Enhanced multi-layer protection in multi-service GMPLS networks

This paper focuses on QoS routing with protection in an MPLS network over an optical layer. In this multi-layer scenario each layer deploys its own fault management methods. A partially protected optical layer is proposed and the rest of the network is protected at the MPLS layer. New protection schemes that avoid protection duplications are proposed. Moreover, this paper also introduces a new traffic classification based on the level of reliability. The failure impact is evaluated in terms of recovery time depending on the traffic class. The proposed schemes also include a novel variation of minimum interference routing and shared segment backup computation. A complete set of experiments proves that the proposed schemes are more efficient as compared to the previous ones, in terms of resources used to protect the network, failure impact and the request rejection ratio

Natural abundance of stable isotopes (15N and 13C) and isotopic fractionation of sea bream muscle as markers of food and culture conditions and its relationship with metabolic and proteomic analyses

Els isòtops estables com a traçadors de la cadena alimentària, s'han utilitzat per caracteritzar la relació entre els consumidors i els seus aliments, ja que el fraccionament isotòpic implica una discriminació en contra de certs isòtops. Però les anàlisis d'isòtops estables (SIA), també es poden dur a terme en peixos cultivats amb dietes artificials, com la orada (Sparus aurata), la especie más cultivada en el Mediterráneo. Canvis en l'abundància natural d'isòtops estables (13C i 15N) en els teixits i les seves reserves poden reflectir els canvis en l'ús i reciclatge dels nutrients ja que els enzims catabòlics implicats en els processos de descarboxilació i desaminació mostren una preferència pels isòtops més lleugers. Per tant, aquestes anàlisis ens poden proporcionar informació útil sobre l'estat nutricional i metabòlic dels peixos. L'objectiu d'aquest projecte va ser determinar la capacitat dels isòtops estables per ser utilitzats com a marcadors potencials de la capacitat de creixement i condicions de cria de l'orada. En aquest sentit, les anàlisis d'isòtops estables s'han combinat amb altres metabòlics (activitats citocrom-c-oxidasa, COX, i citrat sintasa, CS) i els paràmetres de creixement (ARN/ADN). El conjunt de resultats obtinguts en els diferents estudis realitzats en aquest projecte demostra que el SIA, en combinació amb altres paràmetres metabòlics, pot servir com una eina eficaç per discriminar els peixos amb millor potencial de creixement, així com a marcador sensible de l'estat nutricional i d'engreix. D'altra banda, la combinació de l'anàlisi d'isòtops estables amb les eines emergents, com ara tècniques de proteòmica (2D-PAGE), ens proporciona nous coneixements sobre els canvis metabòlics que ocorren en els músculs dels peixos durant l‟increment del creixement muscular induït per l'exercici.

Food security, food safety and small farmers

Some of the elements that characterize the globalization of food and agriculture are industrialization and intensification of agriculture and liberalization of agricultural markets, that favours elongation of the food chain and homogenization of food habits (nutrition transition), among other impacts. As a result, the probability of food contamination has increased with the distance and the number of “hands" that may contact the food (critical points); the nutritional quality of food has been reduced because of increased transport and longer periods of time from collection to consumption; and the number of food-related diseases due to changes in eating patterns has increased. In this context, there exist different agencies and regulations intended to ensure food safety at different levels, e.g. at the international level, Codex Alimentarius develops standards and regulations for the marketing of food in a global market. Although governments determine the legal framework, the food industry manages the safety of their products, and thus, develops its own standards for their marketing, such as the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) programs. The participation of the private sector in the creation of regulatory standards strengthens the free trade of food products, favouring mostly large agribusiness companies. These standards are in most cases unattainable for small producers and food safety regulations are favouring removal of the peasantry and increase concentration and control in the food system by industrial actors. Particularly women, who traditionally have been in charge of the artisanal transformation process, can be more affected by these norms than men. In this project I am analysing the impcact of food safety norms over small farms, based on the case of artisanal production made by women in Spain.

Assessing the Political Viability of Labour Market Reform: The Case of Employment Protection

We analyze the political support for employment protection legislation. Unlike my previous work on the same topic, this paper pays a lot of attention to the role of obsolescence in the growth process. In voting in favour of employment protection, incumbent employees trade off lower living standards (because employment protection maintains workers in less productive activities) against longer job duration. The support for employment protection will then depend on the value of the latter relative to the cost of the former. We highlight two key deeterminants of this trade-off: first, the workers' bargaining power, second, the economy's growth rate-more precisely its rate of creative destruction.

Poor, Hungry and Stupid: Numeracy and the Impact of High Food Prices in Industrializing Britain, 1780-1850

This paper argues that low levels of nutrition impaired cognitive development in industrializing England, and that welfare transfers mitigated the adverse effects of high food prices. Age heaping is used as an indicator of numeracy, as derived from census data. For the cohorts from 1780-1850, we analyse the effect of high grain prices during the Napoleonic Wars. We show that numeracy declined markedly for those born during the war years, especially when wheat was dear. Crucially, where the Old Poor Law provided for generous relief payments, the adverse impact of high prices for foodstuffs was mitigated. Finally, we show some tentative evidence that Englishmen born in areas with low income support selected into occupations with lower cognitive requirements.

Employment Protection, International Specialization, and Innovation

We develop a model to analyse the implications of firing costs on incentives for R&D and international specialization. The Key idea is paying the firing cost, the country with a rigid labor market will tend to produce relatively secure goods, at a late stage of their product life cycle. Under international trade, an international product cycle emerges where, roughly, new goods are first produced in the low firing cost country will specialize in 'secondary innovations', that is, improvements in existing goods, while the low firing cost country will more specialize in 'primary innovation', that is, invention of new goods.

Assesing the political viability of labour market reform: The case of employment protection

We analyze the political support for employment protection legislation.Unlike my previous work on the same topic, this paper pays a lot ofattention to the role of obsolescence in the growth process.In voting in favour of employment protection, incumbent employeestrade off lower living standards (because employment protectionmaintains workers in less productive activities) against longer jobduration. The support for employment protection will then depend onthe value of the latter relative to the cost of the former. Wehighlight two key deeterminants of this trade-off: first, the workers'bargaining power, second, the economy's growth rate-more preciselyits rate of creative destruction.

Poor, hungry and ignorant: Numeracy and the impact of high food prices in industrializing Britain, 1780-1850

This paper uses the ability to recall one s age correctly as an indicator of numeracy.We show that low levels of nutrition impaired numeracy in industrializing England, 1780-1850.Numeracy declined markedly among those born during the war years, especially where wheatwas dear. England s nascent welfare state mitigated the negative effect of high food prices oncognitive skills. Nutrition during early development mattered for labor market outcomes:individuals born in periods or countries with high age heaping were more likely to sort intooccupations with limited intellectual requirements.

Effects of employment protection and product market regulations on the Italian labor market

Labor market regulations have often being blamed for high and persistentunemployment in Europe, but evidence on their impact remains mixed. Morerecently, attention has turned to the impact of product market regulationson employment growth. This paper analyzes how labor and product marketregulations interact to affect turnover and employment. We present a matchingmodel which illustrates how barriers to entry in the product market mitigatethe impact of labor market deregulation. We, then, use the Italian SocialSecurity employer-employee panel to study the interaction between barriersto entry and dismissal costs. We exploit the fact that costs for unjustdismissals in Italy increased for firms below 15 employees relative to biggerfirms after 1990. We find that the increase in dismissal costs after 1990decreased accessions and separations in small relative to big firms,especially for women. Moreover, consistent with our model, we find evidencethat the increase in dismissal costs had smaller effects on turnover for womenin sectors faced with strict product market regulations.

The political economy of employment protection

This paper develops a model of job creation and job destruction in agrowing economy with embodied technical progress, that we use toanalyze the political support for employment protection legislationssuch as the ones that are observed in most European countries.We analyze the possibility of Condorcet cycles due to the fact thatworkers about to become unemployed prefer both an increase and areduction in firing costs over the status quo. Despite this problem, we show the existence of local, and sometimes global majority winners.In voting in favour of employment protection, incumbent employeestrade off lower living standards (because employment protectionmaintains workers in less productive activities) against longer job duration. We show that the gains from, and consequently the politicalsupport for employment protection (as defined by maximunjob tenure) are larger, the lower the rate of creative destruction and the largerthe worker's bargaining power. Numerical simulations suggest a hump-shaped response of firing costs to these variables, as well as negative impact of exogeneous turnover on employment protection.

Employment protection, international specialization and innovation

We develop a model to analyse the implications of firing costs on incentivesfor R&D and international specialization. The Key idea is paying the firingcost, the country with a rigid labor market will tend to produce relativelysecure goods, at a late stage of their product life cycle.Under international trade, an international product cycle emerges where,roughly, new goods are first produced in the low firing cost country willspecialize in 'secondary innovations', that is, improvements in existinggoods, while the low firing cost country will more specialize in 'primaryinnovation', that is, invention of new goods.

Logistics integration processes in the food industry

This paper analyses the integration process that firms follow toimplement Supply Chain Management (SCM). This study has beeninspired in the integration model proposed by Stevens (1989). Hesuggests that companies internally integrate first and then extendintegration to other supply chain members, such as customers andsuppliers.To analyse the integration process a survey was conducted amongSpanish food manufacturers. The results show that there are companiesin three different integration stages. In stage I, companies are notintegrated. In stage II, companies have a medium-high level of internalintegration in the Logistics-Production interface, a low level ofinternal integration in the Logistics-Marketing interface, and a mediumlevel of external integration. And, in stage III, companies have highlevels of integration in both internal interfaces and in some of theirsupply chain relationships.

A reflection about the social and technological aspects in flood risk management - the case of the Italian Civil Protection

The right of a person to be protected from natural hazards is a characteristic of the social and economical development of the society. This paper is a contribution to the reflection about the role of Civil Protection organizations in a modern society. The paper is based in the inaugural conference made by the authors on the 9th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms. Two major issues are considered. The first one is sociological; the Civil Protection organizations and the responsible administration of the land use planning should be perceived as reliable as possible, in order to get consensus on the restrictions they pose, temporary or definitely, on the individual free use of the territory as well as in the entire warning system. The second one is technological: in order to be reliable they have to issue timely alert and warning to the population at large, but such alarms should be as "true" as possible. With this aim, the paper summarizes the historical evolution of the risk assessment, starting from the original concept of "hazard", introducing the concepts of "scenario of event" and "scenario of risk" and ending with a discussion about the uncertainties and limits of the most advanced and efficient tools to predict, to forecast and to observe the ground effects affecting people and their properties. The discussion is centred in the case of heavy rains and flood events in the North-West of Mediterranean Region.

Foodborne norovirus outbreak: the role of an asymptomatic food handler

Background: In July 2005 an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis occurred on a residential summer camp in the province of Barcelona (northeast of Spain). Forty-four people were affected among residents and employees. All of them had in common a meal at lunch time on 13 July (paella, round of beef and fruit). The aim of this study was to investigate a foodborne norovirus outbreak that occurred in the residential summer camp and in which the implication of a food handler was demonstrated by laboratory tests. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was designed. Personal or telephone interview was carried out to collect demographic, clinical and microbiological data of the exposed people, as well as food consumption in the suspected lunch. Food handlers of the mentioned summer camp were interviewed. Ten stool samples were requested from symptomatic exposed residents and the three food handlers that prepared the suspected food. Stools were tested for bacteries and noroviruses. Norovirus was detected using RT-PCR and sequence analysis. Attack rate, relative risks (RR) and its 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to assess the association between food consumption and disease. Results: The global attack rate of the outbreak was 55%. The main symptoms were abdominal pain (90%), nausea (85%), vomiting (70%) and diarrhoea (42.5%). The disease remitted in 24-48 hours. Norovirus was detected in seven faecal samples, one of them was from an asymptomatic food handler who had not eaten the suspected food (round of beef), but cooked and served the lunch. Analysis of the two suspected foods isolated no pathogenic bacteria and detected no viruses. Molecular analysis showed that the viral strain was the same in ill patients and in the asymptomatic food handler (genotype GII.2 Melksham-like). Conclusions: In outbreaks of foodborne disease, the search for viruses in affected patients and all food handlers, even in those that are asymptomatic, is essential. Health education of food handlers with respect to hand washing should be promoted.