Challenges in Managing the New Diverse Labor Force

Among the purposes of this chapter is (1) to examine past and present statuses of demographic groups who earlier suffered discrimination in employment but who today are legally protected. Our purpose is then (2) to appraise the issue of perceptions of fairness and equality, and next (3) to discuss problems still existing in the labor market in achieving “equality” under the law. Finally (4) we will offer some proposals for meeting still existing shortcomings. Because space requirements prohibit a discussion of all these groups, we are focusing on two of the largest: women and African-Americans

Family and Work: Challenges to Labor, Management and Government

Au cours de ce siècle, les deux institutions que sont la famille et le travail ont connu de profonds changements. En ce qui concerne le travail, notons, entre autres, une réduction des heures de travail, un déplacement de la production vers les services, l'entrée des femmes sur le marche du travail représentant maintenant 44 % de la population active. Il existe cependant toujours une ségrégation des emplois et la main-d’œuvre féminine est surtout concentrée dans un petit nombre d'occupations traditionnellement réservées aux femmes, i.e. peu rémunérées, avec peu de chances de promotions, etc. La famille moderne, pour sa part, est caractérisée par un très faible taux de natalité, un taux de divorce élevé, plusieurs enfants vivants dans des familles séparées, etc. En majorité, maintenant, les deux conjoints gagnent un revenu et les femmes travaillent pour des raisons économiques. La vie de la femme, de la mère qui travaille, est marquée par un double fardeau, car elle continue à assumer la majeure partie des tâches domestiques et l'éducation des enfants.Malgré ces faits, des concepts dépasses demeurent fortement ancres dans les valeurs de plusieurs. Ils concernent l'homme, « chef de la famille », « gagne-pain », etc. et la femme « reine du foyer ». De plus, ce qui n'a pas change est cette vieille croyance qu'on doive séparer travail et famille et que la première responsabilité de la femme, même si elle travaille à l'extérieur, est envers son foyer. La structure et les exigences du travail sont encore basées sur la prémisse que le travailleur, homme ou femme, n'a pas de responsabilité domestique et si l'on en a, cela doit rester en dehors du travail. Travailleurs, employeurs et gouvernement sont conscients du dilemme que posent nos valeurs traditionnelles dépassées avec la nouvelle réalité. De nombreux spécialistes de diverses formations se sont penchés sur ce problème et il devient, de plus en plus, un champ majeur de recherche en relations industrielles.Deux approches se dégagent des travaux effectues. La première reconnait que les femmes sont les victimes des nouvelles circonstances émergeant des changements dans le travail et dans la famille. Elle tente de développer des suggestions et politiques pour aider les femmes sur le marche du travail : congé de maternité, congé pour soins aux enfants, paye ou non, garderies, changements dans l'horaire scolaire, révision du droit de la famille, introduction d'horaires flexibles, etc. La seconde approche va beaucoup plus loin. Elle vise à rendre responsable conjointement les hommes et les femmes de l'entretien de la famille. Il ne s'agit pas seulement de trouver des programmes aidant les mères au travail à soulager leur double fardeau, mais de se demander pourquoi le travail lui-même ne pourrait pas et ne devrait pas être restructuré. Par exemple, selon l'économiste français André Gorz, il est possible d'envisager que le temps de travail pourrait n'être que de 1 000 heures/an par personne au début du 21e siècle, compte tenu des changements technologiques et du fait que le travail doive être partage parmi tous ceux qui veulent travailler. Ceci constituerait 20 000 heures de travail dans la vie professionnelle d'une personne devant être reparties au cours de sa carrière avec beaucoup de flexibilité. Il suggère que les travailleurs devraient jouir d'une garantie de revenus à vie. Pour sa part, Gosta Rehn, économiste suédois, croit qu'il faut repenser la réorganisation du travail et la vie de travail. Il rebâtirait le système de sécurité sociale de façon à permettre à tous d'avoir périodiquement des congés d'un an rémunéré. Ces congés pourraient servir à diverses fins : se préparer en vue d'un changement de carrière, avoir un enfant, se consacrer à ses loisirs, aux arts et à la littérature, aux sports, etc.Ce sont de tels changements radicaux qu'il faut envisager si nous ne voulons pas être forces de faire face à un problème de chômage massif d'un cote et de l'autre, à un monde du travail qui impose des exigences insupportables pour la vie familiale. Jusqu'à ce que l'égalité soit clairement définie et accepté comme étant la norme, tant au travail que dans la famille, les femmes vont continuer à porter le double fardeau qui les handicape dans le monde du travail et les épuise pour leur famille. L'égalité des chances d'emploi constitue une réponse partielle au désavantage des femmes. La famille est socialement aussi importante que le travail, plusieurs diraient beaucoup plus importante. Présentement, ces deux institutions sont sources de demandes conflictuelles. Il faut trouver des compromis pour à la fois réaliser l'égalité à la maison et restructurer le travail de façon à permettre aux deux parents d'avoir du temps pour la famille.Radical changes have taken place in family and in work over the last century. These two institutions are the source of conflicting demands. Accomodation calls both for equality in the home and for the restructuring of work

Legal News: Cornell University

Friends: I am writing to ask your support for the Cornell Eleven, a group of present and former members of the faculty who are filing a class action suit against Cornell University alleging sex discrimination in hiring, promotion, equal compensation, and other personnel practices. We (the Friends of the Cornell Eleven) believe they have three of the four vital components of a successful suit: (1) strong cases, (2) good legal assistance, and (3) courage. What they lack is the fourth component: (4) enough money to carry this through by themselves

Dynamics of Host Immune Response Development During Schistosoma mansoni Infection

Schistosomiasis is a disease of global significance, with severity and pathology directly related to how the host responds to infection. The immunological narrative of schistosomiasis has been constructed through decades of study, with researchers often focussing on isolated time points, cell types and tissue sites of interest. However, the field currently lacks a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the immune trajectory of schistosomiasis over infection and across multiple tissue sites. We have defined schistosome-elicited immune responses at several distinct stages of the parasite lifecycle, in three tissue sites affected by infection: the liver, spleen, and mesenteric lymph nodes. Additionally, by performing RNA-seq on the livers of schistosome infected mice, we have generated novel transcriptomic insight into the development of schistosome-associated liver pathology and fibrosis across the breadth of infection. Through depletion of CD11c+ cells during peak stages of schistosome-driven inflammation, we have revealed a critical role for CD11c+ cells in the co-ordination and regulation of Th2 inflammation during infection. Our data provide an updated and high-resolution account of how host immune responses evolve over the course of murine schistosomiasis, underscoring the significance of CD11c+ cells in dictating host immunopathology against this important helminth infection

Semiochemical-based alternatives to synthetic toxicant insecticides for pollen beetle management

There is an urgent need to develop sustainable pest management systems to protect arable crops in order to replace the current over-reliance on synthetic insecticides. Semiochemicals are insect- or plant-derived chemicals that are used by organisms as information signals. Integrated pest management tools are currently in development that utilise semiochemicals to manipulate the behaviour of pest insects and their natural enemies to provide effective control of pests within the crop. These innovative tools usually require fewer inputs and can involve multiple elements therefore reducing the likelihood of resistance developing compared with use of synthetic toxicants. We review here the life cycle of the pollen beetle Brassicogethes aeneus (previously known as Meligethes aeneus) which is a pest insect of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) and describe the current knowledge of any behaviour mediated by semiochemicals in this species. We discuss the behavioural processes where semiochemical-based control approaches may be appropriate and consider how these approaches could be integrated into an integrated pest management strategy for this important arable crop

BRCA2 polymorphic stop codon K3326X and the risk of breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers

Background: The K3326X variant in BRCA2 (BRCA2*c.9976A>T; p.Lys3326*; rs11571833) has been found to be associated with small increased risks of breast cancer. However, it is not clear to what extent linkage disequilibrium with fully pathogenic mutations might account for this association. There is scant information about the effect of K3326X in other hormone-related cancers. Methods: Using weighted logistic regression, we analyzed data from the large iCOGS study including 76 637 cancer case patients and 83 796 control patients to estimate odds ratios (ORw) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for K3326X variant carriers in relation to breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer risks, with weights defined as probability of not having a pathogenic BRCA2 variant. Using Cox proportional hazards modeling, we also examined the associations of K3326X with breast and ovarian cancer risks among 7183 BRCA1 variant carriers. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: The K3326X variant was associated with breast (ORw = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.17 to 1.40, P = 5.9x10- 6) and invasive ovarian cancer (ORw = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.10 to 1.43, P = 3.8x10-3). These associations were stronger for serous ovarian cancer and for estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer (ORw = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.2 to 1.70, P = 3.4x10-5 and ORw = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.28 to 1.76, P = 4.1x10-5, respectively). For BRCA1 mutation carriers, there was a statistically significant inverse association of the K3326X variant with risk of ovarian cancer (HR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.22 to 0.84, P = .013) but no association with breast cancer. No association with prostate cancer was observed. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that the K3326X variant is associated with risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers independent of other pathogenic variants in BRCA2. Further studies are needed to determine the biological mechanism of action responsible for these associations

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

A comprehensive gene-environment interaction analysis in Ovarian Cancer using genome-wide significant common variants.

As a follow-up to genome-wide association analysis of common variants associated with ovarian carcinoma (cancer), our study considers seven well-known ovarian cancer risk factors and their interactions with 28 genome-wide significant common genetic variants. The interaction analyses were based on data from 9971 ovarian cancer cases and 15,566 controls from 17 case-control studies. Likelihood ratio and Wald tests for multiplicative interaction and for relative excess risk due to additive interaction were used. The top multiplicative interaction was noted between oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use (ever vs. never) and rs13255292 (p value = 3.48 × 10-4 ). Among women with the TT genotype for this variant, the odds ratio for OCP use was 0.53 (95% CI = 0.46-0.60) compared to 0.71 (95%CI = 0.66-0.77) for women with the CC genotype. When stratified by duration of OCP use, women with 1-5 years of OCP use exhibited differential protective benefit across genotypes. However, no interaction on either the multiplicative or additive scale was found to be statistically significant after multiple testing correction. The results suggest that OCP use may offer increased benefit for women who are carriers of the T allele in rs13255292. On the other hand, for women carrying the C allele in this variant, longer (5+ years) use of OCP may reduce the impact of carrying the risk allele of this SNP. Replication of this finding is needed. The study presents a comprehensive analytic framework for conducting gene-environment analysis in ovarian cancer