Global System (global + system)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Humanities and Social Sciences


Selected Abstracts


New centralized automatic vehicle location communications software system under GIS environment

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 9 2005
Omar Al-Bayari
Abstract Recent advances in wireless communications and networks have integrated relatively new technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS), to the popular Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), second generation cellular systems and the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies. Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) is based on a combination of GPS, GIS and telecommunication technologies. Automatic Vehicle Tracking systems are more and more used for different purposes, especially those related to tracking one vehicle or a fleet of vehicles. In this work, we introduce a new AVL system, which is based and developed under GIS software environment. The centralized software at the control station offers a new technology of transferring the intelligence of tracking system from the car unit, into the control office PC software. Centralized software will reduce the programming efforts in the car unit and will offer better fleet management. Moreover, the core of our system is based on the objects or the controllers of the GIS software, which reduces dramatically the overall system cost. Our system provides an easy access to change the functions of the system, with great possibility to satisfy the local needs. The design of our software will be presented with an explanation of the new supporting technologies that were to create the system. Finally, our software system has been validated using data from local road networks. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Food Regulation and Trade,Toward a Safe and Open Global System

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2005
Clare Narrod
[source]


Do mobile phone base stations affect sleep of residents?

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2010
Results from an experimental double-blind sham-controlled field study
Objectives: The aim of the present double-blind, sham-controlled, balanced randomized cross-over study was to disentangle effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and non-EMF effects of mobile phone base stations on objective and subjective sleep quality. Methods: In total 397 residents aged 18,81 years (50.9% female) from 10 German sites, where no mobile phone service was available, were exposed to sham and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz) base station signals by an experimental base station while their sleep was monitored at their homes during 12 nights. Participants were randomly exposed to real (GSM) or sham exposure for five nights each. Individual measurement of EMF exposure, questionnaires on sleep disorders, overall sleep quality, attitude towards mobile communication, and on subjective sleep quality (morning and evening protocols) as well as objective sleep data (frontal EEG and EOG recordings) were gathered. Results: Analysis of the subjective and objective sleep data did not reveal any significant differences between the real and sham condition. During sham exposure nights, objective and subjective sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, and subjective sleep latency were significantly worse in participants with concerns about possible health risks resulting from base stations than in participants who were not concerned. Conclusions: The study did not provide any evidence for short-term physiological effects of EMF emitted by mobile phone base stations on objective and subjective sleep quality. However, the results indicate that mobile phone base stations as such (not the electromagnetic fields) may have a significant negative impact on sleep quality. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 22:613,618, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Favored Flowers: Culture and Economy in a Global System by Catherine Ziegler

THE LATIN AMERICANIST, Issue 2 2008
Yves Laberge
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


Quality of service in UMTS wireless networks

BELL LABS TECHNICAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2002
Suresh Kumar
This paper presents the realization of quality of service (QoS) in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network. The paper introduces an overview of the UMTS network structure that is an evolution of the Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service (GSM/GPRS) along with the motivation for providing QoS, as well as the QoS model in UMTS. Additionally, relevant considerations in delivering successful end-to-end QoS across a UMTS network are discussed. We also discuss trends toward QoS along with core concepts of QoS. The paper concludes with an outline of ongoing exploration of potential areas for future work. © 2002 Lucent Technologies Inc. [source]


No effects of mobile phone use on cortical auditory change-detection in children: An ERP study

BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, Issue 3 2010
Myoung Soo Kwon
Abstract We investigated the effect of mobile phone use on the auditory sensory memory in children. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs), P1, N2, mismatch negativity (MMN), and P3a, were recorded from 17 children, aged 11,12 years, in the recently developed multi-feature paradigm. This paradigm allows one to determine the neural change-detection profile consisting of several different types of acoustic changes. During the recording, an ordinary GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile phone emitting 902,MHz (pulsed at 217,Hz) electromagnetic field (EMF) was placed on the ear, over the left or right temporal area (SAR1g,=,1.14,W/kg, SAR10g,=,0.82,W/kg, peak value,=,1.21,W/kg). The EMF was either on or off in a single-blind manner. We found that a short exposure (two 6,min blocks for each side) to mobile phone EMF has no statistically significant effects on the neural change-detection profile measured with the MMN. Furthermore, the multi-feature paradigm was shown to be well suited for studies of perception accuracy and sensory memory in children. However, it should be noted that the present study only had sufficient statistical power to detect a large effect size. Bioelectromagnetics 31:191,199, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


GSM base stations: Short-term effects on well-being,

BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, Issue 1 2009
Christoph Augner
Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of short-term GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) cellular phone base station RF-EMF (radiofrequency electromagnetic fields) exposure on psychological symptoms (good mood, alertness, calmness) as measured by a standardized well-being questionnaire. Fifty-seven participants were selected and randomly assigned to one of three different exposure scenarios. Each of those scenarios subjected participants to five 50-min exposure sessions, with only the first four relevant for the study of psychological symptoms. Three exposure levels were created by shielding devices in a field laboratory, which could be installed or removed during the breaks between sessions such that double-blinded conditions prevailed. The overall median power flux densities were 5.2 µW/m2 during "low," 153.6 µW/m2 during "medium," and 2126.8 µW/m2 during "high" exposure sessions. For scenario HM and MH, the first and third sessions were "low" exposure. The second session was "high" and the fourth was "medium" in scenario HM; and vice versa for scenario MH. Scenario LL had four successive "low" exposure sessions constituting the reference condition. Participants in scenarios HM and MH (high and medium exposure) were significantly calmer during those sessions than participants in scenario LL (low exposure throughout) (P,=,0.042). However, no significant differences between exposure scenarios in the "good mood" or "alertness" factors were obtained. We conclude that short-term exposure to GSM base station signals may have an impact on well-being by reducing psychological arousal. Bioelectromagnetics 30:73,80, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Carcinogenicity study of GSM and DCS wireless communication signals in B6C3F1 mice

BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, Issue 3 2007
Thomas Tillmann
Abstract The purpose of this study using a total of 1170 B6C3F1 mice was to detect and evaluate possible carcinogenic effects in mice exposed to radio-frequency-radiation (RFR) from Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) and Digital Personal Communications System (DCS) handsets as emitted by handsets operating in the center of the communication band, that is, at 902 MHz (GSM) and 1747 MHz (DCS). Restrained mice were exposed for 2 h per day, 5 days per week over a period of 2 years to three different whole-body averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) levels of 0.4, 1.3, 4.0 mW/g bw (SAR), or were sham exposed. Regarding the organ-related tumor incidence, pairwise Fisher's test did not show any significant increase in the incidence of any particular tumor type in the RF exposed groups as compared to the sham exposed group. Interestingly, while the incidences of hepatocellular carcinomas were similar in EMF and sham exposed groups, in both studies the incidences of liver adenomas in males decreased with increasing dose levels; the incidences in the high dose groups were statistically significantly different from those in the sham exposed groups. Comparison to published tumor rates in untreated mice revealed that the observed tumor rates were within the range of historical control data. In conclusion, the present study produced no evidence that the exposure of male and female B6C3F1 mice to wireless GSM and DCS radio frequency signals at a whole body absorption rate of up to 4.0 W/kg resulted in any adverse health effect or had any cumulative influence on the incidence or severity of neoplastic and non-neoplastic background lesions, and thus the study did not provide any evidence of RF possessing a carcinogenic potential. Bioelectromagnetics 28:173,187, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Organizing Our Thoughts: "Global Systems" and the Challenge of Writing a More Complex History

THE JOURNAL OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2010
David Hancock
First page of article [source]


A Nationwide Assessment of the Biodiversity Value of Uganda's Important Bird Areas Network

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2006
HERBERT TUSHABE
AIAs; complementariedad; congruencia trans-taxón; selección de sitios de conservación Abstract:,BirdLife International's Important Bird Areas (IBA) program is the most developed global system for identifying sites of conservation priority. There have been few assessments, however, of the conservation value of IBAs for nonavian taxa. We combined past data with extensive new survey results for Uganda's IBAs in the most comprehensive assessment to date of the wider biodiversity value of a tropical country's IBA network. The combined data set included more than 35,000 site × species records for birds, butterflies, and woody plants at 86 Ugandan sites (23,400 km2), including 29 of the country's 30 IBAs, with data on additional taxa for many sites. Uganda's IBAs contained at least 70% of the country's butterfly and woody plant species, 86% of its dragonflies and 97% of its birds. They also included 21 of Uganda's 22 major vegetation types. For butterflies, dragonflies, and some families of plants assessed, species of high conservation concern were well represented (less so for the latter). The IBAs successfully represented wider biodiversity largely because many have distinctive avifaunas and, as shown by high cross-taxon congruence in complementarity, such sites tended to be distinctive for other groups too. Cross-taxon congruence in overall species richness was weaker and mainly associated with differences in site size. When compared with alternative sets of sites selected using complementarity-based, area-based, or random site-selection algorithms, the IBA network was efficient in terms of the number of sites required to represent species but inefficient in terms of total area. This was mainly because IBA selection considers factors other than area, however, which probably improves both the cost-effectiveness of the network and the persistence of represented species. Resumen:,El programa de Áreas de Importancia para las Aves (AIAs) de Birdlife International es el sistema global más desarrollado para la identificación de sitios de prioridad para la conservación. Sin embargo, ha habido pocas evaluaciones del valor de conservación de las AIAs para taxa no aviares. En la evaluación más integral, hasta la fecha, del valor de la biodiversidad en general de la red de AIAs de un país tropical, combinamos datos antiguos con los resultados de muestreos extensivos recientes de las AIAs de Uganda. El conjunto de datos combinados incluyó más de 35000 registros de sitios x especies de aves, mariposas y plantas leñosas en 86 sitios en Uganda (23400 km2), incluyendo 29 de las 30 AIAs del país, con datos sobre taxa adicionales en muchos sitios. Las AIAs de Uganda contenían por lo menos un 70% de las especies de mariposas y plantas leñosas del país, 86% de sus libélulas y 97% de sus aves. También incluyeron 21 de los 22 principales tipos de vegetación. En las mariposas, libélulas y algunas de las familias de plantas evaluadas, la representación de especies de alto interés para la conservación fue buena (menor en las plantas). Las Áreas de Importancia para las Aves representaron exitosamente a la biodiversidad en general principalmente porque muchas tienen avifaunas distintivas y, como muestra la alta congruencia trans-taxón en complementariedad, tales sitios tendieron a ser distintivos para otros grupos también. La congruencia trans-taxón en la riqueza de especies total fue más débil y se asoció principalmente con diferencias en el tamaño del sitio. Cuando se compara con conjuntos alternativos de sitios seleccionados mediante algoritmos basados en complementariedad, área o selección aleatoria de sitios, la red de AIAs fue eficiente en términos del número de sitios requeridos para representar especies, pero ineficiente en términos del área total. Sin embargo, esto se debió principalmente a que la selección de AIA considera factores distintos al área que probablemente mejoran tanto la efectividad de la red como la persistencia de las especies representadas. [source]


Reflections on Latin American Rural Studies in the Neoliberal Globalization Period: A New Rurality?

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 6 2008
Cristóbal Kay
ABSTRACT This article explores the emergence over the last decade of a new approach to rural development studies in Latin America known as the ,new rurality'. The various interpretations and ambiguities of this approach as well as the ensuing debates are discussed. Analysis focuses on four major transformations in the rural economy and society which are usually highlighted by the ,new ruralists'. These changes are interpreted as arising from the region's neoliberal shift and its closer insertion into the global system. A novel distinction is made between reformist and communitarian proposals for a new rurality. The merits as well as the limitations of this new approach to rural studies are examined. [source]


Biodiversity and ecosystem function in soil

FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
A. H. FITTER
Summary 1Soils are one of the last great frontiers for biodiversity research and are home to an extraordinary range of microbial and animal groups. Biological activities in soils drive many of the key ecosystem processes that govern the global system, especially in the cycling of elements such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. 2We cannot currently make firm statements about the scale of biodiversity in soils, or about the roles played by soil organisms in the transformations of organic materials that underlie those cycles. The recent UK Soil Biodiversity Programme (SBP) has brought a unique concentration of researchers to bear on a single soil in Scotland, and has generated a large amount of data concerning biodiversity, carbon flux and resilience in the soil ecosystem. 3One of the key discoveries of the SBP was the extreme diversity of small organisms: researchers in the programme identified over 100 species of bacteria, 350 protozoa, 140 nematodes and 24 distinct types of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Statistical analysis of these results suggests a much greater ,hidden diversity'. In contrast, there was no unusual richness in other organisms, such as higher fungi, mites, collembola and annelids. 4Stable-isotope (13C) technology was used to measure carbon fluxes and map the path of carbon through the food web. A novel finding was the rapidity with which carbon moves through the soil biota, revealing an extraordinarily dynamic soil ecosystem. 5The combination of taxonomic diversity and rapid carbon flux makes the soil ecosystem highly resistant to perturbation through either changing soil structure or removing selected groups of organisms. [source]


A dual mortar approach for 3D finite deformation contact with consistent linearization

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 11 2010
Alexander Popp
Abstract In this paper, an approach for three-dimensional frictionless contact based on a dual mortar formulation and using a primal,dual active set strategy for direct constraint enforcement is presented. We focus on linear shape functions, but briefly address higher order interpolation as well. The study builds on previous work by the authors for two-dimensional problems. First and foremost, the ideas of a consistently linearized dual mortar scheme and of an interpretation of the active set search as a semi-smooth Newton method are extended to the 3D case. This allows for solving all types of nonlinearities (i.e. geometrical, material and contact) within one single Newton scheme. Owing to the dual Lagrange multiplier approach employed, this advantage is not accompanied by an undesirable increase in system size as the Lagrange multipliers can be condensed from the global system of equations. Moreover, it is pointed out that the presented method does not make use of any regularization of contact constraints. Numerical examples illustrate the efficiency of our method and the high quality of results in 3D finite deformation contact analysis. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Two-Level Security Management and the Prospects for New Democracies: A Simulation Analysis

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2000
Marc V. Simon
Most new democracies face serious internal, ethnic/separatist conflicts; in addition, some face international threats. The literature on the growth of democracy in the global system and its impact on world politics does not fully account for the dual threats all states must address in managing their security. Based on theoretical work by Starr (1994) which describes the "common logic" of conflict processes in war and revolution, we outline a model of how states respond to security threats from both external and internal sources. Using computer simulation, we analyze the model and evaluate the relative importance for state security of factors such as system size, numbers of democracies in the system, extraction/allocation strategy pursued by new democracies, and government legitimacy level. Our results show that new democracies thrive in systems that are predominantly democratic. Also, ally support can provide crucial resources for new democracies facing internal threats. Finally, "endangered" democracies can recover security by attempting to buy off domestic threats rather than deter them, and by improving legitimacy. [source]


The New Sovereignty in International Relations,

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 3 2003
David A. Lake
The academic study of sovereignty is undergoing a mini-renaissance. Stimulated by criticisms of classical conceptions of sovereignty in systemic theories of politics, scholars returned to sovereignty as a topic of inquiry in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their studies are finally bearing fruit. This essay focuses on the new conceptions of sovereignty that are emerging and (1) discusses the fundamental nature of sovereignty, (2) reviews the classical perspective on sovereignty, (3) surveys new constructivist alternatives to this classical view, (4) examines important new work on the problematic nature of sovereignty, (5) identifies continua of hierarchic relationships that make sense of the various forms of mixed or restricted sovereignty that we observe in world politics, and (6) argues why it is important to study alternative, hierarchic relationships in international relations. The principal themes throughout are that sovereignty is far more problematic than recognized in the classical model, that important elements of hierarchy exist in the global system, and that both our theories and practice of international politics would be improved by explicitly incorporating variations in hierarchy. [source]


Rural Poverty and Development Strategies in Latin America

JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 4 2006
CRISTÓBAL KAY
Several approaches to the study of poverty are discussed, to learn from their strengths as well as their weaknesses. For this purpose the concepts of marginality, social exclusion, new rurality and rural livelihoods, as well as the ethnic and gender dimensions of poverty, are examined. The debate on the peasantization (capitalization) or proletarianization (pauperization) of the peasantry sets the scene for the analysis of the different strategies adopted by peasants and rural labourers to secure their survival and perhaps achieve some prosperity. In examining the success or failure of interventions by governments, civil society and international organizations in the reduction of poverty, it is claimed that the State has a key role to perform. Furthermore, it is argued that poverty is caused and reproduced by the unequal distribution of resources and power at the household, local, national and international levels. Therefore, the starting point for the eradication of poverty has to be the implementation of a development strategy that addresses such inequalities while at the same time achieving competitiveness within the global system. [source]


Innovation and operation with robotized underwater systems

JOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 6 2007
Vincent Rigaud
This paper reports on the status and design of the operational remotely operated vehicle "Victor 6000", rated for 6000 m depth and of the 3000 m depth autonomous underwater vehicle "Asterxx" operated by Ifremer the French Institute for Sea Exploitation. Victor 6000 is part of a global system built of subsystems, "scientific modules," winch and cable, dead weight and umbilical, positioning subsystem using acoustic ultra short base line (USBL) techniques, and software for data and dive management. In 2005 the system was equipped with a second toolsled dedicated to high resolution mapping of the sea bed, with both acoustical and optical devices. Asterxx, the first autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) developed by IFREMER, is 4.5 m in length with a diameter of 0.69 m. Depending on the payload, its weight is between 600 and 800 kg in air,with a diving depth of 3000 m. Its cruising speed is between 0.5 and 2.5 ms. The AUV is capable of carrying various payloads for a wide spectrum of applications. The vehicle can cruise up to 100 km. For coastal applications this vehicle is operable by a limited crew potentially from a nonspecialized vessel. Both vehicles are used for oceanography as well as to continually evolve underwater systems to address new scientific challenges. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


A compact multiband antenna based on CRLH-TL ZOR for wireless mobile system

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 12 2009
Jeong Keun Ji
Abstract A compact multiband antenna using a composite right/left-handed transmission line (CRLH-TL) zeroth-order resonator (ZOR) for global system for mobile communications (GSM900/1800/1900, 880-960/1710-1880/1850-1990 MHz), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA, 1920,2170 MHz), and wireless broadband (WiBro, 2.3,2.4 GHz) operations is presented. The proposed antenna having a total volume of 35 mm × 5 mm × 3 mm comprises a lower band ZOR antenna part and an upper band ZOR antenna part. The zeroth-order resonant properties are described and analyzed using dispersion diagrams based on the CRLH-TL ZOR theory and the full-wave simulation. The radiation patterns are the same as the omnidirectional characteristics and the maximum gains are 1.64, 2.47, and 3.32 dBi at 0.92, 1.88, and 2.2 GHz, respectively. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 2852,2855, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24799 [source]


The Global System of Finance

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY, Issue 1 2006
Niklas Luhmann for Theoretical Keystones, Scanning Talcott Parsons
In the last decades, revolutionary changes in financial markets, instruments, and institutions have stimulated empirical and theoretical investigations into the interaction of the financial and the "real" side of economic systems. While a considerable body of empirical investigations seems to provide evidence of positive correlations between stock market development and economic growth, there is no consensus in other social sciences as to whether there are two-way linkages, and if so, how to conceive a possible mechanism of interaction. Particularly, the hypergrowth and ubiquity of financial markets has triggered controversial debates on how to understand today's economic landscape. With the objective of clarifying the relationship between finance and economy, this article restructures the present debate through the lenses of Talcott Parsons's and Niklas Luhmann's theories of social systems. Basic system-theoretical ideas on social aspects of finance and economy as well as on uncertainty and risk hint at new insights into the global system of finance that might go far beyond explanatory models of causality. [source]


Root Causes of Peacelessness and Approaches to Peace in Africa

PEACE & CHANGE, Issue 2 2000
Yash Tandon
Conflicts are endemic in society, but what is their specific nature in Africa, and why do they deteriorate into such intense violence as negates humanity itself? This article looks at the "mainstream" theorythat attempts to explain this, taking as example the UN secretary-general's recent report on the subject. The report is both partial and ideological; it seeks to hide the systemic causes of poverty and conflict in Africa. The role of the peace activist is to understand conflict in Africa from a holistic and systemic perspective. He or she must work at various levels to alleviateconflict and prevent its degeneration into violence, based on the dual strategy of partially de-linking Africa from the global system and developing tolerance towards interethnic and political differences. This approach requires a new kind of moral and political culture, and new structures of political decision-making and accountability that are locally accountable and diversified. [source]


The importance of news media in pharmaceutical risk communication: proceedings of a workshop,,§

PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 5 2005
Felicia E. Mebane PhD
Abstract In response to mass media's role in the national and global system of pharmaceutical risk communication, the Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) convened a ,think tank' session on the ,Importance of Media in Pharmaceutical Risk Communication'. Prominent journalists and experts from the pharmaceutical industry, academia, medical practice and government were invited to consider the benefits and challenges of improving the way we communicate the benefits and risks of therapeutics via mass media, especially news media. Workshop discussions revealed a paucity of systematic research directed towards understanding how and why news media report on therapeutic risk, the impact of this coverage and how coverage can be improved. Consequently, participants produced a research agenda capturing the key aspects of the flow of information around this topic, including the meaning of risk, how news audiences process and use therapeutic risk information in the news, how and why news organizations report on therapeutic risk, and the role and impact of the pharmaceutical industry, government officials and academic researchers as sources of therapeutic risk information. The workshop ended with a discussion on action items addressing what news professionals, representatives of regulatory agencies and the medical products industry, and academic researchers can and should do to enable news media to effectively report therapeutic risk information. In sum, this proceedings report provides an outline for developing mass media risk communication research, influencing the practices of journalists and expert sources and ultimately, improving the quality of the public's life. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Front and Back Covers, Volume 24, Number 5.

ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 5 2008
June 200
Front & Back cover caption, volume 24 issue 5 Iron Mike (see back cover) represents a generic soldier at Fort Bragg, one of the world's largest military bases, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Here he appears to patrol streets under martial law, empty and grey. The Pawn Shop Target Practice (see front cover) is also in Fayetteville. At the back of the shop you can buy guns, bullets, jewellery and more, and also take aim at various targets , images of a woman in a bikini, an anonymous silhouette, a deer. Violence is found in Fayetteville as a symbol of protection, as entertainment, and certainly as a commodity. The absence of living people in these photographs underscores a clinical attitude cultivated in the military towards the largely dehumanized adversary other , a long way from the kind of engagement anthropologists seek through participant-observation. It may well be that the military would benefit from being ,anthropologized'. However, given Keenan's and Besteman's experiences in Africa, as described in this issue, what is the guarantee that the African peoples will actually benefit from militarization at this time of US military expansion? MILITARIZING THE DISCIPLINE? US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates approvingly cites Montgomery McFate: ,I'm frequently accused of militarizing anthropology. But we're really anthropologizing the military'.* This issue of ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY draws attention to the launch of two initiatives in October this year, both of which will have an impact on the peoples we work with and on anthropology as a discipline. The first is the launch of Minerva, a new Pentagon initiative to recruit social scientists for research, for which proposals are due this month. As Catherine Lutz argues in her editorial, this programme may soon outspend civilian funds within our discipline, and will thus undoubtedly influence our research agenda and restrict the public sphere in which we work. If the Pentagon wants high-quality research, why not commission this from reputable and experienced civilian research agencies, who should be able to manage peer review at arm's length from the Pentagon? The second initiative is AFRICOM, the newly unified regional US command for Africa. Although presented benignly as supporting development in Africa, it was originally cast in the security discourse of the global ,war on terror', with the aim of securing North America's oil supplies in Africa. In this issue, Africanist anthropologists Jeremy Keenan and Catherine Besteman criticize AFRICOM's destabilizing and militarizing effect on the regions in which they work, which collapses development into military security. Once deployed to the ends of military securitization, can anthropology remain non-partisan? Alf Hornborg, in his editorial, asks if we can continue to rely on the cornucopia of cheap energy, arguing that military intervention to securitize oil supplies, and academic discourse that mystifies the logic of the global system, benefit only a small minority of the world's population. In the light of developments such as Minerva and AFRICOM, can anthropology continue to offer an independent reflexive ,cultural critique' of the socio-political system from which our discipline has sprung? *Montgomery McFate, quoted by Robert M. Gates (,Nonmilitary work essential for long-term peace, Secretary of Defense says'. Manhattan, Kansas State University, Landon Lecture, 26.11.2007), as cited in Rohde, David, ,Army enlists anthropology in war zones' (New York Times, 05.10.2007). [source]


Policy on global warming: fiddling while the globe burns?

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 4 2009
Del Weston
Abstract Objective: To assess the extent that the health consequences of global warming and the responses to it take due account of its impact on poverty and inequality. Method: Reviewing the relevant literature on global warming, proposed solutions and the impact. Results: To date, too little attention has been paid to the health consequences arising from the increased poverty and inequality that global warming will bring. When these are combined with issues arising from the economic melt-down, food shortages, peak oil, etc. we are heading for a global public health crisis of immeasurable magnitude. Conclusion: Solutions lie in rethinking the global economic system that we have relied upon over the past several decades and the global institutions that have led and fed off that global system , the IMF, the World Bank and so on. Implications: Public health practitioners need to look and act globally more often. They need to better recognise the links between global warming and the global financial crisis. How the latter is dealt with will determine whether the former can be resolved. It is in this global political economy arena that future action in public health lies. [source]


915 MHz microwaves and 50 Hz magnetic field affect chromatin conformation and 53BP1 foci in human lymphocytes from hypersensitive and healthy persons

BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, Issue 3 2005
Igor Y. Belyaev
Abstract We used exposure to microwaves from a global system for mobile communication (GSM) mobile phone (915 MHz, specific absorption rate (SAR) 37 mW/kg) and power frequency magnetic field (50 Hz, 15 ,T peak value) to investigate the response of lymphocytes from healthy subjects and from persons reporting hypersensitivity to electromagnetic field (EMF). The hypersensitive and healthy donors were matched by gender and age and the data were analyzed blind to treatment condition. The changes in chromatin conformation were measured with the method of anomalous viscosity time dependencies (AVTD). 53BP1 protein, which has been shown to colocalize in foci with DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), was analyzed by immunostaining in situ. Exposure at room temperature to either 915 MHz or 50 Hz resulted in significant condensation of chromatin, shown as AVTD changes, which was similar to the effect of heat shock at 41 °C. No significant differences in responses between normal and hypersensitive subjects were detected. Neither 915 MHz nor 50 Hz exposure induced 53BP1 foci. On the contrary, a distinct decrease in background level of 53BP1 signaling was observed upon these exposures as well as after heat shock treatments. This decrease correlated with the AVTD data and may indicate decrease in accessibility of 53BP1 to antibodies because of stress-induced chromatin condensation. Apoptosis was determined by morphological changes and by apoptotic fragmentation of DNA as analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). No apoptosis was induced by exposure to 50 Hz and 915 MHz microwaves. In conclusion, 50 Hz magnetic field and 915 MHz microwaves under specified conditions of exposure induced comparable responses in lymphocytes from healthy and hypersensitive donors that were similar but not identical to stress response induced by heat shock. Bioelectromagnetics 26:173,184, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Genotoxicity of radiofrequency signals.

BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, Issue 2 2002

Abstract As part of a comprehensive investigation of the potential genotoxicity of radiofrequency (RF) signals emitted by cellular telephones, in vitro studies evaluated the induction of DNA and chromosomal damage in human blood leukocytes and lymphocytes, respectively. The signals were voice modulated 837 MHz produced by an analog signal generator or by a time division multiple access (TDMA) cellular telephone, 837 MHz generated by a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular telephone (not voice modulated), and voice modulated 1909.8 MHz generated by a global system of mobile communication (GSM)-type personal communication systems (PCS) cellular telephone. DNA damage (strand breaks/alkali labile sites) was assessed in leukocytes using the alkaline (pH>13) single cell gel electrophoresis (SCG) assay. Chromosomal damage was evaluated in lymphocytes mitogenically stimulated to divide postexposure using the cytochalasin B-binucleate cell micronucleus assay. Cells were exposed at 37±1°C, for 3 or 24 h at average specific absorption rates (SARs) of 1.0,10.0 W/kg. Exposure for either 3 or 24 h did not induce a significant increase in DNA damage in leukocytes, nor did exposure for 3 h induce a significant increase in micronucleated cells among lymphocytes. However, exposure to each of the four RF signal technologies for 24 h at an average SAR of 5.0 or 10.0 W/kg resulted in a significant and reproducible increase in the frequency of micronucleated lymphocytes. The magnitude of the response (approximately four fold) was independent of the technology, the presence or absence of voice modulation, and the frequency (837 vs. 1909.8 MHz). This research demonstrates that, under extended exposure conditions, RF signals at an average SAR of at least 5.0 W/kg are capable of inducing chromosomal damage in human lymphocytes. Bioelectromagnetics 23:113,126, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Global Crisis and Latin America

BULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 2 2004
William I. Robinson
This essay examines Latin America's experience in the crisis and restructuring of world capitalism from the 1970s into the twenty-first century, with particular emphasis on the neo-liberal model, social conflicts and institutional quagmires that have engulfed the region, and the rise of a new resistance politics. The empirical and analytical sections look at: Latin America's changing profile in the global division of labour; the domination of speculative finance capital; the continued debt crisis, its social effects and political implications; capital,labour restructuring, the spread of informalisation and the new inequality; the passage from social explosions to institutional crises; the new popular electoral politics and the fragility of the neo-liberal state. These issues are approached through the lens of global capitalism theory. This theory sees the turn-of-century global system as a new epoch in the history of world capitalism, emphasising new patterns of power and social polarisation worldwide and such concepts as a transnational accumulation, transnational capitalists and a transnational state. Finally, the essay argues that global capitalism faces a twin crisis in the early twenty-first century, of overaccumulation and of legitimacy, and explores the prospects for social change in Latin America and worldwide. [source]


Rumpelstiltskin's Deliverables: Grimm Inspiration for Humanism in Development

ANTHROPOLOGY & HUMANISM, Issue 1 2010
Tracey Heatherington
SUMMARY Is there space for humanistic anthropology within the development sciences used to plan economic growth and ecological modernization? This article adapts a provocative fable to ponder a "global assemblage" designed to transfer authoritative knowledge and advanced technology for "sustainability" from the American Midwest to postsocialist eastern Europe. I retell the story of Rumpelstiltskin to reflect on participation in global systems of outsourced expertise, guessing at the nature of "the helper" with the aid of the fanciful. [source]


Working Through Tradition: Experiential Learning and Formal Training as Markers of Class and Caste in North Indian Block Printing

ANTHROPOLOGY OF WORK REVIEW, Issue 2 2005
Alicia Ory DeNicola
Abstract Located about 40 kilometers west of Jaipur, India, Bagru is home to a nationally renowned cluster of about 100 artisan families who use wooden blocks and rely heavily on regionally manufactured natural dyes to hand print upscale boutique textiles for the world market. As printers have successfully entered into export markets, they have sold their products as "traditional," marking their commodities as distinct from mass-produced, screen-printed textiles made with chemical dyes in urban factories. At the same time, designers have played an important role in introducing these traditional products to a global market, marking their role as "innovative." In this article I argue that the articulation and practice of tradition and innovation within different works, then, serve to mediate and maintain class distinctions in an arena where a rising middle class is still self-consciously creating itself. This article explores the distinctive formal and experiential learning associated with tradition and innovation alongside the discourses that accompany them. What is implicitly at stake in this narrative is the construction and maintenance of a class distinction: one that borrows from local caste understandings of patronage and responsibility at the same time that it manages to negotiate local and global systems,both exploiting and being exploited by the consistently reconstructed boundaries of the market. [source]