Incentives and Regional Coordination in Employment Services

Due to yardstick competition, municipalities have financial incentives to reduce unemployment, but are not likely to cooperate with each other to have the scale advantages of a regional labour market. On the other hand, a regional public employment service, like the CWI in the Netherlands, has a higher probability and value of matching, but it lacks the incentives to exert the optimal mediation effort. This paper presents a game theoretical model that addresses the trade off between regional coordination and incentives in the mediation of unemployed in the Netherlands. The model is calibrated with information on vacancies and CWI clients for the Netherlands, in order to get an impression whether it is optimal to have a public employment service in the context of this model. Finally, various institutional settings, like a privatised employment service and a performance contract for the employment office, are considered.

In de ban van goed en fout. De bestrijding van de Centrumpartij en de Centrumdemocraten (1980-1998)

Op donderdag 16 september 1982 demonstreerden duizenden mensen op het Binnenhof in Den Haag toen Hans Janmaat beëdigd werd als lid van de Tweede Kamer voor de Centrumpartij (CP). Het bleef niet bij die ene demonstratie. Omdat ze scherpe kritiek had op het toenmalige immigratie- en integratiebeleid werd de CP vanaf de oprichting in 1980 fel bestreden. In de Tweede Kamer was er een cordon sanitaire; er werden rechtszaken aangespannen; antifascisten verstoorden partijvergaderingen; de media schreven negatief over de partij. En dat veranderde in de loop der jaren niet echt; voor de latere Centrumdemocraten (CD) gold in grote lijnen hetzelfde. In de ban van goed en fout beschrijft voor het eerst – op basis van archiefonderzoek en interviews – op samenhangende wijze de bestrijding van de CP en CD, en ook de reactie daarop van die partijen. Waarom werden ze zo fel werden bestreden? Werd de tegenstelling tussen die partijen en de rest van de samenleving vooral in morele termen gegoten? Was Nederland, kortom, in de ban van 'goed' en 'fout'?J.E. Jurriaanse StichtingPolitical Culture and National Identit

A comparison of methods assessing soil compaction on black vertosols. South-Eastern Queensland, Australia

Mechanical soil compaction is a major problem for cotton production on vertosols in Queensland, Australia. To understand the state and impacts of soil compaction reliable measurements are essential. However an overall comparison of measurement methods does not exist for compaction in black vertosols. This research investigates which traditional and innovative methods are the most adequate to measure soil compaction on cotton grown black vertosols. Three methods were tested in the field and lab: ring sampling, the penetrometer and the EM-38. For varying reasons several other methods could not be tested and were evaluated by means of literature research. The methods were assessed on their costs, time efficiency, user-friendliness, and most importantly their reliability and physical limits. Results indicate that there was not one particular method superior to the other methods. As hypothesized, the traditional ring sampling method provided inconsistent data on soil compaction. In contrast, the penetrometer was found to be significantly correlated to the volumetric water content of the soil and proved to be an adequate device to measure soil compaction in dry conditions. Complementing the penetrometer, the shear vane method was found to be a good alternative method for use in wetter conditions. Major advantages of modern techniques over traditional methods, such as the EM38 and Electric Resistivity Tomography (ERT), were that they are non-destructive to the soil and able to detect soil compaction in a wide range of soil moisture contents. However, ERT should be further investigated for specific use on black vertosols. Compared to traditional methods, the use of the EM38 and ERT as a routine operation for farmers is still unlikely due to the higher costs, specialized equipment and need for advanced analysis. Each method has its clear advantages and disadvantages, making not one clearly superior to the others. Thus, the context and purpose in which each method is used should be carefully considered

High resolution mapping of a novel late blight resistance gene Rpi-avll, from the wild Bolivian species Solanum avilesii

Both Mexico and South America are rich in Solanum species that might be valuable sources of resistance (R) genes to late blight (Phytophthora infestans). Here, we focus on an R gene present in the diploid Bolivian species S. avilesii. The genotype carrying the R gene was resistant to eight out of 10 Phytophthora isolates of various provenances. The identification of a resistant phenotype and the generation of a segregating population allowed the mapping of a single dominant R gene, Rpi-avl1, which is located in an R gene cluster on chromosome 11. This R gene cluster is considered as an R gene “hot spot”, containing R genes to at least five different pathogens. High resolution mapping of the Rpi-avl1 gene revealed a marker co-segregating in 3890 F1 individuals, which may be used for marker assisted selection in breeding programs and for further cloning of Rpi-avl

The Rh polypeptide is a major fatty acid-acylated erythrocyte membrane protein

The erythrocyte Rh antigens contain an Mr = 32,000 integral protein which is thought to contribute in some way to the organization of surrounding phospholipid. To search for possible fatty acid acylation of the Rh polypeptide, intact human erythrocytes were incubated with [3H]palmitic acid prior to preparation of membranes and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorography. Several membrane proteins were labeled, but none corresponded to the glycophorins or membrane proteins 1-8. An Mr = 32,000 band was prominently labeled on Rh (D)-negative and -positive erythrocytes and could be precipitated from the latter with anti-D. No similar protein was labeled on membranes from Rhmod erythrocytes, a rare phenotype lacking Rh antigens. Labeling of the Rh polypeptide most likely represents palmitic acid acylation through thioester linkages. The 3H label was not extracted with chloroform/methanol, but was quantitatively eluted with hydroxylamine and co-chromatographed with palmitohydroxamate and free palmitate by thin layer chromatography. The fatty acid acylations occurred independent of protein synthesis and were completely reversed by chase with unlabeled palmitate. It is concluded that the Rh polypeptide is fatty acid-acylated, being a major substrate of an acylation-deacylation mechanism associated with the erythrocyte membrane

Pre-service primary school teachers’ knowledge during teaching informal statistical inference

The study reported in this article investigated the appropriateness of Mathematical Knowledge in Teaching of three pre-service primary school teachers (PSTs), teaching an informal statistical inference (ISI) lesson to primary school students. Using an ISI framework and the Knowledge Quartet framework., the presence and appropriateness of the PSTs’ teaching actions were coded and categorized. The results showed that PSTs were consciously engaged in making inferences based on sample data. The PSTs struggled to correctly interpret students’ conceptual input and to explain ISI, in particular, how generalizing from a sample is possible. Teacher education should focus on how PSTs can foster students’ understanding of the logic of drawing conclusions about a population based on a sample.Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

Graphical genotyping as a method to map Ny ((o,n)sto) and Gpa5 using a reference panel of tetraploid potato cultivars

The method of graphical genotyping is applied to a panel of tetraploid potato cultivars to visualize haplotype sharing. The method allowed to map genes involved in virus and nematode resistance. The physical coordinates of the amount of linkage drag surrounding these genes are easily interpretable. Graphical genotyping is a visually attractive and easily interpretable method to represent genetic marker data. In this paper, the method is extended from diploids to a panel of tetraploid potato cultivars. Application of filters to select a subset of SNPs allows one to visualize haplotype sharing between individuals that also share a specific locus. The method is illustrated with cultivars resistant to Potato virus Y (PVY), while simultaneously selecting for the absence of the SNPs in susceptible clones. SNP data will then merge into an image which displays the coordinates of a distal genomic region on the northern arm of chromosome 11 where a specific haplotype is introgressed from the wild potato species S. stoloniferum (CPC 2093) carrying a gene (Ny ((o,n)sto) ) conferring resistance to two PVY strains, PVYO and PVYNTN. Graphical genotyping was also successful in showing the haplotypes on chromosome 12 carrying Ry-f (sto) , another resistance gene derived from S. stoloniferum conferring broad-spectrum resistance to PVY, as well as chromosome 5 haplotypes from S. vernei, with the Gpa5 locus involved in resistance against Globodera pallida cyst nematodes. The image also shows shortening of linkage drag by meiotic recombination of the introgression segment in more recent breeding material. Identity-by-descent was found to be a requirement for using graphical genotyping, which is proposed as a non-statistical alternative method for gene discovery, as compared with genome-wide association studies. The potential and limitations of the method are discussed.Peer reviewe

Manipulation of starch granule size distribution in potato tubers by modulation of plastid division

Plant science