Unemployment Insurance: Case Studies and Lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean

This study examines unemployment insurance(UI) for its potential application and implications for Latin American and the Caribbean economies. It surveys current experience with unemployment insurance programs through case studies and draws lessons learned in particular for the Latin American and the Caribbean region.

Unemployment Insurance: Case Studies and Lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean

This study examines unemployment insurance(UI) for its potential application and implications for Latin American and the Caribbean economies. It surveys current experience with unemployment insurance programs through case studies and draws lessons learned in particular for the Latin American and the Caribbean region

Servicios de intermediación laboral: enseñanzas para América Latina y el Caribe

Incluye Bibliografí

Metformin Prevents Nigrostriatal Dopamine Degeneration Independent of AMPK Activation in Dopamine Neurons

Metformin is a widely prescribed drug used to treat type-2 diabetes, although recent studies show it has wide ranging effects to treat other diseases. Animal and retrospective human studies indicate that Metformin treatment is neuroprotective in Parkinson’s Disease (PD), although the neuroprotective mechanism is unknown, numerous studies suggest the beneficial effects on glucose homeostasis may be through AMPK activation. In this study we tested whether or not AMPK activation in dopamine neurons was required for the neuroprotective effects of Metformin in PD. We generated transgenic mice in which AMPK activity in dopamine neurons was ablated by removing AMPK beta 1 and beta 2 subunits from dopamine transporter expressing neurons. These AMPK WT and KO mice were then chronically exposed to Metformin in the drinking water then exposed to MPTP, the mouse model of PD. Chronic Metformin treatment significantly attenuated the MPTP-induced loss of Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH) neuronal number and volume and TH protein concentration in the nigrostriatal pathway. Additionally, Metformin treatment prevented the MPTP-induced elevation of the DOPAC:DA ratio regardless of genotype. Metformin also prevented MPTP induced gliosis in the Substantia Nigra. These neuroprotective actions were independent of genotype and occurred in both AMPK WT and AMPK KO mice. Overall, our studies suggest that Metformin’s neuroprotective effects are not due to AMPK activation in dopaminergic neurons and that more research is required to determine how metformin acts to restrict the development of PD

Traditional Excluding Forces: A Review of the Quantitative Literature on the Economic Situation of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Descendants, and People Living with Disability

Unequal income distribution in Latin America and the Caribbean is linked to unequal distributions of (human and physical) assets and differential access to markets and services. These circumstances, and the accompanying social tensions, need to be understood in terms of traditional fragmenting forces; the sectors of the population who experience unfavorable outcomes are also recognized by characteristics such as ethnicity, race, gender and physical disability. In addition to reviewing the general literature on social exclusion, this paper surveys several more specific topics: i) relative deprivation (in land and housing, physical infrastructure, health and income); ii) labor market issues, including access to labor markets in general, as well as informality, segregation and discrimination; iii) the transaction points of political representation, social protection and violence; and iv) areas where analysis remains weak and avenues for further research in the region

Immunoglobulin, glucocorticoid, or combination therapy for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: a propensity-weighted cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a hyperinflammatory condition associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, has emerged as a serious illness in children worldwide. Immunoglobulin or glucocorticoids, or both, are currently recommended treatments. METHODS: The Best Available Treatment Study evaluated immunomodulatory treatments for MIS-C in an international observational cohort. Analysis of the first 614 patients was previously reported. In this propensity-weighted cohort study, clinical and outcome data from children with suspected or proven MIS-C were collected onto a web-based Research Electronic Data Capture database. After excluding neonates and incomplete or duplicate records, inverse probability weighting was used to compare primary treatments with intravenous immunoglobulin, intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, or glucocorticoids alone, using intravenous immunoglobulin as the reference treatment. Primary outcomes were a composite of inotropic or ventilator support from the second day after treatment initiation, or death, and time to improvement on an ordinal clinical severity scale. Secondary outcomes included treatment escalation, clinical deterioration, fever, and coronary artery aneurysm occurrence and resolution. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN69546370. FINDINGS: We enrolled 2101 children (aged 0 months to 19 years) with clinically diagnosed MIS-C from 39 countries between June 14, 2020, and April 25, 2022, and, following exclusions, 2009 patients were included for analysis (median age 8·0 years [IQR 4·2-11·4], 1191 [59·3%] male and 818 [40·7%] female, and 825 [41·1%] White). 680 (33·8%) patients received primary treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, 698 (34·7%) with intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, 487 (24·2%) with glucocorticoids alone; 59 (2·9%) patients received other combinations, including biologicals, and 85 (4·2%) patients received no immunomodulators. There were no significant differences between treatments for primary outcomes for the 1586 patients with complete baseline and outcome data that were considered for primary analysis. Adjusted odds ratios for ventilation, inotropic support, or death were 1·09 (95% CI 0·75-1·58; corrected p value=1·00) for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids and 0·93 (0·58-1·47; corrected p value=1·00) for glucocorticoids alone, versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Adjusted average hazard ratios for time to improvement were 1·04 (95% CI 0·91-1·20; corrected p value=1·00) for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, and 0·84 (0·70-1·00; corrected p value=0·22) for glucocorticoids alone, versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Treatment escalation was less frequent for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids (OR 0·15 [95% CI 0·11-0·20]; p<0·0001) and glucocorticoids alone (0·68 [0·50-0·93]; p=0·014) versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Persistent fever (from day 2 onward) was less common with intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids compared with either intravenous immunoglobulin alone (OR 0·50 [95% CI 0·38-0·67]; p<0·0001) or glucocorticoids alone (0·63 [0·45-0·88]; p=0·0058). Coronary artery aneurysm occurrence and resolution did not differ significantly between treatment groups. INTERPRETATION: Recovery rates, including occurrence and resolution of coronary artery aneurysms, were similar for primary treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin when compared to glucocorticoids or intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids. Initial treatment with glucocorticoids appears to be a safe alternative to immunoglobulin or combined therapy, and might be advantageous in view of the cost and limited availability of intravenous immunoglobulin in many countries. FUNDING: Imperial College London, the European Union's Horizon 2020, Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Foundation, UK National Institute for Health and Care Research, and National Institutes of Health

Unemployment Insurance: Case Studies and Lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean

This study examines unemployment insurance (UI) for its potential application and implications for Latin American and the Caribbean economies. It surveys current experience with unemployment insurance programs through case studies and draws lessons learned in particular for the Latin American and the Caribbean region

Labor Intermediation Services: Considerations and Lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean from International Experience

Latin America and the Caribbean have experience, albeit limited, in the reform and reformulation of labor intermediation systems. This article seeks to bring together both experience in the region and within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to investigate how such systems might be relevant to Latin American and Caribbean economies. The article first reviews what is the more modern concept of labor intermediation, outlining its various services. It then analyzes OECD and Latin American experience with reform and modernization of intermediation systems with an eye to recommendations and adaptations particularly relevant to economies in the region.

Labour intermediation services: lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliograph

Labor Intermediation Services: A Review for Latin America and Caribbean Countries

Labor intermediation services are used to improve the connection between job seeker and job. They aim not only to get job seekers more quickly into new jobs but also to make a better quality match, getting the more appropriate worker into the right job. Done well, labor intermediation helps reduce short-term unemployment, reduce job rotation, reduce the cost of new hires, improve productivity and firm growth, and importantly, reduce job discrimination. For many years, labor intermediation services were embodied in a single national public employment service that varied in quality and investment. Today, we find a range of public and private intermediation services and a wider range of products and services, including those to link workers to training, self-employment, and social services. This policy brief first examines the characteristics of labor intermediation services, then reviews key reform efforts in developed and Latin America and Caribbean economies, and lays out the principal institutional models or public/private configurations that can be found in these countries. It concludes by providing a series of recommendations and considerations for Latin American and Caribbean countries seeking to reinvigorate or reform labor intermediation services. In particular, the policy brief offers some key considerations for adapting labor intermediation services to the realities of Latin American and Caribbean economies.