•Students from different ethnic (income) groups have heterogeneous school preferences.•Heterogeneous school preferences are an important determinant of school segregation.•Ability tracking is another ...main determinant.•Quotas reduce segregration but leave demanded school seats empty.
This paper examines heterogeneity of school preferences between ethnic and social groups and quantifies the importance of this heterogeneity for school segregation. We use rich data from the secondary-school match in Amsterdam. Our key findings are that heterogeneity of preferences for schools is substantial and that 40% of school segregation by ethnicity and close to 25% of school segregation by household income, can be attributed to it. Ability tracking is the other main determinant of school segregation. Results from policy simulations indicate that minority quotas reduce segregation within ability tracks considerably, but this comes at the cost of many students receiving less-preferred assignments and a higher share of unassigned students.
When compared with the original study population 2, this subpopulation was similar in terms of baseline demographics, comorbidities and chronic medications, but demonstrated lower disease severity ...(e.g. APACHE-IV score in the original erythromycin group mean standard deviation 90.9 28.5, new erythromycin group 84.8 24.1; in the original control group 85.0 28.4, new control group 81.4 26.9). After matching and weighting, we found no differences in mortality rate up to 90 days: matching HR 0.87 (95% confidence interval CI 0.59–1.26), weighting HR 0.91 (95% CI 0.60–1.37) nor in secondary clinical outcomes (aside from a slightly longer ICU length of stay in the erythromycin group in the weighted analysis; P = 0.025). ...in our study, RRT does not appear to impact the effect of erythromycin on 90-day mortality to a clinically relevant degree. Effect of erythromycin on mortality and the host response in critically ill patients with sepsis: a target trial emulation.
The question of whether lung cancer can be attributed to asbestos exposure in the absence of asbestosis remains controversial. Nine key epidemiological papers are reviewed in a point/counterpoint ...format, giving the main strengths and limitations of the evidence presented. Of the nine papers, two concluded that asbestosis was necessary and seven that it was not. However, the study design, nature and circumstances of exposure and method of analysis of the studies differed considerably, and none was considered definitive. It is concluded that, because of the relative insensitivity of chest radiography and the uncertain specificity of findings from histological examinations or computed tomography, it is unlikely that epidemiology alone can put either the strict scientific or practical medicolegal questions beyond doubt. It is probable that the issue may depend critically on asbestos fibre type, an aspect not so far addressed.
•An overview of today's conventional industrial biodiesel production technologies.•An overview of microstructured reactors as a novel process windows.•Cost effectiveness of biodiesel synthesis in ...packed-bed microreactors.•A promising future of biodiesel production in microreactors at industrial scale.
The main problems of the conventional biodiesel production technology are high production costs and energy consumption, long residence time, and low efficiency. In order to overcome those problems and to improve the biodiesel production process from the ecological and economical points of view, intensive research activities on the development of new, sustainable technologies are undergone. Microreactors are known to increase the dispersion of two phases considerably as needed for the biodiesel reactants (alcohol and oil). This provides much higher interface area that by elimination of mass-transfer hindrance has shown to lead to shorter reaction time. On this background, this study gives (a) an overview of today’s industrial biodiesel production, (b) the vision of small-scaled, intensified (micro) flow reactors as integral element in translatable biodiesel factories, (c) the advantages and disadvantages of the lipase catalysed transesterification process in microreactors as chosen case of study, and (d) cost analysis of biodiesel production for the showcase estimating the performance of industrial-scale in enzyme packed-bed microreactors.
This paper evaluates the effects of two subsidies targeted at schools with large proportions of disadvantaged pupils. The first scheme gives primary schools with at least 70% disadvantaged minority ...pupils extra funding for personnel. The second scheme gives primary schools with at least 70% pupils from any disadvantaged group extra funding for computers and software. The cutoffs provide a regression discontinuity design that we exploit in a local difference-in-differences framework. For both subsidies we find negative point estimates, which are for some outcomes significantly different from 0. Extra funding for computers and software seems especially detrimental for girls' achievement. The negative effects of extra funding for computers and software are consistent with results from other recent studies casting doubt on the efficacy of computers in schools.
Carbon dioxide absorption in sodium hydroxide solution was performed in a microstructured falling film gas−liquid reactor. The liquid phase was distributed on a reaction plate of 64 microchannels of ...300 × 100 μm having a length of 66.4 mm, while the gas-phase was guided in a gas chamber with a depth of 5.5 mm or 2.5 mm. Experimental data were obtained keeping a fixed overall liquid flowrate of 50 mL/h, using three different NaOH inlet concentration (0.1, 1, and 2 M) and a fixed inlet molar ratio CO2:NaOH of 0.4, for a range of CO2 concentration of 0.8−100%. A plate with 16 microchannels of 1200 μm × 400 μm was also employed. A two-dimensional model was formulated to simulate the reactor, and experimental results were compared to model prediction in terms of carbon dioxide conversion. The model gives good agreement with the experimental data at low inlet NaOH concentration (0.1 and 1 M), while the agreement with the experiments at 2 M NaOH is reasonable only for low CO2 inlet concentration. The model indicates that carbon dioxide is consumed within a short distance from the gas−liquid interface.
The Lower Meuse Valley crosses the Roer Valley Rift System and provides an outstanding example of well-preserved late glacial and Holocene river terraces. The formation, preservation, and morphology ...of these terraces vary due to reach-specific conditions, a phenomenon that has been underappreciated in past studies. A detailed palaeogeographic reconstruction of the terrace series over the full length of the Lower Meuse Valley has been performed. This reconstruction provides improved insight into successive morphological responses to combined climatic and tectonic external forcing, as expressed and preserved in different ways along the river. New field data and data obtained from past studies were integrated using a digital mapping method in GIS. Results show that late glacial river terraces with diverse fluvial styles are best preserved in the Lower Meuse Valley downstream sub-reaches (traversing the Venlo Block and Peel Block), while Holocene terrace remnants are well-developed and preserved in the upstream sub-reaches (traversing the Campine Block and Roer Valley Graben). This reach-to-reach spatial variance in river terrace preservation and morphology can be ascribed to tectonically driven variations in river gradient and subsurface lithology, and to river-driven throughput of sediment supply.
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