bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oncomelania hupensis retains its ability to transmit Schistosoma japonicum 13 years after migration from permissive to non-permissive areas
Authors: Sun Cheng-song , Luo Fang , Liu Xin , Miao Feng , Hu Wei
Published: March 2020

Background

The East Route Project (ERP) of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP) stretches across schistosomiasis endemic and non-endemic areas in China, which may lead to the dispersal of Oncomelania hupensis, the intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum, from permissive areas along the Yangtze River Basin to non-permissive areas in northern China. A previous survey demonstrated that O. hupensis could survive and breed for 13 years (12 generations) after being transferred to a non-permissive area, and could be infected by S. japonicum. However, it is not clear if the migrated snails will change their ability to transmit S. japonicum.

Methods

We infected mice with the cercariae released from the infected transferred snails bred in Jining city of Shandong Province (non-permissive areas) for 13 years. The mice in the control group were infected with cercariae derived from the snails collected in their original habitat (Jiangdu county of Jiangsu Province, permissive areas). Then, we explored the pathogenicity to mice including worm burden, liver egg count and pathology. Additionally, the gene expression profiles of the adult male and female worms recovered from the infected mice were analyzed by RNA sequencing.

Results

The worm burden, liver egg count and pathology of the mice infected with cercariae released from transferred snails bred in non-permissive areas for 13 years showed no significant differences, when compared with the control cercariae. Slight changes occurred at the transcription level between adult male and female worms recovered from mice infected with cercariae derived from snails bred in permissive and non-permissive areas. Only fourteen genes were significantly differentially expressed in the comparison of adult female worms, and no significantly differentially expressed gene was found in the comparison of adult male worms.

Conclusions

Our findings strongly suggest that transferred snails did not change their schistosomiasis transmission ability and the worms derived from them retained the original pathogenicity, even after migrating from permissive to non-permissive areas for 13 years. Therefore, a long-term surveillance system of snails along the SNWDP is urgently needed to prevent the diffusion of O. hupensis and reduce the risk of transmission of schistosomiasis.
Tracking cancer progression: from circulating tumor cells to metastasis
Authors: Castro-Giner Francesc , Aceto Nicola
Published: March 2020

The analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is an outstanding tool to provide insights into the biology of metastatic cancers, to monitor disease progression and with potential for use in liquid biopsy-based personalized cancer treatment. These goals are ambitious, yet recent studies are already allowing a sharper understanding of the strengths, challenges, and opportunities provided by liquid biopsy approaches. For instance, through single-cell-resolution genomics and transcriptomics, it is becoming increasingly clear that CTCs are heterogeneous at multiple levels and that only a fraction of them is capable of initiating metastasis. It also appears that CTCs adopt multiple ways to enhance their metastatic potential, including homotypic clustering and heterotypic interactions with immune and stromal cells. On the clinical side, both CTC enumeration and molecular analysis may provide new means to monitor cancer progression and to take individualized treatment decisions, but their use for early cancer detection appears to be challenging compared to that of other tumor derivatives such as circulating tumor DNA. In this review, we summarize current data on CTC biology and CTC-based clinical applications that are likely to impact our understanding of the metastatic process and to influence the clinical management of patients with metastatic cancer, including new prospects that may favor the implementation of precision medicine.
A Canadian evaluation framework for quality improvement in childhood arthritis: key performance indicators of the process of care
Authors: Barber Claire E. H. , Twilt Marinka , Pham Tram , Currie Gillian R. , Benseler Susanne , Yeung Rae S. M. , Batthish Michelle , Blanchette Nicholas , Guzman Jaime , Lang Bianca , LeBlanc Claire , Levy Deborah M. , O’Brien Christine , Schmeling Heinrike , Soon Gordon , Spiegel Lynn , Whitney Kristi , Marshall Deborah A.
Published: March 2020

Background

The evaluation of quality of care in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is critical for advancing patient outcomes but is not currently part of routine care across all centers in Canada. The study objective is to review the current landscape of JIA quality measures and use expert panel consensus to define key performance indicators (KPIs) that are important and feasible to collect for routine monitoring in JIA care in Canada.

Methods

Thirty-seven candidate KPIs identified from a systematic review were reviewed for inclusion by a working group including 3 pediatric rheumatologists. A shortlist of 14 KPIs was then assessed using a 3-round modified Delphi panel based on the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method. Ten panelists across Canada participated based on their expertise in JIA, quality measurement, or lived experience as a parent of a child with JIA. During rounds 1 and 3, panelists rated each KPI on a 1–9 Likert scale on themes of importance, feasibility, and priority. In round 2, panelists participated in a moderated in-person discussion that resulted in minor modifications to some KPIs. KPIs with median scores of ≥ 7 on all 3 questions without disagreement were included in the framework.

Results

Ten KPIs met the criteria for inclusion after round 3. Five KPIs addressed patient assessments: pain, joint count, functional status, global assessment of disease activity, and the clinical Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (cJADAS). Three KPIs examined access to care: wait times for consultation, access to pediatric rheumatologists within 1 year of diagnosis, and frequency of clinical follow-up. Safety was addressed through KPIs on tuberculous screening and laboratory monitoring. KPIs examining functional status using the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ), quality of life, uveitis, and patient satisfaction were excluded due to concerns about feasibility of measurement.

Conclusions

The proposed KPIs build upon existing KPIs and address important processes of care that should be measured to improve the quality of JIA care. The feasibility of capturing these measures will be tested in various data sources including the Understanding Childhood Arthritis Network (UCAN) studies. Subsequent work should focus on development of meaningful outcome KPIs to drive JIA quality improvement in Canada and beyond.
Low frequency of flares during pregnancy and post-partum in stable lupus patients
Authors: Davis-Porada Julia , Kim Mimi Y. , Guerra Marta M. , Laskin Carl A. , Petri Michelle , Lockshin Michael D. , Sammaritano Lisa R. , Branch D. Ware , Sawitzke Allen , Merrill Joan T. , Buyon Jill P. , Salmon Jane E.
Published: March 2020

Background

Lupus patients are at risk for pregnancy loss, and it has been generally accepted that women with SLE should have low disease activity prior to conception. However, there are conflicting results regarding the effect of pregnancy on SLE flares. This study aims to identify predictors of flares during and after pregnancy in SLE patients with inactive or stable disease activity during the first trimester and to characterize and estimate the frequency of post-partum flares in these patients.

Methods

SLE patients in the multicenter, prospective PROMISSE (Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) study were evaluated for flares during and after pregnancy using the SELENA-SLEDAI Flare Index. Flares during pregnancy were assessed in all 384 patients and post-partum flares in 234 patients with study visits 2–6 months post-partum. Logistic regression models were fit to the data to identify independent risk factors for flare.

Results

During pregnancy, 20.8% of patients had mild/moderate flares and 6.25% had severe. Post-partum, 27.7% of patients had mild/moderate flares and 1.7% had severe. The mild flares rarely required treatment. Younger age, low C4 and higher PGA at baseline were independently associated with higher risk of having at least one mild/moderate or severe flare during pregnancy. Older patients were at decreased risk of flare, as well as those with quiescent disease at baseline. No variables evaluated at baseline or the visit most proximal to delivery was significantly associated with risk of flare post-partum. Medications were not associated with flare during or after pregnancy.

Conclusion

In patients with inactive or stable mild disease activity at the time of conception, lupus disease flares during and after pregnancy are typically mild and occur at similar rates. Flares during pregnancy are predicted by the patients’ age and clinical and serological activity at baseline.
Among territorial project and architectural design
Authors: Valentino Michele , Lutzoni Laura
Published: March 2020

The contribution develops a reflection on the urban space project in contexts characterized by historical-cultural relevance by exploring interdisciplinary approaches through the intersection of research and didactic actions in the field, which make the project emerge from specific ways of interacting with local societies. These relationships find a sense starting from the identification of some traditionally configured places in the city that present obsolete functions or abandoned conditions, but characterized by a strong urban value and can become hubs of potential and learning laboratories. In this sense, knowledge can be a tool capable of favouring forms of social relations and initiating the construction of new citizenships.

The research identifies in the context of the historic city of Sassari some nuclei of urbanity, spaces and significant areas of the city that more than others recall an educational dimension. The relationship between the formative character of the historic city and the emergence of new forms of sociality favours the possibility of identifying areas outside standardization that contain the genetic code of urban conviviality. In this perspective, public space defined as the place of production of sociality, designed to bring out a different urban organization.

The identification of these latent traces of a system full of meaning and full of potential for urban life can open fertile perspectives to think of new spaces of relationship for active participation in the project of the city. Marking the distance from an object-oriented position in favor of an ontology of urban and territorial relations, the project continuously aimed at revealing new forms of spatial distribution that relate different nuclei, interpreting their specific role in the overall system of generative structures environmental aspects of the city.
Changing structures of B2B networks in the Japanese textile and apparel industry
Authors: Ogai Yusaku , Matsumura Yoshiyuki , Hoshino Yusuke
Published: March 2020

The aim of the present study was to evaluate how the business-to-business (B2B) networks in the Japanese textile and apparel industry changed between 2005 and 2010 using data on 200 companies. Network analysis was used to study the properties of the B2B networks, and how their structures changed was characterized using the USD/JPY exchange rate. The network analysis revealed power-law properties of the B2B networks, and the core networks characterized by the largest degree centrality exhibited positive correlations with the USD/JPY exchange rate. By contrast, the peripheral networks characterized by the network path length exhibited the negative correlations with the exchange rate USD/JPY. Therefore, the changes that occurred in the B2B networks are explained as the complementarity of comparative advantages originating in the USD/JPY exchange rate. Moreover, the USD/JPY exchange rate affected the B2B networks through not only the complementarity of importing and exporting but also by changing the structures.
Factors associated with dietary adherence to the guidelines for prevention and treatment of hypertension among Korean adults with and without hypertension
Authors: Shim Jee-Seon , Heo Ji Eun , Kim Hyeon Chang
Published: March 2020

Background

Although dietary modification is strongly recommended for prevention and treatment of hypertension, little is known about which factors are associated with adherence to dietary guidelines. We investigated knowledge and attitude, perceived benefits of, barriers to, and self-efficacy of dietary therapy, and identified the factors associated with dietary adherence among adults with and without hypertension.

Methods

We collected information on the knowledge/attitudes and perceived benefits of dietary therapy, as well as barriers to and self-efficacy regarding dietary adherence from 497 middle-aged (34–69 years) adults who participated in the follow-up examination of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Center (CMERC) cohort study during December 2018 and February 2019.

Results

Among people without hypertension, 95.5% (343/359) and 95.8% (344/359) answered that they would limit sodium intake and consume health diet, respectively, if diagnosed hypertension. However, among people with hypertension, only 79.7% (110/138) and 77.5% (107/138) reported they were limiting dietary sodium intake and having healthy diet, respectively. Frequency of diet management was not different between normotensive (34.0%) and hypertensive (35.5%) groups. Compared to normotensives, hypertensive people were more likely to have lower dietary adherence score, think they need to change their diet, think dietary change impossible, and report lower self-efficacy for following diet guidelines. Dietary management was significantly associated with cardiometabolic risk factors (OR: 1.63) and dietary education (OR: 2.19) among normotensives, while it was associated only with awareness that lifestyle modification is necessary regardless of antihypertensive medication (OR: 6.29) among hypertensive people. Good dietary adherence had significant associations with perceived barriers (OR: 0.71), self-efficacy (OR: 3.71), and dietary education (OR: 1.98) among normotensives; and with perceived barriers (OR: 0.54), self-efficacy (OR: 4.06), and dietary management (OR: 4.16) among hypertensive people.

Conclusions

Many Koreans have relatively low adherence to dietary guidelines for hypertension prevention and treatment. Knowledge, dietary practices, and factors affecting dietary adherence were different between adults with and without hypertension. A targeted approach will be needed to improve blood pressure control of the Korean population.
Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration of colonic varices: a case report
Authors: Liu Chantal , Srinivasan Sivasubramanian , Babu Suresh B. , Chung Raymond
Published: March 2020

Background

Ectopic varices are uncommon and typically due to underlying liver cirrhosis. They can be located in the duodenum, small intestines, colon or rectum, and may result in massive haemorrhage. While established guidelines exist for the management of oesophageal and gastric variceal bleeding, this is currently lacking for colonic varices.

Beta-blockers, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt insertion and subtotal colectomy have been reported as management methods. However, there are only two other cases that have reported successfully treating colonic varices using balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO), an endovascular procedure typically performed for gastric varices.

Case presentation

A 55-year-old man with background of alcoholic liver cirrhosis presented with per-rectal bleeding due to caecal varices. Grade 2–3 oesophageal varices were identified on oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy, and computed tomography showed multiple right para-colic portosystemic collaterals around the hepatic flexure and ascending colon. Colonoscopy confirmed fresh blood in the colon up to the caecum, with a submucosal varix deemed the most likely source of haemorrhage.

As transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt insertion was potentially technically difficult, due to left portal vein thrombosis and a small right portal venous system, he underwent BRTO, which successfully embolised and thrombosed the colonic varices without complications.

Conclusions

Whilst further studies are required to conclude its effectiveness and efficacy, BRTO may be considered a viable solution in managing ectopic, colonic, variceal haemorrhage especially when traditional techniques are unsuccessful or contraindicated.
Association of particles of lipoprotein subclasses with arterial stiffness in a high-risk working population: the Baptist Employee Healthy Heart Study (BEHHS)
Authors: Aziz Muhammad , Gannarapu Swetha , Humayun Choudhry , Siddiqui Usman , Nasir Khurram , Aneni Ehimen C.
Published: March 2020

Background

Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. A risk factor-independent association of arterial stiffness with traditional lipids has been described extensively, but it is still unclear whether an independent relationship exists between arterial stiffness and particles of lipoprotein subclasses.

Methods

The Baptist Employee Healthy Heart Study (BEHHS) is a lifestyle intervention study examining the effects of web-based programs on reducing CVD risk in high-risk persons. Participants had their brachial arterial augmentation index (AI, a measure arterial stiffness) assessed using the EndoPAT 2000 device. Cardio IQ™ ion mobility lipoprotein fractionation was utilized for measurement of particles of lipoprotein subclasses.

Results

The population consisted of 182 participants, (74% women, 49% Hispanic) with a mean age of 52 ± 9 years. There was a significant trend association between quartiles of AI and total cholesterol, HDL-c, large LDL-p, small IDL-p, large IDL-p, and all subclasses of HDL particles (total HDL-p, small HDL-p, and large HDL-p). In logistic regression analysis, only HDL-c, total LDL-p, large LDL-p, small IDL-p, large IDL-p, total HDL-p, small HDL-p, and large HDL-p demonstrated significant independent association with AI.

Conclusion

Several lipoprotein subclasses demonstrate independent significant associations with arterial stiffness. A safe and relatively inexpensive blood test may be useful in identifying subclinical atherosclerosis process in a relatively young high CVD risk population.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov,NCT01912209. Registered July 31, 2013
A Case for Relation: Mapping Afro-Latinx Caribbean and Equatoguinean Poetics
Authors: Figueroa Yomaira C.
Published: March 2020

This essay contends that Caribbean conceptualizations of relation, understood through the theorizing and political organizing of women of color feminists, offer decolonial possibilities that enable radical remappings of the Afro-Atlantic. The essay argues that the political and intellectual contributions of theories of relationality and decolonial feminisms by women of color should be understood as theoretical and methodological tools for approaching some of the most peripheralized Afro-diasporic works. To that end, it examines the histories and the interconnected literary imaginaries that exist across the Afro-Latinx Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic), Equatorial Guinea (the only Spanish-speaking nation-state in Sub-Saharan Africa), and their diasporic cultural productions in the United States and Spain. The essay ultimately argues that women of color and decolonial feminist discourses and ethics help us understand literary and cultural productions as insurgent practices that are central to tracking and reformulating notions of decoloniality and Afro-diasporic studies.
Con-Federating the Archipelago: Introduction
Authors: Miguel Yolanda Martínez-San , Seligmann Katerina Gonzalez
Published: March 2020

This essay introduces the special section “Con-Federating the Archipelago: The Confederación Antillana and the West Indies Federation,” which interrogates the literary, intellectual, social, and political imaginaries fomented by the Confederación Antillana (Antillean Confederation) and the West Indies Federation, with the aim of promoting comparative studies and dialogue among scholars working on these two political projects. The Confederación Antillana was conceived to bring together three Spanish Antilles in dialogue with Haiti and Jamaica from the 1860s to 1898; the West Indies Federation became a governing body in the British Caribbean territories from 1958–62. These “con-federated” forms reverberate together in the idea of trans-Caribbean unity as a utopian reference for anti-imperial sovereignty and the decolonial achievement of racial equality. The guest editors provide a historical trajectory of both confederation projects in order to identify points of convergence and divergence between these two collective political projects to guide future comparative studies.
Caribbean Voices and the Communicative Failure of the West Indies Federation
Authors: Griffith Glyne
Published: March 2020

This essay argues that the short-lived West Indies Federation (1958–62) was not only undermined by the failure of the regional intelligentsia to comprehensively communicate a narrative of regionalism to the majority of the archipelago’s peoples but also further compromised by the BBC Caribbean Voices literary radio program broadcast to the region between 1943 and 1958. During this fifteen-year period leading up to federation, Caribbean Voices broadcast West Indian literature, as well as critical commentary by the program’s longest serving editor, Henry Swanzy, that generally emphasized territorial rather than regional nationalism. Consequently, the program’s content had the inadvertent effect of undermining the narrative of regionalism, at the popular level, that BBC officialdom and the region’s intelligentsia seemed to have taken for granted. The essay therefore concludes that the narrative failure of federation was prefigured in the widely and more persuasively articulated story of territorial nationalism that was presented in much of the literature and editorial commentary broadcast to the region via Caribbean Voices in the decade and a half leading up to federation.
Future Impossible Communities
Authors: Arroyo Jossianna
Published: March 2020

This response essay reviews the six contributions to the special section “Con-Federating the Archipelago: The Confederación Antillana and the West Indies Federation.” These key interventions on the Spanish Caribbean Confederation projects in the nineteenth century and the West Indies Federation in the twentieth century provoke the following questions: Could we call these two Caribbean confederation projects failures if their centrality in Caribbean political imaginaries suggests otherwise? What are some of the insights that these two projects could offer to Caribbean sociohistorical processes, culture, and political developments? Even though these two projects seem to share a similar political goal, they are also radically different. The author reviews the contributions to the special section in dialogue with examples from Puerto Rico in order to assess the critical intervention in theories of nationalism produced by the past projects of federation and the possible futures they give rise to.
Analysis on Deep Learning methods for ECG based Cardiovascular Disease prediction
Authors: Kusuma S , Udayan J Divya
Published: March 2020

The cardiovascular related diseases can however be controlled through earlierdetection as well as risk evaluation and prediction. In this paper the applicationof deep learning methods for CVD diagnosis using ECG is addressed.A detailed Analysis of related articles has been conducted. The results indicatethat convolutional neural networks (CNN) are the most widely used deeplearning technique in the CVD diagnosis. This research paper looks into theadvantages of deep learning approaches that can be brought by developing aframework that can enhance prediction of heart related diseases using ECG.
Diagnosis and Management of UTI in Febrile Infants Age 0–2 Months: Applicability of the AAP Guideline
Authors: Chang Pearl W , Wang Marie E , Schroeder Alan R
Published: March 2020

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common bacterial infection in young infants. The American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) clinical practice guideline for UTIs focuses on febrile children age 2‐24 months, with no guideline for infants <2 months of age, an age group commonly encountered by pediatric hospitalists. In this review, we assess the applicability of the AAP UTI Guideline's action statements for previously healthy, febrile infants <2 months of age. We also discuss additional considerations in this age group, including concurrent bacteremia and routine testing for meningitis.
The Function of Bounding and the Construal of Imagery in Zuzanna Ginczanka’s Poem "Dziewictwo" ("Virginity") and Its Ukrainian Translation
Authors: Piątkowska Józefina Inesa
Published: March 2020

In this article I make use of the concept of bounding developed within cognitive grammar, initially devised by Ronald Langacker (1983). I examine how the arrangement of nouns denoting bounded or unbounded entities relates to the imagery of two contrastive worlds in Zuzanna Ginczanka’s poem Dziewictwo (Virginity). The accurate rendition of Ginczanka’s grammatical choices in this regard will be the central criterion for the linguistic evaluation of the Ukrainian translation of the poem.
Reproductive management of the transitional mare
Authors: Scott Camilla
Published: March 2020

The mare is a seasonally polyoestrous long-day breeder with a physiological breeding season lasting from April–October in the Northern Hemisphere. The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in the mare is subject to a circannual endogenous rhythm that is primarily regulated by day length. Increasing ambient photoperiod in the spring alters the pattern of melatonin secretion. The resulting stimulation of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion triggers pituitary follicular stimulating hormone release and follicular growth. Exposure of mares in deep anoestrus to a stimulatory photoperiod remains the most successful method of advancing the first ovulation of the season. The most commonly used lighting regimen is providing a fixed length of 15–16 hours of light exposure and 8–9 hours of dark, with a minimum light intensity in a stable of 100-lux (100–200 watt incandescent bulb). Other methods include using an additional 2.5 hours of light beginning at sunset and a pulse lighting system, providing 1 hour of light, 9.5–10.5 hours after the onset of darkness, during the photosensitive phase. Alternatively, the EquilumeTMlight masks provide a unilateral LED light source emitting 50 lux of blue-light directly to the eye during the hours after dusk (until 11 pm). Mares that have not been maintained under lights, or that have been exposed to ineffective light therapy, may require therapeutic hormonal intervention to advance the onset of the first ovulation of the season. Many hormone protocols involving progestins, GnRH, dopamine agonists and recombinant luteinising hormone/follicle stimulating hormone have been studied with variable results. Therapy is typically more effective when started either in late transitional mares or following a period of stimulatory artificial photoperiod.
Coalescence-induced jumping of immersed and suspended droplets onmicrostructured substrates
Authors: Farokhirad Samaneh , Shad Mahmood Mohammadi , Lee Taehun
Published: March 2020

The coalescence-induced jumping of liquid droplets on superhydrophobic structured substrates is investigated numerically using a three-dimensional multiphase lattice Boltzmann method. The numerical experiments on evolution of droplets during jumping process show higher jumping velocity and height from superhydrophobic substrates structured with a periodic array of square pillars, than flat superhydrophobic substrateswith an equilibrium contact angle of 180◦. The results further reveal a strong effect of pillars on the vertical jumping velocity and the final quasiequilibrium height of the merged droplet as a function of air and liquid viscosity, as well as air inertia. As for substrate wettability, it is found that, compared to the flat superhydrophobic substrate, the critical contact angle where the merged droplet jumps away from substrate is reduced for pillared substrate and is about 120◦. It is also observed that the droplet initial placement on a substrate with a square array of pillars has an important effect on the spontaneous jumping of the coalesced droplet, and a Wenzel–Cassie wetting transition upon coalescence is observed for droplets that are initially immersed within the pillars.
Unsteady particle motion in an acoustic standing wave field
Authors: Wanga S. , Allen J. S. , Ardekani A. M.
Published: March 2020

The acoustic-based separation has attracted considerable attention in biomedical research, such as sorting of cells and particles. Current design principles used for acoustic systems are based on the steady Stokes theory, equating the Stokes drag with the primary radiation force. However, this approach is not valid for large cells/particles or in the presence of particle–particle interaction. In this work,we analytically examine unsteady inertial affects and particle–particle hydrodynamic interaction on the particle motion in a viscous fluid in the presence of an acoustic standing wave field. Comparing our results to the steady Stokes theory, we find that the unsteady inertial force decreases the particle’s velocity, while particle–particle interaction enhances it. For a particular acoustic-based separation approach ‘tilted-angle standing surface acoustic waves (taSSAW)’, we find that both effects of unsteady inertial force and particle–particle interaction are evident and should be considered for O(10μm) particles or larger. Our study improves the current predictions of particle trajectory in acoustic-based separation devices.
VET workers’ problem-solving skills in technology-rich environments: European approach
Authors: Hämäläinen Raija , Cincinnato Sebastiano , Malin Antero , De Wever Bram
Published: March 2020

The European workplace is challenging VET adults’ problem-solving skills in technology-rich environments (TREs). So far, no international large-scale assessment data has been available for VET. The PIAAC data comprise the most comprehensive source of information on adults’ skills to date. The present study (N=50 369) focuses on gaining insight into the problem-solving skills in TREs of adults with a VET background. When examining the similarities and differences in VET adults’ problem-solving skills in TREs across 11 European countries, two main trends can be observed. First, our results show that only a minority of VET adults perform at a high level. Second, there seems to be substantial variation between countries with respect to the proportion of VET adults that can be identified as “at-risk” or “weak” performers. For the future, our findings indicate the variations that can be used as a starting point to identify beneficial VET approaches.
Difficulties in Defining Social-Emotional Intelligence, Competences and Skills - a Theoretical Analysis and Structural Suggestion
Authors: Monnier Moana
Published: March 2020

Demands related to the frequency of and time required for interactional tasks in everyday occupational routines are continuously growing. When it comes to qualifying a person’s ability to interact with others, two prototypical concepts are often used: social competences and emotional intelligence. In connection to discussions about curriculum standards in Germany, these are viewed as important attributes that should be taught, supported and if possible assessed in educational pathways toward an occupation. However, in looking for a generally approved and widely used definition, many problems arise on the inter-conceptual and intra-conceptual level, triggering implementation difficulties in educational curricula. This article highlights these difficulties by selecting five well-established key theories and comparing their communalities and differences. Analyzing definitions of intelligence, competences and skills, taking an action regulation perspective and highlighting the interdependence of social and emotional aspects, a structural system to facilitate the transfer into the educational context is proposed.
What Sense Can We Make of the Possibility of Vocational Didactics? An Approach from the Spanish School-Based System Complemented by Non-Formal Vocational Training
Authors: Marhuenda Fernando , Ros-Garrido Alicia
Published: March 2020

Our contribution attempts to review the development of the field of didactics in Spain in the past 35 years and its contribution to the development and improvement of vocational education and training. We intend to show that the concern of didactics is an issue of great concern (and dispute) in Southern Europe, for which we will use Spain as an example.

We will particularly analyse from a didactical approach (taking didactics as a normative applied discipline well established in academia) the possibilities that a traditionally school-based discipline has to improve the development of vocational education practice in and out of schools, for young and adult people, in terms of pedagogical innovation.
The Academic Takes it All? A Comparison of Returns to Investment in Education between Graduates and Apprentices in Canada
Authors: Kopatz Susanne , Pilz Matthias
Published: March 2020

This paper analyses the returns to education of specific occupations in Canada. The purpose is to scrutinize whether and in how far academic and vocational education do differ in monetary benefits regarding individual returns. Therefore, two different methodologies of calculation are used to compute the concrete returns to education. As a result it is shown empirically that within the here selected occupational groups (e.g. librarians and electricians) there is no decisive earnings benefit regarding academic careers, although a positive correlation of income level and educational achievement can be verified. Our findings justify revisiting the underlying assumption that vocational education and training cannot generate benefits comparable with those generated by higher education. The earnings data suggest that monetary aspects may be less crucial than generally assumed to the reputation and perceived value of vocational education and training. Therefore, social status and prestige seem to be the most significant contributory factors to vocational training's low status in Canada.
Context-Driven Entrepreneurial Education in Vocational Schools
Authors: Sandirasegarane Sharmila , Sutermaster Staci , Gill Alyssa , Volz Jennifer , Mehta Khanjan
Published: March 2020

Vocational Education and Training (VET) is offered throughout the world to students of various educational backgrounds and career aspirations in an effort to create a skilled workforce. The structure of VET varies greatly across different fields and countries with high-growth, low-growth, and transitional economies. However, a common critique of many vocational institutions is that they focus on skills training without addressing related business systems. Thus, students may not understand the business strategies related to their field, which stifles job readiness and entrepreneurial potential. To counter this, a more context-driven and integrated entrepreneurial approach is proposed for VET. Benefits, disadvantages, and exemplars of various types of vocational and entrepreneurial programs are evaluated to determine how their strengths might be leveraged. Such integrated entrepreneurial and vocational training would more suitably address context-specific market needs via both practical and transferrable skills, thus helping to reduce unemployment, particularly among youth in sub-Saharan Africa.
Universities' Engagement with Vocationalism: Historical Perspective
Authors: Rospigliosi Pericles , Bourner Tom , Heath Linda
Published: March 2020

The aim of this article is to explore the historical context of vocationalism in universities. It is based on an analysis of the history of the university from a vocational perspective. It looks for evidence of vocational engagement in the activities of universities over time, taking a long view from the birth of the Western University in the Middle Ages to the 1980s with the emergence of current issues of vocationalism in university education. It adopts a chronological perspective initially and then a thematic one. The main findings are: (1) vocationalism in university education is as old as the Western University itself, (2) there is evidence from the start of the Western University of vocational engagement in terms of the provision of vocationally relevant subjects, vocationally relevant skills and the development of vocationally relevant attitudes, (3) whereas most graduate employers used to be concerned with the vocationally relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes students acquired on their degree courses, most are now more concerned with graduate capacity and disposition to learn within their employment after graduation and (4) subject-centred education is compatible with university education that supports the vocational aspirations of students.
Developing Schemas for Assessing Social Competences among Unskilled Young People
Authors: Aarkrog Vibe , Wahlgren Bjarne
Published: March 2020

Social competences are crucial parts of vocational education and training (VET) competences. As part of a development project preparing unskilled young people for VET, an action research project was conducted with the aim of developing a schema for assessing and grading social competences. The development included defining the social competences as well as three levels for assessing these competences. The schema was developed in cooperation with the assessors, i.e., representatives from workplaces, municipal youth guidance centres, and VET colleges. There were two main findings. First, the definitions of the competences and the levels for assessing the competences are related to the context in which the competences should be developed. Second, even though the definitions should be related to the specific contexts, to be manageable they should not be too elaborate. The aim of the project being to develop a schema that practitioners in general can use for assessing young peoples' social competences in relation to work-based training, the study concludes that further research is needed to clarify whether the schema can be used without instruction or training.
Humanistic Elements in the Educational Practice at a United States Sub-Baccalaureate Technical College
Authors: Chen Peng , Schmidtke Carsten
Published: March 2020

Humanism has never been able to establish a firm place in technical education, which remains predominantly pragmatist in response to industry needs, certification requirements and educational standardisation. However, after a period of decline, humanism has made somewhat of a comeback as part of the movement toward student-centred education. Research conducted at a technical college showed that although . This research indicated that including humanistic elements in educational practice will enable instructors to be more effective in helping students to develop skills in relation to team work, problem-solving, systems improvement, lifelong learning and other areas that are becoming increasingly necessary for success in the workplace. The include a constructivist approach with a focus on contextual teaching and learning using situated cognition, cognitive apprenticeships, anchored instruction and authentic assessment. At the same time, some suggestions for improving professional development for teachers by using a Gestalt approach along with self-study in the context of learning communities have been discussed.
Why Returning to VET?
Authors: Gericke Erika Edith
Published: March 2020

Educational choices, especially the influence of class on these choices have been a subject of lively international debate. However, thus far, there has been little international and comparative research with respect to vocational and education training (VET) decision making from a subject-oriented perspective. This paper considers occupational-biographical orientations of English and German car mechatronics and focuses on the roles of learning and gaining vocational qualifications. Drawing on the concept of occupational-biographical orientations, the paper describes three types of orientations based on analyses of findings from 11 autobiographical-narrative interviews with English and German car mechatronics. The interviews clearly showed that occupational-biographical orientations explained different views on the necessity of returning to (continuous) vocational education and training. They also demonstrated that subjective perceptions of the national VET system fostered particular occupational-biographical challenges, which supported or hindered existing learning attitudes. Overall, the findings suggested that occupational-biographical orientations exerted the most important influence on learning biographies and decisions to return to (continuous) VET.
Social Dimensions and Participation in Vocational Education and Training - An Introduction in the Special Issue
Authors: Kaiser Franz , Krugmann Susann
Published: March 2020

This is the introduction of the IJRVET's special edition in 2018 "Social Dimension and Participation in VET-System".
Theme Centered Interaction in Critical Vocational Teacher Education – An Introduction Into an Ethical Founded Method and Model to Strengthen Self-reflexive Autonomy and Socially Responsible Action
Authors: Kaiser Franz
Published: March 2020

Context: The train of thoughts in this contribution is situated in the VET teacher training on an academic level, as it is usual in Germany. Key issue is the pedagogical qualification of the VET teachers and the question of how to give them possibilities to reflect their own biography, their interdependences to the actual cultural and economic environment and their way to choose the pathway to become a VET teacher. How to enable them to argue with their values, fears, strength and weaknesses in their life and especially in leading groups, as they will have to do in classroom management. And at least how to give them an idea of an emancipative, critical and participative way of forming learning situations in which they feel sure and lively to encourage the apprentices and learners in schools to act autonomic and critical in work and besides. This is necessary because of the changes in work and VET in the recent centuries with consequences for workers, learners and curricula as well as the contradictions in that process.Approach: The transformation and the liberalisation of markets and changes of work organisation, the enlargement of tasks in the occupations adds greater meaning to social knowledge and competences, the ability for teamwork and personal development in vocational education. To develop this ability Theme-Centered Interaction (TCI), as a humanistic-psychological approach is used and combined with Critical-Subject-Oriented Vocational Education Theory, inspired by the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School. VET-teacher students learn in theory and practice to shape their own way to lead themselves and the pupils in the class and to reflect their activities in a critical way of thinking. The paper ends with brief description of seminar lectures with VET teacher students at the University of Rostock where TCI is practiced as one example how we can reach the objectives described before. Findings: The TCI-concept is helpful to set up better teamwork and self-reflection in the group of the learners. It’s a useful way to prepare them for their practical school phase in which TCI is used as reflection model as well.Key message: Universities as learning places in the tradition of enlightenment have to open up spaces in VET teacher development for domination-free communication and participatory learning within the framework of university studies, which can create a distance to a given social reality, enables students to dissociate from collectively developed goals to become critical formers of their working life and teaching.
The Experiences of Learners with Disabilities in Mainstream Vocational Training in Nepal
Authors: Adhikari Eka Raj
Published: March 2020

Context: This article explores the lived experiences of learners with disabilities who were attending short-term skills-based training programs in Nepal. The research questions addressed were how the learners with disabilities had been experiencing learning with their peers without disabilities and whether the vocational training was inclusive from the perspectives of learners with disabilities. Approach: Based on a phenomenological design, eight learners with disabilities were purposively selected. In-depth interviews were held with the participants. Data were collected in the forms of audiotaped recordings, field notes, and institutional records. The thematic analysis technique was employed to explicate the transcribed data.Results: The results showed that learners with disabilities faced difficulty in commuting to and from the training center. The physical learning environment was insufficiently accessible, and this affected the learning of students with disabilities. Although the learners with physical disabilities had no problem in understanding the subject matter taught in the mainstream classrooms, the learners with visual impairments and those who were with hard of hearing had, at times, difficulty in following their instructors. The learners with disabilities had trouble with socialization and with forming friendships though they had supportive instructors. The participants' statements revealed that the existing inclusion practices were not enough to address the needs of persons with disabilities. However, they viewed inclusion as a much better option to cater to the needs of differently abled people.Conclusion: Inclusive technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is in practice throughout the world. This qualitative research paper has presented the perspectives of learners with disabilities (LWDs) about the inclusive practices in the Nepalese TVET sector. More importantly, this study has given a voice to the LWDs from mainstream vocational training centers in Nepal.
Thermographic detection and quantification of THC in oral fluid at unprecedented low concentrations
Authors: Thapa Damber , Samadi Nakisa , Patel Nisarg , Tabatabaei Nima
Published: March 2020

With recent changes in the legalization of cannabis around the world, there is an urgent need for rapid, yet sensitive, screening devices for testing drivers and employees under the influence of cannabis at the roadside and at the workplace, respectively. Oral fluid lateral flow immunoassays (LFAs) have recently been explored for such applications. While LFAs offer on-site, low-cost and rapid detection of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), their nominal detection threshold is about 25 ng/ml, which is well above the 1-5 ng/ml per se limits set by regulations. In this paper, we report on the development of a thermo-photonic imaging system that utilizes the commercially available low-cost LFAs but offers detection of THC at unprecedented low concentrations. Our reader technology examines photothermal responses of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in LFA through lock-in thermography (LIT). Our results (n = 300) suggest that the demodulation of localized surface plasmon resonance responses of GNPs captured by infrared cameras allows for detection of THC concentrations as low as 2 ng/ml with 96% accuracy. Quantification of THC concentration is also achievable with our technology through calibration.