Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Labour market transition in Italy: an empirical investigation

In this paper I study the effects of the introduction of Treu package on the hazard rate of moving from a temporary job to a stable work in Italy. In order to enhance the flexibility of labour market and to stress the capabilities to create job, a progressive liberalization of flexible contracts has been adopted in Italy during the ‘90s, widening their scope and easing their adoption. The empirical exercise is carried out using an administrative dataset, Clap, extracted by the social security archives for the years 1992-2002. I apply a parametric and semi-parametric continuous time duration model to investigate whether the recent reform has changed the pattern of duration dependence in temporary employment duration. The main findings emphasize how the Treu package has substantially reduced the positive duration dependence in the hazard rate of moving from temporary to permanent employment. This result is robust to different specifications adopted for the baseline hazard. However, an even stronger conclusion concerns the temporary work agency (TWA) employment which exhibits a negative duration dependence in the post-reform period, probably indicating a negative relation between contract duration and the probability to moving into permanent employment for this contractual type. Finally I find large differences in terms of individual and job-related characteristics.
Omani Undergraduate Students' Satisfaction with the Formative Feedback

The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which Omani undergraduate students satisfy with formative feedback and their satisfaction in relation with students’ GPA, instructor’s experience, and gender. A questionnaire of thirty two items to measure Omani undergraduate students’ satisfactions was used. A sample of 102 students was used to collect data. The findings indicates that students were satisfied with the feedback they received from their instructors ( Mean 3.55 out of 5.00). Statistical analysis shows a significant differences in students’ satisfaction due to students’ GPA in favor of high GPA as compared with low GPA and no significant differences were found between high and average GPA and average and low GPA. In addition, no significant differences were found due to instructor experiences, and also, there were no significant differences due to gender. The study concluded with recommendations to improve the weak areas and revise the procedures and processes to ensure the provision of more effective feedback.
Assessment of bioactive compounds, nutritional composition and antioxidant activity of Malaysian young ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe)

In current work, the nutritional composition, bioactive compounds, total phenolic contents and anti-oxidant activity of young Malaysian ginger rhizome were investigated. Proximate analysis and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) recruited to determine nutritional composition and bioactive compounds. The total flavonoid (TF) and total phenolic contents (TPC) of ginger rhizome were determined by aluminium chloride calorimetric assay and Folin–Ciocalteau reagent, respectively. 2,2’-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method were used to measure antioxidant capacity. The rhizome contained high moisture content and low level of carbohydrate and energy. 6-gingerol was the most abundant component in the selected ginger, and total flavonoid and phenolic content were reported to be 3.66±0.45 mg gallic acid/g and 10.22±0.87 mg quercetin/g of dry weight of rhizome, respectively. The rhizome also showed lower antioxidant activity than controls, with the IC50 value of 46.5 vs. 15.5 for α-tocopherol and 22 for BHT. The results of this study predicted that the young ginger rhizome originated from Malaysia may exhibit anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory potentials due to high levels of gingerols, total flavonoid and phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity.
Industrial Structural Change and the Post-2000 Output and Productivity Growth Slowdown: A Canada-U.S. Comparison

Changing foreign and domestic supply and demand conditions have resulted in shifting industrial structures in the Canadian and U.S. economies. This article examines the contribution of individual industries to real GDP and labour productivity growth in the business sector in 1987-2000 and 2000-2008 in the two countries. It highlights the differences that have emerged through a new decomposition technique that is able to decompose real GDP expressed in chained dollars instead of constant dollars. The contribution of each industry is further decomposed in order to identify the role of quantity and price effects in real economic growth and pure productivity and shift effects in the case of labour productivity. This decomposition is able to more precisely identify the sectors and the underlying forces that have either propelled or hindered economic and productivity growth.
POLLEN MORPHOLOGY OF DILLENIACEAE IN THAILAND

Pollen morphological studies on 18 species of Dilleniaceae from Thailand were conducted using dehydrated samples under a light microscope as well as scanning electron microscope. The pollen grains are monad, radially symmetrical, and isopolar. The pollen grains are small to medium in size with an equatorial diameter of 15.61-34.51 μm and polar diameter of 13.66-31.39 μm in the equatorial view. Most of the species of the genera Dillenia and Acrotrema are tricolpate, while D. philippinensis and D. ovata are tricolpate or occasionally tetracolpate, whereas the genus Tetracera is tricolporate. Variation is found in the shapes (oblate spheroidal, suboblate, subprolate, and prolate spheroidal), exine sculpturing (punctate, reticulate, regulate, and reticulate-verrucose), distance between the apices of two ectocolpi, colpus length, colpus width, porus length, porus width, and exine thickness. For numerical analysis, 13 qualitative characteristics and five quantitative characteristics were used for the principal component ana lysis and cluster analysis to determine the potential of the pollen morphological characteristics to be used to determine the species relationships. The results of the two numerical analysis methods showed that pollen morphological data could be used to classify the genera Acrotrema, Dillenia, and Tetracera into groups.
Learning Out Loud (LOL): How Comics Can Develop the Communication and Critical Thinking Abilities of Engineering Students

Learning Out Loud (LOL): How Comics Can Develop the Communication and Critical Thinking Abilities of Engineering Students Dr. Caitlin Donahue Wylie, University of Virginia Caitlin Wylie is an assistant professor of Science, Technology and Society in the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Kathryn A. Neeley, University of Virginia Kathryn Neeley is Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society in the Engineering & Society Department of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is a past chair of the Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division of ASEE and is particularly interested in the role of liberal education in developing engineering leaders and in the connections between the arts and engineering.
Participant characteristics and outcomes of relationship education in the transition to parenthood

The study investigated characteristics of couples who chose to attend a relationship education (RE) program offered nationwide in Norway for couples after having their first child, and how participants in RE developed compared to non-participants. Prospective longitudinal data were collected pre- and post-intervention in a sample of 398 Norwegian couples. While the situational and demographic characteristics of the couples did not appear to affect the likelihood of RE participation, couples who chose to participate (121 couples) were characterized by initial high conflict frequency and high destructive conflict behavior. No positive effect of RE participation was detected, while a tendency for reduced constructive conflict behavior was found for participants compared to non-participants. The results are discussed with regard to whether this may reflect selection effects or ineffectiveness of the program. Possible consequences for the practice and implementation of RE in connection with the transition to parenthood are suggested. From a cost-effectiveness perspective, it is suggested that it may prove more sensible to target at-risk parents with a more extensive program.
Emotional Responses to Top Politicians in a General Election

Abstract Voting behaviour has been studied as a specific form of individual behaviour and has primarily been seen as the result of reflection and deliberation on behalf of the individual. In general consumer behaviour research, the focus is increasingly on the seemingly unconscious and emotionally controlled processes that seem to shape a large part of consumer responses to brands, services and communication. The objective of this paper is to study the influence that emotional reactions have on voter behaviour in connection with a general election. The opportunity arose to carry out a pre- and a post-evaluation of voters’ emotional responses to 6 major party leaders. The results support the notion that constant or increasing positive emotional reaction does in fact accompany election success, whilst election failure is accompanied by decreasing levels of emotional response. The results and their implications for political marketing in the context of an election are discussed.
MiR-146 a activates WAVE 2 expression and enhances phagocytosis in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264 . 7 macrophages

MiR-146a has been shown to play a critical role in cell immunity and phagocytosis, processes that require rearrangement of the cytoskeleton. However, the detailed mechanism by which miR-146a regulates these events remains elusive. Here, we used luciferase reporter and protein assays to show that the cytoskeleton-regulatingprotein verprolin-homologous protein 2 (WAVE2), is a direct target of miR-146a. MiR-146a overexpression resulted in a decrease in WAVE2 protein expression under endotoxin-free culture conditions. Unexpectedly, however, miR-146a activated rather than repressed the expression of WAVE2 in macrophage RAW264.7 cells when cultured continuously in the presence of endotoxin. Furthermore, we demonstrated that miR-146a induced WAVE2 expression and enhanced phagocytosis in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Our study suggests that lipopolysaccharide-induced miR146a indirectly activates WAVE2 expression; thus, facilitating cytoskeletal reorganization and phagocytosis in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages.
Numerical modeling of the global ionospheric effects of storm sequence on September 9–14, 2005—comparison with IRI model

This study presents the modeling of ionospheric response to geomagnetic storms of September 9–14, 2005. We examine the performance of the Global Self-Consistent Model of Thermosphere, Ionosphere and Protonosphere (GSM TIP) and International Reference Ionosphere-2000 (IRI-2000), and compare the modeling predictions with the ionosonde and incoherent scatter radar observations over Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Millstone Hill and Arecibo stations. IRI-2000 predicted well all negative foF2 disturbances. In comparison with IRI-2000, the GSM TIP better reproduced the positive phase observed during the disturbed times. We discuss the possible reasons of the differences between the GSM TIP model calculations, IRI predictions, and the observations.
The Contrasting Attitudes of Reviewer and Seller in Electronic Word-of-Mouth: A Communicative Action Theory Perspective

This study draws important factors in electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) and examines how these influence the building of customer loyalty. eWOM is viewed as social communication between customers and sellers, and thus the communicative action theory is applied. With the theory, we identify reviewer and seller as influential players on customers, and derive important factors such as correctness and veracity of reviews from the reviewers’ action, and information compactness and adequacy from the seller’s action. We propose these constructs as antecedents of customer loyalty and further hypothesize their curvilinear impacts as follows: the marginal impacts of veracity and correctness will decrease as veracity and correctness increase, and the marginal impacts of compactness and adequacy will increase as compactness and adequacy increase. The result indicates that only the seller’s action has a curvilinear impact, whereas the reviewer has proportional positive impact on customer loyalty. This study indentifies imp ortant factors in eWOM from a critical social theory perspective and validates them using the positivistic approach. For practitioners, it discusses the important factors in eWOM with the identification of the individuals who are responsible for these factors.
The Yuma Territorial Prison Cemetery: Cold Cases of Grave Importance

Cemeteries, via grave markers and burial records, usually offer sufficiently scant data to enable a reconstruction of the communities they represent, but cemeteries of total institutions, here, the Yuma Territorial Prison, often yield even less data. With only the variables of ethincity, sex, prisoner number, date of death, and cause of death, prison conditions were reconstructed for the 111 who died during the prison's operation (1876–1909), and likely for the other 2,958 who were incarcerated there. First, prisoner number had a high, positive correlation with year of death, indicating that those who died in prison did not live long after incarceration. Further investigation found statistical dependence between the ethnicity of the prisoner and cause (and thus, manner) of death, with tuberculosis disproportionately effecting Hispanics and Native Americans, perhaps suggesting segragation by ethnicity. Hispanics were the only ones shot and killed attempting escape, though numerous escapes were attempted. Also statistically dependent was the decade of death by ethnicity, perhaps reflecting some ethnic sequence of incarceration. Finally, cause and manner of death, over time, were also dependent, likely reflecting deteriorating prison conditions. That so few variables can reveal so much refutes the adage that dead men tell no tales.
On the Sustainability of Partial Tax Harmonization among Asymmetric Countries

This paper investigates the conditions under which partial harmonization for capital taxation is sustained in a repeated interactions model of tax competition when there are three countries asymmetric in repect to their capital endowments. We show that regardless of the structure of the coalition (i.e., any group of asymmetric countries), whether partial tax harmonization is sustainable or not crucially depends on the capital endowment of the median country relative to those of the large and small countries. The most noteworthy finding is that the closer the capital endowment of the median country to the average capital endowment of the large and small countries, the less likely is the tax harmonization including the median country to prevail and the more likely is the partial tax harmonization excluding the median country to prevail.
EFFECTS OF DIET INDUCED SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS ON BLOOD METABOLITES AND KEY REGULATORS OF LIPID METABOLISM IN GILTS

Background: Dietary fiber has been shown to help improve several metabolic disorders including obesity and type II diabetes. However, the mechanism by which this occurs is poorly understood. Purpose: This study was designed to compare the effects of energy restriction and dietary fiber and subsequent production of short chain fatty acids on body composition, biomarkers of health, and hepatic and myocellular expression of key regulators of lipid metabolism Methods: Crossbred gilts (n=17) were randomly assigned to either a control (CON), high fiber (HF) or energy restricted (ER) diet for 42 days. Gilts on the CON and HF diets were fed ad libitum. The ER Gilts were pair fed HF gilts and matched for body weight gain. Blood samples were collected and glucose, insulin, triglycerides, non-esterified fatty acids and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) concentrations were measured. Liver and muscle tissue were biopsied and expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gama (PGC-1α) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) were determined via RT-PCR. Results: HF gilts had significantly higher plasma TG and lower NEFA concentrations when compared to the CON and ER. The HF diet elicited a significant increase in all plasma SCFA concentrations. No differences in fold change of myocyte CPT1 and PGC-1α mRNA expression were found while they tended to be lower in hepatic samples of the HF gilts. HF gilts also had a lower (P < 0.05) back fat thickness when compared to the ER even though energy intakes were similar. Minimal changes were observed in fasting glucose and insulin as a result of diet. Conclusions: Gilts consuming a diet high in dietary fiber (DF) significantly altered their plasma lipid profiles independently to that of energy restriction and body weight and appears to be a result of plasma SCFA concentration. DF and/or SCFA appear to have minimal affects on CPT1 and PGC-1α in the liver and muscle of gilts. EFFECTS OF DIET INDUCED SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS ON BLOOD METABOLITES AND KEY REGULATORS OF LIPID METABOLISM IN GILTS
Are insecure jobs as bad for mental health and occupational commitment as unemployment? Equal threat or downward spiral

We investigated the significance of unemployment and job insecurity for mental health (self-esteem; life satisfaction) and occupational commitment (occupational self-efficacy; affective occupational commitment) comparing the "equal threat" assumption with the "downward spiral" assumption. Whereas the equal threat model suggests that unemployment and (perceived) insecure employment are similarly threatening phenomena, the downward spiral model assumes that there might be a spectrum of employment insecurity, ranging from secure employment to long-term unemployment, that is associated with decreasing mental health and occupational commitment. Controlling for socio-demographic background variables and personality traits, results of ANCOVAs, in which we distinguished between workers who were (more or less) securely employed and those who were either insecurely employed or short- or long-term unemployed revealed that the insecurely employed workers were no better off than those who were (short-term) unemployed - in line with the equal threat hypothesis. Only for occupational self-efficacy did we find some support for the downward spiral model.
Allopurinol Improves Endothelial Function and Oxidative Stress in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

In uremia, mechanistic alterations of vessel wall properties, which have a profound impact causing decreased arterial compliance or its inverse; increased arterial stiffness, early wave reflections and decreased endothelial function. Allopurinol an xanthine oxidase inhibitor, has been found to improve endothelial function in patients with hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus and heart failure. Twenty five Patients with chronic kidney disease in the age group between 20 to 60 years were enrolled into allopurinol study. Reflection index (RI), Serum Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Total antioxidant activity (TAA) were estimated before and after treatment with allopurinol. Allopurinol significantly lowered serum uric acid concentrations from 487  119 to 384  101 μmol/L, P<0.01 and serum MDA from 108  27 to 87  32 nmol/L, P<0.01. Allopurinol independently of renal functions; improves endothelial function, probably through either uric acid lowering effect or improving oxidative stress, which are preventable risk factors of cardiovascular morbidity in renal failure patients.
Incidence of Hallux Valgus Interphalangeus in the Normal and Hallux Valgus Feet and its Correlations with Hallux Valgus Angle and Intermetatarsal Angle

Purpose: In order to achieve successful outcome for the hallux valgus surgery, it is mandatory to consider the possible associated hallux valgus interphalangeus, and therefore the hallux interphalangeal angle (HIA) other than hallux valgus angle (HVA) and intermetatarsal angle (IMA) has been well appreciated. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the incidence of hallux interphalangeal angle in the normal and hallux valgus feet and also the statistical correlations of HIA with HVA and IMA in the 2 groups. Materials and Methods: The study is base on the standing foot AP radiographs of the 100 normal feet (HVA<12° and IMA<9°) and 100 hallux valgus feet (HVA>25° and IMA>12°). We measured the hallux valgus angle, intermetatarsal angle and hallux interphalangeal angle, where we defined the hallux valgus interphalangeus when the HIA was more than 10°. We evaluated the incidence of the hallux valgus interphalangeus in the normal and hallux valgus groups and the correlations of the HIA with HVA and IMA. Results: In normal feet group, hallux valgus interphalangeus comprised 82%, while there were only 20% of HVI in hallux valgus group. Among 200 total feet, there was negative correlations between the HVA and HIA as well as IMA and HIA statistically (p<0.01). Conclusion: There was lower incidence of hallux valgus interphalangeus in the hallux valgus group compared to the normal feet group.
Ordovician acritarchs of China and their utility for global palaeobiogeography

Since the 1970s, acritarch workers have recognized two distinct geographic acritarch assemblages in the Ordovician. The first assemblage occurs in the late Tremadoc in low latitude areas. This assemblage, recently redefined by Volkova [1997], has been attributed to warm-water environments. A second "Mediterranean" or "peri-Gondwanan" province, attributed to high latitudes in the southern hemisphere, can easily be recognized in late Tremadoc to Arenig acritarch assemblages. This second palaeogeographic "province", defined by Li [1989] is distributed around the border of Gondwana in a zone reaching from Argentina through northern Africa and peri-Gondwana up to Iran, Pakistan and southern China. In the present work we propose an initial simplified, tentative model of the latitudinal distribution of selected early to middle Ordovician acritarchs. Both "provinces" are plotted on the recent palaeogeographical reconstruction of the early Ordovician of Li and Powell [2001]. It appears that the first "province" is limited to low and intermediate latitudes, i.e., to warmer water environments. However, the generally adopted interpretation that the so called "Mediterranean" or "peri-Gondwanan" geographical assemblage is principally controlled by palaeolatitudes and is considered to be typically "cold-water" has to be revised, because the distribution of this "province" appears related more to the continental arrangement along the Gondwana border than to latitudes. This distribution shows some similarities with recent investigations in Silurian acritarch palaeogeography [Le Herisse and Gourvennec, 1995] that provides evidence that the global distribution of Silurian acritarchs is under the interdependence of continental arrangement, latitudinal position, environmental conditions and oceanic currents, and that it is not simply latitudinally controlled as previous interpretations have suggested. The Yangtze Plaform of southern China presents elements of both early to middle Ordovician "provinces", i.e., from both the "warm-water" and the "peri-Gondwanan" geographic assemblages. The South China Plate is therefore one of the areas that shows typically mixed assemblages. Although it remains difficult to define clearly a "Baltic" province, it is important to note that between the latest Tremadoc and the early Llanvirn a clear distinction of the acritarch assemblages between peri-Gondwana and Baltica is possible.