The Financial Sector as Stewards for the Sustainable Development Goals

The best of times, the worst of times:As in Charles Dickens’ novel “A Tale of Two Cities”, we seem to be living in “the best of times and the worst of times”, with hopefully “resurrection” (after the 1789 French Revolution though) or, in current jargon, societal, economic, technological “transformation”, fitting a modern, inclusive, just, prosperous, fair, peaceful world.Social justice, nature conservation and economic fairness are essential elements for “the world we want”, as articulated in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) for the period 2015-2030. With its 17 Goals, 169 targets and 234+ indicators it is, together with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Addis Action Agenda on Financing for Development, a powerful, global, universal driver for positive change, “leaving no one behind”, “from us all, by us all for us all”

Influence of a mutltistrand cable design on its quench development process and stability

The quench development process was studied with two six-strand superconducting cable samples with insulated strands and different cabling design. One sample was the traditional ‘six-around-one’ cable, the other was of the ‘round-braid’ type. Quench was initiated by a heating pulse applied to a single strand. A significant difference was observed in the current redistribution among strands due to the different cabling designs. It has an important influence on the stability of multistrand cables. A new concept of the ‘single-strand stability’ was proposed and corresponding stability criteria were offered. A possible way to improve cable stability by using special cabling design is discussed

Entrepreneurship Education and Training in a Small Business Context: Insights from the Competence-based Approach

The concept of competence, as it is brought into play in current research, is a potentially powerful construct for entrepreneurship education research and practice. Although the concept has been the subject of strong debate in educational research in general, critical analysis of how it has been used, applied and experienced in entrepreneurship education practice is scarce. This article contributes specifically to the discussion of entrepreneurial competence by theoretically unfolding and discussing the concept. Subsequently, the implications of applying a competence-based approach in entrepreneurship education are illustrated and discussed based on analysis of two cases t

Hepatitis in a patient with SLE: Is it autoimmune hepatitis?

In a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we considered the diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in view of raised serum aminotransferases, hypergammaglobulinaemia, antinuclear antibodies (titre 1:10240), seronegative of markers for viral hepatitis and absence of recent hepatotoxic drug usage. The diagnosis of AIH was supported by using the scoring system, recently developed by the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group and the excellent response to treatment with prednisone. Liver histology, however, showed no characteristic features of AIH. The relevance of liver histology and scoring for AIH in SLE with hepatic involvement is discussed

Industrial District, Markets, and Governments : The Development of Scouring and Weaving Industry in the Modern Fukui (<Special Issue> The Study of Economic History : A New Area)

At the present time, there is still controversy concerning the presence of a late asthmatic response (LAR) to exercise challenge in asthma. We have, therefore, investigated the occurrence of a LAR after exercise in asthmatic children visiting an out-patient clinic, using time-matched baseline and histamine control days, and a statistical analysis according to recently published recommendations. After a screening exercise day, 17 children (aged 7-14 yrs) randomly performed, on three subsequent study days, either: a second standardized exercise challenge; or a histamine challenge whilst matching the bronchoconstriction after exercise; or measurement of baseline lung function without any challenge. Measurements of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were made repeatedly during 8 h. Analysis was performed using multiple regression analysis for each patient, with FEV1 as the dependent, and test day (exercise or control) and clock time as independent variables during the period 2-8 h after exercise. A significant interaction (p <0.05) between test day and clock time was considered to be indicative of a LAR. Fifteen children completed the study. All children showed an early asthmatic reaction to exercise (range 14-62% fall in FEV1). In two children, a significant interaction (p <0.05) was found between test day and clock time. However, the difference in FEV1 between exercise and control days for each clock time did not exceed the 99.6% confidence limits of normal diurnal variation in any of the children. We conclude that, in children with mild-to-moderate asthma, a LAR to exercise does not occur. This suggests that exercise is only a symptomatic trigger of asthma. Whether exercise is capable of inducing inflammation needs to be further investigate

Alignment of CanMEDS-based Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pharmacy Curricula in The Netherlands

In this article the design of three master programs (MSc in Pharmacy) and two postgraduate specialization programs for community or hospital pharmacist is described. After a preceding BSc in Pharmacy, these programs cover the full pharmacy education capacity for pharmacists in primary and secondary health care in the Netherlands. All programs use the CanMEDS framework, adapted to pharmacy education and specialization, which facilitates the horizontal integration of pharmacists' professional development with other health care professions in the country. Moreover, it is illustrated that crossing the boundary from formal (university) education to experiential (workplace) education is eased by a gradual change in time spent in these two educational environments and by the use of comparable monitoring, feedback, and authentic assessment instruments. A reflection on the curricula, based on the principles of theIntegrative Pedagogy Modeland theSelf-determination Theory, suggests that the alignment of these educational programs facilitates the development of professional expertise and professional identity of Dutch pharmacists

Quantitative trait loci controlling swimming performance and their effect on growth in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Critical swimming speed (Ucrit) is an important measurement of swimming performance and a good indicator for cardio-respiratory health. It offers a new opportunity to select fish with better fitness. However, the genomic architecture of swimming performance at whole genome level is not clear in Nile tilapia. For this study, swimming performance was measured in 1500 fish from the Genetic Improvement of Farmed Tilapia strain in their early life, which were subsequently grown in a non-aerated pond (nocturnal hypoxia) until harvest. Our results showed that the heritability for Ucrit was 0.31 ± 0.04. Genetic correlations between Ucrit and harvest weight (−0.13 ± 0.13) and between Ucrit and daily growth coefficient (DGC) (−0.26 ± 0.13) were slightly negative. Nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were found to be suggestively associated with Ucrit, of which five are located in a region between 12.18 and 19.89 Mb on linkage group (LG)14, while two SNPs are located between 18.85 Mb to 18.94 Mb on LG13. The remaining two SNPs are located on LG19 and LG12, respectively. Candidate genes in high linkage disequilibrium (LD) with these SNPs were identified, including hip1, hectd1, elna, smyd1b, rrp12 and pprc1. This suggests possible involvement of neuronal growth, muscle activity, cardiovascular development and angiogenesis, and oxygen/hypoxia regulation. Three of these nine SNPs were significantly associated with both harvest weight and DGC, and SNP genotypes that associated with lowest mean Ucrit were associated with highest mean harvest weight and DGC. In conclusion, we found a clear pleiotropic effect of some SNPs that affect both growth and swimming performance in a hypoxic environment, while other SNPs had only effect on swimming performance, but not on growth. Although fast swimming fish are assumed to show slower growth, such as lower DGC and harvest weight, candidate genetic markers identified in this study provide an opportunity to select fish with good cardio-respiratory health and growth