Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationship between size and growth: the case of Italian newborn firms

This paper analyses the relationship between size and growth for a group of Italian newborn firms in the instruments industry. The main finding is that Gibrat's Law of Proportionate Effect exhibits a behaviour dependent on the firm's life cycle. In particular, even if in the years immediately following start-up the law could be rejected, since smaller firms have to rush in order to survive in the market, in subsequent years growth rates seem to converge towards a Gibrat-like pattern. This result is confirmed by the separate analyses carried out for micro-firms and larger firms.
A Simple Search and Bargaining Model of Real Estate Markets

This paper examines the impact of brokers on buyers' and sellers' search behavior and on the transaction prices in real estate markets. It is shown that the seller and the buyer search less intensively if the house is listed with a broker. The seller gets a higher price when he employs a broker, but the increase in price is smaller than the commission fee. More specifically, the portion of the commission covered by the increase in price is directly related to the bargaining powers of the buyer and the seller. In the special case where the price is determined according to the Nash bargaining solution, the increase in price is shown to be half of the commission fee. It is also shown that an increase in the commission rate increases the equilibrium price but decreases the equilibrium search intensities. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Resolving presynaptic structure by electron tomography

A key goal in neurobiology is to generate a theoretical framework that merges structural, physiological, and molecular explanations of brain function. These categories of explanation do not advance in synchrony; advances in one category define new experiments in other categories. For example, the synapse was defined physiologically and biochemically before it was visualized using electron microscopy. Indeed, the original descriptions of synapses in the 1950s were lent credence by the presence of spherical vesicles in presynaptic terminals that were considered to be the substrate for quantal neurotransmission. In the last few decades, our understanding of synaptic function has again been driven by physiological and molecular techniques. The key molecular players for synaptic vesicle structure, mobility and fusion were identified and applications of the patch clamp technique permitted physiological estimation of neurotransmitter release and receptor properties. These advances demand higher resolution structural images of synapses. During the 1990s a second renaissance in cell biology driven by EM was fueled by improved techniques for electron tomography (ET) with the ability to compute virtual images with nm resolution between image planes. Over the last 15 years, ET has been applied to the presynaptic terminal with special attention to the active zone and organelles of the nerve terminal. In this review, we first summarize the technical improvements that have led to a resurgence in utilization of ET and then we summarize new insights gained by the application of ET to reveal the high‐resolution structure of the nerve terminal. Synapse, 69:268–282, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Micro-CT observation of angiogenesis in bone regeneration.

OBJECTIVES Restoration of an adequate blood supply is essential for the bone healing process and is key to the success of bone augmentation procedures. In this study, we evaluated angiogenesis in rat calvarial flat bone defects using in vivo microfocus computed tomography (micro-CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty rats were used. The calvarium was exposed and calvarial bone defects of critical (5-mm diameter) and non-critical (2.7-mm diameter) sizes were prepared. Bone regeneration and angiogenesis were evaluated by image analysis using micro-CT and histological examination. RESULTS Critical- and non-critical-sized calvarial bone defects showed bone regeneration and angiogenesis around the midsagittal suture. Critical-sized calvarial bone defects showed approximately 1.2% reossification of the original surgical defect, whereas the non-critical-sized defects showed approximately 43.3% reossification at day 28. Furthermore, angiogenesis was observed later in the critical-sized calvarial bone defects (about 38.2%), whereas angiogenesis was observed early in the non-critical-sized calvarial bone defects (about 75.5%) at day 28. New blood vessel networks were observed around defects of both sizes. CONCLUSIONS Angiogenesis preceded bone regeneration around critical- and non-critical-sized calvarial bone defects. Angiogenesis led to full bone formation in non-critical-sized defects.
Multi-factor authentication using accelerometers for the Internet-of-Things

Embedded and mobile devices forming part of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) need new authentication technologies and techniques. This requirement is due to the increase in effort and time attackers will use to compromise a device, often remote, based on the possibility of a significant monetary return. This paper proposes exploiting a device's accelerometers in-built functionality to implement multi-factor authentication. An experimental embedded system designed to emulate a typical mobile device is used to implement the ideas and investigated as proof-of-concept.
“White Flight” or Positive Contact? Local Diversity and Attitudes to Immigration in Britain

Does the local presence of immigrant groups increase White hostility to immigration? Most research finds that diverse neighborhoods reduce White opposition to minorities and immigration. However, most studies at higher geographies find the reverse effect. We confirm this pattern for England and Wales for 2009-2012. Yet, contextual studies are open to selection bias, which is where this article makes its main contribution. Is White tolerance in diverse neighborhoods the result of a positive effect of inter-ethnic contact, or does it arise from White flight, with anti-immigrant Whites exiting diverse areas but remaining within wider geographies as radicalized opponents of immigration? We provide the first attempt we are aware of to track the opinions of in- and out-migrants, as well as stayers, from local areas over an extended period. We use 20 years of large-scale geocoded British longitudinal data and find only limited evidence of selection effects associated with White flight.
Replacement of Agricultural Price Supports by Area Payments in the European Union and the Effects on Pesticide Use

This article determines the contribution of recent European Union agricultural policy reforms on the use of pesticides. Our theoretical model extends the multioutput generalization of the Lichtenberg—Zilberman damage control technology model developed by Chambers and Lichtenberg. Our empirical analysis uses farm-level data for a sample of French farms. Results suggest that price effects on the use of pesticides are always more elastic than area payment effects. This indicates that policy reforms consisting of a reduction in price supports in favor of area payments, may reduce application of crop protection inputs. Such policy changes, which represent a certain degree of decoupling, took place under the 1992 Common Agricultural Policy reforms. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.
Flexible employment contracts and their implications for product and process innovation

This article reports on the results from a study which examined the relationship between the increasing use of various forms of 'flexible employment contracts' and the incidence of product and process innovations. One body of literature on product and process innovation suggests that it is dependent on attracting, building and nurturing key capabilities. Part of this argument is that employees will be prepared to contribute discretionary effort and to carry the risks involved in innovations only if they have a sense of security in their employment. Innovation, it has been suggested, is 'path dependent' - that is, it emerges from prior experimentation and learning. This thesis might reasonably be regarded as akin to the high commitment end of the human resource management spectrum. Thus, in the face of two decades or more of outsourcing, an increased use of temporary contracts and of part-time working, questions arise about the consequences of such departures from the secure employment contract for the achievement of product and process innovations. Two complementary research methods were used in this research project: first, a postal survey of 2,700 companies using random sampling methods, followed by eight case studies carefully selected using theoretical sampling. The case studies were designed to help unpack some of the main findings from the overall survey. The survey results suggested that there was some evidence to support the view that secure employment and high commitment management are important for innovation but further analysis found that the linkages between types of employment contracting and innovation were rather more complicated in practice. To a large degree, flexible working was found to be a consequence rather than a driver of innovation.
Enhancement of Dissolution Rate and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Piroxicam Using Solvent Deposition Technique

ABSTRACT Piroxicam solid depositions were prepared by means of the solvent deposition technique using different concentrations of microcrystalline cellulose as carrier material. The solvent deposition system (SDS) with drug to carrier ratio of 1:9 had a rapid dissolution rate in vitro. When this SDS was administered perorally to rats with a previous experimentally induced inflammation in their paws, it exhibited a pronounced anti-inflammatory action. X-ray diffraction and infrared (IR) spectroscopy showed no differences in the crystal state of piroxicam in SDS formulation and physical mixture of piroxicam and carrier. The increase in the dissolution rate and consequent enhancement of anti-inflammatory effect of piroxicam in SDS were attributed to the reduced particle size of drug deposited on the carrier and enhanced wettability of the particles brought about by the carrier.
Reviewing the traditional modes of theorising in SHRM: the necessity for a 'core plus context specific' paradigm

To reconcile the identified 'tensions' between the 'Best Practice' and 'Best Fit' models and to respond to their fallacies, this paper proposes a modernised paradigm, which calls for a 'core plus context' (CPC)–specific approach to strategic HRM (SHRM). The central argument is that the traditional routes for achieving strategic fit (horizontal integrations and vertical alignments) must be reconsidered. The aim is not to question the undeniable value of the dominant models, but to illustrate the necessity for a more tied–to–reality conceptualisation. The originality of this paper lies in the fact it puts forward a more integrated and pragmatic strand as a means to capture the complexities and to accommodate the particularities of human resource management (HRM) in the 21st century.
Politics in plural societies : a theory of democratic instability

Not many topics in the study of Third-World development have drawn as much attention recently as ethnicity, yet the literature remains rudimentary from the perspective of theory and rigorous analysis. These two studies represent a modest beginning in this direction, but there is still need for more research. Alvin Rabushka and Kenneth Shepsle seek to apply the economist's concept of consumer behaviour to situations of existent ethnic conflict. They draw upon this to provide a paradigm of the consequences of ethnicity for democratic institutions in plural societies. The paradigm is a descriptive abstraction based upon selective political changes in those plural societies where ethnicity has contributed to the destruction of democratic institutions. It has five distinctive features: (i) pre-independence ethnic co-operation; (ii) post-independence co-operation; (iii) demand generation and the increased salience of ethnicity; (iv) 'outbidding' and the decline of the multi-ethnic coalition; and (v) electoral machinations and mistrust. The authors contend that their paradigm has universal applicability for plural societies, and that the systemic break-down of democratic institutions is the result of the rising salience of ethnicity. The plural societies studied are categorised according to the relative size and number of ethnic groups/coalitions competing for political power. These categories are the 'competitive configuration', 'majority domination', 'dominant majority', and 'fragmented'. In the competitive plural society there are usually two and at most three ethnic groups, one of which ultimately comes to dominate the political system, and then subverts the existing democratic institutions to maintain its advantages. In a case of majority domination, one ethnic group is sufficiently numerous to ignore any minority, and is prepared to use violence to achieve and maintain political supremacy. Where there is a dominant minority, the majority is deprived of its democratic rights in order to sustain the minority's privileged position. The fragmented plural societies are those with many ethnic groups, and a tendency ' for authoritarian rule by military or paramilitary organizations'.
Do public works decrease farmers' soil degradation? Labour income and the use of fertilisers in India's semi-arid tropics

This paper investigates the possibility of using public works to stimulate farmers' fertiliser use in India's SAT. Inadequate replenishment of removed nutrients and organic matter has reduced fertility and increased erosion rates. Fertiliser use, along with other complementary measures, can help reverse this process, which ultimately leads to poverty, hunger, and further environmental degradation. In a high-risk environment like India's SAT, there may be a strong relation between off-farm income and smallholder fertiliser use. Farmers can use the main source of off-farm income, wage income, to manage risk as well as to finance inputs. Consequently, the introduction of public works programmes in areas with high dry-season unemployment may affect fertiliser use. This study confirms the relevance of risk for decisions regarding fertiliser use in two Indian villages. Nevertheless, governments cannot use employment policies to stimulate fertiliser use. Public works even decrease fertiliser use in the survey setting.
A Perspective on a Framework for Reforming Urban Schools in the United States of America

An ever growing thirst for a framework that supports a flexible environment in which the schools and school districts are protected within a zone that recognizes school reform is everyone’s business. Moreover, the teacher’s role as a leader in her classroom and among her peers must become a part of the search for a culture of success. This article offers a reformist perspective to the school reform efforts where alternative models to address the expectations of Title I must be considered. Borrowing from Garrison Keillor satire of the possibility of a successful school district, the author offers a discussion on school reform efforts components and concludes with the observation that school districts with a profile of Lake Wobegon do not exit. To that end, the more appropriate approach to school reform is a discovery of common standards that will be precisely promulgated through federal and state policies that buy into a place of recognizing and rewarding effective and successful teaching. © 2012 IOJES. All rights reserved
Negotiating European Works Councils: Contours of Constrained Choice

This paper presents a systematic analysis of the factors influencing the nature of the "constrained choices" being made by management and employee representatives in concluding agreements establishing EWCs. Four influences - a "statutory model effect"; a "learning effect"; a "country effect"; and a "sector effect" - are found to be at work.
The molecular neuropathology of spinocerebellar ataxia type 23

The cerebellum (Latin for “little brain”) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in regulating the coordination, precision and timing of voluntary movements, and lets you know where your limbs are without looking. When the cerebellum does not function normally, it usually leads to ataxia. Patients with ataxia suffer from the inability to walk in a straight line, a loss of balance, and a loss of control over speech and eye movements. Currently, there is no therapy available for any of the 44 subtypes of this progressive incapacitating disorder. A particular subset of nerve cells is affected in ataxia, namely the Purkinje cells. The Purkinje cells are the sole output of the cerebellum and as such incorporate signals from many cells in order to properly coordinate movement and play a crucial role in the normal functioning of the cerebellum. We have modelled an ataxia subtype, spinocerebellar ataxia type 23 (SCA23), in mice. The mice contain the human SCA23 disease gene and reproduced the disease symptoms of patients. In order to determine how these symptoms arise, we have studied the underlying causes in the cerebella of these mice in great detail and found that mice suffering from ataxia display small but significant changes in the cerebellar circuitry. Additionally, we observed changes in important biological routes that reduced the communication of nerve cells leading to cell death. In this work, we describe these changes in detail and offer a possible strategy for drug development.
A multilevel case study critique of six sigma: statistical control or strategic change?

Increasing competitive pressure in all business sectors (e.g. private, public SME) is reflected in the continuing quest for business improvement philosophies and methodologies to address this challenge. Recent developments have included increased organisational and academic interest in the six sigma approach to business improvement. There are many organisational examples (mainly USA and UK based) of large scale improvements in defect and process measures attributed to this approach. However, there is a paucity of critical studies on six sigma beyond that of “how to” and that of descriptive accounts, with a focus on measures and results rather than employee involvement and motivation. The aim of this paper is to explore the development of six sigma in a multilevel case analysis, from both a process perspective and a people perspective. The findings show that the case organisation had to widen its conception and application of six sigma to include people and organisational criteria to enable the approach to.
Asian options versus vanilla options: a boundary analysis

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to correct a commonly mistaken notion that an Asian option is always cheaper than its plain vanilla European counterpart in a general setting. Design/methodology/approach - The paper shows that by letting volatility go to zero, the lower bounds of Asian options and vanilla options are derived. Those bounds are then compared. Findings - The paper finds that the notion can be violated for call options when the dividend yield of the underlying stock is higher than the interest rate, as well as for put options when the dividend yield of the underlying stock is lower than the interest rate. Research limitations/implications - The approach used in this paper, boundary analysis, can be applied to other exotic options. Practical implications - The results in the paper may affect decisions on trading Asian options. Originality/value - The paper will be of value to those interested in using/pricing/hedging Asian options.
Broadband-Growth Relationship in Asian Perspective: A Revisit Using System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Panel Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (Pfmols)

During last two decades, broadband gained an integral stature in digital infrastructure of countries around the globe. The investigation of broadband and economic growth nexus has been scarce for Asian countries, Mehmood and Mustafa (2014). This paper re-examines the broadband-growth nexus for Asian countries using a more statistically rigorous technique known as System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). This methodology permits the use of data with heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation and uses instrumental variables to cope with endogeneity. Results show the role of broadband as a contributor to economic growth. Moreover, to solidify the results obtained from GMM, we use panel cointegration and panel Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (PFMOLS) to estimate cointegration equations. The results of these techniques are corroborated by the results of panel Granger causality test. This suggests to include the policy steps for technology transfer with proper planning and allocation of broadband technology to common masses for a digital Asian region.
Characterization of chromosomal aberrations in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBL) by G-banding and spectral karyotyping (SKY)

Cytogenetic chromosome analysis by classical G-banding was supplemented by spectral karyotyping (SKY) in 12 cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBL). SKY is a fluorescence in-situ-based, genome-wide screening technique allowing identification of genetic material even in highly condensed metaphase chromosomes of poor morphology. By simultaneous hybridization of whole chromosome painting probes onto tumor chromosome spreads genetic rearrangements are visualized permitting the clarification of even complex karyotype alterations and the identification of genetic material of previously unknown origin, so-called marker chromosomes. Taking the SKY results into account, we reevaluated the G-banding karyotypes initially carried out, thus generating a more precise karyotype in ten of twelve (83%) cases investigated. In particular, thirteen chromosomal rearrangements not correctly recognized by classical cytogenetics were identified, the genetic origin of seven marker chromosomes was elucidated and three structural genetic rearrangements were redefined. We found SKY to be a valuable technique to establish a definite karyotype in addition to classical cytogenetics.
Proteolytic processing yields two secreted forms of sonic hedgehog

Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is expressed in tissues with known signalling capacities, such as the notochord, the floor plate of the central nervous system, and the zone of polarizing activity in the limb. Several lines of evidence indicate that Shh is involved in floor plate induction, somite patterning, and regulation of anterior-posterior polarity in the vertebrate limb. In this report, we investigate the biochemical behavior of Shh in a variety of expression systems and embryonic tissues. Expression of mouse Shh in Xenopus oocytes, COS cells, and baculovirus-infected insect cells demonstrates that in addition to signal peptide cleavage and N-linked glycosylation, chicken and mouse Shh proteins undergo additional proteolytic processing to yield two peptides with molecular masses of approximately 19 kDa (amino terminus) and 27 kDa (carboxy terminus), both of which are secreted. In transfected COS cells, we show that the 19-kDa peptide does not accumulate significantly in the medium unless heparin or suramin is added, suggesting that this peptide associates with the cell surface or extracellular matrix. This retention appears to depend on sequences in the carboxy-terminal part of the peptide. Finally, detection of the 19-kDa product in a variety of mouse and chicken embryonic tissues demonstrates that the proteolytic processing observed in cell culture is a normal aspect of Shh processing in embryonic development. These results raise the possibility that amino- and carboxyl-terminal regions of Shh may have distinct functions in regulating cell-cell interactions in the vertebrate embryo.