Impatiens parviflora (small balsam).

Author(s):  
Rob Tanner

Abstract I. parviflora is an exceptionally successful invader of many European countries. Its spread has been rapid, it is abundant in many parts of its exotic range and is one of few plants to successfully invade undisturbed forest vegetation. It is consequently regarded as undesirable by some, though there is little evidence of negative economic, social or environmental impacts. Further spread in central Europe is not likely as the species is already very abundant. In North America, on the other hand, it is still very localized. Even without clear evidence for impacts, a further spread there should not be encouraged by deliberate or careless transport of the species.

1918 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. O. Sauer

The gerrymander is an American name for a political abuse, which, though by no means exclusively American, has been most widely practiced and generally tolerated in this country. It is a device for the partial suppression of public opinion that simulates agreement with democratic institutions. The subterfuge, therefore, has no place in countries in which oligarchic control is legitimized. Nor is it suited to European conditions, because it is difficult there to shift electoral boundaries. European electoral units in large part have a clearly defined historical basis, which in turn rests upon geographic coherence. This solidarity is commonly so great that it cannot be disregarded. American political divisions on the other hand show in major part very imperfect adjustment to economic and historic conditions, largely, because many of the divisions were created in advance of such conditions. They are, in the main, not gradual growths, but deliberate and arbitrary legislative creations, made without adequate knowledge of the conditions that make for unity or disunity of population within an area. Political divisions tend, therefore, to be less significant than in European countries and to be regarded more lightly. It is in particular the smaller unit, such as the county, that has been manipulated for electoral purposes. In spite of their poorly drawn individual boundaries, groups of counties can be organized into larger electoral units in such a manner as to represent a common body of interests predominating. On the other hand they can be so arranged as to mask these interests. The lack of proper coherence in the individual county may be rectified in large measure in the group, or it may be intensified. Gerrymandering accomplishes the latter result.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 195-221
Author(s):  
Shūhei Fujii

Abstract This paper will shed light upon the history and current state of Japanese Zen Buddhism in Europe. Japanese Zen has mainly been transmitted in two ways among European countries: via the group founded by Deshimaru Taisen, and through Christian Zen. Deshimaru went to Europe and taught Zen. His teaching represented Zen as a wholistic, scientific, and peaceful Eastern religion. Though his group initially expanded greatly, it split into several subgroups following Deshimaru’s death. On the other hand, Sanbō Kyōdan promoted ecumenical integration between Christianity and Zen. The longstanding interest in Zen among Christians can be seen in the contemporary “spiritual exchange of the East-West.” Concerning the current state of Zen in Europe, data show that there are more than 270 Zen centers in Europe, located in 24 countries. An analysis of the contemporary situation thus demonstrates that European Zen is mobile, has various forms, and has influenced Japanese institutions.


2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 142-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dvořák ◽  
M. Tomšovský ◽  
L. Jankovský ◽  
D. Novotný

This study provides new data on Dutch elm disease in the Czech Republic. <I>Ophiostoma novo-ulmi</I> is reported for the first time in the area of the Czech Republic, as well as both subspecies ssp. <I>novo-ulmi</I> (indigenous in the area of the Ukraine and Moldavia), and ssp. <I>Americana</I> indigenous in North America. The majority of the recorded strains belonged to <I>O. n.-u.</I> ssp. <I>novo-ulmi</I>, while <I>O. n.-u.</I> ssp. <I>Americana</I> and hybrids of these two subspecies were found less frequently. On the other hand, <I>Ophiostoma ulmi</I> was not found at all in the investigated samples. Identification on the subspecies level was performed by methods of molecular biology, i.e. PCR and RFLP of gene regions<I> cu</I> and <I>col1</I>.


2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim A. Railey

Parry and Kelly (1987) argued for a causal link between expedient technologies and sedentism, and their explanation has widely influenced lithic analysts. There are some problems with their explanation, however, including disconnects in the reported timing of the shifts to expedient technologies, agricultural intensification, and sedentism. On the other hand, across much of North America the transition to an expedient technology appears to correlate more closely to the arrival of the bow and arrow. This is supported by data from a large excavation project in southern New Mexico, which shows that indicators of the shift to an expedient technology cannot be attributed to reduced mobility or any observable changes in subsistence practices, but do appear to correlate temporally with the appearance of arrow points.


Human Affairs ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Koudelka

AbstractWhen governments create refugee policies they consider several factors (security, economics, ethics, etc.). There are reasons why admitting refugees could have negative consequences (for example, security risks). On the other hand, if the recipient societies have ideals that stress the importance of helping other people, they should act according to their values. The aim of this article is to examine the concept of human dignity and show that European states should admit and help refugees because it is in accordance with their ethical values and the international agreements they have signed. This is important because when European countries hesitate to help refugees, they act not only contrary to their humane tradition, but they can harm them. The western concept of human dignity is one of the main values that stresses that each person is important—that they are equal and free.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-142
Author(s):  
Annika Werner

One of the most common critiques of political parties is that they no longer represent the interests of their voters. On one hand, representation literature tasks all parties equally to ensure high ideological congruence with their voters. On the other hand, party behaviour literature acknowledges that parties have legitimately different primary goals, in particular vote-maximisation or policy-seeking. Thus, this article analyses whether ideological congruence depends on the general goals that parties pursue. Furthermore, this article proposes a novel, distribution-based measure of party-voter ideological congruence that reduces the loss of voter information stemming from the many-to-one data relationship. This measure is applied to 470 data points from parties in 10 Western European countries from 1970 to 2009. The article finds that vote-maximising parties create higher levels of congruence than policy-seeking parties. On this basis, the article calls for evaluations of party behaviour considering party-type specificity.


2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Bréchon ◽  
Roland J. Campiche

The principal explanations of contemporary religious change face two main difficulties. On the one hand, they often fail to express the complexity of the ongoing evolution, because they are too focused on institutional religion, e.g. secularization. On the other hand, some of them favour fashionable themes (the growth of individualism, the privatization of religion) and skirt the societal impact of religion. The idea of dualism allows a combined approach to the process of religious de-institutionalization and the new patterns of its regulation. The authors discuss this theory on the basis of data relating to Switzerland, France and other Western European countries (EVS, ISSP). In spite of the difficulty of finding relevant indicators that allow proper comparison, the results are promising. They invite further critical analysis of current definitions. The theory of dualism allows us to reopen the debate on religious change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-15
Author(s):  
Vojtěch Kotrba ◽  

This paper aims to answer the question of whether fans discriminate against foreign athletes. It uses data from the fantasy sports environment. The sample consists of 11 rounds in the football competition in Czechia during the 2015–2016 season. A total of 8,036 people participated in the game, and they completed a total of 53,951 squads. The final dataset consists of 3,741 observations of a specific footballer in a single round. The results show that Czech fantasy sports users prefer domestic players. The influence of the players’ origin varies depending on the region they are from. The results show that Asian and Eastern European countries, namely Croatia, Serbia, and Slovakia, present a negative influence. On the other hand, Czechs prefer players from South America and Russia. In the case of African and Western European countries, the influence is insignificant in the models. Performance, however, influences the demand for athletes the most.


Author(s):  
A. Nevskaya

The article deals with the current performance and the latest developments of higher education in small and medium Western European countries. It uncovers the core trends on the international higher education market, defines small countries’ place and role in it. It is argued that there is no direct correlation between the size of economy, country’s geography, language spoken, on the one hand, and the share of international enrolments and higher education system’s general performance, on the other hand. However, there are some special moments about the way small developed countries build in their higher education in the global market. The article deals with the Dutch higher education system as a typical case for Western European small countries. It is concluded that the most beneficial category of students for this country are those from non-EEA countries, focusing in several specific areas of the country’s international specialization. A system of measures is being taken to attract such students and to prevent huge number of enrolments from the rest of developing world. This is the way the Netherlands preserve and improve the excellent quality of domestic educational services (which is right for the rest of small Western European countries as well). The group of countries under consideration is also known for their high level of involvement in all kinds of international cooperation in tertiary education. This allows them, on one hand, to further improve the quality of services, and, on the other hand, to minimize the costs of stuff needed for research and innovation. This paper’s findings might be used for further research in this area and taken into consideration by the local authorities dealing with Russian educational system improvement and including it in the global market of education, research and innovation.


1974 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 775 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJ Wapshere

The distribution in Australia of a vegetable fault in wool caused by Noogoora burr, Xanthium stumarium, is outlined. The climates of the region in Australia where the burr produces maximum contamination of wool and where it is of the greatest economic importance are compared with the climates of North America (Texas) and the Indian subcontinent (New Delhi) from where the cerambycids, Mecas saturnina and Nupserha vexator, have been introduced respectively as biological control agents for the weed. The comparisons suggest that neither agent is climatically pre-adapted to the region in Australia where Noogoora burr has the greatest economic importance. On the other hand, a pyralid moth, Oeobia vevbascalis, from Pakistan is well adapted to the climates of the regions affected.


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