scholarly journals Using the Maximal Entropy Modeling Approach to Analyze the Evolution of Sedentary Agricultural Societies in Northeast China

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ido Wachtel ◽  
Royi Zidon ◽  
Gideon Shelach-Lavi

The emergence of agriculture and the evolution of sedentary societies are among the most important processes in human history. However, although archeologists and social scientists have long been studying these processes, our understanding of them is still limited. This article focuses on the Fuxin area in present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China. A systematic archeological survey we conducted in Fuxin in recent years located sites from five successive stages of the evolution of agricultural sedentary society. We used the principles of Maximal Entropy to study changes in settlement patterns during a long-term local trajectory, from the incipient steps toward a sedentary agricultural way of life to the emergence of complex societies. Based on the detailed data collected in the field, we developed a geo-statistical model based on Maximal Entropy (MaxEnt) that characterizes the locational choices of societies during different periods. This combination of high-resolution information on the location and density of archeological remains, along with a maximal entropy-based statistical model, enabled us to chart the long-term trajectory of the interactions between human societies and their natural environment and to better understand the different stages of the transition to developed sedentary agricultural society.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiayue Jiao

 Economic vitality is an important indicator of regional competitiveness. The demand for talents and the vitality of enterprises in different regions are obvious to all and have practical significance. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a survey data model and conduct in-depth study on improving regional economic vitality from the perspective of policy.Based on a variety of forecasting methods, this paper analyzes the short-term and long-term impact of economic policies in Northeast China, and finally puts forward the factors that affect the economic vitality of northeast policies. Finally, the paper puts forward the feasibility and targeted suggestions of strengthening regional economic vitality, obtaining long-term development and building a more competitive city in the new era. 


2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 70-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Gallagher

Public opinion in the United States and elsewhere celebrated the liberation of Afghan women following the defeat of the Taliban government. The United States promised to stay in Afghanistan and foster security, economic development, and human rights for all, especially women. After years of funding various anti- Soviet Mujahidin warlords, the United States had agreed to help reconstruct the country once before in 1992, when the Soviet-backed government fell, but had lost interest when the warlords began to fight among themselves. This time, however, it was going to be different. To date, however, conditions have not improved for most Afghan women and reconstruction has barely begun. How did this happen? This article explores media presentations of Afghan women and then compares them with recent reports from human rights organizations and other eyewitness accounts. It argues that the media depictions were built on earlier conceptions of Muslim societies and allowed us to adopt a romantic view that disguised or covered up the more complex historical context of Afghan history and American involvement in it. We allowed ourselves to believe that Afghans were exotic characters who were modernizing or progressing toward a western way of life, despite the temporary setback imposed by the Taliban government. In Afghanistan, however, there was a new trope: the feminist Afghan woman activist. Images of prominent Afghan women sans burqa were much favored by the mass media and American policymakers. The result, however, was not a new focus on funding feminist political organizations or making women’s rights a foreign policy priority; rather, it was an unwillingness to fulfill obligations incurred during decades of American-funded mujahidin warfare, to face the existence of deteriorating conditions for women, resumed opium cultivation, and a resurgent Taliban, or to commit to a multilateral approach that would bring in the funds and expertise needed to sustain a long-term process of reconstruction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongjoo Choi ◽  
Yugo Kanaya ◽  
Seung-Myung Park ◽  
Atsushi Matsuki ◽  
Yasuhiro Sadanaga ◽  
...  

Abstract. The black carbon (BC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emission ratios were estimated and compiled from long-term, harmonized observations of the ΔBC∕ΔCO ratios under conditions unaffected by wet deposition at four sites in East Asia, including two sites in South Korea (Baengnyeong and Gosan) and two sites in Japan (Noto and Fukuoka). Extended spatio-temporal coverage enabled estimation of the full seasonality and elucidation of the emission ratio in North Korea for the first time. The estimated ratios were used to validate the Regional Emission inventory in ASia (REAS) version 2.1 based on six study domains (“East China”, “North China”, “Northeast China”, South Korea, North Korea, and Japan). We found that the ΔBC∕ΔCO ratios from four sites converged into a narrow range (6.2–7.9 ng m−3 ppb−1), suggesting consistency in the results from independent observations and similarity in source profiles over the regions. The BC∕CO ratios from the REAS emission inventory (7.7 ng m−3 ppb−1 for East China – 23.2 ng m−3 ppb−1 for South Korea) were overestimated by factors of 1.1 for East China to 3.0 for South Korea, whereas the ratio for North Korea (3.7 ng m−3 ppb−1 from REAS) was underestimated by a factor of 2.0, most likely due to inaccurate emissions from the road transportation sector. Seasonal variation in the BC∕CO ratio from REAS was found to be the highest in winter (China and North Korea) or summer (South Korea and Japan), whereas the measured ΔBC∕ΔCO ratio was the highest in spring in all source regions, indicating the need for further characterization of the seasonality when creating a bottom-up emission inventory. At levels of administrative districts, overestimation in Seoul, the southwestern regions of South Korea, and Northeast China was noticeable, and underestimation was mainly observed in the western regions in North Korea, including Pyongyang. These diagnoses are useful for identifying regions where revisions in the inventory are necessary, providing guidance for the refinement of BC and CO emission rate estimates over East Asia.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-332
Author(s):  
J. Zhang ◽  
Y. Miao ◽  
W.D. Batchelor

Over-application of nitrogen (N) in rice (Oryza sativaL.) production in China is common, leading to low N use efficiency (NUE) and high environmental risks. The objective of this work was to evaluate the ability of the CERES-Rice crop growth model to simulate N response in the cool climate of Northeast China, with the long term goal of using the model to develop optimum N management recommendations. Nitrogen experiments were conducted from 2011–2015 in Jiansanjiang, Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. The CERES-Rice model was calibrated for 2014 and 2015 and evaluated for 2011 and 2013 experiments. Overall, the model gave good estimations of yield across N rates for the calibration years (R2=0.89) and evaluation years (R2=0.73). The calibrated model was then run using weather data from 2001–2015 for 20 different N rates to determine the N rate that maximized the long term marginal net return (MNR) for different N prices. The model results indicated that the optimum mean N rate was 120–130 kg N ha–1, but that the simulated optimum N rate varied each year, ranging from 100 to 200 kg N ha–1. Results of this study indicated that the CERES-Rice model was able to simulate cool season rice growth and provide estimates of optimum regional N rates that were consistent with field observations for the area.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 752
Author(s):  
Liu ◽  
Bao ◽  
Bao

Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.) plays an important role in maintaining ecosystem health and stability in western Liaoning Province and the southern Horqin sand land, Northeast China, with benefits including sand fixation and soil erosion. In the context of climate change, developing a better understanding of the relationship between climate factors and growth rates of this species will be extremely valuable in guiding management activities and meeting regional conservation objectives. Here, the results based on two groups of tree-ring samples show that the radial growth of Chinese pine is controlled primarily by water conditions. The longer chronology had the highest correlation coefficient with the January–September mean self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI); therefore, drought variability was reconstructed for the period 1859–2014. Statistical analysis showed that our model explained 41.9% of the variance in radial growth during the 1951–2014 calibration period. Extreme dry and wet events, defined as the criteria of one standard deviation less or greater than the mean value, accounted for 19.9% and 18.6% of the 156-year climate record, respectively. During the past century, the regional hydroclimate experienced significant long-term fluctuations. The dry periods occurred from the early-1900s–1930s and 1980s–2000s, and the wet periods occurred from the 1940s–1970s. The drought reconstruction was consistent with the decreasing trend of the East Asian summer monsoon since the late 1970s. The reconstructed temporal patterns in hydroclimate in western Liaoning were closely related to the large-scale climate drivers in the North Pacific and the tropical equatorial Pacific. The teleconnections were confirmed by spatial correlations between the reconstructed sequence and sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific, as well as the correlations with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices. Aerosols played an important role in affecting drought variations over the past several decades. Moisture stress caused by global warming and interdecadal changes in the PDO will have long-term effects on the growth of pines in the study area in the future.


1983 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 356-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Bodenham

This article deals with the resettlement of long-term mentally handicapped patients into independent living in wardened accommodation at Priory Court. The emphasis has been on ‘survival‘ and every person thought suitable for the project was given the opportunity to expand his concept of living and be discharged from a long-stay institutional environment. Motivation was the key factor, and staff and patients learnt much from the opportunity. The author gives an outline of the course taken and discusses some of the difficulties and triumphs. It was 3 years ago that long-stay institutional patients were discharged to the freedom of choosing a fuller way of life and from a distance the training team are able to see that these people are succeeding.


2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Jiao ◽  
Wei Ouyang ◽  
Fanghua Hao ◽  
Fangli Wang ◽  
Bing Liu
Keyword(s):  

1975 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin E. Adams

SUMMARYThis paper, concerned with agricultural development planning problems in the Sahelian and Sudanian (semi-desert and savanna) zones in Africa between 10 and 16° North, describes a plan for Darfur, Western Sudan. This aims to modernize a stagnant and primitive technology and out-dated land rights which, in the face of rapid population increase and climatic change, are reducing the long-term carrying capacity of the land. The development plan (H.T.S., 1974) has been based on a 2-year (1972–73) survey by a team of physical and social scientists, financed by the Overseas Development Administration of the United Kingdom and the Ministry of Agriculture in the Sudan.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document