scholarly journals Use of Thermodynamic Orientors to Assess the Efficiency of Ecosystems: A Case Study in the Lagoon of Venice

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 255-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Bastianoni

So-called orientors have been introduced at the interface between ecology and thermodynamics. Two have been chosen here to compare the characteristics of five ecological systems: exergy, which is related to the degree of organization of a system and represents the biogeochemical energy of a system, and emergy, which is defined as the total amount of solar energy directly or indirectly required to generate a product or a service. They represent two complementary aspects of a system: the actual state and the past work needed to reach that state. The ratio of exergy to the emergy flow indicates the efficiency of an ecosystem in producing or maintaining its organization.The main system under study is a portion of the Venice Lagoon, which is used as a fish farming basin. Four other aquatic ecosystems were considered for comparison. Results show that the ecosystem within the Venice Lagoon is the one with the highest efficiency in transforming the available inputs in organization of the system. This fact is due to human intervention, which is very limited but also very effective.

2010 ◽  
Vol 163-167 ◽  
pp. 2709-2714
Author(s):  
Feng Guo ◽  
Wei Ya Xu ◽  
Fei Xu

Evaluation of slope stability in the hydropower project construction is extremely important. This Cloud Model will be introduced to the matter-element extension, the extension assessment is proposed based on the sutra field division of the slope stability assessment model. This method combines the Cloud Model theory and the advantages of the extension assessment .On the one hand, the division of the sutra field by means of Cloud Model can overcome the "hard" division of the evils. On the other hand,with different values of Cloud Drops as a sutra field, the statistical results of Cloud Drops can be used as last stable assessment results. Project case study shows that compared with the conventional method, results of the method of extension are more accurate, which fully accorded with the actual state, proving optimized based on Cloud Model extension assessment of slope stability feasible and effective.


1981 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Hill

The grass-roots activities of the Independent Labour Party have been the subject of increased scrutiny from historians over the past few years, especially in the pages of this journal. Consequently we can now be a little surer about the contribution of the party to the development of an independent labour movement in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century, though with every fresh case-study a different local strategy seems to come to light. The one outstanding profile in this field is the closely observed account of the ILP in Bradford by J. Reynolds and K. Laybourn, who identify several key features in the party's growth in that city, notably the reformist nature of ILP socialism and the close associations with local trade unionism. “From the outset”, they tell us, “Bradford trade unionism and the Bradford ILP were seen as two aspects of a single homogeneous labour movement aimed at the emancipation of the working class from poverty and exploitation.”


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyda Emekci

AbstractThe housing affordability problem in Turkey is not new. With the pandemic increasing pressure on the economy, the issue of housing affordability problem has reached an alarming level. The problem has been deepened not only as a result of the pandemic but also due to the incomplete and wrong policies from the past. This paper on the one hand aims to examine how the pandemic has exacerbated the problem; on the other hand, it purposes to reveal that the problem has been handled incorrectly and how weaknesses in the policy strategies contribute to this problem through a case study of the low-income group. The article also focuses on how architects can contribute to solving this problem.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy C. Haas

AbstractModels of political-ecological systems can inform policies for managing ecosystems that contain endangered species. One way to increase the credibility of these models is to subject them to a rigorous suite of data-based statistical assessments. Doing so involves statistically estimating the model’s parameters, computing confidence intervals for these parameters, determining the model’s prediction error rate, and assessing its sensitivity to parameter misspecification.Here, these statistical algorithms along with a method for constructing politically feasible policies from a statistically fitted model, are coded as JavaSpaces™ programs that run as compute jobs on either supercomputers or a collection of in-house workstations. Several new algorithms for implementing such jobs in distributed computing environments are described.This downloadable code is used to compute each job’s output for the management challenge of conserving the East African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). This case study shows that the proposed suite of statistical tools can be run on a supercomputer to establish the credibility of a managerially-relevant model of a political-ecological system that contains one or more endangered species. This demonstration means that the new standard of credibility that any political-ecological model needs to meet before being used to inform ecosystem management decisions, is the one given herein.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariagrazia Santagati

O artigo apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa qualitativa, que reconstrói biografias de jovens brasileiros que são descendentes de italianos, com a cidadania italiana ou à espera de retorno ou de partida para a Itália. A análise propõe uma exploração dos múltiplos sentidos, instrumentais e simbólicos, da cidadania e aprofunda o relacionamento dos oriundi com o seus antepassados: por um lado, os jovens entrevistados são colocados em um "mercado da cidadania", dirigido por profissionais mais ou menos competentes e honestos, que se propõem buscar a documentação necessária para a aquisição da cidadania, vendendo a um preço elevado o "sonho italiano". Por outro lado, eles pretendem viajar para a Itália em busca de suas raízes, impulsionados pela memória e lembranças de família, em uma mobilidade facilitada por redes transnacionais de familiares e amigos. O estudo de caso mostra que as migrações nunca são definitivas, mas são viagens de ida e volta: o caminho para a Itália destes jovens é um caminho oposto aos avós e bisavós, que vieram no passado do Brasil, e caracteriza a trajetória de pessoas que, ao mesmo tempo, reivindicam um vínculo formal e emocional com a terra de seus antepassados, mas estão procurando melhores oportunidades de vida na Itália e na Europa.Palavras-chave: Jovens. Cidadania. Migrações. Redes transnacionais.YOUNG BRAZILIANS WITH ITALIAN ORIGINS: transnational relationships and meanings of dual citizenshipAbstract: The article presents the outcomes of a qualitative investigation whose objective was to write the biography of young Brazilians with Italian origins, young Brazilians waiting for or already possessing Italian citizenship and young Brazilians waiting to get back to Italy. The study examines the multiple meanings of citizenship and analyzes the relationship of Italian Oriundi Brazilians with the country of their ancestors:on the one hand, the interviewees live in a sort of "market of citizenship", managed by officers with variable levels of expertise and honesty. These officers are responsible for searching the documents required to obtain Italian citizenship and sell the "Italian dream" at great cost. On the other hand, young Brazilians consider their journey to Italy as a way back to their origins, guided by their memories and those of their family and supported by transnational networks of relatives and friends. The case study here presented highlights how migrations are actually endless. These are instead more similar to round trips: young Brazilians'way back to Italy is opposite to that of their grandparents and great grandparents travelling to Brazil in the past; furthermore, it is a way for them to restore an emotional bond as well as a formal link with the land of their ancestors, but also to search for better opportunities in Italy and in Europe.Keywords: Youngs. Citizenship. Migrations. Transnational networks.JÓVENES BRASILEÑOS, DESCENDIENTES DE ITALIANOS: relaciones transnacionales y sentido de la doble ciudadaníaResumen: Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación cualitativa, que ha tenido el objetivo principal de recoger algunas biografías de jóvenes brasileños, descendientes de italianos, con ciudadanía italiana o en espera de obtenerla, sino también de regreso o en espera de la partida hacia Italia. El análisis ofrece una exploración de una moltitud de sentidos, instrumentales y simbólicos, de la ciudadanía y profundiza la relación de los oriundi con el país de sus ancestros: por una parte, los jóvenes entrevistados se colocan en un "mercado de la ciudadanía", administrado por expertos más o menos eficientes y honestos, que se proponen lograr la documentación necesaria a la adquisición de la ciudadanía, vendiendo a precios altos el "sueño italiano". Por la otra, ellos miran al viaje hacia Italia como a un recorrido para encontrar sus orígenes, acompañados por la memoria y los recuerdos familiares, facilitados en la movilidad gracias a las redes transnacionales de familiares y conocidos. A través del caso examinado, se ve que las migraciones nunca son definitivas, sino viajes de ida y vuelta: el recorrido hacia Italia de estos jóvenes representa un camino inverso respecto a lo de los abuelos y bisabuelos que han llegado en pasado a Brasil y caracteriza la trayectoria de personas que, en el mismo tiempo, reclaman una relación afectiva y formal con la tierra de los ancestros, pero buscan también mejores oportunidades de vida en Italia y Europa.Palabras clave: Jóvenes. Ciudadanía. Migraciones. Redes transnacionales.


Author(s):  
Susan Helft

Scholarship on the ancient Near East has not yet considered how the formation of a discrete set of objects and monuments has shaped our understanding of Anatolian civilizations. This chapter explores this issue by “testing” the canon of ancient Anatolian art and archaeology, with a focus on art. What is the canon, how was it formed, and does it meet the needs of today’s art historians and archaeologists? This exercise makes clear that the lists of Anatolian objects and sites chosen for modern consumption are the result of Mesopocentric viewpoints on the one hand, and of Turkish nationalist agendas on the other. For the canon of ancient Anatolia to more accurately represent the diversity of Anatolian cultures, the current canon needs to shed its Mesopotamian baggage and be more geographically and typologically inclusive. This chapter also advocates for a move away from comparisons between canons (which have contributed to a derivative view of ancient Anatolian art) and toward a thematic view. A case study on the topos of the hunt is meant to reset the relationship between the Anatolian and Mesopotamian canons and demonstrate the potential for more conceptual approaches to reinvigorate the canon for the future.


2021 ◽  
pp. 39-56
Author(s):  
Korinna Schönhärl

It is often noted that people remember the past to better manage the present. One major driving force of economic behaviour is expectations of the future or ‘imagined futures’, as the sociologist Jens Beckert calls them. But whereas these expectations are oriented towards the future, the frames in which they arise are strongly influenced by the past. During economically difficult situations, economic crises of the past were especially intensively remembered and discussed. The thesis of this chapter is that actors in the public sphere remember crises in alarming situations to orient themselves, construct fictional expectations of the future, and legitimize decisions that have to be taken in the present. The Greek debt crisis from 2009 onwards is used as a case study. The past crisis most recalled in collective memory in this period is the one that followed the Greek bankruptcy of 1893.


1965 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renée C. Fox ◽  
Willy de Craemer ◽  
Jean-Marie Ribeaucourt
Keyword(s):  
The Past ◽  
A Chain ◽  

The particular rebellion in the Congo with which we are concerned in this article is the one that began in the Kwilu Province in January 1964 and, as such, was the first in a chain of rebellions that have erupted in the Congo in the course of the past year.


Author(s):  
Veronica De Pieri

The natsukashisa (nostalgia) is a common key to interpretation of novels written by the Japanese author Yoshimoto Banana. Considered as the desire for a replay of life, nostalgia is evaluated as a solution for the sensation of emptiness and solitude attributed to modern life; a gap that can be bridged by memory, recollection and flash-backs of the protagonists in Yoshimoto’s novels. As a representation for something gone, the objects of this nostalgic feeling assume different forms in Yoshimoto’s works: a faraway house, a lost person, a feeling perceived and then missed; dreams, hallucinations, images and paintings: everything is transformed by the author in a vehicle to allow the reader to sympathize with the protagonists and share the same nostalgic feeling. Author’s attempt is to encourage the young readers to keep on seeking the lost self in the past in order to not betray one’s identity. This is the main topic one can also recognise in her novel called Sweet Hereafter, a publication in which nostalgia for a self lost in a car accident is compared to the one felt by the hisaisha of Tōhoku region who lost everything after the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on 11th March 2011. Here Yoshimoto suggests natsukashisa as the possible way to overcome the traumatic experience of witnessing Japanese Daishinsai. This brief investigation proposes a literary case study that highlights the relations between trauma and memory, with a particular focus on nostalgia considered as a positive means for overcoming traumatic experience.


Author(s):  
Tsheten . ◽  
Sonam Wangchuk ◽  
Mimi Lhamu Mynak ◽  
Tenzin Lhaden

<p>We report here a case study of meningococcal septicaemia caused by <em>Neisseria meningitidis</em> in Kalabazaar, Thimphu on November 2016. The one-year old patient had no history of contact with any infected individuals in the past two weeks before his onset, neither did he travel anywhere besides his one-storey traditional residence. The patient was hospitalized and given antibiotic treatment of ceftriaxone at an early course of the disease. The patient did not develop any complications during the time of hospitalization and had recovered well. Close contacts with the case were identified and given post-exposure prophylaxis with 500 mg ciprofloxacin. No new cases were encountered during the course of contact tracing. </p>


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