Le travail tringulaire en Grece: Certains cas de travail tringulaire dans la fonction publique

Κατά τη περίοδο 2010-2015 στην Ελλάδα λαμβάνει χώρα ο μετασχηματισμό του ηγεμονικού, πριν τη κρίση, μοντέλου εργασίας , το οποίο εξασφάλιζε τη σταθερότητα στην απασχόληση της πλειοψηφίας του ενεργού πληθυσμού. Σε συνθήκες εσωτερικής υποτίμησης με την εποπτεία της Τρόικα δρομολογήθηκαν αλλαγές όπως η απότομη μείωση της αξίας της εργασίας, η γενικευμένη επισφάλεια της εργασίας ακόμα και στον δημόσιο τομέα η δυνατότητα των επιχειρήσεων να μισθώνουν προσωπικό μέσα από ιδιαίτερα επισφαλή καθεστώτα εργασίας (ενοικίαση, ανάθεση, απόσπαση εργαζομένων). Στη μελέτη περίπτωσης που παρουσιάζουμε η «κοινωφελής» εργασία συνιστά μια νέα μορφή προσωρινής εργασίας στο Δημόσιο τομέα. Οι συμβάσεις του Δημοσίου με τους λεγόμενους « πενταμηνίτες» έδωσαν τη δυνατότητα στις δημόσιες υπηρεσίες να ικανοποιήσουν τις ανάγκες τους με δεδομένη την μεγάλη απώλεια προσωπικού που υπέστησαν. Όμως οι «πενταμηνίτες» δεν διαθέτουν τα δικαιώματα που προβλέπει η εργατική νομοθεσία.Our work hypothesis is that the hegemonic employment model in Greece, which safeguarded employment and strong legal protection for the majority of employees, is in a process of transformation to the opposite direction. In the special conditions created by the policies of internal devaluation under the supervision of the troika, work relations are in a process of change in both the private and the public sector: The institutional protection of employment is “freezing”, and its place is occupied by special regimes, created through the application laws following the successive memoranda imposed by the governments of the last few years. Thus, the employment model tending to generalise in Greece at present, i.e. work with little or no institutional rights, was already in existence during the previous period, but concerned a small part of the active population. The consequence of the abolition of fundamental work rights, is the renewal of the larger part of wage labour through precarious work regimes.

Patterns of Resilience during Socioeconomic Crises among Households in Europe (RESCuE): Concept, Objectives and Work. Packages of an EU FP 7 Project

Since 2008, Europe has been shaken by an ongoing crisis. If relevant parts of populations are exposed to socioeconomic risks, it is a distinctive characteristic of European political ethics that they must not be left alone, but should be subject to support and solidarity by budget support policy, economic development policies and social policy at different levels. But, in analogy with medical and psychological findings, some parts of the vulnerable population, although experiencing the same living conditions as others, are developing resilience, which in our context means that they perform social, economic and cultural practices and habits which protect them from suffer and harm and support sustainable patterns of coping and adaption. This resilience to socioeconomic crises at household levels is the focus of the project. It can consist of identity patterns, knowledge, family or community relations, cultural and social as well as economic practices, be they formal or informal. Welfare states, labour markets and economic policies at both macro or meso level form the context or ‘environment’ of those resilience patterns. For reasons of coping with the crisis without leaving the common ground of the implicit European social model (or the unwritten confession to the welfare state) under extremely bad monetary conditions in many countries, and for reasons of maintaining quality of life and improving social policy, it is a highly interesting perspective to learn from emergent processes of resilience development and their preconditions. Thus, the main questions are directed at understanding patterns and dimensions of resilience at micro-/household level in different types of European member and neighbour states accounting for regional varieties, relevant internal and external conditions and resources as well as influences on these patterns by social, economic or labour market policy as well as legal regulations

An Early Calcium Loading during Cherry Tree Dormancy Improves Fruit Quality Features at Harvest

The possible role of an early calcium application via sprays (0.25, 0.5 and 1M CaCl2) on dormant buds to improve sweet cherry (cv. Ferrovia) fruit quality at harvest was investigated. Fruit quality characteristics were also investigated in response to the age of spurs, the ripening stage, and their interactions. Results indicate that calcium enters the dormant flower buds and the phloem but not to the dormant vegetative buds. At harvest, the levels of Zn, Mn, and Cu were declined in fruits by increasing CaCl2 doses of sprays. Fruit respiratory activity was higher and on–tree fruit cracking was lower in red-colour (unripe) cherries as well as in fruit that was produced by 2-year-old short spurs or by Ca-treated buds. Differences in the sweet cherry skin metabolic profiles were identified. Fruit produced from Ca-exposed spurs exhibited lower levels of ribose and other cell-wall-related sugars and higher sucrose, maltose, and quininic acid levels. Nutrient shift was increased in red cherries, while anthocyanins were boosted in the black ones. PCA analysis was performed between the high dose of calcium spray and a control for mineral element content and cherry quality traits. This study illustrates that the high dose of calcium application during bud dormancy can effectively improve sweet cherry fruit characteristics, in terms of calcium content, cracking incidence, and fruit set. Overall, the present study contributes to a better understanding of the impact of calcium nutrition in fruit crops, which will provide references for alternative nutrient management and quality control in sweet cherry production

Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index for fibrosis evaluation in chronic viral hepatitis

Objective We assessed the value of the recently developed aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) for predicting significant fibrosis or cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C or HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B. Methods In total, 489 patients (chronic hepatitis C, 284 patients; HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B, 205 patients) were included. APRI values of 0.50 or less and greater than 1.50 were evaluated for predicting significant fibrosis, and APRI values of 1.00 or less and greater than 2.00 for predicting cirrhosis. Liver biopsies were evaluated according to the Ishak’s classification. Fibrosis was considered to be significant in cases with scores 3-6, and cirrhosis to be present in cases with fibrosis scores of 5 and 6. Results Significant fibrosis was observed in 56/148 (38%) patients with APRI <= 0.50, 130/227 (57%) patients with 0.50 < APRI <= 1.50 and 84/114 (74%) patients with APRI > 1.50 (p < 10(-3)). Cirrhosis was observed in 47/311 (15%) patients with APRI <= 1.00, 29/93 (31%) patients with 1.00 < APRI <= 2.00 and 37/85 (44%) patients with APRI > 2.00 (p < 10(-3)). The areas under receiver-operating characteristic curves were 0.65 and 0.70 for prediction of significant fibrosis or cirrhosis, respectively. The combination of APRI <= 0.50 and APRI > 1.50 classified correctly 36% of patients with or without significant fibrosis, while the combination of APRI <= 1.00 and APRI > 2.00 classified correctly 62% of patients with or without cirrhosis. There was no significant difference in the predictive values of APRI between patients with chronic hepatitis C and chronic hepatitis B. Conclusions APRI is significantly associated with the extent of fibrosis, but it does not classify correctly 40-65% of patients with chronic hepatitis C or HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B, and thus it cannot replace liver biopsy

Emerging role of linker histone variant H1x as a biomarker with prognostic value in astrocytic gliomas. A multivariate analysis including trimethylation of H3K9 and H4K20.

Although epigenetic alterations play an essential role in gliomagenesis, the relevance of aberrant histone modifications and the respective enzymes has not been clarified. Experimental data implicates histone H3 lysine (K) methyltransferases SETDB1 and SUV39H1 into glioma pathobiology, whereas linker histone variant H1.0 and H4K20me3 reportedly affect prognosis. We investigated the expression of H3K9me3 and its methyltransferases along with H4K20me3 and H1x in 101 astrocytic tumors with regard to clinicopathological characteristics and survival. The effect of SUV39H1 inhibition by chaetocin on the proliferation, colony formation and migration of T98G cells was also examined. SETDB1 and cytoplasmic SUV39H1 levels increased from normal brain through low-grade to high-grade tumors, nuclear SUV39H1 correlating inversely with grade. H3K9me3 immunoreactivity was higher in normal brain showing no association with grade, whereas H1x and H4K20me3 expression was higher in grade 2 than in normal brain or high grades. These expression patterns of H1x, H4K20me3 and H3K9me3 were verified by Western immunoblotting. Chaetocin treatment significantly reduced proliferation, clonogenic potential and migratory ability of T98G cells. H1x was an independent favorable prognosticator in glioblastomas, this effect being validated in an independent set of 66 patients. Diminished nuclear SUV39H1 expression adversely affected survival in univariate analysis. In conclusion, H4K20me3 and H3K9 methyltransferases are differentially implicated in astroglial tumor progression. Deregulation of H1x emerges as a prognostic biomarker

Hepatic steatosis in genotype 4 chronic hepatitis C is mainly because of metabolic factors

BACKGROUND/AIM: Hepatic steatosis is considered to be mostly associated with viral factors in genotype 3 and metabolic factors in genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C, while there are rather few data for genotype 4. We determined the parameters associated with steatosis in 350 chronic hepatitis C patients, focusing on genotype 4. METHODS: Histological lesions were evaluated according to Ishak’s classification and steatosis was semiquantitatively graded. Several patient characteristics on the biopsy day were also evaluated. RESULTS: Steatosis was present in 73% of patients without significant differences among genotypes. Moderate/severe steatosis was more frequent in genotype 3 than 4 (44% vs 26%, P = 0.025) and similar between genotype 4 and 1 patients. Moderate/severe steatosis was associated with body mass index (BMI) in genotype 4 (P = 0.023) and gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase in genotype 3 patients (P = 0.044). In 150 nondiabetic patients with BMI <= 25 kg/m(2), moderate/severe steatosis was present in 15, 40, and 11% of genotype 1, 3, and 4 patients, respectively, (P = 0.005) and was independently associated only with genotype 3. In multivariate analysis, steatosis grade or moderate/severe steatosis was independently associated with higher BMI, genotype 3, and lower cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate or severe steatosis is significantly less frequent in genotype 4 than 3 chronic hepatitis C patients and similar between genotype 4 and 1. In nondiabetic, nonoverweight patients, moderate or severe steatosis is present in only 10-15% of genotype 4 or 1 compared with 40% of genotype 3 patients. Thus, hepatic steatosis in genotype 4 is mostly associated with metabolic factors, similar to those in genotype 1