Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Skills and Wage Inequality in Greece: Evidence From Matched Employer-Employee Data, 1995-2002

This paper examines changes in the Greek wage distribution over 1995-2002 and the role of skills in these changes using a matched employer-employee data set. This data set enables us to account for firm heterogeneity and obtain a more refined picture of the impact of skills. The methodology adopted is the Machado-Mata decomposition technique, which separates the part of wage changes that is due to changes in the job/employer and employee characteristics from the part due to changes in the returns to these characteristics. Our results indicate that the role of skills has been decisive. The skill return effects in combination with the composition effects of tenure, which are arguably responsive to economic developments and market conditions, have had an important contribution to the changes in the Greek wage distribution. On the other hand, the impact of predetermined demographic changes, as those captured by the age and education composition effects, has been relatively milder.
The effects of professional tooth cleaning and dental health education on dental clearances and dental health behaviors

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of professional tooth cleaning and dental health education on dental clearances and dental health behaviors. This study was designed into two groups, 80 persons of control group for dental health education and 80 persons of experimental group for dental health education and professional tooth cleaning. In order to compare education effects, the researcher applied different educational methods. The parameters were the toothbrushing frequency, the average tooth brushing time, the action rate of toothbrushing after lunch, and the rate of using oral hygiene product. The data were analyzed and the following was the conclusion. The frequency of toothbrushing in two groups increased. Toothbrushing frequency of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of preliminary group and control group. The action rate of toothbrushing after lunch in two groups increased. But the experimental group was significantly higher. The score for dental clearances of the experimental group were higher than those of the control group. The data showed statistically significant difference.Key Words : Dental health education, Dental clearances, Professional tooth cleaning
THE CONCEPT OF UTILITY. SHOULD IT BE REVISITED? 1

1. Rationality as maximization of self-interest Atthebeginningeverythingseemedsimple.Allrationalbeingsareselfish,sincetheytendtomaximizethesubjectiveutilitiesoftheconsequences oftheirownactions.Peoplearerational,thustheyfollowmaximizationrules.Therules,however,varydependinguponthetypeofdecisionmaking.In thispaper,wewilllimitourselvestodecisionsmadeunderuncertainty,that is,decisionsingamesituations.Someimplicationsofthepaperdoapplyto other typesof decision makingaswell. Intermsofgametheory,anyinterdependencesituationcanbecharacterizedby:thenumberofplayersinvolved,thenumberofactions(strategies) available to each player, the outcomes resulting from all possible combinations ofactions,andeach player’s preferencesover alloutcomes.Outcomes are meant here as any action consequences that are of a (positive or negative) value to a person, be it money, other material possessions, power, status,socialapproval,etc.Itisassumedthateveryindividualisarational, selfish being in the sense that he/she maximizes his/her own interest. In other words, facing a choice between two or more actions, every player is thoughttochoosethatactionwhoseconsequencesareofthehighestsubjective value to him/her.Sincepeople are interdependent,what is rational to them depends upon how the individual preferences of the involved parties are related to one another: whether, and if so, to whatextentand in what way, they areconflicting.
Modeling round goby Neogobius melanostomus range expansion in a Canadian river system

Abstract We applied a gamma transit time model to predict the rate of range expansion of the round goby ( Neogobius melanostomus Pallas, 1814) in the Trent-Severn Waterway (Ontario, Canada). Gamma distributions were fit to actual transit times of the population front from 2009 to 2011. A lack of model fit in the second year is thought to be indicative of an upstream bait bucket introduction, and this model may be useful for identifying such events. Range expansion predictions were highest in high quality habitats at 9.3 km/year, with a 5% probability that highly mobile individuals may disperse 27 km/year. The model also predicts the arrival time of the population at any distance from the population front with a given confidence interval. The estimation of a timeline for range expansion and determining underlying factors affecting the spread of invasive species could inform preventative strategies. This model is potentially useful in predicting transit times of other invasive species expanding their range in linear space, and in separating natural population expansion from additional human-assisted movement in the same system.
Reforming of Regional Fiscal Policy as Basis of Increasing Taxation Potential of Territories

The article is devoted to researching problems related to forming regional fiscal policy focused on increasing the taxation potential of territories. The subject of the research is theoretic and methodological basics of pursuing regional fiscal policy focused on developing the taxation potential of the Russian Federation regions. The object of the research is the Russian taxation system, regional fiscal policy, and foreign and national practices of taxation regulation of regional development. The authors consider in details such aspects of the theme as economic and functional content of regional fiscal policy. They argument the conclusion that efficient regional fiscal policy must contribute to stabilizing production and providing economic growth, equalizing conditions of social and economic, and financial development of regions, ensuring full implementation of principles of the taxation system and taxation federalism in the Russian Federation based on the unified economic and taxation space, establishing and providing financial and economic warranties of the local self-governance, providing all levels of government with monetary means that are sufficient for pursuing economic and social policy as well as fulfilling the imposed functions and performing tasks by relevant governmental authorities. The article stipulates the conclusion that an increase in efficiency of regional fiscal policy has an impact on volumes of tax revenues in budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation and finally contributes to the development of the taxation potential of territories. It arguments the conclusion that the basic goal of regional fiscal policy is to increase the region’s own taxation potential by increasing the revenue base of regional budgets to carry out expendable obligations to provide economic growth.
Auditory Guided Arm and Whole Body Movements in Young Infants

Can infants use auditory information to guide their movements adequately in space, and if so, to what degree? Perceptual development has mostly been considered through the visual system. Similar to vision, audition provides us with spatial information over extended distances. There is generally little research about the use of auditory information for guided movement in the environment, and the similarity between vision and hearing is narrowly attached to a theoretical framework. Effective action is prospective and supposes the pickup of predictive perceptual information, so as to prepare the body how, when, and where a movement is to be performed. Studies on the use of auditory information for action are rare. This chapter will describe two studies with young infants where it will be shown that the auditory system is equally important as the visual system to the performance of prospective action in the environment. It will be concluded that the auditory system is best conceived as a functional listening system where auditory information is used as a perceptual source for guiding behaviour in the environment.
Consumers' Motivations in Purchasing "New Wines" in Greece with Emphasis on Wine Produced by Organic Grapes: A Means-end Chains Approach

The present study attempts to offer more insights into the Greek wine market with emphasis on wines produced from organically grown grapes by relating wine choice to consumers' personal value structure. With the use of a qualitative sample and applying the Means-end Chains methodology and the corresponding "laddering" interviewing technique, it attempts first to reveal the way basic motives are linked to wine shopping behaviour of consumers and the way wine purchase-relevant knowledge is stored and organised in their memory in relation to their personal values. Then, by discriminating between organic food buyers and non-buyers, the study identifies motivational and cognitive discriminating differences between the two consumer types, which can offer a solid explanation as to their distinctive purchasing behaviour in respect of the organic products.
Analysis of Organizational Justice, Supervisor Support, and Organizational Commitment: A Case Study of Energy Sector in Nigeria

This study examined the relationships between organizational justice, supervisor support, and organizational commitment. A survey study was conducted at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), using a sample of 201 employees. Three propositions which explained the relationships among the variables were postulated. The findings demonstrate that, university graduates indicated less justice. Moreover, experienced respondents have higher commitment. In addition, low level managers indicated less supervisor support. Finally, married respondents indicated less justice. This study, thus, suggests a new paradigm in which the study of the trio can be based in order to create effective and viable organizations.
Effect of dietary supplementation of silicic acid powder containing bamboo vinegar on production performance, egg quality, intestinal microflora, and morphology of laying hens

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of dietary inclusion of silicic acid powder containing bamboo vinegar liquid (SPV) on production performance, egg quality, intestinal microflora, and alterations of intestinal villi in laying hens. Eighty ISA Brown hens were randomly divided into four treatment groups, with five replicates per treatment and four hens per replicate. They were fed ad libitum, a basal diet supplemented with SPV at 0, 2, 4, or 6 g kg-1 level, for 16 wk. Egg production significantly increased with the 2 g kg-1 SPV diet for hens of 34–37 wk old, while egg mass was highest for hens fed the 2 g kg-1 SPV diet in 38–41 wk age range (P < 0.05). Internal and external egg qualities were not significantly affected by SPV (P > 0.10). In the ileal content, populations of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. tended to decrease in the SPV-supplemented groups compared with the control group (P < 0.10). Villus height of jejunum and villus area of duodenum and jejunum were highest in the hens fed the 2 g kg-1 SPV diet (P < 0.05). The present results indicate that dietary SPV at 2 g kg-1 could stimulate intestinal functions, decrease ileal pathogenic bacteria counts, and result in higher egg production performance.
Title: Sacked

Limited academic attention has been afforded to young workers relative to their adult counterparts. This study addresses a phase of the employment relationship for young people that is very infrequently examined – during or around the time when the relationship ends. It examines the relative frequency of different forms of dismissal and the circumstances preceding the dismissals via a content analysis of 1,259 cases of employee enquiries to a community advocacy organisation in Australia. Results indicate that dismissal was most commonly associated with bullying, harassment, and taking personal leave. Young men, compared to young women, were disproportionately likely to report allegations of misconduct as preceding dismissal, while females experienced higher rates of sexual harassment and discrimination. The research highlights the types and circumstances of dismissal across a range of employment contexts and reveals the complexities of youth employment relationships which may differ from those of the general workforce.
Conceptual Analysis of Cybercrime Events in Profiling Business Attacks

The effect of cybercrime on business has shown a dramatic effect in recent years from criminal hacking, Trojans designed to steal confidential information, as well as economic espionage. The paper outlines the effects of cybercrime events, in relation to victim profiling (victimology), using phishing as an example of cybercrime. The increasing incidence of cybercrime, particularly phishing, and the potential effects on identity theft are discussed. CRM techniques, which are well documented in improving business performance, are discussed in terms of cybercrime profiling and a conceptual model of its application in profiling and security enhancement is proposed. Examples of phishing events from publicly available sources are analysed and the subsequent results are used to indicate potential information to businesses with more secure operational guidelines in the future on safety measures in cybercrime.
Anaerobic oxidation of methane alters sediment records of sulfur, iron and phosphorus in the Black Sea

Abstract. The surface sediments in the Black Sea are underlain by extensive deposits of iron (Fe)-oxide-rich lake sediments that were deposited prior to the inflow of marine Mediterranean Sea waters ca. 9000 years ago. The subsequent downward diffusion of marine sulfate into the methane-bearing lake sediments has led to a multitude of diagenetic reactions in the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMTZ), including anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) with sulfate. While the sedimentary cycles of sulfur (S), methane and Fe in the SMTZ have been extensively studied, relatively little is known about the diagenetic alterations of the sediment record occurring below the SMTZ. Here we combine detailed geochemical analyses of the sediment and porewater with multicomponent diagenetic modeling to study the diagenetic alterations below the SMTZ at two sites in the western Black Sea. We focus on the dynamics of Fe, S and phosphorus (P), and demonstrate that diagenesis has strongly overprinted the sedimentary burial records of these elements. In line with previous studies in the Black Sea, we show that sulfate-mediated AOM substantially enhances the downward diffusive flux of sulfide into the deep limnic deposits. During this downward sulfidization, Fe oxides, Fe carbonates and Fe phosphates (e.g., vivianite) are converted to sulfide phases, leading to an enrichment in solid-phase S and the release of phosphate to the porewater. Below the sulfidization front, high concentrations of dissolved ferrous Fe (Fe2+) lead to sequestration of downward-diffusing phosphate as authigenic vivianite, resulting in a transient accumulation of total P directly below the sulfidization front. Our model results further demonstrate that downward-migrating sulfide becomes partly re-oxidized to sulfate due to reactions with oxidized Fe minerals, fueling a cryptic S cycle and thus stimulating slow rates of sulfate-driven AOM ( ∼ 1–100 pmol cm−3 d−1) in the sulfate-depleted limnic deposits. However, this process is unlikely to explain the observed release of dissolved Fe2+ below the SMTZ. Instead, we suggest that besides organoclastic Fe oxide reduction and reactivation of less reactive Fe oxides by methanogens, AOM coupled to the reduction of Fe oxides may also provide a possible mechanism for the high concentrations of Fe2+ in the porewater at depth. Our results reveal that methane plays a key role in the diagenetic alterations of Fe, S and P records in Black Sea sediments. The downward sulfidization into the limnic deposits is enhanced through sulfate-driven AOM with sulfate, and AOM with Fe oxides may provide a deep source of dissolved Fe2+ that drives the sequestration of P in vivianite below the sulfidization front.
Removability results for subharmonic functions, for harmonic functions and for holomorphic functions

We begin with an improvement to an extension result for subharmonic functions of Blanchet et al. With the aid of this improvement we then give extension results both for harmonic and for holomorphic functions. Our results for holomorphic functions are related to Besicovitch's and Shiffman's well-known extension results, at least in some sense. Moreover, we recall another, slightly related and previous extension result for holomorphic functions.
Chemistry of a polluted cloudy boundary layer

A one-dimensional photochemical model for cloud-topped boundary layers is developed which includes detailed descriptions of gas-phase and aqueous-phase chemistry, and of the radiation field in and below cloud. The model is used to interpret the accumulation of pollutants observed over Bakersfield, California, during a wintertime stagnation episode with low stratus. The main features of the observations are well simulated; in particular, sulfate accumulates progressively over the course of the episode due to sustained aqueous-phase oxidation of SO2 in the stratus cloud. The major source of sulfate is the reaction S(IV) + Fe(III), provided that this reaction proceeds by a non radical mechanism in which Fe(III) is not reduced. A radical mechanism with SO3− and Fe(II) as immediate products would quench sulfate production because of depletion of Fe(III). The model results suggest that the non radical mechanism is more consistent with observations, although this result follows from the absence of a rapid Fe(II) oxidation pathway in the model. Even with the non-radical mechanism, most of the soluble iron is present as Fe(II) because Fe(III) is rapidly reduced by O2−. The S(IV) + Fe(III) reaction provides the principal source of H2O2 in the model; photochemical production of H2O2 from HO2 or O2(−I) is slow because HO2 is depleted by high levels of NOx. The aqueous-phase reaction S(IV) + OH initiates a radical-assisted S(IV) oxidation chain but we find that the chain is not propagated due to efficient termination by SO4− + Cl− followed by Cl + H2O. A major uncertainty attached to that result is that the reactivities of S(IV)-carbonyl adducts with radical oxidants are unknown. The chain could be efficiently propagated, with high sulfate yields, if the S(IV)-carbonyl adducts were involved in chain propagation. A remarkable feature of the observations, which is well reproduced by the model, is the close balance between total atmospheric concentrations of acids and bases. We argue that this balance reflects the control of sulfate production by NH3, which follows from the pH dependence of the S(IV) + Fe(III) reaction. Such a balance should be a general characteristic of polluted environments where aqueous-phase oxidation of SO2 is the main source of acidity. At night, the acidity of the cloud approaches a steady state between NH3 emissions and H2SO4 production by the S(IV) + Fe(III) reaction. A steady state analysis suggests that [H+] at night should be proportional to (ESO2/ENH3)1/2 where ESO2 and ENH3 are emission rates of SO2 and NH3, respectively. From this analysis it appears that cloud water pH values below 3 are unlikely to occur in the Bakersfield atmosphere during the nighttime hours. Very high acidities could, however, be achieved in the daytime because of photochemical acid production by the gas-phase reactions NO2 + OH and SO2 + OH.
Physical parametrisation of fire-spotting for operational fire spread models: response analysis with a model based on the Level Set Method

Abstract. Fire-spotting is often responsible for a dangerous flare up in the wildfire and causes secondary ignitions isolated from the primary fire zone leading to perilous situations. In this paper a complete physical parametrisation of fire-spotting is presented within a formulation aimed to include random processes into operational fire spread models. This formulation can be implemented into existing operational models as a post-processing scheme at each time step, without calling for any major changes in the original framework. In particular, the efficacy of this formulation has already been shown for wildfire simulators based on an Eulerian moving interface method, namely the Level Set Method (LSM) that forms the baseline of the operational software WRF-SFIRE, and for wildfire simulators based on a Lagrangian front tracking technique, namely the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) that forms the baseline of the operational software FOREFIRE. The simple and computationally less expensive parametrisation includes the important parameters necessary for describing the landing behavior of the firebrands. The results from different simulations with a simple model based on the LSM highlight the response of the parametrisation to varying fire intensities, wind conditions and different firebrand radii. The contribution of the firebrands towards increasing the fire perimeter varies according to different concurrent conditions and the simulation results prove to be in agreement with the physical processes. Among the many rigorous approaches available in literature to model the firebrand transport and distribution, the approach presented here proves to be simple yet versatile for application to operational fire spread models.
Zinc Deficiency and Depression

Zinc deficiency has multiple effects, including neurological and somatic symptoms. Zinc deficiency can lead to depression, increased anxiety, irritability, emotional instability, and induced deficits in social behavior. Clinical studies have shown that low levels of zinc intake contributes to the symptoms of depression and patients suffering from depression have a lower serum zinc level. Also the animal studies have shown an important role of dietary zinc deficiency in the induction of depressive‐like symp‐ toms. Moreover, both preclinical and clinical studies have indicated the potential benefits of zinc supplementation as an adjunct to conventional antidepressant drugs or as a stand‐alone intervention. This chapter focuses on the role of the zinc deficiency in the pathogenesis of depression, changes in animal behavior induced by dietary zinc restriction, the role of zinc supplementation in the treatment of depression, and the possible mechanisms involved in these relationships. Both clinical and preclinical studies related to these findings will be discussed.
Rheology - Theory and Application to Biomaterials

Rheology is science which treats the deformation and flow of materials. The science of rheology is applied to the physics, chemistry, engineering, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, biology and so on. Classical theory of elasticity treats the elastic solid which is accordant to Hooke’s law [1]. The stress is directly proportional to strain in deformations and is not dependent of the rate of strain. On the other hand, that of hydrodynamics treats the viscous liquid which is accordant to Newton’s law [1]. The stress is directly proportional to rate of strain and is not dependent of the strain. However, most of materials have both of elasticity and viscosity, that is, viscoelastic properties. Mainly viscoelastic properties of the polymers are analyzed in rheology. Rheology would have two purposes scientifically. One is to determine relationship among deformation, stress and time, and the other is to determine structure of molecule and relationship between viscoelastic properties and structure of the materials.