bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Hoverflies (Syrphidae: Diptera) in areas contaminated with heavy metals (Cd, Zn, Pb)
Authors: Mielczarek Anna , Mielczarek Łukasz , Wojciechowicz-Żytko Elżbieta 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
The aim of the research was to study the diversity of hoverflies (Syrphidae: Diptera) living in areas under the influence of heavy metal emissions (Cd, Zn and Pb). Although the area of the Olkusz Ore-bearing Region (OOR), where the research was partially conducted, belongs to the contaminated regions, where a relatively high species richness of Syrphids has been noted. During the research period, a total of 1,180 syrphids, belonging to 165 species were caught, which constitutes 39.76% of all the Polish Syrphidae fauna. These species represented all the trophic groups with the dominance of zoophagous species (48.48%); however, the most numerous (quantitatively abundant) were saprophagous. Among the collected syrphids, common and numerous species, such as: E. arbustorum (LINNAEUS, 1758), E. tenax (LINNAEUS, 1758), Episyrphus balteatus (DE GEER, 1776) and S. pipiens (LINNAEUS, 1758), as well as rare species such as Callicera aenea (FABRICIUS, 1777) (NT), Chalcosyrphus piger (FABRICIUS, 1794) (DD), Epistrophe ochrostoma (ZETTERSTEDT, 1849) (VU), Orthonevra geniculata (MEIGEN, 1830) (DD), Rhingia rostrata (LINNAEUS, 1758) (DD), Sphegina sibirica STACKELBERG, 1953 (LC) and Spilomyia diophthalma (LINNAEUS, 1758) (NT), were noted. Eleven of the collected species have been included in the Polish Red List of Endangered Species. Melangyna ericarum (COLLIN, 1946) is recorded as a new one among the Polish fauna. Numerous observations did not indicate that the area covered by the study was characterised by a significantly lower species diversity compared to other sites. In fact, the samples taken were usually characterised by a relatively high biodiversity. The obtained results may suggest that anthropogenic activities, including those leading to environmental pollution with heavy metals and to a strong transformation of natural habitats, do not completely destroy biodiversity, and in some cases leave space for nature to create habitats where even rare species of organisms such as Syrphidae can develop.
Ranking and Classification of Cryptocurrency Exchanges Using the Methods of a Multidimensional Comparative Analysis
Authors: Kądziołka Kinga 
Published: November 2021

Abstract

Research background: The multidimensional assessment of the attractiveness of cryptocurrency exchanges seems to be an important issue, because the risk of the collapse of such an exchange or its use for illegal purposes is higher than in the case of traditional exchanges.

Purpose: The aim of the work is to create ranking and identify groups of cryptocurrency exchanges with a similar level of attractiveness.

Research methodology: 13 different composite indicators were considered. Finally, one of them was chosen as a representative according to the similarity of the obtained rankings. Clustering methods were used to identify groups of exchanges with a similar level of the constructed measure.

Result: The best according to the adopted criteria of rankings similarity was the taxonomic measure constructed using the standardized sum method with equal weights. Combining hierarchical clustering with the k-means algorithm allowed to improve the quality of clustering measured with the silhouette index.

Novelty: The originality of the paper lies in the use of different methods of a multidimensional comparative analysis on the cryptocurrency market.
Sustaining South African Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Through Monetary Access and Literacy in the COVID-19 ERA
Authors: Msomi Thabiso Sthembiso , Olarewaju Odunayo Magret , Ngcobo Xolani 
Published: November 2021

Abstract

Research background: Monetary access and literacy are significant factors of concern confronting the survival and sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Purpose: This led to this paper seeking to understand the impact monetary access and monetary literacy have on the sustainability of SMEs in the COVID-19 era.

Research methodology: The method was employed by this study is a quantitative research method, which is supported by a positivism research paradigm. Data was collected using a questionnaire completed by 310 sampled participants. Using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences to analyse data, descriptive, the Pearson correlation and regression analyses were used to estimate the model.

Results: The Pearson correlation indicated a positive and significant correlation between monetary access and monetary literacy to the sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (r = 0.564). The result indicated that some small and medium-sized enterprises do possess basic monetary skills while some do not. A significant number of small and medium-sized enterprises do not understand basic monetary terms, which justifies the lack of monetary literacy.

Novelty: The study recommends that government agencies that assist with business registration should include a monetary training course as part of registration formalities. Further to that, the study recommended that government, banks and other business support institutions should simplify support programmes for the prosperity of small and medium-sized enterprises during and post COVID-19 pandemic.
An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Bankruptcy Prediction Models – an Industry Approach
Authors: Pilch Bartłomiej 
Published: November 2021

Abstract

Research background: Bankruptcy prediction models are frequently used in research. However, an industry approach is not often carried out. Due to this, this study included trends observable between the number of bankruptcies and its prediction by models.

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to verify if changes in the number of actual bankruptcy in individual industries are properly predicted by the models. Also, if analyzed models are providing consistent information according to the risk of bankruptcy between industries.

Research methodology: The data were collected from the Orbis database and the Coface reports. The period included in the study is 2014–2019. 5 Polish bankruptcy prediction models were used: these by D. Hadasik, E. Mączyńska and M. Zawadzki, M. Pogodzińska and S. Sojak, D. Wierzba and the Poznan one.

Results: The analyzed models do not properly predict changes in the number of bankruptcy in individual industries, however, 3 out of 5 correctly predicted the trend for the entire sample. Analyzed models often provide inconsistent information. Hence, it seems sensible to use more than a few models in any further analyzes.

Novelty: In the literature of the subject, there are often carried out analyses focused on the effectiveness of bankruptcy prediction models regarding individual companies. This research is focused on the prediction of changes in the number of companies to be considered as at bankruptcy risk between industries, and also on comparing these models.
Are EU Members’ Economies an “Engine” of the EU Candidates’ Economies?
Authors: Radulović Marija , Kostić Milan 
Published: November 2021

Abstract

Research background: Economic relations between countries members of the EU and EU candidates are very strong. Germany and France have the leading economies of the EU, are in the top ten economies worldwide, and drivers of EU development. Serbia has strong economic relations with Germany and France, especially with Germany. Therefore, it is necessary to examine whether Germany and France impact the development of Serbia.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to determine if there is a positive influence of a developed country on a developing country. The aim of the paper is to determine whether there is a long- and short-term positive relationship between Germany and France (EU members) and the Serbian economy (EU candidate).

Research methodology: A Vector Error Correction Model is used to analyze quarterly data from 2002Q2 to 2018Q2.

Results: The results showed a statistically significant long-term relationship between Germany and France and Serbia’s real GDPs, so EU members have a long-term positive impact on the economy of EU candidates. In the case of the French, there is a short-run positive impact on the Serbian economy. For Germany, it is not the case.

Novelty: This paper fills the literature gap about the influence of a developed country on a developing country. Recommendations for policymakers in EU candidates could be that if they want to motivate people to accept the process of access to the EU, they must provide them with more information about long-run economic benefits from the association to the EU.
A Taxonomic Analysis of the Structure of Prime Costs in Polish Clinical Hospitals
Authors: Sikora-Alicka Joanna 
Published: November 2021

Abstract

Research background: The analysis of the genesis and the way of defining clinical hospitals allows us to conclude that the evaluation of their activities should consider many criteria, not only the treatment process in itself. Activities characteristic for a clinical hospital include, apart from the medical, also prophylaxis and preventative measures, preceded by the identification of health risks, soliciting research and creating new directions of medical research, as well as implementing new medical technologies and treatment methods (Article 3, paragraph 2, points 1–2, Journal of Laws of 2020, items 295, 567, 1493, 2112, i.e.) combined with the training of medical personnel. Which all makes those units unique among hospitals.

Purpose: The article aims to confirm the thesis that, despite significant organizational and functional differences, due to the specific nature of their activities, clinical hospitals do not differ significantly in the structure of generated costs.

Research methodology: The article proposes using the taxonomic method as a tool for a comparative analysis of Polish clinical hospitals between the years 2012–2016. The study was conducted from a space-time perspective and concerned 20 hospitals. The use of the hierarchical agglomeration method to assess the cost structure of clinical hospitals is, according to the author, a tool that should be used, in addition to standard methods, by both external and internal decision-makers, in the process of assessing the coherence of the activities of units.

Results: The conducted research confirmed that despite the differences between the analyzed units, they are characterized by the same structure of prime costs.

Novelty: These studies should form the basis for further, a more detailed, cause-and-effect analysis of the cost structure to identify the main determinants shaping total operating costs.
Testing the Validity of the Long Run Neutrality of Money in Nigeria
Authors: Ugwu Ephraim , Ehinomen Christopher , Nwosa Philip , Efuntade Olubunmi 
Published: November 2021

Abstract

Research background: There is no consensus among scholars on the interaction effect between money supply, price, and wages despite various studies conducted to that effect.

Purpose: This study investigates whether the neutrality of money assumption holds in the long run in Nigeria, using annual data from 1970 to 2018.

Research methodology: The study utilized the Johansen cointegration test and the Vector Error Correction (VECM) approach for estimation.

Results: The results from the Phillips curve model contradict the classical school of economics assumption that money is neutral in the long run. This implies that in the Nigerian economy, money is not neutral in the long run. The long run Fishers’ effect model shows that the coefficient of LOG (CPI) exhibits a negative sign and is statistically significant at a 5% significant level, thus contradicting the hypothesis which states that a one percent increase in consumer prices will lead to an increase in the rate of interest by one percent. The coefficient of nominal money supply indicates a negative sign and insignificant statistically on the interest rate. The Short-run estimated results showed that the coefficient of the error correction term ECM (–1) indicates a negative sign and is significant statistically in the Fishers’ effect model. The result shows the actual and equilibrium values are corrected with adjustment speeds equal to 31% yearly.

Novelty: The study recommends that the Central Bank of Nigeria should ensure an effective implementation of monetary targeting measures in fine-tuning the economy and curbing inflationary pressures.
Art - Identity – Ideology
Authors: Crişan Sorin 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
The search for the specificity of the arts implies a reevaluation of the concept of identity and of the relations it draws with the ideology and morality of the time in which the work is represented, on the one hand, and with becoming, and, thus, with the being of creation, on the other hand. Our study takes into account the performing arts (but also the figurative ones), in order to retain those features of convergence or, on the contrary, of divergence, born from the need of the art (any art) to assert itself by difference from the other, and, paradoxically, together with the other.
Embracing The Phantom Or The Imaginary Show
Authors: Badea Gelu 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Hundreds or maybe thousands of ghosts haunt our theatre. When I say ours, I do not want to refer to the Romanian one, but neither to the territory proposed and researched by Monique Borie in her already famous book dedicated to spectres. All my shows, and here we talk about more than seventy performances, now appear like ghosts to me. They were played sometime and constitute, not only for me, but for thousands, or tens of thousands of spectators, memories, true glimpses of moments, sometimes beautiful, sometimes sad, relics that begin to fade into a mnemonic mechanism of decomposition of the sensations once arisen by the scenic action and the image proposed through the presence of the actor. Thus, the spirit places the theatre under the protective wing of the document-memory, remaking, for those who were not in the position of witnesses, the way of late understanding for the one who can only imagine. The Romanian theatre does not have too many moments, perhaps astral, that could elucidate us on a certain artistic approach or against another. Too often the document-memory is activated by chronicles that bear far too many subjective opinions or timid analyzes on the work of a profession that deserves more in this regard. A very important director of the end of the last century, a student of Professor Radu Penciulescu, defined his own phantasma through the imaginary shows he left us. Blessed is he. Aureliu Manea’s writing allows us to imagine more than the chronicles of his shows played on Romanian stages could do. The document-memory of these documents concerns me and holds me in an embrace that I feel violently present.
Towards an Aesthetic of „Straniety” in Postmodern and Contemporary Dance
Authors: Stanciu Alba Simina 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe complicated physiognomy of dance in the XX-th and XXI-th century obviously exeedes the stable marks of „beauty” as an aesthetic category, by extending the limits of imaginary and techniques of artistic productions beyond any restraints. Both form and artistic expressions become suitable for specific interpretations, through the instruments and postmodern categories. The argumentation frequently refer to three moments of avantgardes, swiftly mentioning the reform’s beginings on the european artistic environment as a starting point, and underlying theBlack Montain Collegephenomenon, and its consequences through the 80-ties and after. The fluctuations of artistic objectives are also “organized” having a starting point two texts with an essential theoretical value,No Manifesto(Yvonne Reiner) andYes Manifesto(Mette Ingvarsen) which permit the systematization of the dance creators’s “attitude”, underline the philosophical ideas contained by image, which generate the postmodern „straniety”.
Prince Charming and the problem of morality from a pragmatic point of view. A reflection on the imaginary born of truth
Authors: Gheorghe Mihaela Brebinaru 
Published: November 2021

AbstractFairy tale characters have a special status for children, as they become the bearers of values and emotions with a major impact on the development of the young viewer in whose universe anything is possible. Children often place the action at a subordinate level of their brain and the text loses its value to the character construction, which they remember at the expense of the actions the characters perform. Young audiences’ conclusions about a character can boil down to two simple characterizations: GOOD or BAD, but their subconscious picks up complex information that can affect the core values and influence future decisions or actions. This assessment of the moral character that a fairy tale character has is only valid because the fairy tale is used for an educational purpose and is supposed to contribute to the development of cognitive and affective processes in the formation of fundamental character traits. The aim of the critical approach of this research is to identify the real values of a character through behavioural analysis in order to render it scenically.
The Impact Of SARS Cov-2 Pandemic On Children’s Behaviour In Society And Their Reintegration Through Drama Classes
Authors: Hedeş Bianca 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
The aim of this article is to point out the acute need of artistic classes for children with ages between 5 and 12 years after one year and a half of online activitities imposed by the SARS CoV-2 pandemic. The 2021 school year brought to the parents’ attention the gaps their children have experienced in terms of sociability. The ease they used to have in communicating with the others has almost disappeared along with the joy of interaction. They got so used to the virtual world that they began to see it as routine and to believe that this is the way our lives should be looking like from now on. As a result, the inauguration of this new school year in comparison to other typical school years, except for the pandemic years, has been registered as the year with the highest number of requests for children’s theatre classes. Teachers saw their students regressing and they also observed that it was very difficult for their students to assimilate any kind of new information, a reason why they came up with the idea of participating in such classes. The worst challenge for the students was to start coming back again physically to classes. Their enthusiasm disappeared alongside with their inability to concentrate and their difficulty in paying attention to the teaching process. The masks on their faces represented another disadvantage that they didn’t have to comply with any longer while attending online classes. Anyhow, it was the first year as a freelance theatre teacher in which the demand increased in such a manner that neither I nor my guild colleagues could honor all the requests we received in terms of drama classes for children at this age. The benefits of such classes in the education and in the evolution of its participants have already been demonstrated by many theatre personalities and they are now being amplified with the increased interest coming from the children’s parents who noticed serious disorders in their children’s’ behavior. In the next lines we are going to analyse the outcome results after questioning 60 children with ages between 5 and 12 years old.
The Significance Of Theatre Play In The Pediatric Oncology Ward
Authors: Vicovan Ana 
Published: November 2021

AbstractWhen a child is forced to begin treatment for a lifethreatening condition, both the child and his or her entire family are affected. The shock of diagnosis, the effects and the costs of treatment, can have powerful consequences on a number of levels, both immediate and long-term. Most people see the hospital as an environment that has nothing to do with creativity, imagination, or artistic activities in general. However, research shows increasing evidence that art can help cancer patients by giving them a safe space to express their emotions, relax, detach from worry and regain control. Both child patients and their parents and careers can enjoy the beneficial effects of theatre play. The approach to this social group must take into account the individual characteristics of each patient and be adapted to the emotional state of the people involved. The coordinator of these games will also fulfil to some extent a therapeutic function, and will therefore benefit from knowledge gained within other disciplines, such as psychology, but also other art forms that can be integrated and adapted according to the patient’s interests, in order to offer them a multifaceted and positive experience with therapeutic implications. In my experience working with children and adolescents in the onco-pediatric ward of the Oncology Institute in Bucharest, I have approached theatre games in pairs, puppet theatre, musical and rhythm exercises, with and without instruments. The data gathered from the observations made during these activities will contribute to the elaboration of a useful methodology for the actor coordinator of theatrical games in the hospital and to the drafting of a manual of theatrical games adapted to this unconventional environment.
The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Body Perception of the Actor in Theatre Performance
Authors: Teodorescu Marius-Alexandru 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed our perception of our own bodies and, implicitly, of the bodies of those around us. One’s body becomes a potential source of disease and needs to be protected, permanently isolated from the others and hidden behind different kinds of personal protection equipment. The aim of this study is to review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our interactions with others and to outline the ways in which theatre can fight changes in body perception and social interaction. Another person’s body is perceived as a source of danger which needs to be pushed as far away as possible and must be put under intense scrutiny. In this context, theatre becomes an instrument that contributes to the healing of these ruptures, forcing spectators to have a kind of kinestezic empathy with the actor. Moreover, unlike other public spaces, theatre forces us to engage with those around us and with those on stage. Theatre forces us to watch and connect with the bodies on stage that act independently from our fears, outside of our own corporality. Through this and some other means, theatre can determine its spectators to reconsider and reconstruct their relationships with their own bodies and with the bodies of those around.
Place, space and time: resolving Quaternary records
Authors: Knight J. , Fitchett J.M. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractPrinciples of place, space and time can frame an understanding of the context and interpretation of Quaternary palaeo-records, and this is particularly the case for the varied proxies used for late Quaternary climate and environmental reconstruction in southern Africa. Place refers to the specific topographic setting or context of any one record, which has implications for the operation of physical processes in the landscape that control the accumulation of different records. Space refers to the spatial scale or footprint of any one record or proxy, and this varies from one proxy to another. Time refers to not only the time period covered by individual records, but also the temporal resolution of the record, which depends on accumulation rates and availability and quality of any radiometric dating. These three principles are discussed specifically in the context of the Quaternary of southern Africa and through the papers that form this special issue, but are also relevant globally. Future research directions in Quaternary research in southern Africa are identified, including opportunities for refining regional chronostratigraphies.