Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reducing burnout in call centers through HR practices

Previous research on call centers has demonstrated that human resource (HR) practices can be related to employee stress; however, these studies did not examine the linking mechanisms underlying these associations. Using the job demands–control (JD-C) model as a theoretical framework, we examine perceived job demands (namely, emotional dissonance and quantitative demands) and autonomy as potential mediators in the relationship between HR systems and burnout (exhaustion and cynicism). We distinguish between HR control systems, which include performance monitoring practices, and HR involvement systems, which include training, participation, and performance-related pay. This study samples 811 employees working in 11 call centers. Our findings support the idea that HR systems can help reduce burnout in call centers by verifying that HR control systems associated with more emotional dissonance and less autonomy increase burnout. On the other hand, an HR involvement system decreases workers' burnout because it alleviates the job demands of emotional dissonance and quantitative demands. This study fills a gap in the literature between HR systems and burnout by demonstrating the role job demands and autonomy play in explaining how HR systems improve or decrease workers' exhaustion and cynicism. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Decomposing the Relationship Between Human Capital and GDP: An Empirical Analysis of Bangladesh

This paper dissects the relationship between human capital stock and real GDP per capita in Bangladesh using VEC and VAR techniques. Results show that GDP granger causes aggregate human capital stock. This paper constructs a measure of Bangladesh's human capital stock for the period of 1973-2004 using the perpetual inventory method. Innovations in secondary and higher secondary education are found to have the greatest short to medium-term impact on the country's real GDP. Consistently this research also finds evidence that the variance of the human capital sequence is strongly influenced by shocks to the GDP sequence, whereas the evolution of GDP over the medium term is relatively unaffected by shocks to aggregate human capital stock. These results show that increases in human capital tend to follow income. The findings of this research suggest that secondary and higher secondary education should be emphasized by Bangladesh.
A MICRO‐ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF TEA PRODUCTION USING A SEPARABLE RESTRICTED PROFIT FUNCTION

To derive policy-relevant information, the translog form of a separable restricted profit function was used to model empirically estate tea production in Sri Lanka. Data consisted of 87 observations of prices and quantities for various inputs and outputs from 54 different Sri Lankan tea estates. In different tests, the estimated model respected generally the properties implied by underlying assumptions. Results indicated increasing economies of scale in the factory across the sample and optimal field size to be between 300 and 400 hectares. Amongst estimated short-term elasticities, the supply elasticity of made tea was found to be +0.94.
Trading places: the ethnographic process in small firms' research

Ethnography has gained increasing acceptance as a valuable means of analysing the dynamic nature of life in small enterprises. This paper focuses on the process of ‘exchange’ between researcher and researched, which emerged as a key issue in a year-long ethnographic investigation of employment relations in three small firms. ‘Exchange’ has connotations of trading, bargaining and negotiation. Although these practices have been implied in previous studies using ethnography, they were central to the research reported on here. The paper considers how the intensive level of involvement during the research was managed, the various modes of ‘exchange’ that were negotiated, and their contribution to shaping an understanding of employment relations in the case study firms. A number of implications arise from the exercise. First, the ‘exchange’ process can act as an important ‘facilitator’ of research in the often-unpredictable arena of the small firm. Hence, it should be acknowledged and analysed accordingly rathe.
Messy hectares: questions about the epistemology of land grabbing data

Recent research on land deals reports gigantic quantities of hectares seized, with relatively little regard for the solidity of the evidence or for considerations of scale other than area. This commentary questions the usefulness of aggregating data of uneven quality and transforming it into ‘facts’. Making claims on the basis of problematic evidence does not serve agrarian and human rights activists well, since it may undercut their legitimacy and make it difficult for them to identify their adversaries. Studying land tenure and corporate ownership is inherently complicated, with intractable legibility problems. Social scientists must subject their sources to critical scrutiny and understand the contexts of their production, preservation and dissemination. An accelerated process of dispossession is clearly in motion, but countering it effectively requires precise and accurate data, which are difficult to obtain. Oversimplified claims may not only undermine efforts to counter specific cases of land grabbing – and claims about land grabbing more generally – but may also divert attention from less publicized cases and from the actors behind the land grabbing. They also tend to reduce land grabbing to a quantitative problem rather than focusing on the social relations that it may or may not transform. This is a much revised and expanded version of a paper presented at the Plenary Session Roundtable on Methodologies: Identifying, Counting and Understanding, International Academic Conference on Global Land Grabbing II, organized by the Land Deals Politics Initiative (LDPI), Cornell University, 17–19 October 2012. I am grateful to Jun Borras, Andrés León, Carlos Oya, Katherine Verdery and this journal's reviewers for comments that contributed to sharpening an earlier draft.
Hybrid Petri-nets for modelling and performance evaluation of supply chains

Modelling and analysis of complex and co-ordinated supply chains is a crucial task due to its inherent complexity and uncertainty. Therefore, the current research direction is to devise an efficient modelling technique that maps the dynamics of a real life supply chain and assists industrial practitioners in evaluating and comparing their network with other competing networks. Here an effective modelling technique, the hybrid Petri-net, is proposed to efficiently handle the dynamic behaviour of the supply chain. This modelling methodology embeds two enticing features, i.e. cost and batch sizes, in deterministic and stochastic Petri-net for the modelling and performance evaluation of supply chain networks. The model is subsequently used for risk management to investigate the issues of supply chain vulnerability and risk that has become a major research subject in recent years. In the test bed, a simple productive supply chain and an industrial supply chain are modelled with fundamental inventory replenishment policy. Subsequently, its performance is evaluated along with the identification and assessment of risk factors using analytical and simulation techniques respectively. Thus, this paper presents a complete package for industrial practitioners to model, evaluate performance and manage risky events in a supply chain.
Construction and Characterization of Novel, Completely Human Serine Protease Therapeutics Targeting Her2/neu

Immunotoxins containing bacterial or plant toxins have shown promise in cancer-targeted therapy, but their long-term clinical use may be hampered by vascular leak syndrome and immunogenicity of the toxin. We incorporated human granzyme B (GrB) as an effector and generated completely human chimeric fusion proteins containing the humanized anti-Her2/neu single-chain antibody 4D5 (designated GrB/4D5). Introduction of a pH-sensitive fusogenic peptide (designated GrB/4D5/26) resulted in comparatively greater specific cytotoxicity although both constructs showed similar affinity to Her2/neu–positive tumor cells. Compared with GrB/4D5, GrB/4D5/26 showed enhanced and long-lasting cellular uptake and improved delivery of GrB to the cytosol of target cells. Treatment with nanomolar concentrations of GrB/4D5/26 resulted in specific cytotoxicity, induction of apoptosis, and efficient downregulation of PI3K/Akt and Ras/ERK pathways. The endogenous presence of the GrB proteinase inhibitor 9 did not impact the response of cells to the fusion construct. Surprisingly, tumor cells resistant to lapatinib or Herceptin, and cells expressing MDR-1 resistant to chemotherapeutic agents showed no cross-resistance to the GrB-based fusion proteins. Administration (intravenous, tail vein) of GrB/4D5/26 to mice bearing BT474 M1 breast tumors resulted in significant tumor suppression. In addition, tumor tissue excised from GrB/4D5/26–treated mice showed excellent delivery of GrB to tumors and a dramatic induction of apoptosis compared with saline treatment. This study clearly showed that the completely human, functionalized GrB construct can effectively target Her2/neu–expressing cells and displays impressive in vitro and in vivo activity. This construct should be evaluated further for clinical use. Mol Cancer Ther; 12(6); 979–91. ©2013 AACR.
Morphology of bacterial attachment to cardiac pacemaker leads and power packs

The mode of growth of the bacteria adherent to the surfaces of various components of cardiac pacemakers infected with coagulase-negative staphylococci was examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Within developing adherent microcolonies, coccoid cells could be clearly seen to be enveloped by an amorphous material that condensed radically upon dehydration for electron microscopy, producing an amorphous residue in scanning electron micrographs and a fibrous anionic ruthenium red-staining residue in transmission electron micrographs. The differences in morphologies of the condensed residues may reflect differences in exopolysaccharides elaborated by the microorganisms and the degree to which materials of host origin are incorporated. The coccoid cells of coagulase-negative staphylococci were less clearly seen in thick, mature, adherent biofilms on heavily colonized surfaces because the condensed residue of their exopolysaccharide glycocalyces covered, and sometimes occluded, the bacteria cells. These coagulase-negative staphylococcal strains appeared to produce more exopolysaccharide material than did the strains infecting various intravascular catheters.
RET-Rearranged Lung Adenocarcinomas with Lymphangitic Spread, Psammoma Bodies, and Clinical Responses to Cabozantinib

Abstract: Oncogenic rearrangements of the RET gene have recently been described in 1% to 2% of lung adenocarcinomas. We report five cases of RET-rearranged lung adenocarcinoma with an unusual constellation of clinical and histologic features that has not previously been described in tumors with this genomic alteration. The age at diagnosis of the five patients (4F, 1M) ranged from 44 to 77 years. All were never-smokers. Radiologically, four tumors showed lymphangitic spread within the lungs at presentation; three of these had multiple bilateral lung nodules. Histology showed psammoma bodies within the tumor in four of five cases. Molecular testing for activating EGFR mutations by standard genotyping and ALK expression by immunohistochemistry was negative in all cases. Additional molecular analysis was prompted by the clinical profile in that all five patients were never-smokers with metastatic, relapsed, and/or refractory disease; and also by unusual histologic findings in two cases. Comprehensive genomic profiling performed by means of a clinical grade cancer gene panel next-generation sequencing assay demonstrated a KIF5B-RET fusion in three; and fluorescence in-situ hybridization documented a RET rearrangement in two. Three of the patients were treated with the RET inhibitor cabozantinib. By Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria, two had a confirmed partial response (at 6 weeks and 4 weeks) and one had stable disease. Our findings suggest that the combination of lymphangitic spread and psammoma bodies may be characteristic of a subset of advanced stage RET-rearranged lung adenocarcinomas. These findings should prompt additional molecular testing for RET translocations, particularly in never-smokers with EGFR- and ALK-negative lung adenocarcinoma.
Online cognitive engagement of boys with ADHD

The present study was designed to examine the role that attentional problems may play in accounting for difficulties in story comprehension experienced by children with ADHD. A secondary task methodology was used to examine whether or not online variations in cognitive engagement with a televised story were related to the continuity of central or incidental information. Twenty-two 9- to 11-year-old boys with ADHD and 36 of their nonreferred peers watched a television program and responded to auditory probes presented at preselected points during continuous sequences of central or incidental information. The reaction times to the probes for nonreferred boys showed the expected linear increase in cognitive engagement (i.e., the RTs increased) as central, plot-relevant sequences continued. In contrast, boys with ADHD showed the expected increase in RTs relatively late in the central sequences. The results were discussed in terms of how delays in engaging with central information may contribute to the academic difficulties experienced by boys with ADHD.
Exploring Stakeholder Salience for the Adoption of Principles and Tools of Cleaner Production in Brazilian Companies

Objective – The key objective of this paper is to show the primary environmental influences exerted by the government, economic agents and society on companies for the implementation of the principles and tools of cleaner production (CP), and the attributes (power, legitimacy and urgency) used by stakeholders to coerce companies into adopting these principles. Design/methodology/approach –
The influences of economic openness on Japan's balancing item: an empirical note

Exploring the factors influencing the balancing item of balance of payments accounts has seldom been a subject of research in international economics. Following Brooks and Fausten (1998), and using Japan's data, this study has empirically examined the influences of economic openness on balancing item. The results of subset VAR (Vector Autoregression) approach, Granger causality test, impulse responses function, and variance decomposition have showed that, to a certain extent, economic openness does influence the behaviour of Japan's balancing item.
Turning Off the Heat: Impacts of Power Plant Decommissioning on Green Turtle Research in San Diego Bay

Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are among the most high profile species in San Diego Bay, California, and understanding impacts of coastal development and industry is essential to the management and conservation of this local population. Here we describe power plant changing energy production and its impact on turtle habitat use and our ability to research and manage this population. For over 20 years, green sea turtles have been captured, assessed, and tagged near the South Bay Power Plant (SBPP) in the San Diego Bay; from 2002–2011, 104 turtles were captured on 212 occasions. As the 50-year-old SBPP generates less energy, effluent patterns change and water temperatures decrease, presumably to more natural conditions. There has been a concurrent decrease in turtle-capture success, perhaps due to lesser visitation to the effluent site where nets are tended. Seasonal catch-per-unit-effort declined from a high of 4.14 turtles per monitoring day, to a nine-year low of 1.33 during the 2010–2011 season. It is already apparent that management decisions related to energy policy are affecting the habitat and behavior of this stock of endangered turtles. Green turtles are expected to remain in the San Diego Bay after the SBPP becomes inoperative and continuing research will monitor future impacts and distribution shifts resulting from the expected changes in thermal pattern within south San Diego Bay. Research efforts to study this population (i.e., capture methods and locations) will require modification in response to these changes. Lessons learned here are applicable to the immediate coastal development of San Diego, as well as at similar interactions between marine turtles and industrial thermal effluent discharge throughout Southern California, the United States, and beyond.
Macroeconomic Effects of Climate Policies on Road Transport

This paper reports a study modeling climate policies in the United Kingdom for road transportation over the period 2000 to 2010. Estimates of the effects of fuel-economy policies are introduced into the energy-demand equation for transport in a top-down dynamic econometric model of the UK economy with 50 industrial sectors, MDM-E3. This allows estimation of the effects of the reduced energy use for the transport sector on demand (both in the United Kingdom and in the export markets). The model is solved as a counterfactual for 2000 to 2005 and as a projection for 2005 to 2010 in a series of scenarios that compare voluntary agreements in fuel economy improvements with UK fuel taxes giving the same reduction in CO2 emissions. The systemwide final energy reductions are estimated to be 2.9 million tons of oil equivalent, or 1.8%, of total final demand for energy by 2010. Voluntary agreements (VAs) were found to yield positive macroeconomic effects, with small increases in GDP and employment and small reductions in general inflation. In contrast, fuel taxes set at a level to achieve the same amount of CO2 reductions raise prices and lower gross domestic product (GDP) and employment. If fuel duties are recycled in the economy, reducing income taxes, then the undesirable macroeconomic impacts of fuel duties can be largely eliminated. To the extent that VAs are viewed by vehicle manufacturers as a substitute for mandated fuel economy improvements, it is possible to compare the relative effects of standards and taxes in the light-duty transport sector in reducing CO2 emissions.
Structural and functional studies with antibodies to the integrin beta 2 subunit. A model for the I-like domain.

To establish a structure and function map of the beta2 integrin subunit, we mapped the epitopes of a panel of beta2 monoclonal antibodies including function-blocking, nonblocking, and activating antibodies using human/mouse beta2 subunit chimeras. Activating antibodies recognize the C-terminal half of the cysteine-rich region, residues 522-612. Antibodies that do not affect ligand binding map to residues 1-98 and residues 344-521. Monoclonal antibodies to epitopes within a predicted I-like domain (residues 104-341) strongly inhibit LFA-1-dependent adhesion. These function-blocking monoclonal antibodies were mapped to specific residues with human --> mouse knock-out or mouse --> human knock-in mutations. Combinatorial epitopes involving residues distant in the sequence provide support for a specific alignment between the beta-subunit and I domains that was used to construct a three-dimensional model. Antigenic residues 133, 332, and 339 are on the first and last predicted alpha-helices of the I-like domain, which are adjacent on its "front. " Other antigenic residues in beta2 and in other integrin beta subunits are present on the front. No antigenic residues are present on the "back" of the domain, which is predicted to be in an interface with other domains, such as the alpha subunit beta-propeller domain. Most mutations in the beta2 subunit in leukocyte adhesion deficiency are predicted to be buried in the beta2 subunit I-like domain. Two long insertions are present relative to alpha-subunit I-domains. One is tied down to the back of the I-like domain by a disulfide bond. The other corresponds to the "specificity-determining loop" defined in beta1 and beta3 integrins and contains the antigenic residue Glu(175) in a disulfide-bonded loop located near the "top" of the domain.
Contribution of Structural and Functional Traits in Turgor Maintenance of Pistia Stratiotes L . under Cadmium Toxicity

Plants of Pistia stratiotes L. were collected from industrial effluents along Sheikhupura-Lahore road in order to examine morpho-anatomical and physiological mechanism for turgor maintenance to cope metal toxicity. Plants were subjected to cadmium stress (3CdSO4.6H2O) and levels for Cd, were 0, 50, 100 and 150 mg L in aqueous medium. Growth of the P. stratiotes L. in terms of plant height and biomass production was reduced under cadmium stress. P. stratiotes accumulated proline, total proteins and total free aminoacids in higher amount under cadmium stress. Metals increased uptake of both Caand Kin roots but higher doses of cadmium disturbed ionic balance. Root epidermal cell area increased as the stress level increased but higher level of cadmium showed reduction in this parameter. Cortical region thickness and cortical cell area increased significantly under cadmium stress, and this can be related to accumulation of organic and inorganic substances in storage parenchyma. A significant increase was also recorded in aerenchymatous area and phloem area that ensures efficient gaseous exchange and translocation of photosynthates, hence successful survival under polluted environments. Leaf anatomical characteristics like abaxial or adaxial epidermal cell area were relatively more sensitive to Cd stress showing a significant reduction at higher Cd levels. Trichome number increased at all levels of stress enabling P. stratiotes to resist water loss through leaf surface, indicating its high degree of tolerance. Pistia stratiotes accumulated Cd mainly in roots, and therefore it is concluded that this species is metal accumulator and can be used for phytoremediation of Cd-polluted soils and water. © 2018 Friends Science Publishers
Optimizing energy consumption of air-conditioning systems with the fuzzy logic controllers in residential buildings: Optimizing energy consumption of air-conditioning systems in residential buildings

In this research work, two energy management controllers are proposed: swarm optimization fuzzy mamdani (SOFM) and swarm optimization fuzzy sugeno (SOFS) for the efficient scheduling and controlling of the electric loads in a residential building which is comprised of 10 apartments having the single family setup. Two types of electric loads are considered in terms of: daily used appliances and the seasonally used appliances. In addition, two demand side management strategies are used for managing both type of loads concerning to the load shifting and load curtailment. Daily used electric loads are the commonly used appliances considered in the residential buildings; whereas in the seasonally used electric loads, only air-conditioning systems are considered. Load scheduling technique (binary particle swarm optimization) is applied for the scheduling of daily used electric loads whereas load curtailment strategy (fuzzy logic) is applied for the seasonally used electric loads in order to manage the load in an effective fashion. The input parameters are: number of appliances, time-slots, power rating, length of operation time and utility price in case of the daily used electric loads; whereas in case of the seasonally used electric loads, we considered the following input parameters: initialized setpoints, user occupancy, price ratings, indoor and outdoor temperature. Output parameters considered for both types of the electric loads are: energy consumption (EC), cost, peak to average ratio (PAR) and energy efficiency. Simulations are performed in Matlab and results proved that our proposed controllers: SOFM and SOFS outperformed the unscheduled and existing approaches in terms of minimizing EC, cost, PAR and energy efficiency. SOFM outperformed to the existing and unscheduled approach till 45% and 48% in terms of minimizing EC and cost reduction.