Employers Perceptions of the Re-employment Barriers Faced by Older Job Hunters

Selon les plus récentes données démographiques et sociales, les employeurs devront de plus en plus embaucher des chômeurs d'âge mûr au sein de leur entreprise. Tous les baby-boomers font maintenant partie du marché du travail et les plus petites cohortes qui suivent fourniront un nombre inférieur de nouveaux travailleurs (Foot 1987). Ainsi, l'entreprise désirant maintenir une saine croissance économique devra se plier aux pressions grandissantes et engager des travailleurs plus âgés. Le gouvernement et la société en général exerceront aussi des pressions sur les entreprises dans le but de les inciter à jouer un rôle plus important eu égard à la réintégration des chômeurs d'âge mûr (CLMPC 1990). De plus, la période moyenne de chômage pour ceux-ci est à la hausse. En 1989, elle était de 25,8 semaines (Géra et McMullen 1991) surchargeant ainsi de plus en plus le système d'aide social canadien. De toute évidence, le gouvernement devra également s'associer au secteur industriel pour réussir à faire réintégrer le marché du travail à ces travailleurs.Pour mieux comprendre dans quelle mesure l'industrie peut parvenir à relever le défi que présente une main-d’œuvre vieillissante, nous nous sommes d'abord adressés aux employeurs pour recueillir leurs propos et idées concernant la réintégration des travailleurs âgés. L'étude avait pour but d'analyser les données recueillies parmi les 651 employeurs qui ont répondu à la question : « Quelle est la raison qui cause le plus de difficultés au chômeur d'âge mûr qui cherche du travail ? ».Selon les employeurs, il existe cinq importants obstacles limitant les chances d'un chômeur d'âge mûr en quête d'un nouvel emploi d'en obtenir un. Premièrement, il est perçu comme ne possédant pas les qualifications nécessaires pour remplir les fonctions reliées aux postes contemporains. Deuxièmement, il est perçu comme étant une personne plus dispendieuse à engager. Troisièmement, le chômeur d'un certain âge est aussi perçu comme quelqu'un qui ne s'intégrerait pas facilement dans la culture de l'organisation. Quatrièmement, il est perçu comme étant victime de discrimination. Finalement, il est perçu comme étant une personne qui ne possède pas les compétences nécessaires pour chercher un emploi.En conclusion, les perceptions des employeurs, d'une part, reflètent les problèmes réels auxquels se heurtent les chômeurs d'âge mûr en quête d'emploi et, d'autre part, représentent certaines notions nettement stéréotypées et fausses reliées aux problèmes rencontrés par les travailleurs âgés en quête d'emploi. L'employeur doit se rendre compte que les qualifications de ce groupe de travailleurs sont nettement plus variées que celles des jeunes et élaborer une stratégie permettant de leur accorder la place qui leur convient. De plus, il doit reconnaître que certaines forces historiques et systémiques les ont privés de formation et avouer que les travailleurs d'âge mûr peu qualifiés ne sont pas nécessairement à blâmer. L'employeur doit aussi comprendre qu'un travailleur âgé peut profiter d'un stage de formation autant qu'un jeune travailleur (Dunn 1985) et que les avantages découlant d'un tel investissement peuvent être considérables.Seulement quelques études ont examiné la relation entre la culture d'une organisation et l'âge. L'employeur doit admettre qu'un travailleur âgé possède tout un bagage d'expériences et de croyances et, de ce fait, il devrait « créer une place » pour ces valeurs au sein de son organisation. Bien qu'il existe plusieurs problèmes associés à la réintégration des travailleurs âgés sur le marché du travail, l'employeur qui réussira à ce faire aura moins de difficultés à recruter.This study analyzed responses from 651 employers to the question: « What is the major reason why the mature unemployed so often have difficulty finding work? » Five major barriers that limit the re- employment opportunities of older job hunters were identified from employer's responses. Each of the barriers to re-employment is described in terms of the accuracy of the claim, and possible mechanisms for overcoming each barrier is discussed

Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents : an in vitro study

Adenosine acting in the basal forebrain is a key mediator of sleep homeostasis. Extracellular adenosine concentrations increase during wakefulness, especially during prolonged wakefulness and lead to increased sleep pressure and subsequent rebound sleep. The release of endogenous adenosine during the sleep-wake cycle has mainly been studied in vivo with microdialysis techniques. The biochemical changes that accompany sleep-wake status may be preserved in vitro. We have therefore used adenosine-sensitive biosensors in slices of the basal forebrain (BFB) to study both depolarization-evoked adenosine release and the steady state adenosine tone in rats, mice and hamsters. Adenosine release was evoked by high K+, AMPA, NMDA and mGlu receptor agonists, but not by other transmitters associated with wakefulness such as orexin, histamine or neurotensin. Evoked and basal adenosine release in the BFB in vitro exhibited three key features: the magnitude of each varied systematically with the diurnal time at which the animal was sacrificed; sleep deprivation prior to sacrifice greatly increased both evoked adenosine release and the basal tone; and the enhancement of evoked adenosine release and basal tone resulting from sleep deprivation was reversed by the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitor, 1400 W. These data indicate that characteristics of adenosine release recorded in the BFB in vitro reflect those that have been linked in vivo to the homeostatic control of sleep. Our results provide methodologically independent support for a key role for induction of iNOS as a trigger for enhanced adenosine release following sleep deprivation and suggest that this induction may constitute a biochemical memory of this state

Mimics of Autoimmune Encephalitis:Validation of the 2016 Clinical Autoimmune Encephalitis Criteria

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The clinical criteria for autoimmune encephalitis (AE) were proposed by Graus et al. in 2016. In this study, the AE criteria were validated in the real world, and common AE mimics were described. In addition, criteria for probable anti-LGI1 encephalitis were proposed and validated. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, patients referred to our national referral center with suspicion of AE and specific neuroinflammatory disorders with similar clinical presentations were included from July 2016 to December 2019. Exclusion criteria were pure cerebellar or peripheral nerve system disorders. All patients were evaluated according to the AE criteria. RESULTS: In total, 239 patients were included (56% female; median age 42 years, range 1-85). AE was diagnosed in 104 patients (44%) and AE mimics in 109 patients (46%). The most common AE mimics and misdiagnoses were neuroinflammatory CNS disorders (26%), psychiatric disorders (19%), epilepsy with a noninflammatory cause (13%), CNS infections (7%), neurodegenerative diseases (7%), and CNS neoplasms (6%). Common confounding factors were mesiotemporal lesions on brain MRI (17%) and false-positive antibodies in serum (12%). Additional mesiotemporal features (involvement extralimbic structures, enhancement, diffusion restriction) were observed more frequently in AE mimics compared with AE (61% vs 24%; p = 0.005). AE criteria showed the following sensitivity and specificity: possible AE, 83% (95% CI 74-89) and 27% (95% CI 20-36); definite autoimmune limbic encephalitis (LE), 10% (95% CI 5-17) and 98% (95% CI 94-100); and probable anti-NMDAR encephalitis, 50% (95% CI 26-74) and 96% (95% CI 92-98), respectively. Specificity of the criteria for probable seronegative AE was 99% (95% CI 96-100). The newly proposed criteria for probable anti-LGI1 encephalitis showed a sensitivity of 66% (95% CI 47-81) and specificity of 96% (95% CI 93-98). DISCUSSION: AE mimics occur frequently. Common pitfalls in AE misdiagnosis are mesiotemporal lesions (predominantly with atypical features) and false-positive serum antibodies. As expected, the specificity of the criteria for possible AE is low because these criteria represent the minimal requirements for entry in the diagnostic algorithm for AE. Criteria for probable AE (-LGI1, -NMDAR, seronegative) and definite autoimmune LE are applicable for decisions on immunotherapy in early disease stage, as specificity is high.</p

Eligibility for Liver Transplantation in Patients with Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma

Background: Liver transplantation (LT) has been performed in a select group of patients presenting with unresectable or primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)-associated perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) in the Mayo Clinic with a reported 5-year overall survival (OS) of 53% on intention-to-treat analysis. The objective of this study was to estimate eligibility for LT in a cohort of pCCA patients in two tertiary referral centers. Methods: Patients diagnosed with pCCA between 2002 and 2014 were included from two tertiary referral centers in the Netherlands. The selection criteria used by the Mayo Clinic were retrospectively applied to determine the proportion of patients that would have been eligible for LT. Results: A total of 732 consecutive patients with pCCA were identified, of whom 24 (4%) had PSC-associated pCCA. Overall, 154 patients had resectable disease on imaging and 335 patients were ineligible for LT because of lymph node or distant metastases. An age limit of 70 years led to the exclusion of 50 patients who would otherwise be eligible for LT. After applying the Mayo Clinic criteria, only 34 patients (5%) were potentially eligible for LT. Median survival from diagnosis for these 34 patients was 13 months (95% CI 3–23). Conclusion: Only 5% of all patients presenting with pCCA were potentially eligible for LT under the Mayo criteria. Without transplantation, a median OS of about 1 year was observed

A 3D cellular context for the macromolecular world

We report the outcomes of the discussion initiated at the workshop entitled A 3D Cellular Context for the Macromolecular World and propose how data from emerging three-dimensional (3D) cellular imaging techniques—such as electron tomography, 3D scanning electron microscopy and soft X-ray tomography—should be archived, curated, validated and disseminated, to enable their interpretation and reuse by the biomedical community

Apparent Lack of BRAFV600E Derived HLA Class I Presented Neoantigens Hampers Neoplastic Cell Targeting by CD8+ T Cells in Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis

Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) is a neoplastic disorder of hematopoietic origin characterized by inflammatory lesions containing clonal histiocytes (LCH-cells) intermixed with various immune cells, including T cells. In 50-60% of LCH-patients, the somatic BRAFV600E driver mutation, which is common in many cancers, is detected in these LCH-cells in an otherwise quiet genomic landscape. Non-synonymous mutations like BRAFV600E can be a source of neoantigens capable of eliciting effective antitumor CD8+ T cell responses. This requires neopeptides to be stably presented by Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) class I molecules and sufficient numbers of CD8+ T cells at tumor sites. Here, we demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in CD8+ T cell density in n = 101 LCH-lesions, with BRAFV600E mutated lesions displaying significantly lower CD8+ T cell:CD1a+ LCH-cell ratios (p = 0.01) than BRAF wildtype lesions. Because LCH-lesional CD8+ T cell density had no significant impact on event-free survival, we investigated whether the intracellularly expressed BRAFV600E protein is degraded into neopeptides that are naturally processed and presented by cell surface HLA class I molecules. Epitope prediction tools revealed a single HLA class I binding BRAFV600E derived neopeptide (KIGDFGLATEK), which indeed displayed strong to intermediate binding capacity to HLA-A*03:01 and HLA-A*11:01 in an in vitro peptide-HLA binding assay. Mass spectrometry-based targeted peptidomics was used to investigate the presence of this neopeptide in HLA class I presented peptides isolated from several BRAFV600E expressing cell lines with various HLA genotypes. While the HLA-A*02:01 binding BRAF wildtype peptide KIGDFGLATV was traced in peptides isolated from a

Hybrid integrated semiconductor lasers with silicon nitride feedback circuits

Hybrid integrated semiconductor laser sources offering extremely narrow spectral linewidth as well as compatibility for embedding into integrated photonic circuits are of high importance for a wide range of applications. We present an overview on our recently developed hybrid-integrated diode lasers with feedback from low-loss silicon nitride (Si3N4 in SiO2) circuits, to provide sub-100-Hz-level intrinsic linewidths, up to 120 nm spectral coverage around 1.55 um wavelength, and an output power above 100 mW. We show dual-wavelength operation, dual-gain operation, laser frequency comb generation, and present work towards realizing a visible-light hybrid integrated diode laser.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figure

Hypothesis-driven genome-wide association studies provide novel insights into genetics of reading disabilities

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