Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Where's the Beef? McDonald's and its European Works Council

This article analyses the establishment and subsequent meetings of the McDonald's European Works Council and raises a number of questions. Who is an `employee representative' for the purposes of the EU Directive? How are such representatives elected in practice and what roles do existing national sub-structures play? Can employee representatives adequately coordinate their roles in the absence of significant unionization? The experience of the McDonald's EWC suggests that where workforces have low levels of unionization and employers are opposed in principle to the prescribed arrangements, a non-union firm can frustrate even the limited aims of the Directive. Furthermore, legally underpinned national-level sub-structures, which are often assumed to make such European-level bodies accountable, may fail to do so in practice.
Preoperative or postoperative diclofenac for laparoscopic tubal ligation.

We have compared the analgesic effects of diclofenac given before operation or immediately after operation in a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy study of 40 healthy female patients undergoing laparoscopic tubal ligation. Group 1 patients received diclofenac 75 mg as a 3-ml i.m. injection 1-2 h before operation and normal saline 3 ml i.m. immediately after surgery. Group 2 patients received normal saline 3 ml i.m. before operation and diclofenac 75 mg i.m. immediately after surgery. Outcome measures were patients' perception of pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS), verbal response scale (VRS), the number of patients who required postoperative morphine, time to first postoperative morphine injection and total dose of morphine given. VAS at 30 min and at 1, 3 and 6 h after operation were, respectively (median, interquartile range) 4.5 (2.3-6.0) vs 5.3 (2.8-7.8); 3.3 (2.3-5.0) vs 4.4 (3.0-5.8); 1.4 (0-2.3) vs 1.9 (0.8-3.0); 0.5 (0-1) vs 0.7 (0-1.3), (ns). VRS at 1 and 3 h after operation were, respectively, (median, interquartile range) 2.2 (1.5-3.0) vs 2.7 (2.0-4.0) and 0.8 (0-1.3) vs 0.9 (0-1.5) (ns). Sixteen patients in group 1 compared with 17 in group 2 required postoperative morphine. Time to first morphine administration and dose given were, respectively, (median, interquartile range) 50.6 (39-60) min vs 35.7 (20-49) min (P = 0.1) and 9.0 (5-10) mg vs 9.5 (7.5-10) (P = 0.9). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Multiple Sponsorship and Bill Success in U. S. State Legislatures

This research tests how increasing the numbers of sponsors affects the success of legislation. A total of 1,943 bills and resolutions on the elderly, introduced in four U.S. state legislatures in a 23-year period, were analyzed. The results indicate that large numbers of sponsors, eight or more, more than double the success rate for these bills and resolutions. The support scores for these "multiple-sponsor bills" is higher than for legislation sponsored by majority-party members or legislative specialists.
Credit Unions and Low-income Communities

Since the late 1980s the number of community-based credit unions in Britain has grown steadily. These are financial co-operatives based on low-income neighbourhoods, owned and controlled by local residents, which aim to provide savings and low-cost credit facilities to their members. Although located in economically disadvantaged communities, credit unions are not exclusively used by the poor. While better-off groups save and borrow more, a greater proportion of low-income users would not have purchased goods and services in the absence of a credit union. Credit unions are making useful but marginal contributions to the credit and debt problems of low-income families. They could probably achieve more with additional resources, but any intervention by external agencies should be sensitive and avoid damaging the strong mutual aid foundations upon which credit unions are based.
Developmental expression of laminin‐5 and HD1 in the intestine: Epithelial to mesenchymal shift for the laminin γ2 chain subunit deposition

We report the expression pattern of hemidesmosome‐associated proteins laminin‐5, composed of α3β3γ2 chains, and HD1 in the developing mouse and human intestine, an organ in which variations in structure and function parallel morphogenesis and differentiation. Immunocytochemistry analysis revealed the coexpression of laminin‐5 and HD1 at the basal pole of differentiating epithelial cells. Distinct noticeable variations occurring in the location of laminin α3 chain in development of mouse gut were stressed by the reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction data. A peculiar finding was also the location of laminin γ2 chain in the intestinal muscle coat. The cellular origin of laminin γ2 chain was examined by immunocytochemistry on interspecies hybrid intestines with specific antibodies recognizing mouse antigens. Complementary and sequential production of laminin γ2 chain was observed, by epithelial cells as establishment of the basement membrane occurs and by mesenchymal cells in the more differentiated organ. These results support the concept of mesenchymal involvement in deposition of basement membrane molecules, a crucial process for intestinal differentiation. Taken together these data provide the first evidence for the coexpression of hemidesmosome‐associated proteins in the gut, a non‐stratified tissue. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Competencies for Hotel Management: Industry Expectations of Education

This article considers the very important issue of the expectations that employers in the hotel sector hold regarding graduate entrants. The article reports on a study in the UK which replicates and compares findings with a similar survey in the USA – 36 key competencies were rated by 118 general managers of hotels with more than 150 bedrooms. Conclusions are drawn with respect to the priority given to these competencies; their implications for educators; and the cultural variation implicit in comparing the US and UK findings.
Paradox in the periphery: an entrepreneurial reconstruction?

The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between entrepreneurship and the structure of the periphery. The objective is to reach an understanding of the entrepreneurial process within the context of the periphery, which is traditionally seen as a poor environment. The paper considers the concept of peripherality and identifies a process of gravitation that drains higher order services towards the core. However, this deterministic model does not correspond with the realities of the Scottish Highlands. The paradox is that new businesses are being created that appear to use old redundant peripheral values such as tradition. It is argued that it is the social construction of the periphery that produces this post-modern change. The qualitative methodology indicates the emergence of a new spatial paradigm of aesthetic consumption. Two indicative case studies are presented which show that entrepreneurship is the creation and extraction of value from the environment. Their businesses are the commodification of non-material and aesthetic values. Further analysis of these data demonstrates that entrepreneurs interpret their own version of the environment, rather than merely reacting to it. In turn, they enact this interpretation which forms the basis of their businesses.
A Review of: “Managing Performance: International Comparisons by Geert Bouckaert and John Halligan”

The quest for a coherent treatment of performance management that analyses its meanings and dimensions, and compares its application internationally, and challenges its shortcomings, has prompted Geert Bouckaert and John Halligan to write an ambitious book on performance management in the public sector. Performance management is examined here as a concept and a phenomenon that has spread around the world. This book also seeks to explain how it has been applied in practice and what its relationship is to public management. The book is organised in three parts and a final section of appendices. The first part provides an analytical framework to conceive performance in two dimensions: a span (or horizontal) dimension and a depth (or vertical) dimension. Measuring, incorporating, and using performance are considered as the three separate but related elements in the process of administrating, managing, or governing performance. This process is contingent on the public administration system and political environment in which it takes place. In this first part, the authors also explore different disciplines (e.g., economics, politics, psychology, and organization theory) and theoretical perspectives usually employed to explain the rise of performance management, such as performance-based theories, rational-based theories, sociological neo-institutionalism, historical institutionalism, and contingency-based theories. Bouckaert and Halligan identify four ideal types of managing performance that fit some OECD countries, those that have been highly committed in such undertaking during the last two decades (the U.S., Canada, Australia, UK, Sweden, and the Netherlands). These ideal types are: 1) ‘‘Performance Administration,’’ a modest and non-systematic model; 2) ‘‘Managements of Performances,’’ in which we can International Public Management Journal
The Tax Everyone Loves to Hate: Principle of Property Tax Reform

The dilemma is real and profound: most countries have a property tax, but few of their citizens like the tax. The property tax is the tax everyone loves to hate. Countries can seldom live with the tax as initially designed, yet neither can they live without the tax at all. Thus, this chapter focuses on the reform of an existing system of property taxation rather than on the creation of an optimal property tax. Leaders seldom have the opportunity to design a property tax with a blank slate. There is usually already some sort of system of taxing land and buildings, with a variety of established special interests and a political, social, and historical context. The challenge is to make an existing property tax less taxing.
Schooling, health knowledge and obesity

The connection between schooling and health is well documented. An important empirical issue that needs to be examined, however, is whether schooling's effects are due to individual health knowledge differences. This empirical study examines this issue with an increasingly important health indicator, obesity. Since provision of health knowledge is a major tool of public agencies promoting health, this empirical study uses a new direct measure of health knowledge to test this hypothesis. The results show that knowledge is inversely related to the probability that an individual is obese. Schooling's effects on relative weight and the probability of being obese are explained by differences in knowledge. This result may imply that schooling's effect on the allocative efficiency of the household production of health is the main reason schooling is linked to health behaviour. The result also may imply that the most effective method of health education is to highlight the disease element of poor dietary habits and health. More importantly, the simulations conducted suggest positive returns to knowledge based on improvements in the probability estimates.
Isoresonant conformal surfaces with cusps and boundedness of the relative determinant

We study the isoresonance problem on non-compact surfaces of finite area that are hyperbolic outside a compact set. Inverse resonance problems correspond to inverse spectral problems in the non-compact setting. We consider a conformal class of surfaces with hyperbolic cusps where the deformation takes place inside a fixed compact set. Inside this compactly supported conformal class we consider isoresonant metrics i.e., metrics for which the set of resonances is the same, including multiplicities. We prove that sets of isoresonant metrics inside the conformal class are sequentially compact. We use relative determinants, splitting formulae for determinants and the result of Osgood, Phillips and Sarnak about compactness of sets of isospectral metrics on closed surfaces. In the second part, we study the relative determinant of the Laplace operator on a hyperbolic surface as function on the moduli space. We consider the moduli space of hyperbolic surfaces of fixed genus and fixed number of cusps. We consider the relative determinant of the Laplace operator and a model operator defined on the cusps. We prove that the relative determinant tends to zero as one approaches the boundary of the moduli space.
Visitors' Behavior in Heritage Cities: The Case of Girona

This article presents the results of the study of the behavior of visitors in the monumental city of Girona, Spain. The focus of this study has been the classification of clusters of visitors who show the same behavior. We wanted to define the visitors' hierarchical conglomerates (those internally homogeneous and externally different groups) that will help to appreciate the subtleties in the apparent uniformity of the approach taken to visiting heritage sites. The groups of visitors will show specific needs, ways of looking, and behaviors.
The Influence of Leadership and Member Attitudes in Understanding the Nature of Union Participation

There has been a growth of interest among industrial relations scholars in the functions of union leadership at both national and local levels. This paper presents a survey-based analysis of the impact of union leaders on member participation in Cypriot public-sector trade unions. It indicates that active leaders promote participation both directly and indirectly, through their influence on members' attitudes towards the union. The study emphasizes the importance of leadership in facilitating further understanding of member participation in trade unions. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics 2002.
Physical Activity-Related Injuries in Walkers and Runners in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study

ObjectiveTo examine the association between physical activity-related injuries and participation in walking versus running. DesignNested case-control study. SettingCooper Clinic Preventive Medicine Center, Dallas, Texas. Participants5,327 men and women undergoing exams between 1987 and 1995 and completing follow-up health history questionnaires in 1990 or 1995. Participants were classified as those reporting regular participation in walking or jogging/running at baseline. Those reporting both or neither activity were excluded from the study (n = 1404). Cases (698 men, 169 women) were those reporting physical activity-related injuries requiring physician visits in the previous year on the follow-up questionnaire. Controls (2,358 men, 698 women) were randomly selected from the remaining population. Main Outcome MeasuresLogistic regression was used to examine the risk of injury in walkers versus runners and risk of injury by exercise dose while considering age, body mass index, previous injury, and strength training. ResultsThere was a significantly lower risk of injury for walkers compared with runners in young (<45 years old) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.58–0.97) and older (≥45 years) men (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.49–0.82), and a nonsignificantly lower risk among young (OR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.39–1.37) and older women (OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.38–1.35). There was no effect of greater amounts of walking on injuries for either gender; however, there was a higher injury risk associated with running 15–30 min/day (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.07–1.73) and 30+ min/day (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.14–2.04) compared with <15 min/day among men, but not among women. ConclusionsThis low risk of musculoskeletal injury suggests that participation in walking can be safely recommended as a way to improve health and fitness.
A Statistical Analysis of the Role of Benefit–Cost Analysis in Awarding TIGER Grants

As directed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) created the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant program for surface transportation infrastructure projects. TIGER used a multistep competitive application process to award surface transportation funds. TIGER applications were initially screened by U.S. DOT’s staff of technical and economic experts and the final awardees were selected by a Review Team of Modal Administrators and DOT Office of the secretary-level officials. The purpose of the research was to determine if the most deserving projects, based on an applicant’s benefit–cost analysis and the likelihood that benefits exceeded costs, were more likely to receive grant funding. We base the findings on pair-wise comparisons and on logistic regression models. Based on these analyses, we found that the outcome of the benefit–cost analysis (both quality and expected net benefits) was not a statistically significant factor.
Epidemiological Correlates of NIDDM in Hispanics, Whites, and Blacks in the u.s. Population

Characteristics, prevalence, and risk factors for non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) among Hispanics, blacks, and whites aged 20–74 yr in the United States population were investigated with two national surveys that used a household interview to ascertain diagnosed diabetes and a 75-g 2-h oral glucose tolerance test to measure undiagnosed diabetes. The Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 1982–1984 studied Mexican Americans in the southwest U.S., Cuban Americans in the Miami, Florida, area, and Puerto Ricans in the New York City area. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 1976–1980 examined a national sample of U.S. residents, of whom data on blacks and whites were analyzed. People with diagnosed diabetes in the five populations were similar with respect to mean age (53–57 yr), age at diagnosis (45–48 yr), duration of diabetes (6.9–8.7 yr), and diabetes therapies (58–67% using pharmacological treatment). Mean age of people with undiagnosed diabetes (51-59 yr) was comparable to that of diagnosed cases, and mean fasting (7.1–7.8 mM) and 2-h postchallenge plasma glucose (14.1–15.5 mM) values for people with undiagnosed diabetes were similar among the five populations. However, obesity levels varied by race, sex, and whether diabetes was diagnosed or undiagnosed. Age-standardized prevalence of diabetes (sum of diagnosed and undiagnosed cases) was 6.2% in whites, 9.3% in Cubans, 10.2% in blacks, 13% in Mexican Americans, and 13.4% in Puerto Ricans. Thus, compared to whites, diabetes rates were 50–60% higher among Cubans and blacks and 110–120% higher among Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans. Age-standardized rates of impaired glucose tolerance were similar among the five populations (10.3–13.8%). Increasing age, obesity, and family history of diabetes were associated with higher rates of diabetes but sex, physical activity, education, income, and acculturation were not risk factors or were only weakly associated with diabetes prevalence.
No evidence of absence Successful criminals and secret societies

Much criminological research is based upon incarcerated offenders, those unsuccessful criminals who get caught and are unable to extricate themselves from the legal consequences. The problem is, of course, that clever criminals will take steps to evade capture and talking to researchers is not likely to figure highly on any wish-list. When the opportunity arose to conduct a series of interviews with an active gang-leader who specialised in and profited from kidnap-for-ransom, it was a chance too good to miss. There is a concern, too, about the number of scholarly articles that talk about the dwindling influence of Chinese secret societies on organised crime which appear to have fallen foul of the ad ignorantiam fallacy argument from a position of ignorance or lack of evidence. This paper makes use of the insights gained from a serious, successful criminal and his associates to demonstrate that, in their world, absence of evidence is the common reality but this may all too often be misconstrued as evidence of absence.
Determinants of Earnest Money Amounts in Real Estate Sell/Buy Contracts

In this study, we examine the factors that may influence the amount of earnest money deposits in real estate sell /buy contracts using contingent claims analysis within the Black-Scholes option pricing model, along with control variables for market trends and market customs. We find that earnest money amounts increase with property values, contract term, and property value volatility, and that earnest money amounts decrease with the risk-free rate. The data for the analysis come from HUD-1 Settlement Statements and the local MLS database for 670 residential real estate transactions.
The Use of Guidebooks by Japanese Overseas Tourists: A Quantitative Approach

This study investigates the incidence of guidebook use by Japanese tourists. The research framework is based on Vogt and Fesenmaier’s model of information needs with some modifications, as reported in an earlier qualitative study undertaken by Nishimura, Waryzsak, and King. The results indicate that tourists use guidebooks for a range of purposes. A factor analysis of the 20 survey items has concluded that respondents exhibit the following needs: forward-looking needs, learning needs, enjoyment needs, guidebook enthusiast needs, and functional needs. The tourists most likely to use guidebooks were found to be female flexible package tour participants or independent travelers visiting the destination region for holiday purposes for the first time. The proposition that “type of tourist” is an influence over the decision to use a guidebook or not was supported. Overall, the less freedom exercised by the tourist over the travel itinerary, the less likelihood that a guidebook will be used.
Is there a managerial life cycle? Evidence from the NFL

We use data from the NFL over 1920-2004 to examine the relationship between age and managerial performance controlling for other relevant influences. Our results indicate that age enhances performance up to a point at which increasing age predicts diminished performance-a managerial life cycle. Moreover, rates of change in the life cycle are relatively gradual, which is consistent with gradual changes in the marginal product of human capital and depreciation rates for human capital rather than levels that are fixed for long periods. With a lag of about 7-10 years, the effects are very similar to those found between age and athletic performance in previous studies by Fair. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tourism-related Social Capital and Its Relationship with Other Forms of Capital: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine tourism-related social capital and its relationship with other forms of capital. The concept of social capital has emerged from several disciplines. Social capital has been used extensively among communities exploring a variety of economic development options, including sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship. As part of a larger project, 307 tourism stakeholders in a four-county region of Virginia are identified and surveyed regarding their (1) perceptions of tourism-related social capital of the area and (2) perceptions of built, financial, natural, cultural, human, and political capital. Using structural equation modeling, analysis of the results shows that there is a relationship between length of residence and tourism-related social capital as well as a relationship between tourism-related social capital and cultural capital, political capital, human capital, private built capital, and financial capital, but no relationship exists between tourism-related social capital and public built capital or natural capital.