Skills and Unemployment

1997 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Shackleton

This article attempts to spell out the links which are assumed to exist between skills and unemployment. It is argued that the claims made for the beneficial effects of raising the skill levels of the workforce have been exaggerated. The author then goes on to indicate some of the other factors which influence unemployment levels, and sketches the relevance of this to local economic initiatives

Author(s):  
Jiyune Yi ◽  
Seul Gee Kim ◽  
Taegyu Khil ◽  
Minja Shin ◽  
Jin-Hee You ◽  
...  

We developed two distinct forest therapy programs (FTPs) and compared their effects on dementia prevention and related health problems for older adults. One was focused on Qigong practice in the forest (QP) and the other involved active walking in the forest (WP). Both FTPs consisted of twelve 2-h sessions over six weeks and were conducted in an urban forest. We obtained data from 25, 18, and 26 participants aged 65 years or above for the QP, WP, and control groups, respectively. Neuropsychological scores via cognition (MoCA), geriatric depression (GDS) and quality of life (EQ-5D), and electrophysiological variables (electroencephalography, bioimpedance, and heart rate variability) were measured. We analyzed the intervention effects with a generalized linear model. Compared to the control group, the WP group showed benefits in terms of neurocognition (increases in the MoCA score, and alpha and beta band power values in the electroencephalogram), sympathetic nervous activity, and bioimpedance in the lower body. On the other hand, the QP group showed alleviated depression and an increased bioimpedance phase angle in the upper body. In conclusion, both active walking and Qigong in the forest were shown to have distinctive neuropsychological and electrophysiological benefits, and both had beneficial effects in terms of preventing dementia and relieving related health problems for elderly individuals.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Gielerak ◽  
Paweł Krzesiński ◽  
Ewa Piotrowicz ◽  
Ryszard Piotrowicz

Aim. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an important part of heart failure (HF) treatment. The aim of this paper was to evaluate if thoracic fluid content (TFC) measured by impedance cardiography (ICG) is a useful parameter for predicting the outcome of CR.Methods. Fifty HF patients underwent clinical and noninvasive haemodynamic (TFC) assessments before and after 8-week CR.Results. As a result of CR, the patients’ exercise tolerance improved, especially in terms of peak VO2(18.7 versus 20.8 mL × kg−1× min−1;P=0.025). TFC was found to identify patients with significantly improved peak VO2after CR. “High TFC” patients (TFC > 27.0 kOhm−1), compared to those of “low TFC” (TFC < 27.0 kOhm−1), were found to have more pronounced increase in peak VO2(1.3 versus 3.1 mL × kg−1× min−1;P=0.011) and decrease in TFC (4.0 versus 0.7 kOhm−1;P<0.00001). On the other hand, the patients with improved peak VO2(n=32) differed from those with no peak VO2improvement in terms of higher baseline TFC values (28.4 versus 25.3 kOhm−1;P=0.039) and its significant decrease after CR (2.7 versus 0.2 kOhm−1;P=0.012).Conclusions. TFC can be a useful parameter for predicting beneficial effects of CR worth including in the process of patients’ qualification for CR.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
M. R. Suchitra ◽  
S. Parthasarathy

<em>Saligrama</em> otherwise called <em>Shaligram</em> or <em>Salagrama</em> is a fossilized shell stone usually recovered from the banks of the Gandaki river in Nepal. It is supposed to be a sacred symbol of Hindus. Soaking the stone in water for twenty to thirty minutes and partaking the water was considered to give good health. Hence, we mobilized two stones which were authorized as original by experts. The first one was worshipped for more than 5 years and the other one for two years. The water soaked was around 25 ml which was analysed for antioxidant activity by DPPH assay with plain water without soakage as control. The antioxidant property was significantly found in both the stones with more activity in the stone worshipped for more than 5 years. We did not standardize the volume and the duration of soakage to exact values while it was approximated to around 20 – 30 minutes. We suggest more refined studies with estimation of rare elements needs to be performed to establish the beneficial effects of this sacred <em>saligrama</em> stone.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-484
Author(s):  
Samuel L. Katz

The pediatrician has always been among those physicians most sensitive and attentive to the principles and practice of preventive medicine. For the past three decades immunization against infectious diseases has constituted a major aspect of his activities. Many of the vaccines utilized today are the products of research and of investigators fostered by pediatric institutions. The success of these immunizing agents has had profound, beneficial effects on childhood morbidity and mortality. This same success has enabled the pediatrician in his practice and in his research to focus greater energies on many of the other challenges to the health of infants and children.


Author(s):  
Jacob K. Goeree ◽  
Charles A. Holt ◽  
Thomas R. Palfrey

Players have different skills, which has implications for the degree to which they make errors. Low-skill hitters in baseball often swing at bad pitches, beginning skiers frequently fall for no apparent reason, and children often lose at tic-tac-toe. At the other extreme, there are brilliant chess players, bargainers, and litigators who seem to know exactly what move to make or offer to decline. From a quantal response equilibrium (QRE) perspective, these skill levels can be modeled in terms of variation in error rates or in responsiveness of quantal response functions. This chapter explores issues related to individual heterogeneity with respect to player error rates. It also describes some extensions of QRE that relax the assumption that player expectations about the choice behavior of other players are correct. For example, in games that are played only once, players are not able to learn from others' prior decisions, and expectations must be based on introspection. The chapter develops the implications of noisy introspection embedded in a model of iterated thinking.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Liu ◽  
Yufei Jiang ◽  
Lawrence Wu ◽  
Dinghao Wu

Scripting is a widely-used way to automate the execution of tasks. Despite the popularity of scripting, it remains difficult to use for both beginners and experts: because of the cryptic commands for the first group, and incompatible syntaxes across different systems, for the latter group. The authors introduce Natural Shell, an assistant for enabling end-users to generate commands and scripts for various purposes. Natural Shell automatically synthesizes scripts for different shell systems based on natural language descriptions. By interacting with Natural Shell, new users can learn the basics of scripting languages without the obstacles from the incomprehensible syntaxes. On the other hand, the authors' tool frees more advanced users from manuals when they switch shell systems. The authors have developed a prototype system and demonstrate its effectiveness with a benchmark of 50 examples of popular shell commands collected from online forums. In addition, the authors analyzed the usage of Natural Shell in a lab study that involves 10 participants with different scripting skill levels. Natural Shell effectively assists the users to generate commands in assigned syntaxes and greatly streamlines their learning and using experience.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1501000
Author(s):  
Amadeo Gironés-Vilaplana ◽  
Diego A. Moreno ◽  
Cristina García-Viguera

“Pacharán” is an aniseed liquor-based beverage made with sloe berry ( Prunus spinosa L.) that has been produced in northern Spain. On the other hand, maqui berry ( Aristotelia chilensis) is a common edible berry from Chile, and currently under study because of its multiple beneficial effects on health. The aim of this work was to design a new aniseed liquor-based beverage with maqui berry, as an industrial alternative to a traditional alcoholic product with bioactive berries. The characterization of its composition, compared with the traditional “Pacharán”, and its evolution during maceration (6 and 12 months) showed that the new maqui liquor had significantly-higher anthocyanin retention over time. More studies on the organoleptic properties and bioactivity are underway.


1983 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Rhoda

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that rural development projects and programs reduce rural-urban migration. Migration theories and empirical research are briefly reviewed, generalizations are established and these are used to test the hypothesis for a variety of rural development interventions. The study concludes that the common belief that rural interventions reduce urban migration is not justified. While the migration impact of any specific intervention depends on its characteristics and those of the rural area into which it is introduced, some generalizations can be made. Rural-urban migration may be reduced by interventions which increase cultivatable land, equalize land or income distribution, or decrease fertility. On the other hand, migration appears to be stimulated by interventions which increase access to cities, commercialize agriculture, strengthen rural-urban integration, raise education and skill levels, or increase rural inequalities.


1986 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Hay

In this paper, changes in travel behaviour in Sheffield-Rotherham (1972-1981) and Manchester-Salford (1976–1982) are compared with special reference to the effect of bus fare levels in real terms, which fell by about 70% in Sheffield-Rotherham but remained constant in Manchester-Salford. The analysis is directed to seven distinct household types, and overall changes in bus trip rates, estimated elasticities, effects on traffic congestion, city centre use, mobility of low mobility groups, and income redistribution are examined. The conclusion is made that although reducing real fares resulted in higher levels of bus patronage, evidence for the other beneficial effects was absent.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silja Raschke ◽  
Jürgen Eckel

This review summarizes the current literature regarding the most discussed contraction-regulated moykines like IL-6, IL-15, irisin, BDNF, ANGPTL4, FGF21, myonectin and MCP-1. It is suggested that the term myokine is restricted to proteins secreted from skeletal muscle cells, excluding proteins that are secreted by other cell types in skeletal muscle tissue and excluding proteins which are only described on the mRNA level. Interestingly, many of the contraction-regulated myokines described in the literature are additionally known to be secreted by adipocytes. We termed these proteins adipo-myokines. Within this review, we try to elaborate on the question why pro-inflammatory adipokines on the one hand are upregulated in the obese state, and have beneficial effects after exercise on the other hand. Both, adipokines and myokines do have autocrine effects within their corresponding tissues. In addition, they are involved in an endocrine crosstalk with other tissues. Depending on the extent and the kinetics of adipo-myokines in serum, these molecules seem to have a beneficial or an adverse effect on the target tissue.


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