Co-determination and Innovation

This paper examines the effect of the German co-determination law of 1976 (MitbestG) on the innovative activity of German firms. Co-determination applies to firms with 2000 employees or more. Data from 1971-1976 and 1981-1990 on 148 firms are used to compare the number of patents granted to co-determined firms before and after the introduction of the law. Several control variables are applied and in particular, in order to avoid a possible bias from specific effects of firm size, we compare the co-determined firms with others before and after 1976. The results do not support the view that co-determination slows down technological progress and reduces innovativeness.co-determination, innovation, patents

Experimental investigation of ultracold atom-molecule collisions

Ultracold collisions between Cs atoms and Cs2 dimers in the electronic ground state are observed in an optically trapped gas of atoms and molecules. The Cs2 molecules are formed in the triplet ground state by cw-photoassociation through the outer well of the 0g-(P3/2) excited electronic state. Inelastic atom-molecule collisions converting internal excitation into kinetic energy lead to a loss of Cs2 molecules from the dipole trap. Rate coefficients are determined for collisions involving Cs atoms in either the F=3 or F=4 hyperfine ground state and Cs2 molecules in either highly vibrationally excited states (v'=32-47) or in low vibrational states (v'=4-6) of the a ^3 Sigma_u^+ triplet ground state. The rate coefficients beta ~10^{-10} cm^3/s are found to be largely independent of the vibrational and rotational excitation indicating unitary limited cross sections.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted for publicatio

Применение инструментов оптимизации для повышения конверсионности сайта компании

Объектом исследования является система оптимизации сайта коммерческой компании в изменяющихся условиях. Предметом исследования является процесс разработки и реализации комплекса инструментов SEO-оптимизации сайта компании для повышения его конверсионности. Целью работы является разработка алгоритма применения комплекса инструментов SEO-оптимизации сайта компании и его внедрение для повышения показателей конверсии. Научная значимость исследования состоит в разработке алгоритма применения комплекса инструментов SEO-оптимизации сайта коммерческой компании с целью повышения его конверсионности. Практическая значимость заключается в успешной апробации разработанного алгоритма и внедрении предложенных рекомендаций в исследуемой компании.The object of the research is a system for optimizing the site of a commercial company in changing conditions. The subject of the research is the development process and a set of tools for SEO-optimization of a company's website to increase its conversion. The aim of the work is to develop an algorithm for using a set of tools for SEO-optimization of the company's website and its implementation to increase conversion rates. The scientific significance of the research includes an algorithm for using a set of SEO tools for optimizing a company's website in order to increase its conversion rate. The practical significance lies in the successful testing of the developed algorithm and the implementation of the proposed recommendations in the company under study

Primary Care Physician Workforce 2020 to 2025 - a cross-sectional study for the Canton of Bern.

AIM OF THIS STUDY The Swiss primary care sector faces a lack in its workforce and the Canton of Bern - the second largest canton (i.e. federal state) - is believed to be more affected than others. To be able to predict a shortage in the overall workforce, reliable numbers for the workforce of all general practitioners (GPs) and paediatricians (primary care physicians, PCPs) actively working in the Canton of Bern are needed. Switzerland has no registry of active PCPs; therefore, our goal was to (1) define the number and characteristics of all PCPs in the Canton of Bern, (2) to establish the workforce density for the whole canton and its administrative districts, and (3) to forecast the next five years with respect to the PCP workforce development. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we contacted all potential PCPs of the Canton of Bern. We included all board-certified physicians in general internal medicine, paediatrics and physicians with the title "Praktischer Arzt (practical doctor)" with a professional license from the available registers (MedReg and the FMH register). All potential PCPs received a questionnaire to assess their involvement in the primary care setting, their personal characteristics including workload (current and in 5 years to allow us to estimate the projected workforce per projected population size in 2025), type of practice, administrative district, and additional questions on their acceptance of new patients and their perception of a shortage in their region. The data from non-responders were collected via follow-up letters, emails and phone calls. The density was calculated as full-time equivalent PCPs per 1000 inhabitants in total and per district. RESULTS From all potential PCPs (n = 2217), we identified 972  working in the Canton of Bern, 851 as GPs (88%) and 121 as paediatricians (12%). From these physicians, we had a response rate of 95%. The mean age was 53 years for GPs and 50 years for paediatricians. Thirteen percent of all PCPs were aged 65 or older. The average workload was 7.6 half-days (GPs) and 6.9 half-days (paediatricians). We found a density of 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-0.81) full-time equivalents per 1000 inhabitants for the total of the Canton of Bern, and a regional variability with densities between 0.59 to 0.93. Without new PCPs, the workforce density of PCPs will drop to 0.56 (95% CI 0.49-0.62) within the next 5years. CONCLUSION This is the first study in which 95% of active PCPs participated and it demonstrated that within the next 5 years there will be a shortage in the workforce of PCPs that can only be improved by higher numbers of new domestic PCPs - even after accounting for the current inflow of foreign PCPs

Environmental Risk Factors for Chronic Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Cancer

Chronic pancreatitis has long been thought to be mainly associated with immoderate alcohol consumption. The observation that only ∼10% of heavy drinkers develop chronic pancreatitis not only suggests that other environmental factors, such as tobacco smoke, are potent additional risk factors, but also that the genetic component of pancreatitis is more common than previously presumed. Either disease-causing or protective traits have been indentified for mutations in different trypsinogen genes, the gene for the trypsin inhibitor SPINK1, chymotrypsinogen C, and the cystic fibrosis transmembane conductance regulator (CFTR). Other factors that have been proposed to contribute to pancreatitis are obesity, diets high in animal protein and fat, as well as antioxidant deficiencies. For the development of pancreatic cancer, preexisting chronic pancreatitis, more prominently hereditary pancreatitis, is a risk factor. The data on environmental risk factors for pancreatic cancer are, with the notable exception of tobacco smoke, either sparse, unconfirmed or controversial. Obesity appears to increase the risk of pancreatic cancer in the West but not in Japan. Diets high in processed or red meat, diets low in fruits and vegetables, phytochemicals such as lycopene and flavonols, have been proposed and refuted as risk or protective factors in different trials. The best established and single most important risk factor for cancer as well as pancreatitis and the one to clearly avoid is tobacco smoke

I-BEAT: New ultrasonic method for single bunch measurement of ion energy distribution

The shape of a wave carries all information about the spatial and temporal structure of its source, given that the medium and its properties are known. Most modern imaging methods seek to utilize this nature of waves originating from Huygens' principle. We discuss the retrieval of the complete kinetic energy distribution from the acoustic trace that is recorded when a short ion bunch deposits its energy in water. This novel method, which we refer to as Ion-Bunch Energy Acoustic Tracing (I-BEAT), is a generalization of the ionoacoustic approach. Featuring compactness, simple operation, indestructibility and high dynamic ranges in energy and intensity, I-BEAT is a promising approach to meet the needs of petawatt-class laser-based ion accelerators. With its capability of completely monitoring a single, focused proton bunch with prompt readout it, is expected to have particular impact for experiments and applications using ultrashort ion bunches in high flux regimes. We demonstrate its functionality using it with two laser-driven ion sources for quantitative determination of the kinetic energy distribution of single, focused proton bunches.Comment: Paper: 17 Pages, 3 figures Supplementary Material 16 pages, 7 figure

Multi-spot ultrafast laser ablation at ambient pressure – A new window on coalescing shock wave interactions

During ultrafast laser ablation at ambient pressure, redeposition of nano-particulates occurs through backwards flux towards the end of the ablation process and is often viewed as undesirable. Here, on the contrary, we report on unique, highly symmetric redeposition patterns observed during ultrafast laser ablation of metals with closely spaced multi-spots in ambient gases. Spot symmetries were altered with a Spatial Light Modulator or beam splitting optics. At low fluence (relative to material ablation threshold), debris is highly confined within the spot patterns, while at higher fluence, jets of debris emanate along axes of symmetry reaching distances far exceeding the spot separations. These phenomena appear universal but depend on the spot proximity, substrate, ambient gas density and pulse energy. The jets, formed at the collision planes between plasma plumes, consist of agglomerated nanoparticle debris, lifted and accelerated by colliding supersonic Mach shocks whose early interactions are imprinted on the debris fields. Numerical simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) of multi-spot ablation in ambient gas supports this view of the phenomena. These observations are relevant to an improved understanding of coalescing shock waves, induced air flows and re-deposition at ambient pressure