Evaluating the impact of active labor programs : results of cross country studies in Europe and Central Asia

The objective of this cross country study was to determine if there was any significant difference those individuals who participated in active labor programs (ALP) and similar individuals who did not participate in the programs (the comparison group), with regard to agreed outcome measures of program success (e.g., employment, wage levels) in four countries: the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Turkey. The study evaluated five different ALPs across the four countries for several categories of program participants, grouped by demographic characteristics and geographic location. The active labor programs studies comprised: retraining, public works or temporary community employment, wage subsidy, self-employment initiatives, and general employment services. All five ALPs evaluated were found to have a significant positive net impact for some population subgroups, a general finding supported by the 1996 OECD review that concluded that there are ALPs that work for most groups of individuals. However, the study found the impact was not significant for some sub-groups, and for some ALPs the impact was negative. The final chapter summarizesthe general trends in findings on the various outcome measures across demographic and regional subgroups.Environmental Economics&Policies,Poverty Impact Evaluation,ICT Policy and Strategies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis

Governing through trust: community-based link workers and parental engagement in education

This article seeks to further understandings of contemporary patterns of parental government. Parenting has emerged as a key policy domain in twenty-first century Britain and we explore the politicisation of family life by examining a pilot programme tasked with enhancing parental engagement in education amongst ‘hard-to-reach’ families within the white British community of a large inner-London borough. Concentrating upon the programme’s signature device – the deployment of community-based ‘link workers’ to bridge home and school – ‘governmentality’ (Foucault, 2009) is used as a theoretical lens through which to foreground the link workers’ role in governing parents. We draw on qualitative data collected from link workers, parents, and school leaders, to argue that link workers represent a mode of governmentality that privileges the instrumental use of trust to achieve strategic objectives, rather than coercive authority. The aim being to produce responsible, self-disciplined parents who act freely in accordance with normative expectations as to what constitutes ‘good’ parenting and effective parental support. As such, the article highlights the link workers’ role in (re)producing the ideal, neoliberal parent. However, governing through trust comes at the cost of being unable to firmly secure desired outcomes. We thereby conclude that this gentle art of parental government affords parents some latitude in resisting institutional agendas

Role of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels in adenosine A1 receptor-mediated pharmacological postconditioning in H9c2 cells

Ischaemic postconditioning is a phenomenon whereby short periods of ischaemia applied during the start of reperfusion protect the myocardium from the damaging consequences of reperfusion. As such, pharmacological-induced postconditioning represents an attractive therapeutic strategy for reducing reperfusion injury during cardiac surgery and following myocardial infarction. The primary aim of this study was to determine the role of large-conductance Ca2+-activated potassium channels (BKCa channels) in adenosine A1 receptor-induced pharmacological postconditioning in the rat embryonic cardiomyoblast-derived cell line H9c2. H9c2 cells were exposed to 6 h hypoxia (0.5% O2) followed by 18 h reoxygenation (H/R) after which cell viability was assessed by monitoring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and caspase-3 activation. The adenosine A1 receptor agonist N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA; 100 nmol/L) or the BKCa channel opener NS1619 (10 µmol/L) were added for 30 min at the start of reoxygenation following 6 h hypoxic exposure. Where appropriate, cells were treated (15 min) before pharmacological postconditioning with the BKCa channel blockers paxilline (1 µmol/L) or iberiotoxin (100 nmol/L). Pharmacological postconditioning with CPA or NS1619 significantly reduced H/R-induced LDH release. Treatment with paxilline or iberiotoxin attenuated adenosine A1 receptor and NS1619-induced pharmacological postconditioning. These results have shown for the first time that BKCa channels are involved in adenosine A1 receptor-induced pharmacological postconditioning in a cell model system

The change of Fermi surface topology in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 with doping

We report the observation of a change in Fermi surface topology of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 with doping. By collecting high statistics ARPES data from moderately and highly overdoped samples and dividing the data by the Fermi function, we answer a long standing question about the Fermi surface shape of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 close to the (pi,0) point. For moderately overdoped samples (Tc=80K) we find that both the bonding and antibonding sheets of the Fermi surface are hole-like. However for a doping level corresponding to Tc=55K we find that the antibonding sheet becomes electron-like. This change does not directly affect the critical temperature and therefore the superconductivity. However, since similar observations of the change of the topology of the Fermi surface were observed in LSCO and Bi2Sr2Cu2O6, it appears to be a generic feature of hole-doped superconductors. Because of bilayer splitting, though, this doping value is considerably lower than that for the single layer materials, which again argues that it is unrelated to Tc

Dual character of the electronic structure in YBa2Cu4O8: conduction bands of CuO2 planes and CuO chains

We use microprobe Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (muARPES) to separately investigate the electronic properties of CuO2 planes and CuO chains in the high temperature superconductor, YBa2Cu4O8. In the CuO2 planes, a two dimensional (2D) electronic structure with nearly momentum independent bilayer splitting is observed. The splitting energy is 150 meV at (pi,0), almost 50% larger than in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+d) and the electron scattering at the Fermi level in the bonding band is about 1.5 times stronger than in the antibonding band. The CuO chains have a quasi one dimensional (1D) electronic structure. We observe two 1D bands separated by ~ 550meV: a conducting band and an insulating band with an energy gap of ~ 240meV. We find that the conduction electrons are well confined within the planes and chains with a non-trivial hybridization.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on State Court Proceedings: Five Key Findings

The University of Illinois System’s Institute for Government and Public Affairs and the National Center for State Courts jointly conducted the COVID-19 and the State Courts Study between August 2020 and July 2021. The first stage of the study involved focus groups of attorneys, judges, court administrators, court staff, jurors, and litigants in four states. This report describes some results of the second stage of the study, which involved nationwide surveys of judges, court personnel, and attorneys. The surveys asked participants questions about access to courts during the pandemic and their experiences with the new strategies courts adopted to continue hearing and processing cases. This report summarizes five key findings from the surveys concerning access to the courts. • • First, early in the pandemic, most attorneys thought that litigants’ access to judicial proceedings was worse than usual. • Second, attorneys reported that litigants’ experiences in courts improved after September 2020. Over time, participants believed that some early access difficulties abated. • Third, court personnel had a more positive view than did attorneys about the ability of individuals to participate in the judicial system during the pandemic. • Fourth, attorneys with practices concentrated in landlord-tenant law and criminal law perceived somewhat greater problems than did attorneys who practice in other areas of the law. • Fifth, while participants identified many benefits to online court proceedings, they also saw drawbacks. Assessing whether and under what circumstances to conduct court proceedings online after the pandemic is over will require careful consideration of benefits and downsides and balancing some competing factors.Ope