Three years of the ELIXIR-UK Fellowship: What we've achieved, what we've experienced

This poster mural highlights the work achieved by 24 Fellows across 17 different organisations as part of the ELIXIR-UK Fellowship programme to upskill the life sciences workforce in research data management (RDM) best practices. Our fundamental objective extends beyond mere pedagogy; it revolves around establishing a cohesive and influential community of ambassadors committed to widely adopting RDM best practices within research-performing organisations throughout the United Kingdom. The outputs of this initiative have been significant: A mix of over 50 meticulously crafted short training videos, accompanied by a robust repository of course materials, hosted within The Carpentries incubator and the Galaxy Training Network. Additionally, our impact extends to the local level, where we have conducted workshops to promote the practical application of RDM and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles. Yet, our achievements transcend individual expertise. Each Fellow has undergone training and development as a trainer, with a four-day induction session of the well-established ELIXIR Train the Trainer course

Globalization and wage inequality in South and East Asia, and Latin America: A gender approach

In this paper we analyse the reasons behind the evolution of the gender gap and wage inequality in South and East Asian and Latin American countries. Health human capital improvements, the exposure to free market openness and equal treatment enforcement laws seem to be the main exogenous variables affecting women’s economic condition. During the second globalization era (in the years 1975-2000) different combinations of these variables in South East Asian and Latin American countries have had as a result the diminution of the gender gap. The main exception to this rule according to our data is China where economic reforms have been simultaneous to the increase of gender differences and inequality between men and women. This result has further normative consequences for the measure of economic inequality. The improvement of women’s condition has as a result the diminution of the dispersion of wages. Therefore in most of the countries analysed the consequence of the diminution of the gender gapduring the second global era is the decrease of wage inequality both measured with Gini and Theil indexes.Wage inequality, gender gap, market openness, human capital

Análise econômica do direito e a escolha dos juízes : incentivos constitucionais para o desrespeito ao teto remuneratório

This paper studies the constitutional rules regarding the remuneration of Brazilian judges. The work aims to investigate the reasons that led to the establishment of remuneratory perks – the most infamous being the housing aid – disregarding the provision of the lump sum compensation pay defined in the constitution. In order to do so, a brief revision on contract theory is presented, especially pertaining to labor relations. Propositions related to principal-agent theory and the utility function of magistrates are considered. These remarks are rendered in an optimum control theoretical model, which indicate the incentives given by the constitutional provisions that eventually resulted in the freezing of the compensation and the institution of additional pays. Finally, the results obtained through the model conduct to policy recommendations intending to avoid the undesired consequences.O presente artigo analisa as regras constitucionais pertinentes à remuneração dos juízes brasileiros. O trabalho busca investigar as razões que conduziram à criação de verbas adicionais – com destaque para o auxílio moradia – descaracterizando a previsão constitucional de pagamento por meio de subsídio em parcela única. Neste sentido, uma breve revisão da teoria dos contratos será efetuada, especialmente no que tange às relações de trabalho. Proposições relativas à teoria do agente-principal e da função de utilidade dos magistrados são levadas em consideração. Tais conceitos estão formalizados em um problema teórico de controle ótimo, o qual indica os incentivos concedidos pelas previsões da Constituição que resultaram no congelamento dos subsídios e na instituição de verbas adicionais. Por fim, os resultados obtidos conduzem a sugestões de alterações normativas buscando evitar tais consequências indesejadas

Immune-Endocrine Interactions in the Fish Gonad during Infection: An Open Door to Vertical Transmission

The interaction between the immune and endocrine systems has long been recognized in vertebrates. In fish, it is known that the prevalence and intensity of such infections are higher in males than in females and probably related to sex steroid hormone levels. In addition, the immune response in the fish gonad tissues is specifically regulated to prevent infertility. This condition is used by some pathogens to colonize the fish gonad, evade the systemic immune response, and so spread to the progeny. This review brings up to date our knowledge concerning fish gonad immunity and its regulation, immune-endocrine interactions, and how some pathogens use this tissue to spread to the progeny through vertical transmission. More specifically, we will look at the case of the European sea bass and nodavirus (NNV). Sea bass is a very susceptible fish species to NNV infections, and this virus has been associated to vertical transmission since it is detected in gonad fluids as well as in testicular gametes. In fact, sea bass immunity in the gonad is regulated in a very different way to other target tissues (brain and retina) or immune-relevant tissues (head-kidney or spleen).Versión del edito

Tu materia es la confluencia de todas las cosas

Your matter is the confluence of all things consists of a poetic text and visual essay. It seeks to reflect on the impact of the category of ‘the natural’ and symbolisms attributed to different geological and atmospheric expressions, in the construction of territorial imaginaries, homogenization strategies, and limitations that constitute the national identity in Chile.Tu materia es la confluencia de todas las cosas consiste en un texto poético y ensayo visual. Busca reflexionar sobre el impacto de la categoría de ‘lo natural’ y simbolismos atribuidos a diferentes expresiones geológicas y atmosféricas, en la construcción de los imaginarios territoriales, estrategias de homogeneización y limitaciones que constituyen la identidad nacional en Chile

The occupational structure of Spain, 1877-1981

FIRST PARAGRAPH Spain’s long-run economic growth trajectory in the past two centuries has had major setbacks. Spain fell behind Europe in GDP per capita growth in the nineteenth century, lost even more ground in the interwar period despite being non belligerent in the World Wars, and only managed to catch up in the second half of the twentieth century.1 Historians mostly agree on this assessment, but there is less consensus on the extent and nature of Spanish economic development in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The traditional view was a pessimistic one: led by Nadal’s seminal book on the failure of the industrial revolution in Spain the economic history of Spain written in the 1970s emphasised the absence of intensive economic growth in nineteenth-century Spain, with the exception of some regional industries – textiles in Catalonia, and iron and steel in the Basque Country – which nonetheless had their growth potential curtailed by the backwardness of the agrarian sector and the accompanying lack of domestic consumer demand for manufactured goods. In the 1980s Prados de la Escosura’s reconstruction of macroeconomic series and national accounts led the revisionist, and more optimistic view, with an upward revision of estimates of GDP per capita growth in the nineteenth century and, more importantly, of agricultural productivity

Os Incidentes Críticos Como Dispositivos Formativos na Docência Universitária

Os incidentes críticos, também denominados de “casos de ensino”, são métodos de ensino que partem da análise de casos concretos, ou neles inspirados, com o objetivo de rememorar reflexivamente a cronologia dos eventos buscando compreender as decisões que os tornaram inevitáveis. Como meios de apreensão de vivências, os incidentes críticos são coesos com os paradigmas da compreensão. Pela via da reflexão, os dilemas apresentados são problematizados para que novos ângulos que os constituem possam emergir e compor intervenções melhor refletidas e embasadas. Pretendi avaliar a potencialidade do dispositivo dos incidentes críticos como método de formação pedagógica dos docentes para atuarem na docência universitária. Neste artigo apresento a experiência do trabalho didático com os incidentes críticos em uma turma do componente “Docência Universitária” do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação e Contemporaneidade (PPGEduc), da Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), do semestre 2021.2

Previdência dos servidores públicos e desigualdade : teoria e evidências empíricas para os municípios brasileiros no período 2000 a 2010

O objetivo desta dissertação é investigar a relação entre Previdência Social e distribuição de renda, com enfoque nos Regimes Próprios de Previdência para servidores públicos municipais brasileiros (RPPS) no período entre os Censos de 2000 e 2010. Para tanto, são apresentados dois ensaios complementares. O objetivo do primeiro é indicar que os regimes públicos de aposentadoria podem ser compreendidos como ferramentas para distribuição de renda. Inicialmente, apresentam-se as características básicas dos regimes de previdência atualmente encontrados no mundo, as modificações em curso e as justificativas para a manutenção desta política. Por meio de revisão bibliográfica de estudos econômicos relevantes, propõe-se que uma das funções da Previdência Social é a redistribuição de rendimentos. Assim sendo, parte-se para o segundo ensaio, enfocado na Previdência Social brasileira e seu impacto distributivo, tendo como objetivo central apresentar e testar a hipótese de que a criação de RPPS municipal, segundo as regras brasileiras, ocasionaria um aumento nos índices de concentração de renda no respectivo município. As características institucionais dos regimes de previdência são exibidas, com especial interesse na diferença existente entre as regras de aposentadoria aplicadas aos trabalhadores dos setores público e privado. Posteriormente, é apresentada uma revisão dos trabalhos empíricos tratando do tema, cujos resultados indicam que a previdência brasileira possui características regressivas. Com base nas características do sistema brasileiro, uma proposição teórica e um exercício de simulação são efetuados, embasando a hipótese de que a criação de RPPS causaria uma piora no índice de Gini do município. Tal hipótese é testada por meio do método diferença-em-diferenças, considerando a variação nos índices de concentração de renda (Gini e Theil-L) como variável dependente e a criação do RPPS como variável explicativa, juntamente a uma série de covariáveis. Os resultados empíricos não validam a proposição e podem ser considerados robustos, indicando que, para o período 2000-2010, não foram encontradas evidências de que a criação de RPPS aumentou a concentração de renda, possivelmente em face de efeitos indiretos e diretos atuando em sentido contrário. Todavia, considerando os dados existentes, a estratégia empírica possibilitou uma avaliação inédita sobre o tema. Em conclusão, sugere-se a repetição das análises após a divulgação dos dados censitários de 2020, a fim de avaliar se as tendências verificadas se manterão. Adicionalmente, os dados existentes permitem a utilização de outros métodos estatísticos quase-experimentais, cujos resultados poderão ser comparados aos apresentados por esta dissertação.This dissertation aims to investigate the relationship concerning Social Security and income distribution, focusing on the special retirement regimes for civil servants in Brazil (RPPS) in the period between the years 2000 and 2010. In order to do so, two correlated essays are presented. The first study indicates that public retirement schemes can be understood as a policy to distribute income. Initially, the study displays the basic characteristics of modern Social Security, the reform trends and reasons to maintain such policies displayed. After presenting a literature overview of relevant economic studies, it proposes that one of the economic functions of Social Security is income redistribution. This conclusion sets the stage for the second essay, focused on Social Security in Brazil and its distributive impacts. The central hypothesis is that the institution of a municipal RPPS, following Brazilian rules, would cause an increase in income concentration in the respective city. Firstly, we present the institutional features of the pension schemes, with special interest in the differences between retirement rules applied to public and private workers. Later, a literature review is displayed, showing that most studies indicate the existence of regressive effects in Brazilian Social Security. Based on the features of the system as perceived in Brazil, we propose theoretical and simulation exercises in order to justify the hypothesis that creating RPPS would increase the local Gini index. A difference-in-differences estimation is performed to test such hypothesis. It considered income concentration indexes (Gini and Theil-L) as dependent variables and the institution of RPPS as independent, as well as a series of covariates. The empirical results indicate that the institution of RPPS between 2000 and 2010 did not increase income concentration and such finding can be considered robust. Empirical evidence on the impact of creating the special regime does not corroborate the central hypothesis, possibly as a result of direct and indirect effects acting in opposite directions. Nevertheless, considering the existing data, the empirical strategy adopted enabled for a different evaluation than previous studies on the subject. As a conclusion, we suggest the repetition of the analysis after the disclosure of data from 2020 Brazilian Census aiming to investigate if the trends estimated in this study will maintain themselves. Additionally, the currently available data allow for the implementation of other quasi-experimental methods, which would enable comparison of outcomes against the findings presented in this dissertation