Government employment and pay : a global and regional perspective

The authors try to replace myths about government pay and employment with reliable facts from a survey for about 100 countries in the early 1900s. The study also outlines the general nature of civil service problems in the different regions. Nevertheless, while the facts are useful to"flag"possible problems and initiate a dialogue, recommendations for reform must be based on country-specific analysis. Globally, government employment is negatively associated with wages, and positively with the fiscal deficit (although the availability of financing is more important) and with per capita income (confirming"Wagner's Law"). But the global results stem almost entirely from strong results for Africa and Latin America. Civil service reform has suffered in the past from an overemphasis on retrenchment for fiscal reasons. Its true objective, for each country, is to achieve a civil service of the size and skill-mix, incentives, professional ethos, and accountability needed to provide public goods, help formulate and enforce the rules, and intervene to remedy market failures -as these government roles happen to be defined in the country in question. Civil service reform can begin with various diagnostic and fact-finding activities. The key measures concern rightsizing, incentives, and accountability. These are all relative notions: the right size of the workforce depends on the roles assigned to government; wage adequacy depends on private compensation levels; and strengthening of accountability must define accountability for what and to whom. When retrenchment is warranted, it must be carried out with great care to avoid skill reduction, demoralization, and lower-quality service. Adequate compensation is a must, and wage compression isto be avoided. But performance bonuses, popular in some advanced countries, have been only marginally effective in improving performance in developing countries, even in the private sector. And they can be dangerous in countries with ethnic, clan, or religious conflicts. Finally, improvements in accountability will most often require greater external openness and systematic feedback from service users.Banks&Banking Reform,Enterprise Development&Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Decentralization,Environmental Economics&Policies,National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Policy, Institutions and Governance

An international statistical survey of government employment and wages

This paper complements a separate study in this Series ("Government Employment and Pay: A Global and Regional Perspective,"Policy Research Working Paper 1771, May, 1997) by providing the detailed statistical and econometric evidence on which that separate study is based. The authors briefly summarize the key findings of the earlier paper for the reader's convenience and to permit this paper to stand alone. However, the purpose of the paper is to provide the couintry-by-country statistics. The reader is referred to the companion paper for a description and analysis of the main findings.Municipal Financial Management,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,National Governance,Municipal Financial Management,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform

INSECTS AND FUNGI ON THE RELICT ZELKOVA SICULA(ROSALES, ULMACEAE)IN SICILY (ITALY): NEW RECORDS AND KNOWN SPECIES IN A SHORT REVIEW

The Authors report the results of a study conducted with the purpose of increasing the knowledge about theinsects and fungi living on Zelkova siculaDi Pasquale, Garfì & Quézel, 1992 (Rosales, Ulmaceae). The plant is a veryrare relict of the Tertiary period, belonging to a genus of trees extinct in continental Europe. Only two small populationsare known living in a restricted woodland in the province of Syracuse, Sicily. The results concern both the insectspicked up during surveys that were carried out in 2014 and 2015, and the species of fungi and insects already known onZelkova siculafrom literature. As a result of surveys, two species of Buprestidae, two species of Cerambycidae, andtwo of Lepidoptera have been recognized. From literature, seven species of phytophagous insects are reported onZelkova sicula, they belong to Hemiptera: Aphididae (1 sp.), Diaspididae (1 sp.), Coccidae (1 sp.); Coleoptera:Buprestidae (1 sp.), Cerambycidae (2 spp.); and Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae (1 sp.). Five species of fungi are knownfrom literature and they belong to: Botryosphaeriales (3 spp.), Pleosporales (1 sp.), and Diaporthales (1 sp.)

Estudio numérico de explosiones en túneles y aplicación de la norma UNE 22.381/93 sobre control de vibraciones

En este proyecto se estudiarán las respuestas que sobre el terreno, recubrimiento de hormigón y superficie provocan diversas explosiones, se comentarán los métodos tradicionales más importantes en la ejecución de túneles continuando con los sistemas de anclaje y revestimientos típicos tanto para métodos convencionales, cómo para el ejecutado mediante tuneladora. Se analizará y comentarán los diversos tipos de ondas provocadas por explosiones, comentando de igual modo el fenómeno ondulatorio y la actual normativa vigente sobre el control de vibraciones. Con todo esto, se abordará el análisis numérico desarrollado en este proyecto, comparando los resultados obtenidos para las diferentes composiciones de túnel y terreno, de distribución de amplitudes de onda y de carga, con lo que establece la normativa sobre control de vibraciones. El proyecto concluirá con los comentarios oportunos a los datos obtenidos de las diferentes simulaciones realizadas y con una propuesta de trabajos futuros relacionados con lo expuesto en este proyecto. Los objetivos que se plantean alcanzar en este proyecto, son los siguientes: · Comparar diferentes alternativas de modelar explosiones en túneles. · Elaborar un modelo numérico de elementos finitos, capaz de estimar el efecto de las explosiones en el interior de un túnel, para lo cual es preciso el empleo de un Borde Transmisor. · Estimar las tensiones inducidas en el revestimiento de un túnel como consecuencia de la onda explosiva. · Aplicar la norma UNE 22.381-93 sobre control de vibraciones para estimar el efecto de una explosión en superficie.Ingeniería Técnica en Mecánic

How to classify the stylohyoid complex syndrome in the ICHD

We have read the International Classification of Headache Disorders, third edition (beta) (ICHD-3 beta), and for the first time headaches are attributed to inflammation of the stylohyoid ligament (SL). It is included among the secondary headaches in “Headache or facial pain attributed to disorder of the cranium, neck, eyes, ears, nose, sinuses, teeth, mouth or other facial or cervical structure.

Efficacy of treatment with glycosaminoglycans on experimental collagen-induced arthritis in rats

To evaluate the antioxidant activity of the glycosaminoglycans hyaluronic acid (HYA) and chondroitin-4-sulphate (C4S), we used a rat model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). Arthritis was induced in Lewis rats by multiple intradermal injections of 250 μl of emulsion containing bovine type II collagen in complete Freund's adjuvant at the base of the tail and into three to five other sites on the back. Rats were challenged again with the same antigen preparation 7 days later. Disease developed about 11 days after the second immunization. The effects of treatment in the rats were monitored by biochemical parameters and by macroscopic and histological evaluations in blood, synovial tissue and articular cartilage. Arthritis produced the following symptoms: severe periarticular erythema, edema and inflammation in the hindpaws; membrane peroxidation in the cartilage of the joints; endogenous antioxidant wasting; high tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) plasma levels; and synovial neutrophil accumulation. Treatment with HYA and C4S, starting at the onset of arthritis for 10 days, limited the erosive action of the disease in the articular joints of knee and paw, reduced lipid peroxidation, restored the endogenous antioxidants reduced glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase, decreased plasma TNF-α levels, and limited synovial neutrophil infiltration. These data confirm that erosive destruction of the joint cartilage in CIA is due at least in part to free radicals released by activated neutrophils and produced by other biochemical pathways. The beneficial effects obtained with the treatment suggest that HYA and C4S could be considered natural endogenous macromolecules to limit erosive damage in CIA or as a useful tool with which to study the involvement of free radicals in rheumatoid arthritis

Palliation with Oesophageal Metal Stent of Pseudoachalasia from Gastric Carcinoma at the Cardia: A Case Report

We present an 82-year-old woman with a 3-month history of progressive dysphagia and a normal initial upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The diagnosis of pseudoachalasia was suspected by oesophageal manometric and barium swallow studies, and confirmed by biopsies revealing an intestinal type carcinoma of the stomach at a repeated endoscopy. In view of the history of heart disease, diabetes, and old age, this patient was treated by a partially covered Ultraflex self-expanding metal stent (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA) placed into the oesophageal body with no direct complications and obtaining the relief from dysphagia. During the 11-month follow-up she was treated for an iron deficiency anaemia due to reflux oesophagitis with ulcerations in the oesophageal body and died from myocardial infarction. According to the localization of the cancer, the old age, and the presence of comorbidities, we should recommend the insertion of a partially covered self-expanding metal stent as a reasonable palliative treatment in selected subjects with pseudoachalasia

High-molecular weight hyaluronan reduced renal PKC activation in genetically diabetic mice

AbstractThe cluster determinant (CD44) seems to play a key role in tissues injured by diabetes type 2. CD44 stimulation activates the protein kinase C (PKC) family which in turn activates the transcriptional nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) responsible for the expression of the inflammation mediators such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-18 (IL-18), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Regulation of CD44 interaction with its ligands depends greatly upon PKC. We investigated the effect of the treatment with high-molecular weight hyaluronan (HA) on diabetic nephropathy in genetically diabetic mice.BKS.Cg-m+/+Leprdb mice had elevated plasma insulin from 15days of age and high blood sugar levels at 4weeks. The severe nephropathy that developed was characterized by a marked increased in CD44 receptors, protein kinase C betaI, betaII, and epsilon (PKCβI, PKCβII, and PKCε) mRNA expression and the related protein products in kidney tissue. High levels of mRNA and related protein levels were also detected in the damaged kidney for NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-18, MMP-7, and iNOS.Chronic daily administration of high-molecular mass HA for 2weeks significantly reduced CD44, PKCβI, PKCβII, and PKCα gene expression and the related protein production in kidney tissue and TNF-α, IL-6, IL-18, MMP-7, and iNOS expression and levels also decreased. Histological analysis confirmed the biochemical data. However, blood parameters of diabetes were unchanged.These results suggest that the CD44 and PKC play an important role in diabetes and interaction of high-molecular weight HA with these proteins may reduce inflammation and secondary pathologies due to this disease

Effects of atorvastatin treatment on sICAM-1 and plasma nitric oxide levels in hypercholesterolemic subjects.

This study investigated the behavior of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and serum nitric oxide (NO) products, nitrite/nitrate (NO 2-NO,-), in subjects with primary hypercholesterolemia (HCh) without other risk factors and atherosclerosis. The effect of a short-term cholesterol-lowering treatment with atorvastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, on the levels of sICAM-1 and NO2-/NO3 were also investigated. After 4 weeks of placebo administration, 40 HCh (15 males and 25 females) were randomized in 2 groups: 20 subjects (atorvastatin group) received 10 mg/day of atorvastatin and the remaining 20 (placebo group) continued to take placebo. At baseline and after 4 and 12 weeks of atorvastatin or placebo administration, serum sICAM-1 and NO2-/NO3-levels were evaluated. The basal levels of these parameters were compared with those of 20 healthy subjects (C), matched for sex and age. Hypercholesterolemic subjects showed sICAM-1 and NO2-/NO3-basal values that were higher (331.7 ± 60.3 ng/mL vs. 202.3 ± 32.3 ng/mL, p<0.001) and lower (10.4 ± 2.5 μmol/L vs. 20.7 ± 4.4 μmol/L, p<0.01) than controls. No correlation between sICAM-1 or NO products and plasma cholesterol values was found, whereas there was an inverse correlation between sICAM-1 and NO2-/NO3-levels. Atorvastatin administration significantly decreased sICAM-1 and increased NO2-/NO3-levels, however these changes were not correlated with the reduction of plasma cholesterol. These data support the hypothesize that patients with HCh with no signs of arterial lesions, may have latent atherosclerosis, expressed as an increase of sICAM-1 and decrease in NO product levels. An improvement in the levels of these parameters after a short-time treatment with atorvastatin was also demonstrated

Zotarolimus-Eluting Versus Bare-Metal Stents in Uncertain Drug-Eluting Stent Candidates

BACKGROUND The use of drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients at high risk of bleeding or thrombosis has not been prospectively studied; limited data are available in patients who have a low restenosis risk. OBJECTIVES This study sought to compare a hydrophilic polymer-based, second-generation zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) with a unique drug fast-release profile versus bare-metal stents (BMS) under similar durations of dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). METHODS We randomly assigned 1,606 patients with stable or unstable symptoms, and who on the basis of thrombotic bleeding or restenosis risk criteria, qualified as uncertain candidates for DES, to receive ZES or BMS. DAPT duration was on the basis of patient characteristics, rather than stent characteristics, and allowed for a personalized 1-month dual antiplatelet regimen. The primary endpoint was the risk of 1-year major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), which included death, myocardial infarction (MI), or target vessel revascularization (TVR). RESULTS Median DAPT duration was 32 days (interquartile range [IQR]: 30 to 180 days) and did not differ between the groups. In the ZES group, 140 patients (17.5%) reached the primary endpoint, compared with 178 patients (22.1%) in the BMS group (hazard ratio: 0.76; 95% confidence interval: 0.61 to 0.95; p = 0.011) as a result of lower MI (2.9% vs. 8.1%; p < 0.001) and TVR rates (5.9% vs. 10.7%; p = 0.001) in the ZES group. Definite or probable stent thrombosis was also significantly reduced in ZES recipients (2.0% vs. 4.1%; p = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS Compared with BMS, DES implantation using a stent with a biocompatible polymer and fast drug-eluting characteristics, combined with an abbreviated, tailored DAPT regimen, resulted in a lower risk of 1-year MACE in uncertain candidates for DES implantation. (Zotarolimus-eluting Endeavor Sprint Stent in Uncertain DES Candidates [ZEUS] Study; NCT01385319) (C) 2015 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation