THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION – THE STUDY CASE OF THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE OF BEJA, PORTUGAL

It is widely recognized that the investment in human capital, innovation, and knowledge transfer is essential to sustainable development and growth. Within this context, the role and action of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are vital. This paper aims to reflect on the role and the economic impact of a higher education institution, based on the case study of a public HEIs in Portugal namely the Polytechnic Institute of Beja (IPBeja). This institution belongs to the subsystem of polytechnic higher education and is located in a region that has one of the lowest economic and population densities in Europ

Low-Mass and Metal-Poor Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are cosmologically distributed, very energetic and very transient sources detected in the gamma-ray domain. The identification of their x-ray and optical afterglows allowed so far the redshift measurement of 150 events, from z = 0.01 to z = 6.29. For about half of them, we have some knowledge of the properties of the parent galaxy. At high redshift (z > 2), absorption lines in the afterglow spectra give information on the cold interstellar medium in the host. At low redshift (z < 1.0) multi-band optical-NIR photometry and integrated spectroscopy reveal the GRB host general properties. A redshift evolution of metallicity is not noticeable in the whole sample. The typical value is a few times lower than solar. The mean host stellar mass is similar to that of the Large Magellanic Cloud, but the mean star formation rate is five times higher. GRBs are discovered with gamma-ray, not optical or NIR, instruments. Their hosts do not suffer from the same selection biases of typical galaxy surveys. Therefore, they might represent a fair sample of the most common galaxies that existed in the past history of the universe, and can be used to better understand galaxy formation and evolution.Comment: Invited contribution, to appear in proceedings of IAU Symposium 255: "Low-Metal licity Star Formation: From the First Stars to Dwarf Galaxies", Rapallo June 2008, L.K. Hunt, S. Madden & R. Schneider, ed

Genetic variation in dairy cattle claw health traits recorded by claw trimmers

Claw health has been recorded by claw trimmers at trimming in Sweden since 1996, but data was then captured at each AI association. From 2003 data was captured by central scanning and entered directly to the national cow data base at the Swedish Dairy Association (SDA). This reporting was introduced because SDA wanted to be able to use these records to improve dairy cow claw health by breeding. It is desirable with cows that have healthy claws, because poor claw health can contribute to impaired production and fertility. The claw health report begins with some information about herd, claw trimmer, date et cetera and continues with the part where the claw health is recorded. Here the ID of each cow is filled in and on the same row the conditions for dermatitis, heel horn erosion, sole haemorrhage and sole ulcer are recorded as no lesion (blank), slight lesion (/) or severe lesion (X). The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and repeatabilities between lactations for dermatitis, heel horn erosion, sole haemorrhage and sole ulcer from the reported claw health records. Data collected between 2003 and June 2007 for Swedish Holstein (SH)and Swedish Red dairy cattle (SR) were used in the study. The edited data sets consisted of 65 816 records from first and 24 121 records from second lactation of SH, and of 58 457 records from first and 22 282 records from second lactation of SR. Results show that heritabilities for the claw diseases were relatively low. For SH, heritabilities in first lactation were between 0.035 (sole ulcer) and 0.079 (dermatitis) and in second lactation between 0.032 (sole ulcer) and 0.079 (sole haemorrhage). For SR they were between 0.038 (sole ulcer) and 0.059 (sole haemorrhage) in first lactation and between 0.028 (sole ulcer) and 0.085 (heel horn erosion)in second lactation. Correlations between the claw diseases were estimated and showed highest correlations between dermatitis and heel horn erosion (0.86 for SR and 0.64 for SH)and also between sole haemorrhage and sole ulcer (0.70 for SR and 0.72 for SH). The genetic correlation for the same disease between lactations was high (0.84 and higher). The conclusions of this study are that the claw health reports are very useful. Heritabilities was relatively low but were sufficient enough to be possible to improve claw health through breeding. Correlations were very high within disease between lactations and also high between dermatitis and heel horn erosion as well as between sole haemorrhage and sole ulcer.Klövhälsan har sedan 1997 registrerats av klövverkare i Sverige i samband med klövverkning. Data har sedan rapporterats in till Svensk Mjölk. Denna rapportering introducerades på grund av en önskan att kunna använda registreringarna för att förbättra klövhälsan hos mjölkkor genom avel. Det är önskvärt med kor som har friska klövar då försämrad klövhälsa kan bidra till försämrad produktion och nedsatt fertilitet. Klövrapporterna börjar med information om gård, lövverkare, datum etc. och fortsätter med delen där klövhälsan fylls i. Här skrivs djurets ID-nummer upp och på samma rad fylls bedömningen för klöveksem, klövröta och sulblödning i, som ingen skada (tom ruta), lättare skada (/) eller svårare skada (X). Syftet med denna studie var att skatta genetiska parametrar och upprepbarhet för klöveksem, klövröta, sulblödning och klövsulesår utifrån de inrapporterade klövrapporterna. Data insamlade mellan 2003 och juni 2007 för både SH och SRB användes i studien. Efter editering bestod data setet av 65 816 resp. 24 121 observationer från 1:a och 2:a laktationen för SH, och 58 457 resp. 22 282 observationer från 1:a och 2:a laktationen för SRB Resultaten visade att arvbarheten för de olika klövsjukdomarna var relativt låg, för SRB låg de mellan 0,038 (klövsulesår)och 0,059 (sulblödning) i laktation ett och i laktation två mellan 0,028 (klövsulesår) och 0,085 (klövröta). För SH låg arvbarheterna i laktation ett mellan 0,035 (klövsulesår) och 0,079 (klöveksem) och i laktation två mellan 0,032 (klövsulesår) och 0,079 (sulblödning). Korrelationerna mellan de olika sjukdomarna skattades och var högst mellan eksem och röta (0,86 för SRB och 0,64 för SH) och mellan sulblödning och klövsulesår (0,70 för SRB och 0,72 för SH). Genetiska korrelationer mellan laktation 1 och 2 för en och samma sjukdom var höga (0,84 och högre). Slutsatsen av studien var att klövhälsorapporterna är mycket användbara. Arvbarheterna för klövsjukdomarna i studien var relativt låga men tillräckliga för att kunna förbättra klövhälsa genom avel. Korrelationerna var höga inom sjukdom mellan laktationer och dessutom höga mellan eksem och klövröta likväl som mellan sulblödning och klövsulesår

Maintaining the Human Touch in Educational Leadership

It is a pleasure to be invited to contribute to this special edition of the TCPEA School Leadership Review. TCPEA has been a valuable organization for me as the relationships that have been fostered through it have enabled me to grow personally and professionally. This has led me to consider some of the issues that educational leaders are facing today and will continue to face in the years to come which are focused on the notion of how to effectively maintain human relationships. While few leaders agree on everything, there is no doubt that we all agree this is a complex time for our schools. My focus of this article is to consider three of the challenges before us to maintain the human touch in our profession: Identifying appropriate responses to the dilemmas that are occurring due to technology advances which include movement to hybrid/blended and fully on-line teaching venues, Establishing covenant communities in our diverse classrooms and beyond, and Nurturing our professional relationships as educational leaders. While these three topics might seem unrelated, I believe they all are connected to our shared humanity and all have the potential to develop or diminish the human touch

"Specials" manufacture in the N.H.S.

Over the past 30 years there has been a vast change in the manufacture of "specials" within the National Health Service. From being primitive, badly equipped units situated in the basement of nearly all hospitals, N.H.S. production units have changed to purpose built, hi-tech units licensed by the Medicines Control Agency, providing a fast, efficient and validated "specials" service. Although non-profit making organisations, N.H.S. Production units have to be self-financing. Thus staff costs, overheads and replacement of equipment must be financed by sales. Production pharmacists in the N.H.S. are now working together to rationalise the product list within their units. Certain units have taken over the role of national supplier for items and instead of duplicating effort, other units will buy from them.peer-reviewe

Transnational Knowledge Projects and Failing Racial Etiquette

Abstract: This essay calls upon Chicana/o Studies scholars to interrogate some of the assumptions underwriting the transnational turn. Chief among these is the implicit supposition that in order to produce transnational scholarship, one simply (but necessarily) must cross a national border. On the one hand, in taking the concept “transnational” far too literally, this simplistic assumption ignores far more substantive and compelling questions about transnational capitalism’s affects on subjectivity, desire, and resistance. On the other hand, the (sole) crossing-borders criterion suggests that those scholars who work on racial formations within the U.S. (Chicana/o Studies scholars, for instance) have no responsibility to think and work transnationally. Why should people, culture, racializations, literatures, produced within the U.S. not be studied within the larger context of transnational capitalism? Soto also critiques the fetishization of international difference and visibility politics. Queer theory, she argues, provides a helpful set of tools for negotiating these challenges of the transnational turn. Queer theory’s healthy poststructuralist skepticism of empiricism and positivism—together with its commitment to social justice and keen awareness of the power differentials within knowledge production—makes it poised to help us out of the temptation to simply shine a light on the global south

The State of the Art in Jail Drug Treatment Programs

It has been well-documented that drug arrests are a major factor in increases in jail and prison populations. In light of this, there is a growing interest in treatment programs, both in and out of custody. However, there is a debate regarding the effectiveness of drug treatment programs in reducing recidivism and drug use. The question of whether jail drug treatment is a cost-effective investment depends in part on the results achieved by the program, whether through reduced recidivism or lowered in-custody incident rates. If recidivism is lower for participants than for comparable nonparticipants, then we can assume that the higher "costs" of these programs are offset by tangible savings to the criminal justice system and by less tangible, but significant savings to the community