Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Who's in the driving seat? Managing human resources in a franchise firm

This article reports on the findings of a study within the automotive franchise retail sector which shows how employees' experiences of HRM can, under some circumstances, be influenced both directly and indirectly by third-party organisations. A model that describes these patterns of influence is put forward. These findings point to the way in which inter-firm relationships influence the employment relationship from the perspective of both the employer and the employee, and raise questions about the limits of control exercised by HR department policies and activities. The article also contributes to the relatively limited literature on the operation of franchising systems, in particular concerning the role played by HR policies and practices as a mechanism for inter-organisational control.
Physical activity and immunity in HIV-infected individuals

The purpose of this study was to determine what relationship exists among physical activity levels and viral load and CD4+ cell count in HIV-infected individuals. Increased viral load is associated with disease progression and symptom severity. A convenience sample of 66 male and female subjects between the ages of 18 and 64 years of age (mean 39±8) was recruited from a hospital-based HIV/AIDS clinic. Components of PA were assessed for three continuous days using a mini-motion logger wrist actigraph. These components included mean PA level, and PA index and acceleration index. Pearson's correlational analysis was used to test the strength of association between PA components and viral load or CD4+ cell count. A significant inverse relationship was found between mean PA level and viral load (p=0.047). An inverse relationship was also observed between PA index and viral load (p=0.0061). Neither mean PA nor PA index scores correlated with CD4+ cell counts. Acceleration index, a measure of PA intensity, showed no correlation to viral load or CD4+ cell counts. These findings suggest that increasing levels of physical activity might have beneficial effects on viral load in HIV-infected individuals.
Out of Control: Personal Networks in European Collaboration

The formal ties that bind collaborating organisations are often assumed to be reinforced by the relationships of individual employees, and these by trust. So, too, are the personal networks by which employees acquire much of the information required for the organisation's innovation. It is easy to assume that personal networks should support collaborative arrangements. It is also tempting for managers to ensure that they do by bringing them under organisational control. This paper investigates collaboration in Esprit, the European Commission's programme for research in information technology. It finds personal networks, and considers the implications for innovation of attempts to render these networks compatible with collaboration.
Dowry and Wife's Welfare: A Theotrical and Empirical Analysis

Becker attributes the existence of marital transfers to inflexibility in the division of joint product within the marriage. If that were the only reason, we would not have observed the coexistence of dowries and bride‐prices. This paper offers an alternative analysis. While Becker's interpretation is retained for bride‐prices, a dowry is now represented as a premortem bequest by altruistic parents for a daughter. It not only increases the wealth of the new conjugal household but also enhances the bargaining power of the bride in the allocation of the output within the household, thereby safeguarding here welfare. Using micro data from Taiwan, we found that a dowry improves the bride's welfare whereas a bride‐price has no effect. These empirical results support the theoretical predictions of the model.
Race/Ethnicity and pregnancy decision making: the role of fatalism and subjective social standing.

OBJECTIVE Rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States differ by race and ethnicity. We examined whether these differences might be explained by maternal fatalism and subjective social standing. METHODS We used data from 1070 pregnant women of sociodemographically diverse backgrounds enrolled in prenatal care in the San Francisco Bay area. Logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between attitude variables and a measure of pregnancy decision making ("not trying to get pregnant"). RESULTS African American women were more likely than others to report not trying to get pregnant with the current pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.04, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.22-3.43, p = 0.007). Higher subjective social standing was associated with a lower likelihood of not trying among white and U.S.-born women only (AOR 0.67, p = 0.001 and AOR 0.75, p < 0.001, respectively. Fatalism was associated with not trying in bivariate but not multivariable analyses. CONCLUSIONS In this population, the likelihood of reporting not trying to get pregnant was higher among racial/ethnic minorities regardless of subjective social standing. Programs aimed at reduction in unintended pregnancy rates need to be targeted to a broader population of women.
Adaptation of the small intestine to induced maldigestion in rats. Experimental pancreatic atrophy and acarbose feeding.

Intestinal adaptation has been studied in rats with pancreatic atrophy induced by feeding a copper-deficient diet and penicillamine and in rats with carbohydrate maldigestion induced by feeding of an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor (acarbose). Pancreatic atrophy led to a significant increase of weight, protein, and DNA content as well as specific activities and total amounts of the enzymes sucrase and maltase in the distal but not in the proximal part of the small intestine. Plasma levels of CCK and GIP were significantly higher in rats with pancreatic atrophy, whereas plasma levels of gastrin and insulin were lower. Tissue concentrations of gastrin in the antrum and GIP in duodenum and jejunum were unchanged. Duodenal CCK and jejunal substance P, somatostatin, and VIP and ileal substance P and somatostatin were significantly decreased in rats with acinar atrophy. Glucosidase inhibition by acarbose feeding led to weight increase of the small intestine and cecum. This was more marked when acarbose was fed together with a fiber-free diet. Under these conditions the protein and DNA content also increased significantly in both gut segments and maltase and sucrase content predominantly in the distal part. Insulin plasma concentration decreased significantly in the acarbose-fed groups, whereas GIP, gastrin, and CCK plasma concentrations remained unchanged. After fiber-rich diet tissue concentrations of gastrin in the antrum and insulin in the pancreas were significantly higher and GIP concentrations in the duodenum and jejunum significantly lower than after fiber-free diet. Acarbose increased the pancreatic insulin concentration only in the fiber-free group and did not influence gastrin and GIP concentrations. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Effectiveness of employee welfare schemes: differences of specific professional profiles

Corporate social responsibility studies prove that an employee is increasingly a key stakeholder for companies. Firms are starting to think about their workforce as a real opportunity to manage and improve their human and economic capital. Employee welfare and benefit schemes are particularly important in this perspective and top companies are investing significantly in this direction. On the basis of an empirical cross-analysis, conducted on a questionnaire addressed to its own employees, by one of the world's biggest multinational groups, and in which the level of satisfaction of benefits and welfare schemes is investigated, significant results emerged: the utility of benefits is marginally higher in women than in men; an evident direct linear relationship exists between job standing and benefit satisfaction, with the exception of factory workers; seniority and age variance of employees do not imply different marginal utility in benefits. Furthermore, the implementation of some limited cost benefits would generate higher marginal utility in employees than of other, more expensive and exclusive, benefits.
Structural and Functional Insights into the Cryoprotection of Membranes by the Intrinsically Disordered Dehydrins*

Background: Genetic evidence supports a protective role for plant dehydrins against drought and cold. Results: Dehydrins prevent membrane fusion and lower the transition temperature without altering membrane accessibility and fluidity. Conclusion: The lysine-rich segments are important for protecting membranes from freeze-thaw damage. Significance: An amphipathic helix with positively charged residues flanking the hydrophobic face may be a common motif for disordered stress proteins. Dehydration can be due to desiccation caused by a lack of environmental water or to freezing caused by a lack of liquid water. Plants have evolved a large family of proteins called LEA (late embryogenesis abundant) proteins, which include the intrinsically disordered dehydrin (dehydration protein) family, to combat these abiotic stresses. Although transcription and translation studies have shown a correlation between dehydration stress and the presence of dehydrins, the biochemical mechanisms have remained somewhat elusive. We examine here the effect and structure of a small model dehydrin (Vitis riparia K2) on the protection of membranes from freeze-thaw stress. This protein is able to bind to liposomes containing phosphatidic acid and protect the liposomes from fusing after freeze-thaw treatment. The presence of K2 did not measurably affect liposome surface accessibility or lipid mobility but did lower its membrane transition temperature by 3 °C. Using sodium dodecyl sulfate as a membrane model, we examined the NMR structure of K2 in the presence and absence of the micelle. Biochemical and NMR experiments show that the conserved, lysine-rich segments are involved in the binding of the dehydrin to a membrane, whereas the poorly conserved φ segments play no role in binding or protection.
Property, Care, and Environment

One influential approach to environmental problems holds that their solution requires the definition of full liberal property rights over goods that will enable their value to be registered in actual or hypothetical markets. How adequate is that solution? In this paper I offer reasons to be sceptical, by placing recent liberal arguments in the context of older debates about property, in particular those concerned with the distribution of care. Although proposals for the extension of liberal property rights over environmental goods often appeal to arguments from the need to distribute care, I show that there are conflicts between them. Care for particular places that embody the life of a community that has an existence over time is often expressed through resistance to liberal property rights. We express mutual obligations to members of a community through a denial of exclusive property rights over certain common goods. Also, what constitutes care for environmental goods itself is contested across class, occupation, culture, and history. Conflicts between those with different conceptions of care are often expressed through conflicts in property rights. The justification of property rights by appeal to particular accounts of proper care has, from the time of Locke to the present, been invoked to legitimate the appropriation of goods. The introduction and maintenance of liberal property-rights regimes involves the creation and sustenance of a particular distribution of social power, and should be understood as such.
Characterization of T Cell Epitopes in Bovine α-Lactalbumin

Background: Recent studies have indicated that peptides containing T cell epitopes may be used for immunotherapy. While for several cow's milk allergens the T cell epitopes have been described, the T cell epitopes in the major allergen α-lactalbumin (α-LAC) are unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the T cell epitopes in α-LAC. Methods: Nineteen synthetic peptides spanning α-LAC were obtained. Cow's milk-specific T cell lines (TCLs) of 46 subjects were generated and tested for their specificity for α-LAC. The lines responding to α-LAC were subsequently tested to determine their activation in response to the peptides. Results: More than half of the TCLs generated did not respond to α-LAC or lost their responsiveness during subsequent experiments, which indicates that α-LAC has low immunogenicity. Only 8 TCLs recognized 1 or more peptides. The recognition of the peptides was diverse and no major epitopes could be defined. Conclusion: The immunogenicity of α-LAC is very low compared to other major allergens in cow's milk. Moreover, there seems to be no dominant epitope present in the protein. Therefore, it seems unlikely that peptides of this protein can be used for immunotherapy.
Gene transfer of Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134 plasmid pJP4 to indigenous soil recipients

This study evaluated the potential for gene transfer of a large catabolic plasmid from an introduced organism to indigenous soil recipients. The donor organism Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134 contained the 80-kb plasmid pJP4, which contains genes that code for mercury resistance. Genes on this plasmid plus chromosomal genes also allow degradation of 2,4-dichloruphenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). When JMP134 was inoculated into a nonsterile soil microcosm amended with 1,000 micrograms of 2,4-D g-1, significant (10(6) g of soil-1) populations of indigenous recipients or transconjugants arose. These transconjugants all contained an 80-kb plasmid similar in size to pJP4, and all degraded 2,4-D. In addition, all transconjugants were resistant to mercury and contained the tfdB gene of pJP4 as detected by PCR. No mercury-resistant, 2,4-D-degrading organisms with large plasmids or the tfdB gene were found in the 2,4-D-amended but uninoculated control microcosm. These data clearly show that the plasmid pJP4 was transferred to indigenous soil recipients. Even more striking is the fact that not only did the indigenous transconjugant population survive and proliferate but also enhanced rates of 2,4-D degradation occurred relative to microcosms in which no such gene transfer occurred. Overall, these data indicate that gene transfer from introduced organisms is an effective means of bioaugmentation and that survival of the introduced organism is not a prerequisite for biodegradation that utilizes introduced biodegradative genes.
Testing the individualized care model.

BACKGROUND Although there has been some research to identify the dimensions on which individualized care should be measured, the indicators that constitute individualized care remain unclear. OBJECTIVES To describe briefly the maintenance of individualized care and to test a hypothetical model of individualized care in a sample of surgical patients. DESIGN AND METHODS A correlational survey design was used. Data were collected with questionnaires from adult patients (n = 454) discharged from surgical wards in one Finnish hospital district (response rate 91%). Structural equation modelling LISREL SIMPLIS using maximum likelihood estimation was used to estimate and test the parameters of the hypothesized model derived deductively from the previous literature. RESULTS The goodness-of-fit statistics supported the basic solution of the Individualized Care Model, although two additional paths indicating error covariances between the sub-concepts were identified in the revised model. In this model individualized care is defined in terms of patients' views of nursing activities aimed at supporting individuality in care and in terms of perceptions of individuality in their own care. CONCLUSIONS The model has been found to capture attributes that characterize individualized care. It can be used as a basis for evaluation in clinical nursing practice from patients' point of view. The study highlights the importance of patients' clinical situation, personal life situation and decisional control as predictors of individualized care. The results also confirm the construct validity of the previously developed Individualized Care Scale.
The impact of the Uruguay Round on Africa

This paper aims to review the impact of the Uruguay Round on the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The Uruguay Round is the most comprehensive multilateral trade arrangement ever negotiated, and yet is not clear ex ante that this would be beneficial for the poorer African countries. The paper finds that the impacts that can be expected from the Uruguay Round for Africa are rather muted, and considerably less important than for other parts of the world, such as East Asia. The average tariffs that African countries would be facing after the Round would be very small indeed, and essentially duty free, especially for the least developed. Of more significance would be the reduced coverage of nontariff barriers. In terms of their own commitments, the demands that have been placed on African countries are very modest indeed, and should not pose any serious transitional difficulties, although some technical assistance may be required. African countries have chosen to bind their tariffs at very high levels, well in excess of actual tariffs, with many above 100%. It is considered that sub-Saharan African countries have not taken advantage of the opportunity offered by the Uruguay Round to bind their domestic reforms to an international anchor to improve their credibility. While the Uruguay Round has brought no major short-term costs or benefits to most African countries, it does create future opportunities for those countries able to create an environment suitable for exploiting these opportunities. In particular, since countries have chosen not to link trade reforms to the Round itself, this will require continued attention to domestic trade reforms.
Unrestricted Secure Computing

Information technology (IT) departments have historically enforced security on end-user computers through a combination of software agents that restrict what the computer can do, mandate particular actions on the part of the user, report various pieces of information back to IT, and regularly check for and apply updates, as well as policy restrictions that tell the computer user the various ways in which they are not allowed to use their own machine. From a user perspective, this can be summarized as: IT takes a perfectly good computer and refuses to let you use it until they load it up with bloatware and tell you what you aren't allowed to do. Because of this, IT is often seen as making computers less useful rather than more useful, i.e., IT is the "Department of No." In this paper we attempt to provide a framework by which IT can overcome these historical tendencies while still maintaining the security that we must necessarily have in order to protect the proprietary and sensitive data in use by our campuses, colleges, and departments. We recognize the primacy of importance of data protection (as opposed to device protection). We discuss the various agents that are installed on end-user computers and suggest means by which those agents might be removed (i.e., bloatware reduction). We discuss frameworks currently in place for data protection (e.g., SharePoint, Citrix) that might be utilized to begin removing usage restrictions from our end-user computers (i.e., restriction reduction). Finally, we propose a model in which both the software agents and the usage restrictions take place at the network level rather than at the level of the end-user computer, thereby freeing the end-user computer from the clutches of IT and releasing it into the wild to be used to its fullest by the end user.
'We have the Values': Customers, Control and Corporate Ideology in Call Centre Operations

Amid structural and regulatory change, Australian telecommunication companies, more than other utilities, emphasised the need to adapt to commercial realities by embracing concepts associated with the new economy and new employment relations. Part of the expansion of telecommunication services during the 1990s involved the growth and consolidation of call centre operations closely associated with the industry. Alongside this expansion has been discussion about the types of job-growth dominating the economy and changes to the way labour is managed. Those who suggested that management replaced traditional direct and hierarchical labour control with more cooperative and individualised relationships, were contrasted with others who argued that normative and cultural elements dominated labour management in contemporary workplaces. Along with literature on customer control, much of this literature relied on the merging of consumption and production, and a subjective analysis of identity.
From Psycho-Economics to Neuro-Economics

In economics, three nested organizational levels, namely behavioural, mental and neural, can be distinguished. They introduce specific theoretical or observable concepts and suggest their own models for choice making. If psycho-economics relates implemented actions to declared mental states, neuro-economics relates mental states to brain areas. Bridge principles can be defined which link concepts with similar interpretations at two successive levels. Thanks to these principles, relations or even models independently suggested at two successive levels may well be associated. Some prescriptive applications of these principles were more recently proposed, but they remain grounded on a too fragile basis.
Conditional Properties of Hedge Funds: Evidence from Daily Returns

Using daily returns on a set of hedge fund indices, we study (i) the properties of the indices' conditional density functions and (ii) the presence of asymmetries in conditional correlations between hedge fund indices and other investments and between hedge fund indices themselves. We use the SNP approach to obtain estimates of conditional densities of hedge fund returns and then proceed to examine their properties. In general, a nonparametric GARCH(1,1) model appears to provide the best fit for all strategies. We find that the conditional third and fourth moments are significantly affected by changes in the current volatility of returns on hedge fund indices. We examine changes in the conditional probability of tail events and report significant changes in the probability of extreme events when the conditioning information changes. These results have important implications for models of hedge fund risk that rely on probability of tail events. We formally test for the presence of asymmetries in conditional correlations to determine if there is contagion between hedge funds and other investments and between various hedge fund indices in extreme down markets versus extreme up markets. We generally do not find strong evidence in support of asymmetric correlations.