Effects of the 2008-09 economic crisis on labor markets in Mexico

The 2008-09 economic crisis has had a long-lasting negative impact on the Mexican economy. This paper examines labor market dynamics in Mexico in light of the crisis. The labor market has been characterized in recent years by low relative unemployment, but high levels of informal jobs, low-growth, and almost stagnant real wages. In this context, the crisis destroyed a wide number of formal jobs, and even informal, increasing the unemployment rates to pre-crisis levels. Manufacturing was the sector that endured the largest job losses during the crisis and wages decreased for all sectors. The government of Mexico implemented a variety of programs to cope with the crises. However, these measures were too limited to counteract the large negative impact of the crisis on labor markets.Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Population Policies,Labor Standards,Economic Theory&Research

For Richer or For Poorer? Evidence from Indonesia, South Africa, Spain, and Venezuela

We analyze household income dynamics using longitudinal data from Indonesia, South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal), Spain and Venezuela. In all four countries, households with the lowest reported base-year income experienced the largest absolute income gains. This result is robust to reasonable amounts of measurement error in two of the countries. In three of the four countries, households with the lowest predicted base-year income experienced gains at least as large as their wealthier counterparts. Thus, with one exception, the empirical importance of cumulative advantage, poverty traps, and skill-biased technical change was no greater than structural or macroeconomic changes that favored initially poor households in these four countries

Earnings Mobility in Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela: Testing the Divergence of Earnings and the Symmetry of Mobility Hypotheses

This paper examines changes in individual earnings during positive and negative growth periods in three Latin American economies: Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela. We ask whether those individuals who start in the best economic position are those who experience the largest earnings gains or the smallest earnings losses; this is the “divergent mobility” hypothesis. We also compare periods of positive economic growth with those of negative economic growth, asking whether those groups of individuals that experience large positive earnings gains when the economy is growing are the same as those that experience large earnings losses when the economy is contracting; this is the “symmetry of mobility” hypothesis. We find very occasional support for the divergent mobility hypothesis in scattered years in the cases of Mexico and Venezuela, and no support at all in the case of Argentina. Rather, earnings mobility is most frequently convergent or neutral in all three countries. As for the symmetry of mobility hypothesis, we find that it is rejected in most cases; rather, those groups that gain the most when the economy is growing are also the ones that gain the most when the economy is contracting. Furthermore, we explain how the absence of divergence is compatible with rising inequality in the countries under study

Piratería y copia privada: ¿Dos enemigos condenados a entenderse?

El problema de la piratería sigue estando muy presente en nuestra sociedad. Entre sus causas podemos citar la falta de un marco jurídico europeo claro y transparente como referencia, el fracaso de lo que pretendía ser la “Ley Sinde”, y la insufi ciencia de la modifi cación legislativa que se pretende aprobar. Está claro que necesitamos una ley efi caz capaz de conseguir un sistema de protección adecuado. Para tratar de dar respuesta a esta cuestión hemos realizado un estudio jurisprudencial del tratamiento dado en los países de nuestro entorno y de la normativa vigente en España, así como de su proyectada reformaNowadays the fi ght against piracy policies is still alive in our society. The reasons are, among others: the lack of a clear and transparent European regulation, the failure caused by the so called “Sinde” Act, that has not fulfi lled its expectations, and, fi nally, the controversy around the text of the amendment of the Intellectual Property Act. What is clear is that the Spanish regulation that is currently in force is insuffi cient. An effi cient IP protection system is actually needed. In order to try to give an answer to this question we have done a comparative study both of the case law on IP piracy and the current and future regulation

Interdependence of kallikrein-related peptidases in proteolytic networks

Human kallikrein-related peptidases (KLKs) are 15 homologous serine proteases involved in several (patho)physiological processes, including cancer. Secreted as precursors, they are activated upon proteolytic release of a short propeptide. We searched for interconnection of KLKs within extracellular proteolytic networks leading to activation of protease zymogens and found that (i) pro-KLK activation by other KLKs is scarce, with the exception of pro-KLK which is efficiently activated by KLK4 and 5; (ii) pro-KLK4 is activated by matrix metalloproteinase 3; and (iii) trypsin-like KLKs efficiently activate the serine protease urokinase. Our observations provide new insights into the regulation of these important tumor-associated proteases

Methionine Restriction Extends Lifespan in Progeroid Mice and Alters Lipid and Bile Acid Metabolism

C.L.-O. is supported by grants from the European Union (ERC-2016-ADG, DeAge); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO/FEDER: SAF2014-52413-R and SAF2017-87655-R); Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RTICC); Progeria Research Foundation (PRF2016-66); and EDP Foundation. J.M.P.F. is supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO/FEDER: SAF2015- 64157-R) and Gobierno del Principado de Asturias. G.M. is funded by the Ramón y Cajal Program (RYC-2013-12751) and supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO/FEDER: BFU2015-68539) and BBVA Foundation (BBM_BIO_3105). G.K. is supported by the Ligue contre le Cancer (équipe labelisée); Agence National de la Recherche (ANR) – Projets Blancs; ANR under the frame of E-Rare-2; the ERA-Net for Research on Rare Diseases; Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC); Canceropole Ile-de-France; Institut National du Cancer (INCa); Institut Universitaire de France; Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM); the European Commission (ArtForce); the European Research Council (ERC); the LeDucq Foundation; the LabEx Immuno-Oncology; the SIRIC Stratified Oncology Cell DNA Repair and Tumor Immune Elimination (SOCRATE); the SIRIC Cancer Research and Personalized Medicine (CARPEM); and the Paris Alliance of Cancer Research Institutes (PACRI)

Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) regulates multipotent neural progenitor proliferation.

Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) was previously identified in a screen for genes enriched in neural progenitors. Here, we demonstrate expression of MELK by progenitors in developing and adult brain and that MELK serves as a marker for self-renewing multipotent neural progenitors (MNPs) in cultures derived from the developing forebrain and in transgenic mice. Overexpression of MELK enhances (whereas knockdown diminishes) the ability to generate neurospheres from MNPs, indicating a function in self-renewal. MELK down-regulation disrupts the production of neurogenic MNP from glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive progenitors in vitro. MELK expression in MNP is cell cycle regulated and inhibition of MELK expression down-regulates the expression of B-myb, which is shown to also mediate MNP proliferation. These findings indicate that MELK is necessary for proliferation of embryonic and postnatal MNP and suggest that it regulates the transition from GFAP-expressing progenitors to rapid amplifying progenitors in the postnatal brain

A family case of fertile human 45,X,psu dic(15;Y) males

We report on a familial case including four male probands from three generations with a 45,X,psu dic(15;Y)(p11.2;q12) karyotype. 45,X is usually associated with a female phenotype and only rarely with maleness, due to translocation of small Y chromosomal fragments to autosomes. These male patients are commonly infertile because of missing azoospermia factor regions from the Y long arm. In our familial case we found a pseudodicentric translocation chromosome, that contains almost the entire chromosomes 15 and Y. The translocation took place in an unknown male ancestor of our probands and has no apparent effect on fertility and phenotype of the carrier. FISH analysis demonstrated the deletion of the pseudoautosomal region 2 (PAR2) from the Y chromosome and the loss of the nucleolus organizing region (NOR) from chromosome 15. The formation of the psu dic(15;Y) chromosome is a reciprocal event to the formation of the satellited Y chromosome (Yqs). Statistically, the formation of 45,X,psu dic(15;Y) (p11.2;q12) is as likely as the formation of Yqs. Nevertheless, it has not been described yet. This can be explained by the dicentricity of this translocation chromosome that usually leads to mitotic instability and meiotic imbalances. A second event, a stable inactivation of one of the two centromeres is obligatory to enable the transmission of the translocation chromosome and thus a stably reduced chromosome number from father to every son in this family

Sources analysis and equivalent toxicity assessment of PAHs impacted sediments in Bahia Blanca Estuary, Argentina

Se presenta un estudio exhaustivo de sedimentos del estuario de Bahía Blanca (Argentina) para determinar su impacto por Hidrocarburos Aromáticos Policíclicos (PAHs). Los sedimentos fueron procesados siguiendo protocolos de la Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, USA) y analizados por Cromatografía Gaseosa-Espectrometría de Masas, hallándose un rango de concentraciones total, desde 103 a más de 2,000 ng.g -1 p.s. (p.s.= peso seco; Total PAHs = sumatoria de 17 PAHs), una concentración media de 527 ± 114 ng.g -1 y una mediana de 507 ng.g -1 . Se demostró la existencia de un nivel dinámico de contaminación por PAHs, definido por valores bajos a moderados que incluyeron zonas puntuales con altos niveles. El análisis de origen mediante el uso de índices moleculares determinó un predominio de deposiciones pirolíticas sobre las de origen petrogénico, siendo dominantes las emisiones provenientes de la quema de biomasa durante los meses más cálidos. La calidad ecotoxicológica de los sedimentos se abordó utilizando el enfoque de niveles guía, hallándose para la mayoría de los sitios muestreados una predicción de efectos adversos infrecuentes sobre la biota adyacente, con sitios puntuales para los cuales se predijo la aparición frecuente de efectos. Utilizando el concepto de equivalentes de Benzo-a-pireno se calculó su carga total, la cual se halló en ocasiones por sobre los valores indicados en diversas regulaciones internacionales. Finalmente se evaluó la dosis carcinogénica aportada por los 7 PAHs carcinogénicos y su perfil de concentraciones se contrastó estadísticamente con otros sitios costeros del mundo utilizando análisis de grupos jerarquizados.This paper presents a comprehensive survey of PAHs in coastal sediments of Bahia Blanca, Argentina and provides useful information of their levels of concentration, sources, ecotoxicological assessment and carcinogenic PAHs profile of local emissions. Sediments were analyzed following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, USA) protocols by means of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, showing total concentrations of PAHs in a range from 103 to more than 2,000 ng.g -1 (mean: 527 ± 114 ng.g -1 ; median: 507 ng.g -1 ). A dynamic state of PAHs pollution was demonstrated for the area which was defined by widespread low to moderate levels, but including punctual zones with high pollution processes. Molecular ratios calculations determined a generalized overimposition of pyrolitic PAHs over the petrogenic input. The pyrolitic pattern moved to a biomass burning origin during summer, the period of highest recorded fires. In addition, the ecotoxicological guidelines approach for PAHs chemical concentrations in sediment defined a rare occurrence of biological effects for the majority of sampled sites; however, frequent effects were expected for punctual locations. Further, Total Benzo-a-pyrene equivalents from several sampling stations were found to be above international regulations. Finally, the PAHs carcinogenic dose was calculated using the BaP equivalent factors approach and compared with other worldwide coastal studies by means of Hierarchical Cluster Analysis.Fil: Arias, Andres Hugo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Marcovecchio, Jorge Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentina. Universidad FASTA "Santo Tomas de Aquino"; ArgentinaFil: Freije, Rubén Hugo. Universidad Nacional del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Ponce Velez, Guadalupe. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología; MéxicoFil: Vazquez Botello, Alfonso. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología; Méxic