The Vision Research Center of Kansas City

Neuroscience - Vision and Functional Brain Imaging Poster SessionThe Vision Research Center was founded as and is a well established collaboration of several of UMKC schools and Kansas City Medical Centers and thus offers an unprecedented interdisciplinary synergy with a unified goal: to better diagnose, prevent, and treat eye disease and vision disorders through translational research in order to make a difference in the lives of tens of millions of people. To this end, the center conducts federally and industry funded basic, translational and clinical research to develop new medical therapies and offers patient care in all subspecialties of ophthalmology. The center's nationally recognized excellence in research, patient care and medical education contribute to UMKC's strengths in the life sciences. Past, present and future objectives of the Vision Research Center: Provide a direct avenue for basic and translational research in eye and related diseases; Transfer basic science findings seamlessly into practical use with patients trough translational research; Develop new therapy approaches urgently needed by physicians in the US and worldwide; Provide educational excellence; Ensure patients receive the most advanced medical treatments available; Become national center of excellence for eye researc

Education and civic engagement: A comparative study of the benefits of post-compulsory education in England and Germany

This paper examines the role of different types of post-compulsory education in determining civic engagement (political interest and election participation) in England and Germany. The educational systems of England and Germany provide ideal comparators for investigating the social benefits of education, in particular those that accrue from vocational education. The paper uses two longitudinal panel surveys, the British Household Panel Survey and the German Socio-Economic Panel for empirical purposes. Contrary to our expectations, our findings revealed few differences between the two countries: the level of political interest is the same for youth who had a vocational degree as those without any further qualifications, in both England and Germany. Similarly, greater levels of interest in politics were observed in adulthood for youth who had achieved academic qualifications in both countries. Likewise voting behaviour in particular was associated with the achievement of academic qualifications in Germany and to some extent with the achievement of mixed vocational and academic qualifications in England.This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under grant ES/J021326/1

Uncertainty in educational and career aspirations: Gender differences in young people

Drawing upon data from 2 British age cohorts born in 1970 and 1990, this chapter examines gender and socio-historical differences regarding uncertainty in the educational and career aspirations of young people. Despite differences in the age of assessment and measurement, findings suggest that similar background characteristics are associated with uncertain aspirations in the 2 age cohorts. Males were more uncertain of their educational aspirations than were females. Uncertainty was also associated with growing up in a relatively disadvantaged family, with parents who do did not expect their children to continue in education, as well as with low academic attainment, low levels of school motivation and lack of belief in one’s own ability. However, findings indicated differences in the associated outcomes of uncertain aspirations between the 2 age cohorts. In the earlier born cohort, young people with uncertain aspirations were more likely to be not in education, employment or training (NEET), while there were no differences in NEET due to uncertain aspirations in the later born cohort. The findings point towards a female advantage regarding certainty in aspirations as well as a prolonged period of career exploration in the later born cohort

Education and civic engagement: A comparative study of the benefits of post-compulsory education in England and Germany

This paper examines the role of different types of post-compulsory education in determining civic engagement (political interest and election participation) in England and Germany. The educational systems of England and Germany provide ideal comparators for investigating the social benefits of education, in particular those that accrue from vocational education. The paper uses two longitudinal panel surveys, the British Household Panel Survey and the German Socio-Economic Panel for empirical purposes. Contrary to our expectations, our findings revealed few differences between the two countries: the level of political interest is the same for youth who had a vocational degree as those without any further qualifications, in both England and Germany. Similarly, greater levels of interest in politics were observed in adulthood for youth who had achieved academic qualifications in both countries. Likewise voting behaviour in particular was associated with the achievement of academic qualifications in Germany and to some extent with the achievement of mixed vocational and academic qualifications in England.This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under grant ES/J021326/1

Schooling responses to income changes: Evidence from unconditional cash transfers in Rwanda

This paper explores the short and medium term impacts of unconditional cash transfers on school-related choices for children of beneficiary households in Rwanda. We draw on an independent evaluation of the Concern Worldwide Graduation Programme, which supported beneficiaries with monthly cash transfers and livelihood training. Our study finds that the programme enabled poor households to overcome income constraints and, consequently, allowed them to make investments in education. However, since school attendance already exceeded 80 percent at baseline due to the government’s focus on universal access to basic education, the programme was unable to induce additional educational access. Thus, for children who remain out of school, income effects and policy efforts were found to be ineffective.The research on which this paper is based was commissioned by Concern Worldwid

Can maternal education sustain or enhance the benefits of early life interventions? Evidence from the Young Lives longitudinal study

This paper provides evidence on the predicted benefits of maternal education, in terms of reduced child malnutrition at age 1 and age 5, focusing specifically on the complementarities of maternal education with early life interventions across contexts. Using data from the Young Lives Longitudinal Study for Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam, results show the expected strong association of maternal education with a reduced likelihood of malnutrition both at ages 1 and 5. However, the benefits of maternal education via access to early life interventions, in this case antenatal care, are found only in some countries and for some levels of maternal education. Inequalities in the risk of malnutrition between those with the highest endowments of maternal education and access to antenatal services, and those without these, are significant within countries. We conclude that programmes which aim to reduce the risks of malnutrition should consider local knowledge and realities in order to understand more fully the expected benefits

Blood pressure and cholesterol level checks as dynamic interrelated screening examinations

This study analysed the determinants of screening uptake for blood pressure and cholesterol level checks. Furthermore, it investigated the presence of possible spillover effects from one type of cardiovascular screening to another type of cardiovascular screening. A dynamic random effects bivariate panel probit model with initial conditions (Wooldridge-type estimator) was adopted for the estimation. The outcome variables were the participation in blood pressure and cholesterol level checks by individuals in a given year. The balanced panel sample of 21,138 observations was constructed from 1,626 individuals from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) between 1996 and 2008. The analysis showed the significance of past screening behaviour for both cardiovascular screening examinations. For both cardiovascular screening examinations state dependence exist. The study also shows a significant spillover effect of the cholesterol level check on the blood pressure check and vice versa. Also a poorer health status led to a higher uptake for both types of screening examinations. Changes in recommendations have to consider the fact that taking part in one type of cardiovascular screening examination can influence the decision to take part in the other type of cardiovascular screening examination