A good and scientific analysis starts with a closer look at the conceptualisation at hand. The definition of CIP is not easy because of its wide range. This paper examines infrastructures that are critical and need protection. Each word entails a specific connotation and is characterized by several components.
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Medicine by Alexandros G.Sfakianakis,Anapafseos 5 Agios Nikolaos,Crete 72100,Greece,tel :00302841026182 & 00306932607174
Δευτέρα 7 Δεκεμβρίου 2015
The power of creative thinking in situations of uncertainties: the almost impossible task of protecting critical infrastructures
Site-Specific Polymer Conjugation Stabilizes Therapeutic Enzymes in the Gastrointestinal Tract
The site-specific conjugation of polymers to multiple engineered cysteine residues of a prolyl endopeptidase leads to its stabilization in the gastrointestinal tract of rats, without compromising activity relative to the native enzyme. The importance of polymer attachment sites is investigated, as well as the significance of polymer structure.
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Development of an Amino Acid-Functionalized Fluorescent Nanocarrier to Deliver a Toxin to Kill Insect Pests
Large-scale cultivation ofBacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) crops has led to the rapid development of drug resistance. Herein, a fluorescent star poly(amino acid) is synthesized with L-isoleucine functionalization for the efficient delivery of either positively or negatively charged exogenous proteins into live cells. Poly(amino acid)s (P1)/Cry1Ab complexes greatly increase the cytotoxicity of the Bt toxin, Cry1Ab, and efficiently killed Bt-resistant pests.
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Photovoltaic Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells with Different Grain Sizes
Perovskite solar cells exhibit improved photovoltaic parameters with increasing perovskite grain size. The larger photocurrent is due to the enhanced absorption efficiency for thicker perovskite layers. The larger open-circuit voltage (VOC) is ascribed to the reduced trap-assisted recombination for the larger grains. As a result, the power conversion efficiency exceeds 19% at best. Further improvement in VOC would be possible if the trap density were reduced.
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Stretchable Hydrogel Electronics and Devices
Stretchable hydrogel electronics and devices are designed by integrating stretchable conductors, functional chips, drug-delivery channels, and reservoirs into stretchable, robust, and biocompatible hydrogel matrices. Novel applications include a smart wound dressing capable of sensing the temperatures of various locations on the skin, delivering different drugs to these locations, and subsequently maintaining sustained releases of drugs.
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Chemical and enzymatic modification of sophorolipids
The significance of renewable resources within the chemical industry is constantly increasing. In the pursuit of sustainability, they serve as alternatives for fossil resources whose supply is limited and who have a major impact on the environment. Due to their complex structure and divergent biological activities, sophorolipids are interesting renewable resources. Unfortunately, industrial applications of natural sophorolipids are limited because of their high production cost. Therefore, chemical and enzymatic modifications provide an excellent tool to shift the application area of sophorolipids to high-added value sectors, in particular for the pharmaceutical sector. This review will give an overview of the modifications performed so far and their possible applications.
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Element concentrations in urban grass cuttings from roadside verges in the face of energy recovery
Grass from municipal roadside verges is a potential yet largely unused resource for bioenergy recovery, which is mainly due to its unknown elemental composition. Therefore, we measured the concentration of 16 elements (Ca, K, Mg, N, Na, P, S, Al, Cd, Cl, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb, Si and Zn) in a material from the city of Kassel harvested in different management intensities. The element concentrations were mainly close to reference values of agricultural or nature conservation grassland and usually within the range of literature data. Concentrations of most elements, including heavy metals, were below limiting values. Only N and Cl concentrations in the raw material exceeded the limiting values for combustion, but washing and dewatering of the biomass with the "integrated generation of solid fuel and biogas from biomass" technique resulted in concentrations in the press cake well below the limiting values. Considering the element concentrations of grass from urban roadside verges, utilisation for energy recovery may be possible, provided an appropriate technology is applied.
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The application of 'Big Data Analysis' techniques in GSR research: a novel approach to an ever evolving forensic discipline
Although the use of SEM/EDX equipment for GunShot Residue (GSR) analysis was already introduced in the 1980's and has since been used for decades in the search for microscopic primer particles, the technique has continuously evolved. Part of the drive for this ongoing development comes from the continuous changes in the composition of ammunition primers. Recently, munition manufacturers are progressing away from the 'classic' compositions, containing (heavy) metals, with the introduction of primers containing no metallic elements. Especially this recent innovation poses severe problems for modern analysis systems. The commercial GSR analysis software depends on the BackScattered Electron signal of the metal GSR particles to set them apart from the Environmental Particles (EP), which are present in abundance on any sampler. However, as the mean Z of these metal-free GSR particles will approach that of the EP, the standard procedures and the parameter settings of these search algorithms will probably fail. Although as a partial solution other signals could be used for the detection of the relevant particles, such as Secondary Electrons or Cathode Luminescence, a much larger number of potential GSR particles will have to be analysed because a number of EP will also be selected as potential GSR particles. Finally, the EDX classification algorithms may encounter problems in discerning GSR particles from EP because of their similar chemical composition. The use of Big Data Analysis (BDA) techniques is a novel approach in the GSR field, which may yield a solution for a number of the problems posed by these new primers. In order to implement these BDA techniques, a database of the GSR particles is compiled, together with databases of EP. Against these 'Ground Truth' databases, a test sample's particle populations can be compared as a group, which will potentially yield a shortlist of munition types which produce similar particle groups. In order to develop and test these techniques, databases were compiled using classic munition data which was readily available from case samples. In this presentation, the preliminary results of this study, which involves researchers from three Belgian universities, all working within the iMinds ICON BAHAMAS project (2015-2016), will be discussed.
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Exploring adaptive planning approaches to environmental justice conflicts in the complex city: a case study in Ghent (Belgium)
Despite of their close connection in the past, today the domains of urban planning and public health have grown apart. Health and environmental issues have become the responsibility of health and environmental departments, with specific professions and expertise in control, while planning departments remain mainly focused on geographical or architectural approaches of space and time. This disconnection, resembling the political structure with its specialized bureaucracies, hinders the inclusion of crosscutting issues like health in spatial planning and policy. At best, in most Western countries the concerns about public health enter the planning process in a final stage, through the more or less obligatory environmental impact assessment process, executed by specialized experts and coordinated by the environmental department. Moreover this environmental assessment process is based on a system of more or less generic environmental norms and regulations, with thresholds for an array of environmental risks. Despite of its unquestioned achievements in preventing serious environmental conflicts, this institutionalization of environmental health criteria in formal laws and regulations seems to have difficulties to deal with the growing awareness of environmental impacts and the increasing empowerment and engagement of citizens, leading to continuing distrust and conflict between citizens and the government. The paper aims to move beyond this lock-in and explores ideas for a more context dependent, adaptive and collaborative urban planning perspective regarding environmental health. The absence of a detailed policy framework to reconnect both disciplines leads to developing a matrix of planning management approaches, that builds on recent ideas of co-evolutionary and adaptive planning. Central to the matrix is the expansion of the current institutional management approaches to environmental health conflicts with additional approaches that capture the self-organizing capacity and expertise of grassroots initiatives. At the same time the combination of institutional versus actor-related approaches allows for adaptive planning solutions. Thereto a flexible attitude of the government is needed to look beyond the strict environmental regulations and rigid procedures. To verify how these academic and theoretical insights could be implemented to solve urban environmental health conflicts, a case study research trajectory is devised in the city of Ghent (Belgium). The methods to detect and analyze possible conflicts reflect recent approaches in environmental justice research. First, a GIS analysis is carried out to compare the distribution of environmental impacts (air pollution and noise) with the distribution of vulnerability (socio-economic characteristics) and responsibility (e.g. car ownership) indicators, allowing the detection of spatial inequalities. Second, these inequalities are examined thoroughly in case studies, where more detailed information about the context is assembled. In a third step bottom-up, subjective aspects, and the processes behind the inequalities are analyzed through a survey among residents. Consequently in a fourth part the situation is evaluated, and a redevelopment track can be devised making use of a combination of the four planning management approaches. Based on the provisional results of the ongoing case study the paper will formulate recommendations how the use of the matrix could practically support a more central place for health in urban planning.
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Added value of manure (co-)digestion in light of GHG emission abatement: moving beyond COP21
In the EU alone already approximately 1,27 billion tons of manure are produced annually. Not surprisingly, this type of agro side stream has been recognized for its considerable potential for producing renewable energy, with anaerobic digestion often as the preferred pathway. Nevertheless, fossil energy replacement is not the only added value that can be associated to energetic conversion of manure. When manure is frequently and freshly digested rather than stored for prolonged times, the avoided emissions of methane from storage also significantly contribute to reducing GHG as methane itself is 21 times more harmful than CO2 itself towards global warming. Better to recover and turn into energy than allow slow release in the air, as is usually the case in current practices in animal husbandry. In addition, digestion will effectively mineralize organic nitrogen and phosphorus rendering them more available for plant uptake. Novel pathways for processing digestate can therefore result in effective substitution of mineral fertilizers derived from fossil resources, again resulting in reduced primary energy use. Finally, the recalcitrant (humus) fractions of organic matter present in digested manure tend to remain stable in soil for considerable periods of time. Current proposals to the COP21 carbon accounting include carbon sequestration of such recalcitrant organic matter as a carbon sink. Simultaneously soil fertility and soil quality themselves are improved by improving soil structure, soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) and adhesion surface for soil microbial life. The sum of all before mentioned qualities make manure (co-)digestion an prime strategy when aiming towards GHG emission abatement beyond the scope of mere substitution of fossil energy by renewable energy. Because of this, the CO2 eq. reduction per MWh of energy produced in systems making use of anaerobic digestion of manure exceeds that of any other type of renewable energy. Regional/national implementation plans beyond COP21 agreements should take this into account when developing sustainable policy roadmaps. This study focuses on the qualitative description of the merits associated to manure digestion as well their quantification.
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Pocket Digestion: inventory of techniques making energy from manure on a small scale
In Flanders, as in many EU countries, only a small share (3,48% of total N) of manure is energetically valorized today. Especially for the manure that remains on farm for fertilization of crops later on in the growing season, the valorization potential remains large but also very disperse. As is valid for most investments, in the biogas sector as well there is an economy of scale which causes a higher investment cost per kW for smaller biogas installations. Until 2011 small scale AD was assumed non-profitable in Flanders. Nevertheless, novel insights have emerged since then… In 2011 a new technology came to the market aiming at mono-digestion of cattle slurry with a CHP engine of 10 kW electrical power. Because of the favorable system in Flanders with reversing electric counters (allowing small energy producers to inject their electricity for the same price as they pay for electricity under the condition that the amount of energy produced doesn't exceed their energy consumption) together with the green electricity & heat saving certificates, this technology has proven to be a profitable investment for dairy farmers. In about 4 years more than 100 farmers invested in an installation. Since anaerobic digestion is also frequently mentioned as a technology helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions originating from manure management (Amon et al., 2006), in 2015 the Flemish government has also started to stimulate new investments through an investment subsidy for side equipment of small scale AD. Due to the technology being limited to one type of biomass (cattle slurry), it is the role of Inagro as a research & advice centre in agri- & horticulture and other cooperating organisations like Biogas-E, VCM, Ghent University & DLV to inform farmers about the technical possibilities (e.g. expansion of small scale AD towards pig slurry, crop residues, other players on the market, …) they can invest in. So far e.g. no success stories of mono digestion of pig slurry on a small scale were found, though the study put together an interesting inventory of techniques available on the market today.
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Rethinking urban planning and health
The research starts from the observation that the disciplines of urban planning and public health are disconnected, partly due to an ongoing institutionalization of health criteria in formal laws and regulations. As such urban planning has difficulties to deal with the growing awareness of environmental impacts and the empowerment and engagement of citizens in health related issues. The research aims to move beyond this lock-in and explores a more context-dependent and adaptive urban planning perspective regarding environmental health. It builds on a matrix of planning management approaches, reflecting recent ideas of co-evolutionary and adaptive planning in a complex network society. To verify whether these academic and theoretical insights are useful in analyzing and solving urban environmental health conflicts, the matrix will be tested in several case studies in the city of Ghent. These are selected by means of an environmental justice approach, using a GIS analysis to compare the distribution of environmental impacts (air pollution and noise) with vulnerability (socio-economic characteristics) and responsibility (e.g. car ownership) indicators, allowing the detection of spatial inequalities. In the cases more detailed information about the context will be assembled, including bottom-up, subjective aspects, and the processes behind the inequalities. Consequently the justice of the situation can be assessed, and if deemed necessary, a redevelopment track can be devised making use of a combination of the four planning management approaches. Based on the case study results the research will formulate some recommendations how the use of the matrix could practically support a change in paradigm.
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Pro rato: how to apply less mineral fertilizers by using digestate
Several field trials2 that were carried out over the past few years (2011-2015) have shown that nitrogen from anaerobically digested products is more available to plants than nitrogen in non-digested manure. Within the pro rato field trials of 2016 Ghent University, VCM, Biogas-E & Inagro will be testing how to use more of these products so farmers can reduce application of mineral fertilizer. At the moment all digestate is considered animal manure from the moment one drop of manure goes in the installation. This means that the application of digestate as a fertilizer is limited to 170 kg N per ha. The European Commission approved the start of practical research in Flanders on fertilization with digestate products from co-digesters, following a pro rato system. This research has been started in the framework of negotiations considering the next manure action plan. The pro rato system means that only the percentage of nitrogen that enters the digester as animal manure, is considered animal manure in the digestate. The remaining shares may be considered as 'other fertilizer', which is a separate category next to mineral fertilizer and animal manure. For example: for an installation that gets 50% of its total nitrogen supply from livestock manure, 50 % of the nitrogen in the digestate is considered animal manure and 50% is labeled 'other fertilizer'. The aim is to encourage the use of products from digestate that show higher N/P shares (e.g. liquid fraction of digestate, mineral concentrates, …), as an additional fertilizer on Flemish agricultural land. Moreover, this should also enable using smaller amounts of mineral fertilizer. In 2016 several hundreds of hectares will be fertilized following the pro rato system, crop production and nitrate residue will be evaluated.
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Low-power/cost intra-datacentre architecture exploiting transmission and multiplexing in the interconnection fabric
We report a Datacentre system architecture and its performance, that is exploiting PON configurations in the interconnection fabric to play down the role of switching. Advanced transceiver technology is considered that is optimised for balancing performance with cost/power consumption.
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Holism, organicism and the risk of biochauvinism
In this essay I seek to critically evaluate some forms of holism and organicism in biological thought, as a more deflationary echo to Gilbert and Sarkar's reflection on the need for an 'umbrella' concept to convey the new vitality of holistic concepts in biology (Gilbert and Sarkar 2000). Given that some recent discussions in theoretical biology call for an organism concept (from Moreno and Mossio's work on organization to Kirschner et al.'s research paper in Cell, 2000, building on chemistry to articulate what they called "molecular vitalism," studying the "vitalistic" properties of molecular, cellular, and organismal function, and Pepper and Herron's suggestion in their 2008 paper that organisms define a category that evolutionary biology cannot do without), the question, what concept of organicism are they calling for? To what extent are such claims philosophically committed to a non-naturalistic concept of organism as organizing centre, as a foundational rather than heuristic concept – or possibly a "biochauvinism," to use Di Paolo's term (Di Paolo 2009)? My aim in this paper is to conceptually clarify the forms of holism and organicism that are involved in these cases (and I acknowledge that the study of early 20th-century holisms [Peterson 2010] indicates that not all of them were in fact 'organicist' or 'biologistic'). I suggest that contemporary holists are still potentially beholden to a certain kind of vitalism or "biochauvinism"; but that when they reduce their claims to mere heuristics, conversely, they risk losing sight of a certain kind of organizational "thickness", a "vital materiality" (Wheeler 2010) which is characteristic of biological systems (Bechtel 2007). And I ask if it is possible to articulate a concept of biological holism or organicism which is neither an empirical 'biochauvinism' nor a metaphysical 'vitalism'?
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Oxidized Docosahexaenoic Acid Species and Lipid Peroxidation Products Increase Amyloidogenic Amyloid Precursor Protein Processing
One of the main characteristics of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) generated by β- and #x03B3;-secretase processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Previously it has been demonstrated that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are associated with a reduced risk of AD caused by decreased Aβ production. However, in epidemiological studies and nutritional approaches, the outcomes of DHA-dependent treatment were partially controversial. PUFAs are very susceptible to reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, which are increased during disease pathology. In line with published results, lipid peroxidation was elevated in human postmortem AD brains; especially 4-hydroxy-nonenal (HNE) was increased. To investigate whether lipid peroxidation is only a consequence or might also influence the processes leading to AD, we analyzed 7 different oxidized lipid species including 5 oxidized DHA derivatives and the lipid peroxidation products of #x03C9;-3 and #x03C9;-6 PUFAs, HNE and 4-hydroxy-hexenal, in human neuroblastoma cells and mouse mixed cortical neurons. In the presence of oxidized lipids Aβ and soluble β-secreted APP levels were elevated, whereas soluble α-secreted APP was decreased, suggesting a shift from the nonamyloidogenic to the amyloidogenic pathway of APP processing. Furthermore, β- and #x03B3;-secretase activity was increased by oxidized lipids via increased gene expression and additionally by a direct effect on β-secretase activity. Importantly, only 1% oxidized DHA was sufficient to revert the protective effect of DHA and to significantly increase Aβ production. Therefore, our results emphasize the need to prevent DHA from oxidation in nutritional approaches and might help explain the divergent results of clinical DHA studies.
Neurodegener Dis
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Angiogenic Type I Collagen Extracellular Matrix Integrated with Recombinant Bacteriophages Displaying Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
Here, a growth-factor-integrated natural extracellular matrix of type I collagen is presented that induces angiogenesis. The developed matrix adapts type I collagen nanofibers integrated with synthetic colloidal particles of recombinant bacteriophages that display vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The integration is achieved during or after gelation of the type I collagen and the matrix enables spatial delivery of VEGF into a desired region. Endothelial cells that contact the VEGF are found to invade into the matrix to form tube-like structures both in vitro and in vivo, proving the angiogenic potential of the matrix.
A vascular endothelial growth-factor-conjugated bacteriophage-integrated natural extracellular matrix of type I collagen is presented that induces angiogenesis. The integration is achieved by bound and embedded type. Angiogenic capacity of the matrix is evaluated with both in vitro and in vivo assays.
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Photocleavable Hydrogels for Light-Triggered siRNA Release
A photocleavable hydrogel system for on-demand delivery of genetic material is reported. The release of short interfering RNAs can be triggered by the application of UV light without any loss in bioactivity. This approach provides a promising external stimulus-based nucleic acid delivery platform for applications in disease therapeutics and tissue regeneration.
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A new class of antimicrobial biosurfactants: quaternary ammonium sophorolipids
New synthetic pathways are proposed for the production of a broad range of innovative sophorolipid amines and sophorolipid quaternary ammonium salts starting from microbially produced sophorolipids. The selective formation of an intermediate sophorolipid aldehyde proved to be a key synthetic step of the new derivatives. The sophorolipid quaternary ammonium salts were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive test strains. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were determined for the active compounds. Derivatives with an octadecyl group on the nitrogen atom proved to be more active than the antibiotic gentamicin sulfate against all tested Gram-positive strains. The results show great promise for modified sophorolipids in the medical sector.
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Semi-empirical calibration of the integral equation model for co-polarized L-band backscattering
The objective of this paper is to extend the semi-empirical calibration of the backscattering Integral Equation Model (IEM) initially proposed for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data at C- and X-bands to SAR data at L-band. A large dataset of radar signal and in situ measurements (soil moisture and surface roughness) over bare soil surfaces were used. This dataset was collected over numerous agricultural study sites in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany and Italy using various SAR sensors (AIRSAR, SIR-C, JERS-1, PALSAR-1, ESAR). Results showed slightly better simulations with exponential autocorrelation function than with Gaussian function and with HH than with VV. Using the exponential autocorrelation function, the mean difference between experimental data and Integral Equation Model (IEM) simulations is +0.4 dB in HH and -1.2 dB in VV with a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) about 3.5 dB. In order to improve the modeling results of the IEM for a better use in the inversion of SAR data, a semi-empirical calibration of the IEM was performed at L-band in replacing the correlation length derived from field experiments by a fitting parameter. Better agreement was observed between the backscattering coefficient provided by the SAR and that simulated by the calibrated version of the IEM (RMSE about 2.2 dB).
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Optimization of a radiative transfer forward operator for simulating SMOS brightness temperatures over the Upper Mississippi Basin
The Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission routinely provides global multiangular observations of brightness temperature TB at both horizontal and vertical polarization with a 3-day repeat period. The assimilation of such data into a land surface model (LSM) may improve the skill of operational flood forecasts through an improved estimation of soil moisture SM. To accommodate for the direct assimilation of the SMOS TB data, the LSM needs to be coupled with a radiative transfer model (RTM), serving as a forward operator for the simulation of multiangular and multipolarization top of the atmosphere TBs. This study investigates the use of the Variable Infiltration Capacity model coupled with the Community Microwave Emission Modelling Platform for simulating SMOS TB observations over the upper Mississippi basin, United States. For a period of 2 years (2010-11), a comparison between SMOS TBs and simulations with literature-based RTM parameters reveals a basin-averaged bias of 30 K. Therefore, time series of SMOS TB observations are used to investigate ways for mitigating these large biases. Specifically, the study demonstrates the impact of the LSM soil moisture climatology in the magnitude of TB biases. After cumulative distribution function matching the SM climatology of the LSM to SMOS retrievals, the average bias decreases from 30 K to less than 5 K. Further improvements can be made through calibration of RTM parameters related to the modeling of surface roughness and vegetation. Consequently, it can be concluded that SM rescaling and RTM optimization are efficient means for mitigating biases and form a necessary preparatory step for data assimilation.
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Employment of young and older workers: three policy evaluations
The dissertation has the goal of providing a better understanding on the effectiveness of specific active labour market policies that aim at integration of young and older workers. The first Chapter evaluates the effectiveness of the 2003 reform of the Italian apprenticeship regime. This reform raised the age-eligibility and revised the training component. The different timing of the implementation of the reform in the Italian regions and sectors is exploited. To estimate the treatment effect (ATT) of the apprentices in the reformed regime (compared to the old regime), the Covariate Balancing Propensity Score estimator is implemented (CBPS - Imai and Ratkovic, 2014) employing a large set of covariates. The inflow sample of about 18,000 apprentices hired in 2007 is drawn from administrative data of the Social Security Institutions (INPS). Four years after hiring, the reform induced an increase in the transition rate to permanent jobs in the same firm and boosted the average wage of the apprentices. Finally, by a DiD estimator on the LFS, it is found that the higher diffusion of the apprenticeship among the youth becoming eligible is offset by a reduction of other temporary jobs. Granting the eligibility to the youth aged 25-29 also encouraged their transition from non-employment to employment. The research related to the second and the third Chapters assesses the effectiveness of two Belgian federal policies to boost the employment rate of the older population. In this research we rely on an endogenous stratified sample of administrative data containing about 244,000 individuals (aged between 52 and 61 years old in 2002) with their employment history since 1957. The second Chapter assesses the impact of a Belgian employers' Social Security Contributions reduction for workers older than 58. The analysis is performed on multiple repeated cross-sections even if panel data are available, to account for age-varying confounding factors. We use a CDiD estimator (Heckman et al., 1997) and when needed a trend-adjusted version of it (Wolfers, 2006). To facilitate the integration of endogenous sampling weights in this estimator, we implement it as an Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) estimator, which we extend to allow for multiple cross-sections in the before and after periods. We find small positive short-run impacts on working time and larger ones on the employment rate, but only for employees at high risk of leaving to early retirement. The wage is not affected. In a Cost-Benefit-Analysis, we estimate that during the 1.25 years after its introduction the subsidy imposed a net monthly cost of €3,700€ per saved job to Society. Had the subsidy been targeted to sectors where early retirement schemes are widely used, Society would instead have gained 400€ per saved job. The third Chapter evaluates the impact of the Belgian part-time Time-Credit scheme for older workers. The policy measure allows older workers to reduce their working time by 20% (or 50%) with the goal of postponing their retirement decision and possibly improve their work-life balance. Workers receive a lump-sum in-work benefit of about € 215 (€ 385), granting an average income replacement of 90% (66%) of the full-time wage. We assess the ATT on the survival in employment and we control for selection on observable (IPW) by using their whole employment history. As control units can enter the treatment in later periods, we take into account the dynamic treatment selection (Vikström, 2014). Our estimates indicate a positive employment effect in the short-run followed by a negative impact after four years with insignificant health effects. The policy does not pass the Cost-Benefit-Analysis test.
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Zijn Vlamingen dan ook niet goed geïntegreerd? Een kruispuntanalyse van integratievertogen in Vlaanderen vanuit het standpunt van moeders zonder papieren
'Are Flemish people then also not well integrated?' An intersectional analysis of integration discourses in Flanders from the standpoint of undocumented, single mothers' is based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of ten undocumented migrant women who were residing in Flanders before and during the second regularisation period in 2009. This article deals with their confrontation with the regularisation criteria that were launched by the government in September 2009. From the point of view of single, undocumented mothers, the criterion of sustainable local anchoring relates to an ambivalent policy objective, which sometimes has contradictory outcomes. Authorities conceptualize integration largely through participation in networks, and in addition, networks are understood in a specific manner, which may disadvantage solidarity and in particular that in the lives of single, undocumented mothers. This article contrasts the way in which the authorities understand 'networks' to what participation in networks may mean to ten undocumented mothers, and indicates potential consequences of these different visions for social cohesion and social solidarity.
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