The correlation and kinetics of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and HCV core antigen levels in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with pegylated interferon + ribavirin were evaluated in order to envision a combined use of the two assays in therapy monitoring. HCV core antigen levels by a chemiluminescent immunoassay (Abbott ARCHITECT) and HCV-RNA levels by branched DNA (bDNA) or real-time PCR have been evaluated on plasma specimens from 32 patients treated for chronic hepatitis C. An early virological response (undetectable levels of HCV-RNA 4 weeks after start of treatment) was found in 10/23 subjects (43.5%) followed up for 5 months or more. The response was linked to the HCV genotype (20% in genotype 1B vs. 61.5% in other genotypes; p < 0.05). HCV RNA and HCV antigen showed a good correlation (r = 0.814); HCV antigen was still detectable in 3 samples with undetectable (<615 IU/ml) RNA by bDNA, while no differences in clinical sensitivity were recorded in comparison with real-time PCR. These findings suggest that HCV-RNA and HCV antigen may be used at different time points in order to tailor therapy monitoring to individual needs.

The*big*changes*that*have*framed*economies*and*societies*all*over*Europe*in*the*past* decades* have* led* to* a* changing* role* of* the* collective* bargaining* in* the* objectives* it* is* pursuing [1] .*This*summary,*presenting*an*overview*on*collective*bargaining*in*Italy,*is* going*to*focus*over*the*possibility*for*a*collective*agreement*to*determine*the*practices* for*better*performance,*the*evaluation*of*such*performances,*as*well*as*the*connected* monetary* and/or* non* monetary* recognition,* in* other* words,* the* possibility* for**workers*and*their*representatives*to*rate*their*own*performance.**

The paper considers whether it would be advantageous to adopt a comprehensive European definition of the term employee by framing the problem in terms of classification of the work relationship. After outlining the starting points of the analysis and briefly describing the contribution of the European legal framework to the classification of workers, various matters underlying such a classification are discussed, both in a labour law and an economic perspective. The paper concludes, also with reference to the UK experience, by arguing that a comprehensive definition of employee would not solve the problem of worker misclassification

1. Europen Union is now facing the problem of migration of workers with an unprecedent urgency since its establishment. There is need to reflect over the role that collective bargaining, as a major source of regulation, shall play along the other sources called to cope with such a phenomenon. Therafter, a focus is set over the political nature of collective bargaining, which, theoretically, could be neutral rather than taking on political responsabilities. As an ILO study clearly put it: "Labour migration is now a major arena for the struggle between labour and capital over the division of wealth, the extent of regulation (or deregulation) of working conditions and worker protection, and the ability of workers to organize themselves into unions. What happens to migrant workers may well be the precedent for what happens more widely across working populations"1 .Many European countries are now adopting temporary measures to cope with the urgency of big migrations that are mainly coming by from the Middle East and North Africa and that are serioulsly stressing the European legal frame over migrations (particularly, the principle of free movement as provided by the Schengen treaty), which is in the power of national states according to the international legal frame ruling refugees since 1951 2 as I am going to report here below.Yet in 2008 more than 191 million migrants, including migrant workers, refugees, asylum-seekers, permanent migrants and others, live and work in a country other than that of their birth or citizenship; the ILO calculated that about 95 million of them have moved

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