Are social inequalities being transmitted through higher education?:A propensity-score matching analysis of private versus public university graduates using machine learning models

This study investigates differences in employment outcomes of students graduating from private versus public universities in Spain, and the resulting impact on employment outcomes. The methodology involves propensity score matching, utilising novel machine learning approaches. Machine learning algorithms can be used to calculate propensity scores and can potentially have advantages compared to conventional methods. Contrary to previous research carried out in Spain, this analysis found a wage premium for those pupils who attended a private university in the short and medium term, although these differences were relatively small. The discussion outlines the implications for intergenerational inequality, policy development, and future research that utilises machine learning algorithms

pSM19035: dissection of the plasmid partitioning machinery

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología Molecular. Fecha de lectura: 09-11-201

Effects of water management and cultivar on carbon dynamics, plant productivity and biomass allocation in European rice systems

We thank the researchers at CREA-Centro di ricerca cerealicoltura e colture industriali, Vercelli, for allowing us to use their facilities, and the technical staff for their assistance. This research was conducted in the framework of the FACCE-JPI project GreenRice (Sustainable and environmental friendly rice cultivation systems in Europe) and was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) BB/M018415/1.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Rice diversity panel provides accurate genomic predictions for complex traits in the progenies of biparental crosses involving members of the panel

So far, most potential applications of genomic prediction in plant improvement have been explored using cross validation approaches. This is the first empirical study to evaluate the accuracy of genomic prediction of the performances of progenies in a typical rice breeding program. Using a cross validation approach, we first analyzed the effects of marker selection and statistical methods on the accuracy of prediction of three different heritability traits in a reference population (RP) of 284 inbred accessions. Next, we investigated the size and the degree of relatedness with the progeny population (PP) of sub-sets of the RP that maximize the accuracy of prediction of phenotype across generations, i.e., for 97 F5–F7 lines derived from biparental crosses between 31 accessions of the RP. The extent of linkage disequilibrium was high (r2 = 0.2 at 0.80 Mb in RP and at 1.1 Mb in PP). Consequently, average marker density above one per 22 kb did not improve the accuracy of predictions in the RP. The accuracy of progeny prediction varied greatly depending on the composition of the training set, the trait, LD and minor allele frequency. The highest accuracy achieved for each trait exceeded 0.50 and was only slightly below the accuracy achieved by cross validation in the RP. Our results thus show that relatively high accuracy (0.41–0.54) can be achieved using only a rather small share of the RP, most related to the PP, as the training set. The practical implications of these results for rice breeding programs are discussed. (Résumé d'auteur

Physical Mapping of Bread Wheat Chromosome 5A: An Integrated Approach

The huge size, redundancy, and highly repetitive nature of the bread wheat [Triticum aestivum (L.)] genome, makes it among the most difficult species to be sequenced. To overcome these limitations, a strategy based on the separation of individual chromosomes or chromosome arms and the subsequent production of physical maps was established within the frame of the International Wheat Genome Sequence Consortium (IWGSC). A total of 95,812 bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones of short-arm chromosome 5A (5AS) and long-arm chromosome 5A (5AL) arm-specific BAC libraries were fingerprinted and assembled into contigs by complementary analytical approaches based on the FingerPrinted Contig (FPC) and Linear Topological Contig (LTC) tools. Combined anchoring approaches based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) marker screening, microarray, and sequence homology searches applied to several genomic tools (i. e., genetic maps, deletion bin map, neighbor maps, BAC end sequences (BESs), genome zipper, and chromosome survey sequences) allowed the development of a high-quality physical map with an anchored physical coverage of 75% for 5AS and 53% for 5AL with high portions (64 and 48%, respectively) of contigs ordered along the chromosome. In the genome of grasses, Brachypodium [Brachypodium distachyon (L.) Beauv.], rice (Oryza sativa L.), and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] homologs of genes on wheat chromosome 5A were separated into syntenic blocks on different chromosomes as a result of translocations and inversions during evolution. The physical map presented represents an essential resource for fine genetic mapping and map-based cloning of agronomically relevant traits and a reference for the 5A sequencing projects

Games in the portuguese class in middle school.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo a reflexão sobre uma alternativa de ensino e aprendizagem de Língua Portuguesa no Fundamental II cujo foco esteja no desenvolvimento efetivo das habilidades de leitura, oralidade e escrita por meio de atividades lúdicas. Para tanto, pautou-se pela experiência bem sucedida com esse tipo de recurso no ensino e aprendizagem de Língua Inglesa, notadamente em cursos de idiomas, cuja orientação metodológica é a Abordagem Comunicativa, e, em especial, o Task-based Language Teaching. O conceito de jogo aqui empregado provém das obras de Huizinga (2004), Wittgenstein (1975) e Brougère (1995, 1999), enquanto a relação entre jogo e Educação foi discutida tendo em vista as considerações de Kishimoto (1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2007), Brougère (1995, 1999) e Macedo, Petty e Passos (2005), e entre jogo e língua estrangeira, por Crookall e Oxford (1990) e Bullards (1990). Discutiu-se as abordagens e metodologias mais difundidas no Brasil (FERRO, 1998; RODRIGUES, 2005; BERGO E GOMES, 1985) com a finalidade de se contextualizar a utilização do jogo no Task-based Language Teaching (ELLIS, 2003). A análise do que se compreende como tarefa central do ensino e aprendizagem de Língua Portuguesa privilegiou quatro pontos de vista distintos: o da tradição escolar, dos resultados das avaliações do ensino Fundamental, da perspectiva oficial (PCN) e dos estudos lingüísticos voltados à Educação. Partindo desse referencial teórico, realizou-se em duas etapas uma pesquisa de cunho etnográfico. A Primeira Entrada em Campo consistiu na observação de aulas de Língua Portuguesa e de Língua Inglesa extracurricular em um colégio particular em São Paulo. Objetivou-se verificar como tem sido a prática efetiva nessas disciplinas com relação ao uso de jogos em sala de aula, concluindo-se que 60% do tempo das aulas observadas de Língua Inglesa foram ocupados por atividades lúdicas, enquanto, a rigor, nenhuma atividade desse caráter ocorreu na de Língua Portuguesa. Na Segunda Entrada em Campo realizou-se um minicurso de leitura, oralidade e escrita, ministrado pela pesquisadora a alunos da rede pública de ensino, no qual verificou-se as possibilidades reais de sucesso de uma metodologia de Língua Portuguesa cuja prática considerasse as atividades lúdicas como uma alternativa ao excesso de atividades metalingüísticas revelados por estudos de Neves (2003) e Semeghini- Siqueira (1998, 2006a). O referencial metodológico para a elaboração das aulas do minicurso pautou-se pelos conceitos de Avaliação Diagnóstica e Formativa (SEMEGHINI-SIQUEIRA, 1997, 2002) e Seqüência Didática (SCHNEUWLY; DOLZ; NOVERRAZ, 2007) como forma de estruturação para atividades lingüísticas e epilingüísticas (SEMGHINI-SIQUEIRA, 1977, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2006b, 2006c; FRANCHI, 1991; GERALDI, 1985, 1991, 2002; TRAVAGLIA, 1996; POSSENTI, 1996), organizadas em torno do gênero textual entrevista. A inserção de atividades lúdicas que privilegiaram diversas habilidades e diferentes formas de abordagem da língua resultou em um aprendizado mais significativo e eficiente do que aquele observado em aulas de Língua Portuguesa cujas atividades restringem-se apenas às metalingüísticas.This dissertation aims at reflecting upon an alternative to Portuguese learning and teaching in Middle school1 in which the focus is the development of the proficiency in reading, writing and speaking by means of game-like activities. Therefore, it bears resemblance to the highly successful experience conducted by English courses in line with the Communicative Approach, specially, those of Task-based Language Teaching orientation. The concept of game hereafter presented comes from the works of Huizinga (2004), Wittgenstein (1975) and Brougère (1995, 1999), meanwhile the relationship between games and education relies upon the considerations of Kishimoto (1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2007), Brougère (1995, 1999) and Macedo, Petty e Passos (2005); as for games and second language learning and teaching, by Crookall and Oxford (1990) and Bullards (1990). Approaches and methodologies with a greater importance in the Brazilian context (FERRO, 1998; RODRIGUES, 2005; BERGO E GOMES, 1985) were discussed in order to provide background information on the usage of games in Task-based Language Teaching (ELLIS, 2003). Four points of view were privileged to the analysis of the main reasons for learning and teaching Portuguese: the schooling tradition, the results of the evaluation conducted to measure the performance of the students enrolled on the Middle school, the official perspective (PCN) and the linguistic studies related to Education. Having this theoretical scope in mind, two different pieces of ethnographic research were conducted. The first one consisted of the observation of both Portuguese and English (extracurricular) classes at a private school in São Paulo, so that it would be possible to verify whether their delivery has really been taking into consideration the use of games or not. It was reached the conclusion that 60% of the time spent in the English classes observed were on game activities. On the other hand, none activity was observed during the Portuguese class. In the SECOND FIELD STUDY, there was a mini-course of reading, writing and speaking, taught by the researcher, in which students from a public school in São Paulo participated in. Its main objective was to access the real possibilities of success in teaching Portuguese by making use of game activities instead of the metalinguistic ones, pointed as the major resource for Portuguese classes by Neves (2003) and Semeghini-Siqueira (1998, 2006a). The methodological reference for the mini-course is based upon the concepts of \"Avaliação Diagnóstica e Formativa\" (SEMEGHINI-SIQUEIRA, 1997, 2002) and \"Seqüência Didática\" (SCHNEUWLY; DOLZ; NOVERRAZ, 2007) as a means of structuring the linguistic and epilinguistic activities (SEMGHINI-SIQUEIRA, 1977, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2006b, 2006c; FRANCHI, 1991; GERALDI, 1985, 1991, 2002; TRAVAGLIA, 1996; POSSENTI, 1996) around the interview genre. As a result, the game activities carried out in the Portuguese classes held by the mini-course proved to be very effective, therefore the learning was enriched by the variety of approaches as well as the range of skills involved in performing the tasks