Addenda and corrections to work done on the path-integral approach to classical mechanics

In this paper we continue the study of the path-integral formulation of classical mechanics and in particular we better clarify, with respect to previous papers, the geometrical meaning of the variables entering this formulation. With respect to the first paper with the same title, we {\it correct} here the set of transformations for the auxiliary variables $\lambda_{a}$. We prove that under this new set of transformations the Hamiltonian ${\widetilde{\cal H}}$, appearing in our path-integral, is an exact scalar and the same for the Lagrangian. Despite this different transformation, the variables $\lambda_{a}$ maintain the same operatorial meaning as before but on a different functional space. Cleared up this point we then show that the space spanned by the whole set of variables ($\phi, c, \lambda,\bar c$) of our path-integral is the cotangent bundle to the {\it reversed-parity} tangent bundle of the phase space ${\cal M}$ of our system and it is indicated as $T^{\star}(\Pi T{\cal M})$. In case the reader feel uneasy with this strange {\it Grassmannian} double bundle, we show in this paper that it is possible to build a different path-integral made only of {\it bosonic} variables. These turn out to be the coordinates of $T^{\star}(T^{\star}{\cal M})$ which is the double cotangent bundle of phase-space.Comment: Title changed, appendix expanded, few misprints fixe

When the working day is through: The end of work as identity?

This article seeks to present a counter-case to the ‘end of work thesis’ advocated by writers such as Beck, Sennett and Bauman. It argues that work remains a significant locus of personal identity and that the depiction by these writers of endemic insecurity in the workplace is inaccurate and lacks empirical basis. The article draws upon case study data to illustrate how, across a range of workplaces, work remains an importance source of identity, meaning and social affiliation

Italy: the uneasy co-exsistence of different social models

The \u201cEuropean social model\u201d includes a welfare regime with generous social expenditure; high employment or income protection; a well-developed system of industrial relations; and involvement of social partners in policymaking. Within the Italian social model, however, one can find three major dividing lines. The first one stems from the coexistence of different models in different areas of the country. Second, an occupation-based principle in pensions and in unemployment benefits coexists with a citizenship-based one in health and education. Finally, core workers enjoy high job and income security, whereas outsiders are highly dependent on the market. These three dividing lines substantially endanger the legitimacy and social acceptance of the Italian social model: each of them profoundly affects the perceptions of workers and citizens, leading to widespread criticism of even those aspects that clearly benefit them and, at the same time, to fierce opposition to the several attempts at reforming it

Coping with the crisis in Italy : employment relations and social dialogue amidst the recession

This study on Italy shows that the initial responses to the economic crisis in Italy were designed with the participation of the social partners and focused on supporting small and medium\u2013sized enterprises (SMEs). At the local level, an agreement was concluded between the Government and the regional administrations to strengthen the Wages Guarantee Fund (CIG), a special public fund used to protect workers\u2019 income. The authors contend that the measures were successful in retaining employment and demonstrated the ability to address challenges through social concertation

'Customers were not objects to suck blood from': Social relations in UK retail banks under changing performance management systems

Utilising an analytical framework informed by a moral economy approach, this article examines the social relationships between bank workers and customers in the context of changing performance management. Informed by 46 in‐depth interviews with branch workers and branch managers from UK banks, this article focusses on the interplay of the pressures arising from an intensified and all‐encompassing performance management system and bank workers lay morality. The article seeks to analyse why one group of bank workers engages with customers in a primarily instrumental manner, while another group tends to mediate and engage in oppositional practices which aim to avoid such an instrumentalisation. The article argues that moral economy gives voice to the agency of workers and the critical concerns of the social, economic and moral consequences of market‐driven and purely profit‐oriented workplace regimes

Evaluation of cataract formation in fish exposed to environmental radiation at Chernobyl and Fukushima

Recent studies apparently finding deleterious effects of radiation exposure on cataract formation in birds and voles living near Chernobyl represent a major challenge to current radiation protection regulations. This study conducted an integrated assessment of radiation exposure on cataractogenesis using the most advanced technologies available to assess the cataract status of lenses extracted from fish caught at both Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan. It was hypothesised that these novel data would reveal positive correlations between radiation dose and early indicators of cataract formation.The structure, function and optical properties of lenses were analysed from atomic to millimetre length scales. We measured the short-range order of the lens crystallin proteins using Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) at both the SPring-8 and DIAMOND synchrotrons, the profile of the graded refractive index generated by these proteins, the epithelial cell density and organisation and finally the focal length of each lens.The results showed no evidence of a difference between the focal length, the epithelial cell densities, the refractive indices, the interference functions and the short-range order of crystallin proteins (X-ray diffraction patterns) in lens from fish exposed to different radiation doses. It could be argued that animals in the natural environment which developed cataract would be more likely, for example, to suffer predation leading to survivor bias. But the cross-length scale study presented here, by evaluating small scale molecular and cellular changes in the lens (pre-cataract formation) significantly mitigates against this issue