Labor market discrimination of minorities? yes, but not in job offers

This paper presents evidence from a field experiment designed to evaluate the efficacy of anonymous application procedures. While the policy evaluation itself is of interest, more importantly the experiment provides a unique opportunity to detect race based differential treatment in a controlled market environment. Over a 6 month period we observe all applications sent in response to local public sector vacancies. We observe both the callback and the job oer decision. We compare decisions of recruiters when they can observe ethnic markers (control) with a treatment condition where ethnic markers are absent. We find a substantial differential in the callback decision. Interestingly, we do not find evidence for differential treatment in the job offer decision. A follow up experiment provides indications that recruiters respond strategically to the announcement of the results of the first experiment

The making of Greenport Venlo : eindrapportage Streamlining Greenport Venlo

Het project Streamlining Greenport Venlo is uitgevoerd door een consortium van partijen, bestaande uit KnowHouse, Wageningen UR en de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Het project is gestart in het najaar van 2005 en is zojuist afgerond onder meer met een rapportage in de vorm van een boekje met als titel “The making of Greenport Venlo”. Het doel hiervan is om verslag te doen van de leerervaringen van vier jaar Streamlining Greenport Venlo. Het is het product van diverse betrokken wetenschappers en mensen uit de praktijk van Greenport Venlo. De wetenschappers presenteren vanuit hun discipline en betrokkenheid de bijdrage die zij hebben geleverd aan de ontwikkeling door theorie, methoden en activiteiten te beschrijven. Naast iedere bijdrage van een wetenschapper is een verhaal geplaatst dat gemaakt is op basis van een interview met iemand uit de praktijk van Greenport Venlo. Er wordt geëxperimenteerd met ontwikkelingsplanologie en cradle to cradle-ontwerpprincipe

Lattice distortion in hcp rare gas solids

The lattice distortion parameter $\delta \equiv c/a-\sqrt{8/3}$ has been calculated as a function of molar volume for the hcp phases of He, Ar, Kr and Xe. Results from both semi-empirical potentials and density functional theory are presented. Our study shows that $\delta$ is negative for helium in the entire pressure range. For Ar, Kr and Xe, however, $\delta$ changes sign from negative to positive as the pressure increases, growing rapidly in magnitude at higher pressures.Comment: Submitted to Low. Temp. Phys., 14 pages, 5 figure

Paediatric biobanking: Dutch experts reflecting on appropriate legal standards for practice

Large sets of data and human specimens, such as blood, tumour tissue and DNA, are deposited in biobanks for research purposes, preferably for long periods of time and with broadly defined research aims. Our research focuses on the retention of data and biological materials obtained from children. However important such paediatric biobanks may be, the privacy interests of the children involved and the related risks may not be ignored. The privacy issues arising from paediatric biobanks are the central focus of this article. We first review the international regulations that apply to biobanks and then summarise viewpoints expressed by experts in a round-table discussion. We confine ourselves here to two normative questions: (1) How much control should children's parents or legal representatives, and later the children themselves, have over the stored materials and data? (2) What should be done if research findings emerge that have serious implications for a child's health? On the basis of international legal standards and the views of experts, involved in paediatric biobanking, we argue that biological material of children may only be stored in a biobank for scientific purposes if parents provide their explicit consent, the child is re-contacted at 16 or 18 years of age to reconsider storage and use of its material, and the biobank maintains a limited policy in disclosure of individual research findings to the child's parents. What is Known: • Increasingly, biological material of children is stored in biobanks for research purposes. • Clear standards on the conditions under which children's cells or tissues may be stored and used are lacking. What is New: • According to experts, storage and use of children's materials should only be allowed if performed in accordance with appropriate consent procedures and feedback policie

In Vitro Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity Assessment of Novel Cellulose Nanomaterials using intestinal cells

Cellulose nanomaterials (CNMs) have been investigated for several applications, including in food and food packaging (e.g. as candidates for zero-calorie filler/thickener/stabilizers; as substitutes of petroleum-based food packaging materials). The widening of these applications will lead to human exposure via oral route, and potentially, to adverse health outcomes. To contribute to the CNMs safety evaluation, the aim of this study was to analyse the in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of two new micro/nanofibrillated celluloses (CMF/CNFs), using the HT29-MTX-E12 human intestinal cell model. CNMs were synthetized from industrial Eucalyptus globulus kraft and their physicochemical properties were characterized. Upon cells exposure to 3.1 - 200 μg/mL of CNMs during 24 h, the cytotoxicity was evaluated by the MTT and clonogenic assays, and the genotoxicity by the cytokinesis block micronucleus (CBMN) and comet assays. None of the CNMs was cytotoxic in the concentration-range tested. Concerning genotoxicity assessment, CMF induced a significant level of DNA damage (comet assay) in cells exposed for 3h to 25, 50 and 100 µg/mL and for 24h, to 50 µg/mL, compared with controls. No increases were observed with the FPG-modified comet assay compared with negative control. Cells treatment with the CNF for 3h significantly increased DNA damage at 14.3, 25, 50 µg/mL while a 24h treatment produced significant damage at 50 µg/mL, compared with control. For the latter concentration, induction of oxidative DNA damage was observed for both time points. In contrast, no increase in chromosomal damage was observed using the CBMN assay upon 52h of exposure. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which CNMs were evaluated for their genotoxic effects using the HT29MTX-E12 cell model, relevant for their potential ingestion. Our findings show that cytotoxicity, the endpoint generally used to assess their biocompatibility, is not sufficient to assess their safety to humans. Ongoing studies including the in vitro simulation of human digestion will allow a more comprehensive assessment of CNMs safety. This should be done at an early stage of their development, to ensure their sustainable and innovative application in food technology.FCT/MCTES projects PTDC/SAUPUB/29481/2017; PTDC/SAUPUB/32587/2017; UIDB/00009/2020 and UIDP/00009/2020. NV holds a FCT/MCTES Ph.D. Scholarship 2020.07168.BD. University of Coimbra for producing and characterising the CMNs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio