Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Innovation and skills from a sectoral perspective: a linked employer–employee analysis

Science and engineering skills as well as management and leadership skills are often referred to as sources of innovative activities within companies. Broken down into sectoral innovation patterns, this article examines the role of formal education, actual occupation and work experience in the innovation performance in manufacturing firms within a probit model. It uses unique micro data for Germany (LIAB) that contain information about corporate innovation activities and the qualification of employees in terms of formal education, actual professional status and work experience. We find clear differences in the human capital endowment between sectors according to the Pavitt classification. Sectors with a high share of highly skilled employees engage in above average product innovation (specialised suppliers and science-based industries). However, according to our estimation results, across as well as within these sectors a large share of highly skilled employees does not substantially increase the probability of a firm being innovative.
Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization Less Choice is Better , Sometimes

Psychological experiments have revealed that more choice does not always make one better off. For example, consumers are sometimes more likely to purchase a product from a small variety than a large variety. Some have suggested that this excessive-choice effect may have implications for how well markets serve society. This paper constructs an economic model where the excessive-choice effect results from search costs. The model shows that it is possible for markets to produce too much variety, but there are also incentives inducing markets to provide an optimal variety. Advertising, retailer market power, and slotting fees are not just signs of imperfect competition, but mechanisms of ensuring consumers are presented with an ideal choice set.
Methane. A review

Earth's atmosphere is changing because of emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide emissions are important and result in half of the warming of the atmosphere. Pollutants from burning like black carbon (soot), nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides have adverse health effects and result in cooling. Pollutants have long masked the greenhouse effect, but improved air quality through reductions in air pollutants increase the warming. Atmospheric processes are intricately linked. Methane is central in all atmospheric chemistry. Methane is also important as a greenhouse gas. Although carbon dioxide should be reduced to prevent global warming, it is relatively cheap to reduce the non-CO2 greenhouse gases such as methane at the same time. Methane's concentration in the troposphere, after a long period of stabiliszation, is rising again since 2006. Here I will give a review on methane, its atmospheric chemistry, its emission sources and global budget.
Effect of Programmed Number of Intervals to Detect Ventricular Fibrillation on Implantable Cardioverter‐Defibrillator Aborted and Unnecessary Shocks

Introduction: Detection of self‐terminating arrhythmias by implantable cardioverter‐defibrillators (ICDs) causes unnecessary battery depletion and unnecessary shocks. Our goal was to estimate the effect of the programmed number of intervals to detect (NID) ventricular fibrillation (VF) on ICD temporal episode rate, unnecessary shocks, and delay in detection of VF.
Elemental diet modulates the growth of Clostridium difficile in the gut flora

Background and aims : Tube feeding is regarded as a risk factor for Clostridium difficile‐associated diarrhoea. Recently, we reported that C. difficile toxin was frequently found in patients receiving an elemental diet. The present study was conducted to clarify whether elemental diets are associated with the growth of C. difficile in the gut flora.
An energy-efficient routing protocol with controllable expected delay in duty-cycled wireless sensor networks

Low duty cycled scheduling can largely prolong the lifetime of a wireless sensor network (WSN) but also brings longer end-to-end (E2E) delivery delay. In this paper, our design objective is to pursue the near minimum E2E energy consumption subject to a desired success ratio that the E2E delay is below a delay bound. Accordingly, we design a Markov decision process based geographic routing protocol such that each relay node currently holding a packet makes localized forwarding decision on continuing waiting or transmitting immediately to the so far best forwarder candidate based only on local network state information. Simulation results show that the designed protocol can achieve expected success ratio subject to given delay bound and also high energy use efficiency.
Morocco: From Mobilizations to Reconciliation?

In Morocco, resorting to a Truth and Reconciliation Commission – the Instance Équité et Réconciliation (IER) – to deal with the past was imposed under the pressure of the Moroccan Forum for Truth and Justice, an association of ‘years of lead’ victims. The article places the IER both in the context of other attempts by the Moroccan authorities to close the file of human rights violations, and in the context of victims' claims and mobilizations. Finally, it explains that by focusing on victims but not naming torturers, the authorities found a way to accommodate international and national pressure for truth and reconciliation without threatening the regime.
The cognitive radio in TV white space with coexistence constraint

In this paper we investigate the rate region of the cognitive radio (CR) systems sharing the geographically used or unused spectrum in TV white space to accommodate the operation in real environment. That is, the primary user (PU) is a TV multi-casting system with one transmitter and several receivers; the secondary user (SU) is a Gaussian broadcast channel. In addition, the coexistence constraint which requires that PUs' coding schemes and rates are not changed with the emergence of SU, should be satisfied. All transmitters and receivers are equipped with single antenna. To investigate the performance of the considered model, we formulate a power allocation problem to optimize the rate region of the CR system while not degrade any TV receivers. Then we use the uplink-downlink duality and the convexity of the dual problem to solve this optimization problem. Numerical results show that the considered CR system outperforms those purely using interference avoidance mode, especially when the probability of PU being active is high.
Effectiveness of seasonal vaccine in preventing confirmed influenza-associated hospitalizations in community dwelling older adults.

BACKGROUND Current evidence supporting the effectiveness of influenza vaccine in preventing hospitalizations in older adults is insufficient. METHODS During 3 influenza seasons, 2006-2009, community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 y hospitalized with respiratory symptoms were prospectively enrolled in this study. We tested nose and throat samples for influenza virus by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. We estimated vaccine effectiveness by comparing vaccination status between influenza-positive cases and influenza-negative controls using logistic regression models with propensity score adjustment. RESULTS Overall, 450 (59%) of 763 eligible patients were enrolled; 417 (93%) of enrolled patients had adequate respiratory samples, had known influenza vaccination status, and were community-dwelling. The proportions of influenza-positive patients were 8%, 20%, and 6% in the 3 successive seasons. Of 39 influenza-positive participants, 14 (36%) were vaccinated compared with 250 (66%) of 378 influenza-negative controls. Propensity score-adjusted vaccine effectiveness for the 3 seasons combined was 61.2% (95% confidence interval, 17.5%-81.8%). CONCLUSION Overall, in this moderately well-vaccinated population of older adults, laboratory-confirmed influenza virus accounted for 9.3% (95% confidence interval, 6.6%-12.1%) of all respiratory hospitalizations during 3 influenza seasons, and influenza vaccination prevented 61.2% of such hospitalizations.
The Weekend and 'Reverse' Weekend Effects: An Analysis by Month of the Year, Week of the Month, and Industry

In this paper, we examine whether the 'reverse' weekend effect recently documented by Brusa, Liu and Schulman (2000) is concentrated in a few industries or widely spread across all the industries. The findings in this paper indicate that the 'reverse' weekend effect exists not only in "broad" indices, but also in most "industries". The results suggest that the 'reverse' weekend effect may be driven by economic events that affect "all" industries, rather than "industry-specific factors". Although the patterns of Monday returns are "similar" between "broad" indices and "industry" indices, they are "different" between the "pre"- and the "post"-1988 periods. Monday returns tend to be "negative" in the "pre"-1988 period, but tend to be "positive" in the "post"-1988 period, for both broad market indices and industry indices. These conclusions are valid even after considering the influence of the "month-of-the-year" and the "week-of-the-month" effects. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2003.
A combined control strategy of wind energy conversion system with direct-driven PMSG

Due to the frequent changes of the operating point right across the whole operation range, industrial processes are generally nonlinear. There exists a large amount of physics constraints in a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) based Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS). The control problems of the constrained nonlinear processes present great challenge. Considering the various disturbances, including the internal disturbances, i.e., system uncertainties and the modeling errors, and the external disturbances, i.e., the unknown external forces and wind speeds. A compound control combined with Model Predictive Control (MPC) theory and Disturbance Observer (DO) is proposed in this paper. MPC can roll optimization and feedback correction. Therefore, the model predictive control can achieve very high control performance. In addition, to reduce prediction error caused by parameter variation during operations, the DO is adopted to estimate a lumped disturbance term that is feed-forward then. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed composite control strategy has a good speed tracking performance in a wind energy conversion system.
Measuring volatility using bilinear GARCH models

Extracted from text . Number 52 - Part 1 N Biekpe* and MJ Moore** Measuring volatility using bilinear GARCH models For all correspondence, contact Nicholas Biekpe, Africa Centre for Investment Analysis, University of Stellenbosch, PO Box 610, Bellville 7535, South Africa. Email: nbiekpe@acia.sun.ac.za **Queen's School of Management, The Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1. Introduction Although there is now an extensive literature on modelling financial volatility using the ARCH class of models (Engel, 1982; Bollerslev, 1986; Bollerslev, Chou and Kroner, 1992) among others, little attention has been paid to the covariance structure between the lagged values of independent variables. This structure is always .
Removal of Interference Signals Due to Water from in vivo Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectra of Blood Glucose by Region Orthogonal Signal Correction (ROSC)

A novel chemometric method, region orthogonal signal correction (ROSC), is proposed and applied to pretreat near-infrared (NIR) spectra of blood glucose measured in vivo . Water is the most serious interference component in such kinds of noninvasive measurements, because it shows very high absorbance in the spectra. In the present study, the spectra of blood glucose in the range of 1212–1889 nm are used, in which the absorption of water around 1440 nm is very high. ROSC aims at removing the interference signal due to water from the spectra by selecting a set of spectra with a special region of 1404–1454 nm that mainly contain information about the variation of the interference component, water, and calculating the orthogonal components to the concentrations of glucose that will be removed. The difference between ROSC and orthogonal signal correction (OSC) is that ROSC uses a special region of spectra for the estimation of scores and loading weights of orthogonal components to pretreat the spectra in other regions, while OSC only uses one fixed region of spectra to calculate loadings, scores and weights of OSC components and removes the OSC components in the same region. A clear advantage of ROSC is that it is more interpretable than OSC, because one can select a spectral region to remove the variation of a special component such as water. Another chemometric method, moving window partial least squares (MWPLSR), is also used to select informative regions of glucose from the NIR spectra of blood glucose measured in vivo , leading to improved PLS models. Results of the application of ROSC demonstrate that ROSC-pretreated spectra including the whole spectral region of 1212–1889 nm or an informative region of 1600–1730 nm selected by MWPLSR provide very good performance of the PLS models. Especially, the later region yields a model with RMSECV of 15.8911 mg/dL for four PLS components. ROSC is a potential chemometric technique in the pretreatment of various spectra.
Incubation as co-creation: case study of proactive technology business development

The paper reports the findings of an exploratory case study focusing on the management of business incubation through the theoretical lens of 'co-creation'. This approach conceptualises business incubation as a process that the incubation managers attempt to orchestrate through active collaboration with the other actors involved in the incubation process. Based on the reflexive action research strategy, which provides an insider view of the incubation managers, the study illustrates how they pro-actively seek to engage the incubation parties in continuous dialogue concerning business development. The case study illustrates how the construction of a joint sphere of interaction and mutual influence among the incubation parties is a key management activity. Furthermore, the wide ranging catalyst role of incubation managers in particular is central to the perspective of co-creation of value to the client's business.
The Distribution of Fees within the IPO Syndicate

This paper examines the division of fees within the IPO underwriting syndicate using data on 4,186 US IPOs in the 1990s. Like the 7% gross spread, the standard contract of 20% management fee, 20% underwriting fee, and 60% selling concession has become more common in recent years. There exists, however, significant variation from these standard percentages. The percentage of the total spread paid as selling concessions increases with offering size. This result is attributed to differential economies of scale in managing and underwriting an IPO versus selling it and to differences in bargaining power.
Using knowledge based engineering to automate the post-processing of FEA results

An integral part of the design route for many components is the analysis of them using finite element techniques. The results of an analysis are studied and decisions made regarding the suitability of the design with respect to its engineering specification. This post-processing stage may lead to design changes that are made to address the concerns of the design team. Due to the inherent limitations in the current methods of describing and handling a complete representation of a component product model by geometrically focused CAD systems, engineers are not able to automatically integrate the FE post-processing stage into the design process. This paper describes the use of a knowledge based engineering environment to automate the post-processing phase of the analysis using an engine-mounting bracket as an example. The system developed will directly validate the initial design model by altering the product model until a satisfactory analysis result is obtained.
Hospitality Educators' Perceptions of Ethics Education and the Implications for Hospitality Educators, Practitioners, and Students

Ethics is a growing concern for American society, particularly in the hospitality industry. It is a topic that is hard to define and hard to grasp. Educators and practitioners alike are struggling with this issue. The results of this study have generated a number of implications for hospitality ethics education. Although not generalizable, the results imply that many hospitality programs have not incorporated and implemented ethics education into their curricula, however faculty members tend to think that they have. These results support the literature review. Furthermore, most hospitality educators, the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education members (I-CHRIE), believe that business ethics can be taught and ethics courses or seminars have been of benefit to them. Most hospitality educators have not taught any ethics related courses or seminars at their academic programs within the last year. Most hospitality educators have not conducted any research projects related to ethics in the past year. In conclusion, there is a need to incorporate and implement ethics education and training for students and employees. Ethics education may enhance students' business ethics knowledge and hospitality employees' ethical conduct to improve the overall quality of the hospitality industry since most hospitality educators believe that business ethics can be taught and ethics courses or seminars are of benefit to them. Hospitality industry and hospitality programs may consider incorporating ethics across the curriculum and using scenarios and case studies to teach ethics.
Patient perceptions of using the OmniPod system compared with conventional insulin pumps in young adults with type 1 diabetes.

AIMS This study evaluated treatment satisfaction, comfort, and function using the wireless OmniPod™ Insulin Management System (Insulet Corp., Bedford, MA) compared with conventional (infusion set) insulin pumps in young adults with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Twenty-nine patients (age, 24.0 ± 5.1 years; diabetes duration, 12.1 ± 5.7 years; insulin pump duration, 6.4 ± 3.1 years; glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c], 8.6 ± 0.7%) participated in a randomized, two-arm open crossover study comparing two consecutive 12-week periods of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII): one period using the OmniPod system and the other period using conventional CSII. The main outcome measures were treatment satisfaction (Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire), user evaluation (OmniPod System User Evaluation Questionnaire), and HbA1c levels. RESULTS Treatment satisfaction at baseline was high, with a mean score of 28.6±4.6 (maximal score, 36) and no significant difference between the two randomized groups. Upon completion of the study period 43% "would switch to OmniPod," 36% were "undecided," and 21% "would not switch pumps. " Seventy-six percent preferred the OmniPod automated cannula insertion system, and 56% reported that OmniPod fit better into their lifestyle than conventional CSII. HbA1c levels significantly decreased with both OmniPod and conventional CSII (7.9 ± 0.9% vs. 8.8 ± 0.7% and 8.2 ± 0.9% vs. 8.5 ± 0.5%, respectively; P<0.001 for both groups) after completion of the first treatment arm. The decrease in HbA1c was more marked in the OmniPod group (P=0.044), without additional improvement at the end of the study in either group. CONCLUSIONS The OmniPod system was well received by young adults with type 1 diabetes experienced with conventional CSII.
Directions and Paths of Knowledge Flows through Labour Mobility: A Social Capital Perspective

Angeli F. , Grandi A. and Grimaldi R. Directions and paths of knowledge flows through labour mobility: a social capital perspective, Regional Studies. This paper investigates how knowledge flows across companies through labour mobility, focusing on differences in regional affiliations, industry affiliations and foreign affiliations. The theoretical framework relies on a social capital perspective, which postulates that firms devote consistent strategic effort to shaping their social capital through labour inflows and outflows. The regression analyses, based on 1331 dyads involving 3895 employee movements across 397 companies in the Bangalore information technology cluster in India, indicate that companies tend to hire locally and from rivals. Moreover, multinational corporations favour labour outflows to cluster firms, which enhance their local social capital and fuel knowledge transfers within clusters.
Cross-Platform Question Routing for Better Question Answering

The last two decades have seen an increasing interest in the task of question answering (QA). Earlier approaches focused on automated retrieval and extraction models. Recent developments have more focus on community driven QA. This work addresses this task through cross-platform question routing. We study question types as well as the answers that can be gathered from different platforms. After developing new evaluation measures, we optimize for various constraints of the user needs. We consider models that work for the general public, before adapting them to some special demographics (Arab journalists).
Competing with Marketing Channels and Logistics in Africa's Booming Markets: An Investigation of Emerging Supply Chain Management Practices in Ghana

Using Ghana as the African context for testing the applicability of supply chain management, this study reveals that firms there place less emphasis on logistics and channels management practices relative to product and pricing marketing mix elements. However, this situation is changing in response to the perceived positive impact of the regulatory and technological environment on market-share competitive performance. Those firms that emphasize integration of both logistics and channels management practices exhibited the strongest competitive market-share and financial performance; firms whose practices placed moderate emphasis on both logistics and channels management integration reported moderate levels of market-share and financial performance. These results suggest that firms in Ghana compete along a continuum of supply chain integration primarily on the basis of the increasingly market-oriented business environment.
A Group-Based Image Inpainting Using Patch Refinement in MRF Framework

This paper presents a Markov random field (MRF)-based image inpainting algorithm using patch selection from groups of similar patches and optimal patch assignment through joint patch refinement. In patch selection, a novel group formation strategy based on subspace clustering is introduced to search the candidate patches in relevant source region only. This improves patch searching in terms of both quality and time. We also propose an efficient patch refinement scheme using higher order singular value decomposition to capture underlying pattern among the candidate patches. This eliminates random variation and unwanted artifacts as well. Finally, a weight term is computed, based on the refined patches and is incorporated in the objective function of the MRF model to improve the optimal patch assignment. Experimental results on a large number of natural images and comparison with well-known existing methods demonstrate the efficacy and superiority of the proposed method.