884 research outputs found
The JCMS Annual Lecture: National Welfare States and European Integration: In Search of a 'Virtuous Nesting'
No full textIn recent years the EU has been witnessing a growing tension between the logic of 'closure', which underpins national welfare systems, and the logic of 'opening', which guides the integration process, especially in the economic sphere. Are there ways of mitigating such tension, in order to avoid negative consequences in terms of performance and legitimacy? The article outlines a strategy of institutional reconciliation between the two logics, based on a more explicit and effective 'nesting' of the nation-based welfare state within the overall spatial architecture of the Union. While recognizing the important role played by free movement and competition rules, this nesting strategy entails the strengthening of an EU 'social space', capable of safeguarding the closure preconditions for multi-level social sharing arrangements. Copyright (c) 2009 The Author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Author meets critics : boundaries of Welfare : European integration and the new spatial politics of social protection
No full textHigher-order QCD corrections to associated VH production with H → bb ̄ decay at the LHC
No full textWe consider QCD radiative corrections to the production of a Standard Model Higgs boson H in association with a vector boson V (V = W/Z) at hadron colliders. We present a fully exclusive perturbative QCD calculation at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) for the production of the VH pair, including the Higgs boson decay into a bottom-antibottom quark (bb ̄) pair up to nextto-leading order in QCD. We consider the selection cuts that are typically applied in the LHC experimental analysis, and we compare perturbative fixed-order results with NLO parton shower predictions
From a guaranteed Labour Makret to the « Flexible Worker » Model? The Transformation of Italian Unemployment Policy in the ‘90s
No full textThe Italian welfare state has often been described as a clear example of the Continentalwelfare state regime (Esping-Andersen, 1990 and 1999 and Pierson, 2001) and also, adoptingother conceptual lenses, an important member of the Southern European welfare state family(Ferrera, 1996). From the end of World War II, the institutions and policies adopted in Italyhave been clearly marked on the one hand by the predominance of a male bread-winnerlabour market model and on the other by the strong protection of workers (insiders) and weak(if existent) protection of the so called ‘outsiders’. The article is particularly focused on labour market regulation in Italy, trying to emphasise some key quantitative elements regarding the employment and unemployment dataover the years (§ 1), then the basic traits of the evolution of Italian labour market will bepresented (§ 2), the endogenous and exogenous pressures for change and the dynamics ofinstitutional change (§ 3) will be explored, whereas a discussion on the possible newinstitutional configuration with particular reference to a new Law (the so called Biagi2 Law,that might introduce further elements of change) will follow (§ 4). Some final remarks (§ 5)regarding the current debates in Italy will conclude the presentation of the Italian case.Italy; Europeanization; unemployment; employment policy; social policy
Alle radici del welfare all'italiana : origini e futuro di un modello sociale squilibrato
No full textLa spesa pensionistica più elevata d’Europa, limitate risorse destinate alla tutela delle famiglie, dei bambini e dei disoccupati, pochissime misure di contrasto alla povertà. Dopo due decenni di riforme lo sbilanciamento “funzionale” – verso il settore previdenziale – e la distorsione “distributiva” – a favore degli occupati/insider rappresentano ancora temi sensibili nell’attuale dibattito sulla riforma dello stato sociale in Italia. Ma quando è emerso l’assetto di welfare che è oggi sotto la lente dei policy-makers? Quali sono state le tappe fondamentali che hanno portato al consolidarsi del “welfare all’italiana”, e quali dinamiche e fattori ne hanno rappresentato la spinta propulsiva? A partire dagli anni Ottanta, un’articolata letteratura politologica e sociologica ha messo in luce le anomalie comparative del welfare “all’italiana”: manca però una sistematica ed analitica ricostruzione storica che chiarisca sia il timing preciso sia le ragioni genetiche di quella doppia distorsione che caratterizza il nucleo centrale del welfare all’italiana. In questa direzione, il volume mira a indagare, e successivamente interpretare, le radici del welfare state italiano tramite un’analisi storico-evolutiva dalla fine del XIX secolo agli anni Settanta del XX. Più in dettaglio, il presente lavoro si propone tre obiettivi: i) caratterizzare sulla base di dati quantitativi e qualitativi sia la natura che l’entità degli squilibri funzionali e distributivi; ii) tracciare la loro genesi nel tempo individuandone i fattori che ne sono stati responsabili; iii) formulare, sulla scorta di una discussione critica della letteratura comparata sullo sviluppo del welfare state, ipotesi esplicative, proponendo infine un’interpretazione in chiave storico-istituzionalista capace di rendere conto delle scelte effettuate dagli attori politici italiani negli snodi evolutivi in cui la doppia distorsione si è formata e consolidata. Il volume si articola su tre parti ed è composto da sette capitoli. Nella prima parte vengono poste le basi per l’analisi empirica sia mettendo a fuoco la peculiarità del welfare italiano in prospettiva comparata e tratteggiando il framework analitico (capitolo 1) sia illustrando le tappe di sviluppo della protezione sociale in Italia dalle origini alla II Guerra Mondiale (capitolo 2). La seconda e la terza parte sono invece dedicate allo studio del periodo che è considerato lo “snodo critico” per l’emersione del welfare all’italiana: gli anni Cinquanta (parte Due) e gli anni Sessanta (parte Tre). Entrambe le sezioni si aprono con l’analisi e l’interpretazione della traiettoria evolutiva del settore pensionistico e del Tfr (capitoli 3 e 5), per poi concentrarsi (cap. 4 e 6) sulla tutela della disoccupazione e i carichi famigliari, settori rimasti relativamente “atrofici”. Il capitolo 7 conclude. L’argomento centrale del volume è che, sullo sfondo di una policy legacy già favorevole all’emergere di squilibri funzionali e distributivi, fattori cognitivi e soprattutto le peculiari caratteristiche della competizione politica – nel contesto di “pluralismo polarizzato” e “democrazia bloccata” degli anni Cinquanta-Sessanta – abbiamo giocato un ruolo decisivo nell’orientare verso lo squilibrio il welfare state italiano
100 Gbps PON L-band downstream transmission using IQ-MZM CD digital pre-compensation and DD ONU receiver
No full textWe propose a downstream direct-detection 100G-PON solution aided by chromatic dispersion digital pre-compensation using an IQ-MZM, allowing L-band operation and 29 dB power budget with low ONU complexity and without requiring single-sideband modulation
The European Welfare State : Golden Achievements, Silver Prospects
No full textFor the welfare state the last 30 years have witnessed a turbulent transition from the 'Golden Age' of expansion to a 'Silver Age' of permanent austerity. This shift has been the result of external pressures and of internal transformations of domestic economies and social structures. Permanent austerity has entailed incisive institutional adaptations and has been accompanied by a 'new politics', centred on a plurality of 'blame avoidance' strategies on the side of parties and governments. The article summarises and discusses the main factual developments since the mid-1970s but it also surveys the main strands of academic debates on both the expansion and the crisis phases. The author argues that comparative welfare state research has been one of the liveliest fields of political economy - a field marked by important analytical and theoretical advances and by the accumulation of relevant and systematic empirical knowledge about a key institution of the European political landscape
Teoria empirica della politica e diritti sociali
No full textThe article starts with a general discussion of how political science treats the question of «rights». In line with classical democratic theory (from max Weber and Schumpeter to Sartori and Dahl), the author argues that rights must be seen as «guaranteed powers». Special attention is paid to the approach of the Pavia School (Leoni, Albertini and in particular Mario Stoppino), which emphasizes the key role of rights in stabilizing and generalizing compliance within bounded fields of interaction. The main part of the article is devoted to a discussion of social entitlements qua a sub-type of rights. The guaranteed provision of transfers and services is crucial for equalizing opportunities and stabilizing life chances. In contemporary democracies, however, entitlements have become a key currency of electoral exchanges, often originating perverse effects in terms of fiscal sustainability and distributive fairness
Opioid plasma concentrations during a switch from transdermal fentanyl to methadone.
No full textOpioid switching is often used to improve the opioid response in patients with cancer experiencing poor analgesia or adverse effects. When switching between drugs with delayed effect because of pharmacokinetics or type of delivery, concerns exist about the correct timing of introducing the second drug after stopping the previous one. The aim of this study was to assess plasmatic changes of fentanyl and methadone underlying the clinical events occurring during opioid switching. Eighteen patients with cancer receiving transdermal fentanyl with uncontrolled pain and/or moderate to severe opioid adverse effects, were switched to oral methadone using an initial fixed ratio of 1:20. Fentanyl patches were removed and the first of three daily doses of methadone was started concurrently. Blood samples were obtained at intervals after removing the fentanyl patch, and at 5-hour intervals for the first 25 hours. The intensity of pain and the adverse effects were assessed before switching, the day after, and then daily up to dose stabilization. A successful switch was considered when the intensity of pain and distress score decreased at least of 33% of the basal value recorded before the switch, within a reasonable period of time. Complete blood samples were obtained in 16 patients. Methadone plasma concentration increased from 2 to 245 ng/mL, and fentanyl plasma concentration decreased from 15 to 8 ng/mL, 25 hours after. A successful switch was determined the day after in 7 patients, while 4 patients did not respond favorably (effective switching, 63%). Five patients were considered too terminal for an appropriate evaluation. No differences in plasma concentration pattern of the two opioids were found between patients considered responders and nonresponders. Conversion ratios between opioids at time of stabilization did not significantly change in comparison with the initial conversion ratio chosen. Starting methadone soon after removing fentanyl patches results in a rapid increase of methadone concentration, while the half-life of transdermal fentanyl is reached after 25 hours. As a result, the rapid achievement of a clinical effect is obtained avoiding distressing therapeutic holes in patients with a clinical condition, mainly characterized by poor pain control and severe adverse effects, requiring an immediate intervention
La composizione di “Camma” nel carteggio tra Adelaide Ristori, Giuseppe Montanelli e Lauretta Cipriani Parra
No full textAmong Adelaide Ristori’s great successes, Camma, premiered in Paris on April 23rd, 1857, was written for her by Giuseppe Montanelli. From the perspective of a dramaturgical investigation into how a Grande Attrice chose and construct her repertoire, the correspondence between Montanelli and Ristori is an important case study: the author sends the various acts of the tragedy, as they were completed, to the actress, who gradually comments on their value and offers suggestions for their better stage success, well aware of the strategies to best enhance her own abilities and the expectations of the audience. Ristori’s answers, always lucid, focused and decisive, allow us to recognize to what extent a Grande Attrice would intervene on a text, tailor-made for her, considering her strengths and abilities. Thus, this essay is about the compositional strategies of the textual score and is based on an in-depth reading of the correspondence, investigated especially with regard to the actress’s interventions, whose actual realisation and success are then compared with the final script and the review of the tragedy’s outcome with audiences and critics
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