Firm heterogeneity and the aggregate labour share

We propose a model-based decomposition method for the aggregate labour share in terms of the first moments of the joint distribution of total factor productivity, market power, wages and prices, and apply it to UK manufacturing using firm-level data for 1998?2014. Contrary to a narrative focussing on increasing disparities between firms, the observed decline in the aggregate labour share over the period is driven entirely by the decline in the labour share of the representative firm, mostly due to an increasing disconnect between average productivity and real wages. Changes in the dispersion of firm-level variables have contributed to slightly contain this decline

A Comparative Analysis of the Price Explosiveness in Bitcoin and Forked Coins

This study employs the PSY method to detect the price bubble of Bitcoin (BTC) and its forked coins. The statistical relationship between BTC and its forked coins is then calculated using Pearson correlation coefficients and six distance measurement methods. The findings indicate that (1) BTC has more bubbles with longer periods. In contrast, certain forked coins do not have bubbles; (2) The correlation between the price bubble of BTC and several forked coins is significant; (3) From the distance of binary time series, Bitcoin Cash and BTC are the closest, while Bitcoin SV is the farthest from BTC

Progression Cognition Reinforcement Learning with Prioritized Experience for Multi-Vehicle Pursuit

Multi-vehicle pursuit (MVP) such as autonomous police vehicles pursuing suspects is important but very challenging due to its mission and safety-critical nature. While multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) algorithms have been proposed for MVP in structured grid-pattern roads, the existing algorithms use random training samples in centralized learning, which leads to homogeneous agents showing low collaboration performance. For the more challenging problem of pursuing multiple evaders, these algorithms typically select a fixed target evader for pursuers without considering dynamic traffic situation, which significantly reduces pursuing success rate. To address the above problems, this paper proposes a Progression Cognition Reinforcement Learning with Prioritized Experience for MVP (PEPCRL-MVP) in urban multi-intersection dynamic traffic scenes. PEPCRL-MVP uses a prioritization network to assess the transitions in the global experience replay buffer according to each MARL agent’s parameters. With the personalized and prioritized experience set selected via the prioritization network, diversity is introduced to the MARL learning process, which can improve collaboration and task-related performance. Furthermore, PEPCRL-MVP employs an attention module to extract critical features from dynamic urban traffic environments. These features are used to develop a progression cognition method to adaptively group pursuing vehicles. Each group efficiently targets one evading vehicle. Extensive experiments conducted with a simulator over unstructured roads of an urban area show that PEPCRL-MVP is superior to other state-of-the-art methods. Specifically, PEPCRL-MVP improves pursuing efficiency by 3.95 % over Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic policy gradient-Decentralized Multi-Agent Pursuit and its success rate is 34.78 % higher than that of Multi-Agent Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient. Codes are open-sourced

Next Gens Leadership Conundrum: the emotional experience of taking up leadership roles and claiming authority in family-owned businesses.

This study provides a systems psycho-dynamic exploration of leadership development in next generation members of family-owned businesses. Utilising biographic narrative interpretive method (BNIM) and grounded theory, it analyses five self-narrated life stories of family business successors. The research uncovers how the interplay between family dynamics, family and business systems, and societal context shapes leadership development. Key findings reveal that the family system, often reflective of the business’s emphasis on efficiency, success, and competition, profoundly influence the leadership trajectories of the next generation. Three distinct relational patterns emerge. Firstly, those who are seen as “natural successors” are required to conform to family expectations, enclose subjectivity, and renounce authorship (“the restrained”). Other patterns suggest that if an adequate facilitating environment is offered, rivalry and competition can encourage intellectual and creative capacities and foster a desire to later join the business (“self-authorised competitors”). However, if not being seen as a potential successor is seen as rejection, this may trigger unresolved feelings of envy and jealousy, which in turn spur a narcissistic need to “prove the world wrong” (“the rebellious”). These three patterns are understood as transitory states of mind, or momentary related positions, that are dynamic in nature. The concept of “virtuous betrayal” underscores the need for next generation leaders to challenge and transcend established familial norms and covert agreements, fostering personal growth, differentiation, and the development of personal authority whilst preserving a sense of interdependence amongst family members. The research suggests that successful succession and the assertion of authority by the next generation are contingent upon resolving the Oedipal complex and providing adequate reflective space within the family system. Additional findings connect leadership development to the capacity to disentangle oneself from unconscious group alliances, which enables next generations to challenge the meritocratic ideal and maintain a more realistic perspective of the wider social context

Are regulations addressing farm animal welfare issues during live transportation fit for purpose? A multi-country jurisdictional check

Growing animal welfare concerns have pushed some jurisdictions to strengthen regulations addressing live farm animal transportation, but whether they provide satisfactory levels of protection for animals remains to be shown. Using the recent peer-reviewed literature, we identified four major risk factors associated with live animal transportation (fitness for transport, journey duration, climatic conditions and space allowances) and explored how regulations were structured to prevent animal welfare issues in five English-speaking Western jurisdictions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the EU and the USA). All legally binding federal regulations were systematically reviewed and compared. Whether these rules were fit for purpose was assessed using the relevant peer-reviewed scientific literature. Our findings indicate the majority of regulations in most jurisdictions are often insufficient or too vague to be deemed fit for purpose. All five jurisdictions fall short in guaranteeing adequate protection to livestock during transport. Using recent changes as well as future policy proposals under discussion, we identify future directions that could form the basis for regulatory changes that may significantly improve the welfare of farm animals during transportation.</jats:p

Finite groups defined by presentations in which each defining relator involves exactly two generators

We consider two classes of groups, denoted JΓ and MΓ, defined by presentations in which each defining relator involves exactly two generators, and so are examples of simple Pride groups. (For MΓ the relators are Baumslag-Solitar relators.) These presentations are, in turn, defined in terms of a non-trivial, simple directed graph Γ whose arcs are labelled by integers. When Γ is a directed triangle the groups JΓ,MΓ coincide with groups considered by Johnson and by Mennicke, respectively. When the arc labels are all equal the groups form families of so-called digraph groups. We show that if Γ is a non-trivial, strongly connected tournament then the groups JΓ are finite, metabelian, of rank equal to the order of Γ and we show that the groups MΓ are finite and, subject to a condition on the arc labels, are of rank equal to the order of Γ

Design and Quantitative Assessment of Teleoperation-Based Human–Robot Collaboration Method for Robot-Assisted Sonography

Tele-echography has emerged as a promising and effective solution, leveraging the expertise of sonographers and the autonomy of robots to perform ultrasound scanning for patients residing in remote areas, without the need for in-person visits by the sonographer. Designing effective and natural human-robot interfaces for tele-echography remains challenging, with patient safety being a critical concern. In this article, we develop a teleoperation system for robot-assisted sonography with two different interfaces, a haptic device-based interface and a low-cost 3D Mouse-based interface, which can achieve continuous and intuitive telemanipulation by a leader device with a small workspace. To achieve compliant interaction with patients, we design impedance controllers in Cartesian space to track the desired position and orientation for these two teleoperation interfaces. We also propose comprehensive evaluation metrics of robot-assisted sonography, including subjective and objective evaluation, to evaluate tele-echography interfaces and control performance. We evaluate the ergonomic performance based on the estimated muscle fatigue and the acquired ultrasound image quality. We conduct user studies based on the NASA Task Load Index to evaluate the performance of these two human-robot interfaces. The tracking performance and the quantitative comparison of these two teleoperation interfaces are conducted by the Franka Emika Panda robot. The results and findings provide guidance on human-robot collaboration design and implementation for robot-assisted sonography. Note to Practitioners —Robot-assisted sonography has demonstrated efficacy in medical diagnosis during clinical trials. However, deploying fully autonomous robots for ultrasound scanning remains challenging due to various constraints in practice, such as patient safety, dynamic tasks, and environmental uncertainties. Semi-autonomous or teleoperation-based robot sonography represents a promising approach for practical deployment. Previous work has produced various expensive teleoperation interfaces but lacks user studies to guide teleoperation interface selection. In this article, we present two typical teleoperation interfaces and implement a continuous and intuitive teleoperation control system. We also propose a comprehensive evaluation metric for assessing their performance. Our findings show that the haptic device outperforms the 3D Mouse, based on operators’ feedback and acquired image quality. However, the haptic device requires more learning time and effort in the training stage. Furthermore, the developed teleoperation system offers a solution for shared control and human-robot skill transfer. Our results provide valuable guidance for designing and implementing human-robot interfaces for robot-assisted sonography in practice

Integrating variation in bacterial‐fungal co‐occurrence network with soil carbon dynamics

Bacteria and fungi are core microorganisms in diverse ecosystems, and their cross-kingdom interactions are considered key determinants of microbiome structure and ecosystem functioning. However, how bacterial-fungal interactions mediate soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics remains largely unexplored in the context of artificial forest ecosystems. Here, we characterised soil bacterial and fungal communities in four successive planting of Eucalyptus and compared them to a neighbouring evergreen broadleaf forest. Carbon (C) mineralisation combined with five C-degrading enzymatic activities was investigated to determine the effects of successive planting of Eucalyptus on SOC dynamics. Our results indicated that successive planting of Eucalyptus significantly altered the diversity and structure of soil bacterial and fungal communities and increased the negative bacterial-fungal associations. The bacterial diversity significantly decreased in all Eucalyptus plantations compared to the evergreen forest, while the fungal diversity showed the opposite trend. The ratio of negative bacterial-fungal associations increased with successive planting of Eucalyptus due to the decrease in SOC, ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) and available phosphorus (AP). Structural equation modelling indicated that the potential cross-kingdom competition, based on the ratio of negative bacterial-fungal correlations, was significantly negatively associated with the diversity of total bacteria and keystone bacteria, thereby increasing C-degrading enzymatic activities and C mineralisation. Synthesis and applications: Our results highlight the regulatory role of the negative bacterial-fungal association in enhancing the correlation between bacterial diversity and C mineralisation. This suggests that promoting short-term successive planting in the management of Eucalyptus plantations can mitigate the impact of this association on SOC decomposition. Taken together, our study advances the understanding of bacterial-fungal negative associations to mediate carbon mineralisation in Eucalyptus plantations, giving us a new insight into SOC cycling dynamics in artificial forests

‘How does the magic work?’ Exploring parents’ experience of waiting in the waiting room with a child in once-weekly psychotherapy, an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy is one of the treatments offered to children by qualified and trainee child psychotherapists in CAMHS, but little is known about the emotional impact this has on parents. This project aims to investigate what meaning parents give to the fact that their child is engaged in such treatment and their experience of waiting for their child in the waiting room. The data for this project was collected through semi-structured interviews with four parents whose child engaged in once-weekly psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the generic CAMHS where I was based while training as a child psychotherapist. The data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The following themes emerged from the analysis: ‘The referral to CAMHS’, ‘Managing the transitions’, ‘In the waiting room’, ‘The impact of psychotherapy’. The findings show how hard it is for parents to think and talk about the traumatic experiences that brought their child to be referred to CAMHS and the emotional turmoil parents go through while waiting for their child to be offered treatment; the waiting in the waiting room also triggers strong ambivalent feelings and fantasies about what happens in the therapy room behind closed doors. The findings also show that parents manage their child’s transitions to and from the therapy room in different ways; some might find ways not to get in touch with their feelings and thoughts, while others feel contained by the therapeutic framework. The findings also shed some light on the positive impact having a child in once-weekly psychotherapy can have not only on the child, but on the whole family system; parents reported that they noticed an improvement on their child’s ability to self-regulate and progress in development, while feeling contained with their anxieties and feel like a “normal family”

A mixed-method study using a sequential, cross-sectional, exploratory design to determine Advanced Clinical Practitioners expectations of the benefits in pursuing this role, whether these are being realised and the associated factors for this.

• Background Advanced Practitioners (ACPs) have been utilised worldwide to reform health services to address population needs. However, previous research identifies barriers which prevent the effective implementation of ACPs. • Aims To better understand the expectations ACPs have regarding the role, and to evaluate whether they are currently being met so that focused educational and policy initiatives can be developed to reduce gaps between expectation and reality. • Methods This on-line cross-sectional study uses a sequential, mixed method, exploratory design where themes were created from focus groups to construct a follow up questionnaire. 291 UK participants were recruited via social media and ACP educational and policy networks. Exploratory data and reflexive thematic analysis were employed to probe and visualise results, drawing findings together into narrative synthesis. • Findings This research provides insight from a diverse group of ACPs of their current lived experiences, aspirations, and driving forces to come into or stay working in the role. Five themes were constructed from focus group discussions. 1) clinical/ non-clinical balance, 2) full use of knowledge, skills and experience, 3) leadership in quality improvement, 4) career progression and 5) policy, vision, and organisation. Gaps between ACPs expectations and their lived experience of the role were identified. • Conclusion To achieve the expected growth of ACP, attention is needed on narrowing the gaps between the expectation and reality of working in this role. This includes ring fencing non-clinical activity, enhancing opportunities for professional development, supervision, and leadership, providing greater clarity in career planning, and embedding and evaluating efforts to standardise ACP