The Cyrilka Cave-the longest crevice-type cave in Czechia: structural controls, genesis, and age

The Cyrilka Cave is the second longest pseudokarst cave and the longest crevice-type cave in Czechia. Developed within the headscarp area of a deep-seated landslide, the cave became a focus of scientific research in recent years when new passages were discovered. Structural analysis provided a general tectonic plan of the cave, as well as more detailed data on geometry and kinematics of the relaxed rock massif. The primary structure of NNE- to ENE-striking bedding is broken by a system of NNE-striking fissures interconnected by two continuous ENE-striking dextral fracture zones. Abundant signs of recent sinistral strike-slips within the rock massif represent a bold structural feature of the cave. Along with DEM imaging and a detailed survey of the cave, 2-D and 3-D ERT measurements completed an image of the main predispositions and revealed the internal structure of the slope deformation. These measures also detected unknown crevices above the existing headscarp, which indicate the retrograde evolution of the landslide. Methodologically, we used the 3-D electrical resistivity tomography in the incoherent sedimentary flysch rocks for the first time. Based on radiocarbon dating of the stalactite core, the minimum age of the cave is up to 19,900 +/- 280 cal BP, which is the oldest age detected in the area of the Outer Flysch Carpathians so far; we thoroughly discuss further indirect evidence indicating a probable Late Pleistocene age of the cave.Web of Science47339237

Broadband Internet and Social Capital

We study how the diffusion of broadband Internet affects social capital using two data sets from the UK. Our empirical strategy exploits the fact that broadband access has long depended on customers' position in the voice telecommunication infrastructure that was designed in the 1930s. The actual speed of an Internet connection, in fact, rapidly decays with the distance of the dwelling from the specific node of the network serving its area. Merging unique information about the topology of the voice network with geocoded longitudinal data about individual social capital, we show that access to broadband Internet caused a significant decline in forms of offline interaction and civic engagement. Overall, our results suggest that broadband penetration substantially crowded out several aspects of social capital.Comment: Internet & Society; Economic

The diffusion of broadband telecommunications: the role of competition

This paper addresses the determinants of diffusion of broadband infrastructure by looking at the U.S. Federal States. It tries to identify in particular to what extent intra- and inter -platform competition contribute to accelerating the speed of diffusion. Panel data analysis results indicate that both types of competition significantly affect the rate of diffusion, although with different effect. Intra-platform competition seems to have a positive impact only initially on the rate of diffusion but then dissipates. For the longer term, inter -platform has a much more important role in driving the rate of diffusion. The study takes account of the impact of other variables measuring competition in the telecommunications sector as well.Broadband; Technological diffusion; Regulation and competition

Platform Competition and Broadband Uptake: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the European Union

Broadband access provides users with high speed, always-on connectivity to the Internet. Due to its superiority, broadband is seen as the way for consumers and firms to exploit the great potentials of new applications. This has generated a policy debate on how to stimulate adoption of broadband technology. One of the most disputed issues is about competition policies: these may be intended to promote competition in the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) segment of the market (intra- platform competition), or to stimulate entry into the market for alternative platforms such as cable access or fiber optics (inter- platform competition). Using a model of oligopoly competition between differentiated products, our paper explicitly studies the effect of inter and intra platform competition on the diffusion of broadband access. The implications of the model are then tested using data from 14 European countries. The econometric evidence confirms the results of the theoretical model and indicates that while inter-platform competition drives broadband adoption, competition in the market for DSL services does not play a significant role. The results also confirm that lower unbundling prices stimulate broadband uptake.Broadband, inter-platform and intra-platform competition, local loop unbundling

Online networks and subjective well-being

We argue that the use of online networks may threaten subjective well-being in several ways, due to the inherent attributes of Internet-mediated interaction and through its effects on social trust and sociability. We test our hypotheses on a representative sample of the Italian population. We find a significantly negative correlation between online networking and well-being. This result is partially confirmed after accounting for endogeneity. We explore the direct and indirect effects of the use of social networking sites (SNS) on well-being in a SEM analysis. We find that online networking plays a positive role in subjective well-being through its impact on physical interactions, whereas SNS use is associated with lower social trust. The overall effect of networking on individual welfare is significantly negative.Comment: 40 page

Regulatory Approaches to NGNs: An International Comparison

The emergence of Next Generation Networks (NGNs) raises profound challenges for regulators everywhere. Different regulatory authorities have approached these problems in strikingly different ways, depending in part on the overall regulatory milieu in which they operate, and in part on the nature of the NGN migration envisioned by major market players. Also, the NGN core network raises significantly different issues from those of the NGN access network. The migration to NGN raises many of the same issues that were already on the table as a result of the broader migration to IP-based services, notably in regard to the de-coupling of the service from the underlying network. To these concerns are added profound questions related to the nature of market power. Will NGNs enable new forms of competition? Will competitive bottlenecks remain, especially in the last mile? Will NGN enable new forms of bottlenecks to emerge, especially in the upper layers of the network, perhaps as a result of new IMS capabilities? Regulators in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Japan and the United States have been forced to deal with these issues due to relatively rapid migration to NGNs proposed by their respective incumbent telecoms operators. Many of the same issues are also visible in the recommendations that the European Commission finalised on 13 November 2007 as part of the ongoing review of the European regulatory framework for electronic communications. In this paper, we compare and contrast the many regulatory proceedings that have been produced by these regulatory authorities.Regulation; Next Generation Networks; access network; core network; all-IP; competition; market power; international comparison

Platform Competition and Broadband Uptake: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the European Union

Broadband access provides users with high speed, always-on connectivity to the Internet. Due to its superiority, broadband is seen as the way for consumers and firms to exploit the great potentials of new applications. This has generated a policy debate on how to stimulate adoption of broadband technology. One of the most disputed issues is about competition policies: these may be intended to promote competition in the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) segment of the market (intra- platform competition), or to stimulate entry into the market for alternative platforms such as cable access or fiber optics (inter- platform competition). Using a model of oligopoly competition between differentiated products, our paper explicitly studies the effect of inter and intra platform competition on the diffusion of broadband access. The implications of the model are then tested using data from 14 European countries. The econometric evidence confirms the results of the theoretical model and indicates that while inter-platform competition drives broadband adoption, competition in the market for DSL services does not play a significant role. The results also confirm that lower unbundling prices stimulate broadband uptake.Broadband, inter-platform and intra-platform competition,local loop unbundling