Contexte et objectifs : Le taux d’activité des femmes a augmenté régulièrement depuis les années 1970 et les femmes sont de plus en plus souvent en emploi au moment où elles vont avoir une grossesse. Ce travail a pour principal objectif de décrire et comprendre les liens entre l’activité professionnelle et la grossesse. Tout d’abord, en comparant les taux d’activité professionnelle selon que les femmes sont enceintes ou appartiennent à la population féminine générale. Dans un second temps, en observant comment le groupe professionnel et le statut de l’emploi occupé influencent le moment de l’arrêt de travail pendant la grossesse. Enfin la troisième partie analyse l’impact de la position sociale, définie d’abord par le statut d’emploi des femmes et prenant en compte leur situation de couple et l’emploi du partenaire, sur la surveillance pendant la grossesse et les issues périnatales.Méthodes et population : Les données ont été extraites des Enquêtes Périnatales Nationales (ENP) en 1972, 1981, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010 et 2016 et des données du recensement Une comparaison de l’activité professionnelle des femmes enceintes et de la population générale des femmes en France métropolitaine en fonction de l’âge et du niveau d’études, a été effectuée. Une modélisation de l’activité professionnelle pendant la grossesse en fonction des caractéristiques sociodémographiques, de la période entre 1972 et 2016 et de la génération de naissance, a été réalisée. Une analyse des femmes qui travaillaient pendant la grossesse en 2010 et en 2016 a été menée pour déterminer les moments de l’arrêt de l’activité professionnelle au cours de la grossesse, selon la situation médicale et la position sociale des femmes, en s’intéressant à l’arrêt précoce, avant 24 semaines d’aménorrhée (SA), et à l’arrêt tardif, après 36 SA révolues. Une analyse entre 1995 et 2016 a permis de décrire la surveillance prénatale et les issues périnatales en fonction du statut d'emploi des femmes et de leur partenaire pendant la grossesse.Résultats : Comme dans la population générale, le taux d’emploi des femmes enceintes a augmenté régulièrement entre 1972 et 2016, de 53 à 74 %. En 2016, 32 % des femmes qui travaillent pendant la grossesse se sont arrêtées avant 24 SA, et 2 % après 37 SA. Il existe des inégalités sociales autour des arrêts de l’activité professionnelle: les femmes ayant les situations sociales les plus défavorables s’arrêtent précocement pendant leur grossesse, alors que les femmes qui s’arrêtent tardivement ont des situations socioprofessionnelles plus favorisées, quelle que soit leur situation médicale. Entre 1995 et 2016, les différences selon la position sociale des femmes enceintes observées pour la surveillance prénatale et les issues périnatales se réduisent mais persistent.Conclusion : Les transformations majeures du rapport à l’emploi des femmes au cours des dernières décennies peuvent modifier les pratiques des soignants prenant en charge les femmes enceintes. La majorité des femmes enceintes sont des femmes en emploi rémunéré et la discussion de l’arrêt de l’activité professionnelle au cours de la grossesse doit s’évaluer au regard de la situation médicale mais aussi de la situation sociale et professionnelle. Une attention particulière doit être portée aux femmes plus défavorisées, soit au chômage ou sans activité professionnelle déclarée, soit ayant une situation précaire dans l’emploi, car ces femmes ont une initiation des soins plus tardive et des issues périnatales plus défavorables que les femmes qui travaillent avec une position sociale plus favorisée. / Background and objectives: The occupational activity rate of women is steadily increasing since the 1970s, and women are more and more often in employment when they are in childbearing age. The main purpose of this work is to describe and understand the links between occupational activity and pregnancy. First, by comparing employment rates according to whether women are pregnant or belong to the female general population. In a second step, by observing how their occupational group and status is linked to the timing of prenatal leave. Finally, the third part analyzes the impact of the social position, defined by the employment status of women and taking into account their couple status and the employment of the partner, on the antenatal care and perinatal outcomes.Methods and population: The data were extracted from the French National Perinatal Surveys of 1972, 1981, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010 and 2016 and the Census. A comparison of the employment rate of pregnant women and the general population of women in continental France, by age and level of education, was carried out. A modelization of the employment rate of women during pregnancy was realized according to the socio-demographic characteristics, the survey period from 1972 to 2016, and the birth generation. An analysis of women working during pregnancy in 2010 and 2016 was conducted to determine the time of prenatal leave, according to the medical situation and the social position of women, focused on early leave, before 24 weeks of gestation (WG), and late leave, after 36 WG. For the period 1995 to 2016, prenatal care and perinatal outcomes were analyzed according to the employment status of women, taking into account their couple situation and partner’s employment.Results: As in the general population, rate of occupational activity of pregnant women shown a steadily increasing, between 1972 and 2016, from 53% to 74%. In 2016, 32% of women working during pregnancy leave their job before 24 WG, and 2% after 37 WG. Social inequalities exists around maternity leave: women with the most unfavorable social situations stop early, while self-employed women and those with more favorable social and occupational situations leave late, even after stratification for the medical situation. From 1995 to 2016, the differences in antenatal care and perinatal outcomes according to the social position of pregnant women are always observed despite a reduction.Conclusion: The major changes in the relationship to women's occupational activity in recent decades may change the practices of caregivers for pregnant women. A majority of pregnant women had a paid job and the date of prenatal leave should be discussed in relation to the medical situation but also considering the social and occupational status. Special attention should be given to the most disadvantaged women, either unemployed or without a legal job, or having a precarious occupational situation, since these women have a later initiation of care and more unfavorable perinatal outcomes.

One of the major factors that affect economic growth is FDI - Forgein Direct Investment. BRICS is a newly formed trade bloc that includes 5 of the largest, most heavily populated, and most emerging economies in the world, their economies share various characteristics, yet they also have various differences. The purpose of the thesis is to find the determinants of FDI in this trade bloc. Those determinants were specifically chosen based on multiple accredited previous literature. In this thesis a panel data regression is performed for these 5 partners with data ranging from 1995 to 2018. The results of the thesis were both predicted and surprising, as two determinants were in accordance with the past literature, however the other two  determinants had other results, both of these variables had opposite signs compared to their predicted signs that were expected from the chosen previous literature. Our research tries to answer the question of how do these determinants affect FDI inflows, in order for countries to make strategies to attract it.

It is increasingly recognized that manpower planning and policies are a major component of a country's development efforts. The purpose of this study is to examine the labor market in Jordan and to identify the main determinants of employment (labor force) during the period from 1961 to 1987 in order to advise policy makers as to the best course of action to achieve full employment. This period was divided into two periods: 1961 to 1972 and 1973 to 1987 for comparative purposes. The socio-economic and political framework of the labor market, as well as the labor policies during the period were examined in an effort to determine the determinants affecting the labor market in the two periods. The findings of this study reveal that Jordan's labor market and policies over the last three decades have been influenced by changes and events not only in Jordan, but by changes and events in the entire region. The study also indicates that factors influencing the labor market differ under different conditions. The impact of the independent variables tested in this study differ between the two periods, 1961 to 1972 and 1973 to 1987. Policy which may serve the country's best interest during the time of instability and crisis may not be in the country's best interest in time of stability and peace.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence and new infections rate among young people in Southern Africa is high despite various programmes implemented to address general population prevention and treatment. The youth has a low HIV testing uptake even though there seems to be high HIV prevalence among this age population group. Youth focused interventions have proven to be a success in encouraging young people to have an HIV test done as part of improved health-seeking behaviours. In South Africa, such an intervention was initially implemented by LoveLife and later adopted in 2006 by the government as Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services (AYFS) for a larger-scale implementation in Primary Health Care facilities as a strategy to improve youth Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Economic and legal aspects of foreign direct investment in the Czech Republic Abstract The thesis deals with the issue of foreign direct investment and investment incentives in the Czech Republic from an economic and legal point of view. The thesis defines the term FDI in the legislative framework and analyses from the available literature its positive and negative impacts on the host country and economic growth. Within the work, the genesis and development of the key Act No. 72/2000 is analysed in detail. The work aims to confirm the impact of changes in investment incentives on the inflow of FDI in the Czech Republic in the last two decades. The institutional role of CzechInvest and the procedure for approving investment incentives is also part of this work. Based on several studies, the thesis presents a dissenting opinion on the impact of investment incentives on the inflow of new investments and the overall economic advantage of these subsidies. In terms of statistical data, the work analyses both data on investment incentives and the inflow of FDI into the Czech Republic, both from a territorial and sectoral point of view. Part of the work is also an overview of the main determinants defined by experts influencing the inflow of FDI into the host countries. The work analyses the current development of...

This thesis is looking at analysis of current level of digital transformation in companies from two geographical areas: Catalunya and the rest of Spain. In order to compare data obtained in same way, a concept of simple digital index needed to be designed. This index was calculated and used on companies from both geographical areas, followed by further analysis of individual index determinants.

Ongoing research indicates that the burden of infection and mortality from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been disproportionately borne by Latinx populations in the United States (U.S.). While Latinx people account for 18.4% of the U.S. population, they make up 23.1% of total COVID-19 cases and almost 38% of all COVID-19-related-deaths in the U.S. Latinx people face systemic socioeconomic and political challenges that adversely impact their risk of exposure to and recovery from COVID-19. This investigation will discuss the health disparities experienced by the U.S. Latinx population that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the unmet social needs for this population.

Thesis advisor: Rebekah L. Coley / Recent decades have witnessed the increasing spatial concentration of poverty and affluence in the United States (Biscoff & Reardon, 2013). Given well-documented links between neighborhood economic contexts and wellbeing (Chow et al., 2005), this has the potential to exacerbate disparities in health, particularly for people with limited neighborhood choice. However, limited research has systematically examined the neighborhood features underlying these links. A more nuanced understanding of why neighborhood poverty matters is essential for promoting equitable neighborhood development. Using rigorous analytic techniques that account for the dynamic nature of neighborhoods and help adjust for selection bias, I considered two complementary questions: 1) do observed neighborhood resources and stressors mediate associations between neighborhood poverty and wellbeing within and between individuals; and 2) how do observed versus perceived changes in neighborhood features mediate links between neighborhood poverty and wellbeing? I combined individual-level longitudinal data from the Post-Katrina Study of Resilience and Recovery with administrative neighborhood data drawn from the Census Bureau, FBI, and EPA. Analyses focused on a sample of 606 participants – primarily young Black mothers with low levels of income – who were affected by Hurricane Katrina, most of whom experienced some period of forced relocation. Participants were surveyed once before (2003/04) and twice after (2006/07; 2009) the hurricane. Results paint a complex picture. Contrasting with prior research, total effects of neighborhood poverty on wellbeing were limited. However, changes in neighborhood poverty were linked to wellbeing indirectly through intermediary neighborhood features, with results pointing to benefits and detriments of rising neighborhood poverty. Results were driven by those who changed neighborhoods over the course of the study. For participants that lived in the same New Orleans neighborhood across waves, changes in neighborhood poverty proved less consequential. Overall, results suggest that rather than treating neighborhood poverty as uniformly problematic for wellbeing, efforts to promote health equity should identify and build upon existing assets of neighborhoods, like affordability and amenity access, while also reducing stressors. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Mycobacteria, a genus within Actinobacteria Phylum, are well known for two pathogens that cause human diseases: leprosy and tuberculosis. Other than the obligate human mycobacteria, there is a group of bacteria that are present in the environment and occasionally cause diseases in immunocompromised persons: the non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM). Mycobacterium kansasii, which was first discovered in the Kansas state, is the main etiologic agent responsible for lung infections caused by NTM and raises attention because of its co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Five subspecies of M. kansasii (Type I-V) were described and only M. kansasii Type I is pathogenic to humans. M. kansasii is a Gram-positive bacteria that has a unique cell wall and secretion system, which is essential for its pathogenicity. We undertook a comparative genomics and transcriptomic approach to identify components of M. kansasii Type I pathogenicity. Our previous study showed that espA (ESX-1 essential protein) operon, a major component of the secretion system, is exclusively present in M. kansasii Type I. The purpose of this study was to test the functional role of the espA operon in pathogenicity and identify other components that may also be involved in pathogenicity. This study provides a new molecular diagnostic method for M. kansasii Type I infection using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) technique to target the espAoperon. With detailed manual curation of the comparative genomics datasets, we found several genes exclusively present in M. kansasii Type I including ppsA/ppsC and whiB6, that we believe are involved, or have an effect on ESX-mediated secretion system. We have also highlighted, in our study, the differences in genetic components coding for the cell membrane composition between the five subspecies of M. kansasii. These results shed light on genetic components that are responsible for pathogenicity determinants in Type I M. kansasii and may help to design better control measures and rapid diagnostic tools for monitoring these group of pathogens.

Little is known about leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) habits of Arab immigrants in Canada. Leisure-time physical activity has been linked to decreased risks for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and all causes mortality and increased life expectancy. Socioeconomic status has been recognized as a significant factor affecting health and wellbeing due to its impact on individuals’ attitudes, experiences, and exposure to several risk factors. The purpose of this cross-sectional descriptive study was to explore the levels of participation in LTPA among adult Arab immigrants in central Alberta, Canada, to examine the socioeconomic determinants of LTPA, and to investigate which individual, social, and environmental factors contribute to LTPA participation. Electronic surveys were used to collect data from a sample of 376 adults. The socioecological model and systems theory were used as the theoretical foundations to guide this research. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were performed using SPSS. Around 40% of participants were physically active. As participants attained higher degrees, earned more money, and had occupations requiring less physical effort, their levels of LTPA increased. The social conditions in which the participants live also affected their levels of LTPA. Being more familiar with the health benefits and having fewer barriers to exercise predicted an increase in LTPA, whereas higher self-efficacy seemed to predict a decrease in LTPA. Family and friends’ support for exercise increased the levels of LTPA of participants. And finally, more environmental support for exercise predicted a decrease in LTPA levels among participants. Findings from this research have the potential to design and implement targeted LTPA recommendations and interventions for Arab immigrants.