Employment transitions and occupational mobility in Europe. The impact of the great recession

This study investigates employment and occupational mobility in Europe before and after the 2008 financial crisis, with the aim of linking individual-level employment transitions to the broad labour market developments during the crisis, such as the surge in unemployment and the phenomenon of job polarisation. The analysis compares six European countries that represent different institutional clusters – France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK. It tracks the transitions of their working age populations into and out of inactivity, unemployment and employment (in five wage categories). The study seeks to better understand what happened to workers who lost their jobs during the recession, beyond the headline unemployment statistics. Did they find other work and, if so, was it better or worse paid? Were opportunities for upward occupational mobility affected by the crisis? The findings show that the countries studied fall into three distinct categories based on the degree of occupational mobility characterising their economiesEste estudio investiga el empleo y la movilidad ocupacional en Europa antes y después de la crisis financiera de 2008, con el objetivo de vincular las transiciones del empleo a nivel individual con la evolución general del mercado laboral durante la crisis, como el aumento del desempleo y el fenómeno de la polarización del empleo. El análisis compara seis países europeos que representan diferentes grupos institucionales: Francia, Italia, Polonia, España, Suecia y el Reino Unido. Hace un seguimiento de las transiciones de sus poblaciones en edad de trabajar hacia y desde la inactividad, el desempleo y el empleo (en cinco categorías salariales). El estudio pretende comprender mejor qué les sucedió a los trabajadores que perdieron sus empleos durante la recesión, más allá de las estadísticas de desempleo principales. ¿Encontraron otro trabajo y, de ser así, se les paga mejor o peor? ¿Se vieron afectadas por la crisis las oportunidades de movilidad profesional ascendente? Los resultados muestran que los países estudiados se dividen en tres categorías distintas en función del grado de movilidad profesional que caracteriza a sus economía

Ireland: Trade unions recovering after being tipped off balance by the Great Recession?

This chapter describes the features and fortunes of the Irish union movement over the last thirty years, highlighting the issues it faced and the strategic responses it adopted. Whereas the collapse of social partnership agreements and the unilateral imposition of wage cuts after the financial crisis put unions very much on the defensive, it would be wrong to write off the Irish union movement.European Commission Horizon 2020European Research Counci

Anandamide Uptake by Human Endothelial Cells and Its Regulation by Nitric Oxide

Anandamide (AEA) has vasodilator activity, which can be terminated by cellular re-uptake and degradation. Here we investigated the presence and regulation of the AEA transporter in human umbelical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). HUVECs take up AEA by facilitated transport (apparent K(m) = 190 +/- 10 nm and V(max) = 45 +/- 3 pmol. min(-1).mg(-1) protein), which is inhibited by alpha-linolenoyl-vanillyl-amide and N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-arachidonoylamide, and stimulated up to 2.2-fold by nitric oxide (NO) donors. The NO scavenger hydroxocobalamin abolishes the latter effect, which is instead enhanced by superoxide anions but inhibited by superoxide dismutase and N-acetylcysteine, a precursor of glutathione synthesis. Peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) causes a 4-fold activation of AEA transport into cells. The HUVEC AEA transporter contributes to the termination of a typical type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB(1)) -mediated action of AEA, i.e. the inhibition of forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase, because NO/ONOO(-) donors and alpha-linolenoyl-vanillyl-amide/N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-arachidonoylamide were found to attenuate and enhance, respectively, this effect of AEA. Consistently, activation of CB(1) cannabinoid receptors by either AEA or the cannabinoid HU-210 caused a stimulation of HUVEC inducible NO synthase activity and expression up to 2.9- and 2. 6-fold, respectively. Also these effects are regulated by the AEA transporter. HU-210 enhanced AEA uptake by HUVECs in a fashion sensitive to the NO synthase inhibitor Nomega-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester. These findings suggest a NO-mediated regulatory loop between CB(1) cannabinoid receptors and AEA transporter

The Activity of Anandamide at Vanilloid VR1 Receptors Requires Facilitated Transport across the Cell Membrane and Is Limited by Intracellular Metabolism

The endogenous ligand of CB(1) cannabinoid receptors, anandamide, is also a full agonist at vanilloid VR1 receptors for capsaicin and resiniferatoxin, thereby causing an increase in cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration in human VR1-overexpressing (hVR1-HEK) cells. Two selective inhibitors of anandamide facilitated transport into cells, VDM11 and VDM13, and two inhibitors of anandamide enzymatic hydrolysis, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and methylarachidonoyl fluorophosphonate, inhibited and enhanced, respectively, the VR1-mediated effect of anandamide, but not of resiniferatoxin or capsaicin. The nitric oxide donor, sodium nitroprusside, known to stimulate anandamide transport, enhanced anandamide effect on the cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration. Accordingly, hVR1-HEK cells contain an anandamide membrane transporter inhibited by VDM11 and VDM13 and activated by sodium nitroprusside, and an anandamide hydrolase activity sensitive to phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and methylarachidonoyl fluorophosphonate, and a fatty acid amide hydrolase transcript. These findings suggest the following. (i) Anandamide activates VR1 receptors by acting at an intracellular site. (ii) Degradation by fatty acid amide hydrolase limits anandamide activity on VR1; and (iii) the anandamide membrane transporter inhibitors can be used to distinguish between CB(1) or VR1 receptor-mediated actions of anandamide. By contrast, the CB(1) receptor antagonist SR141716A inhibited also the VR1-mediated effect of anandamide and capsaicin on cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration, although at concentrations higher than those required for CB(1) antagonism

Using TMS-EEG to assess the effects of neuromodulation techniques: a narrative review

Over the past decades, among all the non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, those aiming for neuromodulatory protocols have gained special attention. The traditional neurophysiological outcome to estimate the neuromodulatory effect is the motor evoked potential (MEP), the impact of NIBS techniques is commonly estimated as the change in MEP amplitude. This approach has several limitations: first, the use of MEP limits the evaluation of stimulation to the motor cortex excluding all the other brain areas. Second, MEP is an indirect measure of brain activity and is influenced by several factors. To overcome these limitations several studies have used new outcomes to measure brain changes after neuromodulation techniques with the concurrent use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroencephalogram (EEG). In the present review, we examine studies that use TMS-EEG before and after a single session of neuromodulatory TMS. Then, we focused our literature research on the description of the different metrics derived from TMS-EEG to measure the effect of neuromodulation

"Global change, sostenibilità ambientale e Biodiversità": il PCTO delle classi III D e III E, indirizzo (Scienze Applicate) del Liceo Scientifico "Pietro Ruggeri" di Marsala presso l'IAS - CNR Sede Secondaria di Capo Granitola

Con la partecipazione ad Esperienza InSegna 2020 (https://www.esperienzainsegna.it/) - Cambiamento climatico e sostenibilità ambientale - organizzata dall'Associazione PALERMOSCIENZA, da martedì 18 a domenica 23 febbraio 2020 presso l'Università degli Studi di Palermo (Edificio 19 - Viale delle Scienze) - l'IAS – CNR porta a termine un'esperienza formativa di successo rivolta a 54 allievi delle classi III D e III E, indirizzo Scienze Applicate, del Liceo Scientifico "Pietro Ruggeri" di Marsala (TP) presso l'IAS – CNR – S. S. di Capo Granitola nell'ambito del Percorso per le competenze trasversali e per l'orientamento (PCTO ex ASL), e regolamentata dalla convenzione Prot. IAS n° 0000030 del 08/01/2020. Il Direttore f.f. di IAS – CNR il Dottor Mario Sprovieri e il Responsabile dell'IAS – CNR Sede Secondaria di Capo Granitola, il Dottor Giorgio Tranchida, hanno promosso e supportato le attività del PCTO, anche quest'anno come negli anni passati, accogliendole come una irrinunciabile occasione per i tecnici, i tecnologi e i ricercatori di perseguire la " terza missione" degli Enti di Ricerca, attraverso l'applicazione diretta, la valorizzazione e l'impiego della conoscenza per contribuire allo sviluppo sociale, culturale ed economico della società. Sono state 25 le unità di personale (8 ricercatori, 2 tecnologi, 11 tecnici e 4 assegnisti di ricerca) dell'IAS – CNR, Sedi Secondarie di Capo Granitola e di Palermo, che hanno lavorato in sinergia e con entusiasmo, presso la S. S. di Capo Granitola, permettendo di elaborare una proposta formativa ricca di contenuti scientifici da trasferire agli alunni delle classi III D e III E del Liceo Scientifico "P. Ruggeri". Il personale scientifico, grazie all'esperienza acquisita negli anni, è ben consapevole del fatto che le pratiche attive, come l'apprendimento collaborativo ed i piccoli gruppi di lavoro, risultano altamente produttive permettendo all'alunno di non acquisire solo conoscenze, ma soprattutto abilità e competenze. Al fine di accrescere le opportunità di conoscenza e accendere l'interesse negli studenti, il PCTO, dal titolo "Global change, sostenibilità ambientale e Biodiversità", è stato programmato e realizzato attraverso una prima parte seminariale, un'esperienza teorico-pratica su campo (per prelevare campioni da analizzare) e una parte laboratoriale. Successivamente: i) una parte relativa a seminari teorico-pratici riguardante l'analisi statistica dei dati scientifici; ii) un gioco di ruolo finalizzato all'apprendimento collaborativo relativo dei concetti scientifici acquisiti ed, infine iii) una visita presso l'Osservatorio Regionale della Biodiversità Siciliano (ORBS) che è ospitato presso la struttura di Capo Granitola. Il personale scientifico ha rivestito un ruolo importante, delicato, di grossa responsabilità nell'accompagnare gli alunni in questo percorso di orientamento (PCTO) e affinché tutti gli alunni "imparassero ad imparare" nel modo per loro più corretto, hanno concordato nell'utilizzare diverse metodologie didattiche efficaci quali: interdisciplinarietà, utilizzo di parole chiavi, cooperative learning, didattica laboratoriale, peer education, problem solving, role playing, studio di caso, discussione, project work. Le metodologie didattiche utilizzate hanno consentito di valorizzare il potenziale di apprendimento

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements