A socio-economic analysis of youth disconnectedness

According to our research, some 12% of young people in Germany between the ages of 17 and 19 are disconnected, i.e. not in school, unemployed, and not living with a partner. The percentage of disconnected youths has been on the rise since 2002. There is evidence that an adverse family environment is the most important variable for being disconnected. Early life adversity influences the development of cognitive and noncognitive skills as well as school and labour market outcomes. Macroeconomic factors also contribute to disconnectedness. Recessions are followed by an increase in the number of disconnected youth. --Disconnected youth,unemployment,school failure,life adversity

A Socio-Economic Analysis of Youth Disconnectedness

Disconnectedness among youth can have several dimensions. From a socio-economic viewpoint, failure in school, unemployment and the lack of an intimate relationship are among the most important ones. In our samples from SOEP youth questionnaires, approximately 13% of young people in Germany between the ages of 17 and 19 are disconnected. The percentage of disconnected youths has been on the rise since 2001. There is evidence that an adverse family background is the most important variable for being disconnected in young adulthood. Macroeconomic factors also contribute to disconnectedness. Recessions are followed by increases in the number of disconnected youth.Disconnected youth, unemployment, school failure, life adversity

Combining internal and external inputs for sustainable intensification

Farmers and local development organizations around the world use and promote a variety of technologies to increase food production. But the high cost of inorganic fertilizers and other agrochemicals often drives farmers to rely on locally available resources instead of purchased, externally produced inputs. So-called low external input agriculture (LEIA) has spread rapidly to different parts of the globe as a challenging alternative to—or, more frequently, a complement to— Green Revolution technologies...The goal of policy, research, and extension should be to help LEIA farmers achieve "sustainable intensification", which refers to the simultaneous increase in returns to land and labor (in the short run) and the maintenance of soil nutrient balances (in the long run).Soil fertility. ,Food production. ,Technological innovations. ,Fertilizers. ,Agricultural research. ,

Soil and crop responses following application of biosolids-derived organomineral fertilisers to ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) grown in pots

Biosolids-derived organomineral fertilisers (OMF) were produced using a novel technique reported in earlier studies. This technique enables addition of N and potash to biosolids granules to form a balanced NPK fertiliser. Two fertiliser products; OMF10 (10:4:4) and OMF15 (15:4:4), were formulated and tested in a glasshouse facility on pot-grown ryegrass in comparison with urea and biosolids granules at N application rates ranging from 0 to 300 kg ha-1. The aim of this research was to contribute to the understanding of nutrients management and dynamics in grass crops fertilised with OMF. The study focused upon dry matter yield (DMY) and crop responses to applied fertiliser, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and fertilisers’ effect on soil fertility. Results indicated that ryegrass responds linearly to application of OMF increasing DMY by about 2% to 27% compared with biosolids but to a lesser extent than urea (range: 17% to 55%). NUE was related to the concentration of readily available N in the fertiliser; urea and OMF showed significantly greater (P<0.05) N recoveries than biosolids (26% to 75%, and 19% to 29%, respectively). Total nitrogen in soil and SOM increased (P<0.05) depending on the concentration of organic-N in the fertiliser applied. DMY was lower but more sustained overtime in biosolids-treated pots. OMF application did not result in significant changes in soil extractable-P levels whereas for urea, it decreased significantly while it showed a significant increase in biosolids-treated pots, where soil-P Index changed from 5 to 6. In OMF-treated soil, soil P Index remained close to constant overtime thereby supporting the purpose of the formulations tested

A Socio-economic Analysis of Youth Disconnectedness

Disconnectedness among youth can have several dimensions. From a socio-economic viewpoint, failure in school, unemployment and the lack of an intimate relationship are among the most important ones. In our samples from SOEP youth questionnaires, approximately 13% of young people in Germany between the ages of 17 and 19 are disconnected. The percentage of disconnected youths has been on the rise since 2001. There is evidence that an adverse family background is the most important variable for being disconnected in young adulthood. Macroeconomic factors also contribute to disconnectedness. Recessions are followed by increases in the number of disconnected youth.disconnected youth, unemployment, school failure, life adversity

Laparoscopic surgery for colonic cancer: establishment of a technique

The role of laparoscopy in the curative treatment of colonic cancer is still under debate. In this thesis, the short and long term results of the COLOR trial are presented to identify clinically significant differences in short and long term outcome between laparoscopic and open resection of colon cancer. For the COLOR trial only colon cancer patients without evidence for distant metastatic disease were selected. In patients with stage III disease, the treatment was followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, according to local protocols. Therefore, in this thesis, patients with distant spread of colon cancer are not regarded