ANALYSING THE ATTRIBUTES OF ECOLOGICAL EVALUATION ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL LEVELS VIA WILLINGNESS TO PAY (WTP)

The need for integrating natural resources into the development and decision-making processes of various sectors on a political level is becoming more and more apparent in the European Union. The number of ecological evaluation projects is on the rise, the areas of usage include anywhere from local, through national, to global levels. This study's results offer answers to: how local, and regional (national) Willingness to Pay (WTP for short), in other words, social interpretation of natural resources differ through Hungary; and how income, or personal connection becomes a defining factor for forming preferences regarding certain values. Local and regional WTP values were compared to the social-related costs of both a local, and a national ecological evaluation project. The analyses showed that different WTP evaluations yielded very different results, and that actual rehabilitation costs can be defined via different characteristics for various projects

Systematics of Inclusive Photon Production in 158 AGeV Pb Induced Reactions on Ni, Nb, and Pb Targets

The multiplicity of inclusive photons has been measured on an event-by-event basis for 158 AGeV Pb induced reactions on Ni, Nb, and Pb targets. The systematics of the pseudorapidity densities at midrapidity (rho_max) and the width of the pseudorapidity distributions have been studied for varying centralities for these collisions. A power law fit to the photon yield as a function of the number of participating nucleons gives a value of 1.13+-0.03 for the exponent. The mean transverse momentum, , of photons determined from the ratio of the measured electromagnetic transverse energy and photon multiplicity, remains almost constant with increasing rho_max. Results are compared with model predictions.Comment: 16 pages including 4 figure

Centrality Dependence of Neutral Pion Production in 158 A GeV Pb + Pb Collisions

The production of neutral pions in 158AGeV Pb+Pb collisions has been studied in the WA98 experiment at the CERN SPS. Transverse momentum spectra are studied for the range 0.3 GeV/c < mT-m0 < 4.0 GeV/c. The results for central collisions are compared to various models. The centrality dependence of the neutral pion spectral shape and yield is investigated. An invariance of the spectral shape and a simple scaling of the yield with the number of participating nucleons is observed for centralities with greater than about 30 participating nucleons which is most naturally explained by assuming an equilibrated system.Comment: 5 pages, Latex, including 3 eps figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.Lett; updated pQCD comparison due to new input from the author, updated references, corrected plotting error in figure

Scaling of Particle and Transverse Energy Production in 208Pb+208Pb collisions at 158 A GeV

Transverse energy, charged particle pseudorapidity distributions and photon transverse momentum spectra have been studied as a function of the number of participants (N_{part}) and the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions (N_{coll}) in 158 A GeV Pb+Pb collisions over a wide impact parameter range. A scaling of the transverse energy pseudorapidity density at midrapidity as N_{part}^{1.08 \pm 0.06} and N_{coll}^{0.83 \pm 0.05} is observed. For the charged particle pseudorapidity density at midrapidity we find a scaling as N_{part}^{1.07 \pm 0.04} and N_{coll}^{0.82 \pm 0.03}. This faster than linear scaling with N_{part} indicates a violation of the naive Wounded Nucleon Model.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figures, submitted to European Physical Journal C (revised results for scaling exponents

Migrant workers' engagement with labour market intermediaries in Europe: symbolic power guiding transnational exchange

This article explores the strategies of migrant workers from post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) within the process of transnational exchange characterized by transnational labour market intermediaries that have substantially altered the former national bilateral employment relations. Utilizing a Bourdieuian conceptual framework it examines Slovenian and Polish workers’ migration strategies and struggles to acquire and convert capitals within the process of transnational exchange and upon arrival in the UK. The article uncovers the (self-)colonial cultural capital embodied in CEE workers’ habitus that drives their strategies to take up various working and training opportunities in the UK in order to acquire (trans)nationally recognized cultural capital. This labour of acquisition drives Polish and Slovenian workers to seek specific cross-cultural and ethnic-niche intermediary services that can manipulate the most reliable symbolic signs in order to make profits from migrant worker-consumers. In this regard the article also exposes inter- and intra-ethnic variations

Freeze-Out Parameters in Central 158AGeV Pb+Pb Collisions

Neutral pion production in central 158AGeV Pb+Pb collisions has been studied in the WA98 experiment at the CERN SPS. The pi0 transverse mass spectrum has been analyzed in terms of a thermal model with hydrodynamic expansion. The high accuracy and large kinematic coverage of the measurement allow to limit previously noted ambiguities in the extracted freeze-out parameters. The results are shown to be sensitive to the shape of the velocity distribution at freeze-out.Comment: 5 pages including 3 figures, small changes due to review process, accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.Let

Direct Photon Production in 158 AGeV Pb+Pb Collisions

A measurement of direct photon production in Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV has been carried out in the CERN WA98 experiment. The invariant yield of direct photons in central collisions is extracted as a function of transverse momentum in the interval 0.5 < pT < 4 GeV/c. A significant direct photon signal, compared to statistical and systematical errors, is seen at pT > 1.5 GeV/c. The results constitute the first observation of direct photons in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions which could be significant for diagnosis of quark gluon plasma formation.Comment: Talk presented at Nucleus-Nucleus 2000, Strasbourg, Franc

Not Quite Right: Representations of Eastern Europeans in ECJ Discourse

Although the increasing responsiveness of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘ECJ’) jurisprudence to western Member States’ concerns regarding Central and Eastern European (‘CEE’) nationals’ mobility has garnered academic attention, ECJ discourse has not been scrutinised for how it approaches the CEE region or CEE movers. Applying postcolonial theory, this article seeks to fill this gap and to explore whether there are any indications that ECJ discourse is in line with the historical western-centric inferiorisation of the CEE region. A critical discourse analysis of a set of ECJ judgments and corresponding Advocate General opinions pertaining to CEE nationals illustrates not only how the ECJ adopts numerous discursive strategies to maintain its authority, but also how it tends to prioritise values of the western Member States, while overlooking interests of CEE movers. Its one-sided approach is further reinforced by referring to irrelevant facts and negative assumptions to create an image of CEE nationals as socially and economically inferior to westerners, as not belonging to the proper EU polity and as not quite deserving of EU law’s protections. By silencing CEE nationals’ voices, while disregarding the background of east/west socio-economic and political power differentials and precariousness experienced by many CEE workers in the west, such racialising discourse normalises ethnicity- and class-based stereotypes. These findings also help to contextualise both EU and western policies targeting CEE movers and evidence of their unequal outcomes in the west, and are in line with today’s nuanced expressions of racisms. By illustrating the ECJ’s role in addressing values pertinent to mobile CEE individuals, this study facilitates a fuller appreciation of the ECJ’s power in shaping and reflecting western-centric EU identity and policies. Engaging with such issues will not only allow us to better appreciate—and question—the ECJ’s legitimacy, but might also facilitate a better understanding of power dynamics within the EU. This study also makes significant theoretical and methodological contributions. It expands (and complicates) the application of postcolonial theory to contemporary intra-EU processes, while illustrating the usefulness of applying critical discourse analysis to exploring differentiation, exclusion, subordination and power within legal language

Risk factors and outcomes for bloodstream infections with extended-spectrum β -lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Findings of the nosocomial surveillance system in Hungary

Risk factors for and outcomes of bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by ESBL-producing and by ESBL-non-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae were compared in a four-year multicenter study in Hungary. One hundred ESBL-positive and one hundred ESBL-negative patients were included as cases and controls. Investigated risk factors were related to demographics, comorbid conditions, treatments, invasive procedures, surgery prior bacteremia, presence of additional nosocomial infections and preceding hospital admission within a year. Measured outcomes were crude mortality, mortality related to infection and delay in introducing appropriate therapy (DAT). Though some risk factors for infection (admission to intensive care units, having central venous and/or urinary catheter, mechanical ventilation) were shared by both groups, in other respects cases and controls were found to differ substantially. The 36 percent of patients with BSIs with ESBL-producing Klebsiella died versus 23 percent of controls (odds ratio [OR]: 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0–5.4; p = 0.02). The 18 percent of deaths in cases versus 9% in controls could be attributed to infection (OR: 5.0; 95% CI: 1.5–16.2; p = 0.006). Cases more often received previous antibiotic therapy than controls (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.1–6.7; p = 0.02) and delay in the introduction of appropriate antibiotic treatment was observed in 44% of cases versus 19% of controls (OR: 3.4; 95% CI: 1.6–7.3; p = 0.001). The results demonstrate that BSIs caused by ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae are related to previous antibiotic therapy and are associated with a high rate of mortality that is often linked to delay in the introduction of appropriate antibiotic therapy. This confirms that besides infection control measures the early identification and antibiotic resistance profiling of the infecting pathogen is salient in the control of BSIs caused by ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae