Neoliberalism and the School Choice Movement in the United States

This paper investigates the role of neoliberalism in the advocacy for and implementation of school choice in the United States. It applies conflict theory of education to the school choice debate and uses post-Katrina New Orleans as a case study of school choice implementation. It concludes that neoliberal and like-minded think-tanks, foundations, and lobby groups are involved in the advocacy for school choice in the United States because it assists them in furthering their goals of influencing whose values and ideals will be taught and whose children will land the desired jobs; thereby maintaining the capitalist status quo and enabling increasing profitability of the education sector at the expense of public education, students, teachers, unions, and others. The paper contributes to the sociology of education and enriches the conflict theory of education with a fourth assumption. It is relevant to sociologists of education, teachers, conflict theorists, and educational policy makers

Critical Citizen Engagement: The Black Pete Controversy, Anti-Racism Activism, and Limits to Citizenship in The Netherlands

Background This research analyses the engagement of Dutch citizens with a migration background in anti-racism activism, specifically activism against the blackface caricature Black Pete. It aims to answer how and why their citizenship is questioned when they become critical participants of civil society, and how this relates to the history of Dutch colonialism, the denial of racism, and the self-image of white Dutch people as ‘good, tolerant, and innocent’ despite evidence to the contrary. Methods The research is based on literature and field research and uses a theoretical framework based on critical race theory, citizenship studies, and decolonial theory. Results By contextualizing the Black Pete caricature in the history of slavery, colonialism, and the white Dutch self-image of innocence, the background is provided for the anti-Black Pete activism by Dutch citizens of migrant backgrounds. It shows how mainstream society and state forces react to critical engagement with Dutch cultural elements by Dutch citizens of colour, and explains the rise of a small number of politicians of migration backgrounds who speak out against institutionalized racism in a country that prides itself on its supposed ‘tolerance’. Discussion & Reflection I use different citizenship and decolonial theories and concepts to analyse the vicious racism and limits to citizenship Dutch citizens with a migrant background experience when they use their constitutional and democratic rights. Interdisciplinary reflection The study advances the sociology, social inequality, and citizenship literature by analysing a pressing national controversy in the Netherlands surrounding Black Pete, institutionalized racism, citizenship and social justice

NbTi thermally controlled switches for superconducting converters with operation frequency up to 50 Hz.:Part 2: Theory and analysis

A review is given of several known thermally controlled switches developed for superconducting converters. It shows their rather low frequency of operation (up to a few Hz) which strongly differs from the industrial frequency. This is not only due to the long recovery times of the switches, but also to the fact that the efficiency drops as the frequency increases. To develop switches suitable for 50 Hz, having reasonable efficiency, a theoretical model of the switch is necessary. Such a model is presented here, and illustrated for 50 Hz switches made from NbTi foil

Gene expression patterns in anterior pituitary associated with quantitative measure of oestrous behaviour in dairy cows

Intensive selection for high milk yield in dairy cows has raised production levels substantially but at the cost of reduced fertility, which manifests in different ways including reduced expression of oestrous behaviour. The genomic regulation of oestrous behaviour in bovines remains largely unknown. Here, we aimed to identify and study those genes that were associated with oestrous behaviour among genes expressed in the bovine anterior pituitary either at the start of oestrous cycle or at the mid-cycle (around day 12 of cycle), or regardless of the phase of cycle. Oestrous behaviour was recorded in each of 28 primiparous cows from 30 days in milk onwards till the day of their sacrifice (between 77 and 139 days in milk) and quantified as heat scores. An average heat score value was calculated for each cow from heat scores observed during consecutive oestrous cycles excluding the cycle on the day of sacrifice. A microarray experiment was designed to measure gene expression in the anterior pituitary of these cows, 14 of which were sacrificed at the start of oestrous cycle (day 0) and 14 around day 12 of cycle (day 12). Gene expression was modelled as a function of the orthogonally transformed average heat score values using a Bayesian hierarchical mixed model on data from day 0 cows alone (analysis 1), day 12 cows alone (analysis 2) and the combined data from day 0 and day 12 cows (analysis 3). Genes whose expression patterns showed significant linear or non-linear relationships with average heat scores were identified in all three analyses (177, 142 and 118 genes, respectively). Gene ontology terms enriched among genes identified in analysis 1 revealed processes associated with expression of oestrous behaviour whereas the terms enriched among genes identified in analysis 2 and 3 were general processes which may facilitate proper expression of oestrous behaviour at the subsequent oestrus. Studying these genes will help to improve our understanding of the genomic regulation of oestrous behaviour, ultimately leading to better management strategies and tools to improve or monitor reproductive performance in bovines

Indicatoren om dracht te meten in melk = Biomarkers in milk to predict pregnancy in dairy cattle

In this project the technical possibilities were investigated to use protein profiles in dairy milk as an indicator to improve fertility

Recurrent acute biliary pancreatitis: The protective role of cholecystectomy and endoscopic sphincterotomy

Background: Recurrent attacks of acute biliary pancreatitis (RABP) are prevented by (laparoscopic) cholecystectomy. Since the introduction of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP), several series have described a similar reduction of RABP after endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES). This report discusses the different treatment options for preventing RABP including conservative treatment, cholecystectomy, ES, and combinations of these options as well as their respective timing. Methods: A search in PubMed for observational studies and clinical (comparative) trials published in the English language was performed on the subject of recurrent acute biliary pancreatitis and other galls