Unequal prospects: disparities in the quantity and quality of labour supply in sub-Saharan Africa

ASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

Divorced, separated and widowed female workers in rural Mozambique

Compared to other rural women, a high proportion of female wageworkers in rural Mozambique are divorced, separated or widowed. The paper explores the factors underlying this difference and establishes a significant relationship between labor market participation and female divorce or widowhood. The association is likely to work in both directions. Moreover, contrastive exploration suggests that divorced/separated women differ from non-divorced women in many other important respects: They tend to get access to better jobs; also, divorced and separated mothers are remarkably good at investing in their daughters’ education compared to other mothers and to male respondents. The paper concludes by stressing the limits of regression techniques in teasing out causation and the interactions between variables, and by suggesting that policies to increase female access to decently remunerated wage employment could make a substantial difference to the welfare of very poor rural women in Africa and their children

Lifting the Blinkers: A New View of Power and Poverty in Mozambican Rural Labour Markets

This paper presents some results from the largest rural labour market survey yet conducted in Mozambique. Evidence from three provinces shows that labour markets have a significant impact on the lives of a large number of poor people and that employers exercise considerable discretion in setting wages and conditions of casual, seasonal and permanent wage employment. The evidence presented comes from a combination of a quantitative survey based on purposive sampling with other techniques, including interviews with large farmers. The findings contrast with ideas that rural labour markets are irrelevant to poverty reduction policy formulation in Africa and the paper concludes with methodological, analytical and policy recommendations

Implementation and Validation of the Roche Light Cycler 480 96-Well Plate Platform as a Real-Time PCR Assay for the Quantitative Detection of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) in Clinical Specimens Using the Luminex MultiCode ASRs System.

Allogenic stem-cell therapies benefit patients in the treatment of multiple diseases; however, the side effects of stem-cell therapies (SCT) derived from the concomitant use of immune suppression agents often include triggering infection diseases. Thus, analysis is required to improve the detection of pathogen infections in SCT. We develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methodology for the qualitative real-time DNA detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV), with reference to herpes simplex virus types 1 (HSVI), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in blood, urine, solid tissues, and cerebrospinal fluid. This real-time PCR of 96-well plate format provides a rapid framework as required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical settings, including the processing of specimens, reagent handling, special safety precautions, quality control criteria and analytical accuracy, precisely reportable range (analyst measurement range), reference range, limit of detection (LOD), analytical specificity established by interference study, and analyte stability. Specifically, we determined the reportable range (analyst measurement range) with the following criteria: CMV copies ≥200 copies/mL; report copy/mL value; CMV copies ≤199 copies/mL; report detected but below quantitative range; CMV copies = 0 with report <200 copies/mL. That is, with reference range, copy numbers (CN) per milliliter (mL) of the LOD were determined by standard curves that correlated Ct value and calibrated standard DNA panels. The three repeats determined that the measuring range was 1E2~1E6 copies/mL. The standard curves show the slopes were within the range -2.99 to -3.65 with R2 ≥ 0.98. High copy (HC) controls were within 0.17-0.18 log differences of DNA copy numbers; (2) low copy (LC) controls were within 0.17-0.18 log differences; (3) LOD was within 0.14-0.15 log differences. As such, we set up a fast, simple, inexpensive, sensitive, and reliable molecular approach for the qualitative detection of CMV pathogens. Conclusion: This real-time PCR of the 96-well plate format provides a rapid framework as required by the FDA for clinical settings

Transport et tourisme, le choix des voyagistes

International audienceL'article s'intéresse à la manière dont voyagistes et transporteurs travaillent ensemble pour aboutir à une offre de voyage. Il se focalise sur les critères de choix des voyagistes pour sélectionner leurs transporteurs. Le cas d'un voyage Paris-Budapest permet de comparer deux solutions très différentes, l'une par autocar et l'autre par avion. De nombreux critères de choix se dégagent, tant du côté externe de l'anticipation de l'expérience-client par le voyagiste (ex : déroulement du trajet) que du côté interne des modes de travail et des risques pris par le voyagiste (ex : risque de remplissage). Ces critères révèlent des particularités du monde du tourisme et du transport, qui sont commentées