Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Governance, the state and sustainable tourism: a political economy approach

Collective actions are often needed to promote the objectives of sustainable tourism in destinations. Governance is the basis of these collective actions. This paper contends that research on the governance of tourism and sustainability would benefit from greater use of social theory. It shows how one social theory, a strategic-relational political economy approach, can offer insights into state interventions affecting tourism and sustainability in destinations. The paper uses a literature review and case studies incorporating ideas from this approach to understand the state's influences on tourism and sustainability. Case studies are taken from Germany, China, Malta, Turkey and the UK. A range of distinctive perspectives and themes associated with this approach are assessed. They include the approach's holistic, relational and dialectical perspective, its focus on the state's roles in regulating the economic and political systems, its concern with the interactions between agency and structure, and the adaptation of state activities at different spatial scales and at different times, together with the concepts of path dependence and path creation. These perspectives and themes are directions for future research on governance, the state and sustainable tourism.
Incentives and Disincentives of Corporate Environmental Disclosure: Evidence from Listed Companies in China and Malaysia

Previous studies on motivations for corporate environmental disclosure (CED) in emerging countries are generally undertheorized and have neglected to investigate disincentives. This study addresses this gap using legitimacy theory to determine whether differences exist between Chinese and Malaysian managers in relation to incentives and disincentives for CED. Our findings reveal that differences exist suggesting that legitimization strategies, if employed, vary and perceptions of legitimacy threat differ between countries. The study also reports that the dominating incentive for managers in both countries is to appear reputable; implying a strategic CED approach is undertaken in an attempt to alter public perceptions about the legitimacy of an organization. Interestingly, the incentive of regulatory pressure was found insignificant in both countries in persuading companies to engage in CED. Finally, potential damage to a company's reputation received considerable support from all respondents revealing a degree of uncertainty about CED. Overall, the study contributes to the literature on CED practices in emerging economies and points to some policy suggestions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Does Gender Matter? The Effect of Gender Representation of Public Bureaucracy on Governmental Performance

This article investigates gender representation in the public bureaucracy in the context of South Korea and its substantial effects on governmental performance. The past decades have seen a growing body of research on the theory of representative bureaucracy, yet the conceptual linkages remains unclear. This study, first, identifies three missing links existing in the theory of the representative bureaucracy. Second, we investigate whether the presence of women in the bureaucracy affects on the consequences of governmental activities. Using an unbalanced time-series data set for 25 years with gaps including 1978, 1983, 1986 to 2008, the investigation is conducted in terms of the media attention on women’s issues, social welfare budget, and the legislative success of the executive branch measured by the number of passed bills submitted to the National Assembly. The result of the autoregressive integrated moving average time series analysis (ARIMA) suggests that a representative bureaucracy influences substantive consequences on governmental performance.
Role of Ger Proteins in Nutrient and Nonnutrient Triggering of Spore Germination in Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT Dormant Bacillus subtilis spores germinate in the presence of particular nutrients called germinants. The spores are thought to recognize germinants through receptor proteins encoded by the gerA family of operons, which includesgerA, gerB, and gerK. We sought to substantiate this putative function of the GerA family proteins by characterizing spore germination in a mutant strain that contained deletions at all known gerA-like loci. As expected, the mutant spores germinated very poorly in a variety of rich media. In contrast, they germinated like wild-type spores in a chemical germinant, a 1-1 chelate of Ca2+ and dipicolinic acid (DPA). These observations showed that proteins encoded bygerA family members are required for nutrient-induced germination but not for chemical-triggered germination, supporting the hypothesis that the GerA family encodes receptors for nutrient germinants. Further characterization of Ca2+–DPA-induced germination showed that the effect of Ca2+–DPA on spore germination was saturated at 60 mM and had a Kmof 30 mM. We also found that decoating spores abolished their ability to germinate in Ca2+–DPA but not in nutrient germinants, indicating that Ca2+–DPA and nutrient germinants probably act through parallel arms of the germination pathway.
A High-Order Locally Corrected Nyström Scheme for Charge-Current Integral Equations

A high-order Nyström scheme is developed for electromagnetic (EM) scattering problems of smooth objects. The implementation is based on different well-known charge-current formulations. This study aims to develop a novel quadrature scheme to compute different singular integrals that appear on integral equation methods in EMs. The proposed quadrature scheme is used on a locally corrected Nyström method, and applied to charge-current integral equations to obtain a fast, accurate, and a low-frequency stable method to solve EM scattering problems. The proposed method allows obtaining accuracy in the range 4-10 digits in the near electric and magnetic scattered field for certain simple geometries and a wide range of frequencies. We also do a preliminary research on nonsmooth geometries obtaining a certain degree of accuracy depending on the particular charge-current integral equation used.
Innovation and human resource management fit: an empirical study

Purpose – This study aims to analyse the relationship between innovation and human resource management (HRM) from an empirical perspective, attempting to establish whether innovation determines the firm's HRM or conversely HRM influences the innovation level of the companyDesign/methodology/approach – Literature is reviewed from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. On the basis of this review, some research hypotheses are formulated. Finally, these hypotheses are empirically tested on a sample of Spanish firms.Findings – The results provide evidence for both hypotheses and offer more support for Schuler and Jackson's model than for Miles and Snow's model. In accordance with the previous literature, that in order to affect employee behaviour – and consequently promote company objectives – firms must develop a bundle of internally consistent HRM practices. However, what is still unresolved is which HRM practices should be included in that system.Originality/value – Fills a gap in the literature, par.
Triple‐A supply chain performance

Purpose – In 2004 Lee proposed that successful supply chains must be agile, adaptable, and aligned and described those chains as “Triple‐A” supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to theorize a Triple‐A supply chain performance model that incorporates Triple‐A supply chain status as antecedent to supply chain performance and supply chain performance as antecedent to organizational performance.Design/methodology/approach – Using data from a national sample of 132 supply chain professionals collected in partnership with APICS, the authors develop scales based on descriptive items listed by Lee for the Triple‐A supply chain strategy dimensions of agility, adaptability, and alignment and assess the complete model using a structural equation methodology.Findings – Results indicate that Triple‐A supply chain strategy positively impacts supply chain performance and that, in turn, supply chain performance positively impacts organizational performance. Supply chain performance is more strongly related to the m.
TSH-independent release of thyroid hormones through cold exposure in aging rats

Thyroid function decreases and cold exposure response becomes impaired with increasing age. We investigated the age-related changes in thyroid structure and function and cold-induced changes in the thyroid activity of aging rats. Thirty-two male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (8 rats per group): young (7 months) and old (22 months) groups exposed to room temperature and cold stress. The active follicle ratio and serum free T3, T4 and TSH, and TSH receptor (TSHR) concentrations in the thyroid tissues of the rats from each group were compared. At room temperature, old rats had significantly lower active follicle ratio and free T3 and T4 concentrations than young rats. Furthermore, old rats displayed higher TSH level than young. Exposure to cold temperature led to significantly increased active colloid ratio and free T3 and T4 concentrations among old rats, but no significant differences were found among young rats. Additionally, no significant changes in the TSH and TSHR levels were observed after cold exposure in both young and old rats. Old rats have lower thyroid function than young rats under normal temperature. Aging rats are more susceptible to cold stress than young rats, and cold-induced thyroid activation occurs independently of TSH. We investigated the age-related changes in the thyroid structure and function and cold-induced changes in the thyroid activity of aging rats. Aging rats have structurally less active thyroid follicles and functionally lower thyroid hormone levels than young rats. Furthermore, old rats are more susceptible to cold stress than young rats, and cold-induced thyroid activation occurs independently of TSH.
Wetting under chemical equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions

The thermodynamics of a solid-liquid-vapor system both under chemical equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions, based on the model of Gibbs, is discussed. Under chemical equilibrium conditions, the degree of wetting or nonwetting of a flat and nondeformable solid by the liquid is defined by Young's equation in terms of the static interfacial tensions. Under chemical nonequilibrium conditions, mass transfer across an interface results in a transient decrease in the corresponding specific interfacial free energy and the interfacial tension by an amount equal to the free energy of the effective chemical reaction per area at that interface. When the reaction is between the solid and the liquid, this transient lowering of the interfacial tension can cause the liquid drop to spread on the solid substrate if the interfacial energy reduction is large enough and also if the diffusion rates of the reacting components in the solid phase are slow enough relative to the flow rate of the liquid to cause the liquid at the periphery of the drop to be in dynamic contact with unreacted solid.
Tax Effects in Canadian Equity Option Markets

The Canadian Income Tax Act induces individual investors to close their short equity option positions at the end of the year and, if necessary, reopen them at the beginning of next year. This article analyzes the conditions under which it is optimal to close or leave open a short option position over the tax year boundary. The analysis shows that the latter decision depends on transaction costs, the investor’s marginal tax rate, the interest rates, the initial and end-of-the-year option prices, as well as whether the option position is naked or covered. The article also examines the impact of tax regulations in Canada on the pricing of naked vs. covered call options and American vs. European options.
A Mixed Oligopoly in the Presence of Foreign Private Firms

In this paper, a mixed oligopoly model is considered in which a state-owned public firm competes with both domestic and foreign private firms. Previous articles on mixed oligopoly did not include foreign private firms. The effect on the equilibrium involves a lower price and a different allocation of production (relative to the case when all private firms are domestically owned). In addition, issues such as the effects of an open door policy allowing foreign firms to enter and the effects of foreign acquisition of domestic firms are discussed.
The China Southwest poverty reduction project

The China Southwest Poverty Reduction Project (SWPRP), implemented in 1995-2001 in the Guangxi Autonomous Region and the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan, covers 35 of China's poorest counties, with about 2.8 million primary beneficiaries. The project areas are dominated by the karst topography, common in Southwest China, that features limestone mountains marked by sharp peaks and ridges, with sinks and underground caverns. Cultivable land is found only in the sinks and valleys. SWPRP was the first World Bank Group-supported project in China to use an integrated multisectoral rural development approach to attacking absolute poverty in a severely resource deficient area, where single-sector programs cannot achieve sustainable poverty reduction. Closely linked to China's national poverty reduction program, SWPRP's principal objectives were to: (a) demonstrate the potential of a multisectoral approach to poverty reduction at the village level; (b) develop a program to find employment for the rural poor in the rapidly growing urban areas of China; (c) upgrade poverty monitoring at the national and local levels; and (d) significantly reduce poverty in these very poorest counties in southwestern China. The project cost at completion was $464 million (5 percent below the appraisal estimate). The Bank provided a loan of $47.5 million and an International Development Association credit of $200 million equivalent.
Spanish Package Holiday Tourism to China: Spatial Patterns and Tourist Attractions

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the outbound Spanish package travel market through an analysis of tourist attractions and spatial patterns that characterize package tourism. A content analysis of Spanish tour operator brochures offering China as one of their destinations found that Spanish operators offer a selection of internationalized and popular tourist attractions that portray a very basic pattern of spatial nodes, organized according to four levels of importance. The simplicity of the spatial pattern of the Spanish operator tours of China and the limited number of tourist attractions that they offer suggest that the Spanish outbound tourism market to China is still at the involvement–development stage. However, Chinese state-control over tourism development has played a critical role in the inbound pattern of visits. As the Spanish tourism market matures, the result will become more diversified spatially, and the range of tourist attractions will be extended, rather than just being restricted to the most well-known attractions.
Iron uptake from lactoferrin and transferrin by Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The major iron (Fe) sources available to Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the human host are probably transferrin (TF) and lactoferrin (LF). Although a number of studies have examined Fe uptake by Neisseria meningitidis, no comparable studies have been done on Fe uptake by the gonococcus from TF and LF. We found that, like meningococci, gonococci removed Fe from TF and LF in an energy-dependent manner; uptake was repressed by Fe and did not proceed by a siderophore-mediated uptake system. Unlike published studies examining meningococcal Fe uptake from TF, our study showed that gonococcal Fe uptake from both TF and LF was highly efficient; uptake saturated at 1 microM protein, and growth with 5% saturated TF and LF occurred at maximal rates when the protein was present in appreciable concentrations. We conclude that the availability of protein-bound Fe probably does not limit growth of N. gonorrhoeae in the human body.
Evolving a technology integration ethos: Technology habits of pre- service and in-service teachers

This study examines current practices and beliefs regarding the self-reported use of technology by pre-service, early-career, mid-career, and late-career teachers. Researchers administered an online survey to elicit information regarding how teachers utilize basic and advanced instructional and personal technologies as well as teachers’ proficiency and selfefficacy regarding their technology use. The findings from this study reveal that early-career teachers utilize technology for communication and social networking significantly more frequently than do mid-career and latecareer teachers. The key finding, that mid- and late-career teachers use classroom-related technology more frequently than pre-service and early-career teachers provides important research-based evidence regarding teachers’ technology integration in our schools.
Accumulation by Conservation

Following the financial crisis and its aftermath, it is clear that the inherent contradictions of capitalist accumulation have become even more intense and plunged the global economy into unprecedented turmoil and urgency. Governments, business leaders and other elite agents are frantically searching for a new, more stable mode of accumulation. Arguably the most promising is what we call ‘Accumulation by Conservation’ (AbC): a mode of accumulation that takes the negative environmental contradictions of contemporary capitalism as its departure for a newfound ‘sustainable’ model of accumulation for the future. Under slogans such as payments for environmental services, the Green Economy, and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, public, private and non-governmental sectors seek ways to turn the non-material use of nature into capital that can simultaneously ‘save’ the environment and establish long-term modes of capital accumulation. In the paper, we conceptualise and interrogate the grand claim of AbC and argue that it should be seen as a denial of the negative environmental impacts of ‘business as usual’ capitalism. We evaluate AbC's attempt to compel nature to pay for itself and conclude by speculating whether this dynamic signals the impending end of the current global cycle of accumulation altogether.
U.S. Import Demand and Supply Response for Fresh Tomatoes, Cantaloupes, Onions, Oranges, and Spinach

Elasticities of import demand and supply often drive economic models, but few empirical estimates of these elasticities exist for vegetables and fruits. For those that do exist, most are outdated. Because elasticities change over time as income, prices, and market conditions change, outdated elasticity estimates may not be representative of changes in import quantities demanded or in acreages, yield, and quantities supplied. Moreover, import demand elasticities by country of origin for most vegetables and fruits are nonexistent. This article presents research that updates elasticity estimates for each of the selected product categories and includes production and trade implications.
Effects of a production improvement programme on global quality performance: The case of the Volvo Production System

Purpose – How can multinational companies become more productive on a global scale? The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a production improvement programme can improve quality performance in a global network of factories. Specifically, the paper analyses the effects of the Volvo Group's production improvement programme on global quality performance. Design/methodology/approach – The research approach is a case study of the Volvo Production System (VPS). The paper analyses the effects of the programme on global quality performance, using data from an implementation audit and a questionnaire survey. The paper triangulate the analysis with longitudinal quality performance data from three different plants. Findings – The paper finds a significant and strong positive relationship between implementation of the VPS and improvements in both process quality and product quality. Hence, the paper suggests that tailored production improvement programmes have clear positive effects on global quality per.
The Implementation of Resource Accounting in UK Central Government

At the end of a long process of transition from cash accounting, UK central government departments discharged their public accountability in 2001–02 by presenting Departmental Resource Accounts (DRAs) to Parliament. This article assesses the implementation of Resource Accounting, focusing on timeliness (measured by certification lags) and accounts quality (measured by the property of not being qualified). The descriptive statistics indicate substantial variation in certification lag. The estimated OLS regression model has strong explanatory power. Explanatory variables include those that can be regarded as enduring and those that are attributable to the transition process. The enduring variables are: new DRA, consolidation, audit qualification and pension scheme (whose statistically significant positive coefficients show that these are associated with longer certification lags) and percentage of Appropriations-in-Aid (statistically significant negative coefficient). The transitional variables are Executive Agency and a dummy for 2001–02 (whose statistically significant negative coefficients show that these are associated with shorter certification lags). Potential for shorter certification lags is identified, as are administrative deficiencies that delay the arrival of some certified DRAs into the public domain. Accounts quality improved during the transition period, though problems still occur in some departments that are important in terms of expenditure and assets.
Bioactivities of Methyl Allyl Disulfide and Diallyl Trisulfide from Essential Oil of Garlic to Two Species of Stored-Product Pests, Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Abstract Two of the major constituents of the essential oil of garlic, Allium sativum L. , methyl allyl disulfide and diallyl trisulfide, were tested against Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) for contact toxicity, fumigant toxicity, and antifeedant activity. The contact and fumigant toxicities of diallyl trisulfide were greater than that of methyl allyl disulfide to the adults of these two species of insects. These two compounds were also more toxic to T. castaneum adults than to S. zeamais adults. Older T. castaneum larvae were more susceptible to the contact toxicity of the two compounds, whereas younger larvae were more susceptible to the fumigant toxicity of these compounds. Both compounds reduced egg hatching of T. castaneum and subsequent emergence of progeny. Diallyl trisulfide totally suppressed egg hatching at 0.32 mg/cm2, and larval and adult emergence at 0.08 mg/cm2. Methyl allyl disulfide significantly decreased the growth rate, food consumption, and food utilization of adults of both insect species, with feeding deterrence indices of 44% at 6.08 mg/g food for S. zeamais and 1.52 mg/g food for T. castaneum. However, it did not affect any nutritional indices of T. castaneum larvae. Diallyl trisulfide significantly reduced all of the nutritional indices in all of the insects tested. Feeding deterrence indices of 27 and 51% were obtained in S. zeamais adults and T. castaneum larvae, respectively, at the concentration of 2.98 mg/g food, whereas feeding deterrence of 85% was achieved in T. castaneum adults at a much lower concentration of 0.75 mg/g food. Hence, diallyl trisulfide is a more potent contact toxicant, fumigant and feeding deterrent than methyl allyl disulfide.