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Recent Past (recent + past)
Selected AbstractsThinking about the Recent Past and the Future of the EU,JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 2 2008GEORGE TSEBELIS After the referendums in France and the Netherlands, the European Union was in disarray. However, political elites in all countries were insisting in the adoption of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, which in turn was a slight modification of the text adopted in the European Convention. The solution was found in the IGC of Brussels in 2007, where the substance of the Treaty was adopted, and symbolic details (flag, anthem) were dropped out. The article explains the impact of the institutions adopted in the Convention, and argues that these institutions would help political decision-making in the EU. It then explains how such significant results became possible (because of the important role of the Presidium in terms of agenda-setting). Finally it argues that the text of the Constitution became a focal point for all negotiating governments. This is why elites came back to it despite the public disapproval of the referendums. [source] A Window into the Recent Past in Chiapas: Federal Education and Indigenismo in the Highlands, 1921-1940JOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2001Stephen E. LewisArticle first published online: 28 JUN 200 In the 1920s and 1930s Mexico's Ministry of Public Education (SEP) launched ambitious projects aimed at modernizing and "civilizing' the highlands of Chiapas "incorporating' its indigenous populations into the national mestizo mainstream, and imposing federal laws and instiaitions in the state. SEP teachers met fierce resistance from ladino alcohol mercliants, debt-labor contractors, planters and politicians and from the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya themselves. By the time President Lázaro Cárdenas managed to impose his reform agenda on the state in late 1936, die SEP's battle had largely been lost, kind and labor reforms merely provided local ladinos with new ways to control the highland Maya. By 1940, indigenous communities were tied politically to state and national party machines. Only now might tills system of domination lie breaking down, as the PRI reels from its recent losses at the national and state levels. [source] Historic and contemporary sediment transfer in an upland Pennine catchment, UKEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 14 2008V. J. Holliday Abstract A sediment budget for an upland catchment,reservoir system at Burnhope Reservoir, North Pennines, UK has been developed. This provides a framework for quantifying historic and contemporary sediment yields and drainage basin response to disturbance from climate change and human activities in the recent past. Bathymetric survey, core sampling, 137Cs dating and aerial photographs have been used to assess sediment accumulation in the reservoir. The average reservoir sedimentation rate is 1·24 cm yr,1 (annual sediment yield 33·3 t km,2 yr,1 ± 10%, trap efficiency 92%). Mean annual reservoir sedimentation over the 67 year period has been estimated at 592 t ± 10%. Inputs of suspended sediment from direct catchwater streams account for 54% of sediment supply to the budget (best estimate yield of 318 t yr,1 ± 129%), while those from actively eroding reservoir shorelines contribute 328 t yr,1 ± 92%. Sediment yield estimates from stream monitoring and reservoir sedimentation are an order of magnitude lower than those reported from South Pennine reservoirs of comparable drainage basin area. Analysis of historical rainfall series for the catchment shows fluctuations in winter and summer rainfall patterns over the past 62 years. From 1976 to 1998 there has been a diverging trend between winter and summer rainfall, with a large increase in winter and a gradual decrease in summer totals. Periods of maximum variation occur during the summer drought events of the late 1970s, early 1980s and mid-1990s. Analysis of the particle size of core sediments highlights abrupt increases in sand-sized particles in the top 20 cm of the core. Based on the 137Cs chronology, these layers were deposited from the late 1970s onwards and relate to these diverging rainfall records and rapidly fluctuating reservoir levels. This provides evidence of potential sediment reworking within the reservoir by rapid water-level rise after drought. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Grinnellian and Eltonian niches and geographic distributions of speciesECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 12 2007Jorge Soberón Abstract In the recent past, availability of large data sets of species presences has increased by orders of magnitude. This, together with developments in geographical information systems and statistical methods, has enabled scientists to calculate, for thousands of species, the environmental conditions of their distributional areas. The profiles thus obtained are obviously related to niche concepts in the Grinnell tradition, and separated from those in Elton's tradition. I argue that it is useful to define Grinnellian and Eltonian niches on the basis of the types of variables used to calculate them, the natural spatial scale at which they can be measured, and the dispersal of the individuals over the environment. I use set theory notation and analogies derived from population ecology theory to obtain formal definitions of areas of distribution and several types of niches. This brings clarity to several practical and fundamental questions in macroecology and biogeography. [source] MOLECULAR EVIDENCE FOR THE ORIGIN OF WORKERLESS SOCIAL PARASITES IN THE ANT GENUS POGONOMYRMEXEVOLUTION, Issue 10 2002Joel D. Parker Abstract., Speciation of two social parasites from their respective hosts is tested using a molecular phylogeny. Alignment of 711 DNA base pairs of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was used to assess phylogenetic relationships of inquiline species to their hosts and to other members of the genus. We show that the inquiline social parasites of the North American seed harvester ants are monophyletic, descending from one of the known hosts (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) in the recent past and shifting hosts in a pattern similar to that observed in other Hymenopteran social parasites. In addition, the host populations unexpectedly were found to be polyphyletic. Populations of Pogonomyrmex rugosus from an area east of the Chiricahua Mountains in Southern Arizona belong to a mitochondrial clade separate from the more western clade of P. rugosus from the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. Evidence of mitochondrial DNA introgression between P. rugosus and P. barbatus was also observed. We conclude that Emery's rule does not strictly hold for this system, but that the hosts and parasites are very closely related, supporting a loose definition of Emery's rule. [source] POSTGLACIAL DISPERSAL OF THE EUROPEAN RABBIT (ORYCTOLAGUS CUNICULUS) ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA RECONSTRUCTED FROM NESTED CLADE AND MISMATCH ANALYSES OF MITOCHONDRIAL DNA GENETIC VARIATIONEVOLUTION, Issue 4 2002Madalena Branco Abstract Nested clade analysis was applied to cytochrome b restriction site data previously obtained on 20 natural populations of the European rabbit across the Iberian Peninsula to test the hypothesis of postglacial dispersal from two main refugia, one in the northeast and the other in the southwest. Apart from historical fragmentation that resulted in geographic discontinuity of two distinct mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) clades A and B, patterns of haplotype genetic variability have been shaped mostly by restricted gene flow via isolation by distance. The distribution of tip versus interior haplotypes suggests that dispersal occurred from both the southwestern and northeastern groups. Dispersal from the southwest had a north and northwest direction, whereas from the northeast it had mostly a western and southern orientation, with subsequent overlap in a southeastern-northwestern axis across the Iberian Peninsula. The analysis of the pairwise mismatch distribution of a 179,181-bp fragment of the mtDNA control region, for seven of those populations, further supports the idea that major patterns of dispersal were in the direction of central Iberia. Additionally, rabbit populations do not show signs of any significant loss of genetic diversity in the recent past, implying that they maintained large population sizes and structure throughout the ice ages. This is congruent with the fact that the Iberian Peninsula was itself a glacial refugium during Quaternary ice ages. Nonetheless, climatic oscillations of this period, although certainly milder than in northern Europe, were sufficient to affect the range distributions of Iberian organisms. [source] Development of host and vector for high-efficiency transformation and gene disruption in Debaryomyces hanseniiFEMS YEAST RESEARCH, Issue 1 2009Anupriya Minhas Abstract Debaryomyces hansenii is one of the most osmotolerant and halotolerant yeasts. The molecular mechanisms underlying its extreme osmotolerance and halotolerance have drawn considerable attention in the recent past. However, progress in this regard has been limited due to lack of availability of a transformation system and molecular tools to study the functions of the genes in D. hansenii. Here, we have described the development of an efficient transformation system for D. hansenii that is based on a histidine auxotrophic recipient strain and the DhHIS4 gene as the selectable marker. By screening the D. hansenii genomic library, we have isolated several autonomous replication sequences that can be used for constructing a replicating vector. Moreover, our study is the first to demonstrate gene disruption in D. hansenii by homologous recombination. [source] Debris-covered Glaciers and Rock Glaciers in the Nanga Parbat Himalaya, PakistanGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2000John F. Shroder The origin and mobilization of the extensive debris cover associated with the glaciers of the Nanga Parbat Himalaya is complex. In this paper we propose a mechanism by which glaciers can form rock glaciers through inefficiency of sediment transfer from glacier ice to meltwater. Inefficient transfer is caused by various processes that promote plentiful sediment supply and decrease sediment transfer potential. Most debris-covered glaciers on Nanga Parbat with higher velocities of movement and/ or efficient debris transfer mechanisms do not form rock glaciers, perhaps because debris is mobilized quickly and removed from such glacier systems. Those whose ice movement activity is lower and those where inefficient sediment transfer mechanisms allow plentiful debris to accumulate, can form classic rock glaciers. We document here with maps, satellite images, and field observations the probable evolution of part of a slow and inefficient ice glacier into a rock glacier at the margins of Sachen Glacier in c. 50 years, as well as several other examples that formed in a longer period of time. Sachen Glacier receives all of its nourishment from ice and snow avalanches from surrounding areas of high relief, but has low ice velocities and no efficient system of debris removal. Consequently it has a pronounced digitate terminus with four lobes that have moved outward from the lateral moraines as rock glaciers with prounced transverse ridges and furrows and steep fronts at the angle of repose. Raikot Glacier has a velocity five times higher than Sachen Glacier and a thick cover of rock debris at its terminus that is efficienctly removed. During the advance stage of the glacier since 1994, ice cliffs were exposed at the terminus, and an outbreak flood swept away much debris from its margins and terminus. Like the Sachen Glacier that it resembles, Shaigiri Glacier receives all its nourishment from ice and snow avalanches and has an extensive debris cover with steep margins close to the angle of repose. It has a high velocity similar to Raikot Glacier and catastrophic breakout floods have removed debris from its terminus twice in the recent past. In addition, the Shaigiri terminus blocked the Rupal River during the Little Ice Age and is presently being undercut and steepened by the river. With higher velocities and more efficient sediment transfer systems, neither the Raikot nor the Shaigiri form classic rock-glacier morphologies. [source] Selective Memory: Contesting Architecture and Urbanism at Potsdam's Stadtschloss and Alter MarktGERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 4 2010Adam Sharr ABSTRACT This paper is about the curious phenomenon whereby GDR-era modernist buildings in Germany are being demolished and substituted with new buildings which appear older than those they replace. The most famous example is the ,reconstruction' of Berlin's Stadtschloss on the site of the GDR's Palast der Republik. This discussion concerns a lesser-known project: the ,reconstruction' of Potsdam's Stadtschloss. The project involves re-housing the Brandenburg ,Landtag' in a new structure with classical façades which replicate the Prussian palace that formerly stood on the site, and densifying the surrounding district in order to return it to an approximation of the pre-war layout. The Stadtschloss building will be a concrete-framed structure , like the modernist buildings to be demolished , but this time faced with classical decoration in brick and stone. The paper argues that this project displays a strange insecurity about the present and a desire to return to some nostalgic image of the ,olden days', replacing the recent past with a looser image of an older past. It concludes by discussing a polemical counter-proposal which seeks to make current values apparent architecturally as another historical layer in the city fabric. It argues against the selective removal of previous architecture, recommending instead that multiple interpretations and the images of multiple pasts might co-exist simultaneously. Dieser Artikel beschäftigt sich mit einem interessanten Phänomen in Deutschland, nämlich mit dem Abriss moderner Bauten aus DDR-Zeiten und ihrer Ersetzung durch neue Gebäude, die allerdings älter aussehen als die, die sie ersetzen. Das berühmteste Beispiel dafür ist die ,Rekonstruktion' des Berliner Stadtschlosses genau an der Stelle, an der voher der Palast der Republik gestanden hat. Allerdings geht es hier um ein weniger bekanntes Beispiel: um die ,Rekonstruktion' des Potsdamer Stadtschlosses. Zum Projekt gehört sowohl der Umzug des Brandenburger Landtags in ein neues Gebäude, dessen klassische Fassaden dem ehemals an dieser Stelle stehenden preußischen Palast gleichen, als auch die entsprechende architektonische Verdichtung und Angleichung des gesamten umliegenden Bezirks an die Zeit vor den Weltkriegen. Wie die modernen DDR-Gebäude, die es ersetzt, wird das Stadtschloss im Grunde aus einem Betongerüst bestehen, dessen Fassade nun allerdings mit Backsteinen und Stein eingefasst sein wird. Meine These ist, dass dieses Projekt auf eine seltsame Unsicherheit gegenüber der Gegenwart und auf ein nostalgisches Verlangen nach der ,guten alten Zeit' schließen lässt, wobei die jüngste Vergangenheit mit Fassaden aus einer weiter zurückliegenden Geschichte zugedeckt werden soll. Als Schlussfolgerung biete ich einen Gegenentwurf an, der auf den Werten der Gegenwartsgeschichte als einer von vielen Schichten im Gewebe der Stadt besteht. Statt ältere architektonische Merkmale selektiv zu entfernen, befürworte ich eine Stadtplanung, die viele verschiedene Interpretationen und Bilder aus einer komplexen Vergangenheit nebeneinander stehen und zulassen kann. [source] Between Identification and Documentation, ,Autofiction' and ,Biopic': The Lives of the RAFGERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 4 2003Julian Preece Since the mid-1970s the RAF has generated a variety of different forms of ,life-writing', ranging from memoirs written by ex-terrorists to autobiographical fiction by contemporaries which explores the interaction between an authorial narrator and a central terrorist character. Film-makers, echoing novelists, have often focussed on the life of an individual terrorist. While the view that an individual's turning to the RAF or one of its related groupings could be explained through biographical experience has been discredited by the evidence now available, RAF memoirs are of limited value in other respects because their authors are unable to reflect critically on their past. In fiction (by writers such as Timm, Chotjewitz, and Demksi) and films (by von Trotta, Schlöndorff, and Conradt) which depict the first RAF generation it becomes clear that what is made of the life is more challenging than the life itself. The same appears true of the largely non-fictional treatment of Ulrike Meinhof. Younger writers and playwrights (Dresen, Kuckart, Scholz, Loher) and film-makers (Veiel), while struggling to make links between the recent past and the present, show much greater distance to the material, sometimes to the point of incorporating the points of view of the RAF 's opponents and victims. In addition to generational affiliation the gender of both author/film-maker and particular terrorist subject also determines in unexpected ways the depiction of RAF lives. [source] Estimating the monetary value of health care: lessons from environmental economicsHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2003Nick Hanley In the recent past, considerable effort in health economics has been made on applying stated preference methods such as contingent valuation and choice experiments. Despite this increased use, there is still considerable scepticism concerning the value of these approaches. The application of contingent valuation in environmental economics has a long history and has been widely accepted. Whilst choice experiments were introduced to the environmental and health economics literature at a similar time, the wider acceptance of monetary measures of benefit in environmental economics has meant that they have also been more widely applied. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the key issues and debates that have taken place in the environmental economics literature, summarise the state of the art with respect to these issues, and consider how health economists have addressed these issues. Important areas for future research in health economics are identified. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Rethinking Kashmir's History from a Borderlands PerspectiveHISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 7 2010Chitralekha Zutshi Although borders haunt its historical and recent past as well as its contemporary political situation, Kashmir has rarely been theorized as a borderland. This article examines the perspective of borderlands as conceptualized in North American, Asian and African borderlands scholarship. It argues that the application of this perspective , in which borderlands are defined as middle grounds where imperial competition and negotiations among a variety of imperial and indigenous actors led to the production of distinct political cultures , to rethinking Kashmir's history has the potential to liberate the region from the imperatives of national borders that misread its history, while also reinvigorating South Asian borderlands scholarship. [source] A panel of ancestry informative markers for estimating individual biogeographical ancestry and admixture from four continents: utility and applications,HUMAN MUTATION, Issue 5 2008Indrani Halder Abstract Autosomal ancestry informative markers (AIMs) are useful for inferring individual biogeographical ancestry (I-BGA) and admixture. Ancestry estimates obtained from Y and mtDNA are useful for reconstructing population expansions and migrations in our recent past but individual genomic admixture estimates are useful to test for association of admixture with phenotypes, as covariate in association studies to control for stratification and, in forensics, to estimate certain overt phenotypes from ancestry. We have developed a panel of 176 autosomal AIMs that can effectively distinguish I-BGA and admixture proportions from four continental ancestral populations: Europeans, West Africans, Indigenous Americans, and East Asians. We present allele frequencies for these AIMs in all four ancestral populations and use them to assess the global apportionment of I-BGA and admixture diversity among some extant populations. We observed patterns of apportionment similar to those described previously using sex and autosomal markers, such as European admixture for African Americans (14.3%) and Mexicans (43.2%), European (65.5%) and East Asian affiliation (27%) for South Asians, and low levels of African admixture (2.8,10.8%) mirroring the distribution of Y E3b haplogroups among various Eurasian populations. Using simulation studies and pedigree analysis we show that I-BGA estimates obtained using this panel and a four-population model has a high degree of precision (average root mean square error [RMSE]=0.026). Using ancestry,phenotype associations we demonstrate that a large and informative AIM panel such as this can help reduce false-positive and false-negative associations between phenotypes and admixture proportions, which may result when using a smaller panel of less informative AIMs. Hum Mutat 29(5), 648,658, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Impact of spatial variations of land surface parameters on regional evaporation: a case study with remote sensing dataHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 9 2001Hussein O. Farah Abstract Most precipitation in watersheds is consumed by evaporation, thus techniques to appraise regional evaporation are important to assess the availability of water resources. Many algorithms to estimate evaporation from remotely sensed spectral data have been developed in the recent past. In addition to differences in the physical parameterization of surface fluxes, these algorithms have different solutions for describing spatial variations of the parameters in the soil,vegetation,atmosphere,transfer (SVAT) continuum. In this study, the necessity to spatially distinguish SVAT parameters for computing surface heat fluxes is analysed for the Naivasha watershed in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) spectral data have been used to first delineate the watershed into 15 hydrological units using surface temperature, normalized difference vegetation index and surface albedo as attributes. Thereafter, semi-empirical relationships between these TM-based parameters and other SVAT parameters have been applied to compute the spatial variation of SVAT parameters and the associated evaporation from the different hydrological units. The impact of using watershed-constant or watershed-distributed SVAT parameters on the fluxes is analysed. The determination of watershed averaged evaporation with area-aggregated SVAT parameters is feasible without significant loss of accuracy. Distributed evaporation in heterogeneous watersheds, however, can be investigated only with remote sensing flux algorithms that can account for spatially variable air temperature, surface roughness, surface albedo and the stability correction of the temperature profile due to buoyancy. Erroneous results can be expected if area-aggregated SVAT parameters are used to calculate local evaporation. As most of the recently developed remote sensing flux algorithms are based on areal constant SVAT parameters, direct applications in watersheds are still limited. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Hybrid finite element/volume method for shallow water equationsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 13 2010Shahrouz Aliabadi Abstract A hybrid numerical scheme based on finite element and finite volume methods is developed to solve shallow water equations. In the recent past, we introduced a series of hybrid methods to solve incompressible low and high Reynolds number flows for single and two-fluid flow problems. The present work extends the application of hybrid method to shallow water equations. In our hybrid shallow water flow solver, we write the governing equations in non-conservation form and solve the non-linear wave equation using finite element method with linear interpolation functions in space. On the other hand, the momentum equation is solved with highly accurate cell-center finite volume method. Our hybrid numerical scheme is truly a segregated method with primitive variables stored and solved at both node and element centers. To enhance the stability of the hybrid method around discontinuities, we introduce a new shock capturing which will act only around sharp interfaces without sacrificing the accuracy elsewhere. Matrix-free GMRES iterative solvers are used to solve both the wave and momentum equations in finite element and finite volume schemes. Several test problems are presented to demonstrate the robustness and applicability of the numerical method. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Healing and Salvation in Late Modernity: the Use and Implication of Such Terms in the Ecumenical MovementINTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MISSION, Issue 380-381 2007Vebjørn Horsfjord This article explores developments over the last decades in the way ecumenical texts, primarily originating from world conferences organized by the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, speak about soteriology. Under the headlines, "Salvation Today" (1973) and "Your Kingdom Come" (1980), terminology inspired by liberation theology took centre stage, and a predominantly immanent understanding of salvation was promoted. In recent years a different terminology has taken over, and it is one that focuses on "healing" and "the fullness of life". At its best, the holistic healing approach manages to take up the important concerns from earlier times, such as economic justice, racism and environmental issues, while at the same time giving more room for existential issues and the experiences of the individual The new healing discourse appears to reflect two different modalities of the church's healing ministry, viz. that which is concerned with the causes of suffering, and that which addresses the experience of suffering. The latter was often ignored in the recent past. The healing discourse gives room for new explorations of practices that have been central in the church throughout its history, such as anointing the sick, and praying for and with them, and hearing individual confessions. Openness towards subjective experience also has implications for the contextualization of the Christian faith. There is a new awareness that not only do the causes of suffering vary from situation to situation but so does the understanding of (what constitutes) suffering itself. Changing or varying understandings of suffering give rise to different approaches to its alleviation, and can inspire a rethinking of how we understand salvation in different contexts. The new healing discourse can also be studied in its relationship to cultural trends known as post-modernity or late modernity. The texts under study display very ambivalent approaches to these developments. There might be a tendency for texts that have concrete experience as their starting point to take a more positive view of these cultural developments than do texts that begin with more general theological observations. [source] Old age protection in India: Problems and prognosisINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 2 2002Ranadev Goswami This paper reviews the current state of the Indian pension system. The Indian experience could potentially influence policy decisions in other developing countries, especially those with similar reliance on the national provident fund system. Institutional features of various retirement benefit schemes are highlighted and their deficiencies are discussed. It is argued that low coverage level, underperformance of provident fund schemes due to investment restrictions, and financial difficulties in administering unfunded public pension programmes have rendered the current system ineffective and unsustainable. The failed experiments with ad hoc reform initiatives in the recent past further emphasize the need for a structural and lasting change. The paper concludes with some policy directions for reforming the Indian pension system. [source] Development of inland lakes as hubs in an invasion networkJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2005JIM R. MUIRHEAD Summary 1The ability to predict spatially explicit dispersal by non-indigenous species is a difficult but increasingly important undertaking as it allows management efforts to be focused around areas identified as susceptible to invasion. Lakes may serve as useful models for these studies because the habitats are well defined, and vectors of spread may be readily identified and quantified. In this study, we examined patterns of spread of the non-indigenous spiny waterflea Bythotrephes longimanus to inland lakes in Ontario, Canada, to identify lakes for which management efforts to reduce traffic would be most effective. 2We surveyed people using lakes for recreational purposes to quantify movements of trailered boats and other risky activities, to model relative vector traffic from invaded lakes to non-invaded and other invaded lakes. Non-linear functions were developed to describe the cumulative number of invaded and non-invaded destination lakes visited by people leaving five important lakes already invaded by the spiny waterflea (Huron, Simcoe, Muskoka, Panache and Kashagawigamog). The relative difference in these functions was used to identify which lakes will develop into future invasion hubs and will therefore be most important to future dispersal of the species. 3In the recent past, Lake Muskoka has been an important hub from which the spiny waterflea has invaded other lakes. It is unlikely to continue to be a source for waterflea invasion as most outbound traffic is to previously invaded lakes. Conversely, most outbound traffic from Lakes Kashagawigamog and Simcoe is to non-invaded lakes and, therefore, these lakes are likely to develop into hubs in the future. 4Synthesis and applications. These data on zooplankton in lake systems and associated mechanisms of transport indicate patterns not only of intrinsic value to lake management, but also of potential importance in understanding invasions more generally. Frequency distributions of the number of outbound connections to both invaded and non-invaded destinations from invaded sources follow a power function, consistent with scale-free networks. These networks indicate that small proportions of sources function as hubs. Management efforts targeted to remove developing hubs from the invasion network, rather than equal effort applied to outbound vector traffic from all sources, may reduce the predicted rate of new invasions. [source] From Modernism to McDonald'sJOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 2 2007Controversy, Ideology, the Movement to Preserve the Recent Past Following successful 1970s efforts to save Miami Beach's Art Deco district, a preservation movement focusing on the recent past has grown nationally,championing everything from suburban subdivisions to civil rights sites. This article explores that controversial movement's efforts,including its (and its opposition's) motivations and ideologies. Proponents use broader definitions of history and significance than preservationists used previously,with age, aesthetics, and pedigree no longer crucial, instead emphasizing sociocultural context. As they fight traditional conceptualizations, deal with divisive sites, and often work without benefiting from (age-specific) preservation laws, activists face strong resistance. Nonetheless, the movement has increased in size, strength, and successes. [source] Authenticity, Colonialism, and the Struggle with ModernityJOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2002John B. Hertz Puerto Rico's architectural legacy and struggle with modernity is found in the confrontation between the colonial period and the recent past. This conflict is revealed in the plan to replace the modernist icon, the Hotel La Concha in San Juan, with a revivalist "Hispanic" complex. In spite of the latter supposedly being more "Puerto Rican," it is the modern building from the recent past, rather than the new revival model, that is truly authentic. The proposed development copies an invented style imposed by the United States on the island after its conquest one hundred years ago. However, rather than acknowledging the presence of architecture built by the Spanish in Puerto Rico, the project revives the architecture of American colonization. [source] Assessing the impact of deforestation and climate change on the range size and environmental niche of bird species in the Atlantic forests, BrazilJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 7 2010Bette A. Loiselle Abstract Aim, Habitat loss and climate change are two major drivers of biological diversity. Here we quantify how deforestation has already changed, and how future climate scenarios may change, environmental conditions within the highly disturbed Atlantic forests of Brazil. We also examine how environmental conditions have been altered within the range of selected bird species. Location, Atlantic forests of south-eastern Brazil. Methods, The historical distribution of 21 bird species was estimated using Maxent. After superimposing the present-day forest cover, we examined the environmental niches hypothesized to be occupied by these birds pre- and post-deforestation using environmental niche factor analysis (ENFA). ENFA was also used to compare conditions in the entire Atlantic forest ecosystem pre- and post-deforestation. The relative influence of land use and climate change on environmental conditions was examined using analysis of similarity and principal components analysis. Results, Deforestation in the region has resulted in a decrease in suitable habitat of between 78% and 93% for the Atlantic forest birds included here. Further, Atlantic forest birds today experience generally wetter and less seasonal forest environments than they did historically. Models of future environmental conditions within forest remnants suggest generally warmer conditions and lower annual variation in rainfall due to greater precipitation in the driest quarter of the year. We found that deforestation resulted in a greater divergence of environmental conditions within Atlantic forests than that predicted by climate change. Main conclusions, The changes in environmental conditions that have occurred with large-scale deforestation suggest that selective regimes may have shifted and, as a consequence, spatial patterns of intra-specific variation in morphology, behaviour and genes have probably been altered. Although the observed shifts in available environmental conditions resulting from deforestation are greater than those predicted by climate change, the latter will result in novel environments that exceed temperatures in any present-day climates and may lead to biotic attrition unless organisms can adapt to these warmer conditions. Conserving intra-specific diversity over the long term will require considering both how changes in the recent past have influenced contemporary populations and the impact of future environmental change. [source] Shifting voices, oppositional discourse, and new visions for communication studiesJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2001L L Putnam This address, delivered at ICA's 50th anniversary conference, calls on the association to take stock of where we are and how we should come together. It reviews 3 periods in the field's recent past: fermentation, fragmentation, and legitimation. Then, drawing from several of Bahktin's notions of dialogue, it summons scholars to come together by engaging in alternative modes of discourse - ones that center on multiple and shifting voices and oppositional discourse. It advocates using the construct of voice rather than paradigms, theories, and academic divisions, to develop complementary ways of understanding. In particular, it calls on the field to take inventory of multiple and shifting voices in reviews and critiques of the literature, to connect with each other through exploring shifting concepts and theories, and to engage in joint actions in ways that embrace and preserve differences. [source] Political accountability, public constitution of recent past and the collective memory of socio-political events: A discursive analysisJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2010Cristian Tileag Abstract This paper presents a discursive analysis of a political news interview as a site for the interactional organization of the public constitution of recent past. In a context of commemoration and finding out the truth about the past, the focus is on how the collective memory of socio-political events and political accountability is managed and what discursive practices representatives of nation-states draw upon to understand and construct ideological representations of socio-political events, namely the Romanian ,revolution' of 1989. The analysis shows how the possibility versus the actuality of knowing the truth about the events, (political) accountability and stake for actions are discussed, framed and given significance by constituting the ,events' of 1989 as ,revolution'. The analysis further reveals how this ascribed categorial meaning is used by the interviewee as background for delegitimizing critical voices and sidestepping responsibility for past actions and knowing the truth. Social and community psychologists can learn more about how individuals and communities construct ideological versions of socio-political events by considering the interplay between questions of political accountability and arguments over the meaning of political categories, and engaging with the accounting practices in which the meaning of socio-political events is being negotiated by members of society Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Business failure prediction using decision treesJOURNAL OF FORECASTING, Issue 6 2010Adrian Gepp Abstract Accurate business failure prediction models would be extremely valuable to many industry sectors, particularly financial investment and lending. The potential value of such models is emphasised by the extremely costly failure of high-profile companies in the recent past. Consequently, a significant interest has been generated in business failure prediction within academia as well as in the finance industry. Statistical business failure prediction models attempt to predict the failure or success of a business. Discriminant and logit analyses have traditionally been the most popular approaches, but there are also a range of promising non-parametric techniques that can alternatively be applied. In this paper, the relatively new technique of decision trees is applied to business failure prediction. The numerical results suggest that decision trees could be superior predictors of business failure as compared to discriminant analysis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The ,reversal of fortune' thesis and the compression of history: Perspectives from African and comparative economic history,JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 8 2008Gareth Austin Abstract Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson have dramatically challenged the tendency of economists to confine their empirical search for the causes of economic growth to the recent past. They argue that the kind of institutions established by European colonialists, either protecting private property or extracting rents, resulted in the poorer parts of the pre-colonial world becoming some of the richest economies of today; while transforming some of the more prosperous parts of the non-European world of 1500 into the poorest economies today. This view has been further elaborated for Africa by Nunn, with reference to slave trading. Drawing on African and comparative economic historiography, the present paper endorses the importance of examining growth theories against long-term history: revealing relationships that recur because the situations are similar, as well as because of path dependence as such. But it also argues that the causal relationships involved are more differentiated than is recognised in AJR's formulations. By compressing different historical periods and paths, the ,reversal' thesis over-simplifies the causation. Relatively low labour productivity was a premise of the external slave trades; though the latter greatly reinforced the relative poverty of many Sub-Saharan economies. Again, it is important to distinguish settler and non-settler economies within colonial Africa itself. In the latter case it was in the interests of colonial regimes to support, rather than simply extract from, African economic enterprise. Finally, economic rent and economic growth have often been joint products, including in pre-colonial and colonial Africa; the kinds of institutions that favoured economic growth in certain historical contexts were not necessarily optimal for that purpose in others. AJR have done much to bring development economics and economic history together. The next step is a more flexible conceptual framework, and a more complex explanation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Decision-making needs of patients with depression: a descriptive studyJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 4 2008D. STACEY rn mscn phd The study's purpose was to explore the decision-making needs of patients considering treatment options for their depression. Semi-structured interviews were guided by the Ottawa Decision Support Framework. Of 94 participants, 67 were uncertain about their decision. Common decisions identified were whether or not to take medications, attend support groups, undergo electroconvulsive therapy, and location of care. Those feeling certain were more likely to have made a decision (RR 1.37; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.78). However, 40 patients who had ,made a decision' in the recent past were uncertain about their decision. Compared with those who were certain, the uncertain group felt less informed (2.65 vs. 1.64; P < 0.001), less supported (2.63 vs. 1.88; P < 0.001) and less clear about how they valued the benefits and risks of options (2.57 vs. 1.69; P < 0.001). Other influential factors included concerns about confidentiality, distress from depression, embarrassment, panic attacks and lack of energy. Few patients wanted to defer decision making to their physician (n = 8) or family (n = 1). To support decision making, participants identified the need for: discussions with their psychiatrist, nurse or family doctor; access to printed information; and information provided by health professionals and health societies. [source] Bronze Age painted plaster in Mycenaean Greece: a pilot study on the testing and application of micro-Raman spectroscopyJOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, Issue 8-9 2004Ann Brysbaert Abstract Since the first discoveries of Minoan and Mycenaean painted plaster around the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, iconographic and, to a lesser extent, technological studies have gone hand in hand in order to understand how these prehistoric societies were able to produce some of the earliest and most significant works of art in Bronze Age Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. These paintings claim to be among the first to be executed in the buon fresco technique. Past technological studies employed wet chemical methods, x-ray diffraction (XRD), optical emission spectroscopy and a range of microscopic techniques based on cross-sections of samples in order to investigate these fragmentary paintings. Most of these methods required destructive sampling and this is now, rightly so, very much restricted. Consequently, other non-micro-destructive approaches are being tested at present. Micro-Raman spectroscopy (MRS) has proven more than once its potential for non-destructive analysis of works of art and in archaeology in the recent past. Its application to this early fragmentary material is presented here for the first time. Interesting results were the identification of both organic (indigo) and non-crystalline materials (limonite), which complements the knowledge obtained from traditionally used techniques. Although not without problems (high fluorescence prevented identification of Egyptian Blue), non-destructive MRS yielded results comparable to XRD and provided the first identification of indigo blue on this medium, and can hence be considered very useful in future sample-reducing strategies considering these scarce materials. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Discussion of laser-assisted liposuction,LASERS IN SURGERY AND MEDICINE, Issue 10 2009Brian D. Zelickson MD Abstract There has been a significant advancement in the use of lasers for body contouring over the past several years. This article will review the recent past and discuss the future of this trend. Introduction There is much confusion over the definition of procedures using lasers for lipolysis and liposuction. This review article discusses the definitions of suction-assisted liposuction, laser lipolysis, and laser-assisted liposuction in detail. The development of these procedures is then discussed and pertinent articles are reviewed. Materials and Methods Pubmed and FDA.gov web sites were searched for published articles and FDA approved devices employing lasers for targeting fat for body contouring. This information along with the authors' personal experience was used to review and discuss this topic. Discussion There is a specific difference between suction-assisted liposuction, laser-assisted liposuction, and laser lipolysis. This review article clarifies these definitions and highlights the recent articles employing lasers for minimally invasive fat reduction. Lasers Surg. Med. 41:709,713, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Kinetic Analysis and Optimization for the Catalytic Esterification Step of PPT PolymerizationMACROMOLECULAR THEORY AND SIMULATIONS, Issue 1 2005Saptarshi Majumdar Abstract Summary: A well-validated kinetic scheme has been studied for PPT, poly(propylene terephthalate) polymerization process in batch and semi-batch mode with tetrabutoxytitanium (TBOT), a proven catalyst. Optimization study and analysis for PPT are rare, as the industrial relevance of PPT just became vibrant due to the commercial availability of one of its monomers in industrial scale in the recent past. Correctness of the analysis is checked by a new approach and parameters for the model are estimated from available experimental data. Solubility of terephthalic acid (TPA) is less in reaction medium and this effect is also considered along with the reaction scheme. Several simulations have been performed to see various process dynamics and this ultimately helps in formulating optimization problems. Using recently developed and well tested real-coded non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II, a state-of-the art evolutionary optimization algorithm, a couple of three objective optimization problems have been solved and corresponding Pareto sets are presented. Results show remarkably promising aspects of productivity enhancement with an improvement in product quality. Sensitivity analysis for relatively uncertain solubility parameter is also performed to estimate its effect over the proposed optimal solutions. Multiobjective Pareto front for 3 objectives: degree of polymerization, time and (bTPA,+,bPG). [source] COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY AFTER LIBERALISMMODERN THEOLOGY, Issue 2 2007HUGH NICHOLSON This article first identifies two reasons for the current marginality of the theological sub-discipline of "comparative theology." The first is an awareness of the imperialistic character of the universalist (inclusivist and pluralist) theologies of the recent past. The second is the assumption that Christianity's relations with other religious are extrinsic to Christian identity. Drawing on Kathryn Tanner's critique of postliberalism, it argues that interreligious comparison is integral to a theology that recognizes the essentially relational nature of Christian identity. This recognition implies a continuous revision of Christian identity that checks the tendency to essentialize and thereby exclude religious "others." [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||