Youth employment transitions in Latin America

Using panel data from labor force surveys in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, the paper maps out young people's paths from the classroom to the work place during the 1980s through the early 2000s. By decomposing transition matrices into propensity to move and rate of separation and estimating duration matrices, the authors follow young people's movements between school and work and between employment sectors to better understand the dynamics of youth employment, including where youth go upon leaving school, how long they spend in each state, and where they go upon leaving various employment states. The main conclusion of the study is that young people across all three countries follow a similar trend over their life cycle: they leave school to spend a short time in the informal sector, move to a formal position for longer spells, and finally become self-employed. The authors find evidence of decreasing segmentation between formal and informal sectors as workers age, a lower propensity for formal sector employees to return to school than workers in the same age cohort who are not in the formal sector, and that entry to self-employment is not subject to income constraints.Labor Markets,Youth and Governance,Adolescent Health,Tertiary Education,Labor Policies

Mapping Dublin in James Joyce's "Dubliners" . Dublin, a Static and Timeless Environment: a Text Narrative

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The biophysical effects of deuterium oxide on biomolecules and living cells through open notebook science.

This dissertation explores various effects of deuterium oxide (D2O also known as heavy water) in nature. Water is everywhere and interacts with just about everything. As such, it would be quite a daunting task to characterize every effect that water exhibits on everything in the universe. This research is a small piece of the puzzle, and provides some fundamental understanding of how water interacts with other molecules. This is done from two viewpoints: (1) the effects of heavy water on living cells and (2) the effects of heavy water on molecules. Varying concentrations of deuterium oxide were used as the growing solvent for four different organisms: S. cerevisiae, E. coli, A. thaliana, and N. tabacum. In each case growth rates and morphology was assessed and compared to the wild type. Organisms were surveyed for potential phenotypes exhibited in the presence of extremely low and high concentrations of D2O. In every organism, growth is increasingly inhibited in higher concentrations of D2O compared to lower concentrations of D2O. In the case of tobacco, a root hair phenotype was exhibited in the presence of deuterium depleted water (atoms). Roots also grew faster in 1% D2O and DDW, compared to natural water. For Arabidopsis, root germination is statistically indistinguishable between DI water and 33% D2O. Growth of the plant in 10% D2O is identical to that of natural water, and potentially healthier. Meanwhile, plants grown in 60% D2O exhibit slower growth and leaf discoloration. Tests on E. coli reveal inconsistent growth rates, but exhibit increased growth in DDW when adapted to D2O. Cellular and colonial morphology is also very distinguished from the wt. Cells appear to remain joined after cellular fission, while colonies exhibit brainy structures. Yeast morphology is quite different. Yeast cells remain joined after mitosis in 99% D2O, causing large cellular aggregates, while colonies become slightly asymmetric. Adaptation of yeast to D2O was not possible. Molecular effects were examined using a variety of tools including: dynamic light spectroscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, cavity ring-down spectroscopy, and optical tweezers. Heat induced protein aggregation was possible in H2O, but prevented in the presence of D2O and analyzed via DLS. Deuterium exchange and replacement was observed and quantified using both FT-IR and CRDS. With FT-IR it was possible to identify differences between solvents, while the time-scale of hydrogen-deuterium exchange was quantified for bulk water with CRDS. Using optical tweezers, DNA was overstretched in both H2O and D2O. The average force for DNA overstretching was found to be ~2.5pN higher in D2O compared to H2O. Deuterium oxide has a stabilizing force on biomolecules, which prevents protein denaturing and can affect the timing for cellular processes. It is because of this molecular property that D2O is observed to affect organisms grown with D2O instead of H2O. Despite this, there seems to be an optimal concentration of deuterium which is above the natural concentration of 155.6ppm. In the presence of deuterium depleted water, cells exhibit signs of stress, further demonstrating that deuterium isnt merely tolerated in solution, but actually required as hypothesized by Gilbert N. Lewis in 1934

Reference intervals as a tool for total quality management

The more traditional, widespread and practiced method for interpreting the laboratory results is based on the comparison made with reference intervals. Nevertheless, the creation of appropriate reference intervals requires careful planning, monitoring and documentation of every aspect of the study, including the selection of the reference population (encompassing selection of homogeneous groups of reference according to ethnicity, geographical origin and environmental conditions, stratification according to age and gender, definition of health status) along with the use of the most appropriate statistical tools. In the very next future, the longitudinal comparison of laboratory results might probably replace the current use of reference intervals

A paradigmatic case of haemolysis and pseudohyperkalemia in blood gas analysis

A 51-year old male patient was admitted to the hospital with acute dyspnea and history of chronic asthma. Venous blood was drawn into a 3.0 mL heparinized syringe and delivered to the laboratory for blood gas analysis (GEM Premier 4000, Instrumentation Laboratory), which revealed high potassium value (5.2 mmol/L; reference range on whole blood, 3.5-4.5 mmol/L). This result was unexpected, so that a second venous blood sample was immediately drawn by direct venipuncture into a 3.5 mL lithium-heparin blood tube, and delivered to the laboratory for repeating potassium testing on Cobas 8000 (Roche Diagnostics). The analysis revealed normal plasma potassium (4.6 mmol/L; reference range in plasma, 3.5-5.0 mmol/L) and haemolysis index (5; 0.05 g/L). Due to suspicion of spurious haemolysis, heparinized blood was transferred from syringe into a plastic tube and centrifuged. Potassium and haemolysis index were then measured in this heparinized plasma, confirming high haemolysis index (50; 0.5 g/L) and pseudohyperkalemia (5.5 mmol/L). Investigation of this case revealed that spurious haemolysis was attributable to syringe delivery in direct ice contact for ~15 min. This case emphasizes the importance of avoiding sample transportation in ice and the need of developing point of care analysers equipped with interference indices assessment

The Highs and Lows of Ubiquitous Connectivity: Investigating University Students' Experiences and Connections with Well-being

Higher Education has seen a dramatic increase in the use of information and communication technologies in recent years. Universities around the world have built complex Information System infrastructures implementing local networks, wireless networks, cloud services and Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). These technological changes have stretched and expanded the boundaries of traditional campus universities in space and time allowing easy and ubiquitous access to people, information and services. The term “ubiquitous connectivity” identifies this enhanced accessibility to resources due to the development of infrastructures and devices. This qualitative research adopted a holistic approach to investigate how new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity affect university students’ experiences and consequent well-being. Data were collected from on-campus students and staff members (lecturers, learning technologists, tech support, programme administrators) using a qualitative survey, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The data were analysed using constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz 2006) and situational analysis (Clarke 2005). The data analysis shows that new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity appear to play a positive role in enhancing students’ well-being by providing them: 1. A sense of ease and freedom in managing their daily learning duties 2. A sense of connectedness with other students and lecturers 3. A sense of reassurance by knowing that peer and lecturer support is always at hand 4. A sense of improved workflow by using mobile devices to retrieve information and to take notes anytime and anywhere during the day 5. Flexibility in managing everyday life and in balancing study, work and leisure. However, in some cases new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity seem to have a negative impact on learners’ well-being. The data analysis shows that students can experience: 1. High levels of stress when technology failures occur or when online information is not accessible due to the lack of alternatives in performing their learning duties 2. Difficulties in managing information overload and the constant flux of information arriving to their devices 3. Stress and irritation when dealing with complicate website layouts and disorganised online materials 4. Lack of motivation in attending lectures due to the ease with which materials and information can be retrieved from the VLE and from peers using social apps and networks. 5. Difficulties in developing relationships with lecturers and peers due to the lack of face-to-face communication. These findings can be utilised to provide pedagogical suggestions to university stakeholders to avoid a negative impact of new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity on learners’ well-being and to improve the quality of students’ experiences

The neglected goat: a methodological approach to the understanding of the role of this species in English medieval husbandry

The study of the goat has been largely disregarded by British archaeologists, partly because there is a methodological problem related to the difficulty of distinguishing goat remains from those of the more common sheep, and partly because the relative rarity of this species during the Middle Ages has contributed to the perception that this animal was not important. Despite the fact that different methodological approaches have been proposed, problems still affect our ability to correctly differentiate sheep and goat bones. The most commonly used approach relies on morphological traits that have been established by analysing goat specimens from many different parts of the world, and not all of them may necessarily apply to British populations. In addition, these criteria are based on morphological differences whose assessment may be highly subjective. The development of a more objective methodology is of paramount importance in order to address the various historical and archaeological questions concerning the role of the English medieval goat. For instance, why is the goat commonly recorded in the Domesday Book when it appears to be so scarce in the contemporary archaeological record? Is it under-represented in the archaeological record or over-represented in the Domesday Book? Why is the goat, when identified in English medieval animal bones assemblages, almost exclusively represented by horncores? This study provides a new methodology that is based on a combination of two approaches: morphological and biometric. Through the study of modern reference material, a short-list of reliable morphological criteria has been defined and a new biometrical approach focused on translating, whenever possible, morphological differences into Biometrical Indices, has been tested for a variety of mainly post cranial bones. This has permitted the development of a more objective tool for the assessment of archaeological sheep/goat identification. The new protocol has then been then applied to three English sheep and goat medieval assemblages so that a reassessment of the role this animal played in the Middle Ages could be carried out. The results obtained have confirmed what many researchers have previously observed: the goat was not a very common animal. When identified, it is mainly represented by horncores, which are more numerous than those of the sheep; when postcranial bones are considered, sheep by far outnumbers goat. It is likely that the abundance of goat horns is a consequence of an international trade in goat skins (containing horns) while only a relatively small number of goats lived on British soil, probably to be used for small scale household consumption

Ubiquitous Connectivity and Students’ Well-being: a Situational Analysis in a UK University

Recent research underlined as ubiquitous connectivity has changed the nature of traditional campus universities by creating technology-mediated environments where physical and virtual domains integrate and overlap. The aim of this research is to investigate how ubiquitous connectivity is impacting on university students’ daily lives and consequent wellbeing. On-campus undergraduate and postgraduate university students and staff members from the same department were involved using a qualitative survey, semi-structured interviews and a variation of the Experience Sampling Method. The data analysis followed two different steps: firstly, a socio-constructivist framework was adopted to highlight how students’ experiences with ubiquitous connectivity are socially and discursively constructed. Secondly, the results were discussed in the light of the two main well-being approaches existing in literature: hedonic and eudaimonic. The results show that the hedonic perspective seems to be prominent among students. Ubiquitous connectivity is mainly appreciated for its capability to make university day-to-day experiences easier to manage. Moreover, stress avoidance or relief seems to be one of the main goals that learners seek to obtain through ubiquitous connectivity. However, technologies also play an active role in disrupting learners’ well-being by increasing their level of stress due to difficulties in accessing resources, info overload or unorganised online materials

The Highs and lows of students' experiences with ubiquitous connectivity: investigating connections between use of new technologies and well being.

Higher Education has seen a dramatic increase in the use of information and communication technologies in recent years. Universities around the world have built complex infrastructures implementing local networks, wireless networks, cloud services and virtual learning environments. The term “ubiquitous connectivity” identifies the increased time- and space-independent accessibility to people, information and services allowed by the development of technological infrastructures and devices. Evidence shows that Higher Education institutions tend to focus on the benefits of ubiquitous connectivity, while underestimating the actual impact that new technologies have on learners’ experiences and well-being. The main aim of this qualitative research was to address the gap in the literature by investigating highs and lows of students’ experiences with new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity concerning university-related activities; the study was thus able to identify how these technological advances affect students’ day-to-day social and psychological life and consequent well-being. The methodology adopted was constructivist grounded theory which enabled a theory to be built through the data collected. Eighty-eight students from a British University were involved in the research (72 on-campus and 16 online students), using a variety of methods including: a qualitative survey, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Also, data were collected from 16 on-campus and online academic and professional support staff members from the same university using semi-structured interviews. The data analysis suggests that new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity can help students to experience a sense of ease, freedom, engagement, and security in their daily activities. These four elements were identified as positively connected to students’ well-being and linked to the satisfaction of their psychological needs. However, students’ well-being seems negatively affected by their struggles in coping with the ubiquitous availability of resources. Three main categories were identified in relation to students’ difficulties: managing information availability, managing communication and managing expectations regarding reliability of technology, quality of materials and quality of support. The results of the grounded theory process are discussed in the light of the literature in this field, and are compared to existing well-being and need theories. The original contribution to knowledge of this research is twofold. A methodological contribution was provided by using constructivist grounded theory as an inductive approach to investigate students’ well-being in technology-mediated learning environments. A theoretical contribution was offered by using the results to generate a model of students’ well-being in relation to the use of new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity

Milder is better? advantages and disadvantages of "mild" ovarian stimulation for human in vitro fertilization

In the last decades, several steps have been made aiming at rendering human IVF more successful on one side, more tolerable on the other side. The "mild" ovarian stimulation approach, in which a lower-than-average dose of exogenous gonadotropins is given and gonadotropin treatment is started from day 2 to 7 of the cycle, represents a significant step toward a more patient's friendly IVF. However, a clear view of its virtues and defects is still lacking, because only a few prospective randomized trials comparing "mild" vs. conventional stimulation exist, and they do not consider some important aspects, such as, e.g., thawing cycles. This review gives a complete panorama of the "mild" stimulation philosophy, showing its advantages vs. conventional ovarian stimulation, but also discussing its disadvantages. Both patients with a normal ovarian responsiveness to exogenous gonadotropins and women with a poor ovarian reserve are considered. Overall, we conclude that the level of evidence supporting the use of "mild" stimulation protocols is still rather poor, and further, properly powered prospective studies about "mild" treatment regimens are required