Working Conditions and Health of European Older Workers

Working conditions have greatly evolved in recent decades in developed countries. This evolution has been accompanied with the appearance of new forms of work organisation that may be sources of stress and health risk for older workers. As populations are ageing, these issues are particularly worrying in terms of the health, labour force participation and Social Security expenditure. This paper focuses on the links between quality of employment and the health of older workers, using the Share 2004 survey. Our research is based on two classical models: the Demand-Control model of Karasek and Theorell (1991) and the Effort-Reward Imbalance model of Siegrist (1996), which highlight three main dimensions: Demand that reflects perceived physical pressure and stress due to a heavy work load; Control that refers to decision latitude at work and the possibilities to develop new skills; and Reward that corresponds to the feeling of receiving a correct salary relatively to efforts made, of having prospects for personal progress and receiving deserved recognition. These models also take into account the notion of support in difficult situations at work and the feeling of job security. Our estimations show that the health status of older workers is related to these factors. Fairly low demand levels and a good level of reward are associated with a good health status, for both men and women. Control only influences the health status of women. Lastly, the results reveal the importance on health of a lack of support at work and the feeling of job insecurity; regardless of gender; these two factors are particularly related to the risk of depression. Thus health status and working conditions are important determinants of the labour force participation of older workers.Working conditions, Health, Older Workers

The \infty eigenvalue problem and a problem of optimal transportation

The so-called eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the infinite Laplacian $\Delta_\infty$ are defined through an asymptotic study of that of the usual $p$-Laplacian $\Delta_p$, this brings to a characterization via a non-linear eigenvalue problem for a PDE satisfied in the viscosity sense. In this paper, we obtain an other characterization of the first eigenvalue via a problem of optimal transportation, and recover properties of the first eigenvalue and corresponding positive eigenfunctions

Stress at Work and the Health of Older Workers in Europe,

Working conditions have changed in recent decades. This study focuses on the existing links between job organization and the health status of older workers using the Share 2004 survey. It is based on the Karasek and Theorell (1991) and the Siegrist (1996) models, which highlight three main areas: the psychological demand, which reflects perceived physical demand and pressure due to heavy workload; the control at work, which relates to freedom of action and the opportunity to develop new skills; and the reward a person receives, which equates to the feeling of receiving an adequate salary relatively to the effort realized, having prospects for job advancement and receiving the recognition deserved. These models also take into account the notion of support at work in difficult situations and the feeling of job security. Our estimates show that the health status of older workers is linked to these factors.Job Organization, Health, Older Workers

Organisation du travail et sante des seniors en Europe

Les conditions de travail ont rapidement évolué au cours des dernières décennies dans les pays développés. Cette évolution s’est accompagnée de l’apparition de nouvelles formes d’organisation du travail s’avérant être sources de pénibilité et de risques pour la santé. Dans un contexte de vieillissement des populations, ces problèmes sont particulièrement préoccupants, en matière de santé, d’emploi et de financement des retraites. Cette étude s’intéresse aux liens existant entre l’organisation du travail et la santé des seniors (50 ans et plus). A partir des données de l’enquête SHARE 2004, nous montrons que plusieurs facteurs liés à l’organisation du travail - tels qu’une forte demande psychologique, un manque de latitude décisionnelle, une récompense reçue par le travail insatisfaisante, l’absence de soutien dans le travail mais aussi l’insécurité de l’emploi - sont corrélés à l’état de santé des seniors. Dès lors, l’organisation du travail comme la santé constituent des déterminants importants de la sortie d’activité des seniors.job organization, health, older workers

Establishment of resistance to Leishmania major infection in susceptible BALB/c mice requires parasite-specific CD8+ T cells

Although CD4+ T cells are generally accepted to be responsible for the determination of resistance to infection in experimental murine cutaneous leishmanlasis, a contribution of CD8+ lymphocytes to immunity can be demonstrated under certain well-defined conditions. Normally highly susceptible BALB/c mice can be rendered resistant to infection with Leishmania major promastigotes by a single injection of monoclonal anti-CD4 antibodies at the beginning of infection. Mice treated in such a way can heal their primary cutaneous lesions and acquire immunity to subsequent challenge infection. Both the resolution of the primary infection and the induced state of immunityto reinfection in these mice is shown to be dependent upon the anti-leishmanial effector functions of CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, in contrast to control infected BALB/c mice, which are unable to mount a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to viable parasites, mice cured as a result of treatment with anti-CD4 antibodies in vivo exhibit a strong DTH response, which can be significantly reduced by injection of either anti-CD4 or anti-CD8 monoclonal antibodies prior to antigenic challenge with viable promastigotes. Moreover, increased numbers of specific CD8+ T cells, able to transferLeishmania-specific DTH responses, were found in lymphold organs of BALB/c mice rendered resistant to infection by immunointervention with anti-CD4 monoclonal antibodies at the beginning of infection. Neutralization in vivo of interleukin 4 during the course of infection in BALB/c mice also enables these otherwise susceptible mice to resolve their cutaneous lesions and to decrease the parasite burden in infected tissues. CD8+ T cells are required for both of these beneficial effects. Taken together, these results indicate that in the immune BALB/c mouse, as in the normally resistant CBA mouse, CD8+ lymphocytes are involved in the elimination of L. major and in the establishment and maintenance of immunity against infection with this parasit