere Bildung - seltener am PC

Die Nutzung von Computern und dem Internet ist in Deutschland keineswegs gleichmäßig verbreitet. Daten aus dem Jahre 2005 lassen erkennen, dass Personen mit einem geringen Bildungsniveau wesentlich seltener den PC und das Internet nutzen als Personen mit höherem Bildungsniveau. Auch hinsichtlich der Art der Nutzung von Computer und Internet lassen sich sozio-demographische Unterschiede feststellen. Beispielsweise ist das Programmieren - unabhängig vom Alter - vorwiegend eine Männerdomäne. Während Menschen höherer Bildungsschichten den Computer häufiger zur Gestaltung der Arbeitswelt sowie zum Schreiben und Lernen verwenden, setzen Personen mit geringerer Bildung den Computer signifikant häufiger zum Spielen und Musikhören, also eher im unmittelbaren Freizeitbereich ein.

Mothers and the Process of Social Stratification

In the past, the influence of the mothers´ educational and occupational statuses on children´s status attainment has been widely ignored in studies on social stratification. Usually only the father´s socioeconomic status is used to indicate a family´s socioeconomic position, because it is assumed that he holds the dominant status position in the household. As overall educational levels are rising and mothers´ labour market participation is steadily increasing, this assumption no longer holds. How does the mother´s educational and occupational status influence the education and occupational status of her children? How has her influence developed in the last couple of decades? Her education and her occupational status are significantly related to the educational level of sons and daughters. Regarding occupational status reproduction, the mother´s status resources are only important for the daughter´s occupational attainment. The mother´s socioeconomic resources always have been important for the transfer of status advantages from one generation to the next, now as well as in the past. Over the years, though, her influence has decreased in essentially the same way as has the father´s influence.Normalerweise ist in früheren Studien zur sozialen Ungleichheit der Einfluss der Mutter auf den Prozess der Statusvererbung vernachlässigt worden. Weil im Allgemeinen davon ausgegangen wurde, dass der Vater als Alleinverdiener die dominante Statusposition der Familie innehielt, diente zumeist sein sozioökonomischer Status als Hauptinformationsquelle für die Beurteilung der sozioökonomischen Ressourcen seiner Familie. Da immer mehr Mütter höhere Bildungsabschlüsse als früher erhalten und durchgängig einer bezahlten Tätigkeit nachgehen, kann diese soeben genannte Annahme nicht mehr aufrecht erhalten werden. Die vorliegende Arbeit beantwortet die Frage, ob und inwiefern die Schulausbildung und der Berufsstatus der Mutter die Schulausbildung und den Berufsstatus ihrer Kinder beeinflusst. Ein wichtiges Ergebnis ist, dass die sozioökonomischen Ressourcen der Mutter immer schon eine wichtige Rolle gespielt haben für die sozioökonomische Startposition der folgenden Generation. Jedoch hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten der Einfluss der Mutter auf die Bildungsabschlüsse ihrer Kinder in einer ähnlichen Weise abgenommen, wie der des Vaters. Berufliche Reproduktion findet nur zwischen Müttern und Töchtern statt

Variation in structure and properties of poly(glycerol adipate) via control of chain branching during enzymatic synthesis

Poly (glycerol adipate) (PGA) can be produced from divinyl adipate and unprotected glycerol by an enzymatic route to generate a polymer with relatively low molar mass (12 kDa). PGA bears a pendant hydroxyl group which imparts a hydrophilic character to this water insoluble polymer. We have examined the effect of synthesis temperature on polymer characteristics through various techniques including FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR, surface and thermal analysis, both to expand the data already present in the literature about this material and to understand better its properties for potential pharmaceutical applications. The use of a lipase (Novozym 435) as a catalyst suppresses cross-linking at the pendant glyceryl hydroxyl through steric hindrance at the active site, thus producing polymers with low degrees of branching (5–30%), and removes the need for any pre- or post-polymerization protection/deprotection reactions. Careful temperature control during synthesis can give polymers with reproducible molecular weights and reduced amounts of polymer branching compared to synthesis at higher temperatures. Due to the ability of the synthetic route to produce a range of structures, PGA generated by enzymatic routes may emerge as a useful biodegradable polymer platform to engineer solid dispersions or nanoparticles for healthcare applications

Technology Acceptance Model y mayores: ¿la educación y la actividad laboral desarrollada son variables moderadoras?

ResumenEl objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la influencia, como variables moderadoras, del nivel educativo y la actividad laboral desarrollada por los mayores de 50 años en su proceso de aceptación de Internet, dentro del marco del modelo TAM (Technology Acceptance Model). Proponemos un modelo basado en TAM, testado mediante PLS y multi-grupo para comprobar el cumplimiento de las hipótesis de moderación propuestas. Los resultados apoyan la idoneidad del modelo aunque el poder moderador de la actividad laboral no es significativo mientras que el nivel educativo tiene mayor capacidad explicativa en el caso de los mayores sin estudios universitarios. A su vez el TAM se muestra como una herramienta apropiada para explicar la heterogeneidad de los mayores con respecto a Internet.AbstractOur aim in this work is to analyze the impact, as moderator variables, of the level of education and the profession on the Internet acceptance level in people older than 50 years old. We propose a model based on a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). We contrast the moderator hypotheses proposed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) and multi-group analysis. The results support the suitability of the model showing a non-significant moderator effect of the profession, whereas the education level presents a higher explanatory power for older adults with no university degree. In addition, TAM appears to be an appropriatetool to explain the heterogeneity of this segment as regards the Internet