What Determines Adult Cognitive Skills? Impacts of Pre-Schooling, Schooling and Post-Schooling Experiences in Guatemala

Most investigations of the importance of and the determinants of adult cognitive skills assume that (a) they are produced primarily by schooling and (b) schooling is statistically predetermined. But these assumptions may lead to misleading inferences about impacts of schooling and of pre-schooling and post-schooling experiences on adult cognitive skills. This study uses an unusually rich longitudinal data set collected over 35 years in Guatemala to investigate production functions for adult (i) reading-comprehension and (ii) nonverbal cognitive skills as dependent on behaviorally-determined pre-schooling, schooling and post-schooling experiences. Major results are: (1) Schooling has significant and substantial impact on adult reading comprehension (but not on adult nonverbal cognitive skills)—but estimates of this impact are biased upwards substantially if there are no controls for behavioral determinants of schooling in the presence of persistent unobserved factors such as genetic endowments and/or if family background factors that appear to be correlated with genetic endowments are included among the first-stage instruments. (2) Both pre-schooling and post-schooling experiences have substantial significant impacts on one or both of the adult cognitive skill measures that tend to be underestimated if these pre- and post-schooling experiences are treated as statistically predetermined—in contrast to the upward bias for schooling, which suggests that the underlying physical and job-related components of genetic endowments are negatively correlated with those for cognitive skills. (3) The failure in most studies to incorporate pre- and post-schooling experiences in the analysis of adult cognitive skills or outcomes affected by adult cognitive skills is likely to lead to misleading over-emphasis on schooling relative to these pre-and post-schooling experiences. (4) Gender differences in the coefficients of the adult cognitive skills production functions are not significant, suggesting that most of the fairly substantial differences in adult cognitive skills favoring males on average originate from gender differences in schooling attainment and in experience in skilled jobs favoring males. These four sets of findings are of substantial interest in themselves. But they also have important implications for broader literatures, reinforcing the importance of early life investments in disadvantaged children in determining adult skills and options, pointing to limitations in the cross-country growth literature of using schooling of adults to represent human capital, supporting hypotheses about the importance of childhood nutrition and work complexity in explaining the “Flynn effect” of substantial increases in measured cognitive skills over time, and questioning the interpretation of studies that report productivity impacts of cognitive skills without controlling for the endogeneity of such skills.

Administrators in higher education: organizational expansion in a transforming institution

Recent European research has revealed growth in the number of administrators and professionals across different sections of universities—a long established trend in US universities. We build on this research by investigating the factors associated with variation in the proportion of administrators across 761 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in 11 European countries. We argue that the enactment of expanded and diversified missions of HE is one of the main factors nurturing universities’ profesional and administrative bodies. Our findings support such an assertion; regardless of geographical and institutional differences, HEIs with high levels of “entrepreneurialism” (e.g. in service provision and external engagement) are characterized by a larger proportion of administrative staff. However, we find no empirical support for arguments citing structural pressures and demands on HEIs due to higher student enrolments, budget cuts or deregulation as engines driving such change. Instead, our results point towards, as argued by neo-institutionalists, the diffusion of formal organization as a model of institutional identity and purpose, which is especially prevalent at high levels of external connectedness

The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems: motivations, challenges, and applications

Abstract In response to growing demand for ecosystem-level risk assessment in biodiversity conservation, and rapid proliferation of locally tailored protocols, the IUCN recently endorsed new Red List criteria as a global standard for ecosystem risk assessment. Four qualities were sought in the design of the IUCN criteria: generality; precision; realism; and simplicity. Drawing from extensive global consultation, we explore trade-offs among these qualities when dealing with key challenges, including ecosystem classification, measuring ecosystem dynamics, degradation and collapse, and setting decision thresholds to delimit ordinal categories of threat. Experience from countries with national lists of threatened ecosystems demonstrates well-balanced trade-offs in current and potential applications of Red Lists of Ecosystems in legislation, policy, environmental management and education. The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems should be judged by whether it achieves conservation ends and improves natural resource management, whether its limitations are outweighed by its benefits, and whether it performs better than alternative methods. Future development of the Red List of Ecosystems will benefit from the history of the Red List of Threatened Species which was trialed and adjusted iteratively over 50 years from rudimentary beginnings. We anticipate the Red List of Ecosystems will promote policy focus on conservation outcomes in situ across whole landscapes and seascapes

A modular analogue of Morozov's theorem on maximal subalgebras of simple Lie algebras

Let $G$ be a simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p>0$ and suppose that $p$ is a very good prime for $G$. We prove that any maximal Lie subalgebra $M$ of $\mathfrak{g} = {\rm Lie}(G)$ with ${\rm rad}(M) \ne 0$ has the form $M = {\rm Lie}(P)$ for some maximal parabolic subgroup $P$ of $G$. We show that the assumption on $p$ is necessary by providing a counterexample for groups type ${\rm E}_8$ over fields of characteristic $5$. Our arguments rely on the main results and methods of the classification theory of finite dimensional simple Lie algebras over fields prime characteristic.Comment: 42 pages; this version of the preprint is accepted for publication in "Advances in Mathematics

Cardiosphere-derived cells suppress allogeneic lymphocytes by production of PGE2 acting via the EP4 receptor

derived cells (CDCs) are a cardiac progenitor cell population, which have been shown to possess cardiac regenerative properties and can improve heart function in a variety of cardiac diseases. Studies in large animal models have predominantly focussed on using autologous cells for safety, however allogeneic cell banks would allow for a practical, cost-effective and efficient use in a clinical setting. The aim of this work was to determine the immunomodulatory status of these cells using CDCs and lymphocytes from 5 dogs. CDCs expressed MHC I but not MHC II molecules and in mixed lymphocyte reactions demonstrated a lack of lymphocyte proliferation in response to MHC-mismatched CDCs. Furthermore, MHC-mismatched CDCs suppressed lymphocyte proliferation and activation in response to Concanavalin A. Transwell experiments demonstrated that this was predominantly due to direct cell-cell contact in addition to soluble mediators whereby CDCs produced high levels of PGE2 under inflammatory conditions. This led to down-regulation of CD25 expression on lymphocytes via the EP4 receptor. Blocking prostaglandin synthesis restored both, proliferation and activation (measured via CD25 expression) of stimulated lymphocytes. We demonstrated for the first time in a large animal model that CDCs inhibit proliferation in allo-reactive lymphocytes and have potent immunosuppressive activity mediated via PGE2

Bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents and its impact on veterinary and human medicine

Background Antimicrobial resistance has become a major challenge in veterinary medicine, particularly in the context of bacterial pathogens that play a role in both humans and animals. Objectives This review serves as an update on acquired resistance mechanisms in bacterial pathogens of human and animal origin, including examples of transfer of resistant pathogens between hosts and of resistance genes between bacteria. Results Acquired resistance is based on resistance-mediating mutations or on mobile resistance genes. Although mutations are transferred vertically, mobile resistance genes are also transferred horizontally (by transformation, transduction or conjugation/mobilization), contributing to the dissemination of resistance. Mobile genes specifying any of the three major resistance mechanisms – enzymatic inactivation, reduced intracellular accumulation or modification of the cellular target sites – have been found in a variety of bacteria that may be isolated from animals. Such resistance genes are associated with plasmids, transposons, gene cassettes, integrative and conjugative elements or other mobile elements. Bacteria, including zoonotic pathogens, can be exchanged between animals and humans mainly via direct contact, but also via dust, aerosols or foods. Proof of the direction of transfer of resistant bacteria can be difficult and depends on the location of resistance genes or mutations in the chromosomal DNA or on a mobile element. Conclusion The wide variety in resistance and resistance transfer mechanisms will continue to ensure the success of bacterial pathogens in the future. Our strategies to counteract resistance and preserve the efficacy of antimicrobial agents need to be equally diverse and resourceful. This article is based on a State of the Art presentation at the 8th World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology held May 2016 in Bordeaux, France

Sources of Community Health Worker Motivation: A Qualitative Study in Morogoro Region, Tanzania.

There is a renewed interest in community health workers (CHWs) in Tanzania, but also a concern that low motivation of CHWs may decrease the benefits of investments in CHW programs. This study aimed to explore sources of CHW motivation to inform programs in Tanzania and similar contexts. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 CHWs in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and coded prior to translation and thematic analysis. The authors then conducted a literature review on CHW motivation and a framework that aligned with our findings was modified to guide the presentation of results. Sources of CHW motivation were identified at the individual, family, community, and organizational levels. At the individual level, CHWs are predisposed to volunteer work and apply knowledge gained to their own problems and those of their families and communities. Families and communities supplement other sources of motivation by providing moral, financial, and material support, including service fees, supplies, money for transportation, and help with farm work and CHW tasks. Resistance to CHW work exhibited by families and community members is limited. The organizational level (the government and its development partners) provides motivation in the form of stipends, potential employment, materials, training, and supervision, but inadequate remuneration and supplies discourage CHWs. Supervision can also be dis-incentivizing if perceived as a sign of poor performance. Tanzanian CHWs who work despite not receiving a salary have an intrinsic desire to volunteer, and their motivation often derives from support received from their families when other sources of motivation are insufficient. Policy-makers and program managers should consider the burden that a lack of remuneration imposes on the families of CHWs. In addition, CHWs' intrinsic desire to volunteer does not preclude a desire for external rewards. Rather, adequate and formal financial incentives and in-kind alternatives would allow already-motivated CHWs to increase their commitment to their work

Universities’ pursuit of inclusion and its effects on professional staff: the case of the United Kingdom

This paper explores the proliferation of non-academic professionals as a cultural response to universities’ mission of inclusion. Departing from a neo-institutionalist perspective, the author argues that the diffusion of highly rationalised models of institutional action shapes universities as formal organisations who engage with new levels of professional expertise in the pursuit of goals and missions. The United Kingdom (UK) offers an illustrative example, the emergence of statutory equality duties on public institutions (race equality duty 2001, disability equality duty 2006 and gender equality duty 2007) nurturing an image of universities as strategic for the pursuit of demographic inclusion. Using yearly longitudinal data on 109 UK universities from 2003 to 2011, the author shows that universities increase their professional staff in catering for demographic inclusion in terms of ethnicity and disability, revealing highly rationalised institutional responses to the aforementioned equality duties. The findings contribute to the neo-institutionalist literature drawing attention to the transformation of universities into organisational actors (i.e. highly integrated entities, strategically oriented towards the pursuit of formally articulated goals and targets), which contrasts with traditional conceptions of the university as an institution with a taken-for-granted societal role and loosely defined organisational backbone. The findings provide the impetuous for further empirical research into the role of professional staff as universities assimilate new goals and missions

Which symptoms are linked to a delayed presentation among melanoma patients? A retrospective study

Background: The incidence of melanoma is rising. Early detection is associated with a more favourable outcome. The factors that influence the timing of a patient’s presentation for medical assessment are not fully understood. The aims of the study were to measure the nature and duration of melanoma symptoms in a group of patients diagnosed with melanoma within the preceding 18 months and to identify the symptoms and barriers associated with a delay in presentation. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 200 of the 963 melanoma patients who had participated in the Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2010 and were known to be alive 1 year later. Data were collected on symptoms, duration of symptoms prior to presentation and the reasons for not attending a doctor sooner. Results: A total of 159 patients responded to the questionnaire; 74 (47%) were men; mean age was 62 (range 24–90) years. Of the 149 patients who reported a symptom, 40 (27%) had a delayed presentation (i.e. >3 months). A mole growing bigger was the most common symptom and reporting this symptom was significantly associated with a delayed presentation (odds ratio (OR) 2.04, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.14–5.08). Patients aged ≥65 years were less likely to report a barrier to presentation and were less likely to delay than those under 40, although this was of borderline statistical significance (OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.08–1.00). Conclusions: This study highlights that an enlarging mole is a significant symptom influencing the timing of presentation. Increasing public awareness of the signs of melanoma and of the importance of early presentation is desirable. Health professionals should take advantage of the opportunity to educate patients on such symptoms and signs where feasible. Further exploration of the barriers to presentation in younger people should be considered