Child care, asili nido e modelli di welfare

The paper presents a model of the market for early child care services, where the preferences of households and local government are influenced by relative prices, disposable income and cost conditions, as well as «social norms» such as the attitude to working women and the value assigned to the educational (as well as supervisory) role of institutional child care. A simple partial equilibrium model describes alternative outcomes in the allocation of private and public provision. In the case of the latter the allocation scheme could be influenced by the welfare model adopted by local governments: this could explain their paternalistic policies and may lead to conflict with the motivations of households, which may be affected by the «consolidation of needs» induced by a long tradition of public provision at prices lower than average costs. Moreover public budget constraints interfere with the diverging attitudes of the various players by introducing rationing schemes and redistributive goals that reduce «market» transparency. The empirical importance of the «non economic» motivations referred to above therefore seems to make them a major issue to be considered when evaluating the allocation process. Using a survey on economic and social conditions of the households in the province of Modena in 2006, which directly surveys the willingness to pay for child care services, the second part of the paper explores the demand for early child care through an econometric estimation of the reservation price with particular attention to «economic» and «non economic» determinants. There are complex relationships between the motivations of local government and households: the paternalistic behaviour of public providers is clear from their supply and price strategies; on the other hand, households seem to be affected by a form of needs consolidation which is a barrier to the correct evaluation of the costs and benefits of services, and by a greater focus on mere «child-minding». The tensions between the different attitudes of households and local governments reflects the different welfare models which implicitly underlie their behaviour. This points to the need for a more explicit dialogue between local governments and citizens on the costs and benefits of the services involved, to improve the transparency of this «market».child care; merit goods; willingness to pay

Nuovi strumenti per l’assistenza sociale

In questo lavoro, dopo un esame delle recenti proposte in tema di riforma dell’assistenza, si analizzano due ipotetiche riforme relative all’introduzione di un istituto di contrasto della povertà rispettivamente in alternativa e in aggiunta agli assegni al nucleo familiare, di cui si analizzano, sulla base di simulazioni sul micromodello, gli effetti sulla spesa, sulla distribuzione del reddito e sugli indicatori di povertà

Effect of probiotic inocula on the population density of lactic acid bacteria and enteric pathogens in the intestine of weaning piglets

Because antibiotic resistance occurs in bacteria at an alarming rate, significant research has been focused on finding alternative treatments which do not involve the use of antibiotics. The promotion of beneficial gut bacteria can increase the resistance of animals to possible intestinal infections. Probiotics can be administered to humans or animals, offering preventive benefits of protecting the host from various types of intestinal diseases, providing positive effects on digestive processes and stimulating influence on the growth of organism, strengthening the barrier function of the gut microbiota and/or non-specific enhancement of the immune system. A study was designed to screen potential probiotic Bifidobacterium spp. strains with the ability to multiply in the intestine of weaned piglets and then to assess their health promoting effects when challenged with two enteric pathogens. Three series of trials were conducted with 60 weaning pigs fed one of 12 different Bifidobacterium spp. strains either once or twice a day. The most effective probiotic treatment (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis, strain Ra 18, at a dose of 1011cfu twice a day) was then challenged in two series of experiments with the enteric pathogens, Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium and E. coli K88. Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strain Ra 18 significantly increased (p<0.01) the number of viable bifidobacteria in the cecum contents. When it was challenged with Salmonella, Ra 18 reduced excretion of this pathogen with the faeces. On the whole, supplementation with Ra 18 had a positive effect on the growth performance of pigs except after challenge with E. coli K88 where pigs susceptible to ETEC adhesion were lighter than pigs not susceptible

New Criteria of Targeting Welfare in Italy: an Appraisal of the Distributive Effects

Means-tested social assistance programs have acquired, in the last two decades, an increasing role in the majority of industrialised countries. Although the issue of whether social assistance should be targeted or universally granted remains a main subject of dispute (Harding et al. 1994; Mitchell 1995; Smolensky et al. 1995; Atkinson 1995, 1998), the shift towards targeting is in practice quite widespread, mainly reflecting the wish to curb social security budgets in a general context of fiscal restraint. The issue of targeting welfare assumes a particular importance in Italy, whose social assistance programs resemble more the rudimentary regimes typical of Southern Europe than the evolved systems of other EU countries. Indeed, the Italian welfare system is characterised by a number of categorical schemes limited to aged and disabled people, a discretionary relief (mainly in kind) provided by regional and local governments, and the absence of a national minimum income scheme as a universal safety net. To tackle these severe shortcomings, an articulated plan of reform proposals has been put forward in a report issued in 1997 by a special governmental commission on social expenditure. Some of its proposals have recently found two important applications, the reform of means-testing criteria and the experimental introduction of a national safety net scheme, an absolute novelty for the Italian system. The strategy behind the reform is to increase assistance for those most in need and to ensure that public expenditure is better targeted. The paper deals with the distributive implications associated with this reform plan, and in particular with the new entitlement rules which have recently designed to establish the access to welfare expenditure. Section 2 critically reviews the Italian social assistance system and briefly describes the institutional design of the new targeting system, which will gradually substitute the tests of means currently applied. Using the micro-data contained in the most recent sample survey of household income and wealth conducted by the Bank of Italy 1 and the tax-benefit microsimulation model Dirimod95, Section 2 also examines the sense in which the shortcomings mentioned above substantially undermine the effectiveness and efficiency of income support programs in alleviating poverty among Italian households. Section 3 is devoted to study how different economic and demographic groups of the population are likely to change their relative position if households are ranked first by a variable representing old means-testing criteria, and then by the new test of means; this analysis aims to clarify how various groups are likely to change their relative probabilities to access social services. Section 4 evaluates the distributive impact of the new spending programs introduced with the budget law for 1999 and of some reforms of the whole assistance system which, although highly speculative, can shed some light on the likely direction towards which the Italian welfare state is evolving. Finally, Section 5 concludes

In situ high‑temperature behaviour and breakdown conditions of uvite at room pressure

The thermal behaviour of an uvite from San Piero in Campo (Elba Island, Italy) was investigated at room pressure through in situ high-temperature powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), until the breakdown conditions were reached. The variation of uvite structural parameters (unit-cell parameters and mean bond distances) was monitored together with site occupancies and we observed the thermally induced Fe oxidation process counterbalanced by (OH)− deprotonation, which starts at 450 °C and is completed at 650 °C. The uvite breakdown reaction occurs between 800 and 900 °C. The breakdown products were identified at room temperature by PXRD and the breakdown reaction can be described as follows: tourmaline → indialite + yuanfuliite + plagioclase + “boron-mullite” phase + hematite

Production performance of dairy cows after the dietary addition of clinoptilolite

Clays are frequently proposed for the addition to dairy cattle diets to reduce the transfer of mycotoxins in milk. This study examined the effect of the addition of Clinoptilolite to the diet of lactating dairy cows on milk production and milk com- position. Thirty-two lactating Holstein cows (average lactation length: 142 d) were blocked according to milk production, parity, and days of lactation for assignment to one of two dietary treatments: control diet; control diet + Clinoptilolite, 200g/d. The control diet was based on corn and alfalfa silages, hay and concentrates, and did not contain aflatoxins above the safe level. The experimental period lasted 76 days. The Clinoptilolite supplementation did not affect milk yield and milk composition other than urea contents. The urea level in milk was negatively affected by Clinoptilolite addition (con- trol group 29.7 mg/100 ml vs Clinoptilolite group 31.3 mg/100ml). The dietary addition of Clinoptilolite did not change pH, ammonia content and VFA molar percentages in the rumen. No dietary effect on mineral contents of blood plasma (Na, K, Zn, and Ca) was observed. In case of clinoptilolite use in dairy cattle feeding, scarce negative effect on milk pro- duction and quality are expected

Importance of Breed, Parity and Sow Colostrum Components on Litter Performance and Health

The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of breed and parity on colostrum components, and to associate sow breed, parity, and colostrum components with survival, growth, and the occurrence of diarrhoea of their litters. In Experiment 1, 64 sows (Duroc = 13; Landrace = 17 and Large White = 34) were included. In Experiment 2, 71 sows with different parities (1 = 10; 2 = 16; 3 = 13; 4 = 12; ≥5 = 20) were included. The number (N) of live piglets, litter body weight (Experiment 1), and the occurrence of diarrhoea (Experiment 1) were recorded at farrowing, at 2–3 days of age, and at weaning. Colostrum was analysed for proximate composition, immunoglobulins (Igs), and somatic cell count (SCC). Stepwise regressions and ANOVA models were used to associate breed, parity, and colostrum components with litter performance. The Duroc breed had the highest IgG and IgA (p &lt; 0.005). Gilts had a higher fat% and SCC (p&lt; 0.0001); these compounds were positively correlated (r = 0.45). Increased IgA tended to increase the N of weaned piglets (p = 0.058) and reduce litter diarrhoea (p = 0.021). The SCC increased the N of weaned piglets (p = 0.031). Overall, this study confirmed that breed and parity can influence the colostrum composition and highlighted the key role of Igs and somatic cells in piglet health

Existence of Order-Preserving Functions for Nontotal Fuzzy Preference Relations under Decisiveness

Looking at decisiveness as crucial, we discuss the existence of an order-preserving function for the nontotal crisp preference relation naturally associated to a nontotal fuzzy preference relation. We further present conditions for the existence of an upper semicontinuous order-preserving function for a fuzzy binary relation on a crisp topological space

Multiobjective Optimization, Scalarization, and Maximal Elements of Preorders

We characterize the existence of (weak) Pareto optimal solutions to the classical multiobjective optimization problem by referring to the naturally associated preorders and their finite (Richter-Peleg) multiutility representation. The case of a compact design space is appropriately considered by using results concerning the existence of maximal elements of preorders. The possibility of reformulating the multiobjective optimization problem for determining the weak Pareto optimal solutions by means of a scalarization procedure is finally characterized