People in context: overview and conclusions

Author(s):  
Anne Haour
Keyword(s):  

This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study which compared the rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics of medieval central Sahel and north-west Europe. It discusses the problems associated with the use of historical and archaeological records to comprehend the past and the problems concerning the paradox between the local/immediate and the global/long term. It suggests that despite the limited evidence available, the data from the central Sahel and from north-west Europe make most sense when considered together.

2013 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Hughes ◽  
Will Steffen

Australia’s climate is changing, consistent with global trends. Continental average temperatures have increased nearly 1°C since the early 20th century, with warming accelerating since the 1950s. The number of extreme hot days is increasing, whereas the number of cold days and frosts is decreasing. With an average temperature over 1.0°C above the long-term mean, 2005 was Australia’s warmest year on record; 2009 was the second warmest year on record. The decade 2000–2009 was Australia’s warmest. Rainfall has been decreasing in the south-west and south-east of Australia, but increasing in the north-west. The ocean is warming and sea levels are rising, consistent with global averages. Consistent with global and national trends, Victoria’s climate is already changing and will continue to do so, posing significant risks to the State. Over the past few decades Victoria has become hotter and drier, and these trends are likely to continue, together with an increasing intensity and/or frequency of extreme events, such as heatwaves, droughts, bushfires and floods, posing significant risks to the State’s infrastructure, coasts, ecosystems, agriculture and health.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-351
Author(s):  
Mueni wa Muiu

Abstract What lessons can we draw from the past fifty years of political independence in African countries? Which mistakes can we avoid in the future? Can there be peace without social justice? Four mistakes must be avoided if democracy, peace and social justice are to be achieved in African countries. Drawing on lessons from Central, East, North, West and Southern Africa, I use Fundi wa Africa – a multidisciplinary approach based on a long term historical perspective to argue that individual nationhood (the first mistake) has not resulted in democracy and peace. Only Pan-Africanism (based on the needs and interests of Africans as they define them) will lead to democracy and peace. The second mistake is that leading international financial institutions (IFI) and some Africans assume that democracy has to be introduced to Africa. This assumption is based on the belief that Africans and their culture have nothing to contribute to their own development. As a result liberal democracy is promoted by these agencies as the only option available for African countries. The third mistake is the belief that a colonial state which was developed to fulfill the market and labor needs of colonial powers can lead to democracy and peace for Africans. The fourth mistake is African leaders’ and their supporters’ conviction that neither African intellectuals nor women have any place in African development and may only be given symbolic positions. Without economic independence, the political gains of the past fifty years will be lost. The founding fathers and mothers of Africa’s freedom fought and achieved political independence, but it is up to the next generation to strive for economic empowerment. Only then will African countries cease to be homes for bankrupt ideas as they are freed from conflict and hunger.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Oetken ◽  
Marissa Adler ◽  
Katharina Alt ◽  
Jean Bachmann ◽  
Andrea Dombrowski ◽  
...  

In the past two decades, an increasing body of studies has been published on the intersex phenomenon in separate-sexed crustaceans from marine and freshwater ecosystems. Various causes are being considered that could have an influence on the occurrence of intersex. Besides genetic factors, environmental conditions such as photoperiodicity, temperature, salinity and parasitism, but also environmental pollution with endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are discussed. As part of a long-term monitoring (2012 – 2020) in north-west Brittany, we recorded the occurrence of intersex in the marine amphipod Echinogammarus marinus. We quantified the intersex incidence at marine and estuarine sites and analyzed the incidence in relation to the endocrine potential of the sediments. Intersex occurred with mean frequencies between 0.87% and 12%. It was striking that the incidence of intersex increased with increasing distance from the sea. Since the highest incidence was observed at the range boundary of this stenohaline species, we assume that intersex is triggered by endocrine potential and increasing stress due to increasing freshwater content − and thus an interplay of different environmental factors.


Author(s):  
Adriano Maglica

<p>The Älvsborg Bridge was opened to traffic in 1966. The Bridge was built between 1963 and 1966 and the bridge has undergone rehabilitation and improvement during its lifetime. The secondary hangers have been exchanged and dehumidification have been installed on the cables. Railing separating pedestrians and vehicles has been improved and the waterproofing is undergoing exchange.<p>During a routine inspection of dehumidification, aug 2016, an anchorage failure was observed. In the north west anchorage one of the fiftyfive lock coil cables was spotted laying on the bottom of the spreading chamber.<p>A number of inspections and investigations including endoscope inspections and safety calculation has been performed. Short term measurements and long term has been evaluated. Starting from limited knowledge of the condition the owner, Swedish Transport Administration (STA) now has a good picture of the condition and plans for repairs.<P>The damage highlights the need of inspection methods of “non inspectable” parts on bridges from the past as well as needs to design inspectable solutions on critical bridge parts in the future.


Author(s):  
Robert Klinck ◽  
Ben Bradshaw ◽  
Ruby Sandy ◽  
Silas Nabinacaboo ◽  
Mannie Mameanskum ◽  
...  

The Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach is an Aboriginal community located in northern Quebec near the Labrador Border. Given the region’s rich iron deposits, the Naskapi Nation has considerable experience with major mineral development, first in the 1950s to the 1980s, and again in the past decade as companies implement plans for further extraction. This has raised concerns regarding a range of environmental and socio-economic impacts that may be caused by renewed development. These concerns have led to an interest among the Naskapi to develop a means to track community well-being over time using indicators of their own design. Exemplifying community-engaged research, this paper describes the beginning development of such a tool in fall 2012—the creation of a baseline of community well-being against which mining-induced change can be identified. Its development owes much to the remarkable and sustained contribution of many key members of the Naskapi Nation. If on-going surveying is completed based on the chosen indicators, the Nation will be better positioned to recognize shifts in its well-being and to communicate these shifts to its partners. In addition, long-term monitoring will allow the Naskapi Nation to contribute to more universal understanding of the impacts of mining for Indigenous peoples.


Author(s):  
Lindsey C Bohl

This paper examines a few of the numerous factors that may have led to increased youth turnout in 2008 Election. First, theories of voter behavior and turnout are related to courting the youth vote. Several variables that are perceived to affect youth turnout such as party polarization, perceived candidate difference, voter registration, effective campaigning and mobilization, and use of the Internet, are examined. Over the past 40 years, presidential elections have failed to engage the majority of young citizens (ages 18-29) to the point that they became inclined to participate. This trend began to reverse starting in 2000 Election and the youth turnout reached its peak in 2008. While both short and long-term factors played a significant role in recent elections, high turnout among youth voters in 2008 can be largely attributed to the Obama candidacy and campaign, which mobilized young citizens in unprecedented ways.


Author(s):  
Tatiana Vasilievna Pomogaeva ◽  
Aliya Ahmetovna Aseinova ◽  
Yuriy Aleksandrovich Paritskiy ◽  
Vjacheslav Petrovich Razinkov

The article presents annual statistical data of the Caspian Research Institute of Fishery. There has been kept track of the long term dynamics of the stocks of three species of Caspian sprat (anchovy, big-eyed kilka, sprat) and investigated a process of substituting a food item of sprats Eurytemora grimmi to a small-celled copepod species Acartia tonsa Dana. According to the research results, there has been determined growth potential of stocks of each species. Ctenophoran-Mnemiopsis has an adverse effect on sprat population by eating fish eggs and larvae. Ctenophoram - Mnemiopsis is a nutritional competitor to the full-grown fishes. The article gives recommendations on reclamation of stocks of the most perspective species - common sprat, whose biological characteristics helped not to suffer during Ctenophoram outburst and to increase its population during change of the main food item. Hydroacoustic survey data prove the intensive growth of common sprat biomass in the north-west part of the Middle Caspian. According to the results of the research it may be concluded that to realize the volumes of recommended sprat catch it is necessary to organize the marine fishery of common sprat at the Russian Middle Caspian shelf.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Kamlesh Kumar Shukla

FIIs are companies registered outside India. In the past four years there has been more than $41 trillion worth of FII funds invested in India. This has been one of the major reasons on the bull market witnessing unprecedented growth with the BSE Sensex rising 221% in absolute terms in this span. The present downfall of the market too is influenced as these FIIs are taking out some of their invested money. Though there is a lot of value in this market and fundamentally there is a lot of upside in it. For long-term value investors, there’s little because for worry but short term traders are adversely getting affected by the role of FIIs are playing at the present. Investors should not panic and should remain invested in sectors where underlying earnings growth has little to do with financial markets or global economy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinlu Feng ◽  
Zifei Yin ◽  
Daniel Zhang ◽  
Arun Srivastava ◽  
Chen Ling

The success of gene and cell therapy in clinic during the past two decades as well as our expanding ability to manipulate these biomaterials are leading to new therapeutic options for a wide range of inherited and acquired diseases. Combining conventional therapies with this emerging field is a promising strategy to treat those previously-thought untreatable diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has evolved for thousands of years in China and still plays an important role in human health. As part of the active ingredients of TCM, proteins and peptides have attracted long-term enthusiasm of researchers. More recently, they have been utilized in gene and cell therapy, resulting in promising novel strategies to treat both cancer and non-cancer diseases. This manuscript presents a critical review on this field, accompanied with perspectives on the challenges and new directions for future research in this emerging frontier.


Author(s):  
Nils Brunsson

This chapter argues that organizational reforms are driven by problems to be addressed, by solutions to be applied, and by forgetfulness. The greater the supply of any of these factors, the more likely it is that reforms will occur. Without problems, reforms are difficult to justify; without solutions they cannot be formulated; and without forgetfulness there is a risk that people will be discouraged by the fact that similar reforms have been tried and have failed in the past. In contemporary large organizations, problems tend to be easily found. Those interested in selling solutions often try to supply problems as well — problems that can be solved by their solutions. Forgetfulness can be promoted by the use of consultants with limited experience of the implementation and long-term effects of reforms. Reforms are also self-referential; they tend to cause new reforms. Thus, reforms can be considered as routines: they are likely to be repeated over and over again.


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