Institutions versus market forces: Explaining the employment insecurity of European individuals during (the beginning of) the financial crisis

In reaction to the recent financial crisis, the European Commission re-stated its view that the balance between flexibility and security is the key to success for the future of the European social economy, as well as its belief in the power of institutional arrangements it deems necessary for this balance. However, do powerful institutions actually counter market forces where flexicurity is concerned? In this paper we address this question by analysing the impact of institutional configurations and market factors on perceived employment insecurity among workers in Europe. We use the 4th wave of the European Social Survey for 2008/2009, which covers 22 countries, and implement a multi-level approach where contextual effects are taken into account and individuals are considered to be embedded within a country. We find that policies that secure one’s income and employability skills, such as passive and active labour market policies, are more important for providing employment security for individuals than institutions that secure one’s current job, such as employment protection. Of the economic and labour market factors, general market conditions (measured as employment rate average) and the strength of the financial crisis (measured as gross domestic product growth rate from 2008 to 2009) are both similarly influential in explaining cross-national variance in the employment insecurity perception of individuals. More generally, and most interestingly, we find that institutional factors lose their significance when market factors are taken into account. Thus, it seems that differences in economic and labour market conditions between countries better explain why workers feel insecure about their employment, than the differences in employment and income policies. Although this result could be influenced by the time period under investigation, which is characterized by a financial crisis, results from previous studies using data from different periods suggest that it is not period-specific

Localization method for device-to-device through user movement

International audienceIndoor positioning system is a key component for developing various location based services such as indoor navigation in large complex buildings (e.g., commercial center and hospital). Meanwhile, it is challenging to design a cost effective solution which is able to provide high accuracy. A new method, namely Two-Step Movement (2SM), was proposed in [1] to demonstrate how to build a positioning system which requires only one Reference Point (RP) by exploiting user movement. The method can offer good precision and minimize the number of RPs required so as to reduce system implementation cost. Built on 2SM, here we first improve the positioning performance through multi-sampling technique to combat measurement noise. Secondly, we propose the Generalized Two-Step Movement (G2SM) method for device-to-device (D2D) systems in which both the mobile terminal (MT) and RP can be mobile device. The mobile user's position can be derived analytically and given in simple closed-form expression. Its effectiveness in the presence of noise is shown in simulation results

Efficacy and safety of eslicarbazepine acetate monotherapy in patients converting from carbamazepine.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of prior use of carbamazepine (CBZ) and other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) with a putatively similar mechanism of action (inhibition of voltage-gated sodium channels; VGSCs) on seizure outcomes and tolerability when converting to eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL), using data pooled from 2 controlled conversion-to-ESL monotherapy trials (studies: 093-045, 093-046). METHODS: Adults with treatment-resistant focal (partial-onset) seizures were randomized 2:1 to ESL 1600 or 1200 mg once daily. The primary efficacy endpoint was study exit (meeting predefined exit criteria related to worsening seizure control) versus an historical control group. Other endpoints included change in seizure frequency, responder rate, and tolerability. Endpoints were analyzed for subgroups of patients who received CBZ (or any VGSC inhibitor [VGSCi]) during baseline versus those who received other AEDs. RESULTS: Of 365 patients in the studies, 332 were evaluable for efficacy. The higher risk of study exit in the subgroups that received CBZ (or any VGSCi) during baseline, versus other AEDs, was not statistically significant (hazard ratios were 1.49 for +CBZ vs -CBZ [P = .10] and 1.27 for +VGSCi vs. -VGSCi [P = .33]). Reductions in seizure frequency and responder rates were lower in patients who converted from CBZ or other VGSCi compared with those who converted from other AEDs. There were no notable differences in overall tolerability between subgroups, but the incidence of some adverse events (eg, dizziness, somnolence, nausea) differed between subgroups and/or between treatment periods. SIGNIFICANCE: Baseline use of CBZ or other major putative VGSC inhibitors did not appear to significantly increase the risk of study exit due to worsening seizure control, or to increase the frequency of side effects when converting to ESL monotherapy. However, bigger improvements in efficacy may be possible in patients converting to ESL monotherapy from an AED regimen that does not include a VGSC inhibitor

Determining Ratios of WIMP-Nucleon Cross Sections from Direct Dark Matter Detection Data

Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are one of the leading candidates for Dark Matter. So far the usual procedure for constraining the WIMP-nucleon cross sections in direct Dark Matter detection experiments have been to fit the predicted event rate based on some model(s) of the Galactic halo and of WIMPs to experimental data. One has to assume whether the spin-independent (SI) or the spin-dependent (SD) WIMP-nucleus interaction dominates, and results of such data analyses are also expressed as functions of the as yet unknown WIMP mass. In this article, I introduce methods for extracting information on the WIMP-nucleon cross sections by considering a general combination of the SI and SD interactions. Neither prior knowledge about the local density and the velocity distribution of halo WIMPs nor about their mass is needed. Assuming that an exponential-like shape of the recoil spectrum is confirmed from experimental data, the required information are only the measured recoil energies (in low energy ranges) and the number of events in the first energy bin from two or more experiments.Comment: 33 pages, 20 eps figures; v2: typos fixed, references added and updated, revised version for publicatio

Magnetic Fields at First Order Phase Transition: A Threat to Electroweak Baryogenesis

The generation of the observed baryon asymmetry may have taken place during the electroweak phase transition, thus involving physics testable at LHC, a scenario dubbed electroweak baryogenesis. In this paper we point out that the magnetic field which is produced in the bubbles of a first order phase transition endangers the baryon asymmetry produced in the bubble walls. The reason being that the produced magnetic field couples to the sphaleron magnetic moment and lowers the sphaleron energy; this strengthens the sphaleron transitions inside the bubbles and triggers a more effective wash out of the baryon asymmetry. We apply this scenario to the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) where, in the absence of a magnetic field, successful electroweak baryogenesis requires the lightest CP-even Higgs and the right-handed stop masses to be lighter than about 127 GeV and 120 GeV, respectively. We show that even for moderate values of the magnetic field, the Higgs mass required to preserve the baryon asymmetry is below the present experimental bound. As a consequence electroweak baryogenesis within the MSSM should be confronted on the one hand to future measurements at the LHC on the Higgs and the right-handed stop masses, and on the other hand to more precise calculations of the magnetic field produced at the electroweak phase transition.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures. Minor corrections and references added to match published versio

STUDYING INFLUENCES ON SYNTHESIS OF BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER POLY(L(+)LACTIC ACID) BY POLYCONDENSATION USING OF TIN BASED CATALYSTS

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Mechanisms by which conjugated linoleic acid causes human adipocyte delipidation

"Obesity is an important health issue, having risen to epidemic proportions in the U.S. Use of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid, has received recent attention due to its potential health benefits including the reduction of fat mass in animals. However, the effectiveness and safety of CLA consumption in humans remains unclear. Our group previously reported that trans-10, cis-12 CLA impaired the conversion of preadipocytes into lipid-filled adipocytes (e.g., differentiation) and caused adipocyte delipidation that involved inflammatory cytokines in a human cell model. However, the isomer-specific mechanism for these events was unknown. Thus, this research examined mechanisms by which trans-10, cis-12 CLA induced adipocyte delipidation, inflammation, and insulin resistance in primary cultures of human adipocytes. Delipidation of adipocytes by trans-10, cis-12 CLA was accompanied by increased lipolysis and changes in the morphology of lipid droplets and the expression and localization of proteins regulating lipid droplet metabolism. This process involved the translational control of adipose differentiated related protein (ADRP) through activation of mTOR/p70S6K/S6 signaling and transcriptional control of perilipin A. Prior to these morphological changes, it was shown that trans-10, cis-12 CLA promoted nuclear factor κB (NFκB) and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation and subsequent induction of interleukin (IL)-6 which were, at least in part, responsible for trans-10, cis-12 CLA-mediated suppression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPAR)γ target gene expression and insulin sensitivity in human adipocytes. The essential role of NFκB on CLA-induced inflammation was confirmed by using RNA interference. Further studies were conducted examining the localization and characterization of the inflammatory response, including the type of cells involved, using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as the inflammatory agent. It was demonstrated that LPS-induced, NFκB-dependent proinflammatory cytokine expression was predominantly from preadipocytes, which led to, at least in part, the suppression of PPAR activity and adipogenic gene expression and insulin sensitivity. Collectively, these data support the emerging concept that adipose tissue is a dynamic endocrine organ with the capacity to generate inflammatory signals that impact glucose and lipid metabolism. Furthermore, human preadipocytes have the capacity to generate these inflammatory signals induced by trans-10, cis-12 CLA and LPS, subsequently causing insulin resistance in neighboring adipocytes. These studies also revealed that NFκB- and MAPK-signaling mediate inflammation and insulin resistance induced by CLA and LPS. Thus, although the trans-10, cis-12 isomer of CLA may decrease the size and lipid content of human adipocytes, it may also cause insulin resistance, which is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. "--Abstract from author supplied metadata

International supervisors' social influence, self-efficacy, and acculturation in cross-cultural dyads of clinical supervision

Supervisors' cultural backgrounds can influence supervision content, process, and outcomes (Bernard & Goodyear, 2004; Brown & Brown-Landrum, 1995). Although the empirical literature on multicultural supervision has greatly increased in recent years (Borders, 2005), no study has focused primarily on international supervisors. Since clinical supervisors take a vital role in enhancing the development of supervisees, it is important to understand the relationship between international supervisors' cultural factors (e.g., acculturation), their perceptions of supervisor credibility (e.g., social influence), and supervisor self-efficacy in cross-cultural dyads of clinical supervision. This study used social influence theory (Strong, 1968) as a framework to conceptualize supervisor credibility. Thirty-seven international supervisors who worked or were currently working with U.S. - born supervisees were surveyed to investigate factors (i.e., supervision self-efficacy, acculturation) that might impact international supervisors' social influence variables. The Supervisor Rating Form-Short (SRF-S), the Counselor Supervisor Self-Efficacy Scale (CSSES), and the American International Relations Survey (AIRS) were used. The sample represented 5 continents (i.e., Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America), with 65% (n = 24) of the sample from Asia. Pearson Product-Moment Coefficients revealed significant relationships between supervisor self-efficacy and social influence variables (i.e., expertness, attractiveness, trustworthiness), and between attractiveness and perceived prejudice (i.e., one aspect of acculturation). Supervisor self-efficacy did not mediate the relationship between acculturation and social influence variables. Multiple regression analyses revealed that gender, first language preference, and perceived racial appearance did not serve as predictors of perceived social influence variables. Results suggest that supervisor self-efficacy might have a significant and broader impact on international supervisors' self-perceptions of their social influence, compared with their acculturation levels. As the first empirical study of international supervisors' social influence, this study provides implications for researchers, counselor educators, and clinical supervisors

Toward a construct of liability of origin

In this paper, we advance a novel concept of liability of origin to explicate the mechanisms through which location can be become either a liability or an advantage. Our analysis sheds light on how firms’ ability to compete and gain legitimacy can be derailed or enhanced by their geographical location. We illustrate our theoretical analysis using multiple cases in the airline industry in Africa. Four distinct phases that explicate how liability of origin manifests in firms’ legitimacy quest are indicated. Our work highlights how actions and inactions of rival firms can make the geographical origin of a firm “geographicalness” to shift from being a strategic asset to become a liability. We outline a number of implications for practice and fruitful avenues for future research