Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What are the determinants of the pay gap between conventional firms and cooperatives? Evidence from France

The aim of this article is to study the wage differentials between conventional firms and non-worker cooperatives, which has seldom been done in the literature to date. Using French administrative data, we analyse the determinants of these wage differentials. This investigation is carried out across all industries and it is repeated for the banking industry. Taking all industries into account, conventional firms offer lower wages than cooperatives. Most of this pay gap is explained by differences in the characteristics of the employees, jobs and companies. If we focus just on firms in the banking industry, it becomes clear that conventional firms pay higher wages than cooperatives but this gap is explained solely by differences in characteristics. However, their impact is weakened somewhat by differences in the wage return to these characteristics, which work in favour of employees in cooperatives.
Selective Attention and Eye Movements While Viewing Reversible Figures

This study suggests that different eye-movement patterns are associated with reversals of ambiguous figures. The high scanners seem to be more dependent on eye movements for reversals and their recognition of each pattern depends on the sequence and location of fixations; thus shifts of attention appear to be externalized in the form of large, saccadic eye movements. In contrast low scanners are better able to shift attention internally, eg. , by mental restructuring, without large eye movements. We further suggest that scanning behavior associated with reversals may be modulated by stimulus complexity, figures' reversibility, and extrinsic/intrinsic motivational styles.
Strategic imperatives and core competencies to empower small and medium enterprises

Article history: Received 22 January 2017 Received in revised form 4 April 2017 Accepted 5 April 2017 This empirical study argues that the time is ripe for the commercial banks, non-profit microfinance organizations and venture capitalists to seek out initiatives to step up their efforts to serve small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. The collapse and dependency exacerbate the sustainability of the SMEs on of oil prices in Saudi Arabia. This empirical study has taken to address the growth opportunities, challenges, and strategic options that hampered the sustainability and evolution of SMEs in Saudi Arabia. The researcher conducted twenty-one focus interviews with Saudi entrepreneurs to learn about the challenges and the impact of objectivity and correctness of initiatives to SMEs sustainability and growth. The study used the hermeneutic technique, to analyze the transcriptions of the recorded interviews, which employs a part-to-whole mode of interpretation. This method helped the researcher to understand the entrepreneur’s view and put aside his assumptions about a situation or experience. The themes that surfaced from the twenty-one interviews; financial support & partnerships, labor laws and best practices, and technologically integrated business model.
Benefits of Aviation Weather Services: A Review of International Literature

This paper presents a summary of the international literature published on the benefits of aviation weather services. Aviation operations are highly sensitive to weather conditions. Information on weather conditions helps meteorologists, pilots, navigators, airline companies and businesses to ensure safe flights and save money by reducing some of the stringent requirements related to carrying extra fuel loads. The development of constantly updated flight plans with respect to available weather information regarding changing wind and general weather conditions can enable aircraft to use fuel more efficiently and navigate their planes in safer environments that avoid turbulence and make air flights comfortable to the travelling public. The summary literature presented in this paper illustrates the importance of the work of meteorologists in the production of relevant information and data that are accessible to pilots and navigators. The pooling of meteorological information, data and other resources by member countries of the World Meteorological Organisation represents a classic case of international cooperation that has ensured relatively safe and comfortable air flights across the world since the era of international air travel in the 20th Century speeding up the process of the more historically-recent globalisation.
Neurophysiological Measures of Involuntary and Voluntary Attention Allocation and Dispositional Differences in Need for Cognition

Need for cognition (NFC) refers to stable individual differences in the intrinsic motivation to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors and has been a useful predictor of dispositional differences in information processing. Although cognitive resource allocation conceptualized as cognitive effort is assumed to be the key mediator of NFC-specific processing, to date no research has systematically addressed its underpinnings. Using a neurocognitive paradigm and recording event-related potentials associated with bottom-up and top-down-driven aspects of attention, the present research contributes to filling this gap. In Study 1, high-NFC individuals showed larger P3a amplitudes to contextually novel events, indicating greater involuntary (automatic) attention allocation. This effect was replicated in Study 2, where NFC also was positively correlated with the P3b to target stimuli, indicating voluntary (controlled) processes of attention allocation. Thus, our findings provide first evidence for neurophysiological correlates of NFC and can improve the understanding of NFC-specific processing.
Interactive Exploration of the Employment Situation Report: From Fixed Tables to Dynamic Discovery

The monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Report is widely anticipated by economists, journalists, and politicians as it is used to forecast the economic condition of the United States. The report has broad impact on public and corporate economic confidence; however, the online access to this data employs outdated techniques, using a PDF format containing solely text and fixed tabular information. Creating an interactive interface for dynamic discovery on the BLS website could elicit more dialogue between the public and government spheres, drawing more traffic to government websites and triggering greater civic engagement. Our work suggests that the implementation of interactive visual analysis techniques to enable dynamic discovery leads to rapid interpretation of data as well as provides the means to explore the data for further insights. This paper presents two inspirational prototypes: a dashboard of interactive visualizations and an interactive time series explorer, allowing for temporal and spatial analyses and enabling users to combine data sets to create their own customized visualization.
Recently Investigated Natural Gums and Mucilages as Pharmaceutical Excipients: An Overview

Due to advances in drug delivery technology, currently, excipients are included in novel dosage forms to fulfil specific functions and in some cases they directly or indirectly influence the extent and/or rate of drug release and drug absorption. Recent trends towards use of plant based and natural products demand the replacement of synthetic additives with natural ones. Today, the whole world is increasingly interested in natural drugs and excipients. These natural materials have many advantages over synthetic ones as they are chemically inert, nontoxic, less expensive, biodegradable, and widely available. This review discusses majority of the plant-derived polymeric compounds (gums and mucilage's), their sources, chemical constituents, uses, and some recent investigations as excipients in novel drug delivery systems.
Idiopathic Stabbing Headache and Experimental Ice Cream Headache (Short-Lived Headaches)

Idiopathic stabbing headache (ISH) and ice cream headache occur due to paroxysmal firing of trigeminal pathways and a defect in pain control mechanisms. Any defect in pain control mechanisms appears to be localized to the affected areas. Therefore, we compared ISH and experimentally induced ice cream headache localizations in the same group of migraine sufferers to investigate similarities and differences between these headaches. The percentage of ice cream headache localizations restricted to ‘in front of the vertex/on the vertex’ was 94%, while it was 45% for ISH. The percentage of ice cream headache occurrence behind the vertex was 6% and 55% for ISH. Due to the widespread distribution of ISH in the head, there might be irritation of various branches of the trigeminal nerve, while the restricted localizations of ice cream headache suggest irritation of a certain branch or branches of the trigeminal nerve, e.g. in the oropharynx. Either widespread or restricted irritation of trigeminal pathways causes either ISH or ice cream headache, in which intermittent deficits in central pain control mechanisms seem to be playing the key role.
Xenotransplantation literature update, January–February 2014

During the period of January–February 2014, three reviews on xenotransplantation were published. Manji et al. [1] discussed the limitations of glutaraldehyde-fixed bioprosthetic heart valves (GBHVs) from pigs and cows due to structural valve deterioration. A subset of valve recipients, children and young adults, reject valves at an accelerated rate compared with adults. Chemical modification of GBHVs to reduce the effect of free calcium ions in the blood has done little to improve the function of these xenografts. The authors review evidence for the role of xenograft rejection in structural valve deterioration. The authors suggest that genetically modified pigs may be a good source for BGHVs with the possibility of reduced valve damage in young patients. Byrne et al. [2] expand on this topic with a discussion of the importance of testing commercial devices for the presence of the Gal antigen. Byrne et al. emphasize the importance of negative controls in the interpretation of anti-carbohydrate antibody and lectin analysis that would provide necessary resolution to evaluate new genetically modified pig devices. In addition to a robust innate immune response, T-cell and B-cell responses to solid organ and cellular xenografts are barriers to the development of clinical xenotransplantation. Griesemer et al. [3] discuss the potential to induce tolerance to known xenoantigens through previously described strategies. Through depiction in an easy-to-understand diagram, natural killer cell responses in mixed allogeneic and xenogeneic chimeras can drive an annergic response to antigen through persistent and unopposed cross-linking of activation receptors. Both thymus transplantation and mixed chimerism studies are reviewed from their origins in rat models to the more recent development of large animal studies. There is an impressive amount of information discussed and taken together paint a very promising picture of tolerance in xenotransplantation. The authors point out two critical hurdles to overcome: T-cell maturation and production of regulatory T cells after donor thymic transplantation. Thymopoiesis within the recipient may lead to positive selection (education) mediated by the donor thymic cells and long-term tolerance to xenoantigens. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have a long list of immunomodulatory properties. Li et al. [4] review the therapeutic potential of genetically modified pig MSCs to xenotransplantation. The authors describe the suppression of xenogeneic
Regional filling characteristics of the lungs in mechanically ventilated patients with acute lung injury

Objectives: The objective of the study was to determine regional pulmonary filling characteristics in 20 mechanically ventilated patients with acute lung injury. Methods: Regional filling characteristics were calculated from tracings of regional tidal volumes vs. global tidal volumes measured by electrical impedance tomography (EIT). These plots were fitted to a polynomial function of the second degree. Regional polynomial coefficients of the second degree characterized the curve linearity of the plots. Near‐zero values of the polynomial coefficient indicated a homogeneous increase in regional tidal volumes during the whole inspiration. Positive values hinted at initial low regional tidal volume change suggesting lung volume recruitment. Negative values indicated late low regional tidal volume change implying hyperinflation of this lung region. Results: We found a broad heterogeneity of regional lung filling characteristics. The minimal regional polynomial coefficients varied from −2.80 to −0.56 (median −1.16), while the maximal regional polynomial coefficients varied from 0.58 to 3.65 (median 1.41). Conclusions: Measurements of regional filling characteristics by EIT may be a helpful tool to adjust the respiratory settings during mechanical ventilation to optimize lung recruitment and to avoid overdistension. It applies a non‐pressure‐related assessment to the mechanics of lung inflation and gives a view of the real problems underlying ventilatory strategies dependent on global characteristics.
Control and economics in networking, via optimization: Perspectives from an emerging discipline

This paper describes a developing field of research in which control, networking and economic theory are interacting at an unprecedented level of depth, over problems of network resource allocation. Networking provides a large scale application with fully embedded decentralized control systems, and users with competing objectives; economics brings market tools to understand this decentralization of decision makers and objectives; control theory brings the dynamic viewpoint to fields accustomed to the equilibrium perspective. The key to a more unified theory is the language of convex optimization. We will describe a prototype problem and its current understanding through a combination of the above viewpoints, and outline other directions of development of this fertile interaction.
Transient expression of a vacuolar peroxidase increases susceptibility of epidermal barley cells to powdery mildew.

summary The expression of genes encoding the peroxidases, Prx7 and Prx8, is induced in barley leaf tissue after inoculation with the barley powdery mildew fungus, Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei (DC) Speer (Bgh). The role of these peroxidases in general barley defence responses against fungal attack was investigated using a transient expression system. Colonization frequencies of Bgh on cells transfected with Prx7 or Prx8 expression-, mutant- or fusion-DNA constructs were compared to the frequencies on cells expressing a beta-glucuronidase (GUS) control construct. Twice the number of powdery mildew colonies were observed on cells expressing Prx7 as compared to control cells. Introduction of either mutant or truncated versions of Prx7 showed that decreased resistance against Bgh was dependent on the presence of the C-terminal signal peptide required for correct subcellular targeting, but not affected significantly by mutations in the catalytic centre. No impact on Bgh performance was observed after the introduction of Prx8 or mutant constructs. An enhanced accumulation of the apoplastic Prx8 was verified by immunocytology. These results indicate a more complex role of peroxidases in defence responses than was previously suspected.
Reaction of aromatic azides with strong acids: formation of fused nitrogen heterocycles and arylamines

We describe in this paper the action of trifluoroacetic acid, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and aluminum chloride upon ortho-substituted aryl azides to form indoles, azepines and arylamines in good yields. The protonated azides lose nitrogen to form arylnitrenium ion intermediates which undergo intramolecular aromatic N-substitution. The acid decomposition of aryl azides is compared with reported thermolyses.
Determinants of workers’ attitude toward low-carbon technology adoption: empirical evidence from Chinese firms

ABSTRACT As the main contribution of China’s carbon emissions, low-carbon production in industrial firms becomes an inevitable choice, and industrial firm employees’ attitudes on low-carbon new technology directly influence the results of low-carbon production. Based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model, structural equation modeling was used to analyze the main factors influencing firm staff to accept low-carbon new technology. The study reveals that the employee’s social impact, performance expectation, effort expectations and convenient conditions, and employee characteristics are all main factors affecting their acceptance attitudes on low-carbon new technology. And social influence has the largest effect on employees’ acceptance attitudes toward low-carbon new technology. Accordingly, relevant policy recommendations are put forward for the future research direction.
Energy Security: Shaping The Consumer Decision Making Process In Emerging Economies

Energy security is a universal concern among all countries, with all nations struggling for a sustainable solution. Solar technologies are a particularly beneficial utility for emerging economies due to both geography and affordability. Solar Photovoltaics (PV) is one of the highest potential growth markets in emerging economies due to the ability for small-scale systems to be placed on residential rooftops. Distribution of PV to individual homeowners is a new buying and selling process for what has traditionally been a business-to-business marketplace. Because the consumer market is at an infant stage in emerging economies, the messages that PV companies send to consumers will ultimately shape consumer perception about renewable energy. Through content analysis of websites from 12 companies in two of the BRICS markets, this research explores the similarities and differences with regard to consumer-facing messages among companies of various sizes in the two markets.
Assessment of the piezoelectric response of sputtered A1N films by x-ray diffraction

Thin films of sputtered AlN are usually termed as adequate for piezoelectric applications when they exhibit (00·2) texture with a narrow rocking-curve. However, in this paper we call this common belief into question by providing experimental evidence of samples with good crystal quality but very bad piezoelectric response and vice versa. According to our investigation, it is possible to assess the piezoelectric response by X-ray diffraction, but only after the sputtering chamber and the deposition system have been carefully characterized. It is necessary to correlate the crystallographic properties with the piezoelectric response in order to be able to use X-ray diffraction as a routine assessment tool.
Quantitative Text Analysis with Asian Languages: Some Problems and Solu- tions

Consider the following problem. We want to know how Japanese politicians feel about China. Perhaps we want to advise Australian government officials about how to respond to Japanese overtures for security cooperation or make a theoretical point about how power shifts impact enduring rivalries. We could interview or survey politicians, but this would be difficult. Those who are more likely to speak to a foreign researcher or seek out an opportunity to comment on foreign policy might be different from the average politician. Ensuring that our sample was not biased would consume a lot of our time and probably much of our social capital. It would yield estimates of nothing more than how these politicians felt about China on the day they did the interview or filled out the questionnaire. It might be difficult to compare their responses. It also requires the rather large assumption that politicians truthfully answer the questions put to them by researchers. Methods for quantitative text analysis offer a solution. Pioneered by computer scientists, these methods enable the systematic analysis of large collections of texts in ways that allow us to draw valid inferences about the world in a timely, replicable fashion. They are being applied by political scientists to estimate the feelings, priorities, concerns, threat perceptions, policy preferences, ideologies, and other characteristics of political actors from the words they write or utter. These methods have enabled the drawing of inferences about Japanese politicians from their election manifestos [2], United States Senators from their press releases [5], Muslim clerics from their fatwas [12], the United States government from its treaties [15], Russian civil and military elites from their public statements [16], and the American public from their blogs [7]. Other applications have drawn inferences about actors from the way they treat the words of other actors. We can now say with greater confidence than ever before that government ministers became more accountable to opposition politicians between 1880 and 1900 in the British House of Commons [3], the Chinese government censors social media posts inciting collective action [9], and the deaths of prominent Jihadi clerics did not increase readership of their online material [11].
Reflux oesophagitis in adult coeliac disease: beneficial effect of a gluten free diet

Background: Coeliac disease patients show a number of gastrointestinal motor abnormalities, including a decrease in lower oesophageal sphincter pressure. The prevalence of endoscopic oesophagitis in these subjects however is unknown. Aim: To evaluate whether untreated adult coeliac patients had an increased prevalence of reflux oesophagitis and, if so, to assess whether a gluten free diet exerted any beneficial effect on gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) symptoms. Patients and methods: We retrospectively studied 205 coeliac patients (females/males 153/52, median age 32 years) who underwent endoscopy for duodenal biopsy and 400 non-coeliac subjects (females/males 244/156, median age 37 years) referred for endoscopy for upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Each patient was given a questionnaire for evaluation of GORD symptoms prior to and 4–12 months after endoscopy. Coeliac patients were given a gluten free diet. Oesophagitis patients of both groups, following an eight week course of omeprazole, were re-evaluated for GORD symptoms at four month intervals up to one year. Significance of differences was assessed by Fisher’s exact test. Results: Oesophagitis was present in 39/205 (19%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 13.8–25.0%) coeliac patients and in 32/400 (8%, 95% CI 5.5–11.1%) dyspeptic subjects. At the one year follow up, GORD symptoms relapsed in 10/39 (25.6%, 95% CI 13–42.1%) coeliacs with oesophagitis and in 23/32 (71.8%, 95% CI 53.2–86.2%) non-coeliac subjects with oesophagitis. Conclusion: Coeliac patients have a high prevalence of reflux oesophagitis. That a gluten free diet significantly decreased the relapse rate of GORD symptoms suggests that coeliac disease may represent a risk factor for development of reflux oesophagitis.