Gradual Strengthening Research Articles

Formation of a Community of Practice in the Watershed Scale, with Integrated Local Environmental Knowledge

Rural communities around the world face formidable problems such as resource depletion, environmental degradation and economic decline. While the term ‘community’ is often used without clear definition or context, it can be viewed as a group of people emerging through social interaction. Through a series of collaborative action toward a shared goal, a community of practice can be formed. This paper proposes a hypothetical framework of integrated local environmental knowledge (ILEK), and applies it to analyze the processes of collaborative actions in the case of the Nishibetsu Watershed in Hokkaido, Japan. The case study identified several phases of actions, all initiated by a group of local residents on a grassroots and voluntary basis. These local resident-initiated collaborative actions had a particular confluence of elements to facilitate gradual strengthening of formal and informal institutions in the watershed scale beyond jurisdictional boundaries, making this a worthy case to study. The local residents used diverse types of knowledge, including livelihood-based technologies and skills of working as a group and with local governments, for establishing and strengthening various institutions for collaborative actions, with such knowledge being used in the manner of tools in a box of bricolage for community formation.

Sexual antagonism and the instability of environmental sex determination.

The sex of an organism can be determined by its genetics or its early environment. Across the animal kingdom, genetic sex determination (GSD) is far more common than environmental sex determination (ESD). Here, we propose an explanation for this pattern: the coupling of genes that bias offspring sex ratios towards one sex with genes that are beneficial in that sex but costly in the other. Gradual strengthening of the sex-specific tendency of this association eventuates in a neo-sex chromosome; that is, GSD. Our model predicts to which system of heterogamety ESD will evolve when nesting behaviour is an important determinant of brood sex ratios. It explains the puzzling observation in some GSD species of sex reversal induced by extreme environments. The model also suggests an approach to discovering sex-determining genes in ESD species.

Effect of Retail Investor Attention on Chinas A-Share Market Under a Strengthening Financial Regulatory Policy

The influence of retail investor attention on the stock market has been examined widely in recent years. Prior studies confirm that retail investor attention has a significant effect on stock price or liquidity, and that the former can predict the latter. However, whether the stability of this correlation is affected by the change of external factors has not been studied in depth. Given that China’s stock market has distinct policy-oriented characteristics, the gradual strengthening of regulatory policies is likely to affect retail investors and thus affect the stock market. Therefore, based on the progressive reinforcement of financial regulatory policy, this paper first classifies retail investor attention and then examines the effect of such attention on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) 50 Index and the China Securities Index (CSI) 1000 Index. We also investigate the unusual closing price trends of the two major indices that emerged at the end of 2016. We find that using retail investor attention to explain the fluctuations in the variances of the indexes is more effective for the CSI 1000 Index than the SSE 50 Index. The influence of the various categories of retail investor attention on the two indexes changes significantly before and after the implementation of a strict regulatory policy. Specifically, attention paid to regulatory policies, Internet financial products that focus on currency funds, and the macro situation have markedly different effects on the stock market quotation. During the implementation of a stringent regulatory policy, retail investor attention can explain the fluctuation in the variance of 70% of the contrary trends of the closing prices on the two indexes.

The participation of victims in the trial process

Directive 2012/29/EU, establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, forms part of a package of measures designed to ensure that victims have the same basic level of rights throughout the EU regardless of their nationality or the location of the crime. One of the Directive’s innovations is a suite of measures designed to facilitate the participation of victims in the criminal process. The provisions include a right on the part of victims to be heard and a right to have their dignity protected when giving evidence. 
 Although there has been a gradual strengthening of victims’ rights at national and international level, the concept of participation remains poorly defined and practice varies widely across the EU. The issue is particularly controversial in common law systems where victims are not assigned any formal role in the trial process. The traditional adversarial trial, designed to accommodate the prosecution and the defence, poses a structural obstacle to reform. However, recognising the limits of EU competence to legislate in the area of criminal justice, the member states have been afforded a wide margin of appreciation when implementing the Directive’s provisions on participation.

Sedimentology, geochemistry and OSL dating of the alluvial succession in the northern Gujarat alluvial plain (western India) - A record to evaluate the sensitivity of a semiarid fluvial system to the climatic and tectonic forcing since the late Marine Isotopic Stage 3

The alluvial successions in the northern Gujarat alluvial plain (western India) have been investigated for reconstructing the climatic fluctuations during the last 40ka. Alluvial architecture and geochemical proxies indicate prevalence of a strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) with fluctuations between the late Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3; 37ka) to the early MIS 2 (27ka). A gradual onset of aridity (declining ISM) after 27ka with peak aridity at ~22ka is observed. A gradual strengthening of ISM at around 18 and >12ka followed by a short reversal in ISM intensity between 12 and 11ka, is attributed to the Younger-Dryas (YD) cooling event. The aeolian sand sheet dated to 6 and 3.5ka represents the onset of regional aridity. Following this, a short-lived humid phase was observed after ~2ka, which includes the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). The study suggests that the variability in the ISM to the latitudinal migration of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone was caused by insolation-driven cooling and warming events in the North Atlantic.The incision of the valley fill alluvium occurred in two distinct phases. The older incision phase occurred after 11ka and before 6ka, whereas the younger incision phase that led to the development of present day topography is bracketed between 3.5ka and before 1ka. The older incision phase is ascribed to the early to mid-Holocene enhanced ISM (climatically driven), whereas the younger incision seems to be modulated by the activation of basement faults (tectonically driven).

The Global Norm of Large Marine Protected Areas: Explaining variable adoption and implementation

AbstractSince 2006, governments have designated or announced 18 marine protected areas (MPAs) larger than 200 000 km2. Before then there was only one: Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, established in 1975. To explain this marked shift in state governance of marine biodiversity, this article points to the importance of a gradual strengthening over the past decade of a global norm that large MPAs, especially no‐take reserves, are valuable for meeting conservation objectives and targets. As is true for most global environmental norms, the large MPA norm emerged primarily out of civil society, especially from groups framing large MPAs as an effective way to help stop ocean decline. Importantly, however, the article demonstrates that the adoption of this norm is uneven across states, and implementation of large MPAs varies widely as governmental and non‐governmental forces interact – sometimes clashing, sometimes cooperating – with fishing, tourism and resource industries. For evidence, this article draws on fieldwork and 74 interviews across five large MPA cases: Papahānaumokouākea (2006) and the Pacific Remote Islands in the US (2009); the Coral Sea in Australia (2012); the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (2015); and the UK's Pitcairn reserve (2015). A comparative analysis of these cases reveals the influence of non‐governmental groups (especially The Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Geographic Society) on the gradual strengthening of the large MPA norm; the importance of the large MPA norm for the formation of marine policy; and the significance of domestic political economies for shaping variable norm adoption and state implementation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Evolution of the Asian summer monsoon during Dansgaard/Oeschger events 13–17 recorded in a stalagmite constrained by high-precision chronology from southwest China

AbstractA stalagmite with high 238U content from Yangkou Cave, China, revealed the evolution of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) between 49.1 and 59.5 ka, and the δ18O values recorded Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) events 13–17. The Yangkou record shows a relatively gradual transition into the D/O 14 and 16 events. The discrepancy between the abrupt and gradual transitions of D/O 14 in the records from northern and southern China, respectively, suggests different responses of the ASM to climate changes in the high northern latitudes. The higher resolution δ18O record and more precise 230Th dating indicate that the timing of D/O 14 and 17 in the Hulu records at 53 and 58 ka should be shifted to 54.3 and 59 ka, respectively. The gradual strengthening of the ASM at the onsets of D/O 16 and 14 in our record is different from the abrupt temperature rise in the northern high latitudes. Some other factors must contribute to this relatively gradual ASM change in southern China, but the actual reason is still unknown.

Early development of mechanisms of change as a predictor of subsequent change and treatment outcome: The case of working alliance.

Advanced statistical tools have created the opportunity to systematically examine the effect of early trajectories in predictors of therapeutic change, such as early alliance development patterns, on outcome. To date, however, these methods have been used almost exclusively to examine the effect of the development of early symptoms on later ones. Development patterns of alliance early in treatment, and their association with treatment outcome, have received much theoretical attention, but few systematic examinations have been conducted so far. We integrated exploratory cluster analysis with the accumulated theoretical and empirical knowledge on patterns of alliance development to identify distinct patterns of early alliance development across the 1st 4 sessions of treatment in a sample of 166 patients receiving psychotherapy. Three patterns of early alliance development were identified: early gradual strengthening, early repaired rupture, and early unrepaired rupture. The gradual strengthening and the repaired rupture patterns early in treatment predicted alliance strengthening later in treatment, whereas the unrepaired rupture pattern early in treatment predicted alliance stability later in treatment. The effect of early alliance development patterns on treatment outcome was moderated by pretreatment interpersonal problems: For patients with better interpersonal functioning at intake, the gradual strengthening and the repaired rupture patterns showed better outcomes, whereas for those with poorer interpersonal functioning at intake, the early unrepaired rupture pattern showed better outcomes. Findings suggest that early alliance development patterns affect treatment process and outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record

Research on differences of spillover effects between international crude oil price and stock markets in China and America

Oil is the basic factor of economic development, and its impacts of international crude oil market on stock markets have attracted wide attention from scholars. Based on the historical data of stock markets in China and the United States and international crude oil price during January 2003–December 2016, this paper employs the Vector Auto Regression-Generalized Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (VAR-GARCH) model to explore the mean and volatility spillover effects between international crude oil market and stock market. The results show that, first, there are two-way mean spillover effects between the US stock market and international crude oil market, while only one-way volatility effects from international crude oil market to the US stock market. Second, only one-way mean spillover effects from international crude oil market to Chinese stock market, and there is no evidence of volatility spillover effects between Chinese stock market and international crude oil market. The relationship between international crude oil price and China’s stock market shows a gradual strengthening trend, the linkage between them should not be ignored.

Thermal stability of an ultrafine grained Ti-6Al-4V alloy during post-deformation annealing

In the current study, a Ti-6Al-4V alloy plate with a supersaturated martensitic starting microstructure was initially warm rolled, producing a gradient ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructure throughout the thickness: fully equiaxed UFG in the surface layer and a combination of UFG and elongated grains in the center layer. The thermal stability of the warm rolled UFG microstructures was then investigated through the course of post-deformation annealing treatment. Upon annealing, the fully UFG surface layer experienced concurrent α grain growth and β precipitation (i.e. partitioning), whereas the center layer revealed the replacement of partially fragmented α lath by equiaxed grains, most likely through static recrystallization. With increasing annealing time, the overall texture characteristics were mostly preserved for both surface and center layers, apart from a gradual strengthening of the (0°, 0°, 30°) texture component in the surface layer at the expense of the (0°, 0°, 0°) and (0°, 90°, 0°) components. The current post-deformation annealing treatment led to an enhanced tensile elongation of the alloy at the expense of strength, with an increase in the annealing time.

The Role of nato Enlargement in the Ukraine Crisis

The Ukraine crisis has spawned an East–west confrontation that was generated by misperceptions on both sides: (1) by Russian perceptions of security challenges resulting from nato’s enlargement, as Moscow reacted (and over-reacted) to the threat that Ukraine would become a member and, as such, would pose a danger to Russia; and (2) by Western blindness to (or lack of concern for) the genuine worries that the prospect of Ukrainian membership stirred in Russian minds. This article briefly examines the gradual strengthening of these mutual misperceptions as nato engaged in its process of enlargement. It argues that the prospect of Ukraine’s imminent membership brought to a boil the long-brewing clash of assumptions about requirements for Europe’s security.

Financial intermediation in Serbia: Alternatives for economic growth acceleration

The aim of the paper is to explore whether there is a fundamental alternative to the incumbent pattern of financial intermediation that can accelerate the economic growth of Serbia. The main insights that the analysis is based on are: (1) the level of financial intermediation in Serbia is still very low and very far from the level at which the diminishing or negative returns to the economic growth can be feasible, (2) the domestic financial system is to the great extent integrated into the international one, enabling the low domestic savings rate to be overcome as one of the main limiting factors of the economic growth, and (3) the regulation of the domestic financial system is compatible with the European regulation. Four alternatives to the existing system were examined. The first alternative, an accelerated built-up of nonbanking financial system is not feasible, regardless of whether it is desirable. The two other alternatives, i.e. the withdrawal of the domestic financial system from the international one and its robust ex post regulation are not desirable due to the numerous adverse consequences to the economic growth that they would produce. The remaining desirable solution is the evolution of the incumbent system, based on the moderate ex ante regulation and gradual development and strengthening of nonbanking financial intermediation.

Theoretical analysis of trends in hydrogen bonding involving halogen acceptors (F−At) covalently bonded to a group 14 atom (C−Pb)

ABSTRACTIn this work, extensive quantum-chemical calculations have been carried out to identify and elucidate trends in the hydrogen-bonding (HB) interaction involving halogen acceptors covalently bonded to a group 14 atom. A series of 25 heterodimers composed of MH3X (where M = C−Pb and X = F−At) and HNC molecules have been selected as model complexes stabilised by the HB interaction occurring between the X atom of MH3X and the H atom of HNC. The interaction energy (Eint) between MH3X and HNC in the MH3X···HNC complexes falls in the range from −2.7 to −10.8 kcal/mol, indicating weak or medium strength of HB in these complexes. The strength of HB in the complexes remains consistent with the well-known HB weakening as X gets heavier. Regarding the effect of M on Eint, the gradual strengthening of HB is observed while descending group 14, but only from M = Si to M = Pb. The trends in Eint are compared with various HB-related parameters obtained from vibrational analysis, the natural bond orbital (NBO) method, the symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) and the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM). The parameters that present clear (possibly linear) relationships with Eint have been selected to characterise the effect of M and X on the HB interaction.

World Economic Prospects

Overview: Global growth picking up at the end of the year We have lifted our world GDP growth forecasts for both 2016 and 2017 by 0.1 percentage points, to 2.3% and 2.7% respectively. And we have raised our 2018 world growth forecast from 2.7% to 2.9%, mainly on the back of a significant upgrade to our US outlook. Global indicators point to a pick‐up in activity in Q4. The global manufacturing PMI rose to a 27‐month high in November, while the composite index – which includes services – was at its highest level for a year. Indicators of international trade continue to paint a mixed picture. Global trade volumes declined slightly over the previous month in September but that came after a strong gain in August, and it looks like the trough in the world trade cycle has been passed. We expect a gradual strengthening in world trade over the next couple of years provided president‐elect Trump do not follow through on his protectionist threats. Trade should be underpinned by stronger growth in the US: we have lifted our 2017–18 growth forecasts to 2.3% and 2.5% respectively (from 2% and 1.9%). Our more bullish stance is driven by the anticipated effects of president‐elect Trump's expansive fiscal policies and his less protectionist tone. Tax cuts and business deregulation could also unleash investors' ‘animal spirits’, helping offset the effects from a stronger dollar and heightened policy uncertainty. Stronger growth means that, in addition to a nearcertain hike in December, we now see the Fed raising interest rates twice in 2017 and three times in 2018. This, in turn, is reflected in a steeper yield curve for government bonds than previously expected. This will also pose higher risks for emerging markets that remain exposed to capital outflows and are vulnerable given their stock of US$ denominated debt. Countries with large current account deficits such as Turkey and South Africa are likely to be most affected Economic activity in the Eurozone remains resilient to the shocks of recent months. Following the ECB's announcement of an extension of its QE programme and increasing divergence between monetary policies compared to the US, we now see the euro falling to parity against the US dollar by the end of 2017.

State Ownership of Land in Uzbekistan – an Impediment to Further Agricultural Growth?

AbstractThe present paper aims to demonstrate how the state land ownership affects development of agricultural sector in Uzbekistan, and what are its strengths and weaknesses. It highlights the importance of secure land right regardless of ownership. Land in Uzbekistan is state-owned; the exclusive state ownership of land was first incorporated in the 1992 Constitution. The official rationale was to ensure food security and social stability; another concern was the state-run irrigation system, operation of which would be hampered in the event of land privatization.Farming entities in Uzbekistan possess different rights to land: from long-life inheritable rights of the dehkans (small-scale household farms) to rights limited by 30 to 50 years and defined by lease contracts of the private farmers. The latter are monitored by the state and are subject to state interventions; in the first place they have to carry the burden of state quotas for cotton and wheat and they are obliged to sell these crops for state-dictated prices. Dehkans provide a major part of livestock production and they can, unlike private farmers, sell all their production at market prices.Land tenure rights in Uzbekistan lack certain qualities that would make land tenure rights meaningful. The duration of land rights is sufficient, however they do not assure the holders that rights will be recognized and enforced at low costs and do not provide them with mechanisms allowing adjustment under changing conditions.The authors conclude that the insufficient land tenure security, which is further undermined by state interventions, poses a significant barrier impeding development in the agricultural sector. The paper identifies opportunities for change arising from the gradual strengthening of market principles.

Targeted memory reactivation of newly learned words during sleep triggers REM-mediated integration of new memories and existing knowledge

Recent memories are spontaneously reactivated during sleep, leading to their gradual strengthening. Whether reactivation also mediates the integration of new memories with existing knowledge is unknown. We used targeted memory reactivation (TMR) during slow-wave sleep (SWS) to selectively cue reactivation of newly learned spoken words. While integration of new words into their phonological neighbourhood was observed in both cued and uncued words after sleep, TMR-triggered integration was predicted by the time spent in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. These data support complementary roles for SWS and REM in memory consolidation.

Prosodic realization of contrastive focus in Yucatecan Spanish

Abstract This article deals with the prosodic realization of contrastive focus in Yucatecan Spanish. Data from three recent elicitation experiments with a total of 5 balanced bilingual speakers of Yucatecan Spanish (YS) and Yucatec Maya (YM), 5 Spanish dominant bilingual speakers of YS and YM, and 5monolingual speakers of YS suggest that in YS contrastive focus is mostly signaled by means of a high pitch early in the Intonation Phrase, followed by a fall to the final stressed syllable of a contrasted word. In this respect, the established YS variety importantly differs from standard Mexican Spanish (MS), where the stressed syllable of a contrastive constituent is generally associated with an L+H* pitch accent (cf. De la Mota 2010). However, the systematic behavior described above only shows up in the data produced by the Spanish dominant and monolingual speakers, whereas the data produced by the balanced bilingual speakers is characterized by a much higher amount of idiosyncratic variation. This fact suggests that the development of intonational systems in language contact settings is, among other things, a matter of gradual consolidation or strengthening of features.

Political, merit-based and nepotic elements in the selection of Hungarian judges. A possible way of creating judicial loyalty in East Central Europe

ABSTRACTHungarian judicial selection has been characterised by meritocratic and nepotic elements since the 1990 regime change which are indirectly distorted by change, albeit to a relatively reduced extent, to political aspects. Scores of Hungarian and foreign experts have evaluated the measures of the justice reform put in place after the 2010 change of government as being about a series of successive measures to politicise the judiciary from the creation of the new constitution to legislation regarding the justice system. In this study it has been demonstrated that regarding the initial phase of judicial selection the gradual strengthening of meritocratic elements may be observed, which continued after 2010 as well. First and foremost, it may be traced in the more objective system of evaluating judicial applications. The possibilities for discretionary decisions by heads of administration have been considerably restricted in the selection of judges. At the same time, however, the competences of heads of administration entitled to make appointments have been broadened upon filling court management positions.

A Molecular-Level Study of Metamorphosis and Strengthening of Gels by Spontaneous Polymorphic Transitions.

Many weak gels often undergo spontaneous transformation to form a stronger gel upon aging. Herein, the molecular-level changes that occur during the transformation of a weak gel into a strong gel are shown by using various time-dependent techniques. Diol 1 forms a metastable transparent gel (TG) in a mixture of CH2 Cl2 /hexane and undergoes a fast transition to an opaque gel (OG) accompanied by gradual strengthening of the gel, as evidenced from time-dependent Tgel and rheology studies. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analyses suggest that these two gels correspond to two different polymorphs. By using FTIR spectroscopy and powder XRD experiments, it is shown that the TG-containing kinetic polymorph, with weakly hydrogen-bonded self-assembly, spontaneously changes into the OG containing a strongly hydrogen-bonded stable polymorph and this leads to strengthening of the gel and metamorphosis. Time-dependent IR studies prove the gradual change in hydrogen-bonding pattern. This is the first molecular-level study of polymorphic transitions in gels.

Effect of a Supportive Educational Program on Self-Efficacy of Mothers with Epileptic Children

Background: In the aftermath of de-institutionalisation and the move to community management of epilepsia, mothers play an increasing role in the management of the illness. Mothers often complain of being misinformed and ill equipped to aid in the treatment. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a Supportive Educational Program on self-efficacy of mothers with epileptic children. Method: This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on two groups of 50 mothers with epileptic children admitted to Ghaem Hospital in the city of Mashhad in 2014. Maternal self-efficacy was measured before and 6 weeks after intervention through Steffen’s Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy as the research instrument. The Supportive Educational Program was implemented for the experimental group during five 60-minute sessions with an interval of 4 days. The control group received the routine care. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 11.5). Results: The mean age of mothers in the experimental and control groups were 32.8±6.9 and 32.8±6.8 years, respectively. The findings of the independent t-test revealed significant differences between the two control (47.4±15.06) and experimental (66.5±11.5) groups following the intervention (p<0.001). The paired t-test results also indicated a significant difference between self-efficacy scores before and after intervention in both groups (p<0.001). Implications for Practice: Stepwise implementation of a Supportive Educational Program can contribute to an increase in maternal awareness about how to care, reasons for recurrence, and measures taken in the emergency stage of epilepsy through gradual strengthening of self-efficacy of mothers with epileptic children.