The quality of jobs: the role of job security and the broader institutional context in European comparative case studies

This paper (1) explores workers' experiences of job quality in two economic sectors: manufacturing and knowledge industries. Drawing on comparative empirical research from three case studies in Poland, the UK and Belgium, it highlights tensions between the EU aspiration for 'more and better jobs' and the flexible strategies of companies reacting to market pressures. The objective of this paper is to explore employment security in the country context and to consider how organizations deliver job security in terms of workers' contractual status and its effects on job quality

The Miseducation of Welfare Reform: Denying the Promise of Postsecondary Education

When Congress enacted “welfare reform” in 1996, decades of progress in assisting low-income mothers obtain a college education in order to escape poverty was nearly eradicated. The federal welfare reform law strongly discouraged states from incorporating postsecondary education into their welfare reform programs and focused instead on “work-first” policies. As a direct result, hundreds of thousands of low-income mothers across the country were forced to drop out of college and find jobs in order to comply with strict “work-first” welfare rules. Despite the pressure imposed by the federal law, the State of Maine persevered in its effort to make college a reality for low-income mothers. Advocates in Maine were adamant that welfare reform policies focus on raising families out of poverty and endeavor to change the position of women in the labor market in order to relieve poverty for low-income single mothers. These farsighted views, embodied in the Maine Parents as Scholars program, have paid off for welfare recipients and for the state, with dividends. As the welfare reform law expires, Congress has the opportunity to reverse course and support states in providing access to postsecondary education for welfare recipients. In this paper, we will reveal how “work-first” ideology pushed the merits of postsecondary education for low-income women to the background despite the well-known, intimate relationship between higher education and women\u27s earnings, employment, and well-being. We will highlight the innovative approach taken in Maine to overcome the pressures of the federal welfare reform law and report on positive outcomes for Maine welfare recipients who were able to access higher education despite federal restrictions. Finally, we will explore the current Congressional proposals for renewing the welfare reform law in a manner more conducive to allowing low-income mothers access to education

The Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 is reliable in young high-level soccer players

The aim of the study was to investigate test reliability of the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YYIR1) in 36 high-level youth soccer players, aged between 13 and 18 years. Players were divided into three age groups (U15, U17 and U19) and completed three YYIR1 in three consecutive weeks. Pairwise comparisons were used to investigate test reliability (for distances and heart rate responses) using technical error (TE), coefficient of variation (CV), intra-class correlation (ICC) and limits of agreement (LOA) with Bland-Altman plots. The mean YYIR1 distances for the U15, U17 and U19 groups were 2024 ± 470 m, 2404 ± 347 m and 2547 ± 337 m, respectively. The results revealed that the TEs varied between 74 and 172 m, CVs between 3.0 and 7.5%, and ICCs between 0.87 and 0.95 across all age groups for the YYIR1 distance. For heart rate responses, the TEs varied between 1 and 6 bpm, CVs between 0.7 and 4.8%, and ICCs between 0.73 and 0.97. The small ratio LOA revealed that any two YYIR1 performances in one week will not differ by more than 9 to 28% due to measurement error. In summary, the YYIR1 performance and the physiological responses have proven to be highly reliable in a sample of Belgian high-level youth soccer players, aged between 13 and 18 years. The demonstrated high level of intermittent endurance capacity in all age groups may be used for comparison of other prospective young soccer players

A new combined bodian-luxol technique for staining unmyelinated axons in semithin, resin-embedded peripheral nerves: a comparison with electron microscopy.

peer reviewedaudience: researcher, professionalQuantitation of unmyelinated fibers (UF) in peripheral nerves has classically relied upon ultrastructural morphometry. Because this method is time-consuming, it is not typically performed in routine analysis of nerve biopsies. We applied the Bodian-Luxol technique to detect unmyelinated axons by light microscopy on semithin sections from resin-embedded nerve tissue. Estimates were compared to ultrastructural counts. The staining appeared highly specific for axons. Excellent correlation was found between optic densities and the population of UF larger than 0.5 microm. The smallest profiles detected by light microscopy had a diameter close to 0.6 microm. This new technique is not a substitute for ultrastructural quantitative morphometry of UF, as very small unmyelinated axons, especially regenerating ones, can not be reliably visualized. However, it provides a valuable light microscopic method for evaluating axonal loss among UF