Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agriculture and the Environment—A Case Study of the Želivka Catchment, Czech Republic

In spite of reduction in some types of pollution, environmental degradation continues in former Central and Eastern European countries, partly as new forms of pollution, partly as reappearance of previous types of pollution and partly as structural inertia and remnants of the old system. Taking the Želivka area, a water catchment in South Bohemia of the Czech Republic, as a case study, this article provides an institutional analysis of the environmental dimension of the transition process by focusing on agriculture, the usage of mineral fertilizers, soil erosion, the use and role of water and the landscape. This analysis shows that in spite of a break-out of the overall path dependency of the previous institutional system of the Soviet bloc, path dependencies linger on at other levels but are wrapped in new clothing. For instance, the habitus of large-scale, environmentally degrading farming practice prevails, shifting its legitimacy from production targets set by the state to profitability targets. These actors are challenged by small-scale farmers, however, as well as by popular support for agricultural practices more in harmony with the natural environment. However, against the backdrop of eroding viability of local communities, environmentalism is fighting an up-hill battle.
Investigating the complex drivers of loyalty in e-commerce settings

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how perceived service quality, satisfaction and trust determine loyalty in e‐commerce settings at the level of construct dimensions.Design/methodology/approach – A survey method approach was used in this study. To test the dimensionality of the perceived service quality, all the 20 items were analyzed using oblique rotation and varimax rotation. The hypotheses were tested using the structural equations modeling.Findings – Empirical results indicate that only assurance does appear to play an imperative role in building trust as suggested by many authors. Of particular interest is the finding that word‐of‐mouth (WOM) is an antecedent of trust and intention. It becomes clear that WOM is a relatively important driver of trust and intention in e‐commerce settings.Research limitations/implications – The study may also be delimited to Qatar only. Further research could complement it by exploring the study variables and other variables not mentioned in depth h.
The dependence of dark matter profiles on the stellar-to-halo mass ratio: a prediction for cusps versus cores

We use a suite of 31 simulated galaxies drawn from the MaGICC project to investigate the effects of baryonic feedback on the density profiles of dark matter haloes. The sample covers a wide mass range: 9.4×109 <Mhalo/M� <7.8×1011, hosting galaxies with stellarmasses in the range 5.0×105 <M∗/M� < 8.3×1010, i.e. from dwarf to L∗. The galaxies are simulated with blastwave supernova feedback and, for some of them, an additional source of energy from massive stars is included. Within this feedback scheme we vary several parameters, such as the initial mass function, the density threshold for star formation, and energy from supernovae and massive stars. The main result is a clear dependence of the inner slope of the dark matter density profile, α in ρ ∝ rα, on the stellar-to-halo mass ratio, M∗/Mhalo. This relation is independent of the particular choice of parameters within our stellar feedback scheme, allowing a prediction for cusp versus core formation. When M∗/Mhalo is low, �0.01 per cent, energy from stellar feedback is insufficient to significantly alter the inner dark matter density, and the galaxy retains a cuspy profile. At higher stellar-to-halo mass ratios, feedback drives the expansion of the dark matter and generates cored profiles. The flattest profiles form where M∗/Mhalo ∼ 0.5 per cent. Above this ratio, stars formed in the central regions deepen the gravitational potential enough to oppose the supernova-driven expansion process, resulting in cuspier profiles. Combining the dependence of α on M∗/Mhalo with the empirical abundance matching relation between M∗ and Mhalo provides a prediction for how α varies as a function of stellar mass. Further, using the Tully–Fisher relation allows a prediction for the dependence of the dark matter inner slope on the observed rotation velocity of galaxies. The most cored galaxies are expected to have Vrot ∼ 50 km s−1, with α decreasing for more massive disc galaxies: spirals with Vrot ∼ 150 km s−1 have central slopes α ≤−0.8, approaching again the Navarro–Frenk–White profile. This novel prediction for the dependence of α on disc galaxy mass can be tested using observational data sets and can be applied to theoretical modelling of mass profiles and populations of disc galaxies.
Toward Better Theories of the Policy Process

Any theory of the manner in which governmental policies get formulated and implemented, as well as the effects of those actions on the world, requires an understanding of the behavior of major types of governmental institutions (legislatures, courts, administrative agencies, chief executives), as well as the behavior of interest groups, the general public, and the media. The dominant paradigm of the policy process, the stages heuristic popularized by Jones (1970), Anderson (1975), and Peters (1986), has outlived its usefulness and must be replaced, in large part because it is not a causal theory. In the course of their empirical work, policy scholars have highlighted a number of phenomena that need to be incorporated into theories of the policy process. The development of such theories requires an integration ‘of both political scientists’ knowledge of specific institutions and behavior and policy scholars' attention to policy communities, substantive policy information, etc. Innovations by Policy Scholars in Understanding the Policy Process At least since World War II, most political scientists have tended to focus on either a specific type of institution (legislatures, the presidency, courts, interest groups, administrative agencies, local governments, political parties) or on specific types of political behavior outside those institutions (public opinion, voting, political socialization). These have become the standard subfields within the discipline. In contrast, scholars interested in public policy have not been able to stay within these subfields because the policy process spans all of them. In the course of empirical work, policy scholars have highlighted a number of phenomena often neglected by political scientists without a policy focus: a) The importance of policy communities/networks/subsystems involving actors from numerous public and private institutions and from multiple levels of government; b) The importance of substantive policy information; c) The critical role of policy elites vis-a-vis the general public; d) The desirability of longitudinal studies of a decade or more; e) Differences in political behavior across policy types.
Women and Land Tenure: Marginality and the Left-Hand Power

This chapter in a book on South African perspectives on women land and authority considers sociocultural issues related to women and the prevailing forms of rural land tenure. The chapter 1) outlines the various forms of existing tenure (state land systems communal or tribal tenure freehold communities informal land systems and White farms) and 2) describes the plight of women and families of women evicted from farms. The next section 1) considers mens and womens concepts of land rights; 2) discusses how various households may gain tenure; and 3) explores gender priorities and male fears about giving land tenure to women. The chapter highlights how various households run by women experience a disadvantage that differs by degree for households composed of widows with grown children younger widows with young children single mothers with children and married women with absent husbands. The chapter suggests that research determine 1) the assumptions about land tenure systems and various kinds of rights 2) the range of variation in womens perceived land rights 3) how class factors influence womens control of land 4) how land is actually held and transferred 5) how successfully women can defend their rights to land from challenges 6) womens access to power structures and influence on power brokers 7) the specific points of male/female conflict over land 8) the extent that violence impedes womens access to land 9) the impact of womens increasing access to land rights 10) the involvement of women in production 11) how inheritance systems will affect legal changes and 12) how to support women in the effective use of land.
Root Causes of African Underdevelopment

What is the root cause of Africa’s current state of under-development? Is it the long history of slave trade, or the legacy of extractive colonial institutions, or the fallout of malaria? A precise answer still eludes us. This paper investigates the relative contribution of these historical factors using an instrumental variable approach. The results show that malaria matters the most and all other factors are statistically insignificant. The mechanism through which malaria impacts economic performance is demonstrated by a strong negative relationship between malaria and national savings and a two period overlapping generation model. The model shows that high malaria incidence adversely affects growth by increasing both mortality and morbidity. Increased mortality from malaria induces households to increase current consumption and save less for the future. Increased morbidity on the other hand adversely affects labour productivity. The combined impact of these two effects is a slowdown of capital accumulation and economic growth.
Stakeholder representation on the boards of Australian initial public offerings

This paper analyses the board composition of Australian initial public offerings (IPOs) over the period 1994 to 1997. The recent management literature identifies a wide range of stakeholders beyond the traditional shareholders. Evan and Freeman, and Jones and Goldberg suggest that the importance of stakeholders should be reflected in board representation. Luoma and Goodstein provide evidence of increased stakeholder representation on the boards of American companies. This paper studies Australian IPOs and finds that this is not the case. This suggests that capital raising by new lists in the Australian equity market does not require stakeholder representation on the board.
Nonlinearity in US macroeconomic time series

In this study, we evaluate the linearity of 170 major monthly US macroeconomic time series spanning the years 1959–2002. Employing the linearity test recently proposed by Harvey et al. (2008), which is applicable when the order of integration is uncertain, we determined that more than half of the macroeconomic time series were nonlinear. In particular, approximately 75% of the time series in nominal prices, wages and money category were determined to be nonlinear, whereas the least abundant evidence, corresponding to approximately 43% of the series, was detected in the category of construction, inventories and order.
Evidence-based guideline update: Steroids and antivirals for Bell palsy

Objective: To review evidence published since the 2001 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) practice parameter regarding the effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of steroids and antiviral agents for Bell palsy. Methods: We searched Medline and the Cochrane Database of Controlled Clinical Trials for studies published since January 2000 that compared facial functional outcomes in patients with Bell palsy receiving steroids/antivirals with patients not receiving these medications. We graded each study (Class I–IV) using the AAN therapeutic classification of evidence scheme. We compared the proportion of patients recovering facial function in the treated group with the proportion of patients recovering facial function in the control group. Results: Nine studies published since June 2000 on patients with Bell palsy receiving steroids/antiviral agents were identified. Two of these studies were rated Class I because of high methodologic quality. Conclusions and Recommendations: For patients with new-onset Bell palsy, steroids are highly likely to be effective and should be offered to increase the probability of recovery of facial nerve function (2 Class I studies, Level A) (risk difference 12.8%–15%). For patients with new-onset Bell palsy, antiviral agents in combination with steroids do not increase the probability of facial functional recovery by >7%. Because of the possibility of a modest increase in recovery, patients might be offered antivirals (in addition to steroids) (Level C). Patients offered antivirals should be counseled that a benefit from antivirals has not been established, and, if there is a benefit, it is likely that it is modest at best.
Possible mechanism for observed dynamic resistance

A possible mechanism was proposed to explain the observance of motion induced short-term discontinuities in degraded tin plated contacts (less than 1 /spl mu/s). This mechanism requires unique conditions where cold-welded wear particles are stretched and sheared to the fracture limit during sliding. It is speculated that the release of elastic energy during fracture propagates through the surface structure at the speed of sound and causes rapid changes in contact resistance. An analysis of the microstructure was conducted and indicates this mechanism is theoretically possible. Moreover, data are provided that show incremental changes in normal force can cause counter intuitive changes in resistance. This data shows that large changes occur during loading and unloading, and it is believed that these changes are the result of micro rocking that is induced by the step loading system. It is estimated that the distances covered by the rocking range from a few to tens of microns, and the large changes in resistance are thought to result from making and breaking cold welded asperities. In addition, this data suggests that a static contact resistance threshold for discontinuities exist around the 100 m/spl Omega/ level. This is in agreement with other authors and lends credibility to the use of static contact resistance as a measure of contact stability.
CD4-Mimetic Small Molecules Sensitize Human Immunodeficiency Virus to Vaccine-Elicited Antibodies

ABSTRACT Approaches to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) transmission are urgently needed. Difficulties in eliciting antibodies that bind conserved epitopes exposed on the unliganded conformation of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimer represent barriers to vaccine development. During HIV-1 entry, binding of the gp120 Env to the initial receptor, CD4, triggers conformational changes in Env that result in the formation and exposure of the highly conserved gp120 site for interaction with the coreceptors, CCR5 and CXCR4. The DMJ compounds (+)-DMJ-I-228 and (+)-DMJ-II-121 bind gp120 within the conserved Phe 43 cavity near the CD4-binding site, block CD4 binding, and inhibit HIV-1 infection. Here we show that the DMJ compounds sensitize primary HIV-1, including transmitted/founder viruses, to neutralization by monoclonal antibodies directed against CD4-induced (CD4i) epitopes and the V3 region, two gp120 elements involved in coreceptor binding. Importantly, the DMJ compounds rendered primary HIV-1 sensitive to neutralization by antisera elicited by immunization of rabbits with HIV-1 gp120 cores engineered to assume the CD4-bound state. Thus, small molecules like the DMJ compounds may be useful as microbicides to inhibit HIV-1 infection directly and to sensitize primary HIV-1 to neutralization by readily elicited antibodies. IMPORTANCE Preventing HIV-1 transmission is a priority for global health. Eliciting antibodies that can neutralize many different strains of HIV-1 is difficult, creating problems for the development of a vaccine. We found that certain small-molecule compounds can sensitize HIV-1 to particular antibodies. These antibodies can be elicited in rabbits. These results suggest an approach to prevent HIV-1 sexual transmission in which a virus-sensitizing microbicide is combined with a vaccine.
Myocardial T2‐mapping and velocity mapping: Changes in regional left ventricular structure and function after heart transplantation

Monitoring post cardiac transplant (TX) status relies on frequent invasive techniques such as endomyocardial biopsies and right heart cardiac catheterization. The aim of this study was to noninvasively evaluate regional myocardial structure, function, and dyssynchrony in TX patients. Myocardial T2‐mapping and myocardial velocity mapping of the left ventricle (basal, midventricular, and apical short‐axis locations) was applied in 10 patients after cardiac transplantation (49 ± 13years, n = 2 with signs of mild rejection, time between TX and MRI = 1–64 months) and compared to healthy controls (n = 20 for myocardial velocity mapping and n = 14 for T2). Segmental analysis based on the 16‐segment American Heart Association model revealed increased T2 (P = 0.0003) and significant (P < 0.0001) reductions in systolic and diastolic radial and long‐axis peak myocardial velocities in TX patients without signs of rejection compared to controls. Multiple comparisons of individual left ventricular segments demonstrated reductions of long‐axis peak velocities in 50% of segments (P < 0.001) while segmental T2 values were not significantly different. Systolic radial as well as diastolic radial and long‐axis dyssynchrony were significantly (P < 0.04) increased in TX patients indicating less coordinated contraction, expansion, and lengthening. Correlation analysis revealed moderate but significant (P < 0.010) inverse relationships between myocardial T2 and long‐axis peak velocities suggesting a structure–function relationship between altered T2 and myocardial function. Magn Reson Med 70:517–526, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Participation and procedural justice: The role of national culture

Hoftstede's (1980) cultural dimensions have been shown to affect employees' perceptions of workplace phenomena. With the use of data from eight countries, it is the purpose of this paper to examine two cultural dimensions, power distance and individualism, as they impact employees' procedural justice perceptions. Using predictions from equity theory, we suggest that the relationship between participation and procedural justice perceptions is moderated by the aforementioned dimensions. The model also provides a framework for conceptualising cultural contrasts that may best lend themselves to the introduction of participation mechanisms within a global context. The current results support the notion that power distance and individualism interact with participation to negatively and positively, respectively, predict procedural justice perceptions. The results and theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Sustainability and dietary change: the implications of Swedish food consumption patterns 1960–2006

This article focuses on the changing food consumption pattern in Sweden between 1960 and 2006, and the implications of those changes for sustainability. National statistical data on the consumption of different food groups such as meat, milk, dairy products, eggs, fruit, vegetables, cereal, potatoes and sugar were compared. Overall, an increase in the consumption of meat, cheese, cream, fruit and vegetables was observed, while the consumption of milk, butter and potatoes decreased. For the sustainability assessment, three parameters were chosen: land requirement, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use. It was shown that the Swedish diet in 2006 required more resources and produced more GHG emissions than in 1960, mainly due to the increase in the consumption of animal products.
Epidemiological and clinical features of enteroviral acute lower respiratory tract infections in hospitalized paediatric patients in a Malaysian tertiary center.

BACKGROUND Human enteroviruses (HEVs) have been recognized to cause a significant number of respiratory tract infections in many regions. Previous studies conducted to analyse enteroviral respiratory tract infections focused on outbreaks. Data in the Southeast Asian region is still rather limited to date. OBJECTIVES We conducted a prospective analysis to understand the epidemiological characteristics of enteroviral lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) among paediatric patients admitted to Hospital Ampang, a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. METHODOLOGY Nasopharyngeal aspirates for common respiratory viruses and throat swabs for enteroviruses were obtained for rtPCR analyses. All positive enteroviral results were then cultured for species identification. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION Of the total 211 recruited patients, enteroviral LRTIs made up 8%. The clinical features of enteroviral infections are mostly clinically indistinguishable from that of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections. However, RSV appears to be more lymphocytosis causing than enteroviruses (EV). We found a higher asthma incidence within the enteroviral group compared to RSV group. Enteroviral infections continue to play an important role in LRTIs in children beyond infancy and up to school age. Among the enteroviral strains, EV71 contributes a major role in enteroviral LRTIs in our center. Routine testing for enterovirus would certainly help identify a significant proportion of unexplained viral LRTIs among paediatric patients. However, further cost analyses studies would be helpful to determine if incorporating testing for enteroviruses into routine respiratory viruses panel tests is economically feasible.
Useless Prevention vs. Costly Remediation

I model the dynamic agency relationship underlying prevention. In each period, a principal can transfer resources to an agent that has private information about a problem, which the agent can direct to solving the problem or divert into rents. Problems are persistent and rectifiable: they randomly generate observable disasters until enough resources have been committed to solving them. I characterise the principal's equilibrium trade-off between (a) preventing disasters while squandering transfers in informational rents to agents facing trivial problems and (b) limiting transfers and remediating costly disasters that eliminate agents informational advantage and prove the need for action.
Review of Progress in Shape Memory Epoxies and Their Composites

Shape memory polymer (SMP) is capable of memorizing one or more temporary shapes and recovering successively to the permanent shape upon various external stimuli. Beside of the above mentioned one-way variants, also two-way shape memory polymers (SMPs) and shape memory (SM) systems exist which feature a reversible shape change on the basis of “on-off switching” of the external stimulus. The preparation, properties and modelling of shape memory epoxy resins (SMEP), SMEP foams and composites have been surveyed in this exhaustive review article. The underlying mechanisms and characteristics of SM were introduced. Emphasis was put to show new strategies on how to tailor the network architecture and morphology of EPs to improve their SM performance. To produce SMEPs novel preparation techniques, such as electrospinning, ink printing, solid-state foaming, were tried. The potential of SMEPs and related systems as multifunctional materials has been underlined. Added functionality may include, among others, self-healing, sensing, actuation, porosity control, recycling. Recent developments in the modelling of SMEPs were also highlighted. Based on the recent developments some open topics were deduced which are merit of investigations in future works.