Structural Adjustment and Regional Long Term Unemployment in Poland

On aspect of transition economics is the fact that large scale inter and intra sector adjustments in employment will have to take place in the transition period to a market economy. The required decline of agriculture and manufacturing and the rise in services induce large inter-sectoral employment adjustment. The restructuring of state and previously state owned firms will induce large intra-sectoral employment adjustment. This process has to be facilitated by a large re-allocation of workers from their initial state. Restructuring of this kind can be expected to create a lot of frictional unemployment, due to congestion in the labour market, and structural unemployment, due to individuals with redundant human capital been separated from pre-transidonal job security. In this paper we write down a structural and frictional model of unemployment resulting from structural adjustment in employment in the spirit of Aghion and Howitt (1998). The relationship between regional development and unemployment rates is not monotonic in Poland. Using Polish county level unemployment register data this papers shows that the dynamics of regional labour demand in Poland have determined unemployment in a systematic way by changing the magnitude and composition of the inflows and the regional probabilities of exit conditional on duration, gender, age, education and previous tenure. Restructuring in employment can be facilitated by the social security system by allowing workers to use unemployment as a temporary pit stop in periods of congestion created by the transition process. Restructuring can also act as a cleansing process that sheds inefficient and redundant human capital from employment with compounds in unemployment creating a long term structural component of unemployment. We show the stage of regional restructuring and development determines the levels and composition of individuals in short term and long term spells. Restructuring induces both larger throughputs and deeper structural. problems in unemployment. In the most advanced regions where congestion is lower unemployment is mainly structural in nature resulting from individuals having undertaken long spells in employment in the planned system .http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39546/3/wp158.pd

Structural Adjustment and Regional Long Term Unemployment in Poland

On aspect of transition economics is the fact that large scale inter and intra sector adjustments in employment will have to take place in the transition period to a market economy. The required decline of agriculture and manufacturing and the rise in services induce large inter-sectoral employment adjustment. The restructuring of state and previously state owned firms will induce large intra-sectoral employment adjustment. This process has to be facilitated by a large re-allocation of workers from their initial state. Restructuring of this kind can be expected to create a lot of frictional unemployment, due to congestion in the labour market, and structural unemployment, due to individuals with redundant human capital been separated from pre-transidonal job security. In this paper we write down a structural and frictional model of unemployment resulting from structural adjustment in employment in the spirit of Aghion and Howitt (1998). The relationship between regional development and unemployment rates is not monotonic in Poland. Using Polish county level unemployment register data this papers shows that the dynamics of regional labour demand in Poland have determined unemployment in a systematic way by changing the magnitude and composition of the inflows and the regional probabilities of exit conditional on duration, gender, age, education and previous tenure. Restructuring in employment can be facilitated by the social security system by allowing workers to use unemployment as a temporary pit stop in periods of congestion created by the transition process. Restructuring can also act as a cleansing process that sheds inefficient and redundant human capital from employment with compounds in unemployment creating a long term structural component of unemployment. We show the stage of regional restructuring and development determines the levels and composition of individuals in short term and long term spells. Restructuring induces both larger throughputs and deeper structural. problems in unemployment. In the most advanced regions where congestion is lower unemployment is mainly structural in nature resulting from individuals having undertaken long spells in employment in the planned system .

Biological phosphorus removal during high-rate, low-temperature, anaerobic digestion of wastewater.

We report, for the first time, extensive biologically-mediated phosphate removal from wastewater during high-rate anaerobic digestion (AD). A hybrid sludge bed/fixed-film (packed pumice stone) reactor was employed for low-temperature (12°C) anaerobic treatment of synthetic sewage wastewater. Successful phosphate removal from the wastewater (up to 78% of influent phosphate) was observed, mediated by biofilms in the reactor. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis revealed the accumulation of elemental phosphorus (~2%) within the sludge bed and fixed-film biofilms. 4’, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining indicated phosphorus accumulation was biological in nature and mediated through the formation of intracellular inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) granules within these biofilms. DAPI staining further indicated that polyP accumulation was rarely associated with free cells. Efficient and consistent chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was recorded, throughout the 732-day trial, at applied organic loading rates between 0.4-1.5 kg COD m-3 d-1 and hydraulic retention times of 8-24 hours, while phosphate removal efficiency ranged from 28-78% on average per phase. Analysis of protein hydrolysis kinetics and the methanogenic activity profiles of the biomass revealed the development, at 12˚C, of active hydrolytic and methanogenic populations. Temporal microbial changes were monitored using Illumina Miseq analysis of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences. The dominant bacterial phyla present in the biomass at the conclusion of the trial were the Proteobacteria and Firmicutes and the dominant archaeal genus was Methanosaeta. Trichococcus and Flavobacterium populations, previously associated with low temperature protein degradation, developed in the reactor biomass. The presence of previously characterised polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) such as Rhodocyclus, Chromatiales, Actinobacter and Acinetobacter was recorded at low numbers. However, it is unknown as yet if these were responsible for the luxury polyP uptake observed in this system. The possibility of efficient phosphate removal and recovery from wastewater during AD would represent a major advance in the scope for widespread application of anaerobic wastewater treatment technologies

Characterisation of norovirus contamination in an Irish shellfishery using real-time RT-qPCR and sequencing analysis

Copyright © 2012 Rajko-Nenow et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Peer reviewedNorovirus (NoV) is the single most important agent of foodborne viral gastroenteritis worldwide. Bivalve shellfish, such as oysters, grown in areas contaminated with human faecal waste may become contaminated with human pathogens including NoV. A study was undertaken to investigate NoV contamination in oysters (Crassostrea gigas) from a shellfishery over a 24 month period from October 2007 to September 2009. Oyster samples were collected monthly from a commercial shellfish harvest area classified as category B under EU regulations, but that had had been closed for commercial harvesting due to its previous association with NoV outbreaks. Real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to determine the concentration of human NoV genogroups I and II (GI and GII) in monthly samples. Total NoV (GI and GII) concentrations in NoV positive oysters ranged from 97 to 20,080 genome copies g− 1 of digestive tissue and displayed a strong seasonal trend with greater concentrations occurring during the winter months. While NoV GII concentrations detected in oysters during both years were similar, NoV GI concentrations were significantly greater in oysters during the winter of 2008/09 than during the winter of 2007/08. To examine the NoV genotypes present in oyster samples, sequence analysis of nested RT-PCR products was undertaken. Although NoV GII.4 is responsible for the vast majority of reports of outbreaks in the community, multiple NoV genotypes were identified in oysters during this study: GI.4, GI.3, GI.2, GII.4, GII.b, GII.2, GII.12, and GII.e. NoV GI.4 was the most frequently detected genotype throughout the study period and was detected in 88.9% of positive samples, this was followed by GII.4 (43.7%) and GII.b (37.5%). This data demonstrates the diversity of NoV genotypes that can be present in sewage contaminated shellfish and that a disproportionate number of non-NoV GII.4 genotypes can be found in environmental samples compared to the number of recorded human infections associated with non-NoV GII.4 genotypes

Frataxin deficiency increases cyclooxygenase 2 and prostaglandins in cell and animal models of Friedreich's ataxia

© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.An inherited deficiency of the mitochondrial protein frataxin causes Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA); the mechanism by which this deficiency triggers neuro- and cardio-degeneration is unclear. Microarrays of neural tissue of animal models of the disease showed decreases in antioxidant genes, and increases in inflammatory genes. Cyclooxygenase (COX)-derived oxylipins are important mediators of inflammation. We measured oxylipin levels using tandem mass spectrometry and ELISAs in multiple cell and animal models of FRDA. Mass spectrometry revealed increases in concentrations of prostaglandins, thromboxane B2, 15-HETE and 11-HETE in cerebellar samples of knockin knockout mice. One possible explanation for the elevated oxylipins is that frataxin deficiency results in increased COX activity. While constitutive COX1 was unchanged, inducible COX2 expression was elevated over 1.35-fold (P < 0.05) in two Friedreich's mouse models and Friedreich's lymphocytes. Consistent with higher COX2 expression, its activity was also increased by 58% over controls. COX2 expression is driven by multiple transcription factors, including activator protein 1 and cAMP response element-binding protein, both of which were elevated over 1.52-fold in cerebella. Taken together, the results support the hypothesis that reduced expression of frataxin leads to elevation of COX2-mediated oxylipin synthesis stimulated by increases in transcription factors that respond to increased reactive oxygen species. These findings support a neuroinflammatory mechanism in FRDA, which has both pathomechanistic and therapeutic implications.The study was supported by NIH grants NS077777, EY012245 and AG025532 to G.A.C., and USDA-ARS Intramural Projects 5306-51530-019-00D and 1 U24 DK097154-01 to J.W.N. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the NIH

Coral assemblages at higher latitudes favor short-term potential over long-term performance

Funding for this research was provided by a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Doctoral Training Programme Scholarship to JC, a Royal Geographical Society Ralph Brown Expedition Award (RBEA 03/19) to MB and JC, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CE140100020) to JMP and others, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CE110001014), a British Ecological Society small grant, the Winifred Violet Scott Charitable Trust, and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement TRIM-DLV-747102 to MB. BS was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early CareerResearch Award (DE230100141), a University of Sydney Fellowship and a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the University of Technology Sydney.The persistent exposure of coral assemblages to more variable abiotic regimes is assumed to augment their resilience to future climatic variability. Yet, while the determinants of coral population resilience across species remain unknown, we are unable to predict the winners and losers across reef ecosystems exposed to increasingly variable conditions. Using annual surveys of 3171 coral individuals across Australia and Japan (2016-2019), we explore spatial variation across the short- and long-term dynamics of competitive, stress-tolerant, and weedy assemblages to evaluate how abiotic variability mediates the structural composition of coral assemblages. We illustrate how, by promoting short-term potential over long-term performance, coral assemblages can reduce their vulnerability to stochastic environments. However, compared to stress-tolerant, and weedy assemblages, competitive coral taxa display a reduced capacity for elevating their short-term potential. Accordingly, future climatic shifts threaten the structural complexity of coral assemblages in variable environments, emulating the degradation expected across global tropical reefs.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Flavones induce neutrophil apoptosis by down-regulation of Mcl-1 via a proteasomal-dependent pathway

Neutrophil apoptosis and subsequent nonphlogistic clearance by surrounding phagocytes are key to the successful resolution of neutrophilic inflammation, with dysregulated apoptosis reported in multiple human inflammatory diseases. Enhancing neutrophil apoptosis has proresolution and anti-inflammatory effects in preclinical models of inflammation. Here we investigate the ability of the flavones apigenin, luteolin, and wogonin to induce neutrophil apoptosis in vitro and resolve neutrophilic inflammation in vivo. Human neutrophil apoptosis was assessed morphologically and by flow cytometry following incubation with apigenin, luteolin, and wogonin. All three flavones induced time- and concentration-dependent neutrophil apoptosis (apigenin, EC(50)=12.2 μM; luteolin, EC(50)=14.6 μM; and wogonin, EC(50)=28.9 μM). Induction of apoptosis was caspase dependent, as it was blocked by the broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor Q-VD-OPh and was associated with both caspase-3 and caspase-9 activation. Flavone-induced apoptosis was preceded by down-regulation of the prosurvival protein Mcl-1, with proteasomal inhibition preventing flavone-induced Mcl-1 down-regulation and apoptosis. The flavones abrogated the survival effects of mediators that prolong neutrophil life span, including lipoteichoic acid, peptidoglycan, dexamethasone, and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, by driving apoptosis. Furthermore, wogonin enhanced resolution of established neutrophilic inflammation in a zebrafish model of sterile tissue injury. Wogonin-induced resolution was dependent on apoptosis in vivo as it was blocked by caspase inhibition. Our data show that the flavones induce neutrophil apoptosis and have potential as neutrophil apoptosis-inducing anti-inflammatory, proresolution agents.—Lucas, C. D., Allen, K. C., Dorward, D. A., Hoodless, L. J., Melrose, L. A., Marwick, J. A., Tucker, C. S., Haslett, C., Duffin, R., Rossi, A. G. Flavones induce neutrophil apoptosis by down-regulation of Mcl-1 via a proteasomal-dependent pathway