Labor Migration in the European Union: De-institutionalization or Re-institutionalization of Social Protection?

The literature on European Union (EU) integration sees increasing liberalization as a major challenge for models of national capitalism within Member States. EU liberalization, it is argued, erodes national welfare regimes and prevents the re-embedding of markets in social protection systems. However, other scholars highlight the ability of national institutions to reinvent themselves to offer social protection. This paper assesses these claims by exploring an extreme case of labor market pressure driven by EU liberalization. Employment conditions in the meat production sector in Germany and Denmark have been affected in very different ways by EU liberalization. We explore whether, and to what extent, low wage labor migration has weakened the position of social partners and the rules that shape the employment conditions in the industry. We see evidence of deinstitutionalization in both Germany and Denmark but we also see evidence of distinct institutional reinvention that reflects national political traditions. We find that some degree of solidaristic labor market regulation can be maintained – at least in the short term – even in the face of relocation and job losses

Is paternal age associated with transfer day, developmental stage, morphology, and initial hCG-rise of the competent blastocyst leading to live birth?:A multicenter cohort study

In this study we investigated whether age of men undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment was associated with day of transfer, stage, morphology, and initial hCG-rise of the competent blastocyst leading to a live birth? The design was a multicenter historical cohort study based on exposure (age) and outcome data (blastocyst stage and morphology and initial hCG-rise) from men whose partner underwent single blastocyst transfer resulting in singleton pregnancy/birth. The ART treatments were carried out at sixteen private and university-based public fertility clinics. We included 7246 men and women, who between 2014 and 2018 underwent controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) or Frozen-thawed Embryo Transfer (FET) with a single blastocyst transfer resulting in singleton pregnancy were identified. 4842 men with a partner giving birth were included, by linking data to the Danish Medical Birth Registry. We showed that the adjusted association between paternal age and transfer day in COS treatments was OR 1.06, 95% CI (1.00;1.13). Meaning that for every increase of one year, men had a 6% increased probability that the competent blastocyst was transferred on day 6 compared to day 5. Further we showed that the mean difference in hCG values when comparing paternal age group 30–34, 35–39 and 40–45 with the age group 25–29 in those receiving COS treatment, all showed significantly lower adjusted values for older men. In conclusion we hypothesize that the later transfer (day 6) in female partners of older men may be due to longer time spent by the oocyte to repair fragmented DNA of the sperm cells, which should be a focus of future research in men

Assessing Shipping Induced Emissions Impact on Air Quality with Various Techniques : Initial Results of the SCIPPER project

This paper presents the methods deployed by the Horizon 2O2O SCIPPER project to characterize emission performance of vebels, mainly under the perspective of checking compliance to new emissions regulations. Various on-board and remote measurement techniques have been demonstrated within five experimental campaigns conducted at Europe's main sea areas and ports. Almost a thousand of ship plumes has been measured and crobed checked with various instrumentation, revealing the emission profile of ships during actual operation Accuracy of each measurement technique was also tested. Emission measurements are further exploited to abess the impact of shipping on air quality of coastal areas, by identifying the transformations of pollutants performed in the atmosphere as plume evolves and quantifying onshore pollutants concentrations attributed to shipping activity.Peer reviewe

Shared genetic risk between eating disorder- and substance-use-related phenotypes:Evidence from genome-wide association studies

First published: 16 February 202

Genomic Relationships, Novel Loci, and Pleiotropic Mechanisms across Eight Psychiatric Disorders

Genetic influences on psychiatric disorders transcend diagnostic boundaries, suggesting substantial pleiotropy of contributing loci. However, the nature and mechanisms of these pleiotropic effects remain unclear. We performed analyses of 232,964 cases and 494,162 controls from genome-wide studies of anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and Tourette syndrome. Genetic correlation analyses revealed a meaningful structure within the eight disorders, identifying three groups of inter-related disorders. Meta-analysis across these eight disorders detected 109 loci associated with at least two psychiatric disorders, including 23 loci with pleiotropic effects on four or more disorders and 11 loci with antagonistic effects on multiple disorders. The pleiotropic loci are located within genes that show heightened expression in the brain throughout the lifespan, beginning prenatally in the second trimester, and play prominent roles in neurodevelopmental processes. These findings have important implications for psychiatric nosology, drug development, and risk prediction.Peer reviewe

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Holdbarhetsundersøkelse av aldosteron i serum oppbevart ved romtemperatur

Bacheloroppgaven er utført ved Avdeling for medisinsk biokjemi, Seksjon spesiell biokjemi ved St. Olavs Hospital. I denne holdbarhetsundersøkelsen ble det undersøkt hvor lenge hormonet aldosteron er holdbart i serum når det er oppbevart i romtemperatur og analyseres på UHPLC-MS/MS. Holdbarheten ble undersøkt i tre forskjellige oppbevaringsmetoder; serum avpipettert fra serumrør uten gel, serum oppbevart på gelrør og serum avpipettert fra gelrør. For å se om oppbevaring over tid i romtemperatur ga signifikant utslag på resultatene ble prøvematerialet oppbevart i romtemperatur inntil fire døgn. Hver 12. time ble tre alikvoter per deltaker fryst ned for lagring frem til analysering, én for hver oppbevaringsmetode. I en tidligere holdbarhetsundersøkelse av aldosteron fra 2017, utført ved Seksjon spesiell biokjemi, St. Olavs hospital, fant seksjonen ut at aldosteron ikke er holdbart i serum på gelrør i romtemperatur i tre døgn. Prøver sendes rutinemessig til laboratoriet med post fra helsetjenestene i distriktet. Disse sendes romtemperert på serumrør med gel. Ved helg og høytid kan postgangen strekke seg over 3-4 dager. Det er derfor ønskelig å nærmere undersøke holdbarheten av prøvematerialet som skal benyttes til analysering av aldosteron, og se om det eventuelt må settes andre krav for preanalytisk behandling av materialet. I studien deltok 20 friske, frivillige ansatte ved Avdeling for medisinsk biokjemi. Det ble tatt venøst blod i åtte rør per deltaker; tre serumrør uten gel og fem serumrør med gel. Alle prøvene ble nummerert for å sikre anonymitet. Etter sentrifugering ble serum alikvotert i eppendorfrør som ble oppbevart i romtemperatur frem til det ble fryst i -80 °C for å stanse alle biologiske prosesser. Alikvotene ble fryst ned 0, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84 og 96 timer etter sentrifugering. Den første prøven som ble fryst like etter sentrifugering ble benyttet som nullprøve i beregningene. Analyseresultatene viste at alle enkeltprøver holdt seg innenfor tillatt totalfeil, og gjennomsnittsverdiene med tilhørende 90 % konfidensintervall var innenfor tillatt bias for alle analysetidspunkt. Holdbarhetsundersøkelsen antyder at aldosteron er holdbart i serum oppbevart i romtemperatur til og med fire døgn (96 timer), for alle de tre oppbevaringsmetodene