Educational Reform and Labor Market Outcomes: the Case of Argentina's Ley Federal de Educacion

In the nineties Argentina implemented a large education reform (Ley Federal de Educación – LFE) that mainly implied the extension of compulsory education in two additional years. The timing in the implementation substantially varied across provinces, providing a source of identification for unraveling the causal effect of the reform. The estimations from difference-in-difference models suggest that the LFE had an overall positive although mild impact on education and labor outcomes. The impact on the income-deprived youths was small for education outcomes and null for labor outcomes.Education, reform, labor market, wages, employment, Argentina

Sustainable tourism indicators as policy making tools: lessons from ETIS implementation at destination level

This paper aims to analyse the roles sustainable tourism indicators (STIs) play in policy making processes at destination level through a three-dimensional framework: 1) instrumental (direct use of information for decision-making), 2) conceptual (awareness raising) and 3) symbolic (legitimate decisions). The European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) is taken as a reference system as the only common framework developed by the European Commission to measure and monitor tourism sustainability. Our empirical research follows a three-step approach. Firstly, we analysed ETIS to investigate its potential to be linked to tourism policy. Secondly, we took Zuid Limburg, the Netherlands as a case study, to assess the role of ETIS pilot implementation at the destination. Finally, we performed a comparative analysis of 11 destinations that have tested ETIS, to better frame the weight of the indicator roles in local policy making processes. We conclude that so far the STIs developed within ETIS have had limited instrumental and symbolic use, while their conceptual role, related to the social learning process resulting from their implementation, can be considered a pre-condition for other roles to emerge. Moreover, the indicators' role within policy making is closely linked to the specific governance context, influencing and being influenced by it

Lo Studio SCoPre (Sviluppo Cognitivo e Prematurità): dati preliminari sullo sviluppo dei “Late Preterms” in età scolare

Background. In Italy, children born Late Preterm (LPs, 34-36 weeks of gestational age) represent about 4% of all births. LPs have a higher risk of mortality, repeated hospitalizations in early life, chronic illnesses and functional limitations, compared to children born at term. Moreover, LPs are more likely to experience difficulties in their neurodevelopment, which may impair adaptation, especially at school. This study explores the developmental and behavioural outcomes of LPs compared to those of “Very Preterm” (VPs) or “Full Term” (FTs) peers. Methods. The paediatricians involved, recruited, among their patients, all VPs and LPs aged 7-10 years and a number of FTs twice that of the LPs. Mothers of children filled in a protocol consisting of a medical history form and three questionnaires. Results. 554 questionnaires were collected and processed (39 VPs, 183 LPs and 332 FTs). The three groups were significantly different in terms of birth weight (p < .001), twin pregnancy (p < .001), type of delivery (p <.001), type of pregnancy (p < .001) and gender (p < .05). FTs show better school achievements than VPs and LPs (p < .001). The LPs showed more symptoms of anxiety (p < .05) and aggressive behaviours (p < .001) than the FTs and, together with VPs, social problems (p < .001). VPs score significantly lower than FTs in the fine motor (p < .05) and in the general coordination abilities (p = .01). Mothers of the LPs reported a lower mental and physical wellbeing than mothers of FTs (p = .06). Conclusions. These data show that preterm children are more vulnerable that counterparts born at term in some developmental areas. Particularly, LPs present more difficulties in school achievements and in some behaviour, compared to FTs, often similarly to VPs. Mothers of the LPs perceive more mental and physical discomfort than mothers of FTs

Drug resistance among influenza A viruses isolated in Italy from 2000 to 2005: are the emergence of Adamantane-resistant viruses cause of concern?

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Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine: growing knowledge and its implications for Italy

Introductive note A wide literature on Streptococcus Pneumoniae (Pn) infections is available, largely published in the recent years, after the introduction of the heptavalent conjugate vaccine in US and in Europe. This review is based on the most up-to-date scientific articles about this pathogen

Community monitoring interventions to curb corruption and increase access and quality in service delivery: a systematic review

There is a belief that allowing communities monitoring power over providers could be beneficial for improving service delivery and reducing corruption in service delivery. In community monitoring interventions (CMIs), the community is given the opportunity to observe and assess providers’ performance and provide feedback to providers and politicians. This systematic review and meta-analysis appraises and synthesises evidence on the effects of CMIs on access and quality of service delivery and corruption outcomes in low and middle-income countries. The results indicate evidence of beneficial effects of CMIs on service delivery quality and on helping to curb corruption. The potential benefits of CMIs on access to and quality of services are likely to be higher when interventions are designed so that contact between both actors are promoted, and tools for citizens to monitor agents’ performance are provided. However, more rigorous research is needed to address this hypothesis.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociale

Educational reform and labor market outcomes: the case of Argentina's Ley Federal de Educación

En los noventa Argentina implementó una reforma educativa (la Ley Federal de Educación-LFE) que implicó principalmente la extensión de la educación obligatoria en dos años adicionales. El timing en la implementación fue sustancialmente diferente entre provincias, lo cual provee una fuente de identificación del efecto causal de la reforma. Las estimaciones de modelos de diferencias dobles sugieren que la LFE tuvo un impacto global positivo pero moderado sobre los resultados educativos y laborales. El impacto sobre los jóvenes pobres fue pequeño en términos educativos y nulo en términos laborales.In the nineties Argentina implemented a large education reform (Ley Federal de Educación-LFE) that mainly implied the extension of compulsory education in two additional years. The timing in the implementation substantially varied across provinces, providing a source of identification for unraveling the causal effect of the reform. The estimations from difference-indifference models suggest that the LFE had an overall positive although mild impact on education and labor outcomes. The impact on the income-deprived youths was small for education outcomes and null for labor outcomes.Proyecto seleccionado por Policy and Economic Policy (PEP) Network.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Virological investigation on aerosol from waste depuration plants

Aerosol from activated mud decontamination plants used for the treatment of urban sewage can represent a vehicle for bacteria, virus and fungi. As a result, they become an infective hazard for plant personnel, the general population residing in the surrounding area and the occasional visitor. The present investigation focuses on the identification of enteric-type viruses in this kind of aerosol. The following methods were employed on 214 samples collected in the 1999-2000 period: cell culture (BGM, RD, Hep-2), electron microscopy, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Cytopathic effect was mild in 180 samples, and severe in 14, upon their first passage in culture. Virus identification was based on positivity to both electron microscopy (EM) and PCR. Thus, one positive sample was recognized to be of enteric-type virus and two positive samples were recognized as reovirus-type. All samples were negative for Norwalk-type virus or HAV. There was considerable discrepancy between electron microscopy and PCR concerning the number of enteric-type viruses recognized. A possible explanation is contamination with animal-type enterovirus

Positivity to p-ANCA in patients with status epilepticus

BACKGROUND: Status epilepticus (SE) may occur in the setting of several internal or neurologic diseases. Anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are a group of Ig that may be observed in patients with different autoimmune disorders but are particularly associated with systemic vasculitis named ANCA-associated-vasculities (AAV). We herein report 3 patients with SE and positivity to p-ANCA. CASE PRESENTATION: One patient had a catastrophic evolution and died 5 months after disease onset. The other two patients had a good outcome and remained seizure-free at 30 months and 5 years of follow-up respectively. CONCLUSION: This report highlights the importance of considering ANCA dosage in patients with SE of unclear origin

Morphology of the sacral region and reproductive strategies of Metriorhynchidae: a counter-inductive approach

Morphological and physiological features indicate Metriorhynchidae as the only group of crocodylomorphs with a pelagic lifestyle. Some of these features have evolved convergently in several clades of tetrapods secondarily adapted to aquatic life. One striking feature of metriorhynchids as compared to other crocodylomorphs is the morphology of the pelvic region (i.e., ventrally deflected sacral ribs and reduced pelvic girdle), which increases significantly the depth of this region. This morphology, as a whole, resembles that of other viviparous Mesozoic marine reptiles not phylogenetically related to metriorhynchids. We tested two alternative hypotheses of reproductive strategies in this clade: oviparity vs. viviparity. Given the lack of direct evidence supporting one or the other, we explored the use of evidence that may disconfirm either of these hypotheses. Using this counter-inductive approach, we found no cases contradicting viviparity in metriorhynchids, except for their phylogenetic position as archosaurs. A survey of reproductive modes amongst amniotes depicts the evolutionary plasticity of the transition to viviparity, and a widespread occurrence among tetrapods secondarily adapted to a marine life. Assuming oviparity for metriorhynchids implies egg-laying out of the water. However, their postcranial morphology (i.e., features of fore and hind limbs, pelvic girdle, and tail) contradicts this possibility. In this context, we rejected oviparity for metriorhynchids.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse