Evaluation of the Environmental Impact of Milk Quotas

The aim of this study is to examine the environmental impacts of the different systems for allocation and transfer of milk quota under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in individual Member States of the European Union (EU). In particular, it seeks to identify the ways in which differences in the implementation of milk quota regimes can impact on various sectoral and farm management trends and the environmental implications of these

Labour force transitions and changes in quality of life at age 50 to 55 years: evidence from a birth cohort study

In the context of an ageing population and longer working lives, the impact of increasing rates of early exit from the labour force on quality of life is a particularly current concern. However, relatively little is known about the impact on quality of life of later life labour force transitions and various forms of early exit from the labour force, compared to remaining in employment. This paper examines life course labour force trajectories and transitions in relation to change in quality of life prior to the State Pension Age. Life course data on early life circumstances, labour force trajectories and labour force transitions from 3,894 women and 3,528 men in the National Child Development Study (1958 British Birth Cohort) were examined in relation to change in quality of life, measured by a short-form version of CASP, between ages 50 and 55 years. Women and men differed in the types of labour force transition associated with positive change in quality of life, with men more frequent beneficiaries. For both men and women, labour force exit due to being sick or disabled was associated with a negative change in quality of life, whereas joining the labour force was associated with a positive change in quality of life. Moving into retirement was associated with a positive change in men’s quality of life, but not women’s. Moving from full-time to part-time employment was associated with a positive change in women’s quality of life, but not men’s. The findings that stand out for their policy relevance are: the threat to the quality of life of both women and men from early labour force exit due to limiting longstanding illness; and, women are less likely to experience beneficial labour force exit in the later years of their working life, but are more likely to benefit from a reduction in working hours

Fit for work? Health, employability and challenges for the UK welfare reform agenda

This article introduces a special issue of Policy Studies entitled “Fit for work? Health, employability and challenges for the UK welfare reform agenda”. Growing from a shared concern over the need to expand the evidence base around the processes that led to large numbers of people claiming disability benefits in the UK, it brings together contributions from leading labour market and social policy researchers providing evidence and commentary on major reforms to Incapacity Benefit (IB) in the UK. This special issue address three key questions: what are the main causes of the long-term rise in the number of people claiming IBs; what will reduce the number of claimants; and what is likely to deliver policy effectively and efficiently? This introduction first explains and examines the challenges to reforms to IB in the UK, and then, in conclusion, highlights the answers to the previous three questions – first, labour market restructuring and marginalisation have driven the rise in numbers claiming IBs. Second, economic regeneration in the Britain’s less prosperous areas coupled with intensive and sustained supply-side support measures will bring numbers down. Third, delivery need to be flexible and tailored to individual needs and needs to be able to access local and expert knowledge in a range of organisations, including Job Centre Plus, the NHS as well as the private and voluntary sectors

The Influence of a School District's Early Childhood Education Policy on Urban Students' Academic Achievement Towards Advanced Class Placement

ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE INFLUENCE OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT'S EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION POLICY ON URBAN STUDENTS' ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT TOWARDS ADVANCED CLASS PLACEMENT Alice P. Bartley, Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Dissertation Directed By: Professor Martin L. Johnson, College of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Kindergarten is one of the most important years of schooling, as it builds the foundational skills needed for later learning. This study explored school district's early childhood education policy reform initiative specifically designed to accelerate the early learning of students in high-need Title I schools. The purpose of this study was to discover if the reform intervention influenced disadvantaged students' enrollment in advanced mathematics classes in grade six. Mathematics and reading assessment data at the second and fifth grades were examined to determine if the kindergarten intervention influenced students' achievement as they progressed through the elementary school years into middle school. This study focused on achievement gains, sustainability, reduction in special education placement, and increase in advanced mathematics classes. This longitudinal study included a sample of 9858 cases which were distributed among nine kindergarten cohort groups (three intervention cohorts and six comparison cohorts) for three consecutive years (one pre-intervention year and two intervention years). One-way analysis of variance, hierarchical regression, and logistic regression were used to analyze the dataset. The major findings of the study indicate the intervention cohorts of students demonstrated mean score gains in mathematics and reading when compared to the cohort group from the same population prior to the intervention. Mean score gains were also found when comparing the intervention cohorts to the six more economically advantaged comparison cohorts. The findings also indicate a reduction in special education enrollment and an increase in enrollment in advanced mathematics at the sixth grade level for the high-need Title I intervention cohorts. The findings of this study contribute to the very limited body of literature on accelerated early learning and later advanced class placement

Progress toward an ambulatory pump-lung

ObjectivesCurrently available therapies for acute and chronic lung diseases have not been effective and have various problems associated with the technologies used. We present a novel active mixing pump-lung with the goal of providing total respiratory support to ambulatory patients.MethodsThe pump-lung is based on the concept of active mixing oxygenation within a constrained vortex. The rotation of hollow-fiber membranes disrupts the concentration boundary layer, increasing gas exchange efficiency, and simultaneously pumps the blood. Consequently, the amount of membranes required to achieve gas transfer sufficient for total respiratory support is considerably small. A series of studies, including computational design, experimental bench testing, and in vivo animal experiments, have been performed to implement this concept into a viable artificial pump-lung device.ResultsA series of pump-lung prototypes with a membrane surface area of 0.17 to 0.5 m2 were designed and characterized in vitro with bovine blood, demonstrating extremely high gas exchange efficiency. The prototype with a gas exchange surface area of 0.5 m2 was evaluated in calves. The device provided oxygen transfer of approximately 115 mL/min for respiratory support of an animal for up to 5 days.ConclusionsProgress to date suggests a high likelihood of success for an extracorporeal shorter-term lung that can be switched in and out like dialysis devices. Our device is unique in that it incorporates an integrated pumping and active mixing principle for excellent gas transfer and eliminates the need of the native right ventricle’s ability to power blood through the artificial and natural lungs

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for Long-Term Support: Recent Advances

Considerable progress has been made in component technology, circuitry, and clinical practice related to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). These advances allow prolonged support with fewer complications when compared to the past eras. Long-term support cases were frequently reported with indications including respiratory failure, cardiac failure, bridge to transplantation, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR), and even ambulatory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. The common complications associated with ECMO, including thrombosis, hemorrhage, nosocomial infection, neurological injury, vessel injury, multiple organ failure and mechanical failure, and the disease process of patients remain limiting factors. In spite of the complications, ECMO remains the only possible option in treatments for patients requiring long-term respiratory or cardiopulmonary support. In this chapter, the recent advances in long-term ECMO support are reviewed. Clinical etiology of patients placed on long-term ECMO support, the various circuit configurations, clinical and technical issues, management aspects, and clinical outcomes are discussed

Technological and Implementation Issues in Moodle-Based Digital Badge System

Digital badges, touted as a gamification tool that can potentially influence learner motivation, engagement and participation, are being used increasingly in a variety of educational domains to facilitate and motivate learning. Using a badge system design implemented in the Moodle learning management platform, data was collected from four experiments from 2015 to 2017 to examine the effects of gamification with the use of digital badges on introductory programming students' intrinsic motivation. This paper provides an in-depth examination of seldomly discussed technological and implementation issues we encountered in implementing our Moodle-based badge system, worthy of exploration to support future gamification studies in this area. Our gamified implementation is analyzed according to five main factors primarily adopted from an IT implementation framework: (1) assessment of needs, (2) choice of technology, (3) technological infrastructure, (4) system and environmental factors and (5) evaluation. The findings highlight enabling and challenging factors associated with the technology and badge implementation. Our experience shows that badge systems may be influenced by contextual factors such as cost and scale of implementation. We provide recommendations to guide educational stakeholders, particularly those considering Moodle as their badge implementation platform