Clear Signs (clear + sign)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Kleist's Berliner Abendblätter and the Peninsular War

GERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 3 2001
John Hibberd
Kleist's reports on the Peninisular War in the Berliner Abendblätter began dramatically with news of the battle of Busaco which threw doubt on the truthfulness of the French press and gave hope that the Napoleonic armies were not invincible. Thereafter censorship ensured that his items on Spain and Portugal would not arouse French anger, and they have invariably been dismissed as uninteresting. But in early 1811, when his paper had all but been killed off by the Prussian authorities, he increased his coverage of the war and often anticipated the other Berlin newspapers with news from the Peninsula. Events there were relevant to the political future of Prussia and Germany as well as to the reform of the Prussian military. But Kleist's hope of a clear sign of change in the fortunes of Napoleon proved vain. He indicated that the French were facing problems but could do no more than other Berlin papers to encourage anti-French fervour. Yet he expected his readers to hope for what, in 1810,11, would have seemed a turn of events as extraordinary as any in his fiction of this time. [source]


Trajectories for Greening in China: Theory and Practice

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2006
Peter Ho
This edited volume argues that China's development poses the greatest ever environmental challenge for the modern world in terms of speed, size and scarcity. The volume is organized around the greening of the Chinese state and society: can the inclusion of sustainable development principles into governance, management and daily practices by social actors lead to sustainable development per se? This introduction sketches the different scholarly camps around greening and sustainable development, ranging from sceptical to radical environmentalism. The contributions demonstrate that China is showing clear signs of greening as new institutions and regulations are created, environmental awareness increases and green technologies are implemented. However, the question remains whether this is sufficient to effectuate long-term sustainable development. The key factors here are the sheer speed of China's economic growth, the size of its population, and the relative scarcity of its natural and mineral resources. Chinese development presents compelling reasons for rethinking the viability of greening. It is necessary to move beyond both alarmist visions of an environmental doomsday, and optimistic notions that incremental changes in technology, institutions and lifestyles are sufficient for sustainability. It might be more fruitful , and not only for China , to consider ,precautionary' rather than ,absolute' limits to growth. [source]


When fathers make the difference: efficacy of male sexually selected antimicrobial glands in enhancing fish hatching success

FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Matteo Pizzolon
Summary 1.,Egg and offspring resistance to pathogens is a major determinant of survival and has been mainly ascribed to maternal factors. However, paternal production of antimicrobials was recently suggested to increase offspring survival in species where males perform egg care. 2.,In the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo, a demersal spawning species where males exhibit a pair of anal glands producing lysozyme-like compounds, we tested the antimicrobial activity and the egg protection efficacy of these glands. The anal gland secretion (AGS) has an inhibitory effect on the growth of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including those causing the most severe fish diseases in marine culture. The egg clutches cared for by males deprived of anal glands have a significantly lower survival rate than those cared for by sham-operated males and non-viable eggs showed clear signs of bacterial infection. 3.,Anal gland secretion production and its protein content are proportional to gland size. In species where male parental care plays a crucial role in offspring survival, females are expected to assess mates selecting those traits that are reliably associated with parental ability. Hence, we experimentally challenged females with dummy males differing in anal gland size. Females definitely preferred dummy males with larger anal glands, suggesting that their choice is driven by the pursuit of direct fecundity benefits. 4.,These findings indicate that antimicrobial production is a crucial component of male parental care. The contribution of antimicrobials to male performance as fathers suggests that the development of traits devoted to this function may influence male attractiveness and be sexually selected. [source]


Pyrometamorphism of 19th-century kiln artifacts from Caledonia Springs, Ontario, Canada

GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 8 2005
J. Victor Owen
Marked, 19th-century kiln bricks and rocks from Caledonia Springs (CS) have black glass coatings that can easily be mistaken for glass produced at the elusive CS glassworks (c. 1844,1846). The glass-on-brick material, however, is more aluminous (nearly 20% Al2O3) than virtually any analyzed historical glass, and the glass-on-rock is compositionally similar to the rock itself, which shows clear signs of having undergone extensive melting. Mineral thermometry (Cpx-Ol, Pl-melt) indicates that parts of the kiln-achieved temperatures of approximately 1200,1300°C. The CS samples show that caution must be exercised when identifying seemingly obvious waste glass near defunct glassworks sites. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Genetic structure of Norwegian horse breeds

JOURNAL OF ANIMAL BREEDING AND GENETICS, Issue 5 2000
G. Bjørnstad
The evaluation of the genetic structure of four native Norwegian horse breeds was investigated using 35 genetic markers including nine biochemical loci and 26 microsatellites. The proportion of genetic variation measured as heterozygosity and the number of alleles indicated high variation in Fjord Horse and Coldblooded Trotter, but somewhat reduced variation in Døle Horse. No clear signs of bottleneck effects were found in either of the breeds, but significant inbreeding estimates in Nordland/Lyngen Horse may indicate subdivision of this breed. Significant population differentiation was detected between all breeds, also between the recently diverged Døle Horse and Coldblooded Trotter. The principal component analysis supports the close genetic relationship between these two breeds. Zusammenfassung Die genetische Struktur von vier in Norwegen heimischen Pferderassen wurde mit Hilfe von 35 genetischen Markören bestehend aus neun biochemischen Loci und 26 Mikrosatelliten untersucht. Der Umfang der genetischen Variation, gemessen als Heterozygozität und Anzahl Allelen, deutet eine grosse Variation beim Norwegischen Fjordpferd und Kaltbluttraber an, aber eine geringere beim Dölepferd. In keine der Rassen wurden klare Anzeichen eines Flaschenhalseffektes gefunden, aber hohe Inzuchtschätzwerte des Nordland/Lyngenpferdes lassen eine Unterteilung dieser Rasse vermuten. Zwischen allen Rassen wurde signifikante Populationsunterschiede gefunden, auch zwischen den erst neulich getrennten Dölepferd und Kaltbluttraber. Die enge genetische Beziehung zwischen diesen beiden Rassen wird durch die Hauptkomponentenanalyse unterstützt. [source]


Development of a PCR-based diagnostic test detecting a nt230(del4) MDR1 mutation in dogs: verification in a moxidectin-sensitive Australian Shepherd

JOURNAL OF VETERINARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 1 2005
J. GEYER
A subpopulation of dogs of the Collie and Australian Shepherd breeds show increased sensitivity to central nervous actions of ivermectin, doramectin, loperamide, and probably several other drugs. The molecular background for this greater sensitivity is a nonsense mutation in the MDR1 efflux pump, which is part of the functional blood,brain barrier and normally limits drug penetration into the brain. This report describes a rapid PCR-based method for detection of this nt230(del4) MDR1 mutation using a small amount of genomic DNA from blood cells. Thereby, homozygous intact, homozygous mutated, and heterozygous mutated MDR1 genotypes can be clearly differentiated by high resolution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Using this diagnostic test two Collies and one Australian Shepherd were screened for the nt230(del4) MDR1 mutation. The Collies had no history of altered drug sensitivity and showed homozygous intact and heterozygous mutated MDR1 alleles, respectively. However, the Australian Shepherd developed clear signs of neurotoxicity including ataxia, crawling, acoustic and tactile hyperexcitability, and miosis after a single dose of moxidectin (400 ,g/kg). For this dog two mutated MDR1 alleles were detected. This report describes for the first time moxidectin neurotoxicosis in a dog with a homozygous MDR1 mutation. [source]


Dynamics of petroleum markets in OECD countries in a monthly VAR,VEC model (1995,2007)

OPEC ENERGY REVIEW, Issue 1 2008
Mehdi Asali
This paper contains some results of a study in which the dynamics of petroleum markets in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is investigated through a vector auto regression (VAR),vector error correction model. The time series of the model comprises the monthly data for the variables demand for oil in the OECD, WTI in real term as a benchmark oil price, industrial production in OECD as a proxy for income and commercial stocks of crude oil and oil products in OECD for the time period of January 1995 to September 2007. The detailed results of this empirical research are presented in different sections of the paper; nevertheless, the general result that emerges from this study could be summarised as follows: (i) there is convincing evidence of the series being non-stationary and integrated of order one I(1) with clear signs of co-integration relations between the series; (ii) the VAR system of the empirical study appears stable and restores its dynamics as usual, following a shock to the rate of changes of different variables of the model, taking between five and eight periods (months in our case); (iii) we find the lag length of 2 as being optimal for the estimated VAR model; (iv) significant impact of changes in the commercial crude and products' inventory level on oil price and on demand for oil is highlighted in our empirical study and in different formulations of the VAR model, indicating the importance of the changes in the stocks' level on oil market dynamics; and (v) income elasticity of deman for oil appears to be prominent and statistically significant in most estimated models of the VAR system in the long run, while price elasticity of demand for oil is found to be negligible and insignificant in the short run. However, while aggregate oil consumption does not appear to be very sensitive to the changes of oil prices (which is believed to be because of the so-called ,rebound effect' of oil (energy) efficiency in the macro level) in the macro level, the declining trend of oil intensity (oil used for production of unit value of goods and services), particularly when there is an upward trend in oil price, clearly indicates the channels through which persistent changes in oil prices could affect the demand for oil in OECD countries. [source]