The Feminization of Occupations and Change in Wages : a Panel Analysis of Britain, Germany, and Switzerland

In the past four decades, women have made major inroads into occupations previously dominated by men. This paper examines whether occupational feminization is accompanied by a decline in wages: Do workers suffer a wage penalty if they remain in, or move into, feminizing occupations? We analyze this question over the 1990s and 2000s in Britain, Germany, and Switzerland, using longitudinal panel data to estimate individual fixed effects for men and women. Moving from an entirely male to an entirely female occupation entails a loss in individual earnings of 13 percent in Britain, 7 percent in Switzerland, and 3 percent in Germany. The impact of occupational feminization on wages is not linear, but sets apart occupations holding more than 60 percent of women. Moving into such female occupations incurs a wage penalty. Contrary to the prevailing idea in economics, differences in productivity-human capital, job-specific skills, and time investment-do not fully explain the wage gap between male and female occupations. The wage penalty associated with working in a female occupation is also much larger where employer discretion is greater-in the private sector-than where wagesetting is guided by formal rules-the public sector. These findings suggest that wage disparities across male and female occupations are due to gender devaluation.

The specificity of the familial aggregation of early-onset bipolar disorder: A controlled 10-year follow-up study of offspring of parents with mood disorders.

BACKGROUND: Two major sources of heterogeneity of mood disorders that have been demonstrated in clinical, family and genetic studies are the mood disorder subtype (i.e. bipolar (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD)) and age of onset of mood episodes. Using a prospective high-risk study design, our aims were to test the specificity of the parent-child transmission of BPD and MDD and to establish the risk of psychopathology in offspring in function of the age of onset of the parental disorder. METHODS: Clinical information was collected on 208 probands (n=81 with BPD, n=64 with MDD, n=63 medical controls) as well as their 202 spouses and 372 children aged 6-17 years at study entry. Parents and children were directly interviewed every 3 years (mean duration of follow-up=10.6 years). Parental age of onset was dichotomized at age 21. RESULTS: Offspring of parents with early onset BPD entailed a higher risk of BPD HR=7.9(1.8-34.6) and substance use disorders HR=5.0(1.1-21.9) than those with later onset and controls. Depressive disorders were not significantly increased in offspring regardless of parental mood disorder subtype or age of onset. LIMITATIONS: Limited sample size, age of onset in probands was obtained retrospectively, age of onset in co-parents was not adequately documented, and a quarter of the children had no direct interview. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide support for the independence of familial aggregation of BPD from MDD and the heterogeneity of BPD based on patterns of onset. Future studies should further investigate correlates of early versus later onset BPD.

What Role Does Sleep Play in Weight Gain in the First Semester of University?

We hypothesized that shorter sleep durations and greater variability in sleep patterns are associated with weight gain in the first semester of university. Students (N = 132) completed daily sleep diaries for 9 weeks, completed the MEQ (chronotype) and CES-D (depressed mood) at week 9, and self-reported weight/height (weeks 1 & 9). Mean and variability scores were calculated for sleep duration (TST, TSTv), bedtime (BT, BTv), and wake time (WT, WTv). An initial hierarchical regression evaluated (block 1) sex, ethnicity; (block 2) depressed mood, chronotype; (block 3) TST; (block 4) BT, WT; and (block 5; R(2) change = 0.09, p = 0.005) TSTv, BTv, WTv with weight change. A sex-by-TSTv interaction was found. A final model showed that ethnicity, TST, TSTv, and BTv accounted for 31% of the variance in weight change for males; TSTv was the most significant contributor (R(2) change = 0.21, p < 0.001). Daily variability in sleep duration contributes to males' weight gain. Further investigation needs to examine sex-specific outcomes for sleep and weight.

Diversification and its reflections on profitability - strategic change in pulp and paper industry in the years 1996 and 2006

The purpose of the thesis was to analyze diversification in pulp and paper industry (PPI), which is an industry facing enormous strategic challenges as many of the basic parameters of its operational environment are rapidly changing. The objective was to explore, how PPI companies have reacted to these changes by adjusting their strategies in terms of diversification and how the adjustments have affected their profitability. The study was statistical in nature. The results indicate that PPI companies in deed had reduced the degree of unrelated and related diversification , but the positive performance implications of the changes were debatable. In light of the data used in the study lower level of diversification did not lead to better profitability, in fact, the companies with the highest level of diversification had the best profitability. By contrast, reducing the level of unrelated diversification improved the profitability development; whereas reducing the level of related diversification deteriorated the profitability of the company. The results were not statistically significant and they cannot be generalized outside the data of the study.

Peatlands and plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia : Complex realities for resource governance, rural development and climate change mitigation

Peatlands play a crucial role in Indonesia's economic development, and in its stated goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Improved peatland management - including a national moratorium on the granting of any new conversion licenses - forms a cornerstone of Indonesia's climate change mitigation commitment. At the same time, rapid expansion of the plantation sector is driving wide-scale drainage and conversion of peat swamp ecosystems. The province of Riau, in central Sumatra, finds itself at the crossroads of these conflicting agendas. This essay presents a case study of three islands on Riau's east coast affected by industrial timber plantation concessions. It examines the divergent experiences, perceptions and responses of communities on the islands. A mix of dramatic protests, localised everyday actions and constructive dialogue has succeeded in delaying or perhaps halting one of the concessions, while negotiations and contestation with the other two continue. With the support of regional and national non-governmental organisations and local government, communities are pursuing alternative development strategies, including the cultivation of sago, which requires no peat drainage. While a powerful political economy of state and corporate actors shapes the contours of socio-environmental change, local social movements can alter trajectories of change, promoting incremental improvements and alternative pathways.

Circadian variation of salivary immunoglobin A, alpha-amylase activity and mood in response to repeated double-poling sprints in hypoxia.

PURPOSE: To assess the circadian variations in salivary immunoglobin A (sIgA) and alpha-amylase activity (sAA), biomarkers of mucosal immune function, together with mood during 2 weeks of repeated sprint training in hypoxia (RSH) and normoxia (RSN). METHODS: Over a 2-week period, 17 competitive cross-country skiers performed six training sessions, each consisting of four sets of five 10-s bouts of all-out double-poling under either normobaric hypoxia (FiO2: 13.8 %, 3000 m) or normoxia. The levels of sIgA and sAA activity and mood were determined five times during each of the first (T1) and sixth (T6) days of training, as well as during days preceding (baseline) and after the training intervention (follow-up). RESULTS: With RSH, sIgA was higher on T6 than T1 (P = 0.049), and sAA was increased on days T1, T6, and during the follow-up (P < 0.01). With RSN, sIgA remained unchanged and sAA was elevated on day T1 only (P = 0.04). Similarly, the RSH group demonstrated reduced mood on days T1, T6, and during the follow-up, while mood was lowered only on T1 with RSN (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The circadian variation of sIgA and sAA activity, biomarkers of mucosal immune function, as well as mood were similar on the first day of training when repeated double-poling sprints were performed with or without hypoxia. Only with RSH did the levels of sIgA and sAA activity rise with time, becoming maximal after six training sessions, when mood was still lowered. Therefore, six sessions of RSH reduced mood, but did not impair mucosal immune function.

Predicting the future effectiveness of protected areas for bird conservation in Mediterranean ecosystems under climate change and novel fire regime scenarios

AimGlobal environmental changes challenge traditional conservation approaches based on the selection of static protected areas due to their limited ability to deal with the dynamic nature of driving forces relevant to biodiversity. The Natura 2000 network (N2000) constitutes a major milestone in biodiversity conservation in Europe, but the degree to which this static network will be able to reach its long-term conservation objectives raises concern. We assessed the changes in the effectiveness of N2000 in a Mediterranean ecosystem between 2000 and 2050 under different combinations of climate and land cover change scenarios. LocationCatalonia, Spain. MethodsPotential distribution changes of several terrestrial bird species of conservation interest included in the European Union's Birds Directive were predicted within an ensemble-forecasting framework that hierarchically integrated climate change and land cover change scenarios. Land cover changes were simulated using a spatially explicit fire-succession model that integrates fire management strategies and vegetation encroachment after the abandonment of cultivated areas as the main drivers of landscape dynamics in Mediterranean ecosystems. ResultsOur results suggest that the amount of suitable habitats for the target species will strongly decrease both inside and outside N2000. However, the effectiveness of N2000 is expected to increase in the next decades because the amount of suitable habitats is predicted to decrease less inside than outside this network. Main conclusionsSuch predictions shed light on the key role that the current N2000may play in the near future and emphasize the need for an integrative conservation perspective wherein agricultural, forest and fire management policies should be considered to effectively preserve key habitats for threatened birds in fire-prone, highly dynamic Mediterranean ecosystems. Results also show the importance of considering landscape dynamics and the synergies between different driving forces when assessing the long-term effectiveness of protected areas for biodiversity conservation.

Gleevec, an Abl family inhibitor, produces a profound change in cell shape and migration (in press)

The issue of how contractility and adhesion are related to cell shape and migration pattern remains largely unresolved. In this paper we report that Gleevec (Imatinib), an Abl family kinase inhibitor, produces a profound change in the shape and migration of rat bladder tumor cells (NBTII) plated on collagen-coated substrates. Cells treated with Gleevec adopt a highly spread D-shape and migrate more rapidly with greater persistence. Accompanying this more spread state is an increase in integrin-mediated adhesion coupled with increases in the size and number of discrete adhesions. In addition, both total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) and interference reflection microscopy (IRM) revealed a band of small punctate adhesions with rapid turnover near the cell leading margin. These changes led to an increase in global cell-substrate adhesion strength, as assessed by laminar flow experiments. Gleevec-treated cells have greater RhoA activity which, via myosin activation, led to an increase in the magnitude of total traction force applied to the substrate. These chemical and physical alterations upon Gleevec treatment produce the dramatic change in morphology and migration that is observed.