Labor Markets and School-to-Work Transition in Egypt: Diagnostics, Constraints, and Policy Framework

Analysis in this policy note indicates a rapid deterioration in employment opportunities for young individuals transitioning from school to work in Egypt. Despite substantial improvements in labor market outcomes in recent years (in raising employment and participation and in lowering unemployment), unemployment rates in Egypt remain exceedingly high among youth entering the labor market for the first time. A slow school-to-work transition remains the main reason behind high unemployment rates. Young entrants to the labor market have become more educated than ever before: the share of the working-age-population with university education in Egypt has increased significantly between the years 1998 and 2006 (from 14% to 19% among men and from 9% to 14% among women). However, youth are unable to capitalize the time and resources invested in their education as the labor market is not providing enough good-quality jobs for them. To cope with scarce formal jobs, young-educated workers are opting to work in the informal sector and/or withdraw from the labor force, which is contributing to a deadweight loss of recent investments in education. There are three key factors that seem to explain why school-to-job transition remains low in Egypt: investments in the private sector remain low and capital intensive, new graduates are not equipped with the skills demanded by the private sector, and the public sector still provides incentives for educated individuals (mainly women) to queue for private sector jobs. There are several policy options used in the international context to further enhance the performance of the labor market; such as removing obstacles in regulation, enhancing employability of new entrants, reforming the civil service, and designing targeted programs aiming to boost labor demand.Labor markets; Egypt; unemployment; training; labor regulation; school-to-job transition

Two-Higgs-Doublet type-II and -III models and t→cht\to c h at the LHC

We study the constraints of the generic two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM) type-III and the impacts of the new Yukawa couplings. For comparisons, we revisit the analysis in the 2HDM type-II. To understand the influence of all involving free parameters and to realize their correlations, we employ $\chi$-square fitting approach by including theoretical and experimental constraints, such as S, T, and U oblique parameters, the production of standard model Higgs and its decay to $\gamma\gamma$, $WW^*/ZZ^*$, $\tau^+\tau^-$, etc. The errors of analysis are taken at $68\%$, $95.5\%$, and $99.7\%$ confidence levels. Due to the new Yukawa couplings being associated with $\cos(\beta-\alpha)$ and $\sin(\beta -\alpha)$, we find that the allowed regions for $\sin\alpha$ and $\tan\beta$ in the type-III model can be broader when the dictated parameter $\chi_F$ is positive; however, for negative $\chi_F$, the limits are stricter than those in the type-II model. By using the constrained parameters, we find that the deviation from the SM in the $h\to Z\gamma$ can be of ${\cal O}(10\%)$. Additionally, we also study the top-quark flavor-changing processes induced at the tree level in the type-III model and find that when all current experimental data are considered, we get $Br(t\to c(h, H) )< 10^{-3}$ for $m_h=125.36$ and $m_H=150$ GeV and $Br(t\to cA)$ slightly exceeds $10^{-3}$ for $m_A =130$ GeV.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures. v3: Slight change in the abstract, Figure.1 added and commented, the conclusion remains unchange

Growth oriented adjustment programs : a statistical analysis

After the fall in average per capita GDP growth that took place in the 1980s, adjustment lending programs supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) were launched in response to the deteriorating external environment. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and to assess statistically the extent to which adjustment programs supported by the IMF and the WB have restored growth. The evaluation relied on a large sample of countries (93) and controls for some of the statistical difficulties associated with measuring the effectiveness of adjustment programs. The paper reviews the environment under which IMF-WB lending took place, the rationale for adjustment lending, and the distribution of adjustment loans through time. The results of the statistical evaluation suggest that, after controlling for external factors and for initial conditions, growth is not higher in countries that receive IMF-WB funds, but that investment was significantly lower than for non-recipient countries. The paper also examines further long-term growth prospects.Economic Theory&Research,Country Strategy&Performance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Achieving Shared Growth,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism

Three dimensional structure prediction of fatty acid binding site on human transmembrane receptor CD36

CD36 is an integral membrane protein which is thought to have a hairpin-like structure with alpha-helices at the C and N terminals projecting through the membrane as well as a larger extracellular loop. This receptor interacts with a number of ligands including oxidized low density lipoprotein and long chain fatty acids (LCFAs). It is also implicated in lipid metabolism and heart diseases. It is therefore important to determine the 3D structure of the CD36 site involved in lipid binding. In this study, we predict the 3D structure of the fatty acid (FA) binding site [127–279 aa] of the CD36 receptor based on homology modeling with X-ray structure of Human Muscle Fatty Acid Binding Protein (PDB code: 1HMT). Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the resulting model suggests that this model was reliable and stable, taking in consideration over 97.8% of the residues in the most favored regions as well as the significant overall quality factor. Protein analysis, which relied on the secondary structure prediction of the target sequence and the comparison of 1HMT and CD36 [127–279 aa] secondary structures, led to the determination of the amino acid sequence consensus. These results also led to the identification of the functional sites on CD36 and revealed the presence of residues which may play a major role during ligand-protein interactions

Misères et splendeurs d’un mendicant dans 'Le Seigneur vous le rendra' de Mahi Binebine

Mahi Binebine is a Moroccan novelist with more than twelve novels to his credit. He is also a great painter whose paintings can be found in the most famous collections, notably in the permanent collection of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. For him, painting and writing evolve together and deal with the same issues. In his novel, The Lord Will Pay You Back, Binebine takes up the theme of the suffocation of the individual who tries to resist the alienating forces that crush him (misery, predation). We propose to read this story as a picaresque tale with symbolic significance: the protagonist, forced to beg from birth, bears the brunt of his own mother’s monstrosity and dislike, worthy of the worst of the fairy tales. Driven by poverty, the mother takes possession of her child’s body and sculpts a deformed being that will be exhibited in the main square of Marrakech to earn a living. If the monstrous is here inseparable from the tale, it also inscribes the hero in a process of transformation made possible by intellectual (literature) and sentimental (love) learning. Thus the protagonist goes from being a simple fairground beast who flaunts his disproportionate physique for a few coins to becoming a storyteller, a fabulator, a creator of worlds. In the meantime, the tale gives way to the novel and the child, now an adult, regains a certain bodily normality, which is not a guarantee of happiness. If the marvellous is not completely evacuated, if the narrator claims a part of fantasy in his story, the novel is there to remind us that a literary work is also a reflection on the human condition of those left behind and on the alienation of the individual who must redouble his ingenuity to assert himself as a singular and independent being

Tuning the catalytic properties of rare earth borohydrides for the polymerisation of isoprene

International audienc

Perceived coercion in psychiatric hospital admission: validation of the French-language version of the MacArthur Admission Experience Survey.

The MacArthur Admission Experience Survey (AES) is a widely used tool to evaluate the level of perceived coercion experienced at psychiatric hospital admission. The French-language AES was prepared using a translation/back-translation procedure. It consists of 16 items and 3 subscores (perceived coercion, negative pressures and voice). This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the French-language AES. 152 inpatients were evaluated. Reliability was estimated using internal consistency coefficients and a test-retest procedure. Internal validity was assessed using a two-parameter logistic item response model. Convergent validity was estimated using correlations between the AES scores and the Coercion Ladder (CL), the Coercion Experience Scale (CES) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. Discriminatory power was evaluated by comparing the scores of patients undergoing voluntary or compulsory admission. The French-language AES showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Internal validity of the three-factor model was excellent. Correlations between AES and CL, CES and GAF scores suggested good convergent validity. AES scores were significantly higher among patients subject to compulsory psychiatric hospital admission than among those admitted voluntarily. Overall, the French-language version of the AES demonstrated very good psychometric proprieties

Translating deixis: A subjective experience

This thesis describes some of the conscious cognitive processes that are inherent in equivalence formation commencing from the transfer of deixis and culminating in the experience of source-to-target and target-to-source indexicality. Its scope is interdisciplinary and the methodology is varied depending on the segment of analysis. It combines a process-oriented analysis with a product based assessment. The stance is also partly subjective because it is based on the personal experience of the translator-researcher of four translating operations. Besides, the structure of the thesis is modular since the main objective is to develop a holistic translation model founded on verbal behaviourism. This approach seeks to put the translator back at the centre of translation theory. All the deictic and indexical aspects of the source-to-target and target-to-source lexico-grammatical, semantico-pragmatic, textual, literary, poetic, discursive, political, ideological and socio-cultural movements are monitored in order to identify the intrinsic cognitive, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic rules which govern the verbal behaviour of the translator. That is why the focus is on the translator’s parole though without any negligence of the influence of langue. As complex linguistic forms, deictic expressions and indexicalities are closely tracked and examined at different phases of the translating process commencing from the lexico-grammatical segment and moving to higher levels of textuality. The deictic projection of the translator-researcher is evaluated during the appropriation and manipulation of the deictic centre of the implied author. The aim is to unravel how the system-common and systemspecific forms preside over the cycle of equivalence formation starting from the source cue, moving to the intermediate draft versions and culminating in an actual target performance. Taking the standpoint of the anthropological linguist, nearformal correspondence is found to depend on intersystemic coincidence as to the similarities and differences between the content of the source form and the equivalent. Relativities of reading, translating and rewriting are identified as the places where the translator essentially exercises her/his creativity and fulfils her/his subjectivity in terms of competence and intuition. Based on decision theory, the verbal behaviour of the translator is defined in terms of the creation of a source-to-target deictic relationship during an indexical reaction to source cues. As equivalence emerges, it sets an interlinguistic precedence. This latter target form often develops into a socially motivated target icon thanks to the overt and covert intersubjective verbal cooperation between the members of a community of practice. The decision-making operation of the individual translator turns into an act of conscious and, sometimes, subconscious verbal reinforcement of established equivalents. It is also based on the elimination of some viable target options which either collapse from the final target performance during the rewriting phase or remain dormant in bilingual lexicographies. The encounter of the translator with different genres also divulges how bilingual competence, poetic attitude, literary prejudice, political affiliation, ideological conviction and sociocultural assumptions shape the mode of the intersubjective, intertextual, interliterary and intercultural dialogue that is eventually held between two universes of discourse. The target re-contextualisation and by implication the decontextualisation of the source ideological grounding are also explained in terms of the aspiration of the translator to adhere to a set of prevailing target linguistic, literary, poetic and socio-cultural norms. Thus target choice, be it informed or instinctive, grows to be a permanently negotiable verbal process among the active subjectivities of any given community of translators