Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reassessing the role of Chinese workers in problem solving: a study of transformational leadership, trust and security in ‘lean’ manufacturing

In this paper, we study leadership style and organizational culture, elements that, we argue, are conducive for Chinese shop-floor employees to participate in problem solving in ‘lean’ manufacturing. Power distance and the concern for saving face potentially hinder employees' willingness to participate in such problem solving, but our findings support the notion that transformational leadership helps to overcome these barriers. The relationships are not straightforward, however, and by examining the complexities, this research may provide insights into this dilemma.
Predicting and saving the consumption of electricity in sub‐tropical hotels

Purpose – The over‐estimation of the energy requirements in new hotels would not only increase energy consumption but also result in other additional costs. To address this issue, this study attempts to establish the benchmark of electricity consumption and models energy demand of hotels.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 17 hotels and two power suppliers was conducted. Two approaches, namely averaging and multiple regression, were used to analyze the data.Findings – The former approach found that the average electricity usage was 313 kWh/m2/year for city hotels in subtropical areas. The multivariate analysis revealed two significant variables – cooling degree day and number of occupied rooms– which determine the level of electricity consumption. Based on these findings, projections on electricity consumption for hotels in the next few years were made.Originality/value – This study provides a fine‐tuned norm of electricity consumption, confirms the best temperature of cooling degree days for modeli.
Gender associations with cerebrospinal fluid glutamate and lactate/pyruvate levels after severe traumatic brain injury

Objective:Female sex hormones appear to be neuroprotective after traumatic brain injury by attenuating multiple mechanisms of secondary insult, including excitotoxicity and ischemia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate associations between gender and cerebrospinal fluid glutamate and lactate/pyruvate production and the role of hypothermia with gender in attenuating these markers. Design:Prospectively collected data were analyzed for adult patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Gender comparisons for cerebrospinal fluid glutamate and lactate/pyruvate production were determined using ventricular samples obtained over the first 48 hrs postinjury. Setting:University-based level I trauma center. Patients:There were 123 patients, male n = 93 and female n = 30 (n = 686 cerebrospinal fluid samples), with severe traumatic brain injury (Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤8). Interventions:A portion of these patients were part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of (48 hrs) therapeutic hypothermia after severe traumatic brain injury. The remainder received hypothermia (24 hrs) if they met clinical care criteria. Patients were cooled to 32–33°C (within ∼8 hrs) for either 24 or 48 hrs andthen were rewarmed or remained normothermic. Measurements and Main Results:Regression analyses using generalized estimating equations for repeated measures showed significant increases in cerebrospinal fluid glutamate production for males compared with females (p = .0023) and a significant interaction between glutamate concentration, gender, and time (p = .0035) by 24 hrs postinjury. Females had lower lactate/pyruvate ratios than males (p = .0006), and there was a significant interaction between lactate/pyruvate, gender, and time (p = .0045) throughout the first 48 hrs postinjury. Hypothermia attenuated glutamate levels, particularly for males, over the time course studied. Conclusions:These data suggest significant gender differences with glutamate and lactate/pyruvate production after severe traumatic brain injury. Gender- and hormone-mediated differences in central nervous system pathophysiology should be considered with clinical trials in traumatic brain injury.
SELF‐THINNING AND SIZE INEQUALITY DYNAMICS IN A CLONAL SEAWEED (SARGASSUM LAPAZEANUM, PHAEOPHYCEAE) 1

Fronds of clonal seaweeds with extensive holdfasts relative to frond size are known not to self‐thin during growth, even in crowded stands. We tested whether frond self‐thinning would occur for such a seaweed since these traits are more similar to those of unitary seaweeds, which do self‐thin in crowded conditions. We used Sargassum lapazeanum Setch. et N. L. Gardner (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) from the Pacific coast of Mexico, for which we first confirmed its clonal nature by performing a regeneration experiment in culture tanks. During the growth season (winter to late spring), S. lapazeanum stand biomass increased, while frond density and size inequality (Gini coefficient for frond biomass) decreased. These results indicate that self‐thinning occurred at the frond level. We propose a conceptual model for frond dynamics for clonal seaweeds in general. In stands of clonal species with small fronds and relatively extensive holdfasts (particularly when holdfasts are perennial), frond dynamics would be determined mostly by intraclonal regulation, which seems to prevent excessive crowding from occurring. Such species display a positive biomass–density relationship during the growth season. On the contrary, in stands of clonal species with large fronds relative to holdfast size, frond dynamics would be determined mostly by interactions among genets. For such species, self‐thinning may be detected at the frond level in crowded stands, resulting in a negative biomass–density relationship during growth.
Acute Oxygen Uptake and Resistance Exercise Performance Using Different Rest Interval Lengths: The Influence of Maximal Aerobic Capacity and Exercise Sequence

Abstract Ratamess, NA, Rosenberg, JG, Kang, J, Sundberg, S, Izer, KA, Levowsky, J, Rzeszutko, C, Ross, RE, and Faigenbaum, AD. Acute oxygen uptake and resistance exercise performance using different rest interval lengths: The influence of maximal aerobic capacity and exercise sequence. J Strength Cond Res 28(7): 1875–1888, 2014—The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between V[Combining Dot Above]O2max and acute resistance exercise performance and the acute metabolic effects of exercise sequencing. Seventeen resistance-trained men were tested for V[Combining Dot Above]O2max and 1 repetition maximum (1RM) strength. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a group that performed the squat first in sequence followed by the bench press (S; n = 8) or a group that performed the bench press first followed by the squat (BP; n = 9). Each group performed 3 protocols (using 1-, 2-, or 3-minute rest intervals [RIs] between sets in random order) consisting of 5 sets of each exercise with 75% of their 1RM for up to 10 repetitions while oxygen consumption was measured. Total repetitions completed were highest with 3-minute RI and lowest with 1-minute RI. Mean V[Combining Dot Above]O2 was significantly highest with 1-minute RI and lowest using 3-minute RI. Analysis of each exercise revealed a tendency (p = 0.07) for mean bench press V[Combining Dot Above]O2 to be higher when it was performed after the squat using 1- and 2-minute RIs. V[Combining Dot Above]O2max was significantly negatively correlated to 1RM bench press and squat (r = −0.79 and −0.60, respectively) and was significantly correlated to squat repetitions (r = 0.43–0.57) but did not correlate to bench press performance. It seems that V[Combining Dot Above]O2max is related to lower-body resistance exercise performance when short RIs are used, and the metabolic response to the bench press is augmented when it follows the squat in sequence using short RIs.
The use of internships to foster employability, enterprise and entrepreneurship in the IT sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report a study of the role of internships for IT students and for the IT sector. The contribution of internships for career-readiness, and for the development of existing IT organisations and the creation of new ones is explored. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys of interns and managers from host firms were conduced, followed by in-depth interviews with six interns and five organisations. Findings – Internships are useful for increasing enterprise and employability skills and commercial awareness for IT students. IT organisations also benefit in that internships are used to recruit fresh talent. Findings regarding entrepreneurship were disappointing, with little reportage of ambitions to create new firms, nor awareness of the high likelihood of self-employed contractual work in the sector. Research limitations/implications – Implications for research include that self-employment and business ownership are not always “successful” entrepreneurial outcomes born o.
Women in English local government, 1973–2003: getting selected, getting elected

Although women comprise over half of the UK electorate, their relatively low numbers in elected office continues. The 2005 general election saw 128 women members returned—19.8% of the House of Commons. Despite the recent upward trend the UK still ranks rather low in the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s league table of women’s representation. The situation is little better for the European Parliament where the UK lies below the EU average. In 2004 the proportion of elected women actually declined from 24.1% to 23.1%. Women’s representation is, in common with many other countries, better for sub-national units of government. Currently, women comprise up to one-third of candidates and more than a quarter of local councillors, leaving the UK midway among member states of the European Union. A similar story is found within the new devolved institutions of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. The UK, therefore, certainly confirms the ‘law of minority attrition’, whereby the proportion of women holding elected office decreases as the perceived importance of political office increases. Relatively speaking, local government has been enlightened in providing women with the vote and encouraging them to stand for election. Unmarried women taxpayers could vote in local elections from the 1830s onwards. By 1875, nearly half a century before they were even permitted to vote in parliamentary elections, women could be and were elected to such local authorities as Boards of Guardians. Local government has consistently provided more political career opportunities for women. A study in 1964, for example, estimated that 16% of all local election candidates were women, more than three times as many that fought parliamentary constituencies at the time. Although women’s recruitment as candidates and their electoral success has been widely studied for the UK parliament it is largely ignored at the local government level. This neglect is partly because of data availability but it also replicates the situation for other polities; national parliaments are studied but lower levels of government are overlooked. This paper partly redresses that imbalance, using newly available local electoral data to track and analyse aspects of the recruitment and retention of women candidates and councillors since the early seventies. In order to set this research within the broader literature on women’s recruitment we provide a brief review of existing research on national legislatures. Following this we
The Short-Term Impact of Government Budgets on Prices: Evidence from Macroeconomic Models

This paper reviews the existing empirical evidence on the short-term impact on prices of fiscal variables and assesses it against new results from harmonised simulations, conducted with six well-established econometric models used by the ECB and five national central banks (NCBs) of the Eurosystem. The outcome is also compared with results from the European Commission and the OECD models. Overall, a broad consensus appears on the impact on prices of changes in individual government budget items in the euro area. In all cases, changes in government demand and in direct taxes paid by households have a limited impact on prices in the first year while, in contrast, changes in indirect taxes and employers' social security contributions have a relatively large impact. The second year results show that the effects on prices usually take some time to materialise fully; in particular, they often become large for the public consumption shock. JEL Classification: E17, E31, E62
A Theory of Exit in Duopoly

We develop a duopoly model in which exit occurs because of the existence of fixed costs or opportunity costs. Each firm enters the market knowing its own cost, but not that of its opponent. As times goes on, each firm becomes increasingly pessimistic about the cost of its remaining rival. The time of exit is the only strategic variable, so that our model is a "war of attrition. " In contrast to the classic war of attrition, however, we assume that with positive probability each firm's costs may be low enough that staying in forever is a dominant strategy. Thus our model, unlike the classic one, has a unique equilibrium.
“Sweet Spots” in Moderate Inversion for MOSFET Squarer Transconductors

Two "sweet spots" are analytically identified to enable MOSFET squarer differential transconductors to efficiently operate in moderate inversion. Measurements at low frequencies demonstrate the practicality of using moderate inversion when input signals are limited to about 200 mVpk-pk. At the first sweet spot, very low distortion of significantly less than 0.5% total harmonic distortion is possible. For comparison, the sweet spot for the third harmonic is shown for the linear differential transconductor. This brief also discusses the effect of the variations in threshold voltage on the location of the sweet spots, and demonstrates that this sensitivity can be greatly reduced using an appropriate biasing circuit. The proposed approach is of particular interest for low voltage and low current squarer transconductance applications.
Improving Survey Response Rates from Chief Executive Officers in Small Firms: The Importance of Social Networks

Social networks are an important source of information for entrepreneurs and small firms. In this study, we consider the influence of social networks on survey response rates from small firms, focusing on effects of trade association endorsement and regional affiliation. Our findings show that trade association endorsement has a positive effect on survey response rate. In addition, the demonstration of the researcher's social ties to the firm's region has a positive effect on survey response rate. Our results lead to several practical implications for survey research on small firms and on industrial populations in general. Targeted personal follow–up with managers in close geographic proximity to the sponsoring university(ies) appears to be a particularly cost–effective strategy to increase response rates.
Multiple jobholding and path-dependent employment regimes: Answering the qualification and protection needs of multiple job holders

The flexibilisation of labour markets is called for by most political and economic and firms as the sesame towards economic competitiveness. But do employment systems and social protection regimes provide the workforce with the adequate social incentives - in the form of secured, qualifying and acknowledged transitions between or combinations of occupations, that would at the same time facilitate and legitimize this labour flexibility ? To answer this question from a very empirical point of view and in a diagnosis form, this study takes a particular form of non-standard employment - multiple jobholding - and explores first, on the basis of the scarce data available in the OECD, the differentiated occupational profiles it is hiding, from post-modern employment forms to archaic and 'bad jobs'. It concentrates then, through a single French case-study, on the training and social policy issues at stake in making multiple jobholding a qualifying and secured form of employment. The French case appears as a negative yardstick to measure the inertia of employment systems in departing from the norm of 'normal' employment understood as full-time monooccupational male employment.
Regulatory Xenobiotic Responsive Elements in the Distal 5′-Flanking Region of the Mouse Cyp1a2 Gene Required for Transcriptional Activation by 3-Methylcholanthrene and 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

We examined the xenobiotic responsive element (XRE) responsible for induction of the mouse Cyp1a2 gene by 3-methylcholanthrene (3MC) and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) using a reporter gene assay in mouse hepatocytes in primary culture. Although, the 5′-flanking region up to −9.5 kilobase pairs did not show a significant increase in transcriptional activity after treatment with 3MC or TCDD, a further distal 5′-flanking region from −13,958 to −12,520 containing 12 putative XREs (5′-GCGTG-3′) demonstrated distinctive transcriptional activity after treatment with 3MC or TCDD. When a mutation was introduced into XRE14 at −12,972, the activation was decreased, and concurrent mutations in XRE14, XRE13, and XRE15 completely abolished it. However, mutations in XRE13, XRE15, XRE16, or XRE17 did not affect the inducible transcriptional activation of the mouse Cyp1a2 gene. These results suggest that XRE14 is important and that XRE13 at −12,897 and/or XRE15 at −13,061 are cooperative to the inducible transcriptional activation of the mouse Cyp1a2 gene by ligands of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.
Stakeholder engagement in adaptation interventions: an evaluation of projects in developing nations

Institution-oriented, top-down and community-oriented, bottom-up stakeholder approaches are evaluated for their ability to enable or constrain the implementation of adaptation in developing nations. A systematic review approach is used evaluate the project performance of 18 adaptation projects by three of the Global Environment Facility's (GEF) adaptation programmes (the Strategic Priority for Adaptation (SPA), the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), and the National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPA)) according to effectiveness, efficiency, equity, legitimacy, flexibility, sustainability, and replicability. The ten SPA projects reviewed performed highest overall, especially with regards to efficiency, legitimacy, and replicability. The five SCCF projects performed the highest in equity, flexibility, and sustainability, and the three NAPA-related projects were the highest-performing projects with regards to effectiveness. A comparison of top-down and bottom-up approaches revealed that community stakeholder engagement in project design and implementation led to higher effectiveness, efficiency, equity, flexibility, legitimacy, sustainability, and replicability. Although low institutional capacity constrained both project success and effective community participation, projects that hired international staff to assist in implementation experienced higher overall performance. These case studies also illustrate how participatory methods can fail to genuinely empower or involve communities in adaptation interventions in both top-down and bottom-up approaches. It is thus crucial to carefully consider stakeholder engagement strategies in adaptation interventions.Policy relevanceWhile adaptation is now firmly on the policy and research agenda, actual interventions to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience remain in their infancy, and there is limited information on the factors that influence the successful implementation of adaptation in developing areas. Engaging stakeholders in assessing vulnerability and implementing adaptation interventions is widely regarded to be an important factor for adaptation implementation and success. However, no study has evaluated the effects of stakeholder engagement in the actual implementation of adaptation initiatives. Effective stakeholder engagement is challenging, especially in a developing nation setting, due to high levels of poverty, inadequate knowledge on adaptation options, weak institutions, and competing interests to address more immediate problems related to poverty and underdevelopment. In this context, this article documents and characterizes stakeholder engagement in adaptation interventions supported through the GEF, examining how top-down or bottom-up stakeholder approaches enable or constrain project performance.
Differences of Opinion, Rational Arbitrage and Market Crashes

We develop a theory of stock-market crashes based on differences of opinion among investors. Because of short-sales constraints, bearish investors do not initially participate in the market and their information is not revealed in prices. However, if other, previously-bullish investors have a change of heart and bail out of market, the originally-more-bearish group may become the marginal "support buyers", and hence more will be learned about their signals. Thus accumulated hidden information tends to come out during market declines. The model helps explain a variety of stylized facts, including: 1) large movements in prices unaccompanied by significant news about fundamentals; 2) negative skewness in the distribution of market returns; and 3) increased correlation among stocks in a falling market. In addition, the model makes a distinctive out-of-sample prediction: that negative skewness will be most pronounced conditional on high trading volume.
Are there any special features in the Spanish business cycle

In this paper we analyze the empirical performance for the Spanish economy of a standard real business cycle model. To this purpose, we de ̄ne a set of measurements consistent with the structure of our model economy and we evalute both the long-run and business cycle properties of this reference data set. We solve the model alternatively with divisible and indivisible labor and, in each case, with and without government consumption. We set the values of the structural parameters by combining calibration and estimation (GMM) techniques, and its implications on the results are evaluated. When we introduce indivisibilities in labor supply and government consumption the model's empirical performance is improved. In this respect, our results do not di®er substantially from those obtained for the US economy. However, the model fails to explain the cyclical behavior of private consumption in the Spanish economy. (JEL E32, E37)
The impact of corporate entrepreneurship and high-performance work systems on employees' job attitudes: empirical evidence from Greece during the economic downturn

In turbulent times, corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and high-performance work systems (HPWSs) are expected to expand and flourish. However, research on the influences of both CE and HPWSs on employees' job attitudes has generally been neglected. The aim of this study is twofold. First is to investigate the effects of CE and HPWSs on facets of job satisfaction and the three components of organisational commitment. Second is, consistent with the social exchange theory, to examine whether psychological contract act as an important mediator for the CE, HPWSs and employees' job attitudes relationships. Empirical evidence was obtained from 424 employees in the Greek manufacturing industry. Results indicate that both CE and HPWSs positively impact employees' level of job satisfaction and organisational commitment. In addition, we find evidence that psychological contract theory provides a coherent theoretical framework for understanding these relationships. Theoretical and practical implications for HR managers conclude the article.