Employment protection, technology choice, and worker allocation

Using a country-industry panel dataset (EUKLEMS) we uncover a robust empirical regularity, namely that high-risk innovative sectors are relatively smaller in countries with strict employment protection legislation (EPL). To understand the mechanism, we develop a two-sector matching model where firms endogenously choose between a safe technology with known productivity and a risky technology with productivity subject to sizeable shocks. Strict EPL makes the risky technology relatively less attractive because it is more costly to shed workers upon receiving a low productivity draw. We calibrate the model using a variety of aggregate, industry and micro-level data sources. We then simulate the model to reflect both the observed differences across countries in EPL and the observed increase since the mid-1990s in the variance of firm performance associated with the adoption of information and communication technology. The simulations produce a differential response to the arrival of risky technology between low- and high-EPL countries that coincides with the findings in the data. The described mechanism can explain a considerable portion of the slowdown in productivity in the EU relative to the US since 1995

Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as Shadow Masks for Nanogap Fabrication

We describe a technique for fabricating nanometer-scale gaps in Pt wires on insulating substrates, using individual single-walled carbon nanotubes as shadow masks during metal deposition. More than 80% of the devices display current-voltage dependencies characteristic of direct electron tunneling. Fits to the current-voltage data yield gap widths in the 0.8-2.3 nm range for these devices, dimensions that are well suited for single-molecule transport measurements

Single-molecule transistor fabrication by self-aligned lithography and in situ molecular assembly

Abstract We describe the fabrication of single-molecule transistors by self-aligned lithography and in situ molecular assembly. Ultrathin metallic electrodes are patterned with a nanoscale interelectrode separation defined by the lateral oxidation of a thin layer of Al. Highly conjugated molecular units are sequentially assembled within the electrode gap by selective design of the molecular end group chemistry. The assembled devices display evidence of molecular conduction

Immunophenotype of normal vs. myeloma plasma cells: Toward antibody panel specifications for MRD detection in multiple myeloma

In recent years, several studies on large series of multiple myeloma (MM) patients have demonstrated the clinical utility of flow cytometry monitoring of minimal residual disease (flow-MRD) in bone marrow (BM), for improved assessment of response to therapy and prognostication. However, disturbing levels of variability exist regarding the specific protocols and antibody panels used in individual laboratories. Overall, consensus exists about the utility of combined assessment of CD38 and CD138 for the identification of BM plasma cells (PC); in contrast, more heterogeneous lists of markers are used to further distinguish between normal/reactive PCs and myeloma PCs in the MRD settings. Among the later markers, CD19, CD45, CD27, and CD81, together with CD56, CD117, CD200, and CD307, have emerged as particularly informative; however, no single marker provides enough specificity for clear discrimination between clonal PCs and normal PCs. Accordingly, multivariate analyses of single PCs from large series of normal/reactive vs. myeloma BM samples have shown that combined assessment of CD138 and CD38, together with CD45, CD19, CD56, CD27, CD81, and CD117 would be ideally suited for MRD monitoring in virtually every MM patient. However, the specific antibody clones, fluorochrome conjugates and sources of the individual markers determines its optimal (vs. suboptimal or poor) performance in an eight-color staining. Assessment of clonality, via additional cytoplasmic immunoglobulin (CyIg) κ vs. CyIgλ evaluation, may contribute to further establish the normal/reactive vs. clonal nature of small suspicious PC populations at high sensitivity levels, provided that enough cells are evaluatedGrant sponsor: Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Cancer (RTICC) of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministry of Economy and Competitivity, Madrid, Spain) – FEDER; Grant number: RD12/0036/0048; Grant sponsors: EuroFlow Consortium; the International Myeloma Foundation-Black Swan Research Initiative.Peer Reviewe