Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The future of employment relations from the perspective of human resource management

This article defines ‘human resources’ as the overt talents and underlying characteristics that people possess, and identifies three agendas in human resource management: the individual, the organisational and the societal/global. The academic discipline of human resource management (HRM) has grown up around the second agenda: the needs of managers to hire, motivate and develop people with the talents that organisations need. Like the curate’s egg, it is of variable quality: a tension between ‘best-practicism’ and analytical thinking is still present in it. Research in industrial relations has been more helpful in describing the spread of employer behaviour and analysing the reasons for it. However, the growing emphasis in academic HRM on understanding the psychological and social processes inside the ‘black box’ of the firm is encouraging the study of mutuality and sustainability in employment relationships. This direction has the potential to make academic HRM more relevant at the societal level where we confront issues of underutilisation and overutilisation of human resources and where we have a mix of human resource philosophies that both help and harm society. The challenge is to build a theory of how organisations can meet their needs for profit and renewal while supporting employee fulfilment and well-being over the long-run.
Four mistakes leaders keep making.

Again and again, senior managers fall into four behavioral traps that thwart organizational change. The behaviors are difficult to recognize and reverse because they serve to protect egos and prevent anxiety--but executives can overcome them. First, managers fail to set proper expectations. When they announce major directional changes or new goals, they don't spell out credible plans or specify who's accountable. Second, they excuse subordinates from the pursuit of overall goals, allowing people to remain preoccupied with their own units. Third, executives essentially collude with staff experts and consultants by going along with a deeply flawed contract: The experts agree to deliver and implement a "product" (a new system, for instance) but don't include measurable gains as part of the deal. Fourth, managers wait while associates overprepare. After challenging their employees to make needed improvements, they accept the response "Yes, but first we have to. " Finish the sentence: Train our people. Set up focus groups. Bring in Six Sigma. And so on. The best way to confront the traps is to conduct small personal experiments that rapidly produce tangible results, incur little risk of failure, and are confined enough to demonstrate a clear link between trial and outcome. For example, one iron plant addressed quality problems by targeting five areas for improvement, setting clear and measurable goals for each, and holding team Leaders accountable for outcomes. AlL five experiments succeeded and were extended to the rest of the plant. Quality problems eased up within 100 days and virtually disappeared a few months later.
Recycling for sustainability - a long run perspective?

In our paper, we analyse the prospects for sustainable growth offered by recycling promoting environmental policies where the main objective of the government is to assure for sustainability in the sense of a non deteriorating state of the environment. The environment is important for economic production in a twofold way: firstly, it supplies resources as inputs for the production process and, secondly, it serves as a sink for all kinds of waste products generated by economic activities. It is shown that in the absence of environmental policy the overexploitation of the renewable resource stock and the dumping of waste will drive nature beyond the limits of its assimilative and regenerative capacity. Therefore, we focus on these phenomena by modelling on the one hand recycling processes that decrease the flow of waste to the environment and considering on the other hand requirements for a sustainable extraction of raw materials. Hence, by including the intention to spare resources and the aim of reducing waste, we deal with an input problem - sometimes referred to as the primary problem - and an output problem - referred to as the secondary problem. Both problems can be considered to have local, regional and global impacts. For example, reduced resource requirements might decrease the dependency of resource-importing countries (local or regional effect) and will also help to maintain the supply of resources in all world regions (global effect). Alternatively consider the example of a reduction in the combustion of waste which is due to an increase in recycling. The reduction will cause the mitigation of local and regional air pollution as well as of global warming causing emissions of CO2. Hence, one far-reaching policy additionally induces ancillary benefits on different geographical levels. We use the framework of an endogenous growth model where waste is generated as an undesired byproduct in the production of the desired output. Nature is assumed to have a certain regenerative capability which depends on the state of the environment. Furthermore, environmental quality is negatively affected by the amount of waste dumped and the amount of resources extracted. The amount of dumped waste can be reduced by recycling firms which process the waste and sell it to the intermediate sector where it serves as substitute for natural resources as an input in production. We show that balanced sustainable growth is only possible if governmental policy ensures a recycling rate of unity. By reviewing the debate on complete recycling, we finally discuss this result from an ecological economics point of view. It is shown that the feasibility of complete recycling depends critically on the nature of wastes, a sufficient storing space for wastes and the availability of sufficient energy.
Probabilistic fiber tracking using the residual bootstrap with constrained spherical deconvolution

Constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD) is a new technique that, based on high‐angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) MR data, estimates the orientation of multiple intravoxel fiber populations within regions of complex white matter architecture, thereby overcoming the limitations of the widely used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique. One of its main applications is fiber tractography. The noisy nature of diffusion‐weighted (DW) images, however, affects the estimated orientations and the resulting fiber trajectories will be subject to uncertainty. The impact of noise can be large, especially for HARDI measurements, which employ relatively high b‐values. To quantify the effects of noise on fiber trajectories, probabilistic tractography was introduced, which considers multiple possible pathways emanating from one seed point, taking into account the uncertainty of local fiber orientations. In this work, a probabilistic tractography algorithm is presented based on CSD and the residual bootstrap. CSD, which provides accurate and precise estimates of multiple fiber orientations, is used to extract the local fiber orientations. The residual bootstrap is used to estimate fiber tract probability within a clinical time frame, without prior assumptions about the form of uncertainty in the data. By means of Monte Carlo simulations, the performance of the CSD fiber pathway uncertainty estimator is measured in terms of accuracy and precision. In addition, the performance of the proposed method is compared to state‐of‐the‐art DTI residual bootstrap tractography and to an existing probabilistic CSD tractography algorithm using clinical DW data. Hum Brain Mapp, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A tri-band reflector antenna with dual band TE/sub 21/ mode tracking

Reflector antennas employing a single horn dual-band feed, such as S/X, or, C/Ku, normally do not use TE/sub 21/ mode tracking. This paper describes the design and testing of a tri-band reflector antenna, which uses a single horn dual-band feed with two serially connected TE/sub 21/ mode tracking couplers, and its feed subsystem. The reflector antenna is a 5.0 meter shaped Cassegrain antenna operating in L, Ku and Ka bands. It is a receive only antenna with linear/circular switchable polarization and monopulse tracking in all three bands.
Maximizing Utility with Commodity Futures Diversification

Previous research about commodity futures investing benchmarked to an unleveraged commodity futures index has demonstrated that it provides a source of valuable diversification for a portfolio of stocks and bonds. In this article, the author examines how investors risk behavior affects the portfolio allocation to commodity futures. Specifically, the investment behavior of a risk-averse investors is examined in light of the commodity futures allocation decision. It is found that the marginal utility of commodity futures investing is higher, the greater the risk aversion of the investor.
Multi-Scale Modeling of Dispersed Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flows odel to study the behavior of a single bubble or a few ( interacting )

In this work the status of computational modeling of bubbly flows is reviewed. The theory of four different models is introduced and typical examples are given illustrating the capabilities of these models. The volume of fluid model and the front tracking model are used to investigate the behavior of individual bubbles. It is found that both models are well suited to investigate the shape and transient behavior of individual bubbles. An Euler-Lagrange model is used to simulate the flow in a lab-scale bubble column, accounting for coalescence and break-up. The predicted bubble size distributions show reasonable agreement with experiments. However, better break-up models are necessary for further improvement. Finally an EulerEuler model is used to simulate the flow in a lab-scale bubble column. It is shown that the use of a proper drag model is vital for accurate prediction of the bubble column dynamics.
Satisfaction Approval Voting

We propose a new voting system, satisfaction approval voting (SAV), for multiwinner elections, in which voters can approve of as many candidates or as many parties as they like. However, the winners are not those who receive the most votes, as under approval voting (AV), but those who maximize the sum of the satisfaction scores of all voters, where a voter’s satisfaction score is the fraction of his or her approved candidates who are elected. SAV may give a different outcome from A--in fact, SAV and AV outcomes may be disjoint—but SAV generally chooses candidates representing more diverse interests than does AV (this is demonstrated empirically in the case of a recent election of the Game Theory Society). A decision-theoretic analysis shows that all strategies except approving of a least-preferred candidate are undominated, so voters will often find it optimal to approve of more than one candidate. In party-list systems, SAV apportions seats to parties according to the Jefferson/d’Hondt method with a quota constraint, which favors large parties and gives an incentive to smaller parties to coordinate their policies and forge alliances, even before an election, that reflect their supporters’ coalitional preferences.
Intertester reliability of the McKenzie evaluation in assessing patients with mechanical low-back pain.

STUDY DESIGN Prospective intertester reliability study investigating the ability of 2 therapists to agree on a low back pain diagnosis using examination techniques and the classification system described by McKenzie. OBJECTIVES To investigate intertester agreement in determining McKenzie diagnostic syndromes, subsyndromes, presence, and relevance of the spinal deformities. BACKGROUND Reliability of the McKenzie approach for determining diagnostic categories is unclear. Previous studies have been characterized by inconsistency of test protocols, criterion measures, and level of training of the examiners, which confounds the interpretation of results. METHODS Patients were assessed simultaneously by 2 physical therapists trained in the McKenzie evaluation system. The therapists were randomly assigned as examiner and observer. Agreement was estimated by Kappa statistics. RESULTS Forty-five subjects (47 +/- 14 years), composed of 25 women and 20 men with acute, subacute, or chronic low back pain were examined. The agreement between raters for selection of the McKenzie syndromes was kappa = 0.70, and for the derangement subsyndromes was kappa = 0.96. Interrater agreement for presence of lateral shift, relevance of lateral shift, relevance of lateral component, and deformity in sagittal plane was kappa = 0.52, 0.85, 0.95, and 1.00, respectively. Intertester agreement on syndrome categories in 17 patients under 55 years of age was excellent, with kapp = 1.00. CONCLUSIONS A form of low back evaluation, using patterns of pain response to repeated end range spinal test movements, was highly reliable when performed by 2 properly trained physical therapists.
Predicting the Coexistence of an Endometrial Adenocarcinoma in the Presence of Atypical Complex Hyperplasia: Immunohistochemical Analysis of Endometrial Samples

Objective This study aimed to determine whether immunohistochemical markers in complex atypical endometrial hyperplasia could predict the presence of a concurrent endometrial carcinoma. Methods Endometrial biopsies of 39 patients with complex atypical hyperplasia were selected retrospectively between 1999 and 2006. Only patients who underwent a hysterectomy were included. A coexisting endometrial carcinoma was present in 25 patients (64%). Immunohistochemical analysis was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections of the endometrial biopsies, using antibodies for MIB-1, β-catenin, E-cadherin, p53, PTEN, CD44, HER2-neu, survivin, COX-2, tenascin, and bcl-2. To evaluate the potential utility of these markers, a prediction model was constructed. Results In the univariate analysis, expressions of both PTEN and HER2-neu were significantly different between the groups with and without a coexisting endometrial carcinoma (P < 0.05). Loss of PTEN staining was found in 13 (54%) and 1 (7%) of the patients with and without a coexistent carcinoma, respectively (odds ratio, 16.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.87–146.65). HER2-neu expression was found in only 2 (8.6%) and 6 (43%) patients with and without a coexistent carcinoma, respectively, and was excluded from further analysis because of its low expression. A prediction model containing PTEN expression only showed an area under the curve of 73.4% (95% CI, 57.3%–89.6%). After adding MIB-1 and p53, discriminative power improved to 87.2% (95% CI, 75.1%–99.3%). Conclusions This study showed that PTEN expression in complex endometrial hyperplasia is a promising factor for the prediction of the presence of a coexisting endometrial carcinoma, and prediction may even better when MIB-1 and p53 expressions are considered simultaneously.
‘…There’s no substituting actual time with your child’: Understanding first-time mothers’ readiness to return to work

This article explores first-time mothers’ readiness to return to paid work at approximately 18 weeks postpartum. In particular, it explores how aspects of one’s workplace, home, community, baby and self shape readiness to return to work and how levels of adjustment to early motherhood relate to levels of readiness to return to work. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 26 first-time mothers at approximately 18 weeks postpartum. Overall, participants demonstrated a lack of self-perceived readiness to return to work even though they demonstrated a high level of self-perceived adjustment to early motherhood. The lack of readiness to return to work was largely affected by baby and individual factors such as the baby’s developmental stage and women’s wish to spend more time with their baby. This evidence raises issues about whether 18 weeks of Parental Leave Pay is enough to ensure first-time mothers’ readiness to return to work.
Applied implications of theory and research on the nature of reinforcement.

When asked to comment on some recently published JEAB articles from an applied perspective, we chose the July 1993 issue containing a series of papers on the nature of reinforcement, some of which were presented at the 13th Quantitative Analyses Symposium held at Harvard University in June 1990. At first glance, it seemed that the topic was so central to applied research on operant behavior that we would have difficulty limiting our commentary. Many of the articles, however, focused on either general issues, such as restatement of operant theory from a selectionist standpoint (e.g., Donahoe, Burgos, & Palmer, 1993; Ringen, 1993), or highly restricted laboratory investigations, such as cellular analogues (Stein, Xue, & Belluzzi, 1993), sexual conditioning (Crawford, Holloway, & Domjan, 1993), and autoshaping (Reboreda & Kacelnik, 1993). Although these topics certainly should be of interest to all behavior analysts, they have little immediate relevance to the conduct of applied research. Thus, we selected for commentary one experimental and three review articles whose applied implications are either noted specifically by the authors or should be apparent to readers nevertheless.
A new underwater optical modem based on highly sensitive Silicon Photomultipliers

Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) have recently been recognized as an interesting alternative to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) thanks to their high sensitivity and time resolution. They can closely approach quantum-limited sensitivity in the detection of weak optical signals. Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) and Institut Fresnel research lab have been investigating appropriate alternative solutions for PMTs in the context of underwater optical communications, and have for the first time used these new photodetector components for signal detection. A novel prototype of an optical modem based on SiPM receivers was realized with support from Osean SAS Co., a French instrumentation company. A number of lab experiments and sea trials in turbid waters and clear open sea were conducted using this modem to evaluate the practical interest of SiPMs. This paper studies the feasibility of using SiPMs for underwater optical communications. It outlines the description of the transmitter and the receiver of the modem prototype, the different techniques used to take advantage of this new technology and solutions to possible practical challenges. It also presents the methodology of the conducted sea trials and the performance evaluations in terms of range and data rate.
The neural substrate of maternal love in shopping: Mothers' willingness to pay for her child vs. for herself: An fMRI study

Mother love is essential for mother-child relationship, and is important for child's development. Despite of series of studies pertaining to the neural substrate of parental love, to date, however, no publication is found regarding the neural substrates of maternal love in shopping. In this study, we examined first-time mothers' brain activations in response to mother-related (purses, make-ups, and clothes) and children-related (toys, books, and clothes) items measured by fMRI. 22 (including 20 first-time) mothers were scanned with 3T MRI scanner. In children- vs. mother-related items, the expected mother-nature site, peri-aquductal grey (or PAG), was found to be more activated. In addition, “Buy vs. NotBuy”, as well as interaction of both factors, were both identified. In addition, voxelwise regressions yielded regions associated with mothers' buying characteristics. Lastly, we also implemented the multi-voxel pattern analysis and searchlight mapping to these data, with some preliminary results.
The Ontological Properties of Social Roles : Definitional Dependence , Powers and Roles Playing Roles

In this paper we address the problem of defining social roles in MAS. Social roles provide the basic structure of social institutions and organizations. We start from the properties attributed to roles both in the MAS and the Object Oriented community, and we use them in an ontological analysis of the notion of social role. We thus identify as the main properties of social roles being definitionally dependent on the institution they belong to, attributing powers to the agents playing them, and allowing roles to play roles. The methodology we use to model roles is the agent metaphor: social roles, in the same way as social institutions, like normative systems and organizations, are attributed mental attitudes to explain their behavior.
Atopic and non-atopic asthma in a farming and a general population.

BACKGROUND In a previous study inverse associations between asthma and exposure to fungal spores and endotoxins in atopic farmers and positive associations with the same factors in non-atopic farmers were documented. No external reference population had been included. We, therefore, compared this farming population with the general population from an adjacent region. METHODS Random samples of a farming (n=2,106) and a rural (n=351) and urban (n=727) general population were selected. Atopy was assessed by serum IgE and asthma by questionnaires. RESULTS The asthma prevalence was 4.0% among farmers, 5.7% in the rural, and 7.6% in the urban population. Atopy was similar (9-10%). Most asthmatics were not atopic, 67-75%. Farmers had asthma less often than the general population OR 0.52 (95% CI 0.36-0.75); both atopic (OR 0.33 (95% CI 0.15-0.69)) and non-atopic asthma (OR 0.60 (95% CI 0.39-0.93)). CONCLUSION This may indicate a protective effect of the farm environment on asthma but a healthy worker effect may also play a role.
Human Papillomavirus E6 Regulates the Cytoskeleton Dynamics of Keratinocytes through Targeted Degradation of p53

ABSTRACT The attachment and spreading of keratinocyte cells result from interactions between integrins and immobilized extracellular matrix molecules. Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) E6 augmented the kinetics of cell spreading, while E6 genes from HPV-11 or bovine papillomavirus type 1 did not. The ability of E6 to interact with the E6AP ubiquitin ligase and target p53 degradation was required to augment cell-spreading kinetics; dominant negative p53 alleles also enhanced the kinetics of cell spreading and the level of attachment of cells to hydrophobic surfaces. The targeted degradation of p53 by E6 may contribute to the invasive phenotype exhibited by cervical cells that contain high-risk HPV types.
`Apprentice Entrepreneurs'? Ethnic Minority Workers in the Independent Restaurant Sector

Ethnic minority business activity has often been presented as a vehicle for `upward mobility' for owners and workers alike. Much attention has focused upon the owners themselves. The co-ethnic labour that such employers usually rely upon has often been treated as unproblematic. This paper aims to illuminate the experiences of workers in ethnic minority owned restaurants. In particular, the widely held view that working in a co-ethnic firm serves as an `apprenticeship' for eventual self-employment is explored. Rather than co-ethnic ties, workers' labour market experiences highlight the importance of the `opportunity structure' in shaping employment choices. The evidence of the current research suggests that the goal of self-employment was not widely held; and although many workers did move around to acquire better paid work, this was not part of a strategic route to becoming a restaurateur. Some workers did cherish such ambitions, but were inhibited by major obstacles. These included intense competition, high start-up costs, and a lack of `know-how'. The labour market and social context of the firm often militated against the hazardous proposition of self-employment.