Decent working time: New trends, new issues.

Includes selected papers from the 9th International Symposium on Working Time, Paris (2004), looking at the increasing use of results-based employment relationships for managers and professionals, and the increasing fragmentation of time to more closely tailor staffing needs to customer requirements (e.g., short-hours, part-time work). Moreover, as operating/opening hours rapidly expand toward a 24-hour and 7-day economy, the book considers how this has resulted in a growing diversification, decentralization, and individualization of working hours, as well as an increasing tension between enterprises' business requirements and workers' needs and preferences regarding their hours. It addresses issues such as increasing employment insecurity and instability, time-related social inequalities, particularly in relation to gender, workers' ability to balance their paid work with their personal lives, and the synchronization of working hours with social times, such as community activities. In addition, the book offers suggestions on how policy-makers, academics, and the social partners can together help further develop effective policies for advancing "decent working timeRéduction du temps de travail; Aménagement du temps de travail; Horaires de travail; Labor laws and legislation; Developed countries; Trend; Arrangement of working time; Flexible hours of work; Hours of work;

Ultrarobust calibration of an optical lattice depth based on a phase shift

We report on a new method to calibrate the depth of an optical lattice. It consists in triggering the intrasite dipole mode of the cloud by a sudden phase shift. The corresponding oscillatory motion is directly related to the intraband frequencies on a large range of lattice depths. Remarkably, for a moderate displacement, a single frequency dominates this oscillation for the zeroth and first order interference pattern observed after a sufficiently long time-of-flight. The method is robust against atom-atom interactions and the exact value of the extra external confinement of the initial trapping potential.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Ultrasonic energy input influence on the production of sub-micron o/w emulsions containing whey protein and common stabilizers

Ultrasonication may be a cost-effective emulsion formation technique, but its impact on emulsion final structure and droplet size needs to be further investigated. Olive oil emulsions (20 wt%) were formulated (pH 7) using whey protein (3 wt%), three kinds of hydrocolloids (0.1–0.5 wt%) and two different emulsification energy inputs (single- and two-stage, methods A and B, respectively). Formula and energy input effects on emulsion performance are discussed. Emulsions stability was evaluated over a 10-day storage period at 5 C recording the turbidity profiles of the emulsions. Optical micrographs, droplet size and viscosity values were also obtained. A differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) multiple cool–heat cyclic method (40 to 40 C) was performed to examine stability via crystallization phenomena of the dispersed phase. Ultrasonication energy input duplication from 11 kJ to 25 kJ (method B) resulted in stable emulsions production (reduction of back scattering values, dBS 1% after 10 days of storage) at 0.5 wt% concentration of any of the stabilizers used. At lower gum amount samples became unstable due to depletion flocculation phenomena, regardless of emulsification energy input used. High energy input during ultrasonic emulsification also resulted in sub-micron oil-droplets emulsions (D50 = 0.615 lm compared to D50 = 1.3 lm using method A) with narrower particle size distribution and in viscosity reduction. DSC experiments revealed no presence of bulk oil formation, suggesting stability for XG 0.5 wt% emulsions prepared by both methods. Reduced enthalpy values found when method B was applied suggesting structural modifications produced by extensive ultrasonication. Change of ultrasonication conditions results in significant changes of oil droplet size and stability of the produced emulsions

Sharing Positive Affective States Amongst Rodents

Group living is thought to benefit from the ability to empathize with others. Much attention has been paid to empathy for the pain of others as an inhibitor of aggression. Empathizing with the positive affect of others has received less attention although it could promote helping by making it vicariously rewarding. Here, we review this latter, nascent literature to show that three components of the ability to empathize with positive emotions are already present in rodents, namely, the ability to perceive, share, and prefer actions that promote positive emotional states of conspecifics. While it has often been argued that empathy evolved as a motivation to care for others, we argue that these tendencies may have selfish benefits that could have stabilized their evolution: approaching others in a positive state can provide information about the source of valuable resources; becoming calmer and optimistic around animals in a calm or positive mood can help adapt to the socially sensed safety level in the environment; and preferring actions also benefiting others can optimize foraging, reduce aggression, and trigger reciprocity. Together, these findings illustrate an emerging field shedding light on the emotional world of rodents and on the biology and evolution of our ability to cooperate in groups.</p

Verdad, racionalidad, universidad. Perspectivas sobre la universidad y la teología en la actualidad

The university teaching of theology, which was historically considered as the highest discipline, is often times deemed a problem. It seems that one of the principal causes of this state of affairs is the conflict, conceived by some thinkers, between reason and authority. Pope Benedict XVI offers both a diagnosis and a remedy to the «crisis of university» by developing the idea of «extended rationality». Through this idea, secular universities could, without compromising its demand of rationality, provide room for theology, even though it does not adopt the way theology is imparted in confessional universities.La enseñanza de la teología en la universidad se plantea a menudo como un problema, y sin embargo, históricamente fue considerada la disciplina más alta. Parece que uno de los principales motivos de esta situación es el conflicto que algunos ven entre razón y autoridad (1). El papa Benedicto XVI ha presentado a la vez un diagnóstico y un remedio a la «crisis de la universidad», desarrollando de diversas maneras la idea de una «racionalidad ampliada» (2). Por esta vía, la universidad secular podría abrir un espacio a la enseñanza de la teología manteniendo al mismo tiempo su exigencia de racionalidad, incluso si la naturaleza de esta enseñanza pudiera adoptar una forma distinta a la de la teología que se imparte en las universidades confesionales (3)

Decent working time. New trends, new Issues

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