Evaluation of the health risks to garment workers in the city of Xambrê-PR, Brazil

This study evaluated the risks for cardiovascular disease and the life habits of garment industry workers in northwestern Paraná state, Brazil. The following parameters were assessed: body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, eating habits and physical activities by garment industry workers. Cardiovascular risk was observed in some of the studied subjects, in the form of high BMI and reduced maximal oxygen uptake. The development of a workplace quality-of-life program is suggested, aiming to stimulate the development of physical activities to improve the cardiovascular conditioning of workers.     

Effects of pushing height on trunk posture and trunk muscle activity when a cart suddenly starts or stops moving

Unexpected sudden (un)loading of the trunk may induce inadequate responses of trunk muscles and uncontrolled trunk motion. These unexpected perturbations may occur in pushing tasks, when the cart suddenly starts moving (unloading) or is blocked by an obstacle (loading). In pushing, handle height affects the user's working posture, which may influence trunk muscle activity and trunk movement in response to the perturbation. Eleven healthy male subjects pushed a 200 kg cart with handles at shoulder and hip height in a start condition (sudden release of brakes) and a stop condition (bumping into an obstacle). Before the perturbation, the baseline of the trunk inclination, internal moment and trunk extensor muscle activity were significantly higher when pushing at hip height than at shoulder height. After the perturbation, the changes in trunk inclination and internal moment were significantly larger when pushing at shoulder height than at hip height in both conditions. The opposite directions of changes in trunk inclination and internal moment suggest that the unexpected perturbations caused uncontrolled trunk motion. Pushing at shoulder height may impose a high risk of low-back injury due to the low trunk stiffness and large involuntary trunk motion occurring after carts suddenly move or stop.     

Social Concertation and Political System in Italy

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the social pact in Italy and its prospects for the future. In order to do this, it first gives an overview of the general political organization in Europe, and looks at neo corporatism and bargaining structures. It then deals with the social pact in Italy and follows its evolvement under non hostile or‘friendly’governments, and examines the objectives of this social pact. It continues by considering the problematics of governing the complex present day society and traces the various phases of the social pact in Italy, and in particular, the 'St. Valentine's Day’crisis and the subsequent continuity of the pact. Finally, it talks about some of the problems the social pact creates for the institutions.     

‘Non-interference’ implies equality

We propose a new principle of ‘non-interference’ applied to social welfare orderings. The principle, together with two other standard requirements, implies a strong egalitarian conclusion: the ordering must lexicographically maximize the welfare of the worst off. The first version of this paper was written when Mariotti was visiting Bocconi University. Their generous hospitality and financial support through a Research Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged. A previous version of this paper written by Mariotti alone was circulated with the title ‘Liberalism implies equality’. We thank Ken Binmore, Paola Manzini, Juan Moreno Ternero and two referees for helpful comments. The responsibility for any error is our own.     

Artistic separation versus artistic mixing in European multicultural cities

This introductory article discusses the diversification of diversity in Europe. It then looks at the tension between ethnic separation and ethnic mixing in urban Europe in general terms. The next section elaborates on a similar tension in the field of popular arts. Finally, the article presents the main insights of the contributions to the special issue.     

Assessing income support where no national minimum income scheme exists. Is it possible to apply the model family method to the Italian case?

This article focuses on the application of a specific comparative methodology, the model family method (MFM), in measuring the income derived from minimum income schemes. The application of the MFM to the analysis of this policy field shows several criticalities such as the difficulty to analyze countries in which no national scheme exists, and in which both the intra-national variations and the discretionary power of street-level bureaucrats are significant. Stemming from the application of the MFM to the Italian case in the framework of an international project, the article analyzes whether and how this method can be developed also in said countries. In particular, it shows that, in order to do so, specific methodological choices and assumptions are necessary, built on a mixed research strategy aimed at complementing the data collected from institutional sources with in-depth interviews with social workers and the use of the vignettes technique.     

Longevity and concentration in survival times: the log-scale-location family of failure time models

Evidence suggests that the increasing life expectancy levels at birth witnessed over the past centuries are associated with a decreasing concentration of the survival times. The purpose of this work is to study the relationships that exist between longevity and concentration measures for some regression models for the evolution of survival. In particular, we study a family of survival models that can be used to capture the observed trends in longevity and concentration over time. The parametric family of log-scale-location models is shown to allow for modeling different trends of expected value and concentration of survival times. An extension towards mixture models is also described in order to take into account scenarios where a fraction of the population experiences short term survival. Some results are also presented for such framework. The use of both the log-scale-location family and the mixture model is illustrated through an application to period life tables from the Human Mortality Database.     

Superstitions surrounding the choice of wedding date in Italy: What has changed since the beginning of the economic development process to the present?

In Italy, it is believed that Tuesdays and Fridays are particularly unlucky days for weddings as well as the 17th day of each month. Previous studies realized in the aftermath of the Second World War have shown the strong influence that these superstitions had in determining the wedding dates in the entire country. We have used exhaustive data collection of all marriages celebrated in Italy in the years 2007–2009 to investigate whether superstitions are still able to influence the choices of spouses. We find that this influence is still present after the great economic, social and demographic transformation of Italian society. We also show that a wife’s education reduces the influence of superstition on the choice of the date of marriage while those who opt for a religious rite are also those who are more careful in avoiding inauspicious days.     

Optimal Logistics Networks: the Case of Italian Exports to Russia

This paper is based on the concept of ‘logistics excellence’. In the first part the parameters that define such excellence in the internationalization process of companies are discussed, with particular attention to its effects on the design of logistics networks. A critical analysis of some Italian case studies of “logistics excellence” is presented, to show how some Italian companies, involved in foreign trade, have changed their network design in order to reach excellent performances. One of the most interesting results of this analysis is that in some cases goals behind decisions were too high (“overperformance”) and generated network designs that were too expensive and complex if set against a balanced needs analysis (of clients and logistics operators). Only those who have borne in mind their clients’ needs as well as the need of limiting network costs and have supported their systems with creative choices have managed to achieve the best results within the Italian logistics system. In the light of these considerations, the second part of the article analyses the logistics situation in commercial relations between Italy and Russia (with specific reference on export from Italy to Russia) and points out how, in the face of some structural problems posed by the logistics distribution in Russia, the network design solutions that can reduce costs the most are those which will turn out being the most suitable in the long run. In the light of this, the steps to be taken in order to support the design of adequate logistics networks connecting Italy and Russia are described; the options offered by intermodal transport when adequately combined with newly designed logistics networks are also highlighted.