Vocationalism varies (a lot): a 12-country multivariate analysis of participation in formal adult learning

To encourage adult participation in education and training, contemporary policy makers typically encourage education and training provision to have a strongly vocational (employment-related) character, while also stressing individuals’ responsibility for developing their own learning. Adults’ motivation to learn is not, however, purely vocational—it varies substantially, not only between individuals but between populations. This article uses regression analysis to explain motivation among 12,000 learners in formal education and training in 12 European countries. Although vocational motivation is influenced by individual-level characteristics (such as age, gender, education, occupation), it turns out that the country in which the participation takes place is a far stronger explanatory variable. For example, although men’s vocational motivation to participate is higher than women’s in all countries, Eastern European women have significantly higher levels of vocational motivation than men in Western Europe. This supports other research which suggests that, despite globalization, national institutional structures (social, economic) have continuing policy significance

A review of modelling methodologies for flood source area (FSA) identification

Flooding is an important global hazard that causes an average annual loss of over 40 billion USD and affects a population of over 250 million globally. The complex process of flooding depends on spatial and temporal factors such as weather patterns, topography, and geomorphology. In urban environments where the landscape is ever-changing, spatial factors such as ground cover, green spaces, and drainage systems have a significant impact. Understanding source areas that have a major impact on flooding is, therefore, crucial for strategic flood risk management (FRM). Although flood source area (FSA) identification is not a new concept, its application is only recently being applied in flood modelling research. Continuous improvements in the technology and methodology related to flood models have enabled this research to move beyond traditional methods, such that, in recent years, modelling projects have looked beyond affected areas and recognised the need to address flooding at its source, to study its influence on overall flood risk. These modelling approaches are emerging in the field of FRM and propose innovative methodologies for flood risk mitigation and design implementation; however, they are relatively under-examined. In this paper, we present a review of the modelling approaches currently used to identify FSAs, i.e. unit flood response (UFR) and adaptation-driven approaches (ADA). We highlight their potential for use in adaptive decision making and outline the key challenges for the adoption of such approaches in FRM practises

Naar een Europese landgebruiksdatabase ; achtergronddocument

Monitoring en voorspelling van het milieu op Europese schaal worden sterk beinvloed door de nauwkeurigheid van landgebruiks- en landbedekkingsgegevens. Vanwege een dringende behoefte aan een geo-gerefereerd Europees landgebruiksbestand heeft het Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieuhygiene (RIVM) de vervaardiging van een Europa-dekkend digitaal landgebruiksbestand met een resolutie van 10 minuten geinitieerd. De eerste versie van het Europese Landgebruiksbestand is nu beschikbaar. Zeven landgebruiksklassen worden onderscheiden, waaronder bouwland, grasland voor gebruik in de landbouw, permanent gewas, bos en stedelijk gebied. Belangrijke gegevens kwamen van SEI, Eurostat, USDMA, FAO (kaarten), INENCO en een groot aantal nationale bronnen. Ruimtelijke gegevens (landgebruikspolygonen in vectorformaat) zijn gecombineerd met statistische (statistisch bestand). Over het geheel genomen komen de oppervlakteschattingen van het landgebruiksbestand redelijk overeen met die van externe statistieken.Environmental monitoring and forecasting on a European scale are influenced significantly by the accuracy of land use and land cover data. Due to an urgent need for a geo-referenced European land use database the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM) initiated the creation of a digital 10 minutes Pan-European land use database. The 1.0 version of the European Land Use Database is now available. Seven land use categories were distinguished including arable land, grassland for agricultural use, permanent crops, forest and urban areas. Important input data came from SEI, Eurostat, USDMA, FAO (maps), INENCO and a large number of national sources. Locational data (land use polygons in a vector database) were combined with data from statistical sources (statistical database). In general the areal estimates in the Land Use Database show a reasonable fit with external statistical sources.DGM/DW

Adapting to Climate Change in Urban Water Management: Flood Management in the Rotterdam–Rijnmond Area

Many large coastal cities are located in deltas, which makes them vulnerable to floods. In many cities flood damage has increased due to increases in population and assets, and this process is expected to continue. At the same time, climate change will cause floods to occur more often in many rivers and deltas due to higher discharges and sea level rise. These trends call for the development and implementation of new technologies and strategies in flood risk management. This call is also acknowledged in the Netherlands, a country that has a strong history of relying on structural measures. The city of Rotterdam includes many unembanked areas, large parts of which will be redeveloped in the near future. Current practice is to elevate all unembanked areas to a 1 in 4,000 years flood level. This is not only very costly, but also causes problems when an area is redeveloped in phases, or when existing buildings will remain as both cause unwanted elevation differences and differences in flood protection. Rotterdam is therefore looking for adaptive (non-structural) measures to decrease flood damage in these areas. Such measures are presently little used in the Netherlands. One key question is how these new measures fit in within current policies, laws, and regulations in Rotterdam. This chapter describes measures studied for a case study area in Rotterdam, gives an analysis of the policies, laws, and regulations relating to these measures, and examines the implications for urban flood management. Our research shows that, in principle, the rules do allow for implementation of adaptive measures. It is, however, problematic how these measures can be enforced, and this weakness can cause problems, e.g. when not all waterfront buildings are dry-proofed. Better communication of flood risks is recommended, as this will increase awareness and preparedness, which in turn might lead to a higher implementation rate of adaptive measures.</p

The Effect of Ketogenic Diet on Serum Selenium Levels in Patients with Intractable Epilepsy

The aim of the present study was to evaluate serum selenium levels in children receiving olive oil-based ketogenic diet (KD) for intractable seizures for at least 1 year. Out of 320 patients who were initiated on KD, patients who continued receiving KD for at least 12 months were enrolled. Sixteen patients who had selenium deficiency at the time of starting KD were excluded. Finally, a total of 110 patients (mean age 7.3 +/- 4.2 years) were included. Serum selenium levels were measured at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment initiation by using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Selenium deficiency was defined as a serum selenium level < 48 mu g/L at each visit. Repeated measure ANOVA with post hoc Bonferroni correction was used for data analysis. Mean duration of KD was 15.3 +/- 4.3 months. Mean serum selenium levels were significantly lower at 6 and 12 months of KD treatment (66.2 +/- 23.3 and 57.2 +/- 16.2 mu g/L, respectively) compared to pre-treatment levels (79.3 +/- 25.7 mu g/L) (p = 0.001). On the other hand, selenium levels did not show any significant difference at 3 months of KD treatment (70.0 +/- 21.2 mu g/L) compared to baseline levels (p = 0.076). A total of 54 patients (49.1%) were diagnosed with selenium deficiency, and oral selenium medication was initiated for these patients. No relevant clinical findings were detected, and echocardiographic findings were normal in all patients. The decline of the serum selenium concentrations after 6 and 12 months of ketogenic diet suggests that patients on this highly prescriptive dietary treatment need close monitoring of this trace element

Research tools: Ethylene detection

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe