Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ageing and labour market implications for Lithuania

Due to low fertility rates, higher life expectancies and substantial outward migration, Lithuania is one of the fastest ageing countries in Europe. As a result, the working-age population is expected to decline dramatically, giving rise to a number of economic, labour market and social challenges. In order to mitigate the effects of ageing, policies are needed to raise the participation rates of older workers. This includes placing greater emphasis on active labour market programmes and other measures to ensure older workers are given the opportunity and skills to return to work and remain attached to the job market. Social dialogue and tripartite discussion are vital to successful policy design as well as generating the public support to implement the necessary reforms. In addition, a number of complementary policy options will also be merited to fully attenuate the downside risks, notably by increasing the productive capacity of the core working-age population through enhanced labour productivity, increased participation of all groups and addressing the root causes of emigration. This working paper discusses theses labour market implications in more detail and provides international policy examples on how best to address these challenges.
The cyclical nature of markups in Canadian manufacturing: A production theory approach

In this paper the effects of cost and demand characteristics on the magnitude and cyclical behaviour of markups in Canadian manufacturing are measured within a production theory framework. Price to marginal cost ratios for various manufacturing industries are computed, and the impact on their secular and cyclical trends from changes in capacity utilization, scale economies, variable input prices, import competition, unemployment and other exogenous market and technological determinants are explored using adjusted markup indexes and elasticities. The measured price margins seem weakly procyclical. Further, evaluation of the determinants of these cycles suggests that the procyclical nature of markups is primarily related to exogenous factors affecting costs such as energy price "shocks," and that cost characteristics underlying scale economies provide a countercyclical influence that counteracts the profitability arising from markups. Copyright 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Two-domain reconstitution of a functional protein histidine kinase.

In prokaryotes, in the absence of protein serine/threonine/tyrosine kinases, protein histidine kinases play a major role in signal transduction involved in cellular adaptation to various environmental changes and stresses. Histidine kinases phosphorylate their cognate response regulators at a specific aspartic acid residue with ATP in response to particular environmental signals. In this His-Asp phosphorelay signal transduction system, it is still unknown how the histidine kinase exerts its enzymatic function. Here we demonstrate that the cytoplasmic kinase domain of EnvZ, a transmembrane osmosensor of Escherichia coli can be further divided into two distinct functional subdomains: subdomain A [EnvZ(C). (223-289); 67 residues] and subdomain B [EnvZ(C). (290-450); 161 residues]. Subdomain A, with a high helical content, contains the autophosphorylation site, H-243, and forms a stable dimer having the recognition site for OmpR, the cognate response regulator of EnvZ. Subdomain B, an alpha/beta-protein, exists as a monomer. When mixed, the two subdomains reconstitute the kinase function to phosphorylate subdomain A at His-243 in the presence of ATP. Subsequently, the phosphorylated subdomain A is able to transfer its phosphate group to OmpR. The two-domain structure of this histidine kinase provides an insight into the structural arrangement of the enzyme and its transphosphorylation mechanism.
The system of belief inventory (SBI‐15): a validation study in Israel

This study focused on the validation of measures assessing religiosity by means of three self‐report instruments: the System of Belief Inventory (SBI‐15R), the Religious Orientation Inventory (ROI), and the Index of Core Spiritual Experiences (INSPIRIT). These instruments were developed and validated previously in the United States.
Latency reduction of selected data streams in Network-on-Chips for adaptive manycore systems

This paper reviews Network-on-Chip architectures with prioritization of selected data streams targeting runtime reconfigurable manycore systems. The common idea of these architectures is to minimize the latency of selected packet transmissions by either bypassing or parallelizing processing stages in routers or by using dedicated links bypassing complete routers. Potential classes of selected data streams are latency critical messages, i.e. cache accesses in multiprocessor systems, or systems with semi-static data streams, i.e. systems in which the same components continuously exchange data for a longer period. The review categorizes the diverse architectures and evaluates their pros and cons in terms of universality, hardware efficiency and support of changing traffic patterns.
Vocalizing the 'I' Word: Proposals and Initiatives on Immigration to Japan from the LDP and Beyond

In recent years, various influential voices in Japan have proposed that the country open itself to immigration, in one form or another, as a partial solution to revitalize the economy, to prop up the demographic decline, and in recognition of already present streams of migrants who entered through “side” or “back” doors. Where will Japan go from here? This paper traces connections between developments in migration policy in recent years by examining relevant discourses on migration from government policy reports, interviews with bureaucrats, politicians and civil society organization representatives and other stakeholders. While pro-immigration voices are present, the prospect for any “opening up” of Japan remains murky, due in no small part to the failures evident in various policies that have been put forward up to this point as well as to the economic recessions of the past two decades, exacerbated by the disastrous earthquake and nuclear accident of 3/11. The “I” word remains contested.
Fetal and maternal thyroid hormone responses to ethanol exposure during the third trimester equivalent of gestation in sheep.

BACKGROUND Abnormal thyroid hormone system function in the mother or fetus during pregnancy can result in brain defects, some of which resemble those found in children with fetal alcohol syndrome. It has been hypothesized that ethanol may act to mediate alcohol-related birth defects in part by altering thyroid hormone system function. We investigated whether a binge pattern of maternal ethanol consumption over the last trimester equivalent of gestation in sheep results in an alteration in fetal or maternal thyroid function. METHODS Pregnant ewes received saline or ethanol beginning on day 109 of gestation (term, 145 days) for three consecutive days per week followed by 4 days without exposure. The fetuses were surgically instrumented on day 113, and experiments were performed on days 118 or 132. Fetal and maternal blood samples were collected, and plasma tri-iodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and free T4 concentrations were measured. RESULTS Fetal T3 and T4 on day 118, fetal T3 on day 132, and maternal T3 on day 132 were lower in response to ethanol. Fetal and maternal free T4 and maternal T4 did not change in response to ethanol. Fetal thymus and adrenal weights were reduced in response to ethanol. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that, in sheep, maternal ethanol exposure during the third trimester equivalent resulting in blood ethanol concentrations that are commonly achieved by ethanol abusers decreases circulating thyroid hormone concentrations in the mother and fetus and fetal thyroid and thymus mass.
Research of evaluating credit-risk in power enterprise based on SVM and VIKOR method

Some clients are in arrears with a great amount of electricity charges in operation of power system, which has seriously hindered the healthy development of electric industry. Evaluation of clients¿ credit is an important problem of management in power supply enterprises.Considering the training time and the accuracy, a new algorithm based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) and VIKOR method is adopted to solve this problem. Support Vector Machine (SVM) was proposed to solve the small sample learning problem. VIKOR method was developed to solve decision problems with conflicting and with different units criteria.Finally, an application example has been given to test the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Expectations of Service Quality as an Industrial Market Segmentation Variable

This article describes a service quality study within a business-to-business environment and focuses on the use of expectations of service quality as a market segmentation tool. It is demonstrated that different members of buying centres have different expectations of the quality of service for a high-tech product and it is suggested that industrial marketers may wish to focus on these as an additional way of gaining customer insight for marketing strategy. While it has been insinuated in the literature that performance-based measures of service quality are statistically stronger, it is argued here that bypassing measures of customer expectations means fewer managerial insights.
Identification of cytogenetic subgroups and karyotypic pathways of clonal evolution in follicular lymphomas

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is characterized by the activation of BCL2 through t(14;18)(q32;q21). Additional acquired mutations are necessary to generate a fully malignant clonal proliferation. Many of these secondary genetic alterations are visible in the clonal karyotype; however, the sequence by which they arise and their influence on clinical behavior have not been determined. The ability to address these issues has been hampered by the lack of computational methods to manipulate complex chromosomal data in a sufficiently large cohort of cases. In the present investigation, we analyzed secondary karyotypic alterations in 336 cases of FL with t(14;18) to identify the most common regions of recurrent chromosomal gain or loss. This revealed 29 recurrent changes present in more than 5% of the tumors. Each tumor karyotype was then assessed for the presence or absence of each of these 29 specific changes. By statistical means, we show that the chromosomal changes arise in an apparent temporal order, with distinct early and late changes. We identify, by principal‐components analysis, four possible cytogenetic pathways that characterize the early stages of clonal evolution, which converge to a common route at later stages. We show that FLs with t(14;18) may be classified into cytogenetic subgroups determined by the presence or absence of 6q−, +7, or der(18)t(14;18). Correlation with clinical outcomes in a subset of cases with clinical data revealed del(17p) and +12 to be correlated with an adverse clinical outcome. The clinical implications of these pathways of clonal evolution need to be examined on a prospective basis in a large cohort of FLs. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dietary Factors and the Risk of Testicular Cancer

The etiology of testicular cancer (TC) remains largely unknown. Few studies have investigated the role diet may play in the etiology of TC. We report on a hospital-based case-control study of TC and selected nutrients and food groups. Cases included 117 patients with primary, incident TC treated at Roswell Park Cancer Institute between 1982 and 1998. A total of 334 hospital controls were frequency matched on age to cases. Cases were categorized by histology (seminoma, nonseminoma, and mixed germ cell TC), and multinomial logistic regression and unconditional logistic regression were used to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing each histological type with the controls. For nonseminoma and mixed germ cell TC, vitamin E intake was suggestive of reduced risk (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.15-1.76 and OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.01-1.31, respectively); for seminoma, it was suggestive of an increased risk (OR = 2.94, 95% CI = 0.99-8.78). Fat intakes were not associated with nonseminoma or mixed germ cell risk; high saturated, animal, and total fat intakes were suggestive of an increase in risk of seminoma. Overall, diet was not associated with TC. However, risk seemed to differ by histology, suggesting that seminoma, nonseminoma, and mixed germ cell TC may have different etiologies. We suggest that future investigations should continue to stratify cases by histology.
A new method about spatial data query based on the R*Q-tree

Based on the conventional R*Q-tree study, a novel R*Q-tree spatial database indexing technology is designed in order to solve the shortcoming of the conventional R*Q-tree to insert data into which quard. The novel R*Q-tree is created by adding the parent node VR*-tree and HR*-tree, making the data set of R*Q-tree near by partition forms of narrow-band line shape, the overlapping between the sub-tree of the R*-tree is greatly reduced and the scope of the entire spatial data is divided into narrow-band. There isn't any repeat between the R*-tree and the sub-regions. The experiment shows that the query efficiency of the improved R*Q-tree is significantly enhanced.
Italian Power Exchange and Unilateral Market Power in Italian Wholesale Electricity Market

Italian power exchange and unilateral market power in Italian wholesale electricity market (Rossella Baselice) - This paper analyses the Italian wholesale electricity market with the aim to evaluate if it suffers from unilateral market power, namely firm’s ability to unilaterally increase prices above a benchmark price level in a profitable manner with profit increases stable over time. Though the study concerns unilateral market power, it is important to consider possible interaction among firms, due to the characteristic of electricity of being a homogeneous good. In this context, a useful approach to measure market power implies the analysis of each firm’s residual demand, defined as the total market demand less the sum of the rivals’ supplies. In this way, we are able to study the relationship between firm’s price and quantity, taking into account rivals’ reaction function. The analysis is conducted using data collected and published by the Market Operator, GME. The data refer to bid offers submitted by generators to the Day-Ahead Market during the first 4 months of functioning of the Italian Power Exchange (IPEX). The bid data are processed to provide geographical relevant markets and an appropriate algorithm enables us to analyze the zonal data in order to construct the individual ex-post residual demand of the generators for the hourly zonal markets. We then calculate the price elasticity of the each curve evaluated at the equilibrium market price. The inverse of the elasticity gives the Lerner index, the extent to which every supplier is able to raise the hourly price above his marginal costs. Averaging over hourly values provides us with measures of unilateral market power exerted by each generator over the analysed period. The results suggest the generators exercise market power. In particular, although the liberalization, Enel Produzione is still the most important generator, with a Lerner index noticeably higher than the rivals in all market zones, except Sardinia, where a duopoly exists with Endesa playing an important role as much as Enel. The results are confirmed by the joint study published in 2005 by the Italian Antitrust Authority and the Energy Authorities, followed by actions taken by the Antitrust Authority in order to promote greater competitiveness on the Italian electricity market. Key words: Wholesale Electricity Markets,
Operational volatility and synergistic value in vertically integrated energy systems

We examine the magnitude of synergistic effects in vertically integrated energy systems that arise when the external market for an intermediate input (electricity) is imperfect and the two subsystems are subject to operational volatility in terms of price and output fluctuations. The front part of our analysis develops a model for identifying when a vertically integrated energy system exhibits synergistic value. Specifically, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the value (NPV) of the integrated system to exceed the sum of the maximized values of the two subsystems on their own. We then apply this framework to current settings in Germany and Texas for systems that combine wind energy with Power-to-Gas (PtG) facilities that produce hydrogen. Depending on the attainable market prices for hydrogen attainable in particular segments, we find that synergistic values emerge in select scenarios. In the context of Texas, it turns out that neither electricity production from wind power nor hydrogen production from PtG facilities will be profitable on its own in the current market environment. Yet, provided the capacity of the two subsystems is sized optimally in relative terms, the attendant synergistic gain from a vertically integrated system more than compensates for the stand-alone losses of the subsystems.
Optimisation of the critical medium components for better growth of Picochlorum sp. and the role of stressful environments for higher lipid production.

BACKGROUND Coastal countries that suffer from a scarcity of water, such as Tunisia, have to cultivate marine microalgae on non-arable land in order to produce feedstock and overcome their demands of nutrition and energy. In this framework, a green microalga, CTM 20019, was isolated, identified as Picochlorum sp. and tested for its lipid production. RESULTS The dry weight of Picochlorum sp. is composed of 163 g kg(-1) lipids, 225 g kg(-1) total sugars, 440 g kg(-1) proteins and 112 g kg(-1) ash rich in potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis showed that the main fatty acids were palmitic acid (29%), linolenic acid (26.5%), linoleic acid (23.5%), hexadecatrienoic acid (11%) and hexadecadienoic acid (8.5%). As it is known that culture conditions greatly influence the composition of microalgae, the experiments were designed to optimise the composition of the medium in order to increase Picochlorum sp. growth from OD680nm = 0.53 to OD680nm = 2.2 and lipid accumulation from 163 g kg(-1) to 190 g kg(-1) . The highest lipid contents of 570 and 585 g kg(-1) were achieved under phosphate starvation and sodium carbonate supplementation, respectively. Under these conditions, the fatty acid profile is dominated by mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated acids, and is therefore suitable for aqua-culture feeding. However, under high salinity, growth and lipid synthesis are inhibited, and the fatty acids are saturate, and the product is therefore suitable for biodiesel. CONCLUSION This high lipid content rich in essential fatty acids, omega-6 and omega-3, endorses this wild strain of Picochlorum sp. as a promising feedstock for aqua-culture and human nutrition or for the production of biodiesel. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.
Admission of European Free Trade Association states to the European Community: effects on voting power in the European Community Council of Ministers

Several member states of the European Free Trade Association have applied for admission into the European Community (EC). Paradoxically, enlarging the EC in this way will expand the voting power of Luxembourg, the smallest EC member state, in the EC Council of Ministers but diminish the power of the other states. In an EC with more members, voting by unanimity increasingly becomes an impractical decision-making procedure. As the Single European Act and possibly also the Treaty on European Union are being implemented, the distribution of EC council voting power takes on growing importance, since the range of issues to be decided by qualified majority votes increases considerably. Moreover, there are tendencies within the EC to render decision making more transparent and to publish member states' positions taken in majority votes. Thus, the distribution of voting power will increasingly be a crucial aspect for the EC.
A Simulation-Based Performance Analysis of a Cluster-based Routing Scheme for Wireless Mesh Networks

The cluster-based routing protocol (CBRP) is a grouping mechanism that supports unicast and multicast path discovery for low congestion and packet loss in routing mechanisms for multi-hop wireless mesh networks. No simulation analyses or comparisons with other routing protocols have been reported. In this paper, we have evaluated the performance of the CBRP and compared it to AODV and OLSR through software simulations. The scheme indicates several better performance levels in terms of the channel capacity, path discovery, packet delivery ratio, and end-to-end delay, at the sacrifice of routing overhead degradation.
Dynamic block prefetching for tree search

Tree search algorithm typically involves long latency for the main memory access due to irregular and unpredictable data access during the tree traversal. Data prefetching is one method to bridge the memory gap and improve cache performance. In this paper, we extend our previous work and propose a novel data prefetching approach for tree search, called Dynamic Block Prefetching. Dynamic block prefetching can be used in combination with other optimized methods, such as search branch unwinding. This approach can be used to improve the performance in general-purpose processors which own hardware cache and heterogeneous acceleration cores which not provide hardware supported memory coherence or have limited on-chip storage. The experiments show that dynamic block prefetching performs as high as 27% better than no prefetching search on Intel Core i7. Also, it is capable of improving performance over no prefetching search and static buffer scheme by 26% and 11% on Cell SPE.
Responding to change: a new role for Agricultural Colleges in England and Wales.

Abstract Rural labour market changes are creating a demand for new and more flexible education and training opportunities. With the decline in agricultural production and the consequent reduction in demand for agricultural education, agricultural colleges in England and Wales are considering what their future role will be as providers of education and training for a diversified rural economy. To what extent and in what ways agricultural colleges are adapting to their new role and the factors which inhibit or facilitate institutional change was the subject of a research project undertaken in England and Wales between 1990 and 1992. The results show considerable variation between colleges in the way they are responding to change. This is reflected in the manner in which colleges perceive themselves, their mission and policy, how they perceive their constituency and the links they have with this constituency, as well as their ability to identify new training needs and provide relevant, flexible and more acce.