bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analyzing of relationship between teachers’ individual innovativeness levels and their tpack self-efficacies
Authors: Çoklar Ahmet Naci , Özbek Ayşe
Published: February 2017

Individual characteristics of people such as approach to technology, knowledge level and perceptions come into prominence.  Rogers is classified individuals in five different categories (innovators, early adaptors, early majority, late majority, laggards) in terms of their innovation characteristics and states them as individual innovativeness. Having an individual innovativeness level is a factor which not only may influence people’s skills concerning use of technology but also may influence teachers’ technological integration level in the class. This study aims to determine the effect of teachers’ individual innovativeness level on technological integration process. In line with this purpose, TPACK self-efficacies scale and individual innovativeness scale have been applied to 421 teachers employed in Turkey in 2013-2014 education years. Teachers’ individual innovativeness levels, TPACK skill conditions and predictive power level of individual innovativeness on TPACK skills have been researched. As a result of this research, it has been understood that a great majority of teachers consider themselves as early majority and early adaptors as well as being advanced level in terms of TPACK skills. In addition it has been concluded that there is a positive and important relationship between individual innovativeness and TPACK, while individual innovativeness becomes an important predictor of TPACK skills.
Derechos fundamentales : un debate desde la argumentación jurídica el garantismo y el comunitarismo.
Authors: Velasco Cano Nicole , Llano Jairo Vladimir
Published: February 2017

El presente artículo propone una reflexión sobre el concepto de los derechos fundamentales desde la perspectiva del profesor Alexy, quien expone como argumento central que, al positivizarse, los derechos humanos se convierten en fundamentales, esto es, que los derechos son vinculados formalmente a una Constitución. También reconoce que existen derechos fundamentales por fuera de la Constitución que son vinculados por vía de bloque de constitucionalidad. Desde otra perspectiva, según Ferrajoli, los derechos fundamentales son los adquiridos como titulares por las personas con capacidad de obrar y que deben garantizarse por las instituciones estatales. Estas perspectivas forman parte de lo que se ha conocido en la teoría del Derecho Constitucional como neoconstitucionalismo, de la cual Ronald Dworkin se ha convertido en impulsor por su concepción de que los principios son esenciales para el Derecho y son superiores a las leyes que son promulgadas desde una apreciación más particular por los intereses que caracterizan a los partidos que conforman el Parlamento. El punto de encuentro de estos teóricos está en que los principios y los derechos son superiores a las leyes y su interpretación por parte de los jueces y su cumplimiento determina sociedades más democráticas.
Incidencia de las normas internacionales para la protección de los trabajadores migrantes irregulares en Colombia.
Authors: Salazar Rojas María Alejandra
Published: February 2017

En la globalización, el fenómeno de la migración afecta a todos los países, aunque de diferente forma. Los Estados desarrollan políticas para el acceso legal de los inmigrantes; sin embargo, en muchas ocasiones, existe un alto ingreso de migración irregular. En este contexto, el Derecho Público internacional ha desarrollado una serie de estándares para la protección de los derechos de los inmigrantes irregulares. El presente artículo tiene por objeto analizar dichos estándares en el caso colombiano.
Entre justicia y moralidad : criterios metateóricos en cuanto a la justicia la moral y el derecho.
Authors: Galán Galindo Astrid Rocío
Published: February 2017

El avance social de las últimas décadas supone la necesidad de replantearse los diversos esquemas jurídicos y la forma como estos se integran a la sociedad contemporánea. Por ello, se deben asumir como valores políticos y jurídicos la dignidad humana, los derechos humanos y el principio democrático que los fundamentan y, a la vez, los limitan, en aras del desarrollo colectivo. Lo anterior supone un sometimiento de los poderes y las instituciones a la Constitución y a los derechos fundamentales en las diversas esferas privadas y públicas que maneja el individuo, como la social, la cultural y la política.
The Proportion of Cropland Influences Negatively the Occurrence of Breeding Birds in an Alkali Grassland Habitat in NW Serbia
Authors: Đapić Dejan , Mérő Thomas Oliver
Published: February 2017

Grasslands host a high diversity of plant and animal species. In Serbia, most alkali grasslands are located in the province of Vojvodina. The majority are not subject to conservation. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the proportion of croplands and (1) the number of breeding species and (2) the number of breeding pairs in the alkali grasslands of the upper Mostonga River catchment basin (NW Serbia). The size of the study area was 400 ha. Birds were surveyed along seven parallel transects eight times per breeding season. Lengths of the cross sections of both grasslands and croplands were measured. The proportion of croplands per transect was calculated by dividing the total length of cross sections of croplands by the total length of transect. The relationship between the proportion of croplands and the number of breeding pairs and the number of breeding species, respectively, was studied using simple linear regression. We recorded a total of 171 nesting pairs belonging to 23 species in the alkali grassland investigated, with breeding densities between 2.2 and 10.3 pairs per 10 ha. The number of species per transect ranged between 6 and 11. The most abundant species were Skylark Alauda arvensis, Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava and Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra. The numbers of breeding pairs (F6 = 21.761, P < 0.0001) and of breeding species (F6 = 13.758, P = 0.001) were both influenced negatively by the proportion of croplands. These findings highlight the need for coordinated conservation measures on the alkali grasslands of Vojvodina.
Recent Data on the Danube Delta (Romania) Avifauna from the 2014 and 2015 Summer Seasons
Authors: Kiss Botond J. , Alexe Vasile , Doroşencu Alexandru C. , Ceico Tănase , Kiss Nimrod B. , Marinov Mihai E.
Published: February 2017

A number of faunistically interesting observations related to the avifauna of the Danube Delta (Romania) are presented. In the spring of 2015, a mass mortality event with a minimum of 118 dead birds occurred in a major Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus colony in the Black Sea lagoons caused by the avian flu virus, strain H5N1. A possible hybrid between Little Egret Egretta garzetta and Western Reef Heron Egretta gularis was observed. The first nesting of Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea in the Danube Delta was documented. Goldeneye Bucephala clangula and Smew Mergus albellus are re-colonising the areas they abandoned in the early 20th century. New data regarding the relocation of Pallas’s Gull Larus ichthyaetus colony in the Danube Delta as a result of hydromorphological changes in the bay, nesting and defence strategies against Caspian Gulls Larus cachinnans are described. Probable nesting of Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola in the Danube Delta was documented in 2014 for the first time.
Words and images of multilingualism: A case study of two North Korean refugees
Authors: Salo Noelle Nayoun Park , Dufva Hannele
Published: February 2017

The article analyses the experience of multilingualism in the South Korean context, focusing on the experiences of North Korean refugees. The research participants (N=2) are originally from North Korea, but now live in South Korea, where they face challenges in their adaptation to the new society, its linguistic landscape and its practices and positions with regard to language issues in society and in education. By combining verbal and visual means of data collection, we aim to analyse the multilingual trajectory of the research participants, their experiences of different languages and language learning and, further, the emotions that are attached to these. Our approach is socio-cognitive in that we seek to show how individual experiences intertwine with and refract the particular societal contexts and their ideologies.
Overview of the History of Vilnius University Observatory
Authors: Klimka L.
Published: February 2017

An overview of the early history of the Astronomical Observatory of Vilnius University from its foundation in 1753 to 1878 is presented.
Long-Term Spectroscopic Monitoring and Surveys of Early-Type Stars with and without Circumstellar Envelopes
Authors: Miroshnichenko Anatoly S. , Danford Steven , Zharikov Sergei V. , Manset Nadine , Levato Hugo , Grosso Monica , Korčáková Daniela , Kusakin Anatoly V. , Khokhlov Serik A. , Prendergast Peter
Published: February 2017

Ongoing studies of different groups of stars result in improving our knowledge of their fundamental parameters and evolutionary status. Also, they result in finding new phases of stellar evolution, which require theoretical explanation. At the same time, availability of large telescopes and sensitivity improvement of detectors shift the focus of many observational programs toward fainter and more distant objects. However, there are still many problems in our understanding of details of stellar evolution which can now be solved with small telescopes and observations of bright stars. Approaching these problems implies conducting surveys of large groups of stars and long-term monitoring of individual objects. In this talk, we present the results of recent international programs of photometric and spectral monitoring of several groups of early-type stars. In particular, we discuss the role of binarity in creation of the Be phenomenon and show examples of recently discovered binary systems as well as the problem of refining fundamental parameters of B and A type supergiants. Special attention will be paid to collaboration with the amateur community and use of échelle spectrographs mounted on small telescopes.
Wet Observations of PG 1159–035
Authors: Costa J. E. S. , Kepler S.O. , Winget D.E. , O’Brien M.S. , Bond H.E. , Kawaler S. D. , Dreizler S.
Published: February 2017

PG 1159-035 has been observed with the Whole Earth Telescope on XCov3, 9, 19 and 22. In this work we present a brief summary of the campaigns.
Meet the family − the catalog of known hot subdwarf stars
Authors: Geier Stephan , Østensen Roy H. , Nemeth Peter , Heber Ulrich , Gentile Fusillo Nicola P. , Gänsicke Boris T. , Telting John H. , Green Elizabeth M. , Schaffenroth Johannes
Published: February 2017

In preparation for the upcoming all-sky data releases of the Gaia mission, we compiled a catalog of known hot subdwarf stars and candidates drawn from the literature and yet unpublished databases. The catalog contains 5613 unique sources and provides multi-band photometry from the ultraviolet to the far infrared, ground based proper motions, classifications based on spectroscopy and colors, published atmospheric parameters, radial velocities and light curve variability information. Using several different techniques, we removed outliers and misclassified objects. By matching this catalog with astrometric and photometric data from the Gaia mission, we will develop selection criteria to construct a homogeneous, magnitude-limited all-sky catalog of hot subdwarf stars based on Gaia data. As first application of the catalog data, we present the quantitative spectral analysis of 280 sdB and sdOB stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. Combining our derived parameters with state-of-the-art proper motions, we performed a full kinematic analysis of our sample. This allowed us to separate the first significantly large sample of 78 sdBs and sdOBs belonging to the Galactic halo. Comparing the properties of hot subdwarfs from the disk and the halo with hot subdwarf samples from the globular clusters ω Cen and NGC 2808, we found the fraction of intermediate He-sdOBs in the field halo population to be significantly smaller than in the globular clusters.
PNN NGC 246: A Complex Photometric Behaviour That Requires Wet
Authors: Pérez J. M. González , Solheim J.-E. , Dorokhova T. N. , Dorokhov N. I.
Published: February 2017

We present a study over three single-site campaigns to investigate the photometric behaviour of the PNN NGC 246. We observed this object in 2000 and 2001. The analysis of the light curves indicates complex and variable temporal spectra. Using wavelet analysis we have found evidences for changes on time scales of hours in the 2000 dataset. The temporal spectra obtained during 2001 are quite different from the results of the previous year. The modulations in the light curve are more noticeable and the temporal spectra present a higher number of modulation frequencies. One peculiar characteristic is the presence of a variable harmonic structure related to one of these modulation frequencies. This complex photometric behaviour may be explained by a more complicated unresolved combination of modulation frequencies, but more likely due to a combination of pulsations of the star plus modulations related to interaction with a close companion, maybe indicating a disc. However, these characteristics cannot be confirmed from single site observations. The complex and variable behaviour of NGC 246 needs the WET co-operation in order to completely resolve its light curve.
Relation between Light Weakening and Equivalent Widths of Circumstellar NaI D-Lines in Stars with R CRB-Type Variability
Authors: Rosenbush A. E. , Bondar A. V.
Published: February 2017

High-resolution spectra in the NaI D-line region for tar­get stars with R Coronae Borealis type variability are analyzed. Two types of relations between light weakening and equivalent widths of circumstellar lines are found, one of them being considerably different from a similar relation for the interstellar medium.
Motion of Test Bodies in a Quasi-Newtonian Potential. II. Comparison with Experiments
Authors: Pyragas K. , Svirskas K.
Published: February 2017

The paper deals with the motion of test bodies in a Quasi-Newtonian potential for which the expressions corresponding to the effects of General Relativity are found. It is impossible to choose the values of parameters of the potential which could be in a quantitative accordance with the effects predicted by General Relativity.
Photometry of Variable Stars, and System Transformability Over Long Time Intervals
Authors: Sterken C.
Published: February 2017

The fundamental problem of long-term photometric monitoring of variable stars and of multi-wavelength photometric campaigns is the problem of bringing the data to a common standard. Such homogenization can be achieved only when the measurements are made in photometric systems that are truly transformable. This fundamental problem is of a technical nature, and photometric observers, sometimes, are not aware of the problems. This frequently leads to over-interpretation of the data.
Flatfielding Errors in Strömvil CCD Photometry
Authors: Boyle R. P. , Janusz R. , Philip A. G. Davis , Kazlauskas A. , Laugalys V.
Published: February 2017

The importance of determining the error of the flat field in CCD photometry is detailed and our methods of doing this are described. We now have reached a precision of 1-1.5 % in our photometry. Color-magnitude diagrams of the open cluster M67 (ours and Laugalys et al. 2003) are compared.
Ultraviolet Passbands for a Space Multicolor Photometric System
Authors: Ambartsoumian A. R. , Mironov A. V. , Zakharov A. I.
Published: February 2017

The results of search for the optimal location of ultraviolet passbands for an extra-atmospheric photometric system are given. The addition of passbands near the well-known extinction bump at 218 nm to the photometric system makes it possible to determine interstellar extinction with greater precision than with the photometric system without UV passbands.
Modeling the Radial Color Profile of M31
Authors: Semionov D. , Stonkutė R. , Vansevičius V.
Published: February 2017

We present a preliminary study of a fragment of the radial color profile of the spiral galaxy M 31 in terms of 2-D model accounting for internal extinction in the disk. The two stellar population disk model was assumed. The old dust-free disk population is represented by the double exponential law, and the young disk population, well mixed with the dust, resides in spiral arms of various scale-heights. We find a good agreement among the radial color B-R profiles produced by this simple model and the profile measured around the spiral arm S4 of M 31.
A New CCD Camera at the Molėtai Observatory
Authors: Zdanavičius J. , Zdanavičius K.
Published: February 2017

The results of the first testing of a new CCD camera of the Molėtai Observatory are given. The linearity and the flat field corrections of good accuracy are determined by using shifted star field exposures.
Analysis of land stability and land-use change processes in the 19–20thcenturies: a case study in Gödöllő Hillside, Hungary
Authors: Demény Krisztina , Centeri Csaba , Szalai Dániel
Published: February 2017

The manuscript presents land-use change processes based on former military map analyses. Military maps were derived from the 1770s until the 1890s and later from the CORINE Land Cover map. I observed the transition direction of areal distribution of various land uses. Digitalized maps showed 19-20thcentury land-use conditions; besides them, we created a grouping system which is based on the intensity of land use. We distinguished six land-use types, ranking them according to the anthropogenic influence (1. built-up areas; 2. arable fields; 3. orchards and vineyards; 4. meadows and pastures; 5. forests; 6. wetlands).
The importance of protecting unique Romanian landscape values, illustrated by examples of problem solving in other countries
Authors: Henning Anna Imola
Published: February 2017

Nature and landscape protection has gained importance over the past 50 years from the economic, cultural, health, and recreational point of view. The process is closely linked to our civilizational endeavours (such as economic interests, pollution, urbanization, super-intensive agriculture, etc.) that threaten our natural values as well as to the ever more frequent environmental disasters resulting from the above. The continued destruction of our natural and landscape values is not reversible. The aim of this article is to determine the important and urgent professional tasks regarding exploring, documenting, safeguarding, and raising awareness of values. My work wishes to draw attention to the landscape values and deficiencies of Transylvania, working with examples from other countries; by using Romanian examples, I also wish to support my assumption according to which if we want to preserve unique landscapes on the European level we need to act quickly.
Varietal performance and correlation of okra pod yield and yield components
Authors: Aminu Dattijo , Bello Omolaran Bashir , Gambo Babagana Abba , Azeez Alafe Hakeem , Agbolade Oludare James , Iliyasu Ali , Abdulhamid Usman Abdulrahman
Published: February 2017

Field irrigation experiments were conducted to assess the varietal performance and correlation of pod yield and yield attributes under irrigation at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, during the 2015 and 2016 dry seasons. The results revealed that the most outstanding for fresh pod yield per plant were okra cultivar Kwadag Y’ar gagure Salkade, and Kwadam, in descending order, with yield ranging from 580.38 to 622.67 g, while the Composite cultivar had the lowest value of pod yield of 428.62 g over the two years. The greatest average values for the number of pods per plant and the number of primary branches per plant were observed for Salkade and Y’ar gagure, respectively. Highest fresh pod length and fresh pod diameter were also exhibited for Salkade and Kwadag. The genotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the phenotypic variation for the entire yield-contributing characters. Days to 50% flowering were positive and highly significant differences associated with plant height, number of pods per plant, and fresh weight per pod could be observed. Path coefficient analysis showed that the number of pods per plant exhibited positive and direct influence on the pod yield across the studied years. Indirect influence of other yield components through this character also contributed mainly towards pod yield. Therefore, days to 50% flowering, plant height, pod length, number of pods per plant, pod diameter, number of primary branches per plant, and fresh weight per pod could be taken into consideration for the selection and development of high pod-yielding varieties in okra.
The Assessment Of Geographical Borders In Economic Research
Authors: Markowska Małgorzata , Sobolewski Marek
Published: February 2017

The length of common border between two geographical units is frequently used as a basic weight in spatial analysis. The newest methodological propositions such as tests for hierarchical relations (Markowska et. al. 2014; Sokołowski et. al. 2013), regional spatial moving average and new spatial correlation coefficient (Markowska et. al. 2015) are using border lengths. In cited references new methods have been illustrated by analyses for EU NUTS2 regions. It is obvious that borders between regions belonging to different countries have different socio-economic impact than borders between regions lying in the same country. A new simple method for assesment the importance of borders is proposed in the paper. It is based on a chosen macroeconomic variable available at NUTS 2 level (e.g. GDP, infant mortality, Human Development Index). For neighboring regions bigger value is divided by smaller value giving the local importance of the given border. These measures of local border importance can be than average for borders within the same country and for borders for each pair of neighboring countries.
Comparative Analysis Of Healthcare Performance In West And South Regions Of Ukraine
Authors: Pilyavskyy Anatoliy , Aaronson William , Matsiv Yuriy
Published: February 2017

This study examines variations in efficiency among hospitals located in western and southern Ukraine. We estimated efficiency using a nonparemetric modeling technique known as data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA is a very powerful tool to compare relative efficiency among several economic units of study, known as decision making units (DMUS). In our current and previous research we have focused attention on comparative efficiency among hospitals and then explained variation in efficiency based on historical and cultural differences that influence managerial behavior at the hospital level of decision making. This study using current data and an expanded geographic territory provides further support to our findings from previous studies.
Determinants Of Healthy Ageing For Older People In European Countries – A Spatio-Temporal Approach
Authors: Suchecka Jadwiga , Urbaniak Bogusława
Published: February 2017

The European Commission (EC) has identified active and healthy ageing (AHA) as a major societal challenge mutual to European countries. This issue has increased in importance due to the progressive ageing observed in European societies, that force authorities to take initiatives for support the activity of the elderly. One of the initiatives, widely recognised is The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, which strive to enabling EU citizens to lead healthy, active and independent lives while ageing. The positive effect of actions for the AHA will be extension of the life in good health duration of EU citizens by two years by 2020. This is an important issue, as in 2013, women who have reached the age of 65 years in UE28 were facing on average 21.3 years of further life years and only 8.6 years (on average this amounted for 40.4 % of life expectancy) accounted for living in health, whereas for males, this ratio was estimated on 8.5 years in health of the anticipated further 17.9 years (47.5% of further life duration). Life expectancy in good health in older age is influenced by many different factors, i.e. cultural, social, economic and accessibility to health services and the quality of provided treatment. The last aspect is related to both the economic development of the country and the health care system management. The significant factor that has been increasingly emphasised in documentation of World Health Organisation or European Commission, concerns the investment in public and individual health. Taking into account the multivariate impact of objective and subjective factors on life expectancy in good health of elderly, the Authors decided to conduct the multidimensional comparative analysis for EU countries, including Norway, Switzerland and Iceland as well. Among the objective factors Authors distinguished: proportion of population (men and women) aged 65 years and more, economic development of the countries measured by GDP per capita, healthy life years expectancy in absolute values for males and females at 65 years, health care expenditures in PPS per inhabitant aged 65+, whereas the group of subjective characteristics consisted of: self-perceived health for people aged 65+ and self-reported unmet needs for medical services. The article aims to investigate the relationship between the length of the further life in healthy for men and women aged 65 years and selected factors in European countries in the period 2005–2012. For this purpose, following methods were used: 1/ spatial distribution of characteristics – rates of change in selected periods: 2005 and 2012, 2/ tests for dependencies using correlograms and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients, 3/ cluster analysis: on the basis of Ward’s methods spatial similarities (among countries) were indicated. As the source of data the Eurostat database were used.
Khitan Perempuan: Who Speaks for the Indonesian Female Circumcision?
Authors: Bočko Vesna
Published: February 2017

Throughout the paper the author focuses on the ritual of female circumcision in Indonesian Java, more specifically in the city of Yogyakarta. By the help of fieldwork and academic literature she examines this not merely taboo but also legally forbidden practice in the biggest Muslim country in the world. Female circumcision (FC) in Java and Indonesia in general is considered as a daily practice going hand in hand with tradition. The author puts to the foreground the form of circumcision performed in Yogyakarta and its classification as a symbolic and less invasive one. She explains the history of this ritual in the archipelago, national and international regulations and guidelines, analyzes the role of different authorities (state, religious leaders and NGO’s) on the persistence/abundance of FC and as a consequence its ‘globalized’ form (medicalizetion of FC). The author learns and emphasizes that this is a practice taken for granted, whose origin is little known to the interlocutors (the executors and participants of the ritual) and that the existing literature on the subject is insufficient. For such research a careful approach is of key importance and the author frequently utilizes the help of cultural relativism, reductionism and the use of narrative.
Estimation of The Willingness-to-Pay for Preserving The Football Arena in Gdansk
Authors: Zawadzki Krystian
Published: February 2017

The European Football Championship (Euro 2012) organized in Poland became the pretext for a number of infrastructural changes. A high level of expenditure makes the Polish event the most expensive among events of this magnitude. The fact that these changes were 100% financed by public funds raises the question of whether these funds were used in a substantiated way. Therefore, the aim of this study is to estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) among the community of the Pomeranian region, in connection with the construction of the stadium in Gdansk. A survey conducted among 299 respondents was the source of information. The results of the study show that the average value of WTP for the whole sample was 6.71 EUR2012, while the aggregate value for the whole region was 15.4 million EUR2012. The regression analysis showed that the level of WTP is determined in particular by income levels. The results thus confirm the existence of intangible benefits associated with the constructed facilities. However, it should be noted that the importance of these benefits is insignificant and does not compensate for the massive expenditure from public sources.
Short-Term Currency in Circulation Forecasting for Monetary Policy Purposes – The Case of Poland
Authors: Koziński Witold , Świst Tomasz
Published: February 2017

One of the most significant factors which influences the level of banking sector liquidity is Currency in Circulation. Although the central bank is in charge of distribution of the currency it can’t assess the demand for the currency, as that demand is generated by the customers of commercial banks. Therefore, the amount of Currency in Circulation has to be modelled and forecasted. This paper introduces ARIMA(2,1) and SARIMA(2,1)(5,0) models with dummy variables and discusses its applicability to the forecasting of Currency in Circulation. The forecasting performance of these models is compared. The results indicate that the performance of SARIMA(2,1)(5,0) is better and that both models might be applied for monetary policy purposes as supportive tools for banking sector liquidity forecasting.
Internal Funding in The Dairy Industry Companies in The Podlaskie Province in 2010-2012
Authors: Łuczaj Jolanta
Published: February 2017

Selection of appropriate funding sources for company assets is one of the most important decisions taken by a company. The right capital structure and in particular the relevant relationship between own and external sources of financing have a significant impact on the financial results. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of own resources in the funding of assets in the dairy industry in the Podlaskie Province in 2010-2012. The information included in the financial statements of the surveyed companies, as well as secondary data included in the studies of the CSO, was used in the paper.
Art as an Investment in Poland – The First 20 Years after The Collapse of the Central Planning Economy
Authors: Potocki Tomasz , Rogozińska Anna
Published: February 2017

The article aims at answering the following research question: is the Polish art market mature enough to look at art investment as an important element of portfolio diversification? To provide an answer, the Authors analyzed auctions in Poland from the period 1991-2010, which were published by Art&Business magazine. The number of the analyzed records amounted to 28951. The conclusions may be valuable for researchers specializing in art economics, investors dealing with wealth transfer, financial advisors offering financial products as well as for policy makers responsible for providing institutional infrastructure essential for development of the Polish art market.
The Role of A Company’s Internal Control System in Fraud Prevention
Authors: Dimitrijevic Dragomir , Milovanovic Vesna , Stancic Vladimir
Published: February 2017

The emergence of internal control over specific segments of activities has been associated with management needs for evaluation of the consistency between the actual situation and development targets. Monitoring activities should enable detection and timely reaction to possible target-related deviations. While responding to complex market needs, companies are exposed to numerous internal and external influences, some of which may cause significant damage. Companies have realized that it is safer and cheaper to establish their own internal control systems in order to prevent such influences. The aim of this work is to show how the overall quality of control and company performance is improved through implementation of preventive methods by internal controls, and to indicate that a developed system of internal control represents a protective barrier against various kinds of data manipulation and fraud inside the companies. Special attention was paid to fraud in financial statements since it can cause the most serious damage leading to instability of the economic-financial environment.
Basel’s Forgotten Pillar: The Myth of Market Discipline on the Forefront of Basel III
Authors: Benli Vahit Ferhan
Published: February 2017

Although Basel II fortified the first two pillars with market transparency enhancing Pillar III disclosures and encouraged the usage of major Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) such as Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch as quasi governmental authorities to overcome asymmetric informational problems on risk and capital adequacy fronts of the global financial system, the recent global financial crisis has proven just the opposite. The banks and regulators were not in a position to truly assess the risk and capital adequacy frameworks of the global and domestic financial institutions based on the assessments of the rating agencies. To overcome the problem of informational asymmetry for the market participants, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision set out new proposals for enhanced Pillar III disclosures in the areas of credit risks and capital reporting standards on the forefront of Basel III that would come into effect on April 1, 2016. This paper is a critical evaluation of the new reporting proposals of BCBS within the critical role of the credit rating agencies.
High Propensity to Pay Dividends By State-Controlled Companies in Poland. Tunneling or Maturity Effect?
Authors: Kowerski Mieczysław
Published: February 2017

Usage of a random effects panel logit model have shown in this paper that the high propensity to pay dividends by the state-controlled companies quoted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange over the last years was not a result of the tunneling effect but was the maturity effect. The state-controlled companies which pay dividends fulfil the maturity effect criteria as they are big, profitable, have low investment opportunities and financial leverage, and are characterised by low risk associated with investing in their shares. The additional evidence of a reasonable and stable dividend policy pursued by the state-controlled companies are: payout ratio on the level of slightly more than 50% and lower by almost 8 percentage points than in the other companies; and relatively rare use of the reserve capital for dividends. However, state-controlled companies listed on the WSE are mostly commercial and of a fiscal nature for the state, which may create a temptation for tunneling.
Practical Problems of Legal Regulation of Customs Duties Developing an International Trade Between the Republic of Lithuania And East Asian Countries
Authors: Valantiejus Gediminas
Published: February 2017

For more than ten years (since 2004) the Republic of Lithuania is a member of the EU and is realizing its economic and trade relations with other foreign countries, and regulating customs duties according to the requirements of the EU Common Commercial Policy. However, in the recent years foreign trade (in particular - exports of goods) remained one of the main factors which increased an economic growth (recovery) in the Republic of Lithuania after the global economic crisis of the world, which began in 2008. In this context, the search for new markets and expansion of trade relations with new trade partners in Asia became essential in order to diversify the structure of the national economy and avoid dependence on traditional trade partners, such as Russia. Taking into account this strategic goal, the article seeks to answer a question whether an existing foreign trade regulation system ensures the status of Lithuania as an attractive partner of foreign trade with East Asian countries (Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore) and what regulatory instruments (customs duty rules and procedures) should be used on the national level to ensure cooperation with these countries. In order to answer this problematic question, the first chapter of the article overviews general tendencies in Lithuanian foreign trade with the countries of East Asia, while the second chapter is dedicated to describe regulatory regime for import customs duties on the national level (in line with the major provisions of the EU Common Commercial Policy). The practical problems and obstacles to international trade are presented in the third chapter and are illustrated by the examples of case law, which was formed in disputes relating to the decisions and actions of Lithuanian national customs authorities for the period from 1 May, 2004 (since entry to the EU)).
Patronage or Signaling: How Mayors Use City Payroll to Stay in Office
Authors: Vobolevičius Vincentas
Published: February 2017

Several studies on municipal hiring decisions have indicated that when a city’s payroll grows, its mayor’s re-election prospects are likely to improve. It is not clear, however, if such an effect is attributable to patronage-driven, or signaling-driven, behavior of the incumbents. The difference is important: patronage leads to inefficient public administration, while signaling can produce political business cycles. In this paper, I propose some key electoral implications of patronage-driven and signaling-driven hiring, and verify them with data on local elections in Bulgaria (2015 and 2011) and in Poland (2014). I find that a large municipal workforce has a negative overall effect on mayors’ re-election. Importantly, the impact of city payroll varies with incumbents’ partisanship (strongly negative for mayors representing the economic right, neutral for independent mayors, positive for ex-communist mayors) and does not depend on the duration of incumbent’s tenure. These findings strongly support the patronage-driven explanation of Eastern Europe’s local political economy.
Microwave regeneration of biological activated carbon
Authors: Wu Daoji , Li Shujie , Wang Ning
Published: February 2017

Spent biological activated carbon (SAC) in a drinking water treatment plant has been regenerated with microwaves, and the regeneration effects were evaluated through iodine values, surface chemistry, surface structure energy and surface morphology by comparison with unused activated carbon (UAC). On this basis, the performance of regenerated activated carbon (RAC) was investigated by methylene blue adsorption and raw water clarification. The results showed that the iodine value of RAC recovered to 98.1 % of that of UAC, and that the BET surface area of RAC (778 m
The Relation of Brexit with the UK’s QE Decisions and its Impact on the Eurozone
Authors: Kyriazis Νikolaos A. , Economou Emmanouil M.L.
Published: February 2017

This paper aims to provide some insights into the way that the recent referendum held on June 23rd about the Brexit could affect the UK’s perspective to proceed to a new round of QE. Moreover, the effects of the latter on the Eurozone are under scrutiny. Transmission channels of the shock that the Brexit has brought about on the EU and the Eurozone, as well as possible scenarios about the future relationship between the UK and the EU are presented. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first academic piece of work that makes a direct link between the consequences of the Brexit on decisions about proceeding in further QE actions or not in the UK and at the same time studies how this could result in affecting the Eurozone’s economy and its decision-making about adopting further unconventional policies.
Loyalty, Investment Model and New Media - A Correlation Study in Banking Services in Montenegro
Authors: Femić-Radosavović Bojana , Jovović Milorad
Published: February 2017

In this paper we perceived causal relationship between loyalty, satisfaction, quality of the alternatives, investment size, and new media through online word of mouth in banking services in Montenegro. Obtained empirical results substantiated validity of the set hypothetical frame, i.e. meaningfulness of the conceptual model that is set.
Exchange Rate and Interest Rate in the Monetary Policy Reaction Function
Authors: Krušković Borivoje D.
Published: February 2017

In recent years there has been a particular interest in the relation between exchange rates and interest rates both in developed countries and emerging countries. This is understandable given the important role that these variables have in determining the movement of nominal and real economic variables, including the movement of domestic inflation, real output, exports and imports, foreign exchange reserves, etc. To realized the importance of the given instruments selected macroeconomic indicators, data analysis (monthly data) relating to Serbia was made on the basis of the Transfer Function Model, a data analysis (annual data) relating to emerging countries was done on the basis of the Stepvise Multiple Regression model. In the transfer function model we used the Maximum Likelihood method for assessing unknown coefficients. In the gradual multiple regression model we used the Least Square method for the evaluation of unknown coefficients. All indicator values were used in the original unmodified form, i.e. there was no need for a variety of transformations. Empirical analysis showed that the exchange rate is a more significant transmission mechanism than the interest rate both in emerging markets and Serbia.
A Brief Introduction to the World of Macroprudential Policy
Authors: Dumičić Mirna
Published: February 2017

Notwithstanding the rapid growth in the popularity of and the increasing number of research papers on macroprudential policy, the general public still has a relatively unclear perception of this concept. The main purpose of this paper is to explain briefly the most important concepts related to macroprudential policy and describe its objectives. Emphasis is put on explaining the main stages of a macroprudential cycle, the relationship between macroprudential policy and other economic policies, and the costs and benefits of macroprudential regulations.
An Analysis of International Trade of Montenegro Using Statistics on the Operations of Transnational Corporations’ Affiliates
Authors: Živković Olivera , Bjelić Predrag
Published: February 2017

Most of the international trade today takes place through transnational corporations that have changed its structure and directions of activity. The scope of international transactions that occur within transnational corporations is increasingly replacing the classical cross-border forms of import and export of goods and services.

The transition process and the opening of Montenegro towards the rest of the world has had its influence on significant inflows of foreign direct investments and the presence of a large number of companies controlled by foreign capital. If we neglected the sales data of foreign corporations’ affiliates we would attain a distorted picture of the position of Montenegro in international trade. Through the analysis of the application of FATS statistics, which monitor the operations of these companies in Montenegro, we discovered the economic variables to which the foreign affiliates have made the greatest contribution. Our goal is to assess the benefits of Montenegro’s participation in international trade. The focus of the work is on the calculation of the export of Montenegro through the application of this new statistical concept.
Quality of Justice as an Institutional Game. Insights from the Italian Case
Authors: Piana Daniela
Published: February 2017

Introduction: Is soft power effective? Justice institutions have become a key topic in the international scientific and institutional agendas some decades ago, for different, and still interdependent reasons: the waves of democratizations (Pridham 2000), the increasing power of the judicial branch (Russell and O Brian 2001; Stone Sweet 2002), the transnationalisation of the processes of law making and law enforcement (Allard and Garapon 2005), the increasing demand for justice, dispute resolution, and rights enforcement (Epp 1998; OECD 2014, 2015). Despite the vast literature focusing on these phenomena, very little has been said on the impact that the recent development of the quality of justice mainstream (Fabri et al. 2005; Piana 2010) has on the relationship between the judicial and the executive branch. Notoriously, this relationship is one of the key dimensions for a constitutional democracy.
Finite subgroups of simple algebraic groups with irreducible centralizers
Authors: Liebeck Martin W. , Thomas Adam R.
Published: February 2017

We determine all finite subgroups of simple algebraic groups that have irreducible centralizers – that is, centralizers whose connected component does not lie in a parabolic subgroup.
Non-separability and complete reducibility: En{E_{n}} examples with an application to a question of Külshammer
Authors: Uchiyama Tomohiro
Published: February 2017

Let G be a simple algebraic group of type

E
n

{E_{n}}

(

n
=

6
,
7
,
8

{n=6,7,8}

) defined over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic 2. We present examples of triples of closed reductive groups

H
<
M
<
G

{H<M<G}

such that H is G-completely reducible, but not M-completely reducible. As an application, we consider a question of Külshammer on representations of finite groups in reductive groups. We also consider a rationality problem for G-complete reducibility and a problem concerning conjugacy classes.
Crystal structure of catena-(bis(μ2-1, 2-bis(imidazole-1-ylmethyl)benzene-κN:N′)-dichlororido-nickel(II)), C28H28Cl2N8Ni
Authors: Liu Ping , Liu Qiuxia , Zhao Ning , An Caixia , Lian Zhaoxun
Published: February 2017

C28H28Cl2N8Ni, monoclinic, P21/c, a = 8.521(5) Å, b = 10.255(6)) Å, c = 15.414(9) Å, β = 91.209(9)°, V = 1346.6(13) Å3, Z = 2, R
gt(F) = 0.0360, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.0916, T = 296(2) K.
Crystal structure of 2-(4-(dimethylamino)phenyl)-1,3-dimethyl-1H-perimidin-3-ium iodide, C21H22I1N3
Authors: Yuan Xian-You , Zhang Min , Li Zhong-Yan , Yuan Lin
Published: February 2017

C21H22I1N3, monoclinic, C2/c, a = 21.829(7) Å, b = 10.741(3) Å, c = 17.564(5) Å, β = 109.446(3)°, V = 3883(2) Å3, Z = 8, R
gt(F) = 0.0260, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.0687, T = 296(2) K.
Overview of Nordic Media Research on Immigration and Ethnic Relations
Authors: Horsti Karina
Published: February 2017

Nordic media and communication research had reacted to the ethnically/racially and culturally changing societies since the 1980s, and the multidisciplinary field of migration, ethnic relations and the media has been shaped. This overview draws upon existing body of research, particularly on recent literature since the early 2000s, and aims to sketch out the rough lines of Nordic media research by mapping and comparing developments in this area. In addition, it points out some major outcomes and, finally, suggests future developments. The longest line of research is based on text analysis, mostly quantitative and qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis of majority media’s texts on immigration and ethnic minorities. Later on, the research focus has widened to cover various dimensions of media output as well as production and reception. Although the field is intensively developing, comparative research among the Nordic countries, and between other European countries, is scarce.