Changes In Labor Relations Research Articles

Gestation-related and betamethasone-induced changes in 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase types 1 and 2 in the baboon placenta

Objective: We determined developmental and labor-related changes in 11β-hydroxysteroid (HSD) 1 and 2 expression in baboon placentas during the final third of gestation and labor. We examined whether maternal glucocorticoid administration alters placental 11β-HSD 2 expression. Study Design: Maternal and fetal plasma cortisol concentrations were measured in five animals. Types 1 and 2 11β-HSD messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein in placentas obtained at 121 to 185 days' gestation (dGA, term approximately 185 dGA, n = 16), during labor between 141 and 193 dGA (n = 8), and after maternal administration of four doses of 87.5 μg/kg betamethasone (n = 5) at 12-hour intervals at 121 to 135 dGA were analyzed by Northern and Western blot. Results: Cortisol levels were higher in maternal plasma than fetal (4-fold, P < .mob031). Placental 11β-HSD 2 mRNA and protein decreased after 0.9 gestation (P < .001). 11β-HSD 1 mRNA remained unchanged. There was no effect of labor on placental 11β-HSD 1 and 2 mRNA and protein levels. Maternal betamethasone administration dramatically increased (P < .05) 11β-HSD 2 mRNA as well as protein without effect on 11β-HSD 1 mRNA and protein expression. Conclusions: The late-gestation baboon maternal plasma cortisol concentration is four times the fetal plasma concentration. Decreased placental 11β-HSD 2 may enhance maternal cortisol passage to the fetus at the end of gestation, thereby contributing to cortisol-mediated changes within the placenta and cortisol in fetal plasma at this stage of fetal development. The positive effect of betamethasone on placental 11β-HSD 2 induction further suggests an ability of the placenta to regulate glucocorticoid transfer in the presence of elevated maternal glucocorticoid. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003;188:13-21.)

Characterization of topology-, gestation- and labor-related changes of a cassette of myometrial contraction-associated protein mRNA in the pregnant baboon myometrium.

Our objective was to examine the topology-, gestation- and labor-related changes of estrogen receptor (ER)alpha, progesterone receptor (PR), oxytocin receptor (OTR) and thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) mRNA in pregnant baboon myometrium. ER alpha, PR, OTR and TSP1 mRNAs extracted from the lower uterine segment and fundal myometrium of pregnant baboons not in labor between 121 and 180 days of gestational age (n=9) and in established spontaneous labor between 164 and 193 days of gestational age (n=5) were analyzed by Northern blot. There were no topology-, gestation- or labor-related changes of ER alpha and PR mRNA in or between the lower uterine segment or/and the fundus. OTR mRNA was the same in the lower uterine segment and the fundus from baboons not in labor and non-labor fundal, but not lower uterine segment, myometrial OTR mRNA increased with gestation (R(2)=0.81, P<0.05). Fundal OTR mRNA rose significantly compared with the lower uterine segment during spontaneous labor. TSP1 mRNA increased significantly in both the fundus and lower uterine segment during labor. TSP1 mRNA in the lower uterine segment during spontaneous labor was higher than in the fundus during spontaneous labor. In conclusion, fundal and lower uterine segment ER alpha and PR mRNA remained unchanged in late gestation and spontaneous labor. The increased OTR mRNA may serve as a mechanism to increase uterine sensitivity to OT during late gestation. The higher fundal OTR mRNA compared with the lower uterine segment provides polarity which assists fetal expulsion by uterine contractions during labor. The significance of increased TSP1 mRNA during labor may relate to homeostasis and merits further study.

Nuevas relaciones laborales y salud de los trabajadores en Argentina: desafíos y perspectivas para la investigación

This paper analyzes changes in labor relations, legislation pertaining to work-related diseases and accidents, and the impact on workers' health in Argentina (1989-1995). The data indicate an increase in unemployment, underemployment, self-employment, and new hiring practices. The study shows the mechanisms by which the state has delegated responsibility for prevention of work-related risks to the private insurance sector. The theoretical discussion of causality thus acquires a political/practical dimension. The data show an increase in work-related accidents following labor reform. Research by universities, NGOs, and labor unions reveal changes in health profiles for salaried, self-employed, and underemployed workers. The three National Meetings on Employment and Health (1992-1994) established an area of exchange between academic and workers' knowledge, with some 128 presentations, research projects, and studies, pointing to an enhanced field for epidemiological surveillance and intervention. The paper reviews the surveys performed by the National Confederation of Workers in Education and the Public Employees' Association.

New technology and Hong Kong telephone workers

Most studies of technological change in telecommunications have researched incremental shifts within the analogue switching paradigm. This paper takes the case of the shift to digital switching in Hong Kong's public telephone network. It focuses upon how this change was managed and the consequential changes in labour relations.

Technical change and productivity growth in the British coal industry, 1974–1990

After 15 years of comparative stagnation, labour productivity growth in the coal industry since 1985 has outstripped that of all other British industries. This paper assesses technical change in the British coal industry since large programmes of colliery investment and mining R&D were launched during the 1973–1974 oil shock. A wide range of innovations in mining technology and measurement and control systems were developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s and then widely applied from 1985 onwards. These increased the productive potential of the lower-cost pits, and led to the concentration of output on far fewer coalfaces and collieries, and a huge reduction in manpower. Since the 1984–1985 miners' strike there have also been changes in labour relations and management authority, but these could not by themselves have secured the step jump in daily output per coalface in an industry in which production has long been mechanised. Despite the productivity growth and cost reduction, British coal remains vulnerable to competition forn imported coal which is cheap at the current exchange rate. Decisions to be taken over the next few years will determine whether the sustained effort to modernise the British coal industry will have been worth while.

From Labour Shortage to Unemployment: Soviet Workers' Attitudes about Possible Changes in Labour Relations

Abstract. After seventy years of centralised economy, the ex‐Soviet Union is now experiencing the problem of developing a market economy. The monopoly of the means of production had generated guaranteed employment. an elevated number of vacant positions and scarce territorial and occupational mobility. At the same time, there were low salaries and a series of guaranteed basic services. The translation to a market economy can generate the fear of losing certain guarantees. The author analyses these problems, referring principally to field research conducted among industrial workers.

An Exclusionary Labor Regime under Pressure: The Changes in Labor Relations in the Republic of Korea Since Mid-1987

An Exclusionary Labor Regime under Pressure: The Changes in Labor Relations in the Republic of Korea Since Mid-1987

A New Dimension in Collective Agreements

From the late 19th century on, a series of social and economic changes have altered the system of labour relations. The transition of bargaining over terms of employment, from the individual to the collective sphere, was the culmination of the historical stages of development. Changes in labour relations have always been, and remain dynamic. Therefore, collective labour law, like the industrial relations system itself, is constantly taking new steps to formulate up-to-date patterns of thought and behaviour. Hence, the legal system finds it difficult to dictate firm policies, and can only try to catch up with the development bypost factumlegislation and theorization, which can set but a broad and flexible framework.The collective agreement is presented in this study as a universal phenomenon, resulting from the historical stages of development in labour relations. These stages have led to the crystallization of the collective agreement as it is known today, and to the formulation of its distinctive traits.