scholarly journals Impact of the Salinity Gradient on the Mollusc Fauna in Flooded Mine Subsidences (Karvina, Czech Republic)

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamila Kašovská ◽  
Łukasz Pierzchała ◽  
Edyta Sierka ◽  
Barbara Stalmachová

Abstract This paper presents the impact of salinisation on the aquatic mollusc fauna in flooded mine subsidences in the Karvina region (Czech Republic). The results of the previous research on salinity in flooded mine subsidences show that some of them contain a high content of dissolved inorganic substances (above 1000 mg·l-1). These substances can affect the vegetation and animals occurring in the water and the surrounding area. The phylum of Mollusca was selected as a model group for the fieldwork as it includes species with the proven bioindication potential. The occurrence of aquatic mollusc species was studied at 10 sites. The sites were selected based on the content of dissolved substances (the salinity gradient from <500 to >1000 mg·l-1. A total of 12 aquatic mollusc species were found, including one species identified as a potential bioindicator of the negative effect of salinisation on aquatic biota. The analysis showed statistically significant positive correlations between the content of dissolved inorganic substances and the presence of alien species Potamopyrgus antipodarum (J.E. Gray, 1843). The gradient of salinity significantly affects the species composition of the mollusc fauna in flooded mine subsidences and may affect the biodiversity of this group.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6229
Author(s):  
Mikhail Krivko ◽  
Lukáš Moravec ◽  
Gabriela Kukalová ◽  
Luboš Smutka ◽  
Daniela Šálková

Frequent price discounts have become one of the features of retail chains in the Czech Republic. Discounts are most often provided for products popular with customers. One of the products that is subject to frequent discounts is milk. Several expert opinions estimate that up to 50% of milk is sold with frequent price discounts. Price pressure on farmers and food producers owing to frequent price promotions is supported by the purchasing power of retailers and, in extreme cases, leads to sub-cost purchasing prices. These facts set up the framework to assess the impact of frequent price discounts on policymaking, including tax administration. One of the effects of selling goods at discounts is lower VAT collection from shops, and thus lower revenue to the state budget. This paper attempts to estimate one of the potential impacts of frequent price discounts, namely the loss of VAT for the state budget due to low retail prices of milk. Theoretical estimation of the effect of frequent price discounts on VAT can help to assess policy that touches on mark-ups in specific markets, such as food. The estimation is based on data obtained from Czech Statistical Office, FADN, and Orbis databases and employs Monte Carlo simulation to capture the stochastic element of retail markups. Sub-cost prices of producers of milk have a more significant negative effect on VAT revenue than prices of other supply chain participants. The theoretical effect on VAT revenue is estimated to be in the range from a negative effect of 14.9 billion CZK to a positive effect of 7.4 billion CZK. Values of zero VAT effect points (mark-ups of producers, dairies, and retailers) are shown, as well as the critical value of price elasticity of demand (−0.1715), at which the effect of frequent price discounts on VAT revenue is zero.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi E. Rademacher

Promoting the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was a key objective of the transnational women's movement of the 1980s and 1990s. Yet, few studies examine what factors contribute to ratification. The small body of literature on this topic comes from a world-society perspective, which suggests that CEDAW represented a global shift toward women's rights and that ratification increased as international NGOs proliferated. However, this framing fails to consider whether diffusion varies in a stratified world-system. I combine world-society and world-systems approaches, adding to the literature by examining the impact of women's and human rights transnational social movement organizations on CEDAW ratification at varied world-system positions. The findings illustrate the complex strengths and limitations of a global movement, with such organizations having a negative effect on ratification among core nations, a positive effect in the semiperiphery, and no effect among periphery nations. This suggests that the impact of mobilization was neither a universal application of global scripts nor simply representative of the broad domination of core nations, but a complex and diverse result of civil society actors embedded in a politically stratified world.


GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 85-98
Author(s):  
Idoko Peter

This research the impact of competitive quasi market on service delivery in Benue State University, Makurdi Nigeria. Both primary and secondary source of data and information were used for the study and questionnaire was used to extract information from the purposively selected respondents. The population for this study is one hundred and seventy three (173) administrative staff of Benue State University selected at random. The statistical tools employed was the classical ordinary least square (OLS) and the probability value of the estimates was used to tests hypotheses of the study. The result of the study indicates that a positive relationship exist between Competitive quasi marketing in Benue State University, Makurdi Nigeria (CQM) and Transparency in the service delivery (TRSP) and the relationship is statistically significant (p<0.05). Competitive quasi marketing (CQM) has a negative effect on Observe Competence in Benue State University, Makurdi Nigeria (OBCP) and the relationship is not statistically significant (p>0.05). Competitive quasi marketing (CQM) has a positive effect on Innovation in Benue State University, Makurdi Nigeria (INVO) and the relationship is statistically significant (p<0.05) and in line with a priori expectation. This means that a unit increases in Competitive quasi marketing (CQM) will result to a corresponding increase in innovation in Benue State University, Makurdi Nigeria (INVO) by a margin of 22.5%. It was concluded that government monopoly in the provision of certain types of services has greatly affected the quality of service experience in the institution. It was recommended among others that the stakeholders in the market has to be transparent so that the system will be productive to serve the society effectively


2019 ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
Yu. V. Vertakova ◽  
A. S. Evtyukhin

The presented study addresses the issues of implementation of an import substitution policy in the Russian oil industry. Support of domestic production is a key objective specified in the message of the President of the Russian Federation in 2019. In light of the current economic situation and considering the importance of the oil industry for the Russian economy, an import substitution policy could help achieve the objective set by the President.Aim. The study aims to identify the problems and ways of implementation of an import substitution policy in the Russian oil industry.Tasks. The authors analyze scientific publications on import substitution and the state of the Russian oil industry at the current stage of development; determine the directions and fundamental trends in the development of the oil industry; identify obstacles that hinder the implementation of an import substitution policy in the oil industry; describe conditions that facilitate the development of the  investment process in the oil industry; propose comprehensive methods and ways to intensify investments and optimize costs for enterprises in the oil industry.Methods. This study uses general scientific methods of cognition, comparative and statistical analysis to identify problems in the implementation of an import substitution policy in the oil industry.Results. Examination of the current state and development prospects of the oil industry allows the authors to identify obstacles to the development of import substitution. The study shows their impact on the potential of import substitution, which has a negative effect on the prospects of intensification of investment processes, and proposes comprehensive methods and mechanisms that could neutralize the impact of the identified obstacles, thus facilitating the formation of a positive investment climate. Conclusions. Investment climate is shown to have a decisive impact on the potential of import substitution in the Russian oil industry, and ways of overcoming negative trends in the development of the oil industry are proposed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 1607-1618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung Yun Lee ◽  
Sunho Jung ◽  
Sangdo Oh ◽  
Seong Hoon Park

We proposed that a moderator, others' similarity, would determine the impact of high participation rates of others on an individual's charitable behavior, and aimed to show that this moderator would work through the diffusion of responsibility motive. Participants (N = 152 undergraduate students) completed measures of charitable behavior and diffusion of responsibility, after being assigned to 1 of 2 conditions where a set percentage of other students (manipulated as either similar undergraduate students or dissimilar graduate students) were stated to have already donated to a charitable campaign (high contribution condition = 70% participation, low contribution condition = 30% participation). Our results showed that the high participation rate of others increased an individual's charitable behavior when the others in question were similar to that individual, but not when the others were dissimilar. In addition, the high rate of participation by others increased the diffusion of responsibility motive when the others in question were dissimilar to that individual, leading to a negative effect on that individual's charitable behavior.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Edgaras Linkevičius ◽  
Gerda Junevičiūtė

Climate change and warming will potentially have profound effects on forest growth and yield, especially for pure stands in the near future. Thus, increased attention has been paid to mixed stands, e.g., pine and beech mixtures. However, the interaction of tree species growing in mixtures still remains unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the interspecific and intraspecific competition to diameter, height, and crown width of pine and beech trees growing in mixtures, as well as to evaluate the impact of climatic indicators to the beech radial diameter increment. The data was collected in 2017 at the mixed mature pine beech double layer stand, located in the western part of Lithuania. The sample plot of 1.2 hectare was established and tree species, diameter at the breast height, tree height, height-to-crown base, height-to-crown width, and position were measured for all 836 trees. Additionally, a representative sample of radial diameter increments were estimated only for the beech trees by taking out core discs at the height of 1 m when the stand was partially cut. Competition analysis was based on the distance-dependent competition index, which was further based on crown parameters. Climatic effect was evaluated using classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. We found almost no interspecific competition effect to diameter, height, or crown width for both tree species growing in the first layer. However, it had an effect on beeches growing in the second layer. The intraspecific competition effect was important for pine and beech trees, showing a negative effect for both of them. Our results show the possible coexistence of these tree species due to niche differentiation. An analysis of climatic indicators from 1991–2005 revealed that precipitation from February–May of the current vegetation year and mean temperatures from July to September expressed radial diameter increment effects for beech trees. Low temperatures during March and April, as well as high precipitation during January, had a negative effect on beech radial increments. From 2006–2016, the highest effect on radial diameter increments was the mean temperatures from July to September, as well as the precipitation in January of the current year. From 1991–2016, the highest effect on radial diameter increments was the temperature from July to September 1991–2016 and the precipitation in June 1991–2016. Generally, cool temperatures and higher precipitation in June had a positive effect on beech radial increments. Therefore, our results show a sensitivity to high temperatures and droughts during summer amid Lithuanian’s growth conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5549
Author(s):  
Lei Kang ◽  
Zhaoping Yang ◽  
Fang Han

Rapid urbanization promotes the expansion of urban tourism and recreation functions, but it also brings many problems, which affect residents’ happiness. Previous studies have emphasized the direct impact of urban recreation environment on happiness, and few have explored the indirect impact of urban recreation environment on happiness through subjective evaluation. Based on the survey data of nearly 10,000 permanent residents in 40 key tourism cities in China, this paper establishes a theoretical framework of the direct and indirect impact of urban recreation environment on happiness. The objective evaluation of natural recreation environment and sociocultural recreation environment has an important influence on happiness, but the influence of natural recreation environment is greater than that of sociocultural recreation environment. Individual subjective satisfaction with urban recreation environment mediates the relationship between urban objective environment and happiness. Urban parks have a positive effect on happiness, while tourist attractions have a negative effect. The influence of urban location on happiness is nonlinear. The high-income group is more sensitive to the recreation environment, while the low-income group is less sensitive to the recreation environment. These findings provide insights for further improving citizens’ quality of life and designing urban construction in developing countries under the conditions of rapid urbanization.


Author(s):  
Lina Díaz-Castro ◽  
Héctor Cabello-Rangel ◽  
Kurt Hoffman

Background. The doubling time is the best indicator of the course of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the impact of policies and several sociodemographic factors on the COVID-19 doubling time in Mexico. Methods. A retrospective longitudinal study was carried out across March–August, 2020. Policies issued by each of the 32 Mexican states during each week of this period were classified according to the University of Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), and the doubling time of COVID-19 cases was calculated. Additionally, variables such as population size and density, poverty and mobility were included. A panel data model was applied to measure the effect of these variables on doubling time. Results. States with larger population sizes issued a larger number of policies. Delay in the issuance of policies was associated with accelerated propagation. The policy index (coefficient 0.60, p < 0.01) and the income per capita (coefficient 3.36, p < 0.01) had a positive effect on doubling time; by contrast, the population density (coefficient −0.012, p < 0.05), the mobility in parks (coefficient −1.10, p < 0.01) and the residential mobility (coefficient −4.14, p < 0.01) had a negative effect. Conclusions. Health policies had an effect on slowing the pandemic’s propagation, but population density and mobility played a fundamental role. Therefore, it is necessary to implement policies that consider these variables.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 412-428
Author(s):  
Hilla Peretz ◽  
Michael J. Morley

ABSTRACTWe offer a preliminary examination of whether national and organizational level contexts amplify or reduce the effects of de-globalization on the performance of MNCs. Theoretically, we borrow ideas from both event system theory and institutional fit to propose a model explicating key dimensions of the relationship between de-globalization, national and organizational context, and MNC performance. We then test our ideas using data assembled from 283 MNCs in 20 countries. We find that while de-globalization has a negative effect on MNC performance, national and organizational level contextual endowments do moderate this relationship. We discuss some implications of our findings and highlight attendant limitations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7148
Author(s):  
Wenjie Zhang ◽  
Mingyong Hong ◽  
Juan Li ◽  
Fuhong Li

The implementation of green finance is a powerful measure to promote global carbon emissions reduction that has been highly valued by academic circles in recent years. However, the role of green credit in carbon emissions reduction in China is still lacking testing. Using a set of panel data including 30 provinces and cities, this study focused on the impact of green credit on carbon dioxide emissions in China from 2006 to 2016. The empirical results indicated that green credit has a significantly negative effect on carbon dioxide emissions intensity. Furthermore, after the mechanism examination, we found that the promotion impacts of green credit on industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation are two effective channels to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Heterogeneity analysis found that there are regional differences in the effect of green credit. In the western and northeastern regions, the effect of green credit is invalid. Quantile regression results implied that the greater the carbon emissions intensity, the better the effect of green credit. Finally, a further discussion revealed there exists a nonlinear correlation between green credit and carbon dioxide emissions intensity. These findings suggest that the core measures to promote carbon emission reduction in China are to continue to expand the scale of green credit, increase the technology R&D investment of enterprises, and to vigorously develop the tertiary industry.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document