The knowledge lift: The Swedish adult education program that aimed to eliminate low worker skill levels

The Swedish adult education program called Knowledge Lift is unprecedented in its size and scope, aiming to raise the skill level of all low-skilled workers towards the medium level. This paper evaluates the effects of program participation on individual labor market outcomes, notably employment and annual income, as well as on the labor market equilibrium. For the effects at the individual level we apply fixed effect methods allowing for treatment effect heterogeneity. The data are based on a number of matched longitudinal administrative data sets covering the full population of Sweden. For the equilibrium effects we analyze an equilibrium search model with heterogeneous worker skills. This model is calibrated using pre-program observations.Returns to education; training; program evaluation; wages; participation; unemployment; schooling; Swedish labour market; selectivity bias; treatment effect

The aggregate labor market effects of the Swedish knowledge lift program

The Swedish adult education program known as the Knowledge Lift (1997-2002) was unprecedented in its size and scope, aiming to raise the skill level of large numbers of low-skill workers. This paper evaluates the potential effects of this program on aggregate labor market outcomes. This is done by calibrating an equilibrium search model with heterogeneous worker skills using pre-program data and then forecasting the program impacts. Our calibrations suggest that the equilibrium treatment effects were positive - wages are predicted to increase, as are the employment rates of the treated. The equilibrium effects magnify the partial effects by a factor 1.5 to 2. This is due to the increase in demand for skills that is triggered by the increase in its supply.Job search; policy evaluation; wages; unemployment; Swedish labor market; calibration; adult education; equilibrium effects

Patient support for tuberculosis patients in low-incidence countries: A systematic review.

Patient support during tuberculosis treatment is expected to be more often available and more customized in low tuberculosis incidence, high-resource settings than in lower-resource settings. The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of tuberculosis patient support interventions implemented in low-incidence countries and an evaluation of their effects on treatment-related outcomes as well as their acceptability by patients and providers

Flipping after a pandemic: A case study

The idea of ‘flipping’ a course, i.e., delivering all content before class time and instead focusing on active learning opportunities, is not a new one. Studies have shown that these classrooms can increase student engagement and performance, while decreasing the required number of face-to-face hours (Karabulut‐Ilgu et al., 2018). However, it has also been shown that students state a lowered preference for these activities, believing they learn better in passive environments (Deslauriers et al., 2019). This mismatch of student preference and actual performance is particularly important as the COVID-19 pandemic has seen extremely low attendance rates across most science lectures and tutorials worldwide. In this study, the method of content delivery was flipped in a single unit from 3 lectures and one tutorial a week to 1 workshop a week and all content delivered before class time. The laboratory content remained the same. In particular, we used: lightboard videos made with Mayer’s Multimedia principles (Mayer, 2002) in mind, a blended online delivery platform with interactive H5P embedded questions, and full contextualised problem sets with weekly in-class quizzes. Using a range of questionnaires and student/staff interviews, alongside marks analysis of the cohort, we have found:    1. High attendance rates.    2. Students preferred the new mode.    3. Tutors stated an increase in the ‘level’ of student questions.    4. Marks surprisingly remained the same! REFERENCES Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L. S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., & Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(39), 19251-19257. Mayer, R. E. (2002). Multimedia learning. In Psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 41, pp. 85-139). Academic Press. Karabulut‐Ilgu, A., Jaramillo Cherrez, N., & Jahren, C. T. (2018). A systematic review of research on the flipped learning method in engineering education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 49(3), 398-411

Withdrawal The novel TRPA1 antagonist BI01305834 inhibits ovalbumin-induced bronchoconstriction in guinea pigs

The above article from the British Journal of Pharmacology, published online on May 20, 2020 in Wiley Online Library (http://wileyonlinelibrary.com) has been withdrawn due to a lack of full disclosure of the chemical structure of the novel TRPA1 antagonist BI01305834, by agreement between the Editor-in-Chief and John Wiley & Sons Inc on behalf of The British Pharmacology Society

The Knowledge Lift: The Swedish Adult Education Program that Aimed to Eliminate Low Worker Skill Levels

The Swedish adult education program known as the Knowledge Lift is unprecedented in its size and scope, aiming to raise the skill level of all low-skilled workers towards the medium level. This paper evaluates the effects of program participation on individual labor market outcomes, notably employment and annual income, as well as on the labor market equilibrium. For the effects at the individual level, we apply fixed effect methods allowing for treatment effect heterogeneity. The data are based on a number of matched longitudinal administrative data sets covering the full population of Sweden. For the equilibrium effects, we analyze an equilibrium search model with heterogeneous worker skills. This model is calibrated using pre-program observations.returns to education, training, program evaluation, wages, participation, unemployment, schooling, Swedish labor market, selectivity bias, treatment effect.

The diagnostic utility of determining anti-GM1: GalC complex antibodies in multifocal motor neuropathy: a validation study

Background: Multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) is associated with IgM antibodies to GM1 ganglioside. The importance of the lipid milieu that might facilitate or inhibit antibody binding to GM1 in immunoassays is well recognised. Existing studies, using a range of different approaches, generally concur that anti-GM1 IgM antibody detection rates are improved by the addition of galactocerebroside (GalC) to the GM1 assay. Objective: The current study sought to formally evaluate the clinical utility of the GM1:GalC complex assay in the diagnosis of MMN. Methods: Anti-GM1 and -GM1:GalC antibodies were examined using ELISA and glycoarray (dot blot) in a fully blinded study design, consisting of 100 MMN patients, 100 ALS cases and 100 healthy controls. Results: The detection of anti-GM1 Abs using glycoarray was 67% sensitive and 85% specific. The addition of GalC to GM1, (1:1 weight to weight ratio), increased the sensitivity to 81% , whilst dropping specificity to 80% . Increasing the GalC content to a 1:5 ratio (or higher) further decreased specificity, and in doing so limited the usefulness of the GM1:GalC assay to the level of GM1 alone. The addition of GalC to the ELISA method also significantly increased sensitivity compared with GM1 alone, albeit with a significant decrease in specificity. Conclusions: This study indicates that the GM1:GalC assay is an advantageous assay adaptation for detecting anti-GM1 antibodies in MMN, using either glycoarray or ELISA, and warrants introduction into clinical diagnostic practice

The novel TRPA1 antagonist BI01305834 inhibits ovalbumin-induced bronchoconstriction in guinea pigs

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease in which the nervous system plays a central role. Sensory nerve activation, amongst others via Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channels, contributes to asthma characteristics including cough, bronchoconstriction, mucus secretion, airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and inflammation. In the current study, we evaluated the efficacy of the novel TRPA1 antagonist BI01305834 against AHR and inflammation in guinea-pig models of asthma. METHODS: First, a pilot study was performed in a guinea-pig model of allergic asthma to find the optimal dose of BI01305834. Next, the effect of BI01305834 on (1) AHR to inhaled histamine after the early and late asthmatic reaction (EAR and LAR), (2) magnitude of EAR and LAR and (3) airway inflammation was assessed. Precision-cut lung slices and trachea strips were used to investigate the bronchoprotective and bronchodilating-effect of BI01305834. Statistical evaluation of differences of in vivo data was performed using a Mann-Whitney U test or One-way nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, for ex vivo data One- or Two-way ANOVA was used, all with Dunnett's post-hoc test where appropriate. RESULTS: A dose of 1 mg/kg BI01305834 was selected based on AHR and exposure data in blood samples from the pilot study. In the subsequent study, 1 mg/kg BI01305834 inhibited AHR after the EAR, and the development of EAR and LAR elicited by ovalbumin in ovalbumin-sensitized guinea pigs. BI01305834 did not inhibit allergen-induced total and differential cells in the lavage fluid and interleukin-13 gene expression in lung homogenates. Furthermore, BI01305834 was able to inhibit allergen and histamine-induced airway narrowing in guinea-pig lung slices, without affecting histamine release, and reverse allergen-induced bronchoconstriction in guinea-pig trachea strips. CONCLUSIONS: TRPA1 inhibition protects against AHR and the EAR and LAR in vivo and allergen and histamine-induced airway narrowing ex vivo, and reverses allergen-induced bronchoconstriction independently of inflammation. This effect was partially dependent upon histamine, suggesting a neuronal and possible non-neuronal role for TRPA1 in allergen-induced bronchoconstriction

FAMILIAL DYSALBUMINAEMIC HYPERTHYROXINEMIA INTERFERES WITH CURRENT FREE THYROID HORMONE IMMUNOASSAY METHODS

Familial dysalbuminaemic hyperthyroxinemia (FDH), most commonly due to an Arginine to Histidine mutation at residue 218 (R218H) in the albumin gene, causes artefactual elevation of free thyroid hormones in euthyroid individuals. We have evaluated the susceptibility of most current free thyroid hormone immunoassay methods used in the UK, Europe and Far East to interference by R218H FDH. Methods: Different, one- and two-step immunoassay methods were tested, measuring Free T4 (FT4) and Free T3 (FT3) in 37 individuals with genetically-proven R218H FDH. Results: With the exception of Ortho VITROS, FT4 measurements were raised in all assays, with greatest to lowest susceptibility to interference being Beckman ACCESS > Roche ELECSYS > FUJIREBIO Lumipulse > Siemens CENTAUR > Abbott ARCHITECT > Perkin-Elmer DELFIA. Five different assays recorded high FT3 levels, with the Siemens CENTAUR method measuring high FT3 values in up to 30% of cases. However, depending on the assay method, FT4 measurements were unexpectedly normal in some, genetically-confirmed, affected relatives of index FDH cases. Conclusions: All FT4 immunoassays evaluated are prone to interference by R218H FDH, with their varying susceptibility not being related to assay architecture but likely due to differing assay conditions or buffer composition. Added susceptibility of many FT3 assays to measurement interference, resulting in high FT4 and FT3 with non-suppressed TSH levels, raises the possibility of R218H FDH being misdiagnosed as Resistance to Thyroid Hormone beta or TSH-secreting pituitary tumour, potentially leading to unnecessary investigation and inappropriate treatment.Research is supported by funding from the Wellcome Trust (210755/Z/18/Z to KC) and NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (CM, MG, KC)