Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? Evidence from Chilean Firms

A major concern with the rapid spread of technology is that it replaces some jobs, displacing workers. However, technology may raise firm productivity, generating more jobs. The paper contributes to this debate by exploiting a novel panel data set for Chilean firms in all sectors between 2007 and 2013. While previous studies examine the impacts of automation on the use of routine tasks by middle-educated workers. This study focuses on a measure of complex software that is typically used by more educated workers in cognitive and nonroutine tasks for client, production, and business management. The instrumental variables estimates show that in the medium run, firms’ adoption of complex software affects firms’ employment decisions and the skill content of occupations. The adoption of complex software reallocates employment from skilled workers to administrative and unskilled production workers. This reallocation leads to an increase in the use of routine and manual tasks and a reduction in the use of abstract tasks within firms. Interestingly, the impacts tend to be concentrated in sectors with a less educated workforce, suggesting that technology can constrain job creation for the more skilled workers there. The paper concludes that the type of technology matters for understanding the impacts of technology adoption on the labor market.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? Evidence from Chilean Firms

A major concern with the rapid spread of technology is that it replaces some jobs, displacing workers. However, technology may raise firm productivity, generating more jobs. The paper contributes to this debate by exploiting a novel panel data set for Chilean firms in all sectors between 2007 and 2013. While previous studies examine the impacts of automation on the use of routine tasks by middle-educated workers. This study focuses on a measure of complex software that is typically used by more educated workers in cognitive and nonroutine tasks for client, production, and business management. The instrumental variables estimates show that in the medium run, firms’ adoption of complex software affects firms’ employment decisions and the skill content of occupations. The adoption of complex software reallocates employment from skilled workers to administrative and unskilled production workers. This reallocation leads to an increase in the use of routine and manual tasks and a reduction in the use of abstract tasks within firms. Interestingly, the impacts tend to be concentrated in sectors with a less educated workforce, suggesting that technology can constrain job creation for the more skilled workers there. The paper concludes that the type of technology matters for understanding the impacts of technology adoption on the labor market.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Software adoption, employment composition and the skill content of occupations in chilean firms

We contribute to the technology, skills and jobs debate by exploiting a novel dataset for Chilean firms between 2007 and 2013, with information on the firms’ adoption of complex software used in client management, production or administration and business software packages. Instrumental variables estimates show that, in the medium run, adoption of this complex software reallocates employment away from professional and technical workers, toward administrative and unskilled workers (production and services). Adoption also increases the use of routine and manual tasks and reduces that of abstract tasks within firms. The contrast between ours and previous findings shows that labor market impacts of technology adoption hinge on the type of technology and its complementarity with the skills content of occupations.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociale

Evaluation of antimicrobial resistance of different phylogroups of Escherichia coli isolates from feces of breeding and laying hens

Animal and food sources are seen as a potential transmission pathway of multi-drug resistance (MDR) micro-organisms to humans. Escherichia. coli is frequently used as an indicator of fecal contamination in the food industry and known as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Microbial contamination as a major outcome for the poultry and egg industry and is a serious public health problem. In the present study we performed the quantification of β-glucoronidase positive E. coli in 60 fecal samples of breeding and laying hens collected in Portugal in 2019. Phylogenetic and pathotypic characterization, antimicrobial susceptibility, and detection of resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) genes were assessed. The phylogenetic and pathogenic characterization and detection of ESBL genes were assessed by real-time PCR and antimicrobial susceptibility was evaluated using the disk diffusion method. Overall, E. coli quantification was 6.03 log CFU/g in breeding hens and 6.02 log CFU/g in laying hens. The most frequent phylogroups were B1. None of the isolates was classified as diarrheagenic E. coli (DEC). In total, 57% of the isolates showed MDR and 3.8% were positive for ESBL. Our study highlights that consumers may be exposed to MDR E. coli, presenting a major hazard to food safety and a risk to public health.This research received no external funding.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? Evidence from Chilean Firms

A major concern with the rapid spread of technology is that it replaces some jobs, displacing workers. However, technology may raise firm productivity, generating more jobs. The paper contributes to this debate by exploiting a novel panel data set for Chilean firms in all sectors between 2007 and 2013. While previous studies examine the impacts of automation on the use of routine tasks by middle-educated workers. This study focuses on a measure of complex software that is typically used by more educated workers in cognitive and nonroutine tasks for client, production, and business management. The instrumental variables estimates show that in the medium run, firms’ adoption of complex software affects firms’ employment decisions and the skill content of occupations. The adoption of complex software reallocates employment from skilled workers to administrative and unskilled production workers. This reallocation leads to an increase in the use of routine and manual tasks and a reduction in the use of abstract tasks within firms. Interestingly, the impacts tend to be concentrated in sectors with a less educated workforce, suggesting that technology can constrain job creation for the more skilled workers there. The paper concludes that the type of technology matters for understanding the impacts of technology adoption on the labor market.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Evaluation of the ability of C. albicans to form biofilm in the presence of phage-resistant phenotypes of P. aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans are disparate microbial species, but both are known to be opportunistic pathogens frequently associated with nosocomial infections. The aim of this study was to provide a better understanding of the interactions between these microorganisms in dual-species biofilms. Several bacteriophage-resistant P. aeruginosa phenotypes have been isolated and were used in dual-species mixed-biofilm studies. Twenty-four and 48 h mixed-biofilms were formed using the isolated phenotypes of phage-resistant P. aeruginosa and these were compared with similar experiments using other P. aeruginosa strains with a defined lipopolysaccharide (LPS) deficiency based on chromosomal knockout of specific LPS biosynthetic genes. Overall, the results showed that the variants of phage-resistant P. aeruginosa and LPS mutants were both less effective in inhibiting the growth of C. albicans in mixed-biofilms compared to the wild-type strains of P. aeruginosa. Conversely, the proliferation of P. aeruginosa was not influenced by the presence of C. albicans. In conclusion, the ability of strains of P. aeruginosa to inhibit the formation of a biofilm of C. albicans appears to be correlated with the LPS chain lengths of phenotypes of P. aeruginosa, suggesting that LPS has a suppressive effect on the growth of C. albicans.D. P. P. acknowledges the grant from the project [PTDC/EBB-BIO/114760/2009] from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). J.S.L. holds a Canada Research Chair in Cystic Fibrosis and Microbial Glycobiology and research in his laboratory is supported by operating grants from Cystic Fibrosis Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) [Grant MOP-14687]

XRD and FTIR analysis of Ti–Si–C–ON coatings for biomedical applications

Ti–Si–C–ON films were deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering using different partial pressure ratio of oxygen (pO2) and nitrogen (pN2). Compositional analysis revealed the existence of three different growth zones for the films; (I) N/Ti = 2.1 (high atomic ratio) and low oxygen content; (II) 0.76 < N/Ti < 2.1 (intermediate atomic ratio) and (III) N/Ti ≤ 0.12 (low ratio) and high oxygen content. For high N/Ti atomic ratio (N/Ti = 2.1) the XRD pattern exhibits reflections that correspond to a mixture of two different phases: a metallic-like Ti and a fcc NaCl type structure. Its electrical resistivity presents a metallic character and, consequently, has high infrared reflectivity. For the intermediate N/Ti ratio (0.76 < N/Ti < 2.1), the films crystallize in a B1-NaCl crystal structure typical for TiC0.2N0.8. Their FTIR spectra present C–N modes, besides the TiN ones, that indicate a progressive substitution of nitrogen by carbon atoms with increasing oxygen content (and lowering N/Ti ratio). For the highest oxygen content (and lower N/Ti ratio) the presence of the Ti–O–Ti stretching mode shows the formation of highly resistive Ti–O compounds consistent with the semiconductor character of this film. Biofilm formation as well as material cytotoxicity seemed to be related with the presence of the Ti

Restructuring picking and restocking processes on a hypermarket

The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges and opportunities for exploring Lean approaches in managing instore logistics processes of a hypermarket, wherein data collection made to quantify the state of the system, methods, and instruments will be applied to improve picking and restocking processes between the two main stock areas, the store and the warehouse. This article reports on a case study work, comprising direct observation, and analysis of the data collected, which was developed in three main phases: identification and characterization of problems, improvements in management of stock and restocking information, and finally improvements in the picking and restoking processes and teams. After analysing the hypermarket, some problems were found such as a high percentage of non-productive time in restocking, a daily average of 132 products to be restocked, a lack of standardization of tasks in the warehouse, and outdated restocking management system. Therefore, there will be some proposals to change the restocking management system, the picking and restocking work method and the warehouse layout, which makes it possible to decrease stock breaks in the store by 17%, the number of employees dedicated to these processes from 14 to 11, and finally, to reduce 2 daily hours of non-adding value time. This work makes an innovative contribution to fulfil a lack of publications dedicated to hyper-market inbound logistics between the warehouse and the store. Thus, it reveals the significant importance of focusing on instore logistics to the point of sale, concerning the efficiency, the lean production, and social benefits to the retail hypermarket, from the reception of products in the hypermarket warehouse until they are placed on the store shelves.This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope UIDB/00319/2020

Corrosion Grade on Anchor Rods of Guyed Transmission Towers Applying Machine Committee / Grau de Corrosão em Hastes de Âncora de Torres de Transmissão Guiadas Comitê de Aplicação de Máquinas

The use of guyed structures in electric power transmission lines is a growing practice because of their cost efficiency. However, the anchor systems are subject to corrosion, which can lead to their rupture and loss of tower support. Monitoring the evolution of the corrosion of the anchor rods by visual inspection is a destructive and costly method; therefore, there is considerable interest in developing methods and tools that are capable of generating a maintenance diagnosis of the system. This work aimed to propose a classification tool for guyed towers in terms of the corrosion degree by a machine committee with neural networks and applied it to the Paraiso-Açu line located in Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. Thirty-eight samples were collected and 33 variables related to the soil corrosion along the line were analyzed. The targets for training the networks were obtained from the inspection of anchor rods taken from the field. A simplification of the problem's dimension was proposed by principal component analysis, describing the phenomenon with 6 variables instead of 33, simplifying the practical application by massively reducing the requirements for data sampling in the field. Several network typologies were trained and the best ones in terms of their generalist and specialist capacities were combined in a machine committee for the final proposal of this work. The classification obtained by the application of the committee for 10 towers was compared with the classification from non-destructive impulse reflectometry tests and showed an 80% correlation