Towards comprehensive training

Training programs are the most common active labor market interventions around the world. Whether designed to develop skills of young job seekers or upgrading skills of adult workers, training programs are aimed at counteracting employability barriers that hinder the integration of people into the labor markets. Training approaches vary greatly across countries and regions. Some have a focus on classroom lectures while others emphasize training in the workplace. Based on a dataset of studies of training programs from 90 countries around the world, this paper examines the incidence of different training types over time and their impact on labor market outcomes of trainees. The authors find a general pattern of transition from in-classroom training to comprehensive measures that combine classroom and workplace training with supplementary services. Moreover, this transition has paid off. Comprehensive training interventions tend to increase the probability of having positive labor market outcomes for trainees, as compared to in-classroom training only.Primary Education,Labor Markets,Education For All,Poverty Impact Evaluation,Labor Policies

Youth unemployment, labor market transitions, and scarring : evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2001-04

Relatively little is known about youth unemployment and its lasting consequences in transition economies, despite the difficult labor market adjustment experienced by these countries over the past decade. The authors examine early unemployment spells and their longer-term effects among the youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), where the labor market transition is made more difficult by the challenges of a post-conflict environment. They use panel data covering up to 4,800 working-age individuals over the 2001 to 2004 period. There are three main findings from their analysis. First, youth unemployment is high-about twice the national average-consistent with recent findings from the BiH labor market study. Younger workers are more likely to go into inactivity or unemployment and are also less likely to transition out of inactivity, holding other things constant. Second, initial spells of unemployment or joblessness appear to have lasting adverse effects on earnings and employment ("scarring"). But there is no evidence that the youth are at a greater risk of scarring, or suffer disproportionately worse outcomes from initial joblessness, compared with other age groups. Third, higher educational attainment is generally associated with more favorable labor market outcomes. Skilled workers are less likely to be jobless and are less likely to transition from employment into joblessness. But there is evidence that the penalty from jobless spells may also be higher for more educated workers. The authors speculate that this may be due in part to signaling or stigma, consistent with previous findings in the literature.Labor Markets,Youth and Governance,Population Policies,Adolescent Health,Social Protections&Assistance

Child labor, education, and children's rights

Child labor is widespread, and bad for development, both that of the individual child, and of the society and economy in which she, or he lives. If allowed to persist to the current extent,child labor will prevent the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty, and achieving Education for All. Nearly all of the world's governments have ratified international human rights conventions, which call for the elimination of child labor, and the provision of universal primary education. Fulfilling these commitments is of critical importance for development. This paper reviews the international legal framework relating to child labor, and access to education, and, provides a statistical portrait of child labor and education participation. It looks at why children work from the perspective of household decision-making. Various policy options are considered, including those which improve the incentives to education relative to labor, remove constraints to schooling, and increase education participation through legislation. Conclusions are drawn in the final section.Children and Youth,Child Labor,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Street Children,Youth and Governance

How are youth faring in the labor market ? Evidence from around the world

This paper uses a new standardized micro database for a large set of developing countries to (1) describe the patterns of labor market outcomes for youth, and (2) explain the contributions of supply and demand factors to youth outcomes. The paper shows that youth face various difficulties in transitioning to work. This is reflected in their relatively higher unemployment rate, higher incidence of low paying or unpaid work, and a large share of youth who are neither working nor in school. This is especially true for young girls who are found outside the labor market, some engaged in home production. Finally, the paper also finds that cross-country estimates show that changes in the youth relative cohort size is unlikely to have a large effect on how youth are faring in the labor market.Labor Markets,Youth and Governance,Adolescent Health,Population Policies,Children and Youth

A generalized Lefschetz number for local Nielsen fixed point theory

AbstractLet X be a connected, finite dimensional, locally compact polyhedron. Let f:U→X be a compactly fixed map defined on an open, connected subset U of X, and let H be any normal subgroup of π1(X). We seek information about NH(f), the local H-Nielsen number of f. It is a lower bound for min{|Fix g|: g≃f}, where the homotopies must be admissible.Let NH(f; f̃, ĩ) denote the well-known sum Σα∈Wi(NαH[α], where i(NαH) is the local fixed point index of an H-Nielsen class, [α] is the Reidemeister orbit associated with that class and W is a set of representatives of the Reidemeister orbits. Then NH(f) is the number of terms of NH(f;f̃,ĩ) with nonzero coefficient. We call NH(f;f̃,ĩ) a Nielsen-Reidemeister chain, and we prove that for certain subsets of U, N H(f; f̃, ĩ) splits into the sum of the Nielsen-Reidemeister chains for the subsets.We define the local generalized H-Lefschetz number LH(f; f̃, ĩ) in terms of a globally defined trace. We prove that, for X a connected, triangulable n-manifold with n⩾3, LH(f;f̃, ĩ) = NH(f; f̃, ĩ). Thus, LH(f; f̃, ĩ) can provide a means to compute NH(f). Also, for H = 1, a generalization of the converse of the Lefschetz fixed point theorem holds

A small survey of the magnetic fields of planet-host stars

Using spectropolarimetry, we investigate the large-scale magnetic topologies of stars hosting close-in exoplanets. A small survey of ten stars has been done with the twin instruments TBL/NARVAL and CFHT/ESPaDOnS between 2006 and 2011. Each target consists of circular-polarization observations covering 7 to 22 days. For each of the 7 targets in which a magnetic field was detected, we reconstructed the magnetic field topology using Zeeman-Doppler imaging. Otherwise, a detection limit has been estimated. Three new epochs of observations of Tau Boo are presented, which confirm magnetic polarity reversal. We estimate that the cycle period is 2 years, but recall that a shorter period of 240 days can not still be ruled out. The result of our survey is compared to the global picture of stellar magnetic field properties in the mass-rotation diagram. The comparison shows that these giant planet-host stars tend to have similar magnetic field topologies to stars without detected hot-Jupiters. This needs to be confirmed with a larger sample of stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of The Royal Astronomical Societ

An Automatic Technique for Checking the Simulation of Timed Systems

International audienceIn this paper, we suggest an automatic technique for checking the timed weak simulation between timed transition systems. The technique is an observation-based method in which two timed transition systems are composed with a timed observer. A μ-calculus property that captures the timed weak simulation is then verified on the result of the composition. An interesting feature of the suggested technique is that it only relies on an untimed μ-calculus model-checker without any specific algorithm needed to analyze the result of the composition. We also show that our simulation relation supports interesting results concerning the trace inclusion and the preservation of linear properties. Finally, the technique is validated using the FIACRE/TINA toolset

Advances and innovations in total hip arthroplasty.

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been quoted as one of the most successful and cost-effective procedures in Orthopaedics. The last decade has seen an exponential rise in the number of THAs performed globally and a sharp increase in the percentage of young patients hoping to improve their quality of life and return to physically demanding activities. Hence, it is imperative to review the various applications of technology in total hip arthroplasty for improving outcomes. The development of state-of-the-art robotic technology has enabled more reproducible and accurate acetabular positioning, while long-term data are needed to assess its cost-effectiveness. This opinion piece aims to outline and present the advances and innovations in total hip arthroplasty, from virtual reality and three-dimensional printing to patient-specific instrumentation and dual mobility bearings. This illustrates and reflects the debate that will be at the centre of hip surgery for the next decade

Cetuximab in combination with irinotecan/5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (FOLFIRI) in the initial treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: a multicentre two-part phase I/II study

This study was designed to investigate the efficacy and safety of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor cetuximab combined with irinotecan, folinic acid (FA) and two different doses of infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in the first-line treatment of EGFR-detectable metastatic colorectal cancer.Clinical Trial, Phase IClinical Trial, Phase IIJournal ArticleMulticenter StudyResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe