Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural equation modelling and regression analysis in tourism research

This paper explores the concept of structural equation modelling (SEM) and discusses the steps which researchers should follow when using this technique. This involves the development of a theoretical model, testing of a confirmatory measurement model, and evaluating the structural model with hypothesised path relations. For the benefit of readers, the discussion is supported by an illustration of a theoretical model predicting residents’ support for tourism, developed on the premise of the social exchange theory. The paper emphasises that the proper application of SEM depends largely on theory, where every step in the analysis is based on theoretical reasoning. The advantages of SEM over regression analysis are discussed and these are grouped in four categories: (1) modelling of measurement errors and unexplained variances, (2) simultaneous testing of relationships, (3) ability to link micro- and macro-perspectives, and (4) best-fitting model and theory development. The limitations of SEM over regression analysis are: (1) difficulty in choosing and using SEM software packages; (2) complexity and ambiguity; (3) limited use in exploratory research; and (4) inability to model ‘truly’ categorical variables. The paper concludes that although SEM has considerable advantages over regression analysis, it does not replace it.
Geospatial Science and the Archaeology of the First World War: Context for Conflict

This paper examines the role of geospatial technologies in the development of non-invasive archaeological research methods and relates this development to the expansion of an innovative sub-discipline: ‘conflict archaeology’. Archaeology is predicated on the principle that human behaviour leaves behind physical evidence that is patterned, recoverable and interpretable; while warfare and conflict can appear to be chaotic affairs, they incorporate behaviours that leave behind patterned evidence (Scott 2005). In the last decade, ‘conflict archaeology’ has become an established sub-field of archaeology, specifically investigating the formation, preservation and conservation of the material record at sites of conflict. These include battlefields and auxiliary sites, such as camps and cemeteries, which are associated with the broader anthropology of conflict (Saunders 2007; Schofield 2005). Many such sites remain sensitive places, in terms of their physical preservation and also with regard to the emotional and political associations bound with past conflict. This is particularly the case with sites of historic conflict, where the past events may still be active in extended social memory. It is often difficult and sometimes forbidden to investigate such sites using traditional archaeological methods of excavation; this poses a considerable challenge to archaeologists. The development of conflict archaeology has coincided with a rapid increase in the accessibility and affordability of geospatial technologies, including geophysical prospection, precise DGPS (differential Global Positioning System) survey and aerial imaging. This paper will outline the integration of these technologies with archaeological method, highlighting the ways in which targeted application of geospatial technologies is enabling the investigation of sensitive sites of conflict and enhancing research agendas in conflict archaeology. As examples, I draw on the investigation of sites from the First World War, including the mass grave at Pheasant Wood on the Western Front and the extensive battlefields of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Dietary Intake, Body Mass Index, Exercise, and Alcohol: Are College Women Following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans?

Abstract Study findings suggest that college women practice diet and health behaviors that contradict the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. To confirm this hypothesis, the authors surveyed the diet, exercise, and health habits of 60 female students enrolled in three university aerobics courses. They measured height and weight to calculate body mass index (BMI) and assessed physical activity, using the Self-Reported Physical Activity scale. To estimate food and nutrient intake, they used 3-day food records. Participants reported diets that were nutritionally adequate but exceeded national recommendations for fat, sugar, and sodium, and their reports of exercise habits suggested that the lifestyles of 66% of the respondents were sedentary. Although the students' mean BMIs suggested healthy weights, 25% of the women were classified as overweight. A majority of the participants were following at least 1 of the 7 dietary guidelines; however, no participant was adhering to all proposed behaviors.
Measurements of FRET in a Glucose-sensitive Affinity System with Frequency-domain Lifetime Spectroscopy

Abstract We report measurements of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) for glucose sensing in an established concanavalin A–dextran affinity system using frequency-domain lifetime spectroscopy. A dextran (MW 2 000 000) labeled with a small fluorescent donor molecule, Alexa Fluor 568, was used to competitively bind to a sugar-binding protein, concanavalin A, labeled with acceptor molecule, Alexa Fluor 647, in the presence of glucose. The FRET-quenching kinetics of the donor were analyzed from frequency-domain measurements as a function of both glucose and acceptor-protein concentrations using a Förster-type decay kinetics model. The results show that the frequency-domain measurements and donor decay kinetics can quantitatively indicate changes in the competitive binding of 0.09 μM dextran to labeled concanavalin A at a solution concentration of 10.67 μM in the presence of glucose at concentrations ranging from 0 to 224 mg/dL.
Astrocytoma cell interaction with elastin substrates: Implications for astrocytoma invasive potential

Elastin has been identified within the meninges and the microvasculature of the normal human brain. However, the role that elastin plays in either facilitating astrocytoma cell attachment to these structures or modulating astrocytoma invasion has not been previously characterized. We have recently shown that astrocytoma cell lines and specimens produce tropoelastin, and express the 67 kDa elastin binding protein (EBP*). In the present report, we have established that astrocytoma cells attach to elastin as a substrate in vitro. The U87 MG astrocytoma cell line demonstrated the greatest degree of adhesion. In addition, all astrocytoma cell lines examined were capable of penetrating and migrating through an intact elastin membrane, and of degrading tritiated‐elastin, a process that could be prevented by the pre‐incubation of astrocytoma cells with EDTA, but not with α1‐antitrypsin. Astrocytoma cells were also capable of penetrating 1 mm sections of human brain tissue maintained as organotypic cultures. Interestingly, the invasive potential of cultured astrocytoma cells plated on organotypic cultures of human brain was significantly increased after exposure to elastin degradation products (κ‐elastin), which interact with astrocytoma cell surface EBP. Our data show that astrocytoma cells express a functional 67 kDa EBP, enabling them to potentially recognize and attach to elastin as a substrate. These data also suggest that this elastin receptor may be involved in processes which regulate regional astrocytoma invasion. GLIA 25:179–189, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Justice source and justice content:evaluating the fairness of organizational career management practices

This article presents part of the findings of a multi-method study into employee perceptions of fairness in relation to the organisational career management (OCM) practices of a large financial retailer. It focuses on exploring how employees construct fairness judgements of their career experiences and the role played by the organisational context and, in particular, OCM practices in forming these judgements. It concludes that individuals can, and do, separate the source and content of (in)justice when it comes to evaluating these experiences. The relative roles of the employer, line manager and career development opportunities in influencing employee fairness evaluations are discussed. Conceptual links with organisational justice theory are proposed, and it is argued that the academic and practitioner populations are provided with empirical evidence for a new theoretical framework for evaluating employee perceptions of, and reactions to, OCM practices.
[Oral diadochokinesis among Japanese aged over 55 years: analysis of standard values].

AIM We investigated oral diadochokinesis (OD) among 212 Japanese aged over 55 years to assess the standard values of articulation ability. METHODS Each subject repeatedly produced the OD syllables /pa/, /ta/, and /ka/. Subjects were divided into three age-groups (55-64 years, 65-74 years, and over 75 years) and by gender to compare the number of OD syllables per second. We also calculated the lower limit of values that determined the standard range for OD syllables. RESULTS The number of all OD syllables in the over-75 age-group was significantly lower than in the 55-64 group. The number of OD /pa/ syllables in the over-75 group was significantly lower than in the 65-74 group. The number of OD /ta/ syllables in the 65-74 group was significantly lower than in the 55-64 group. The lower limit of the standard values for OD /pa/, /ta/, and /ka/ was, respectively, as follows: 4.9, 4.7, and 4.5 times in the 55-64 group; 3.8, 4.1, and 3.7 times in the 65-74 group; and 3.8, 3.3, and 2.6 times in the over-75 group. Among women, the number of OD /pa /, /ta/, and /ka/ syllables was significantly lower in the over-75 group than in other age-groups. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrated that the lower limit of standard OD values is a means of assessing articulation in elderly subjects. We found that OD /ta/ tends to decrease from age 65 years. The decline in articulation ability clearly begins earlier in women than in men.
The Deadlock of Democracy Revisited: A Model of Executive-Legislative Relations in Separation-of-Power Regimes

Executive-legislative deadlock is perceived as the Achilles’ heel of presidential democracy, because its occurrence has been associated with democratic breakdown in Latin America. Given the centrality of deadlock in the literature, I propose a simple spatial model of executive-legislative policy-making in separation-of-power regimes that takes deadlock as its dependent variable. The model formalizes a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for deadlock, filling a lacuna in the literature. It also addresses methodological difficulties in the empirical study of deadlock, and provide some initial evidence about vetoes in U.S. states to back-up some of the claims derived from the model.
The predictive value of medical history taking and Chlamydia IgG ELISA antibody testing (CAT) in the selection of subfertile women for diagnostic laparoscopy: a clinical prediction model approach.

BACKGROUND Medical history taking as well as Chlamydia antibody titre (CAT) testing are currently used in the selection of patients for diagnostic laparoscopy with tubal patency testing. Most research has focused on the predictive value of CAT in isolation from medical history. We assessed therefore whether the combination of medical history and CAT improves the efficiency of selecting patients for laparoscopy as compared to the use of either medical history or CAT. METHODS Data of 207 consecutive subfertile women were used to create multivariable logistic regression models for the prediction of tubal disease as diagnosed by diagnostic laparoscopy. RESULTS The model with data of medical history only had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.65 (95% CI 0.56-0.74). Addition of CAT increased the AUC to 0.70 (95% CI 0.62-0.78) (P = 0.065). CAT was positive in 40 women and showed a sensitivity of 0.37 (95% CI 0.26-0.49) for a specificity of 0.88 (95% CI 0.82-0.93). In CAT positive women, a blank medical history did not decrease the probability of tubal disease. Of the 167 women tested CAT negative, 23 (14%) still had a high probability of disease due to their medical history and 11 of them (48%) showed tubal abnormalities on diagnostic laparoscopy. CONCLUSIONS CAT testing adds valuable information to a woman's risk profile based on her medical history. The combination of medical history taking and CAT testing has a better yield for diagnosing tubal disease than either of these alone.
Small firm co‐operative marketing in a peripheral tourism region

Tracks the evolution of a small hotel firm marketing consortium from 1990 when Scotland’s Commended Hotels, now called Scotland’s Hotels of Distinction (SHD), was formed. It can be described as an association of individually‐owned and managed country and town house hotels from 3‐star to 4‐star levels in terms of the Scottish Tourist Board grading and classification scheme. It currently has 62 members, which represent 1,116 bedrooms, giving an average size of 17 bedrooms. Key aims of SHD are to: maintain its position as the leading professional consortium for Scottish hotels which meet membership criteria; and to be active in marketing terms on behalf of members. This involves seeking opportunities to maximise profitable returns by accessing domestic and overseas markets which would otherwise be difficult on an individual small firm basis. In addition, SHD promotes co‐operation to enhance inter‐member referral business. The unification of such a peripheral segment of the hotel industry sector enables effective marketing of a tourist destination to the potential business performance benefit of individual member small firms.
A Security-Mode for Carrier-Grade SDN Controllers

Management approaches to modern networks are increasingly influenced by software-defined networks (SDNs), and this increased influence is reflected in the growth of commercially available innovative SDN-based switches, controllers and applications. To date, there have been a number of commercial and open-source SDN operating systems (NOS) introduced for various purposes, including distributed controller frameworks targeting large, carrier-grade networks such as the Open Network Operating System (ONOS) and OpenDayLight (ODL). These frameworks are distinguished by their (i) elastic cluster controller architecture, (ii) network virtualization support, and (iii) modular design. Given their flexible design, growing list of supported features, and collaborative community support, these are attractive hosting platforms for a wide range of third-party distributed network management applications. This paper identifies the common security requirements for policy enforcement in such distributed controller environments. We present the design of a network application permission-enforcement model and an integrated security subsystem (SM-ONOS) for managing distributed applications running on an ONOS controller. We discuss the underlying motivations of its security extensions and their implications for improving our understanding of how to securely manage large-scale SDNs. Our performance assessments demonstrate that the security-mode extension imposed reasonable overheads (ranging from 5 to 20% for 1-7 node clusters).
Changing European Employment and Welfare Regimes: The influence of the open method of coordination on national reforms

Introduction Martin Heidenreich and Jonathan Zeitlin. The Open Method of Coordination: A Pathway to the Gradual Transformation of National Employment and Welfare Regimes? Martin Heidenreich. Neither Convergence nor Frozen Paths: Bounded Learning, International Diffusion of Reforms, and the Open Method of Coordination Jelle Visser. Unemployment Protection Reform in Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, and the UK: Policy Learning through Open Coordination? Minna van Gerven and Mieke Beckers. The Open Method of Coordination and National Social Policy Reforms in Belgium and France: Window Dressing, One-Way Impact, or Reciprocal Influence? Marie-Pierre Hamel and Bart Vanhercke. Joining the European Employment Strategy: Europeanization of Employment Policy Making in the Baltic States Kerstin Jacobsson and Charlotte West Soft. Europeanization? The Differential Influence of the European Employment Strategy in Belgium, Spain, and Sweden Mariely Lopez-Santana. North, South, East, West: The Implementation of the European Employment Strategy in Denmark, the UK, Spain, and Poland Mikkel Mailand. The Micro-Politics of the Open Method of Coordination: NGOs and the Social Inclusion Process in Sweden Kerstin Jacobsson and Hakan Johansson. Europeanization of Domestic Employment and Welfare Regimes: The German, Italian, and French Experiences Jenny Preunkert and Sascha Zirra. The Open Method of Coordination and Reform of National Social and Employment Policies: Influences, Mechanisms, Effects Jonathan Zeitlin
Power, nature and neoliberalism:The political ecology of water in Chile

Since the 1990s, international water sector reforms have centred heavily on economic and market approaches. In regard to water resources management, tradable water rights have been promoted, often supported by the neoliberal model adopted in Chile. Chile's 1981 Water Code was reformed to comprise a system of water rights that could be freely traded with few restrictions. International financial institutions have embraced the Chilean model, claiming that it results in more efficient water use, and potentially fosters social and environmental benefits. However, in Chile the Water Code is deeply contested. It has been criticised for being too permissive and has produced a number of problems in practice. Moreover, attempts to modify it have become the focus of a lengthy polemic debate. This paper employs a political ecology perspective to explore the socio-environmental outcomes of water management in Chile, drawing on a case study of agriculture in the semi-arid Norte Chico. The case illustrates how large-scale farmers exert greater control over water, while peasant farmers have increasingly less access. I argue that these outcomes are facilitated by the mode of water management implemented within the framework of the Water Code. Through this preliminary examination of social equity and the environmental aspects of water resources management in Chile, I suggest that the omission of these issues from the international debates on water rights markets is a cause for concern.
An Evaluation of the Peruvian "Youth Labor Training Program" - PROJOVEN

The "Youth Labor Training Program" (Programa de Capacitacion Laboral Juvenil - PROJoven) is an ongoing job-training program created in 1996 by the Ministry of Labor (Ministerio de Trabajo y Promocion del Empleo) in response to the precarious conditions of youth in the Peruvian labor market. The goals of the program are to improve employment opportunities of youth in poverty and to promote competition and higher quality of services in the vocational training system. In this paper, we present the main results of an evaluation of PROJoven impacts on program beneficiaries in terms of employment status (employed, paid employment and formal jobs), earnings (monthly and hourly) and weekly hours of work. The authors also provide an institutional analysis of the program, documenting the origins and rationale of the intervention, we explore how and why PROJoven was designed, and the political and economic environment at the time of its inception and afterwards.
Soft Budget Constraints and Banking in Transition Economies

We analyze the problem of soft budget constraints of enterprises financed by banks in transition economies and review the similarities and the differences in various models addressing that issue. We reconstruct these models as several variants of a basic sequential model of soft budget constraints. In each case, we analyze both the sources of the soft budget constraint and the mechanisms for hardening budget constraints, including the policy implications of the analysis. Despite various mechanisms and channels for soft budget constraints, all models share the same sequential structure where soft budget constraints arise due to the endogenous lack of credibility for liquidation of a project instead of continuation and refinancing. All share the same feature that mechanisms for hardening are mechanisms for endogenously restoring such a credibility for liquidation.
Harold Schuknecht and pathology of the ear.

BACKGROUND Like Joseph Toynbee and Karl Wittmaack before him, Harold Schuknecht understood that studying pathology was the key to advancing the scientific basis of neurotology. His work elucidated the pathophysiology of the most common neurotologic disorders, including benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere's disease, and viral neurolabyrinthitis. Schuknecht was a tireless crusader against medical and surgical treatments that he considered to have little scientific foundation. His textbook Pathology of the Ear remains the definitive work in the field.
Central Bank Independence and Macroeconomic Performance: Some Comparative Evidence

This note uses information on a sample of sixteen OECD countries to assess the relationship between central bank independence and macroeconomic performance. As previous work suggests, politically controlled central banks are more likely to pursue policies that lead to high and variable inflation. However, the authors find little evidence that political control of central bank policy has any impact on measures of the level or variability of growth, unemployment, or the ex ante real interest rate. Copyright 1993 by Ohio State University Press.
Sexual orientation and mental and physical health status: findings from a Dutch population survey.

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine whether sexual orientation is related to mental and physical health and health behaviors in the general population. METHODS Data was derived from a health interview survey that was part of the second Dutch National Survey of General Practice, carried out in 2001 among an all-age random sample of the population. Of the 19685 persons invited to participate, 65% took part in the survey. Sexual orientation was assessed in persons aged 18 years and older and reported by 98.2% of 9684 participants. The respondents' characteristics are comparable with those of the Dutch general population. RESULTS Gay/lesbian participants reported more acute mental health symptoms than heterosexual people and their general mental health also was poorer. Gay/lesbian people more frequently reported acute physical symptoms and chronic conditions than heterosexual people. Differences in smoking, alcohol use, and drug use were less prominent. CONCLUSIONS We found that sexual orientation was associated with mental as well as physical health. The causal processes responsible for these differences by sexual orientation need further exploration.
Capacity Building as an Instrument of Institutional Reform: Improving the Quality of Higher Education through Academic Audits in the UK, New Zealand, Sweden, and Hong Kong

As countries convert from state to market-centered public policies, there is increasing interest in new forms of public accountability. Capacity building initiatives that reform institutional frameworks are useful policy instruments during this period of transition. What are the impacts and implementation problems characteristic of this approach? This article reviews the experience with "Academic Audit," a capacity building accountability instrument for universities adopted in the UK, Sweden, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. Academic audits altered the incentives for cooperative behavior among faculty members to improve student learning. Identified implementation problems included: training for the new process, the uncertainty of capacity building benefits, and the central role of information.