Occupational Shifts Research Articles

Shifts in Climatic Niche Occupation in Astrophytum Coahuilense (H. Möller) Kayser and Its Potential Distribution in Mexico

It has frequently been reported that species with strong niche conservatism will not be able to adapt to new climatic conditions, so they must migrate or go extinct. We have evaluated the shifts in climatic niche occupation of the species Astrophytum coahuilense and its potential distribution in Mexico. We understand niche occupation as the geographic zones with available habitats and with the presence of the species. To assess shifts in climatic niche occupation, we used niche overlap analysis, while potential distribution modeling was performed based on the principle of maximum entropy. The results indicate that this species presents a limited amplitude in its climate niche. This restriction of the climatic niche of A. coahuilense limits its ability to colonize new geographical areas with different climatic environments. On the other hand, the potential distribution models obtained from the present study allow us to identify potential zones based on the climatic requirements of the species. This information is important to identify high priority areas for the conservation of A. coahuilense.

Influence of a multistrain probiotic on body composition and mood in female occupational shift workers.

This study sought to investigate the effects of a multistrain probiotic on body composition, regional adiposity, and a series of associated metabolic health outcomes. Female health care workers employed on a rotating-shift schedule (n = 41) completed baseline anthropometric assessments; a fasted blood draw; questionnaires to assess anxiety, depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and fatigue (Chalder Fatigue Survey); and an exercise fatigue test. Identical post-tests occurred following 6 weeks of daily supplementation with placebo (PLA) or probiotics (2.5 × 109 CFU/g) containing 9 bacterial strains (PRO; Ecologic Barrier) combined with a prebiotic carrier matrix. PRO attenuated fat mass increases (change (Δ), 0.14 kg; confidence interval (CI) -0.46 to 0.75 kg) compared with PLA (Δ, 0.79 kg; CI 0.03-1.54 kg), whereas modest reductions in visceral adiposity resulted for both PRO and PLA. Metabolic biomarkers (total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, glucose, adiponectin, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, leptin) were not influenced by either treatment (p > 0.05). Nonsignificant, but potentially clinically relevant, improvements in anxiety (Δ, -2.3 ± 2.63) and fatigue (Δ, -4.8 ± 5.5) were observed with PRO; exercise performance was unaffected. Results indicate a potential protective effect of probiotics against fat mass gain. Probiotics may alleviate anxiety and fatigue in shift-working females.

The cultural trajectories of Aurignacian osseous projectile points in Southern Europe: Insights from geometric morphometrics

Studies on European population dynamics during the Early Upper Palaeolithic heavily rely on evidence gathered from the analysis of material culture. Spatial occurrence of an artefact type allows to delimit the territories occupied by their bearers, and, when a chronological perspective is added to the study, to follow shifts in land occupation through time. In this paper, we review first-hand data gathered from 129 Aurignacian osseous projectile points yielded by 11 sites that are distributed along the southern dispersal route assumed to have facilitated the initial dispersal of Homo sapiens into Western Europe, i.e., the Mediterranean coastline. In this region, clear differences are observed with regard to the relative distribution of split- and massive-based points. The Adriatic Sea is identified as the geographical limit dividing the western and eastern regions of the Mediterranean coastline. In both regions, massive-based points occur contemporaneously with split-based points at some sites. In the western region, split-based points appear at the end of the Proto-Aurignacian, and overall outnumber massive-based points. In the eastern region, split-based points are associated with the end of Early Aurignacian occupations, and it is massive-based points that are found in greater number. The geographic distribution of the data obtained from a landmark-based geometric morphometrics analysis of the forms for both projectile point types suggests the high mobility of Aurignacian populations. However, the rules of production seem more flexible for the manufacture of massive-based points compared to those reproduced during the manufacture of split-based points. A parallel is drawn between this pattern and the complexity of the reduction sequence of both types. These results cast doubts on the hypothesis according to which Aurignacian osseous projectile points, and more specifically split-based points, would represent a proxy for the initial dispersal of Homo sapiens into Europe. On the contrary, the present review indicates the adoption of osseous projectile technologies at a continental scale signals the development of novel socio-economic strategies by groups already present on the continent and linked to one another.

Climate Change-Induced Conflicts in Pakistan: From National to Individual Level

Climate change leading to migration and conflicts is observed in many parts of the world and it is becoming a potential future in Pakistan. Climate change refugees in Pakistan undergo victimization, in situ mitigation, or migration, all three of which have consequences. Direct and indirect security threats posed by climate change can cause great economic losses to Pakistan. Arguably, there is growing evidence of a relationship between climate change and conflicts in Pakistan. Resource depletion and overpopulation result in rural-to-urban migration along with occupational shifts. This unprecedented study explores whether there is a significant relationship between climate change and conflicts in Pakistan. It assesses the given association from national to individual level. The study uses both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to determine the relationship of climate change and conflict. The science of climate change and conflicts is mostly qualitative. The assessment based on surveying, visits, interviews, literature review, multidisciplinary assessment, and examination of the sites. Furthermore, the relationship or association was quantified based on some of the results. Statistical analysis was performed on the results of the study. Relationship between climate change, socioeconomics, and conflicts has been explored. Surveys and interviews significantly supported that the frequency of the disasters such as droughts, heatwaves, floods, and diseases has increased in the study area and significantly affects the lives of local communities. It was also highlighted that the majority of conflicts in the region are due to overpopulation, economic competition, acquisition of land and resources, and migration. It was found that some associations are statistically significant, while others are not. However, site examination and ground realities suggested that there is a high risk and potential for climate change-induced conflicts in the study area. Data presented in the study indicate that Pakistan has the highest risk value for conflicts and human exposure to these risks. There is a significant causal relationship between climate change, migration, and conflicts. Over population together with resource depletion serves as catalyzing factors for climate change migration and dispute. Data on the subject for Pakistan are absent or lacking. However, it can be significantly established that climate change-induced migration and the conflicts are reality in Pakistan, with potential to induct further economic losses in the future.

The critical role of fossils in inferring deep-node phylogenetic relationships and macroevolutionary patterns in Cornales.

The basal asterid order, Cornales, experienced a rapid radiation during the Cretaceous, which has made it difficult to elucidate the early evolution of the order using extant taxa only. Recent paleobotanical studies, however, have begun to shed light on the early diversification of Cornales. Herein, fossils are directly incorporated in phylogenetic and quantitative morphological analyses to reconstruct early cornalean evolution. A morphological matrix of 77 fruit characters and 58 taxa (24 extinct) was assembled. Parsimony analyses including and excluding fossils were conducted. A fossil inclusive tree was time-scaled to visualize the timing of the initial cornalean radiation. Disparity analyses were utilized to infer the morphological evolution of cornaleans with drupaceous fruits. Fossil inclusive and exclusive parsimony analyses resulted in well-resolved deep-node relationships within Cornales. Resolution in the fossil inclusive analysis is substantially higher, revealing a basal grade including Loasaceae, Hydrangeaceae, Hydrostachyaceae, Grubbiaceae, a Hironoia+Amersinia clade, and Curtisiaceae, respectively, that leads to a "core" group containing a clade comprising a Cretaceous grade leading to clade of Nyssaceae, Mastixiaceae, and Davidiaceae that is sister to a Cornaceae+Alangiaceae clade. The time-scaled tree indicates that the initial cornalean diversification occurred before 89.8 Ma. Disparity analyses suggest the morphological diversity of Cornales peaked during the Paleogene. Phylogenetic analyses clearly demonstrate that novel character mosaics of Cretaceous cornaleans play a critical role in resolving deep-node relationships within Cornales. The post-Cretaceous increase of cornalean disparity is associated with a shift in morphospace occupation, which can be explained from ecological and developmental perspectives.

Species’ thermal ranges predict changes in reef fish community structure during 8 years of extreme temperature variation

AbstractAimTo assess whether observed thermal bounds in species’ latitudinal ranges (i.e., realized thermal niches) can be used to predict patterns of occurrence and abundance changes observed during a marine heatwave, relative to other important life history and functional traits.LocationRottnest Island, Western Australia.MethodsA time series of standardized quantitative surveys of reef fishes spanning 8 years of pronounced ocean temperature change is used to test whether accurate predictions on shifts in species occupancy and abundance are possible using species traits.ResultsSpecies‐level responses in occurrence and abundance were closely related to the mid‐point of their realized thermal niche, more so than body size, range size or trophic level. Most of the species that disappeared from survey counts during the heatwave were characterized by geographic ranges that did not extend to latitudes with temperatures equivalent to the ocean temperature peak during the heatwave. We thus find support for the hypothesis that current distribution limits are set directly or indirectly by temperature and are highly responsive to ocean temperature variability.Main conclusionsOur study shows that reef fish community structure can change very quickly when exposed to extreme thermal anomalies, in directions predicted from the realized thermal niche of the species present. Such predictions can thus identify species that will be most responsive to changing ocean climate. Continued warming, coupled with periodic extreme heat events, may lead to the loss of ecosystem services and ecological functions, as mobile species relocate to more hospitable climes, while less mobile species may head towards extinction.

Word embeddings quantify 100 years of gender and ethnic stereotypes

Word embeddings are a powerful machine-learning framework that represents each English word by a vector. The geometric relationship between these vectors captures meaningful semantic relationships between the corresponding words. In this paper, we develop a framework to demonstrate how the temporal dynamics of the embedding helps to quantify changes in stereotypes and attitudes toward women and ethnic minorities in the 20th and 21st centuries in the United States. We integrate word embeddings trained on 100 y of text data with the US Census to show that changes in the embedding track closely with demographic and occupation shifts over time. The embedding captures societal shifts-e.g., the women's movement in the 1960s and Asian immigration into the United States-and also illuminates how specific adjectives and occupations became more closely associated with certain populations over time. Our framework for temporal analysis of word embedding opens up a fruitful intersection between machine learning and quantitative social science.

Landscape-Scale Effects of Supra-Seasonal Drought on Semi-Aquatic Snake Assemblages

Climate change is predicted to alter the frequency and intensity of precipitation events, placing stress on freshwater aquatic ecosystems and their associated wildlife. Thus, understanding interspecific variation in drought sensitivity and the repeatability of those responses across heterogeneous landscapes is critical. Semi-aquatic snakes serve important roles within aquatic ecosystems and several species are threatened. Yet, little is known about the effects of drought on semi-aquatic snake populations or assemblages. We systematically trapped 20 isolated wetlands in South Carolina before (2006) and after (2013) a multi-year supra-seasonal drought to determine drought-induced shifts in occupancy and detection for five semi-aquatic snake species. Our results confirm that supra-seasonal drought differentially affects semi-aquatic snake species across landscape scales. Specifically, site occupancy decreased dramatically following drought for banded watersnakes (Nerodia fasciata) (0.95 to 0.69) and Florida green watersnakes (Nerodia floridana) (0.32 to 0.05), but was relatively unchanged for black swamp snakes (Seminatrix pygaea), mudsnakes (Farancia abacura) and glossy crayfish snakes (Regina rigida). Species lacking adaptations that make them resistant or resilient to drought may become locally extirpated if climate change projections are realized or landscapes are degraded or fragmented in ways that prevent drought recovery.

Socio-economic Status of Gandharva Community Living in Batulechaur, Pokhara

This study aims to explore the socio-economic status of Gandharva community. For this purpose, the household heads of all the fifty households of Gandharva community of Batulechaur in Pokhara were interviewed by using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used for analyzing the information gathered from the respondents. The study focused on socio-economic status and occupational shift of Gandharva community. The study found that the Gandharva community is socially marginalized and relatively poor in comparison to other communities. Their living status is not good. They have low education and low income profession as reason. For this reason most of them have shifted their occupations from singing and dancing to others like service sector, unskilled job, foreign employment in golf countries and some small business like running shops, vegetable selling, etc.

Occupational Career Change and Gender Wage Inequality

This article examines the relationship between the changing occupational careers of female wage earners and gender wage inequality. Using Current Population Survey-Merged Outgoing Rotation Group data, it assesses the effect on the gender wage gap of changes in the composition and price both of care-providing occupations that are culturally associated with female labor and of managerial and professional occupations that are not part of the care economy, over the period 1979 to 2015. It finds that the rapid entry of female workers into high-wage managerial occupations, and their exit from low-wage private household work, contributed to gender wage convergence. However, the wage-equalizing effects of occupational shifts and related behavioral changes diminish over time, and wage convergence ceases after 2007. It also finds that female workers continue to be disadvantaged by wage dispersion and that most of the remaining gender wage gap arises within occupations. The concluding sections discuss the findings and their implications for closing the wage gap.

Temporal dynamics of land use/land cover change and its prediction using CA-ANN model for southwestern coastal Bangladesh.

Change analysis of land use and land cover (LULC) is a technique to study the environmental degradation and to control the unplanned development. Analysis of the past changing trend of LULC along with modeling future LULC provides a combined opportunity to evaluate and guide the present and future land use policy. The southwest coastal region of Bangladesh, especially Assasuni Upazila of Satkhira District, is the most vulnerable to natural disasters and has faced notable changes in its LULC due to the combined effects of natural and anthropogenic causes. The objectives of this study are to illustrate the temporal dynamics of LULC change in Assasuni Upazila over the last 27years (i.e., between 1989 and 2015) and also to predict future land use change using CA-ANN (cellular automata and artificial neural network) model for the year 2028. Temporal dynamics of LULC change was analyzed, employing supervised classification of multi-temporal Landsat images. Then, prediction of future LULC was carried out by CA-ANN model using MOLUSCE plugin of QGIS. The analysis of LULC change revealed that the LULC of Assasuni had changed notably during 1989 to 2015. "Bare lands" decreased by 21% being occupied by other land uses, especially by "shrimp farms." Shrimp farm area increased by 25.9% during this period, indicating a major occupational transformation from agriculture to shrimp aquaculture in the study area during the period under study. Reduction in "settlement" area revealed the trend of migration from the Upazila. The predicted LULC for the year 2028 showed that reduction in bare land area would continue and 1595.97ha bare land would transform into shrimp farm during 2015 to 2028. Also, the impacts of the changing LULC on the livelihood of local people and migration status of the Upazila were analyzed from the data collected through focus group discussions and questionnaire surveys. The analysis revealed that the changing LULC and the occupational shift from paddy cultivation to shrimp farming were related to each other. Around 31.3% of the total respondents stated that at least one of their family members had migrated. Climate-driven southwestern coastal people usually migrate from the vulnerable rural areas towards the nearest relatively safe city due to adverse effects of natural disasters. To control the unplanned development and reduce the internal migration in Assasuni and other coastal areas, a comprehensive land use management plan was suggested that would accommodate the diversified uses of coastal lands and eventually lessen the threats to the life and livelihood of the local people.

Occupational Safety Climate and Shift Work

Developing and maintaining a rich safety culture is an important factor in achieving a safe workplace with low injury rates. Safety climate measures provide a snapshot of the safety culture, as they reflect workers' shared perceptions of how management and workers deal with safety on a daily basis. There is however, research evidence that safety may be compromised for shift workers during night shifts. The role of safety culture has been documented in major accidents such as Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Exxon Valdez, all of which involved work activities at night. There is also evidence that workers who work in close proximity to production lines have increased injury risks. This study investigates whether the level of safety climate is lower among shift workers, who work both days and nights compared to daytime workers. The Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50) is used to evaluate the safety climate. The questionnaire contains 50 positively formulated and negated (reversed) items using a four-point Likert scale. The items are distributed across seven scales dealing with: Perceptions of management and worker commitment and priority to safety, safety empowerment from management, safety justice, safety communication and trust in safety systems. Data are derived from workers at two chemical plants in Sweden, both of which employ daytime workers and shift workers. Two-tailed t-tests of the data are carried out in SPSS, and are supplemented with injury data and the type of work with proximity to production lines. The level of safety climate is relatively high at both plants, compared to other international studies using NOSACQ-50. Shift workers at the two plants have significantly lower scores on all seven safety climate scales, compared to daytime workers at the two plants. Separate analyses for each plant reveal that shift workers have significantly lower scores on five safety climate scales at the first plant, whereas there were no differences between shift workers and daytime workers at the second plant. Several of the daytime workers at the first plant are located further away from production lines and laboratories than the other three groups, and they experience fewer direct accidents and/or dangerous situations at work. Greater risk exposure and experience with injury events may play more important roles than shift work itself, in explaining lower ratings of safety climate.

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the alluvial landscape of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, central southern Turkey: The implications for early agriculture and responses to environmental change

Archaeological discussions of early agriculture have often used the Neolithic village of Çatalhöyük in central southern Turkey as a key example of the restricting effect of environment on agricultural production and organization. Central to these discussions is the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the landscape surrounding the site. This paper presents an important new dataset from an intensive coring programme undertaken between 2007 and 2013 in the immediate environs of the site, designed to improve significantly the spatial resolution of palaeoenvironmental data. Using sediment analyses including organic content, magnetic susceptibility, particle size, total carbon and nitrogen contents and carbon isotope analysis, coupled with 3D modelling, we are able to present a new reconstruction of the palaeotopography and sedimentary environments of the site. Our findings have major implications for our understanding of Neolithic agricultural production and social practice.We present four phases of environmental development. Phase 1 consists of the final phases of regression of Palaeolake Konya in the later parts of the Pleistocene, dominated by erosion due to wind and water that created an undulating surface of the marl deposited in the palaeolake. Phase 2 occurs in the latest Pleistocene and early Holocene, and indicates increased wetness, probably characteristic of a humid anabranching channel system, in which there are localized pockets of wetter conditions. In Phase 3a, this infilling continues, producing a flatter surface, and there are fewer pockets being occupied by wetter conditions. The fluvial régime shifts from humid to dryland anabranching conditions. The earliest period of occupation of the Neolithic East Mound coincides with this phase. Phase 3b coincides with the shift of occupation to the West Mound in the Chalcolithic, when there is evidence for a very localized wetter area to the southeast of the West Mound, but otherwise a continuation of the dryland anabranching system. Finally, Phase 4 shows a shift to the pre-modern style of fluvial environment, modified by channelization. This reanalysis demonstrates the importance of extensive spatial sampling as part of geoarchaeological investigations.With this new evidence we demonstrate that the landscape was highly variable in time and space with increasingly dry conditions developing from the early Holocene onwards. In contrast to earlier landscape reconstructions that have presented marshy conditions during the early Holocene that impacted agriculture, we argue that localized areas of the floodplain would have afforded significant opportunities for agriculture closer to the site. In this way, the results have important implications for how we understand agricultural practices in the early Neolithic.

Disparity, diversity, and duplications in the Caryophyllales.

The role played by whole genome duplication (WGD) in plant evolution is actively debated. WGDs have been associated with advantages such as superior colonization, various adaptations, and increased effective population size. However, the lack of a comprehensive mapping of WGDs within a major plant clade has led to uncertainty regarding the potential association of WGDs and higher diversification rates. Using seven chloroplast and nuclear ribosomal genes, we constructed a phylogeny of 5036 species of Caryophyllales, representing nearly half of the extant species. We phylogenetically mapped putative WGDs as identified from analyses on transcriptomic and genomic data and analyzed these in conjunction with shifts in climatic occupancy and lineage diversification rate. Thirteen putative WGDs and 27 diversification shifts could be mapped onto the phylogeny. Of these, four WGDs were concurrent with diversification shifts, with other diversification shifts occurring at more recent nodes than WGDs. Five WGDs were associated with shifts to colder climatic occupancy. While we find that many diversification shifts occur after WGDs, it is difficult to consider diversification and duplication to be tightly correlated. Our findings suggest that duplications may often occur along with shifts in either diversification rate, climatic occupancy, or rate of evolution.

Space use patterns of a large mammalian herbivore distinguished by activity state: fear versus food?

AbstractSpace use patterns have generally been interpreted using home‐range concepts without distinguishing the particular activities performed in different regions. The relative influences of food resources, security from predation and shelter from thermal extremes on space occupation are likely to vary with time of day and changing conditions over the seasonal cycle. We used hourly movement rates obtained from GPS telemetry to infer the predominant activity states of blue wildebeest in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, at different times of day. Food procurement was assumed to be the primary consideration during the morning and late afternoon, shade seeking to become important over midday, and security from predation to be the overriding factor at night when stalking predators are most active. Travelling excursions were expected to occur mostly during daylight when lurking predators are most readily detected. Movements beyond the preferred range should occur more frequently in the late dry season when food has been depleted and surface water sources become restricted. As anticipated, we observed shifts in space occupation by the collared wildebeest herds with time of day and activity state. During the night, wildebeest herds remained within the ranges they occupied during prime foraging times in the early morning and late afternoon. However, they contracted their space occupation away from habitat edges where concealment for stalking lions increased, both while resting and while foraging. Herds inconsistently expanded their space use into surrounding areas with more shade but taller grass over midday. Risky excursions beyond the prime foraging ranges became more frequent late in the dry season. Security from predation seemed to be the overriding influence and restricted access to food resources. By taking into account temporal variation in prevailing activity states and other influences, space occupation patterns can be related to particular vital needs and their interactions.

YY1 and CTCF orchestrate a 3D chromatin looping switch during early neural lineage commitment.

CTCF is an architectural protein with a critical role in connecting higher-order chromatin folding in pluripotent stem cells. Recent reports have suggested that CTCF binding is more dynamic during development than previously appreciated. Here, we set out to understand the extent to which shifts in genome-wide CTCF occupancy contribute to the 3D reconfiguration of fine-scale chromatin folding during early neural lineage commitment. Unexpectedly, we observe a sharp decrease in CTCF occupancy during the transition from naïve/primed pluripotency to multipotent primary neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Many pluripotency gene-enhancer interactions are anchored by CTCF, and its occupancy is lost in parallel with loop decommissioning during differentiation. Conversely, CTCF binding sites in NPCs are largely preexisting in pluripotent stem cells. Only a small number of CTCF sites arise de novo in NPCs. We identify another zinc finger protein, Yin Yang 1 (YY1), at the base of looping interactions between NPC-specific genes and enhancers. Putative NPC-specific enhancers exhibit strong YY1 signal when engaged in 3D contacts and negligible YY1 signal when not in loops. Moreover, siRNA knockdown of Yy1 specifically disrupts interactions between key NPC enhancers and their target genes. YY1-mediated interactions between NPC regulatory elements are often nested within constitutive loops anchored by CTCF. Together, our results support a model in which YY1 acts as an architectural protein to connect developmentally regulated looping interactions; the location of YY1-mediated interactions may be demarcated in development by a preexisting topological framework created by constitutive CTCF-mediated interactions.

Using individual-condition measures to predict the long-term importance of habitat extent for population persistence.

Habitat loss and fragmentation are causing widespread population declines, but identifying how and when to intervene remains challenging. Predicting where extirpations are likely to occur and implementing management actions before losses result may be more cost-effective than trying to reestablish lost populations. Early indicators of pressure on populations could be used to make such predictions. Previous work conducted in 2009 and 2010 identified that the presence of Eastern Yellow Robins (Eopsaltria australis) in 42 sites in a fragmented region of eastern Australia was unrelated to woodland extent within 500 m of a site, but the robins' heterophil:lymphocyte (H:L) ratios (an indicator of chronic stress) were elevated at sites with low levels of surrounding woodland. We resurveyed these 42 sites in 2013 and 2014 for robin presence to determine whether the H:L ratios obtained in 2009 and 2010 predicted the locations of extirpations and whether the previous pattern in H:L ratios was an early sign that woodland extent would become an important predictor of occupancy. We also surveyed for robins at 43 additional sites to determine whether current occupancy could be better predicted by landscape context at a larger scale, relevant to dispersal movements. At the original 42 sites, H:L ratios and extirpations were not related, although only 4 extirpations were observed. Woodland extent within 500 m had become a strong predictor of occupancy. Taken together, these results provide mixed evidence as to whether patterns of individual condition can reveal habitat relationships that become evident as local shifts in occupancy occur but that are not revealed by a single snapshot of species distribution. Across all 85 sites, woodland extent at scales relevant to dispersal (5 km) was not related to occurrence. We recommend that conservation actions focus on regenerating areas of habitat large enough to support robin territories rather than increasing connectivity within the landscape.

Penilaian Kemiskinan Partisipatif pada Kawasan Transisi Perdesaan ke Perkotaan di Kabupaten Sragen

Poverty in rural-urban transitional area has distinct characteristics from those in urban or rural poverty. This phenomenon can also be seen in Sragen Regency, peri-urban of Solo Raya. A descriptive analysis based on participatory poverty-assessment is conducted in this research in order to understand the poors in the transitional area. A set of questions was given to 100 poor households in urban agglomeration of Sragen. The main finding confirms that 29 households have better livelihood compared to 10 years ago, even though the improvements has not come as expected. Unequal distribution and different accessibility among community groups for urban facilities are identified as the common problems, as well as low standard of urban infrastructures provision in several neighborhoods which requires improvement. The increase of job opportunities is not followed significantly by occupational shift of the poors because of their limited competency and ability. Having this context, policies in such areas should not only related to urban facilities, infrastructures, as well as the living environment provision and improvement, but also needs some elements that focus on labor development, including improvement of competency and asset utilization for business development. These policies are needed in order to improve the quality of urban living environment without compromising the poor’s ability to compete in the rural-urban transitional situation.

Does more information-gathering effort raise or lower the average quantity produced?

We aim at some simple theoretical underpinnings for a complex empirical question studied by labor economists and others: does Information-technology improvement lead to occupational shifts–toward “information workers” and away from other occupations–and to changes in the productivity of non-information workers? In our simple model there is a Producer, whose payoff depends on a production quantity and an unknown state of the world, and an Information-gatherer (IG) who expends effort to learn more about the unknown state and then sends the Producer a signal. The Producer responds by revising prior beliefs about the states and using the posterior to make an expected-payoff-maximizing quantity choice. We consider a variety of IGs and variety of Producers. For each IG there is a natural effort measure. Our central aim is to find conditions under which more IG effort leads to a larger average production quantity (“Complements”) and conditions under which it leads to a smaller average quantity (“Substitutes”). We start by considering Blackwell IGs, who meet the strong conditions required in the Blackwell theorems about the comparison of experiments. We then turn to non-Blackwell IGs, where the Blackwell theorems cannot be used and special techniques are needed to obtain Complements/Substitutes results.

The Health Care Job Engine: Where Do They Come From and What Do They Say About Our Future?

Health care has been cited as a job engine for the U.S. economy. This study used the Current Population Survey to examine the sector and occupation shifts that underlie this growth trend. Health care has had a cyclical relationship with retail trade, leisure and hospitality, education, and professional services. The entering workforce has been increasingly taking on low-skilled occupations. The exiting workforce has not been necessarily retiring or going back to school, but appeared to be leaving without a job, with potentially more child care duties, and with high rates of disability and poverty levels. This study also found that the number of workers staying in health care has been slowly declining over time. As the United States moves toward team-based care, more attention should be paid to the needs of the lower skilled workers to reduce turnover and ensure delivery of quality care.