bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efficiency and Competition in Banking Industry: Case for ASEAN-5 Countries
Authors: Astuti Ulik Hertina Wuni , Saputra Putu Mahardika Adi
Published: November 2020

This paper analyzes the level of the efficiency and competition (market structure) of ASEAN-5 banking industry from 2005 until 2016. Two methods were employed, i.e. Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Adjusted Lerner Index. The former is utilized to measure the bank efficiency in ASEAN-5 countries and the latter is applied to measure the bank competition (market structure) in ASEAN-5 banking industry. In order to connect the efficiency and competition level of ASEAN-5 banking industry, this study also utilizes quadrant analysis based on three different periods, namely the period before the global crisis (2005-2008), the period after global crisis (2009-2015), and the period after the establishment of ASEAN Economic Community –AEC- (2016). The results reveal that on average, the efficiency and the competition level of banks in ASEAN-5 countries are found to be relatively high. The competition in ASEAN-5 banking industry could be classified as monopolistic where each bank competes by diversifying their products or segments.
The State of Strategic Marketing Application in Czech Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Authors: Matušínská Kateřina , Stoklasa Michal
Published: November 2020

The article deals with the issue of using strategic marketing in the business of small and medium-sized enterprises. The main objective of this paper is to theoretically define the principles of strategic marketing and then practically analyse the level of strategic marketing use as a tool of business management in selected Czech small and medium-sized enterprises. In order to fulfil the research plan, secondary and primary research was carried out. The theoretical part defines the basic problem areas such as various approaches to strategic marketing defining and strategic management process versus strategic marketing process. In the practical part, 335 companies are analysed, the results are commented and hypotheses evaluated. The most important findings are generally low rate of utilization of strategic marketing management tools and the utilization of these tools is dependent on company size, with micro companies being the worst and medium companies the best.
New Assessment of Development Status among the People Living in Rural Areas: an Alternative Approach for Rural Vitality
Authors: Mihai Costică , Ulman Simona-Roxana , David Mihaela
Published: November 2020

In the process of development, the rural areas meet a wide range of economic, environmental and social challenges. This study theoretically discusses the concept of rural development and attempts to evaluate the development status among the people living in rural areas. In this scope, we propose the personal rural development index (PRDI), which is composed to, on one hand, an individual dimension and, on the other hand, a community one, related to different aspects of rural vitality. In this regard, three socio-economic components, namely economy, education – including a sub-dimension regarding culture, and health – with an environment sub-dimension were considered. These dimensions are influenced by the rural activities, especially the agricultural ones, that generates, nearby the economic results, as main objective for the individual or economic agent, also a set of economic, social or environmental externalities, from the category of public goods and of which both the stable and transitional residents of the area benefit. So, the complexity of the personal rural development index is high, aiming to put into light both individual and public components. The data used was obtained through a survey applied in seven rural communities from the North-East Region of Romania.
Making a Difference: Accounting for the Impact of Management Decisions in Environmental Management
Authors: Kabaivanov Stanimir Ivanov , Markovska Veneta
Published: November 2020

Management decisions are typically meant to be making a lasting impact, or at least bringing us one step closer to a long-term goal. Yet there are situations where it is hard to link decisions made and results achieved. The problem gets more complex when comparing different backgrounds, as management quality is often assessed either in specific organizational context (Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1994; Coggburn and Schneider, 2003) or in a finite number of case-studies. These methods have been successfully used for a long time in corporate environment (Gong et al., 2018) and for public sector decisions (Eller et al., 2018), but their application is not as easy when facing problems that are affected by multiple economy-wide factors, and/or by variables that are not directly observable. We study the long term impact on management decisions in environmental management by using market information on different instruments used to manage and control environmental pollution and risk. The core reason for choosing this approach is that market data is able to account for economic reasons and capture changes that go beyond the scope of an individual corporation or a public agency.
Determinants of Financial Risk: An Empirical Application on Low-Cost Carriers
Authors: Kiracı Kasım
Published: November 2020

The airline industry has entered a rapid development and transformation process, especially after the Second World War. In this process, it is seen that the market structure changed and many private airlines were established. Due to increased competition, airlines have begun to follow various strategies and business models in order to gain a competitive advantage over each other. One of the business models successfully applied recently is the low-cost business model. Therefore, this study focuses on airline companies that applied the low-cost business model. The study aims to reveal the factors that determine the financial risk in airlines, which implements the low-cost business model. For this purpose, firstly, airline companies that implement the low-cost business model have been identified according to the classification in the literature. The study included an analysis of 13 airlines with the low-cost business model that was fully accessible to financial data for the 2004-2017 period. Panel data analysis was used in the study and Altman (1968) Z-Score and Springate (1978) S-Score were used in measuring financial risk. Empirical findings of the study reveal that firm leverage, asset structure, firm size, firm profitability, and liquidity ratio have an effect on financial risk.
Input-Output Models and Derived Indicators: A Critical Review
Authors: Kolokontes Argyrios D. , Kontogeorgos Achilleas , Loizou Efstratios , Chatzitheodoridis Fotios
Published: November 2020

Input-Output literature can be characterized as complicated and chaotic. The complications concern the nomenclature of concepts for the derived indices from the multipliers’ models, their mathematical expressions and computable applications. The terminologies’ inconsistencies often end up to a deviation between the description for these indices and their actual computation, or/and to a misunderstanding as for their usefulness and outcomes. The aim of the paper is to help the readers to face the weaknesses in the literature. In this way, the paper provide an overview with a critical look to the constructed multipliers’ matrices and their derived indicators from the I-O models, and elaborate the causes for the scrutinized confusions. The paper proposes both terminological and computational adjustments and differentiated approaches for the models and their indices, in order to ameliorate their capabilities and to exploit their peculiarities for the developmental patterns. Alternative interpretative ways and applicable expansions are suggested.
Towards a Hedonic Pricing Method for the Bucharest Private Housing Market
Authors: Zilișteanu Ion Radu , Muntean Răzvan , Gherghina Ștefan Cristian , Vintilă Georgeta , Barbu Teodora Cristina
Published: November 2020

This paper aims at exploring the drivers of dwellings’sale prices in Bucharest, Romania, over the period 2014-2018. Several housing structural attributes are covered, such as the number of rooms, useful and constructed surface, type of comfort, floor, the number of bathrooms, balconies and parking, the seniority from construction, as well as from renovation, structure type, height regime, and the duration until completion of the real estate transaction. By estimating a standard hedonic price model via OLS regression for a sample of 765 transactions, we notice that all the selected variables, except the floor level and seniority from construction, positively influence the property prices. However, in case of useful and constructed surface, nonlinear relationships with property prices were acknowledged. Robustness checks in form of quantile regressions reinforce the empirical findings.
Does Fear has Stronger Impact than Confidence on Stock Returns? The Case of Asia-Pacific Developed Markets
Authors: Vuong Ngoc Bao , Suzuki Yoshihisa
Published: November 2020

Employing data from Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan over the period between January 2004 to December 2017, this study investigates the relationship between investor sentiment and stock returns. We analyze two reversed sentiment indicators, namely Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) and Volatility Index (VIX), in two conversing situations: low and high sentiment. The empirical evidence suggests that sentiment has a significant link with concurrent returns, but its influence seems to wipe out quickly as the little to no return predictability is detected. More importantly, we find that “investor fear gauge” (VIX) generates a more significant contemporaneous effect on market returns than investor confidence. The impact on future returns, on the contrary, is inconclusive since low CCI and VIX dominate the opposite ones most of the time.
FDI Determinants in the European Union: Empirical Application
Authors: Dorakh Alena
Published: November 2020

The purpose of this paper is to verify and estimate, besides gravity factors, the individual country specific determinants in influencing FDI inflows to the selected countries. More than standard factors, we revile additional factors, which could explain the investment in the EU. In this context, we take into account the neighboring effects as an important motive for FDI inflows last time. Our findings verify that efficiency-seeking and more complex form of the FDI determinants is more pronounced strategy now in the new EU member states than market-seeking FDI that is more relevant for the whole EU. Moreover, in addition to the existing literature, we argue that a variation in FDI determined by the EU-2004 enlargement started earlier than official date and remains its impact. Supposedly, a significant surrounding market potential could be for the new EU member states an evidence of the complex vertical FDI determinant today.
An Effectiveness Assessment of Preventive Management Strategies in order to Manage Non Performing Assets in Indian banks: A Case Study
Authors: Meher Bharat Kumar , Puntambekar G. L. , Hawaldar Iqbal Thonse , Spulbar Cristi , Birau Ramona , Rebegea Cristian
Published: November 2020

There are two kinds of strategies to control Non Performing Assets i.e. curative and preventive. The paper is an attempt to focus on the effectiveness of various preventive strategies in controlling NPA in future.For this study primary data have been collected from 82 branches out of 138 branches of Sagar District in Madhya Pradesh of India. The respondents are the branch managers or recovery officer of each branch.The primary data are related to the causes of NPA, actual usage of preventive measures and effectiveness of each preventive strategy. It highlights few new causes which are barely covered by the earlier researches. The study also represents the actual usage of various preventive measures along with the effectiveness of preventive measures in averting NPA to be occurred in future. The outcome of this study could provide a valuable insight about which strategy is more effective to prevent these stressed assets. Besides that, it could aware the banking authorities regarding the problems faced by the managers in using the preventive measures.
The Relationship between the Exchange Rate, Interest Rate and Inflation: The Case of Turkey
Authors: Özen Ercan , Özdemir Letife , Grima Simon
Published: November 2020

The purpose of the study is to measure the effects of changes in exchange rates and interest rates on inflation and to determine which of the exchange rates or interest rates has a greater impact on inflation rate following the July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. Our expectation is that similar to most authors is to find that there is a long-term relationship between the inflation rates and both the exchange rate and interest rates and that the effect of the exchange rate on the Producer Price Index (PPI) is greater than that of the interest rates. Moreover, we expect to find a unidirectional causality relationship between the Interest Rate of Commercial Banks Credit (IRBC), Over Night Interest Rate (O/N) and United States Dollar (USD) and the PPI, but not between the IRBC, O/N, USD and the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
General Patterns and Drivers of Changes in Employment Structure: Evidence from Five European Countries
Authors: Yakymova Larysa
Published: November 2020

This paper seeks to answer whether the general patterns and drivers of the sectoral employment shifts depend on a country’s level of development. To accomplish this, we examined employment in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Ukraine at the national level (1998-2018) using econometric analysis, and at the regional NUTS2 level (2009-2018) using shift-share analysis. We obtained evidence that the general trend is the service sector expansion. Using the ARDL approach and the Granger causality test, we identified long-run unidirectional causality running from income proxies to employment in services in all countries except Romania, where the opposite causality was found. We revealed that household income moderates the impact of urbanization on service sector growth in all countries except Poland. At the regional level, the change in the employment rate in services is explained by the national growth effect and slightly by the industry-mix effect if the active phase of structural changes is completed.
Review of Some Transaction Models used in Mobile Databases
Authors: Panda Prasanta Kumar , Swain Sujata , Pattnaik P. K.
Published: November 2020

Mobile computing is presently experiencing a period of unprecedented growth with the convergence of communication and computing capabilities of mobile phones and personal digital assistant. However, mobile computing presents many inherent problems that lead to poor network connectivity. To overcome poor connectivity and reduce cost, mobile clients are forced to operate in disconnected and partially connected modes. One of the main goals of mobile data access is to reach the ubiquity inherent to the mobile systems: to access information regardless of time and place. Due to mobile systems restrictions such as, for instance, limited memory and narrow bandwidth, it is only natural that researchers expend efforts to soothe such issues. This work approaches the issues regarding the cache management in mobile databases, with emphasis in techniques to reduce cache faults while the mobile device is either connected, or with a narrow bandwidth, or disconnected at all. Thus, it is expected improve data availability while a disconnection. Here in the paper, we try to describe various mobile transaction models, focusing on versatile data sharing mechanisms in volatile mobile environments.
Pengaruh Kenaikan Gaji PNS terhadap Korupsi yang Ditangani oleh Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK)
Authors: Sani Abdul
Published: November 2020

This study aims to determine the effect or relationship between the increase in salaries of civil servants against corruption. The method used in this research is quantitative method using statistical analysis of descriptive and analytic statistics. Data used in this research is secondary data from 2008 to 2017 obtained from Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and Ministry of Administrative Reform and Bureaucracy Reform (Kemenpan RB). Data analysis using linear regression. Result of data analysis that is R Square: 0.085295 indicate that there is no correlation or influence of salary increase of civil servant with corruption. While Significance F: 0.44571782 this shows that the effect of pay increases on corruption is not significant. With this research is expected to have a more comprehensive strategy in eradicating corruption.
Influência da educação musical avançada na discriminação auditiva com ruído competitivo
Authors: Tomé David , Pereira Ilídio , Dias Ana Elisa
Published: November 2020

Introdução: A organização neuronal para a música e linguagem tem sido alvo de inúmeras discussões nas áreas de audiologia, neurociência e arte musical. Vários estudos têm rocurado investigar a influência da prática musical na discriminação da fala com ruído competitivo.  Objetivos: Averiguar se a prática musical frequente promove uma melhoria significativa na capacidade de discriminação tonal e vocal em ambientes ruidosos. Material e métodos: 15 estudantes de música com prática instrumental (GE) e 15 não-estudantes de música (GC) realizaram medições audiológicas de discriminação de tons puros e de fala com ruído competitivo. Todos os participantes foram submetidos a um teste de discriminação de tons puros, o teste de mudanças de limiar determinado modificado (TMLDm), e outro de discriminação de fala (TMLDm vocal), ambos na presença de ruído competitivo. Resultados: Todos os participantes eram normouvintes e tinham idades entre os 16 e os 33 anos (GE, M=19.1 anos, DP=4.2; GC, M=20.1, DP=5.4). O GE superou significativamente o GC em ambos os testes (valor p < 0.05). Tanto no ouvido direito como no esquerdo no TMLDm tonal o GE obteve uma média da relação sinal-ruído de -5 dB. No TMLDm vocal, os participantes do GC erraram em média a repetição de 8 palavras perante a média de 1 falha do GE. Conclusões: Os resultados sugerem que a prática musical pode melhorar o desempenho na discriminação da palavra em ruído competitivo, o que permite igualmente antever um melhor processamento auditivo central.
Assessing Employee Relations and Organizational Performance: A Literature Review
Authors: Arimie Joel Chukwuyem , Oronsaye Andrew O.
Published: November 2020

The success of any organization is hinged on the abilities and competence of the employees. How well employers create a positive work environment which satisfies the emotional needs of the employees will influence to a great extent the level of organizational productivity. In respect to this, the paper seeks to explore the relationship between effective employee relations and organizational performance. The study makes use of secondary data from journals and other relevant literature. The findings revealed that the disregard of the psychological needs of the employees, which is the desire to be respected, valued and recognized in the organization, will create employees ill-treatment and further demotivation. The paper recommends that managers should properly connect with their employees and create an enabling environment where employees will feel at home discharging their duties. Furthermore the employers should create an effective system of communication that encourages understanding and learning in the organization.
Managing A Veterinary Practice: A Guide To Organizational Culture In Veterinary Practice
Authors: Diez Erik
Published: November 2020

The veterinary profession in Germany is undergoing a fundamental change. While the number of small practices is decreasing, the number of larger group, partnership or corporate practices is increasing. This makes competition among veterinarians even greater. But not only the market itself is changing. The humanization of pets, digitalization, and management and marketing practices/services are important factors that must be taken into account when preparing the practice for the future. The problem that arises from this is the lack of skills among graduates and veterinarians in management and business. While corporate culture models are a foundation for large companies, the veterinary profession, especially on a small scale, lacks these fundamental structural elements.
A comparison of PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in summer Beijing (China) and Delhi (India)
Authors: Elzein Atallah , Stewart Gareth J. , Swift Stefan J. , Nelson Beth S. , Crilley Leigh R. , Alam Mohammed S. , Reyes-Villegas Ernesto , Gadi Ranu , Harrison Roy M. , Hamilton Jacqueline F. , Lewis Alastair C.
Published: November 2020

Abstract. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants in air,
soil, and water and are known to have harmful effects on human health and the
environment. The diurnal and nocturnal variations of 17 PAHs in ambient
particle-bound PAHs were measured in urban Beijing (China) and Delhi (India)
during the summer season using gas-chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass
spectrometry (GC-Q-TOF-MS). The mean concentration of
particles less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) observed in Delhi was 3.6 times
higher than in Beijing during the measurement period in both the daytime and
night-time. In Beijing, the mean concentration of the sum of the 17 PAHs
(∑17 PAHs) was 8.2 ± 5.1 ng m−3 in daytime, with the
highest contribution from indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (12 %), while at
night-time the total PAHs was 7.2 ± 2.0 ng m−3, with the largest
contribution from benzo[b]fluoranthene (14 %). In Delhi, the mean ∑17 PAHs was 13.6 ± 5.9 ng m−3 in daytime and 22.7 ± 9.4 ng m−3 at night-time, with the largest contribution from
indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene in both the day (17 %) and night (20 %).
Elevated mean concentrations of total PAHs in Delhi observed at night were
attributed to emissions from vehicles and biomass burning and to
meteorological conditions leading to their accumulation from a stable and
low atmospheric boundary layer. Local emission sources were typically
identified as the major contributors to total measured PAHs in both cities.
Major emission sources were characterized based on the contribution from
each class of PAHs, with the four-, five- and six-ring PAHs accounting
∼ 95 % of the total PM2.5-bound PAHs mass in both
locations. The high contribution of five-ring PAHs to total PAH concentration
in summer Beijing and Delhi suggests a high contribution from petroleum
combustion. In Delhi, a high contribution from six-ring PAHs was observed at
night, suggesting a potential emission source from the combustion of fuel
and oil in power generators, widely used in Delhi. The lifetime excess lung
cancer risk (LECR) was calculated for Beijing and Delhi, with the highest
estimated risk attributed to Delhi (LECR = 155 per million people), which is 2.2
times higher than the Beijing risk assessment value (LECR = 70 per million
people). Finally, we have assessed the emission control policies in each
city and identified those major sectors that could be subject to mitigation
measures.
Correction of a lunar-irradiance model for aerosol optical depth retrieval and comparison with a star photometer
Authors: Román Roberto , González Ramiro , Toledano Carlos , Barreto África , Pérez-Ramírez Daniel , Benavent-Oltra Jose A. , Olmo Francisco J. , Cachorro Victoria E. , Alados-Arboledas Lucas , de Frutos Ángel M.
Published: November 2020

Abstract. The emergence of Moon photometers is allowing measurements of lunar irradiance over the world and increasing the potential to derive aerosol optical depth (AOD) at night-time, which is very important in polar areas. Actually, new photometers implement the latest technological advances that permit lunar-irradiance measurements together with classical Sun photometry measurements. However, a proper use of these instruments for AOD retrieval requires accurate time-dependent knowledge of the extraterrestrial lunar irradiance over time due to its fast change throughout the Moon's cycle. This paper uses the RIMO (ROLO Implementation for Moon's Observation) model (an implementation of the ROLO – RObotic Lunar Observatory – model) to estimate the AOD at night-time assuming that the calibration of the solar channels can be transferred to the Moon by a vicarious method. However, the obtained AOD values using a Cimel CE318-T Sun–sky–Moon photometer for 98 pristine nights with low and stable AOD at the Izaña Observatory (Tenerife, Spain) are not in agreement with the expected (low and stable) AOD values estimated by linear interpolations from daytime values obtained during the previous evening and the following morning. Actually, AOD calculated using RIMO shows negative values and with a marked cycle dependent on the optical air mass.
The differences between the AOD obtained using RIMO and the expected values are assumed to be associated with inaccuracies in the RIMO model, and these differences are used to calculate the RIMO correction factor (RCF). The RCF is a proposed correction factor that, multiplied by the RIMO value, gives an effective extraterrestrial lunar irradiance that provides AOD closer to the expected values.
The RCF varies with the Moon phase angle (MPA) and with wavelength, ranging from 1.01 to 1.14, which reveals an overall underestimation of RIMO compared to the lunar irradiance. These obtained RCF values are modelled for each photometer wavelength to a second-order polynomial as a function of MPA. The AOD derived by this proposed method is compared with the independent AOD measurements obtained by a star photometer at Granada (Spain) for 2 years. The mean of the Moon–star AOD differences is between −0.015 and −0.005, and the standard deviation (SD) is between 0.03 and 0.04 (which is reduced to about 0.01 if 1 month of data affected by instrumental issues is not included in the analysis) for 440, 500, 675, and 870 nm; however, for 380 nm, the mean and standard deviation of these differences are higher. The Moon–star AOD differences are also analysed as a function of MPA, showing no significant dependence.
Estimates of tree root water uptake from soil moisture profile dynamics
Authors: Jackisch Conrad , Knoblauch Samuel , Blume Theresa , Zehe Erwin , Hassler Sibylle K.
Published: November 2020

Abstract. Root water uptake (RWU), as an important process in the terrestrial water cycle, can help us to better understand the interactions in the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum. We conducted a field study monitoring soil moisture profiles in the rhizosphere of beech trees at two sites with different soil conditions. We present an algorithm to infer RWU from step-shaped, diurnal changes in soil moisture. While this approach is a feasible, easily implemented method for moderately moist and homogeneously textured soil conditions, limitations were identified during drier states and for more heterogeneous soil settings. A comparison with the time series of xylem sap velocity underlines that RWU and sap flow (SF) are complementary measures in the transpiration process. The high correlation between the SF time series of the two sites, but lower correlation between the RWU time series, suggests that soil characteristics affect RWU of the trees but not SF.
Uranium incorporation in fluorite and exploration of U-Pb dating
Authors: Lenoir Louise , Blaise Thomas , Somogyi Andréa , Brigaud Benjamin , Barbarand Jocelyn , Boukari Claire , Nouet Julius , Pagel Maurice
Published: November 2020

Abstract. The age of ore deposits constitutes a decisive element in understanding their formation. Deciphering their precise chronology may be a challenge in the absence of mineral phases that can be dated by conventional geochronometers. Fluorite is very common either as the major or accessory mineral in a wide variety of ores and may provide information regarding the origin and timing of mineralizing fluid flows. In this contribution, we explore U-Pb dating on fluorite crystals from the world-class carbonate strata-bound fluorite ore of Pierre-Perthuis in Burgundy (Morvan massif, France). Uranium distribution within fluorite is mapped using induced fission-track and Synchrotron radiation X-Ray Fluorescence nano-imaging, showing that higher uranium content is measured in an overgrowth of fluorite (Flog) as a discrete band. Preservation of a micrometer-thick zonation in U, associated with other substituted elements such as Sr, Y, Fe and Zr implies that neither solid-state diffusion nor dissolution-recrystallization did occur. These U-bearing external fluorite overgrowths contain solid inclusions of about 30 µm globular pyrite crystals with a mean δ34S of −23.6 ± 0.4 ‰ V-CDT. We propose that the U incorporation in the fluorite lattice results from its reduction mediated by H2S release during bacterial sulphate reduction. Flog generation sampled and analyzed by LA-ICP-MS on four different crystals provides identical U-Pb ages within the limits of analytical uncertainty. Considered altogether, these four crystals yield an age estimate of 40.0 ± 1.7 Ma, not corrected for matrix-related elemental fractionation. Our results show that fluorite LA-ICP-MS U-Pb geochronology has potential for dating distinct crystal growth stages, although further research should be conducted to evaluate its accuracy.
Assessing ecohydrological separation in a northern mixed forest
biome using stable isotopes
Authors: Snelgrove Jenna R. , Buttle James M. , Kohn Matthew J. , Tetzlaff Dörthe
Published: November 2020

Abstract. In recent years, much attention has been paid to the issue of ecohydrological separation during water uptake by vegetation. This has been spurred in part by the two water worlds hypothesis, whereby mobile blue water contributes to groundwater recharge and streamflow generation whereas less mobile green water held in the soil is taken up and transpired by vegetation. This study examines the potential for ecohydrological separation in a northern mixed forest in Ontario, Canada. Stable isotopic compositions of gross precipitation, bulk soil water and xylem water were measured throughout the 2016 growing season for four species: eastern white cedar, eastern hemlock, red oak and eastern white pine. Near-bole soil water contents and mobile soil water isotopic compositions were measured for the last three species. Mobile soil water did not deviate significantly from the local meteoric water line (LMWL); in contrast, both bulk soil water and xylem water deviated significantly from the LMWL, with xylem water significantly depleted in 18O and particularly 2H relative to bulk soil water. Near-surface bulk soil water experienced evaporative enrichment from pre-leaf out to peak leaf out under all tree canopies. There were inter-species differences in displacement of xylem water isotopic compositions from the LMWL and their temporal changes during the growing season, with those of coniferous species becoming isotopically enriched while those of red oak became more depleted in 2H and 18O. These divergences occurred despite thin soil cover (generally
Technical note: Calculation scripts for ensemble hydrograph separation
Authors: Kirchner James W. , Knapp Julia L. A.
Published: November 2020

Abstract. Ensemble hydrograph separation has recently been proposed
as a technique for using passive tracers to estimate catchment transit time
distributions and new water fractions, introducing a powerful new tool for
quantifying catchment behavior. However, the technical details of the
necessary calculations may not be straightforward for many users to
implement. We have therefore developed scripts that perform these
calculations on two widely used platforms (MATLAB and R), to make these
methods more accessible to the community. These scripts implement robust
estimation techniques by default, making their results highly resistant to
outliers. Here we briefly describe how these scripts work and offer advice
on their use. We illustrate their potential and limitations using synthetic
benchmark data.
The flexural strength of bonded ice
Authors: Murdza Andrii , Polojärvi Arttu , Schulson Erland M. , Renshaw Carl E.
Published: November 2020

Abstract. The flexural strength of ice surfaces bonded by freezing, termed freeze-bond, was studied by performing four-point-bending tests of bonded freshwater S2 columnar-grained ice samples in the laboratory. The samples were prepared by milling the surfaces of two ice pieces, wetting two of the surfaces with water of varying salinity, bringing these surfaces together, and then letting them freeze under a compressive stress of about 4 kPa. The salinity of the water used for wetting the surfaces to generate the bond varied from 0 to 35 ppt. Freezing occurred in air under temperatures varying from −25 to −3 °C over periods that varied from 0.5 h to ~100 hours. Results show that an increase in bond salinity or temperature leads to a decrease in bond strength. The trend for the bond strength as a function of salinity is similar to that presented in Timco and O'Brien (1994) for saline ice. No freezing occurs at −3 °C once the salinity of the water used to generate the bond exceeds ~25 ppt. The strength of the saline ice bonds levels off (i.e., saturates) within 6–12 hours of freezing; bonds formed from fresh water reach strengths that are comparable or higher than that of the parent material in less than 0.5 hours.
Measuring road space consumption by transport modes: Toward a standard spatial efficiency assessment method and an application to the development scenarios of Rajkot City, India
Authors: Will Marie-Eve , Cornet Yannick , Munshi Talat
Published: November 2020

The space “consumed” by various urban passenger transport modes varies greatly depending on the size and the speed of vehicles. Past studies have shown that public transport (PT) and non-motorized transport (NMT) can be up to 20 times more space-efficient compared to a typical car. This optimal use of space is of relevance in an urban context where space is often a constrained resource. Yet space used by vehicles is rarely assessed in the practice of transport planning. There exists no standard method for quantifying the use of space in complex urban settings. This study proposes an approach based on the space-time concept for quantifying and comparing the dynamic (on-road) and still (parking) space used by different transport modes for a specific road network. Transport planning scenarios developed in the Low-carbon Comprehensive Mobility Plan (LCMP) prepared for the city of Rajkot are used to demonstrate the method. The indicators show that significantly less space is used by transport in a scenario that promotes higher use of PT and NMT in comparison to a business-as-usual scenario based on traffic projections for private motorized vehicles. These results provide evidence that could contribute to alleviating chronic congestion expected from car- and motorcycle-based transport development only. Overall, this research describes an assessment framework for low-carbon transport development that would include spatial efficiency concerns.
GMO Corn in México: Precaution as Law’s Decolonial Option
Authors: Hernández-López Ernesto A.
Published: November 2020

For over six years now, the law has been central to policy debates about genetically modified organism (GMO) corn in México, the birthplace of maíz (corn). In the lawsuit Colectividad del Maíz, the domestic courts have shaped the policy on GMO corn. Out of concern for biodiversity, the courts have suspended regulatory approval for commercial GMO corn permits needed by seed companies. This article uses decolonial theory to examine how the law can both encourage and limit the use of GMOs. Decolonial perspectives isolate how economics, legal authorities, and ideologies work in unison to shape relations between the Global South and private interests. This is accomplished by defining the subject of any such legal regulations. Different legal doctrines treat GMOs in different and distinct ways. Under the doctrines of biosecurity, intellectual property, and international trade law, markets and biotechnology benefit as the subject of the law. Such doctrines disenfranchise maíz nativo (non-GMO corn) by making it the law’s object. The article also adopts Bruno Latour’s theory of “down to earth” politics to identify important changes in GMO regulations. Collective action litigation has limited the expansion of GMO corn via the application of precautionary principle measures and motivated new legislation in México.
Before the Law: Limits, Malice and The Immortal Hulk
Authors: Curtis Neal
Published: November 2020

This article uses Kafka's short story 'Before the Law' to offer a reading of Al Ewing's The Immortal Hulk. This is in turn used to explore our desire to encounter the Law understood as a form of completeness. The article differentiates between 'the Law' as completeness or limitlessness and 'the law' understood as limitation. The article also examines this desire to experience completeness or limitlessness in the work of George Bataille who argued such an experience was the path to sovereignty. In response it also considers Francois Flahault's critique of Bataille who argued Bataille failed to understand limitlessness is split between a 'good infinite' and a 'bad infinite', and that it is only the latter that can ultimately satisfy us. The article then proposes The Hulk, especially as presented in Al Ewing's The Immortal Hulk, is a study in where our desire for limitlessness can take us. Ultimately it proposes we turn ourselves away from the Law and towards the law that preserves and protects our incompleteness.
‘If You Prick Us Do We Not Bleed?’: Marvel Comics’ Vision: Director’s Cut Re-Evaluating What It Means to Be Human
Authors: Henderson Leah
Published: November 2020

Vision: Director’s Cut (2017) is a short comic series about Vision, a lonely robot Avenger superhero who builds his own robotic family out of his desire for love and happiness. The story focuses on the Vision family as they struggle to lead a ‘normal’ suburban life under Vision’s tutelage. As beings of artificial intelligence (AI), they are subject to social ostracism and abuse by a neighbourhood that refuses to accept them as part of the human community. In doing so, Director’s Cut enters into the long-standing literary debate about humanness versus monstrousness, what it means to be a human, and who gets to dictate the definition. The storyline is a contemporary science-fiction rendition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), which dramatises the dangers of trying to artificially create a human life. Both texts are in agreement that once these beings are created, because they are sentient and self-aware, then they ought to be treated with dignity, respect and equality. Director’s Cut is additionally comparable to Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in exploring the act of vengeance by the traumatised outsider, and how said acts ironically prove their humanness because revenge is a motive inimitable by any other life form.
Symposium: Drawing the Human
Authors: Peters Timothy D
Published: November 2020

What does it mean to be human today in our globalised, technologised and hypermediated world? How do our modes of cultural representation relate to, affect and effect the role of being human? This special issue of Law, Technology and Humans seeks to explore the form of the comic as one means to address these questions. Comics are a means of cultural representation and discourse that not only reflect but refract — through their deployment of word and image, of grid and gutter, of both visual and textual mediation — the very means of human interaction and intersubjectivity. Arising out of the 2019 Graphic Justice Research Alliance conference, hosted by the School of Law and Criminology (now the School of Law and Society) at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, the papers collected here examine not only the way in which comics and graphic art present narratives of law and justice, or representations of human rights and their abuses, but also the way in which comics in their form and multimodality call into question the law’s drawing of the boundaries of the human as it is challenged by its relation to the non-human, the environment and technology.
On Translation and Literary Variation in the Compilation of Classical Chinese Literary History
Authors: Zhuang Peina
Published: November 2020

The compilation of classical Chinese literary history in English includes another important yet much neglected aspect, that is, the translation of literary works and the consequent literary variation. Based on the analysis of translation and literary variation in the eight English versions of classical Chinese literary history, this paper argues that what to translate and how to translate largely determine the basic configuration of a “history,” revealing the interaction between the identity as a translator and that as a history compiler. And also the prevalent literary variation in classical Chinese literary history validates the necessity of rewriting the literary history in a foreign language.
From Alan Turing to Ian Mcewan: Artificial Intelligence, Lies and Ethics in Machines Like Me
Authors: Shang Biwu
Published: November 2020

Taking Machines Like Me as its foci of analysis, this article intends to interrogate Ian McEwan's rejoinder to Alan Turing on such issues as artificial intelligence, machines and ethics. By focusing on the machine, Adam's engagements with human life, it examines McEwan's rewriting of the Turing Test, in which he changes the question “Can machines think?” to “Can machines lie?” Charlie and Adam's different responses to Miranda's lie about her sexual attack reveal their competing ethical positions and attitudes. In contrast to Isaac Asimov's “Three Laws of Robotics,” McEwan raises the ultimate question about human responsibility for machines through the fictional character Turing's critique of Charlie's hammering Adam to death.
Cartografias sensíveis no e pelo Rio Sabará
Authors: Moreira Frederico Luiz , Cardoso Júnia Patricia
Published: November 2020

Este ensaio etnofotográfico apresenta uma proposta pedagógica utilizada como intervenção no projeto de pesquisa e extensão universitária, ganhador do prêmio do Edital PAEX Nº01/2017, “Mãe Domingas: educação pelas águas do Rio Sabará”[1] desenvolvido na cidade de Sabará/MG, em parceria com as instituições: FaE/UEMG[2] (Grupo de Pesquisas Polis e Mnemosine), Museu do Ouro/Ibram/MinC[3], Universidade de Laval[4] e ECI/UFMG[5]. No projeto foram realizados relatos fotográficos e reflexões sobre as memórias coletivas e individuais de ex-lavadeiras, a partir de duas oficinas de fotografias que [re] estabeleceram as relações de afeto e vínculo com trajetos, histórias e vivências diante das mudanças e permanências do Rio Sabará. As oficinas produzidas urdiram narrativas por meio do registro fotográfico de locais de memória criando mapas afetivos para a mediação de uma educação das sensibilidades e de patrimônios.
Investigation of Mathematics-Specific Trend Variables in PISA Studies with Neural Networks and Linear Regression
Authors: Koyuncu İlhan
Published: November 2020

This study aimed to examine the importance levels of mathematics-specific trend variables in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2003 and 2012 in predicting mathematics performance across years with a two-step analysis method. The sample of the study was 9703 Turkish students (N2003=4855 and N2012=4848) selected by clustered and systematic sampling methods. As data analysis methods, multilayer perceptron and radial basis functions techniques of artificial neural networks and multiple linear regression were used. In the two-step analysis, first, the least erroneous model was selected as the analysis method. Then, variable importance analysis was performed with this method. The results with the lowest relative errors were obtained by the multilayer perceptron when compared to radial basis functions. The results of neural network analysis had similar or lower error rates when compared to multiple linear regression. In both PISA cycles, significant predictors were mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics interest, student-teacher relations in school, attitudes towards the school, mathematics self-concept, mathematics instrumental motivation, and teacher support in mathematics classes, respectively. The results were discussed in the light of relevant literature.
Local buckling of universal beam flanges
Authors: Thurston S. J.
Published: November 2020

To study fatigue of defective welds, beam-column joints were cyclically loaded at MWD Central Laboratories. However, local buckling occurred in the beam flanges during the first few cycles at displacement ductilities 2.25-2.6. Despite the buckling, the peak resisted load had a maximum of 15% reduction after 10 cycles at these ductilities, and the hysteresis loops showed little change in shape. Nevertheless, because steel frame structures can be expected to sustain a ductility demand of about 4/SM or 6, there is clearly some doubt as to whether the strength of a system already buckling at a DF < 3 would be maintained under the design earthquake. The 310 UB 40 beam tested complied with the current NZ Steel Code, which required no stiffeners in this case.
Research on the Legal Model of international Anti-Terrorism Coordination
Authors: Wang Bozeng
Published: November 2020

Terrorism seriously endangers world peace and security. In order to achieve the goal of effectively combating international terrorism, we must promote the establishment of a multi-level model of anti-terrorism cooperation. The current legal models of international counter-terrorism cooperation mainly include global counter-terrorism cooperation, regional counter-terrorism cooperation and bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation.

Global counter-terrorism cooperation led by the United Nations is the most important form of counter-terrorism cooperation. The UN has set up a Counter-terrorism Committee and a series of treaties. The United Nations demands that States should prevent and stop the financing of terrorist ACTS; Criminalizes any person or thing that, by any means, directly or indirectly, provides or raises funds for terrorist activities; (b) Immediately freeze the assets of individuals and entities that facilitate, finance or participate in terrorist ACTS; The provision of any funds and financial assets and related services to individuals and entities assisting, financing or participating in terrorist ACTS is prohibited.

Regional counter-terrorism cooperation refers to the cooperation between geographically adjacent countries to combat terrorism, which is an important part of international counter-terrorism cooperation. The main regional anti-terrorism cooperation organizations are: Association of Southeast Asian Nations, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, European Union, Organization of American States, Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Bilateral anti-terrorism cooperation refers to the cooperation between two parties in order to form a joint anti-terrorism force. Bilateral cooperation can be between states or between states and regional organizations. Bilateral cooperation in flexible and diverse forms is also an important form of counter-terrorism cooperation.