bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On Federalism and Government Size The Leviathan Hypothesis After Three Decades
Authors: da Empoli Domenico 
Published: December 2019

The impact of fiscal federalism on the size of governments has been the subject of an intense (and extended) debate for more than three decades, mainly under the influence of The Power To Tax by Geoffrey Brennan -James Buchanan [1980] where federalism was proposed as a component of a fiscal constitution. According to the Brennan-Buchanan hypothesis, intergovernmental competition (if made effective through a number of conditions, such as free mobility of goods and persons, decentralization of taxes and expenditures) should indirectly ‘constrain’ the power to tax of the government (i.e., in Hobbesian terms, the Leviathan) just as the direct limits of a fiscal constitution.
However, more than thirty years later, the numerous empirical investigations, though quite sophisticated, have been unable, at least apparently, to prove (or to disprove) irrefutably Brennan-Buchanan's hypothesis about the effects of federalism, so that quite often the authors of these inquiries recognized that their results are ‘mixed’.
This paper will show that those empirical investigations did not take into consideration the basic conditions on which die approach of Brennan and Buchanan was based and, in particular, die new model of federalism proposed by Brennan and Buchanan, compared with the orthodox (‘conventional’, according to B-B) model of federalism. In fact, all these investigations made use of data on existing (orthodox) models of fiscal federalism, without taking account of the innovative conditions required by Brennan and Buchanan for establishing a new model of federalism capable to contract the public sector.
The Introduction of Federalism in Unitary States: The Case of Italy
Authors: da Empoli Domenico 
Published: December 2019

Among the great variety of fiscal institutions, a current tendency, probably favored by the globalization process, is that to increase the power of minor levels of government. This tendency was particularly emphasized in Europe in consequence of the transfer of powers from national governments to the European Union.
A typical case of this decentralization process is that of Italy, a country that since its origin, in 1861, was based on the Napoleonic administrative centralization. In 2001, however, a constitutional reform decided that «The Republic is constituted by municipalities, provinces, metropolitan cities, regions and the State” (art. 114).
Since that time, Italian regions, and more than 8000 local governments, started acting almost independently from the central government (from which they continued, however, to draw a great part of their financial resources).
This situation appears to be proper of a kind of ‘anarchic polycentrism’ rather than fiscal federalism, with a lot of contradictions between decisions taken by the central government and those of the subcentral and local powers.
This paper focuses on the bureaucratic and political shortcomings of the devolution of powers in a centralized and unitary state.
808  nm laser triggered self-monitored photo-thermal therapeutic nano-system Y2O3: Nd3+/Yb3+/Er3+@SiO2@Cu2S
Authors: Zhang Zhiyu , Suo Hao , Zhao Xiaoqi , Guo Chongfeng 
Published: December 2019

A multifunctional photo-thermal therapeutic nano-platform

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(YR-Si-

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) was designed through a core–shell structure, expressing the function of bio-tissue imaging, real-time temperature detection, and photo-thermal therapy under 808 nm light excitation. In this system, the core

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(YR) takes the responsibility of emitting optical information and monitoring temperature, while the shell

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nano-particles carry most of the photo-thermal conversion function. The temperature sensing characteristic was achieved by the fluorescence intensity ratio using the thermally coupled energy levels (TCLs)

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of

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, and its higher accuracy for real-time temperature measurement in the bio-tissue than that of an infrared thermal camera was also proved by sub-tissue experiments. Furthermore, the photo-thermal effect of the present nano-system

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was confirmed by Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) ablation. Results indicate that YR-Si-

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has application prospect in temperature-controlled photo-thermal treatment and imaging in bio-tissues.
Using computational approaches to study dengue virus capsid assembly
Authors: Salas Gicela G Saucedo , Hernandez Alan E Lopez , He Jiadi , Karki Chitra , Xie Yixin , Sun Shengjie , Xian Yuejiao , Li Lin 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Dengue viral capsid plays a significant role in viral life cycle of dengue, especially in vial genome protection and virus-cell fusion. Revealing mechanisms of the viral capsid protein assembly may lead to the discovery of anti-viral drugs that inhibit the assembly of the viral capsid. The E and M-proteins are arranged into heterotetramers, which consists of two copies of E and M-protein. The heterotetramers are assembled into a highly ordered capsid. While many investigations of the interactions between E and M-proteins have been performed, there are very few studies on the interactions between the heterotetramers and their roles in capsid assembly. Utilizing a series of computational approaches, this study focuses on the assembly mechanism of the heterotetramers. Our electrostatic analyses lead to the identification of four binding modes between each two dengue heterotetramers that repeat periodically throughout the virus capsid. Among these four binding modes, heterotetramers in binding modes I, II and IV are attractive. But in the binding mode III the heterotetramers repel each other, making mode III a suitable target for drug design. Furthermore, MD simulations were performed following by salt bridges analysis. This study demonstrates that using computational approaches is a promising direction to study the dengue virus.
A treecode based on barycentric Hermite interpolation for electrostatic particle interactions
Authors: Krasny Robert , Wang Lei 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
A particle-cluster treecode based on barycentric Hermite interpolation is presented for fast summation of electrostatic particle interactions in 3D. The interpolation nodes are Chebyshev points of the 2nd kind in each cluster. It is noted that barycentric Hermite interpolation is scale-invariant in a certain sense that promotes the treecode’s efficiency. Numerical results for the Coulomb and screened Coulomb potentials show that the treecode run time scales like O(N log N), where N is the number of particles in the system. The advantage of the barycentric Hermite treecode is demonstrated in comparison with treecodes based on Taylor approximation and barycentric Lagrange interpolation.
Students’ Concepts of the Trapezoid at the End of Lower Secondary Level Education
Authors: Halas Zdeněk , Robová Jarmila , Moravcová Vlasta , Hromadová Jana 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Understanding basic geometric concepts is important for the development of students’ thinking and geometric imagination, both of which facilitate their progress in mathematics. Factors that may affect students’ understanding include the teacher of mathematics (in particular his/her teaching style) and the textbooks used in mathematics lessons. In our research, we focused on the conceptual understanding of trapezoids among Czech students at the end of the 2nd level of education (ISCED 2). As part of the framework for testing the understanding of geometrical concepts, we assigned a task in which students had to choose trapezoids from six figures (four trapezoids and two other quadrilaterals). In total, 437 students from the 9th grade of lower secondary schools and corresponding years of grammar schools participated in the test. The gathered data were subjected to a qualitative analysis. We found that less than half of the students commanded an adequate conceptual understanding of trapezoids. It turned out that some students did not recognise the non-model of a trapezoid, or vice versa, considering a trapezoid in an untypical position to be a non-model. Our research was supplemented by analysis of geometry textbooks usually used in the Czech Republic which revealed that the trapezoid is predominantly presented in a prototypical position. Moreover, we investigated how pre-service teachers define a trapezoid. Finally, we present some recommendations for mathematics teaching and pre-service teacher training that could help.
Durch die Blume gesagt. Erotische Blumenmetaphorik in romantischer Lyrik: Stagnelius, Wergeland und Aarestrup
Authors: Fürstenberg Henrike 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Likening females to flowers is not a groundbreaking poetical strategy. However, romantic poetry seems to deal with this well-known metaphor in a particularly expressive way. In this paper, three poems by three different romantic authors — Erik Johan Stagnelius, Henrik Wergeland, and Emil Aarestrup — are analyzed with regard to their use of metaphors merging floral and erotic subjects, particularly in viewing women as flowers. The three chosen poems highlight the effectiveness of metaphorical operations in the context of romantic conceptions of unity. They are marked by a strong metalinguistic awareness in that they are reflective of their uses of metaphorical language in an ironic and playful manner that reveals different shifts of meaning. More precisely, the metaphors serve to illuminate alternative layers of meaning related to the romantic language: In the end, it is language that brings about the erotic relationship, language that does not merely describe but actually shapes the beloved one.
Ternary solid dispersion to improve solubility and dissolution of meloxicam
Authors: Setyawan Dwi , Dewi Meivita Yusmala , Isadiartuti Dewi 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBackgroundMeloxicam (MLX) is a potent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug with poor solubility. Solid dispersion (SD) is an effective formulation strategy to improve the dissolution rate of poorly water-soluble compounds. Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) as an inert polymer carrier and nicotinic acid (NA) as disturbance can be used as a matrix of SD. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of MLX-HPMC-NA SD on the solubility and dissolution of MLX.MethodsSD was prepared by the solvent evaporation technique with methanol being used as a solvent. Methanol was evaporated at room temperature. SD of MLX was prepared involving various matrix compositions at MLX:HPMC:NA ratios of 1:1:1 (SD1), 1:1:2 (SD2), 1:2:1 (SD3), and 1:2:2 (SD4).ResultsThe solubility profile of MLX in SD3 (64.34 ppm) showed a higher improvement than the physical mixture (15.99 ppm) and pure MLX (6.89 ppm). This increase might be due to the formation of molecular dispersion of MLX in the polymer as hydrophilic matrix and NA have both donor-acceptor sites for hydrogen bonding interactions. The dissolution profile of SD3 also showed the highest improvement. The melting endotherm of SD3 was detected at 219.5 °C, in which case it originated from NA rather than from MLX, showing that MLX was molecularly dispersed and amorphous.ConclusionsMLX solubility and dissolution profile could be improved by the SD technique with a matrix of HPMC and NA. The best result was given by SD3 with an MLX:HPMC:NA ratio of 1:2:1. Based on the characterization study, it is predicted that hydrophilic polymer and hydrogen bonding interactions play important roles in MLX solubility or dissolution rate improvement.
Synergistic anti-hepatitis C virus activity of Ruta angustifolia extract with NS3 protein inhibitor
Authors: Wahyuni Tutik Sri , Mahfud Humairoh , Permatasari Adita Ayu , Widyawaruyanti Aty , Fuad Achmad 
Published: December 2019

Abstract

Background
Medicinal plants are known to perform many pharmacological actions due to their chemical metabolites, which include antiviral effects. Previously, the extract of Ruta angustifolia was shown to have potential anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) activity without any cytotoxicity, with a 50% inhibitory concentration of 3.0 μg/mL and a 50% cytotoxicity concentration of >100 μg/mL. Furthermore, the combination of medicinal plants and current anti-HCV agents, such as a direct-acting antiviral agent, was shown to potentiate their overall effectiveness. In the course of this study, the ethanolic extract of R. angustifolia was evaluated for its anti-HCV effects; specifically, the mechanism of action on HCV NS3 and NS5A protease was investigated.

Methods
Analysis of the use of this extract in conjunction with current NS3 inhibitor drugs, simeprevir (SMV) and telaprevir (TVR), was performed. Anti-HCV activity was performed by in vitro culture of hepatocyte cells. The cells were infected and treated with various concentrations of the sample. HCV inhibition was calculated and CompuSyn software analysis was used to determine the synergistic effect of the combination.

Results
Results demonstrated that R. angustifolia extract inhibited the post-entry step and decreased the protein levels of HCV NS3 and NS5A. The combination of extract and SMV and TVR mediated a synergistic effect.

Conclusions
These findings suggest that combining R. angustifolia extract with current anti-HCV drugs should be considered when developing alternative and complementary anti-HCV medicines.
Public Values, Private Regulators: Between Regulation and Reputation in the Sharing Economy
Authors: Ranchordás Sofia 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
In traditional sectors, the intervention of private parties in the regulatory system tends to be justified by their enhanced expertise, government cuts or efficiency gains. In the sharing economy (e.g., home-sharing services offered by Airbnb), quality control and regulatory tasks (e.g., inspections) are to, a great extent, informally delegated to online platforms and peer-to-peer communities that rate and review performance. These communities consist of users that do not have more than their personal experience and the guidance of online platforms to underpin their assessments. Existing literature has extensively criticized the reliability of these online reputational mechanisms, but it has overlooked other far-reaching effects of outsourcing regulatory tasks to private parties. This Article offers a more complete analysis of the regulatory value of online reputation. I argue that reputational mechanisms have the potential of creating democratic spaces where users can provide unique, regular, and first-hand insights that would otherwise be disregarded in a traditional regulatory system. Nevertheless, in their current form, these mechanisms still offer inadequate protection to the public values that typically underlie the regulation of certain services. This Article explains this problem by comparing the protection of public values in the sharing economy to that of traditional regulated sectors.
This Article contributes to the literature by reflecting on whether the sharing economy is inviting us to rethink the broader involvement of citizens in the protection of public values and the challenges thereof. It suggests a framework to improve online reputational mechanisms and a better dialogue between traditional regulation and online reputation.
The Technologies of Discrimination: How Platforms Cultivate Gender Inequality
Authors: Renan Barzilay Arianne 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
The changes created by platform-facilitated labor are considered fundamental challenges to the future of work. As more data accumulates on gender discrimination in online platforms, this Article explores how inequality is cultivated by platforms in the gig economy. Looking at technological architecture as organizational structure, this essay bridges a gap between three bodies of scholarship that have not yet been in conversation but considering them together is necessary if we are to think about gender equality in platform-facilitated labor. The first concerns data driven discrimination, the second concerns the role of platform affordances and the third concerns organizational policies. These point to the gender inequality regime that platforms may enact. Thus, the Article theoretically contributes to unpacking platforms’ role in perpetuating and institutionalizing gender inequality. Finally, it offers some suggestions on the ways in which law, policy and technology can disrupt the institutionalization of gender inequality in platform-facilitated labor.
If Uber were a Cooperative: A Democratically Biased Analysis of Platform Economy
Authors: Solel Yifat 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Online, or platform economy, is no different than offline economy. Platforms are in this day and age what land was in agrarian times and the means of production for the industrial revolution period — i.e., basic resources. As such, the prime questions to be addressed are the same as ever: who owns the resources, who controls them, who profits from them, and who makes the decisions regarding all of the above.
Analyzing online economy by these parameters elicits three major categories: Online Capitalism — economic activities designed to maximize profits; Sharing Economy, using a substance-based definition — allowing underused resources to be used by others and adding social value: connecting people, contributing to the environment, and creating communities; and Platform Cooperativism — using online technology to promote economic and social goals and interests, as in the sharing notion, adding power-building components: ownership, control – democracy.
This classification is both an identifying tool that allows for an objective evaluation of enterprises and a basis for future legislation and public policy that favors democratic and community-based enterprises.
Platform Economy poses great threats: It allows for concentration of power, wealth and control, but it also holds great opportunities as it constructs mechanisms that enable mass participation in decision-making, and thus allows to develop a new and exciting future in which democracy re-claims its front seat, and people regain the power to make a difference.
The Internet of Humans (IoH): Human Rights and Co-Governance to Achieve Tech Justice in the City
Authors: Iaione Christian , De Nictolis Elena , Suman Anna Berti 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Internet of Things, Internet of Everything and Internet of People are concepts suggesting that objects, devices, and people will be increasingly interconnected through digital infrastructure that will generate a growing gathering of data. Parallel to this development is the celebration of the smart city and sharing city as urban policy visions that by relying heavily on new technologies bear the promise of efficient and thriving cities. Law and policy scholarship have either focused on questions related to privacy, discrimination, security, or issues related to the production and use of big data, digital public services. Little or no attention has been paid to the disruptive impact of technological development on urban governance and city inhabitants’ rights of equal access, participation, management and even ownership, in order to understand whether and how technology can also enhance the protection of human rights and social justice in the city.
This Article proposes complementing the technological and digital infrastructure with a legal and governance infrastructure, the Internet of Humans, by construing and injecting in the policy framework of the city the principle of Tech Justice. Building on a literature review and from an analysis of selected case studies, this Article stresses the dichotomy existing between the market-based and the society-based applications of technology, the first likely to increase the digital divide and the challenges to human rights in the city, the latter bearing the promise to promote equal access to technology in the city. The main argument advanced by this Article is that the principle of Tech Justice if embedded as an empirical dimension of smart city and sharing city policies can steer their developments in the direction of a more just and democratic city.
Use of local resources as co-substrates in a farm-scale biogas plant
Authors: Ervasti Satu , Vainio Markku , Tampio Elina 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBiogas production is an established technology that is suitable for small-scale decentralized solutions, for example, on dairy cattle farms where manure is formed all year round. Cattle slurry can be co-digested with other organic biomasses to boost the production of renewable energy. The aim of this study was to outline the suitability of locally available co-substrates that are characteristic to the northern rural area in Lapland, Finland. Twelve different co-substrates originating from agriculture, reindeer meat production, fisheries and food processing were studied for their chemical characteristics and biochemical methane potential (BMP) in laboratory tests. As a result, all the tested co-substrates had a higher BMP than the cattle slurry, which could be a useful boost for farm-scale energy production. The BMP was the highest for used vegetable oil (851 l/kg VS) followed by the rainbow trout by-products (728 l/kg VS). BMP was the lowest for spoiled grass silage (265 l/kg VS) and the rumen contents of reindeer (289 l/kg VS). All substrates had high concentrations of the main nutrients, and small fish especially were rich in phosphorus (7.4 g/kg) and nitrogen (24.2 g/kg). Nutrient rich co-substrates increase the fertilizer value of digestate and the nutrient self-sufficiency of the farm.
The Wettins and the Issue of Inheritance of the Polish-Lithuanian State Throne in the Context of the Constitution of May 3, 1791: Position of the Lithuanian Nobility
Authors: Šmigelskytė-Stukienė Ramunė 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
The article analyses attitudes of the Lithuanian nobility towards the inheritance of the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (the Commonwealth) in the period of the Four-Year Sejm (1788-1792). Thorough analysis of historiography and research of narrative sources amplifies the position of the Lithuanian nobility towards the issue of inheritance of the throne of the Commonwealth as it was reflected in the political literature of 1787-1789 period. Analysis of the documents produced by the February and November dietines (Pol. sejmiks), 1790 of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the GDL) reveals changes in the position of nobility towards selection of the successor to the throne with the king still alive. It was established, that in supporting the idea of a hereditary throne, Lithuanian political writers suggested different strategies in realizing this idea and proposed as candidates for the throne representatives of ruling dynasties of several states: Russia, Prussia, Saxony and Great Britain.
Changes in the position of nobility were significantly influenced by the activism of patriotic-reformist faction, which proposed the very idea of a hereditary throne and a candidate from the dynasty of Wettins: the GDL districts (Pol. powiats), having ignored the question of throne inheritance in the February dietines of 1790, in November of the same year agreed to the selection of Elector of Saxony as the successor to the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Stanislaw August. However, even if agreeing to the Wettin candidacy, the GDL nobility did not support establishing of the principle of such inheritance. Most of the GDL dietines supported limited monarchy, politically and financially dependent on the political will of the nation. The Elector of Saxony was given certain conditions, the departure from which was to bring back an elective monarchy.