Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mobilization and union leadership in labour organisations: The case of the public corporate sector in Cyprus.

Mobilization within the industrial relations literature, has so far been considered in the context of campaigns aimed at mobilising individuals to participate in collective action. What is hereby proposed is an alternative approach to mobilization, one that emerged by considering existing approaches to mobilization in two main strands of literature: the literature on social movements, and the social-psychological literature on union participation. Mobilization is being conceptualised as the continuous process of transforming individuals into collective actors, following the socialisation of members into the organisation. This is also an attempt to introduce a quantitative element into the study of mobilization, as previous attempts have been restricted to case studies, which albeit valuable in providing insights into the mobilization process, do not provide a basis on which to formulate a proper theoretical framework that can be employed in different settings to explore the issue. The willingness to become involved in the union is employed as a measure of the outcome from such a process. Member attitudes are examined as the antecedents of willingness to participate within a mobilization setting. Significance is attached to the role of leaders as 'mobilising agents'. The impact of leadership behaviour on the outcome of the mobilization process is explored, an issue which has not as yet been empirically addressed. It is hypothesised that leadership will predict member attitudes and willingness to participate. This approach is tested in the public corporate sector, a setting representing an emerging form of unionism, one which raises a series of concerns and poses as a challenge for 'traditional' trade unions. The findings reveal the importance of leadership within a mobilization setting, in achieving and maintaining favourable attitudes towards the union, and influencing members' intention to become involved in the union. The findings also reveal a variation in leader attitudes and behaviours, as well as member responses, within different groups of unions, classified on the basis of their identity and structural characteristics. Furthermore, the most important predictors of willingness to participate within a mobilization setting are identified.
PRODUCTIVITY AND FIRM DYNAMICS: CREATIVE DESTRUCTION IN INDONESIAN MANUFACTURING, 1994–2000

This paper examines the entry and exit, and the labour productivity, of Indonesian manufacturing firms with 20 workers or more, using a firm-level panel dataset constructed for the years 1994–2000. Overall change in manufacturing labour productivity reached 27.2%—an average growth of 3.5% per annum—between 1994 and 2000, a period that includes the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis, which hit Indonesia hard. Vibrant firm dynamics characterised this period, in which about 10% of manufacturing enterprises were renewed in any one year. By 2000, one-third of all enterprises in existence in 1994 had closed, but the number of enterprises that closed was lower than the number that entered and survived up to the year 2000. The replacement of exiting firms with newly entering firms contributed significantly to increases in overall labour productivity. Regulatory reform in support of this process should lead to gains in productive employment for Indonesian workers.
Effective reduction of fluoroscopy duration by using an advanced electroanatomic-mapping system and a standardized procedural protocol for ablation of atrial fibrillation: 'the unleaded study'.

AIMS It is recommended to keep exposure to ionizing radiation as low as reasonably achievable. The aim of this study was to determine whether fluoroscopy-free mapping and ablation using a standardized procedural protocol is feasible in patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). METHODS AND RESULTS Sixty consecutive patients were analysed: Thirty consecutive patients undergoing PVI using Carto3 were treated using a standardized procedural fluoroscopy protocol with X-ray being disabled after transseptal puncture (Group 1) and compared with a set of previous 30 consecutive patients undergoing PVI without a specific recommendation regarding the use of fluoroscopy (Group 2). The main outcome measures were the feasibility of fluoroscopy-free mapping and ablation, total fluoroscopy time, total dose area product (DAP), and procedure time. Sixty patients (age 60 ± 10 years, 73% male, ejection fraction 0.55 ± 0.09, left atrium 42 ± 8 mm) were included. In Group 1, total fluoroscopy time was 4.2 (2.6-5.6) min and mapping and ablation during PVI without using fluoroscopy was feasible in 29 of 30 patients (97%). In Group 2, total fluoroscopy time was 9.3 (6.4-13.9) min (P < 0.001). Total DAP was 13.2 (6.2-22.2) Gy*cm(2) in Group 1 compared with 17.5 (11.7-29.7) Gy*cm(2) in Group 2 (P = 0.036). Total procedure time did not differ between Groups 1 (133 ± 37 min) and 2 (134 ± 37 min, P = 0.884). CONCLUSION Performing mapping and ablation guided by an electroanatomic-mapping system during PVI without using fluoroscopy after transseptal puncture using a standardized procedural protocol is feasible in almost all patients and is associated with markedly decreased total fluoroscopy duration and DAP.
Abnormal Base Excision Repair at Trinucleotide Repeats Associated with Diseases: A Tissue-Selective Mechanism

More than fifteen genetic diseases, including Huntington’s disease, myotonic dystrophy 1, fragile X syndrome and Friedreich ataxia, are caused by the aberrant expansion of a trinucleotide repeat. The mutation is unstable and further expands in specific cells or tissues with time, which can accelerate disease progression. DNA damage and base excision repair (BER) are involved in repeat instability and might contribute to the tissue selectivity of the process. In this review, we will discuss the mechanisms of trinucleotide repeat instability, focusing more specifically on the role of BER.
Occupant Experience of Everyday Life in Some of the First Passive Houses in Denmark

Abstract In future years the building industry will face great challenges in fulfilling stricter energy demands. One way to meet requirements is to build passive houses. In Germany passive houses have been constructed for many years but in Denmark the building industry has just begun. The pilot project, named Comfort Houses, aims to show the industry that it is possible to construct traditional Danish houses as passive houses and promote them as comfortable houses. For this to be a success in the future, it is necessary to fulfil the occupants’ needs and wishes. This study aims to communicate how the occupants of the Comfort Houses experience living in a passive house and if their lives and everyday practices have changed after moving in. This is done through interviews with the occupants about their everyday life both in their previous home and in the Comfort House. The results show that the occupants’ everyday lives have changed – some as a result of the architectural and structural solutions, others as a result of the technology integrated in the houses.
Insulin resistance, ceramide accumulation and endoplasmic reticulum stress in experimental chronic alcohol-induced steatohepatitis.

AIMS Chronic alcohol abuse causes steatohepatitis with insulin resistance, which impairs hepatocellular growth, survival and metabolism. However, growing evidence supports the concept that progressive alcohol-related liver injury may be mediated by concurrent mal-signaling through other networks that promote insulin resistance, e.g. pro-inflammatory, pro-ceramide and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress cascades. METHODS Using the Long Evans rat model of chronic ethanol feeding, we characterized the histopathologic and ultrastructural features of steatohepatitis in relation to biochemical and molecular indices of tissue injury, inflammation, insulin resistance, dysregulated lipid metabolism and ER stress. RESULTS Chronic steatohepatitis with early chicken-wire fibrosis was associated with enlargement of mitochondria and disruption of ER structure by electron microscopy, elevated indices of lipid storage, lipid peroxidation and DNA damage, increased activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, impaired signaling through the insulin receptor (InR), InR substrate-1, Akt, ribosomal protein S6 kinase and proline-rich Akt substrate 40 kDa, glycogen synthase kinase 3β activation and constitutive up-regulation of ceramide and ER stress-related genes. Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry demonstrated altered ceramide profiles with higher levels of C14 and C18, and reduced C16 species in ethanol-exposed livers. CONCLUSION The histopathologic and ultrastructural abnormalities in chronic alcohol-related steatohepatitis are associated with persistent hepatic insulin resistance and pro-inflammatory cytokine activation, dysregulated lipid metabolism with altered ceramide profiles and both ER and oxidative stress. Corresponding increases in lipid peroxidation, DNA damage and protein carbonylation may have contributed to the chronicity and progression of disease. The findings herein suggest that multi-pronged therapeutic strategies may be needed for effective treatment of chronic alcoholic liver disease in humans.
From dependency to self‐sufficiency: An appraisal of the gateway transitional families program

Abstract This article presents a longitudinal evaluation of the Gateway Transitional Families Program, an innovative self‐sufficiency program designed to help public housing residents leave public housing for their own homes. The evaluation followed participants and a comparison group over six years to isolate program impacts on employment and receipt of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), food stamps, and housing assistance. Many participants dropped out of the program. Difficulty in juggling educational and child‐rearing responsibilities, noncompliance with program or public housing regulations, low wages while in the program, impatience with the length of the program, and staff shortages and turnover contributed to the dropout rate. Those who finished the program experienced modest increases in income, decreases in receipt of AFDC and food stamps, and reduced reliance on housing assistance relative to comparison group members. Furthermore, graduates were more likely than comparison group me.
Response to nimodipine in ultradian bipolar cycling after amygdalohippocampectomy.

15. Muscatello M, Bruno A, Pandolfo G, et al. Topiramate augmentation of clozapine in schizophrenia: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Psychopharmacol. 2011;25(5):667Y674. 16. Hettes SR, Gonzaga J, Heyming TW, et al. Dual roles in feeding for AMPA/kainate receptors: receptor activation or inactivation within distinct hypothalamic regions elicits feeding behavior. Brain Res. 2003;992(2): 167Y178.
The Earnings and Social Security Contributions of Documented and Undocumented Mexican Immigrants

Using information supplied by immigrants interviewed by the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) we analyze the Social Security coverage of jobs held by legal and other-than-legal Mexican immigrants who work in the United States. Our analysis suggests that about half the Mexican-born migrants residing in the United States who are wage earners and heads of household earn their incomes in jobs that are not covered by Social Security. Since workers in uncovered jobs tend to earn below-average wages, their earnings account for less than half the wages earned by Mexican immigrants. Evidence from the MMP survey shows that Social Security coverage is higher among Mexican immigrants who are authorized to live in the United States than it is among undocumented Mexican immigrants. Coverage among working legal permanent residents is less than 75 percent, but the coverage rate among undocumented workers is even lower, about 25 percent. Based on annual earnings reports in the March CPS we estimate that in 2007 about 1.4 percent of all U.S. wages, or $87 billion, was earned by Mexican immigrant heads of household. Our estimates imply that about 52 percent of this total was earned in Social-Security-covered jobs while the remainder, about $41 billion, was earned in jobs not covered by Social Security. The MMP surveys show that only a small proportion of undocumented migrants report a change in their legal status that allowed them to live and work legally in this country. Two-thirds of legalizations occurred within five years of the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. In the absence of this kind of special legislation, only a small percentage of undocumented workers is likely to be granted permanent residency status in the future. Thus, the Social-Security-covered wages of most of the undocumented workers who earn them will never result in an increased claim for Social Security benefits.
Housing adequacy in Yemen: an investigation into physical quality

Evaluating housing projects is an essential task to determine the effectiveness of these projects and to provide a useful feedback to the projects’ initiators ‐ be it the public or the private sector. The evaluation could be on a number of different bases. Reports the results of research work aiming to compare the quality and effectiveness of three housing projects initiated by the Yemeni government in the capital ‐ Sana’a. The basis chosen for evaluating the public low‐income housing schemes is the housing quality measurement technique. This technique is used for measuring quality under widely different housing standards. It is a way of assessing the environmental quality and hence evaluating the success or failure of a particular housing project. Satisfaction of residents has also been evaluated and reported in an earlier paper (Al‐Abed and Mustapha, 1996).
Involvement of interleukin-1 genotypes in the association of coronary heart disease with periodontitis.

BACKGROUND Epidemiologic studies demonstrated an association between periodontitis (PE) and coronary heart disease (CHD). The coexistence of the two disease entities could be dependent on mutual risk factors, and polymorphism of the interleukin (IL)-1 gene cluster associated with the severity of PE might also be involved in the pathogenesis of CHD. METHODS The study consisted of 225 dentate white subjects, including 97 patients with CHD and 128 controls. Patients with confirmed diagnoses of CHD were recruited after being discharged from a cardiology department, and controls without CHD were recruited consecutively from the Copenhagen City Heart Study. Mean alveolar bone level (ABL) was measured on radiographs. ABL was stratified into ABL1 (ABL < or = 2 mm), ABL2 (2 mm 4 mm). Genotypes were analyzed by amplifying the polymorphic regions of the IL-1 gene cluster using polymerase chain reaction, followed by restriction digestion and gel electrophoresis. RESULTS In the univariate analysis, allele 2 of IL-1B+3954 and IL-1B-511 was associated with ABL (P = 0.040 and P = 0.039, respectively), whereas no association was found with allele 2 of IL-1A+4845 or IL-1RN variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) (P = 0.445 and P = 0.375, respectively). A lower ABL was associated with the occurrence of allele 2 of IL-1B-511. The multiple logistic regression analysis also showed a significant association of allele 1 of IL-1B-511 with high ABL (P = 0.049) and of allele 2 of IL-1A+4845 with high ABL among individuals with CHD (P = 0.050). There was no association between any of the polymorphisms of IL-1 and CHD in the univariate or multiple analyses. However, in a binary multiple logistic regression model, carriage of allele 1 of IL-1RN VNTR was found to be associated with the occurrence of both CHD and ABL3 (P = 0.016). CONCLUSION Allele 1 of IL-1RN VNTR may be associated with the coexistence of CHD and PE in a multiple regression model.
Do Nutrition Claims Matter to Consumers? An Empirical Analysis Considering European Requirements

EU Regulation 1924/2006 introduced a European legal framework for nutrition messages for food product labels. The study analyses consumer interest towards nutrition labelling and claims, and examines the information consumers consider important during their purchasing decisions, and the main characteristics of those consumers interested in nutrition claims and nutrition labelling use. A total of 1,025 northern Italian consumers were surveyed. We estimate one binary logit model to investigate the use of nutrition labelling, and seven other ordinal regression models to analyse consumer interest towards nutrition claims and labelling. Consumers who use nutrition labelling have characteristics different from those who use nutrition claims. Consumers using nutrition labelling show a marked interest in food safety concerns, use experts as their source of information and have specific dietary habits. For consumers concerned about nutrition claims, the survey shows significant links with attributes influencing purchasing behaviour, such as price, brand, certification, etc. Socio-demographic characteristics are statistically significant and show a positive link with age, gender and a negative linkage with income. Copyright (c) 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2009 The Agricultural Economics Society.
Remuneração dos gestores, público alvo e conflitos de interesse em fundos de ações no Brasil

Este trabalho analisa o comportamento dos fundos de investimento em acoes (FIAs) nos encerramentos de semestre. Os resultados indicam que os FIAs apresentam retornos anormais positivos no encerramento do semestre, acompanhados de retorno anormal negativo no dia seguinte ao encerramento do semestre. Os retornos anormais estao associados a uma baixa capacidade de monitoramento do comportamento do gestor. Fundos destinados ao publico geral sao mais propensos a apresentarem retornos anormais nessas datas. As evidencias da associacao dos retornos anormais com a remuneracao atrelada ao desempenho nao foram tao claras quanto a separacao pela clientela dos fundos.
The Effects of Redistribution on Occupational Choice and Intergenerational Mobility: Does Wage Equality Nail the Cobbler to His Last?

In this study we extend the classical Roy-model of selection on the labor market by introducing uncertainty about ones ability linked to family background. In our model, this mechanism rather than differences in access to capital markets links occupational outcomes of offspring to parents. Income redistribution is studied and we find that redistribution has implications for intergenerational mobility and talent allocation through its influence on individual occupational choices. We conclude that the presence of a trade-off between redistribution and intergenerational mobility depends on the extent of similarity of occupations with regard to ability sensitivity and wage rates, and on the degree of individual risk aversion. Whether redistribution occurs within an occupation or simultaneously within and across occupations is also important.
Effects of combination estrogen plus progestin hormone treatment on cognition and affect.

CONTEXT Some studies of hormone treatment in postmenopausal women suggest benefits on specific cognitive functions, particularly memory. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine whether hormone therapy influences changes in specific cognitive functions and affect in older women. DESIGN This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. SETTING Participants were women from 14 of 40 clinical centers of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). PARTICIPANTS Postmenopausal women (1416) aged 65 yr and older, free of probable dementia, and enrolled in WHI and the WHI Memory Study (WHIMS) trial of combination estrogen and progestin for a mean of 3 yr and followed for a mean of 1.35 yr, were studied. INTERVENTION Intervention was conjugated equine estrogen (CEE; 0.625 mg) with 2.5 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) in one daily tablet (CEE + MPA) or placebo. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Annual rates of change in specific cognitive functions and affect, adjusted for time since randomization, were measured. RESULTS CEE + MPA had a negative impact on verbal memory (P <or= 0.01) and a trend to a positive impact on figural memory (P = 0.012) over time compared with placebo, but other cognitive domains were not affected. Both effects on memory were evident only after long-term therapy. CEE + MPA did not significantly influence positive affect, negative affect, or depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS The effect of CEE + MPA on cognitive function varies across cognitive domains in older women, reflecting both possible beneficial and detrimental actions of ovarian steroids on the aging brain. Our results extend prior findings about dementia and global cognitive function to age-related changes in specific cognitive functions and suggest directions for future research.
The Rise and Fall of German Productivity Software Investment as the Decisive Driver

Investments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are the source of the global growth resurgence that commenced in the mid-1990s. Most studies focus on broad ICT measures, or on computer hardware; here we examine the contributions of software-intensive industries to productivity growth. The price of prepackaged software has been falling exponentially since the 1960s, which has led to substitutions towards software investments, and to reductions in the total cost of ICT hardware investments. We use novel German ICT investment data to show that software-intensive industries have been the crucial determinant of German productivity growth since 1995. Not only did these industries contribute strongly to productivity growth, but they offset declining investments and productivities in other industries. Post 1995, other industries' investments in new equipment per worker collapsed, while software-intensive industries' capital investments rose steadily to generate over half of Germany's productivity growth by 2000-04. We document sharply diverging productivity paths for software-intensive and other (non-software-intensive) industries. Post 1991, total factor productivity (TFP) declined secularly in other industries to generate a −0.39 percent drag on German labor productivity by 2000-04, while TFP in software-intensive industries rose steadily to contribute 35 percent to German labor productivity growth by the same period. Overall, the results combine to paint a stark picture of rising capital per worker and TFP growth in software-intensive sectors, contrasting with falling capital per worker and increasingly negative TFP growth in other sectors. About two-thirds of the impact from software-intensive industries is generated by investments in prepackaged and purchased custom software. (JEL codes: O03, O04) Copyright , Oxford University Press.
Predictor blending for real-time lossless coding system

In the paper modeling stage of a simple and efficient lossless image coding technique intended for use in real-time hardware coding system is described. The method is based on predictors blending approach, which is the kernel of some the best current lossless coding methods. Additionally, prediction blending is well suited for parallel implementations. The predictor blending is combined with context coding, and bias removal algorithm, the latter one implements both CALIC, and LOCO-I approaches. Experiments show that indeed, the new technique has better performance than the widely known older methods.