Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Institutional Change and the Restructuring of Service Work in the French and German Telecommunications Industries

This study analyses recent changes in collective bargaining institutions and their implications for employer strategies in the French and German telecommunications industries, drawing on case studies and survey data from call centre workplaces. Findings demonstrate that differences in both formal institutions and past logics of action influenced actor responses to changing markets and ownership structures. French trade unions were more successful in establishing encompassing bargaining structures and reducing pressures for pay differentiation, due to state support for the mandatory extension of agreements and unions’ strategic focus on centralizing bargaining. In contrast, bargaining in Germany has become increasingly fragmented and decentralized as unions and works councils focused on company-level bargaining at major employers. This focus allowed worker representatives to preserve their strong influence over employment practices in core workplaces but has contributed to declining bargaining coverage and growing wage inequality.
How Do Entrenchment and Expropriation Phenomena Affect Control Mechanisms?

This paper examines how different control mechanisms relate to one another in the Spanish corporate governance system. We propose a new empirical approach that consists of analysing control mechanisms according to the non-linearity of the value-ownership relation, and emphasising entrenchment and expropriation phenomena. Our evidence contributes to understanding the role played by several control mechanisms in the Spanish corporate governance system, which largely differs from the US one. Our results show that control mechanisms (especially insider ownership, debt and dividends) are used in a complementary way by Spanish firms. Additionally, this complementarity is only observed when the interests of managers and owners converge, but not when there are controlling owners whose interests need not coincide with those of minority shareholders. Therefore, entrenchment and expropriation effects do influence the relationship among control mechanisms.
The Whole‐of‐Government Approach to Public Sector Reform

In this article, the authors discuss “whole-of-government” initiatives as a reaction to the negative effects of New Public Management reforms such as structural devolution, “single-purpose organizations,” and performance management but also as a reaction to a more insecure world. The authors examine what is meant by a “whole-of-government” approach and explore how this concept might be interpreted in analytical terms. The structural approach is contrasted with a cultural perspective and a myth-based perspective. Finally, results, experiences, and lessons from the whole-of-government movement are discussed.
Local Firms and Global Reach: Business Air Travel and the Irish Software Cluster

Abstract We study the external linkages of clusters through a typology of forms of temporary proximity (from foreign business meetings to co-located projects). We suggest that here business air travel and information and communication technologies have given significant advantages to small firms. We investigate these arguments through a case study of the Irish software industry in Dublin. Comparing indigenous and multinational corporation (MNC) firms confirms that indigenous firms are as travel intensive as MNCs but are linked to fewer destinations. We conclude that air travel enables small firms to go global without the support of collective cluster institutions.
Which IC components explain national IC stocks

Purpose – The paper seeks to provide a consistent theoretical framework to measure national intellectual capital (IC) and also empirical evidence on the core factors which explain countries' IC stocks.Design/methodology/approach – A multidisciplinary theoretical framework is provided to underpin research on regional/national IC. Empirical evidence through multivariate methodology is used in order to design a method to extract the national IC drivers which can explain countries' IC stocks in OECD countries in the years 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.Findings – Theoretical bases of IC are presented to contribute to expanding territorial IC fundamentals and a regional/national IC model is developed. Results show that technological capability and the governmental policy oriented to business are both key factors in mapping the position of the nation in the IC ranking and both are mainly responsible for the levels of countries' IC.Research limitations/implications – The sample was limited to OECD countries.Practical.
The Impact of Physical Environment and Regional Image on Tourist’s Experiential Values and Feelings: An Example of Nanzhuang Area in Taiwan

With the booming global tourism activities, many countries around the world are actively promoting regional tourism. Thus, understanding the tourists’ needs is important in developing tourism promotion strategies. With Nanzhuang Township, Miaoli County as the case study, this paper discusses the influence of the two independent variables, the tangible physical environment and the intangible regional image, tourists’ experiential value and the feelings after tourism. This study conducted a questionnaire survey on tourists who have visited Nanzhuang Township, Miaoli County, by convenience sampling, in order to construct the model of regional experience marketing effect. A total of 743 effective samples were retrieved. After analysis by structural equation modeling (SEM), it is found that: (1) the physical environment has a positive and significant influence on the tourists’ experiential value; (2) regional image has a positive and significant influence on the tourist’s experiential value; (3) the experiential value has a positive and significant influence on satisfaction; (4) satisfaction has a positive and significant influence on trust and commitment; (5) trust has no significant influence on commitment. Regarding the two independent variables, regional image has more influence. In addition, after comparing the group models by clustering with the high and low frequency of the number of visits, it is found that there are some differences between the high frequency group and the low frequency group, where the regional image of the high frequency group has a greater influence on the experiential value and the physical environment of the low frequency group has a greater influence on the experiential value. The findings can serve as reference for the local government and the tourism operators to develop regional marketing strategies.
Benthic biology time-series in the deep sea: indicators of change

The responsiveness of benthic biological communities to climatic drivers and shifts makes them powerful indicators of biogeochemical and other environmental change in the oceans. In addition, benthic ecosystems have an economic value and are considered a vital marine resource. However deep-sea faunal dynamics and ecosystem functioning is not well defined. This has placed a higher priority in recent years on developing and sustaining long-term, time-series studies of benthic biodiversity, rate processes, and ecosystem change in deep-sea and extreme habitats. A few key long-term time-series sites exist across the global Ocean. Many of these sites are reviewed in this paper. However, much of the existing research is uncoordinated and the data collected are not integrated or standardized. This currently limits the use of these valuable datasets, which could be used for benthic modeling, global model validation and other societal benefits related to more effective and environmentally sustainable governance of human activities in the deep ocean. Furthermore, the time scales that can be studied within existing research frameworks are not currently sufficient to adequately address internationally-identified science priorities. These include assessing regional and global biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the links between climate, terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In addition, the contribution of deep-sea ecosystems to global biogeochemical cycles and the potential alteration to ecosystem value and services due to anthropogenic activities is largely unknown. In order to maximize the societal benefit, biological time-series, in particular deep-sea sites, urgently require more coordination, integration, sustained funding and infrastructure. This is necessary to unify research methodologies, create synergies in the use of deep-sea technology, develop benthic models, and to stimulate more collaboration between programmes.
Leadership Changes and Approaches During Company Turnaround

This study examines the effect of leadership changes on (1) the initiation of organizational turnarounds, (2) turnaround performance, and (3) the leadership approaches adopted. Set in an Irish context, we use four in-depth case studies purposefully selected at different stages of the turnaround process. In our findings we describe under what circumstances chief executive officer (CEO) changes are likely; the importance of humility, trust, and integrity to turnaround leadership; and why certain companies might purposefully delay the implementation of CEO changes. In addition, we found that newly appointed outsider CEOs and insider leaders who are not replaced are differentiated in the manner by which they manage expectations and implement retrenchment-oriented moves at the outset of the turnaround process.
Application of Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Therapy to a Nonhuman Primate Model of Heterogeneous High-Dose Irradiation

Abstract Bertho, J-M. , Prat, M. , Frick, J., Demarquay, C. , Gaugler, M-H. , Dudoignon, N. , Clairand, I. , Chapel, A. , Gorin, N-C. , Thierry, D. and Gourmelon, P. Application of Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Therapy to a Nonhuman Primate Model of Heterogeneous High-Dose Irradiation. Radiat. Res. 163, 557– 570 (2005). We developed a model of heterogeneous irradiation in a nonhuman primate to test the feasibility of autologous hematopoietic cell therapy for the treatment of radiation accident victims. Animals were irradiated either with 8 Gy to the body with the right arm shielded to obtain 3.4 Gy irradiation or with 10 Gy total body and 4.4 Gy to the arm. Bone marrow mononuclear cells were harvested either before irradiation or after irradiation from an underexposed area of the arm and were expanded in previously defined culture conditions. We showed that hematopoietic cells harvested after irradiation were able to expand and to engraft when reinjected 7 days after irradiation. Recovery was observed in all 8-Gy-irradiated animals, and evidence for a partial recovery was observed in 10-Gy-irradiated animals. However, in 10-Gy-irradiated animals, digestive disease was observed from day 16 and resulted in the death of two animals. Immunohistological examinations showed damage to the intestine, lungs, liver and kidneys and suggested radiation damage to endothelial cells. Overall, our results provide evidence that such an in vivo model of heterogeneous irradiation may be representative of accidental radiation exposures and may help to define the efficacy of therapeutic interventions such as autologous cell therapy in radiation accident victims.
Handling Anti-Virtual Machine Techniques in Malicious Software

Malware analysis relies heavily on the use of virtual machines (VMs) for functionality and safety. There are subtle differences in operation between virtual and physical machines. Contemporary malware checks for these differences and changes its behavior when it detects a VM presence. These anti-VM techniques hinder malware analysis. Existing research approaches to uncover differences between VMs and physical machines use randomized testing, and thus cannot guarantee completeness. In this article, we propose a detect-and-hide approach, which systematically addresses anti-VM techniques in malware. First, we propose cardinal pill testing—a modification of red pill testing that aims to enumerate the differences between a given VM and a physical machine through carefully designed tests. Cardinal pill testing finds five times more pills by running 15 times fewer tests than red pill testing. We examine the causes of pills and find that, while the majority of them stem from the failure of VMs to follow CPU specifications, a small number stem from under-specification of certain instructions by the Intel manual. This leads to divergent implementations in different CPU and VM architectures. Cardinal pill testing successfully enumerates the differences that stem from the first cause. Finally, we propose VM Cloak—a WinDbg plug-in which hides the presence of VMs from malware. VM Cloak monitors each execute malware command, detects potential pills, and at runtime modifies the command’s outcomes to match those that a physical machine would generate. We implemented VM Cloak and verified that it successfully hides VM presence from malware.
Morphological study of the desert heteromyid kidney with emphasis on the genus perognathus

The renal morphology of three species of desert dwelling Perognathus rodents were compared to Dipodomys and two species of sympatric cricetid rodents. Perognathus has a highly adapted unipolar kidney capable of urine concentration up to 7,500 mOsm/KgH2O. Two major modifications were observed in these kidneys. (1) There is elongation of both the inner and outer medulla. When the thickness of the regions in P. penicillatus are factored by kidney weight it is found that the outer medulla is 3.8 and the inner medulla is 2.2 times greater in length than the extensively studied Dipodomys merriami. (2) There is great variance in glomerular size with approximately 20% of the glomeruli being very large and located in the juxta medullary region. These glomeruli are 1.5‐1.6 times greater in diameter than the more numerous superficial glomeruli. These structural modifications are quantitated and the functional implications are discussed particularly in relation to urine concentrating ability in these desert inhabitants.
In vitro Activities of Transition Metal Derivatives of Ketoconazole and Clotrimazole against a Wild Type Strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Absence or Presence of Human Neutrophils

Summary In vitro activities of a series of gold, copper and ruthenium clotrimazole (CTZ, CAS 23593-75-1) and ketoconazole (KTZ, CAS 65277-42-1) derivatives were investigated individually and in combination with human neutrophils (PMNs) against a wild type strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. For 11 out of 12 tested metal complexes, the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) at which 100 % of yeast growth was inhibited ranged from 0.75 to 3.0 µmol/L. The complex RuCl3(CTZ)3 · 2CH3OH (1f) (MIC = 0.75 µmol/L) was, although modestly, the only one able to increase the fungistatic activity of the parental drug (MIC = 1 µmol/L). On the other hand, at a sub-MIC concentration (0.5 µmol/L), the complexes [Cu(KTZ)Cl2]2 · 2H2O (2c) and RuCl2(KTZ)2 (2e) displayed synergistic fungicidal effects with PMNs whereas phagocytic capacity was enhanced by complexes [Cu(KTZ)3Cl2] (2b) and RuCl2(KTZ)2 (2e). The findings suggest that the metal-based agents may give rise to drugs with improved antifungal properties.
Experience in a neonatal intensive care unit affects pain response.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of being in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on pain responses in infants of 32 weeks' postconceptual age (PCA). DESIGN A cross-sectional comparative design was used. SETTING Two level III NICUs, each in metropolitan, university teaching hospitals. PATIENTS Infants of 32 weeks' PCA born within the past 4 days (the newly born group; n = 53) were compared with infants of the same PCA who had been born 4 weeks earlier (the earlier-born group: n = 36) and had spent that time in an NICU. OUTCOME MEASURES Heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, and facial actions were used as outcomes in a between-group repeated measures analysis of variance across the heel stick procedure. Background variables of Apgar, weight at birth and data collection, severity of illness, age group, and total number of invasive procedures were entered into a stepwise regression. RESULTS The two groups responded differently to the heel stick: the earlier-born infants had less behavioral manifestations of pain than the newly born infants. The number of invasive procedures was the primary factor that explained those behavioral differences, with Apgar as a second explanatory factor. The earlier-born infants had higher heart rates and lower oxygen saturation than the newly born infants before as well as during the procedure. These physiological differences were explained by the perinatal factors of age at birth and birth weight. CONCLUSION Preterm infants who spend PCA weeks 28 through 32 in an NICU are less mature in their pain response than newborn premature infants of 32 weeks' PCA. Greater frequency of invasive procedures is associated with behavioral immaturity, whereas birth factors are associated with physiological immaturity.
Melatonin potentiates the antiproliferative and pro‐apoptotic effects of ursolic acid in colon cancer cells by modulating multiple signaling pathways

Ursolic acid (UA), a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid carboxylic acid, is largely distributed in medical herbs and edible plants. Melatonin is an indoleamine compound produced in the pineal gland and also a plant‐derived product. Both UA and melatonin have been shown to inhibit cancer cell growth in numerous studies, but they have never been combined altogether as an anticolon cancer treatment. In this study, we investigated whether the association between UA and melatonin leads to an enhanced antiproliferative and pro‐apoptotic activities in colon cancer SW480 and LoVo cells. We found that combined treatment with UA and melatonin significantly enhanced inhibition of cell viability and migration, promoted changes in cell morphology and spreading, and increased induction of apoptosis, thereby potentiating the effects of UA alone in colon cancer cells. Moreover, we found that the enhanced effects of UA and melatonin combination are mediated through simultaneous modulation of cytochrome c/caspase, MMP9/COX‐2, and p300/NF‐κB signaling pathways. Combined treatment with UA and melatonin triggered the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondrial intermembrane space into the cytosol, induced cleavage of caspase and PARP proteins, enhanced inhibition of MMP9 and COX‐2 expression, promoted p300 and NF‐κB translocation from cell nuclei to cytoplasm, and abrogated NF‐κB binding and p300 recruitment to COX‐2 promoter in colon cancer cells. These results, therefore, demonstrated that melatonin potentiated the antiproliferative and pro‐apoptotic effects of UA in colon cancer cells by modulating multiple signaling pathways and suggest that such a combinational treatment might potentially become an effective way in colon cancer therapy.
An Empirical Assessment of Informal Influence in the World Bank

Recent scholarship has uncovered convincing evidence of systematic donor influence in international financial institutions such as the World Bank. Less clear is how donors influence international financial institutions’ decisions. Possible avenues are formal and informal: formal influence through official decisions of the Board of Executive Directors and informal influence over decisions not made at the board level. This article explores the role of informal influence at the World Bank by examining the flow of funds after loans are approved. Controlling for commitments (loan approvals), are subsequent disbursements linked to the geopolitical interests of important donors? Since the Board of Executive Directors is formally involved in loan approval but not in disbursement decisions, this provides an interesting case to identify the avenues of influence. The results indicate the scope of reforms needed to bolster the independence of the World Bank.
Psychological test performance and sedation thresholds of elderly dements, depressives and depressives with incipient brain change

Synopsis As expected, dements, depressives and patients with a mixed psychopathology were differentiated from one another on the sedation threshold measure and on a number of psychological tests. In depressives responding to treatment significant changes in physiological and psychological measures, which had been reported in an earlier study, could not be replicated except for an increase of psychomotor speed. In the present sample of patients there were significant correlations between various psychological measures and between them and the levels of the sedation threshold, suggesting that sedation thresholds and psychological tests measured related cerebral functions. Evidence obtained from the earlier investigations to the effect that cerebral age changes short of those occurring in dementia may facilitate the occurrence of depression in late life was only weakly confirmed by the replication study.
Acute effects of the antibiotic oxytetracycline on the bacterial community of the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio

The toxicity of oxytetracycline (OTC) was evaluated in adult grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio. Initially, static acute (96 h) toxicity tests were conducted with shrimp exposed from 0 to 1,000 mg/L OTC. A calculated lethal concentration 50% value of 683.30 mg/L OTC (95% confidence interval 610.85–764.40 mg/L) was determined from these tests, along with a lowest‐observable‐effect concentration of 750 mg/L and no‐observable‐effect concentration of 500 mg/L. Moreover, chronic sublethal effects of OTC exposure on grass shrimp intestinal bacterial population were assessed using doses from 0 to 32 mg/L OTC. The total viable counts in digestive tract content had levels between 5.2 and 1 × 104 colony‐forming units per gram of tissue at times 0 and 96 h, respectively. Aeromonas hydrophila were the most resistant isolates (27.78%) to OTC exposure. Vibrio alginolyticus showed significant positive growth following exposure to OTC, whereas other bacterial species abundance declined over time. A total of 268 bacterial isolates were screened using antibiotic resistance analysis from a library containing 459 isolates. Among the tested isolates from the OTC treatments, 15.4% were resistant to OTC and 84.6% were OTC sensitive. Oxytetracycline was generally not consistently quantifiable with liquid chromatography‐mass spectroscopy technique in shrimp homogenates. The only peak detected was at the 32 mg/L dose of OTC at 96 h. Nevertheless, OTC had a significant biological effect on the bacterial population. Antibiotic resistance to five other antibiotics (penicillin G, sulfathiazole, trimethoprim, trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole, and tetracycline) was strongly associated with OTC exposures. The present study indicates that OTC toxicity effects in P. pugio and changes in the shrimp microbial community would only be expected under special circumstances.
Strategy development as a social process

This article argues that the development of strategy in organizations will be more effective if it is seen as predominantly a social rather than analytical process. Using the notion of organizations as negotiated order, it is suggested that designed Group Decision Support Systems can play an important role in facilitating the negotiation of strategy. Six ‘support systems’are discussed, and the implication is that planners might see themselves as facilitators managing both ‘socially negotiated order’and ‘negotiated social order'.