Is a Decent Wage Part of a decent Job? Answers from an Enlarged Europe. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" .INT - 64/2008

Therefore, there is enough evidence to wonder if the question of a decent wage can still really be considered so irrelevant within the confines of the EU; if its substantial exclusion from the quality of work agenda is justified, or if it would not rather be the case to admit that the problem of guaranteeing an adequate wage level is increasingly evident in the EU, not only in the external dimension but also internal. There appear to be two processes in particular which have determined the emergence of the problem, which until the 1990s seemed to have abated if not totally disappeared; on the one hand the introduction of a single currency with the relevant Stability Pact and the necessary policy of wage moderation which followed (§. 2); on the other, the enlarging of the Union - and its market - towards countries characterised by levels of social welfare inferior to that of longer standing member states. (§. 3). Such issues will be dealt with more extensively in the following pages

Observations on the linguistic epigraphic choice in late antique inscriptions from Malta

The aim of this paper is to reconsider the Maltese epigraphic material from a linguistic point of view, with an attempt to point out what the specific linguistic choice means within the epigraphic context. Analysing the epigraphic data, it is possible to suppose that in late antiquity the Greek-speaking community in Malta was linked to a Jewish community maybe coming from abroad. Furthermore, a parallel can be established with the south-eastern area in Sicily, where there is evidence for the presence of Jewish burial places in Christian necropoleis, with the preponderance of Greek used as epigraphic language. The choice of Greek for the funerary inscriptions from Malta does not tend to be arbitrary, and might indicate the persistent use of the original language of an immigrant community.peer-reviewe

The Kauffman bracket skein module of a twist knot exterior

We compute the Kauffman bracket skein module of the complement of a twist knot, finding that it is free and infinite dimensional. The basis consists of cables of a two-component link, one component of which is a meridian of the knot. The cabling of the meridian can be arbitrarily large while the cabling of the other component is limited to the number of twists.Comment: Published by Algebraic and Geometric Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/agt/AGTVol5/agt-5-6.abs.htm

Investigating the genetic complexity of glaucoma

Glaucoma is an age-related chronic eye disease that damages the optic nerve, a cranial nerve that is pivotal for vision. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) represents the most prevalent type of this disease and its prevalence varies between populations. It ranges from 1 to 4% in Europe and from 2 to 7% in African countries in adults aged 40 years and over. The condition is asymptomatic in its early stages, a peculiarity that explains why most of the cases are initially unaware of having this disease and are left undiagnosed. Many risk factors for POAG have been recognised. The most widely acknowledged include: advanced age, elevated intraocular pressure, having African descent, positive family history of glaucoma, and thin central corneal thickness. Genetic studies conducted in twins, families, and populations revealed that POAG is a heterogeneous complex disease with a large heritable component. So far, despite the vast and constantly increasing genetic investigation, the identified loci explain only 10% of POAG risk, predominately in European and Asian populations. For this reason, in individuals of African ancestry most of the variants already identified do not seem to play a role in the disease, which suggests a population-specific genetic architecture. Clearly, there is still a large portion of missing and hidden heritability to be found. The aim of the research presented here was to investigate different genetic risk factors contributing to glaucoma susceptibility that may explain part of the missing heritability. The sources of these risk factors included the analysis of ethnic risk, common variants, mutations, variations in copy number in the nuclear and analysis of mitochondrial genome

Observations on the linguistic epigraphic choice in late antique inscriptions from Malta

The aim of this paper is to reconsider the Maltese Epigraphic material from a linguistic point of view, with an attempt to point out what the speciic linguistic choice means within the epigraphic context. Analysing the epigraphic data, it is possible to suppose that in late antiquity the Greek-speaking community in Malta was linked to a Jewish community maybe coming from abroad. Furthermore, a parallel can be established with the south-eastern area in Sicily, where there is evidence for the presence of Jewish burial places in Christian necropoleis, with the preponderance of Greek used as epigraphic language. he choice of Greek for the funerary inscriptions from Malta does not tend to be arbitrary, and might indicate the persistent use of the original language of an immigrant community