Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Análisis De Las Capacidades Operativas En Empresas Manufactureras (Analysis of Operational Capabilities in Manufacturing Companies)

<b>Spanish Abstract:</b> Las capacidades operativas se refieren a la utilización de la infraestructura y conocimientos disponibles para fabricar productos y servicios que optimicen su uso, con el fin de lograr niveles de eficiencia y productividad en las empresas. Por lo anterior, este estudio pretende identificar el nivel de desarrollo de las capacidades operativas que posee una muestra de cinco empresas manufactureras de la región centro del estado de Coahuila, así como también, analizar la relación que existe entre estas capacidades operativas. La metodología empleada fue de enfoque cuantitativo y consistió en la aplicación de un cuestionario estructurado a 270 empleados de nivel medio/superior a finales del año 2015; la información se analizó a través del software estadístico SPSS aplicando el Coeficiente de Correlación Rho de Spearman. Entre los resultados más relevantes se encontró que las capacidades operativas más desarrolladas en las empresas de estudio son: la capacidad de innovación (4.04) y la capacidad de mejora (4.02). Así mismo se encontró que la capacidad de personalización tiene una relación significativa de 0.67 con la capacidad de respuesta, y la capacidad de cooperación tiene una relación significativa de 0.63 con la capacidad de mejora, estos resultados sugieren que las capacidades operativas de las empresas para personalizar su producción y la cooperación con sus clientes y proveedores incrementan la capacidad de respuesta y el mejoramiento del desempeño. <b>English Abstract:</b> Operational capabilities refer to the use of infrastructure and knowledge to manufacture products and services that optimize their use, to achieve levels of efficiency and productivity in companies. This study aims to identify the level of development of operational capabilities for a sample of five manufacturing companies in the central region of the state of Coahuila. We also analyze the relationship between these operational capabilities. We use a quantitative approach consisting of the application of a structured questionnaire to 270 medium/higher level employees at the end of the year 2015. The information was analyzed using the SPSS statistical software using the Spearman Rho Correlation Coefficient. Results show that the most developed operational capabilities in the study companies are: the capacity for innovation and the capacity for improvement. We also found that personalization capacity has a significant relationship with responsiveness. Moreover, cooperative capacity has a significant relationship with the capacity for improvement. These results suggest that the operational capabilities of the companies to customize production, and improve cooperation with its customers and suppliers, increases responsiveness and results in performance improvements.
Seasonal and annual variability in the quality of important forage plants on Banks Island, Canadian High Arctic

In vitro acid-pepsin digestibility (IVDMD), crude protein (CP), fibre, lignin, and energy content were measured for a variety of forage plants collected annually from Banks Island over five summers and three winters from 1993-1998. Summer samples were collected during mid-June (start of growing season), mid-July (peak of growing season), and mid- late August (senescence). Winter samples were collected in early (November), mid- (February), and late- (April/May) winter. Samples, collected in areas of both high and low muskox density, included Carex aquatilis, unidentified Carex, Salix arctica, Dryas integrifolia, Cassiope tetragona, Saxifraga spp. , Astragalus spp. , Oxytropis spp. , lichen, and grass. Sea- sonal dynamics in forage quality during the growing season were similar to those reported elsewhere in the arctic and high arctic and were consistent across years. However, there were significant year effects in lignin, fibre, and energy content of forages and the crude protein (CP) content of C. aquatilis in winter, indicating annual differences in the quality of forage available to herbivores. The quality of forages on Banks Island was similar between areas subjected to different densities of muskox (ca. 1.6 - 1.9 versus 0.3 - 0.4/km2) implying that quality was not affected by these grazing intensities. The Banks Island high arctic ecosystem supports an abundance of herbivores. It has been hypothesized that this is because forage quality and/or quantity are superior on Banks Island than elsewhere in the high arctic. Our results regarding forage quality are equivocal. Although the maximum CP content of forages from Banks Island was generally higher than reported elsewhere in the arctic and high arctic, CP content reported elsewhere fell within the interannual range reported from Banks Island. Fibre and energy content of forages from Banks Island were similar to slightly lower than elsewhere in the arctic and high arctic. Such comparisons must be considered in light of the interannual variability in quality we report.
A Confidence Corridor for Sparse Longitudinal Data Curves

Longitudinal data analysis is a central piece of statistics. The data are curves and they are observed at random locations. This makes the construction of a simultaneous confidence corridor (SCC) (confidence band) for the mean function a challenging task on both the theoretical and the practical side. Here we propose a method based on local linear smoothing that is implemented in the sparse (i.e., low number of nonzero coefficients) modelling situation. An SCC is constructed based on recent results obtained in applied probability theory. The precision and performance is demonstrated in a spectrum of simulations and applied to growth curve data. Technically speaking, our paper intensively uses recent insights into extreme value theory that are also employed to construct a shoal of confidence intervals (SCI).
Acceleration of wound healing responses induced by preparations from the epidermal secretions of the Arabian Gulf catfish (Arius bilineatus, Valenciennes)

Preparations involving fright-induced epidermal secretions from the Arabian Gulf catfish (Arius bilineatus) have been observed to accelerate wound healing in test animals. In this investigation, solubilized preparations containing 4–8 mg of protein were applied once to excised and incised full-thickness lesions of the flank skin of adult male mice (strain CD1) immediately after injury, while sterile saline was applied to the surface of control wounds. Changes in wound closure were assessed from photographs taken of the wound surface, while changes in cellularity were assessed by light microscopy. In excised lesions, a temporary reduction (lasting less than 24 h) was observed in the surface area of test wounds, while control wounds exhibited a temporary increase in surface area (wound gape). In incised lesions, the edges of test wounds treated with the preparations adhered to each other, while the edges of control wounds remained separated. Total and differential cell counts made in equivalent areas of excised wound beds showed that by 7 days after injury, there were significantly more fibroblasts and fewer inflammatory cells in the test group than in the controls, suggesting that the wounds treated with the preparations were at a more advanced stage of repair.
Photosynthetic nitrogen‐use efficiency in leaves of woody and herbaceous species

1. Photosynthetic characteristics of an annual herb, Chenopodium album, and an evergreen tree, Quercus myrsinaefolia, were compared to clarify causes of the difference in photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (photosynthetic capacity per unit nitrogen) between leaves of herbaceous and evergreen species. 2. When leaves with the same nitrogen content on an area basis were compared, photosynthetic capacity of C. album was twice as high as that of Q. myrsinaefolia. Gas-exchange measurements showed higher intercellular CO2 concentration in C. album. Biochemical analyses indicated larger allocation of nitrogen into ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase, a key enzyme of photosynthesis, and higher specific activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase in C. album. However, these differences were not large. 3. Compositional deviation of 13C in leaves of the two species suggested that the drop of CO2 level between the intercellular space and the chloroplast was slightly larger in Q. myrsinaefolia when compared between the leaves with the same photosynthetic capacity. 4. It is concluded that the difference in photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency between C. album and Q. myrsinaefolia is not caused by a sole factor that is markedly different between the two species but by several factors each of which is slightly disadvantageous to Q. myrsinaefolia compared with C. album.
The harvest of freshwater turtles (Chelidae) from Papua, Indonesia, for the international pet trade

Abstract The international trade in wildlife is currently one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. One group, the turtles, has experienced far-reaching population declines and extinctions because the majority of animals are sourced from the wild. The island of New Guinea has the highest diversity of freshwater turtles (Chelidae) in the Australasian region and large numbers are harvested from the Indonesian province of Papua to supply the international pet trade. A total of 264 of these turtles representing six species were recorded between December 2010 and March 2011 while gathering information about wildlife trade in the Indonesian province of Papua. Most were juveniles, although a substantial number of large adults were also harvested. None of the species recorded are CITES-listed. Despite one species not being allocated an annual harvest quota, it was observed being traded. Illegal and unregulated trade coupled with a lack of basic ecological data for these species can have a severe impact on wild populations. We present recommendations for law enforcement and conservation of these species.
Inference Based on SVAR Identified with Sign and Zero Restrictions: Theory and Applications

Are optimism shocks an important source of business cycle fluctuations? Are deficit-financed tax cuts better than deficit-financed spending to increase output? These questions have been previously studied using SVARs identified with sign and zero restrictions and the answers have been positive and definite in both cases. While the identification of SVARs with sign and zero restrictions is theoretically attractive because it allows the researcher to remain agnostic with respect to the responses of the key variables of interest, we show that current implementation of these techniques does not respect the agnosticism of the theory. These algorithms impose additional sign restrictions on variables that are seemingly unrestricted that bias the results and produce misleading confidence intervals. We provide an alternative and efficient algorithm that does not introduce any additional sign restriction, hence preserving the agnosticism of the theory. Without the additional restrictions, it is hard to support the claim that either optimism shocks are an important source of business cycle fluctuations or deficit-financed tax cuts work best at improving output. Our algorithm is not only correct but also faster than current ones.
Reliability and Control of the Econometric Analysis in the European Competition Law (Fiabilidad y Control de los Análisis Econométricos en el Derecho Europeo de la Competencia) (Spanish)

In European competition law, econometric studies are an increasingly frequent resort to support decisions taken by EU authorities. However, in this area a solid doctrine about the criteria to provide reliability to the conclusions derived from these analysis is yet to be built. There is not a clear criteria regarding the role to be played by community courts in reviewing economic evaluations drawn from these empirical analysis. In this paper we approach this problem and we establish some criteria based on EU and U.S. case law and also the guidelines published by the European Commission. In order to do this, we will first focus on the use and methods of econometric techniques, as well as some of the problems derived from them from the perspective of law. Second, a brief reference to better practice guidelines for the submission of economic evidence, recently published by the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission, and its legal effect, will be made. Subsequently, we will consider the discretion available to the administrative authorities and the scope of the judicial review of economic evaluations developed in this framework, paying attention to some cases decided by the Community Courts. Finally, taking the American experience as point of reference, some guidelines to provide more reliability to the econometric analysis are presented.
Biocompatible surfactants from renewable hydrophiles

Significant advances made by the authors in the field of cationic surfactants derived from arginine and lysine hydrophilic sources of different structure are reviewed. Linear, gemini and glycerolipid-like structures with polar groups consisting of Arg or Lys amino acids are described. Our multidisciplinary approach includes design, synthesis, adsorption at interfaces and self-assembly behavior, antimicrobial activity, and studies of biocompatibility including ecotoxicity, biodegradability and irritation effects. Considering the green chemistry principles, the synthesis contemplates the preparation of more efficient and safer surfactants using renewable raw materials for the synthesis of surfactants: proteins, peptides, amino acids and triacylglycerols, using biocatalysis as condensating methodology, and designing for biodegradation. Also in order to increase the efficiency of these compounds, a complete characterization including self-assembly, ecotoxicity, biodegradability, and studies of mechanisms of toxicity has been carried out. The structure of the surfactant molecule affects micellization and not the nature of the polar head (Arg or Lys). The critical micelle concentrations of the gemini surfactants are three orders of magnitude lower than the linear ones for the same alkyl chain length. The presence of a cationic charge in the amino acid provides antimicrobial activity to these compounds.
Animal Behavior and Internal Drives

BY CURT P. RICHTER Psychobiological Laboratory, Phipps Psychiatric Clinic, Johns Hopkins University O NE of the most fundamental of all the phenomena which characterize animal life and distinguish it from plant life is the spontaneous motility of the animal organism. A few plants, to be sure, especially certain forms of marine vegetation, do move about, but these few are exceptions in the plant kingdom. The activity of animals, on the other hand, although it varies widely in form and extent from species to species, is an ordinary phenomenon which one always anticipates under normal circumstances. We may ask, then, what it is that sets off the diverse performances which animals display. Ordinarily we think of most of their activity as being due to some form of external stimulation. We know, however, that all animals, from the lowest. uni-cellular organism to man, are active even when all external stimuli have been eliminated. And since this spontaneous motility, just as any other kind of motility, must have a definite cause, it must be due to some natural factor within the organism. Many workers have chosen to call it "voluntary" activity, presumably because of the common belief that the "will" to do is the origin of the ction. We believe, however, that spontaneous activity arises from certain underlying physiological origins. We shall attempt to show from studies chiefly on the white rat what some of these origins are, and how they fit into the general biological picture of the animal's life. The investigations described below have been made by Ging H. Wang, Elaine F. Kinder, Tomi Wada, and the present writer in the Psychobiological Laboratory of the Phipps Psychiatric Clinic during the past six years. Some of the experiments have already been reported elsewhere, but we have taken this opportunity to collect also numerous observations that are as yet unpublished. Of the extensive work on animal "drives" done by Hoskins (i92.5), Moss (I924), Slonaker (I924, I92X5, I92.6), Stone (I92.4, I92.5, I92.6), Szymanski (i92.0, i92.2.), and Tracy (i92.6) we shall incorporate in this review only that part which bears directly on our own method of approach or on our own experimental findings.
Seed dispersal of Acacia erioloba by African bush elephants in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Approximately two-thirds (64%) of all dry season samples of elephant dung analysed during a 3-year study in the Main Camp subregion of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, contained seed and/or pod materials from Acacia erioloba. Most seeds were recovered intact and actively germinating seeds were not uncommon. Very little pod mass relative to seed mass was recovered in most instances, with pod fragments recorded from only 56% of all exhaustively sampled elephant dung piles containing A. erioloba fruit materials. Nonetheless, large pod fragments and even entire intact pods were recovered occasionally from elephant dung. Seeds and pods of A. erioloba may comprise 12% or more of total wet-weight dung mass; individual dung piles were found which contained > 5000 A. erioloba seeds. Birds and smaller mammals search out and consume A. erioloba seeds present within elephant dung piles. The findings of this study indicate that potential digestibility of A. erioloba seeds for bush elephants (Loxodonta africana africana) may be much higher than expected from previous studies. In controlled feeding trials with captive bush elephants (age 11–15 years old) maintained on predominantly free-range dry season diets, the estimated efficiency of digestion for A. erioloba seeds consumed in pods was 81% to 96%, with a gut-transit time of between 24.5 and 36.0 h. On the basis of throughput times determined in experimental feeding trials, potential elephant-dispersal distances of 20–50 km are predicted for A. erioloba in the Kalahari Sands landscapes of southern central Africa.
Crecimiento, crédito e inflación (Growth, Credit and Inflation)

<b>Spanish Abstract:</b> El crecimiento por acumulación de factores es solo una de tres formas de crecer y la menos importante en las economías modernas. Desde la revolución industrial, la forma dominante es la innovación de procesos, que depende del tamaño del mercado y es un proceso acumulativo que aumenta continuamente la productividad; que transforma la estructura de producción y la composición de los consumos, y que tiene un efecto de arrastre sobre las otras dos formas de crecer. La dinámica del sector real está integrada con la del sector financiero por el crédito que apoya la actividad productiva, aunque también puede apoyar la concentración del ingreso y los brotes especulativos. La interacción de un sector innovador con otro protegido es una fuente primaria de inflación, anterior e independiente de la espiral de salarios y precios. <br><br><b>English Abstract:</b> Growth by factor accumulation is only one of three ways to grow and the least important in modern economies. Since the industrial revolution, the dominant form is process innovation, which depends on the size of the market and is a cumulative process that continuously increases productivity; transforms the structure of production and the composition of consumption, and has a drag effect on the other two forms of growth. The dynamics of the real sector is integrated with that of the financial sector by the credit that supports the productive activity, although it can also support the concentration of income and speculative outbreaks. The interaction of an innovative sector with a protected one is a primary source of inflation, previous to and independent of the spiral of wages and prices.
The role of woody roots of slash pine seedlings in water and potassium absorption

Tree root systems consist of varying amounts of woody, nonwoody, and mycorrhizal roots, yet the importance of woody roots in nutrient and water uptake is unclear. This study was conducted to determine the rates of uptake of water, potassium (K), and rubidium (Rb) by woody roots of slash pine (Pinuselliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) seedlings. Water and nutrient uptake was determined by depletion experiments for seedlings grown in solution cultures. When active shoot growth occurred, absorption of water, K, and Rb (per unit root length) for seedlings with only woody roots (nonwoody roots removed) was comparable with or greater than that for seedlings with both woody and non-woody roots. Predictions of K uptake via a nutrient-uptake model were similar when plant parameters were either measured separately for woody and white roots or for entire root systems. Determination of the length of woody roots was essential for accurately predicting K uptake. For seedlings grown in soil, woody root length comprised 85 .
Family Control and the Rent-Seeking Society

The small number of very large family-controlled corporate groups in many countries combined with their long continuity of control and ability to act discretely give these organizations a comparative advantage in political rent-seeking. This advantage is a key part of a self-reinforcing system whereby oligarchic family corporate control, political rent seeking, and low general levels of trust combine to stymie growth.
Why There Is No Inherent Equity Premium: The Total Market Return vs. the Per Share Return

The Equity (return) Premium is shown to emerge fully, specifically and episodically from just three transient factors: EPS growth above long term GDP/capita growth; after tax long bond yield below GDP/capita growth, and change in P/E (valuation) - without a risk premium. The earnings/price (E/P) ratio is shown to lack an embedded premium and appears anchored to GDP per capita growth. An aggregate stock market after-tax return model is proposed that balances return with GDP growth; which existing models do not. Long term investors (IRA, 401k, endowments, buy and hold strategies and pension plans) have no historical negative return risk over their investment-divestment horizon, enjoy the lowest effective tax rate, are the largest equity holder block with common economic attributes, and may therefore determine valuation by being the highest sustainable bidders.