Sen and the art of educational maintenance: evidencing a capability, as opposed to an effectiveness, approach to schooling

There are few more widely applied terms in common parlance than ‘capability’. It is used (inaccurately) to represent everything from the aspiration to provide opportunity to notions of innate academic ability, with everything in between claiming apostolic succession to Amartya Sen, who (with apologies to Aristotle) first developed the concept. This paper attempts to warrant an adaptation of Sen’s capability theory to schooling and schooling policy, and to proof his concepts in the new setting using research involving 100 pupils from 5 English secondary schools and a schedule of questions derived from the capability literature. The findings suggest that a capability approach can provide an alternative to the dominant Benthamite school effectiveness paradigm, and can offer a sound theoretical framework for understanding better the assumed relationship between schooling and well-being

The local magnetic moments and hyperfine magnetic fields in disordered metal-metalloid alloys

The local magnetic moments and hyperfine magnetic fields (HFF) in the ordered alloys Fe_{15}Sn and Fe_{15}Si are calculated with the first-principles full-potential linear augmented plane wave (FP LAPW) method. The results are compared with the experimental data on Fe-M (M=Si, Sn) disordered alloys at small metalloid concentration. The relaxation of the lattice around the impurity and its influence on the quantities under consideration are studied. The mechanism of the local magnetic moment formation is described. It is proved that the main distinction between these alloys is connected with the different lattice parameters. Three contributions to the HFF are discussed: the contributions of the core and valence electron polarization to the Fermi-contact part, and the contibution from the orbital magnetic moment.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Realistic description of electron-energy loss spectroscopy for One-Dimensional Sr2_2CuO3_3

We investigate the electron-energy loss spectrum of one-dimensional undoped CuO$_{3}$ chains within an extended multi-band Hubbard model and an extended one-band Hubbard model, using the standard Lanczos algorithm. Short-range intersite Coulomb interactions are explicitly included in these models, and long-range interactions are treated in random-phase approximation. The results for the multi-band model with standard parameter values agree very well with experimental spectra of Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{3}$. In particular, the width of the main structure is correctly reproduced for all values of momentum transfer. It is shown for both models that intersite Coulomb interactions mainly lead to an energy shift of the spectra. We find no evidence for enhanced intersite interactions in Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{3}$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Three heavy jet events at hadron colliders as a sensitive probe of the Higgs sector

Assuming that a non-standard neutral Higgs with an enhanced Yukawa coupling to a bottom quark is observed at future hadron experiments, we propose a method for a better understanding of the Higgs sector. Our procedure is based on "counting" the number of events with heavy jets (where "heavy" stands for a c or b jet) versus b jets, in the final state of processes in which the Higgs is produced in association with a single high p_T c or b jet. We show that an observed signal of the type proposed, at either the Tevatron or the LHC, will rule out the popular two Higgs doublet model of type II as well as its supersymmetric version - the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), and may provide new evidence in favor of some more exotic multi Higgs scenarios. As an example, we show that in a version of a two Higgs doublet model which naturally accounts for the large mass of the top quark, our signal can be easily detected at the LHC within that framework. We also find that such a signal may be observable at the upgraded Tevatron RunIII, if the neutral Higgs in this model has a mass around 100 GeV and \tan\beta > 50 and if the efficiency for distinguishing a c jet from a light jet will reach the level of 50%.Comment: Revtex, 11 pages, 4 figures embedded in the text. Main changes with respect to Version 1: Numerical results re-calculated using the CTEQ5L pdf, improved discussion on the experimental consequences, new references added. Conclusions remain unchanged. As will appear in Phys. Rev.

Top quark associated production of the neutral top-pion at high energy e+e−e^{+}e^{-} colliders

In the context of topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) models, we calculate the associated production of the neutral top-pion $\pi_{t}^{0}$ with a pair of top quarks via the process $e^{+}e^{-}\longrightarrow t\bar{t}\pi_{t}^{0}$. We find that the production cross section is larger than that of the process $e^{+}e^{-}\longrightarrow t\bar{t}H$ both in the standard model (SM) and in the minimal supersymmetric SM. With reasonable values of the parameters in TC2 models, the cross section can reach $20fb$. The neutral top-pion $\pi_{t}^{0}$ may be direct observed via this process.Comment: Latex files, 10 pages and 3 figure

Autophagy preserves hematopoietic stem cells by restraining MTORC1-mediated cellular anabolism

Adult stem cells are long-lived and quiescent with unique metabolic requirements. Macroautophagy/autophagy is a fundamental survival mechanism that allows cells to adapt to metabolic changes by degrading and recycling intracellular components. Here we address why autophagy depletion leads to a drastic loss of the stem cell compartment. Using inducible deletion of autophagy specifically in adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and in mice chimeric for autophagy-deficient and normal HSCs, we demonstrate that the stem cell loss is cell-intrinsic. Mechanistically, autophagy-deficient HSCs showed higher expression of several amino acid transporters (AAT) when compared to autophagy-competent cells, resulting in increased amino acid (AA) uptake. This was followed by sustained MTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) activation, with enlarged cell size, glucose uptake and translation, which is detrimental to the quiescent HSCs. MTOR inhibition by rapamycin treatment in vivo was able to rescue autophagy-deficient HSC loss and bone marrow failure and resulted in better reconstitution after transplantation. Our results suggest that targeting MTOR may improve aged stem cell function, promote reprogramming and stem cell transplantation

Stability measurements on cored cables in normal and superfluid helium

The relative stability of LHC type cables has been measured by the direct heating of one of the individual strands with a short duration current pulse. The minimum energy required to initiate a quench has been determined for a number of cables which have a central core to increase the effective inter-strand cross-over resistance. Experiments were performed in both normal helium at 4.4 K and superfluid at 1.9 K. Conductors in general are less stable at the lower temperature when measured at the same fraction of critical current. Results show that the cored-cables, even when partially filled with solder or with a porous-metal filler exhibit a relatively low stability at currents close to the critical current. It is speculated that the high inter-strand electrical and thermal resistance inherent in these cables may effect the stability at high currents

Autophagy in T cells from aged donors is maintained by spermidine and correlates with function and vaccine responses

Vaccines are powerful tools to develop immune memory to infectious diseases and prevent excess mortality. In older adults, however vaccines are generally less efficacious and the molecular mechanisms that underpin this remain largely unknown. Autophagy, a process known to prevent aging, is critical for the maintenance of immune memory in mice. Here, we show that autophagy is specifically induced in vaccine-induced antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in healthy human volunteers. In addition, reduced IFNγ secretion by RSV-induced T cells in older vaccinees correlates with low autophagy levels. We demonstrate that levels of the endogenous autophagy-inducing metabolite spermidine fall in human T cells with age. Spermidine supplementation in T cells from old donors recovers their autophagy level and function, similar to young donors' cells, in which spermidine biosynthesis has been inhibited. Finally, our data show that endogenous spermidine maintains autophagy via the translation factor eIF5A and transcription factor TFEB. In summary, we have provided evidence for the importance of autophagy in vaccine immunogenicity in older humans and uncovered two novel drug targets that may increase vaccination efficiency in the aging context

Cost-effectiveness and budget effect of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV-1 prevention in Germany from 2018 to 2058

Background Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective HIV prevention strategy for men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). The high cost of PrEP has until recently been a primary barrier to its use. In 2017, generic PrEP became available, reducing the costs by 90%. Aim Our objective was to assess cost-effectiveness and costs of introducing PrEP in Germany. Methods We calibrated a deterministic mathematical model to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among MSM in Germany. PrEP was targeted to 30% of high-risk MSM. It was assumed that PrEP reduces the risk of HIV infection by 85%. Costs were calculated from a healthcare payer perspective using a 40-year time horizon starting in 2018. Results PrEP can avert 21,000 infections (interquartile range (IQR): 16,000–27,000) in the short run (after 2 years scale-up and 10 years full implementation). HIV care is predicted to cost EUR 36.2 billion (IQR: 32.4–40.4 billion) over the coming 40 years. PrEP can increase costs by at most EUR 150 million within the first decade after introduction. Ten years after introduction, PrEP can become cost-saving, accumulating to savings of HIV-related costs of EUR 5.1 billion (IQR: 3.5–6.9 billion) after 40 years. In a sensitivity analysis, PrEP remained cost-saving even at a 70% price reduction of antiretroviral drug treatment and a lower effectiveness of PrEP. Conclusion Introduction of PrEP in Germany is predicted to result in substantial health benefits because of reductions in HIV infections. Short-term financial investments in providing PrEP will result in substantial cost-savings in the long term

Autophagy-dependent generation of free fatty acids is critical for normal neutrophil differentiation

Neutrophils are critical and short-lived mediators of innate immunity that require constant replenishment. Their differentiation in the bone marrow requires extensive cytoplasmic and nuclear remodeling, but the processes governing these energy-consuming changes are unknown. While previous studies show that autophagy is required for differentiation of other blood cell lineages, its function during granulopoiesis has remained elusive. Here, we have shown that metabolism and autophagy are developmentally programmed and essential for neutrophil differentiation in vivo. Atg7-deficient neutrophil precursors had increased glycolytic activity but impaired mitochondrial respiration, decreased ATP production, and accumulated lipid droplets. Inhibiting autophagy-mediated lipid degradation or fatty acid oxidation alone was sufficient to cause defective differentiation, while administration of fatty acids or pyruvate for mitochondrial respiration rescued differentiation in autophagy-deficient neutrophil precursors. Together, we show that autophagy-mediated lipolysis provides free fatty acids to support a mitochondrial respiration pathway essential to neutrophil differentiation