In this article, we examine the relationship between important types of policies for asylum permit holders in the Netherlands and the improvement in their command of Dutch. As far as asylum policy is concerned, we find that participation in activities in the asylum seekers reception centre – and in particular, following Dutch language classes – contribute to an improvement in Syrian asylum permit holders’ command of Dutch. On the other hand, a prolonged period of stay and frequent relocations between reception centres are not favourable. Asylum permit holders who have successfully completed the civic integration programme have a better command of the language than asylum permit holders who are still undergoing the programme. An important finding is that there seems to be a sort of double deficit in the area of civic integration: not only do the elderly and lower educated make less progress in learning Dutch, but they are also the ones more likely to receive a dispensation from the civic integration requirement, which places them at a further disadvantage. Third, we find that early participation in the labour market or as a volunteer is also beneficial for language proficiency.
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This paper outlines the main differences between ecocentric and anthropocentric positions in regard to justice, exploring university students’ perceptions of the concepts of social and ecological justice and reflecting on how values assigned to humans and the environment are balanced and contested. Putting justice for people before the environment is based on evidence that biological conservation can disadvantage local communities; the idea that the very notion of justice is framed by humans and therefore remains a human issue; and the assumption that humans have a higher value than other species. Putting justice for the environment first assumes that only an ecocentric ethic guarantees protection of all species, including humans, and therefore ecological justice already guarantees social justice. This research shows that many students emphasize the convergence of social and ecological justice where human and environmental interests correspond. While not wishing to diminish the underlying assumptions of either ethical orientation, the common “enemy” of both vulnerable communities and nonhuman nature, as identified by students, is an ideology of economic growth and industrial development. http://dx.doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/2688 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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By supporting creation of protected areas, conservation projects are known to bring economic prosperity to the local communities, but also incite criticism. A common theme in the critique of conservation organizations is the proximity to neoliberal agencies seeking to capitalize on environment, which disadvantage the local communities. Community participation has been proposed as a panacea for neoliberal conservation. However, conservation efficacy is not always contingent on the community involvement and reliance on ‘traditional’ practices in protected areas has not always benefitted biodiversity. Simultaneously, critique of conservation ignores evidence of indigenous activism as well as alternative forms of environmentalism which provide a broader ethical support base for conservation. This article highlights the challenges and contradictions, as well as offers hopeful directions in order to more effectively ground compassionate conservation. https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2015.1048765 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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Designing meaningful audio for interactive applications such as video games or sonic user interfaces, presents designers with several challenges. One challenge is the fact that the perception of musical meaning involves cultural or learned aspects when it comes to tonality (Huron, 2006; Patel, 2008). For applied music and sound design, as cross-cultural phenomenon, this cultural specificity appears to be a significant disadvantage. Nevertheless, the history of interactive music in video games and sonic user interfaces illuminates many successful examples of meaningful musical icons in classic arcade games such as Pac-Man (1980), Donkey Kong (1981), Super Mario World (1990) and Pong (1972) and the user interface sounds of operating systems.
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In this paper a prospective study of the association between maternal smoking and neonatal morbidity variables is presented. Caucasian nulliparous women (n = 115)were studied throughout pregnancy, childbirth and puerperal period. Birthweight(-centiles), Apgar scores, mode of delivery, umbilical arterial and venous blood gas analyses, admission incidence to the neonatal ward and neurological examnination according to Prechtl were considered to be representatives for the starting condition of the newborns. The babies of smokers were statistically significantly at a disadvantage compared to babies of non-smokers for birthweight(-centiles), pH of the umbilical vein (medians): smokers 7.29, non-smokers 7.30) and the score of the neurological examnination (medians: smokers 57, non-smokers 58).
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Measuring values in sociological research sometimes involves the use of ranking data. A disadvantage of a ranking assignment is that the order in which the items are presented might influence the choice preferences of respondents regardless of the content being measured. The standard procedure to rule out such effects is to randomize the order of items across respondents. However, implementing this design may be impractical and the biasing impact of a response order effect cannot be evaluated. We use a latent choice factor (LCF) model that allows statistically controlling for response order effects. Furthermore, the model adequately deals with the known issue of ipsativity of ranking data. Applying this model to a Dutch survey on work values, we show that a primacy effect accounts for response order bias in item preferences. Our findings demonstrate the usefulness of the LCF model in modeling ranking data while taking into account particular response biases.
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Following on from successful early intervention programs abroad, the Netherlands also introduced a number of different programs to tackle educational disadvantage in preschool and early years education. Studies that investigate the effects of Dutch early childhood interventions have been published since 2000. This meta-analytic review study summarizes the findings from 21 experimental comparisons which study some 50,000 children in the period between 2000–2015, with a total of 165 outcome measures. The aggregate effect of early childhood interventions compared with standard preschool and early years groups is not statistically significant. The disappointing results indicate that special early childhood education programs currently offer no added value for the development of young children in the Dutch context over and above regular preschool and early years groups. A focus for Dutch policy is to improve future practice based on scientific evidence around effective approaches to ECEC. Further, the implementation of study designs with more experimental control would strengthen the current knowledge base.
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Laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) has been proven to be a useful tool in predicting the burn wound outcome in an early stage. A major disadvantage of scanning beam LDPI devices is their slow scanning speed, leading to patient discomfort and imaging artifacts. We have developed the Twente Optical Perfusion Camera (TOPCam), a whole field laser Doppler perfusion imager based on a CMOS imaging array, which is two orders of magnitude faster than scanning beam LDPI systems. In this paper the first clinical results of the TOPCam in the setting of a burn centre are presented. The paper shows perfusion images of burns of various degrees. While our system encounters problems caused by blisters, tissue necrosis, surface reflection and curvature in a manner similar to scanning beam imagers, it poses a clear advantage in terms of procedure time. Image quality in terms of dynamic range and resolution appears to be sufficient for burn diagnosis. Hence, we made important steps in overcoming the limitations of LDPI in burn diagnosis imposed by the measurement speed. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI.
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Success at school determines future career opportunities. We described a time-of-day specific disparity in school performance between early and late chronotypes. Several studies showed that students with a late chronotype and short sleep duration obtain lower grades, suggesting that early school starting times handicap their performance. How chronotype, sleep duration, and time of day impact school performance is not clear. At a Dutch high school, we collected 40,890 grades obtained in a variety of school subjects over an entire school year. We found that the strength of the effect of chronotype on grades was similar to that of absenteeism, and that late chronotypes were more often absent. The difference in grades between the earliest 20% and the latest 20% of chronotypes corresponds to a drop from the 55th to 43rd percentile of grades. In academic subjects using mainly fluid cognition (scientific subjects), the correlation with grades and chronotype was significant while subjects relying on crystallised intelligence (humanistic/linguistic) showed no correlation with chronotype. Based on these and previous results, we can expand our earlier findings concerning exam times: students with a late chronotype are at a disadvantage in exams on scientific subjects, and when they are examined early in the day.
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