Conservative Trend Research Articles

Spatiotemporal variations of water conservation and its influencing factors in the Qinghai Plateau, China

Water conservation, a crucial ecological service in the Qinghai Plateau, has been affected by climate change and human activity, which has made it a focal point in the field of ecohydrology. This study aimed to analyze the spatiotemporal trends in water conservation in the Qinghai Plateau from 1990 to 2020 using the InVEST model. This study found that the average annual water conservation of the Qinghai Plateau is 31.72 mm, with a total volume of 226.6 × 108 m3. The trend of water conservation increased from the northwest to the southeast, with the Three-River Source, Eastern Agricultural, and Qilian Mountain regions being the focal points. Shrubs and forests had the highest average units of water conservation, whereas grasslands had the largest total water conservation. Meadows are a vegetation type suitable for protection to enhance water conservation. Water conservation is strongly correlated with precipitation and actual evapotranspiration. These results provide theoretical support for protecting and improving the water conservation in the Qinghai Plateau.

Analysis of Water Conservation Trends and Drivers in an Alpine Region: A Case Study of the Qilian Mountains

The water conservation service of an ecosystem reflects the sustainability of regional water resources and is significant to human survival and sustainable development. However, global climate warming and intensified human activities pose substantial challenges to regional water conservation services, especially in an alpine region with a fragile ecological environment, which is more sensitive to climate factors and land use pattern changes. In this study, the Qilian Mountains (QLM) region was chosen as the study area to investigate water conservation trends and drivers in an alpine region. The InVEST model was used to estimate water conservation in the QLM from 2000 to 2020. In addition, the characteristics of the spatiotemporal variation in the water conservation were analyzed using a combination of the Theil–Sen median trend and Mann–Kendall method, coefficient of variation, and Hurst exponent, and the main driving factors affecting these changes were determined using partial correlation analysis and contribution analysis. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The predicted water conservation in the QLM based on the InVEST model’s water yield module had a relative inaccuracy of 5.96%, and the mean water conservation in the QLM from 2000 to 2020 was approximately 78.08 × 108 m3. (2) The water conservation showed a slight increase over the whole QLM region, with a change rate of 0.565 mm/a; yet, it showed a distinct spatial distribution pattern characterized by “more in the east than in the west”. (3) The contribution of the various land use categories to the total water conservation, from highest to lowest, was according to the following: grassland (62.44%) > unutilized land (15.99%) > forest (11.44%) > cultivated land (9.86%) > construction land (0.45%) > water (0.03%). (4) Precipitation exhibited a significant positive correlation, with contribution ratios of approximately 58.50% to the variation in the water content, whereas potential evapotranspiration and surface temperature showed a nonsignificant negative correlation with contribution ratios of approximately 2.17% and 2.08%, respectively. The results can provide scientific reference for ecological protection in the QLM and other similar alpine environment areas.

Conservative ideas in pedagogical thinking of phenomenologist Ján Patočka and personalist Ladislav Hanus

In this paper we focus on the reflection of conservative ideas reflected in pedagogical thinking. The conservative trend in the philosophy of education is presented in a selection of two representatives from the environment of the former Czechoslovakia, who lived and were active in the period of totalitarian real socialism. We present the philosopher and phenomenologist Ján Patočka and the personalist and theologian Ladislav Hanus. Both of them are united by the fact that their works are based on the common philosophical direction of phenomenology and existentialism. In addition, both representatives, above all, through their personal life stories, have been committed to humanistic and conservative values, for which they had to endure persecution during the totalitarian period. They tried to pass on their convictions through the formation, upbringing and education of the younger generation. This common purpose also linked them to pedagogy, to the development of philosophical pedagogical thinking. This article will compare the philosophical views of both, as well as the personalistic and anthropological conceptions of society that were rooted in phenomenology as well as in the tradition of Christian humanism. The contribution of the life and work of J. Patočka and L. Hanus remains significant for contemporary pedagogy and philosophy of education. The paper has also attempted to add some of the basic knowledge of philosophy of education needed in the education of future teachers.

Changing Practices in the Surgical Management of Adnexal Torsion: An Analysis of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Database

ABSTRACT Ovarian torsion occurs when the ovary twists on its own supporting ligaments, resulting in ischemia and possible necrosis. This is a surgical emergency to restore adnexal perfusion, and even in the setting of a necrotic-appearing ovary, conservative management with detorsion alone does not increase postoperative complications compared with oophorectomy. Traditionally, oophorectomy was performed in these cases, and despite the new evidence supporting ovarian conservation, oophorectomy remains common. Despite updated guidelines by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in 2016, it is unclear to what extent practice patterns have changed in the years since. This retrospective cohort study aimed to describe the trend in surgical management of ovarian torsion between 2008 and 2020 and to describe the changes in management before and after the publication of the updated ACOG guidelines. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database was used to identify women aged 18 to 50 years who underwent surgery for adnexal torsion between 2008 and 2020. Patients were classified as having undergone oophorectomy or ovarian conservation using ICD codes, and patients undergoing concurrent surgeries or procedures related to pregnancy or unrelated to adnexal torsion were excluded. Patients were then grouped into pre-ACOG guidelines (2008–2016) and post-ACOG guidelines (2017–2020). Patient demographics, clinical data, perioperative characteristics, and 30-day postoperative adverse events were queried and compared between year cohorts and surgical management groups. The primary outcome was proportion of oophorectomies, described as the number of oophorectomies over the total number of all torsion surgeries per year, with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Multivariable regression analysis was conducted to determine the odds of oophorectomy versus ovarian conservation between year cohorts while controlling for confounders. A total of 1791 patients were included in this study, with 402 (22.4%) in the 2008–2016 cohort and 1389 (77.6%) in the 2017–2020 cohort. Across both groups, 542 patients (30.3%) underwent ovarian conservation, and 1249 (69.7%) underwent oophorectomy. The overall proportion of oophorectomies was similar between the 2008–2016 and 2017–2020 cohorts (71.9% vs 69.1%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.71–1.25). When evaluating the effects of time on odds of oophorectomy, a significant decrease in the odds of oophorectomy performed successively each year over the entire study period was found (average decrease, −1.6%/year; 95% CI, −3.0% to −0.22%), although the yearly successive decrease in the odds of oophorectomy remained similar before and after 2017. The median hospital length of stay was longer, and the hospital admission rates were high in the oophorectomy group compared with the ovarian conservation group. The results of this study demonstrate that 69.7% of surgeries for adnexal torsion involved oophorectomy rather than conservative management, although a modest statistical trend toward fewer oophorectomies over the study period was observed. No observable effect on the trend of oophorectomy versus ovarian conservation was observed before and after the publication of ACOG guidance recommending ovarian conservation.

THE LEGIONARY INSURGENCY OF JANUARY 1941 IN BUCHAREST – NEW ARCHIVE DISCLOSURES

In the literature of the interwar period and World War II, the severe divide between diverse political conservative trends, including authoritarian conservatism and right wing extremism, had been obvious for some time. In the historiography on the Legionary Rebellion in Romania, as it is frequently termed, of 21-23 January 1941, this perspective was disregarded, despite its considerably explanatory potential. This work takes a novel approach to this topic, analyzing with historical-archival arguments the great clash between two eminently incompatible organizations: one of the elites with authoritarian traditional leanings, and the other revolutionary, intolerant of the old hierarchies and inspired by European fascism, promoting national purification through violence and the annihilation of others. This research will reconsider some of the key notions and assumptions underpinnings the disputes and emphasize a sequence of critical decision-making activities based on unstudied Romanian Secret Service data1. Also, the work involves a critical analysis of the information regarding the legionary insurgency through the lens of interwar intelligence and their presentation to the readers, whether they are specialists or a history enthusiasts, both from a historical, analytical, and especially applied and exemplary perspective.

Sustainable Practices in Hotel Management: A Comparative Study of Green Initiatives

This study addresses the challenge of sustainable practices in hotel management by conducting a comparative analysis of a range of hotels. The findings reveal trends in energy efficiency, waste management, water conservation, and guest engagement. By exploring factors that influence adoption and addressing challenges, this study contributes to the advancement of sustainable strategies within the dynamic hospitality industry.

Unpacking ‘Traditional Values’ in Russia’s Conservative Turn: Gender, Sexuality and the Soviet Legacy

We argue for analytically separating women’s and LGBTQ+ rights and differentiating the degrees of sexism and LGBTQ-phobia in Russia to better understand its conservative turn in the 2010s. Comparing Putin’s speeches to domestic audiences (1999–2020) with public opinion, we identify a somewhat conservative trend regarding women’s rights and a far more conservative one on LGBTQ+ rights. While Russia made a sharper conservative turn in summer 2021, we find that until 2020, state discourse and public opinion on these topics mostly echoed Soviet approaches, suggesting that the conservative ‘turn’ amounted more to a ‘return’ than to a novel development.

An interdisciplinary approach to environmental conservation policy: a case of Satoyama redevelopment in the peri-urban area

This study proposes a practice and discussion for an interdisciplinary approach to policies for the conservation of suburban and peri-urban ecosystems. We highlight the need for evidence-based assessment of the current quality of the targeted nature from perspectives of natural science and problem formulation, and that causes should be investigated from the combined perspectives of social science, economic evaluation, and policy design and evaluation, with an awareness of the possibility of consensus building. In this study, based on the ongoing international trend of ecosystem conservation, an economic analysis was conducted to examine the direction of Satoyama development as a case study of urban and peri-urban ecosystem conservation. The result identified the preference and needs of citizens with regard to Satoyama ecosystems and discussed the consistency between policy targets and citizens’ evaluation.

Spatial-Temporal Evolution, Trade-Offs and Synergies of Ecosystem Services in the Qinba Mountains

A scientific understanding of the trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services is the prerequisite for maintaining the structure, function and health of forest ecosystems, which is conducive to promoting the “win-win” goal of economic development and ecological protection. As an important ecological function area in China, the Qinba Mountain region is responsible for important ecological services such as biodiversity conservation and water conservation, and exploring the trade-offs and synergistic relationships of ecosystem services is important for ecological conservation and high-quality development in this region. This paper analyzes the spatial and temporal characteristics of water conservation, soil conservation, carbon sequestration, and habitat quality services and their synergistic/balancing relationships in the Qinba Mountain region from 1990 to 2020 using tools such as the InVEST model, ArcGIS, and Matlab. The results showed that (1) the overall trend of water connotation, soil conservation and carbon sequestration in the Qinba Mountains is increasing, while the trend of habitat quality is fluctuating and decreasing. The spatial distribution pattern of water conservation and soil conservation services was “high in the southwest and low in the northeast”, while the spatial pattern of habitat quality services was the opposite; the spatial distribution pattern of carbon sequestration services was “low in the middle and high around”. (2) Habitat quality in the Qinba Mountains has a trade-off relationship with water connotation and soil conservation, as water connotation–soil conservation is a synergistic relationship, while carbon sequestration is unrelated to water connotation–soil conservation and habitat quality. (3) The area of habitat quality–water conservation showed a decreasing trend; the area of habitat quality–soil conservation showed an increasing trend; the area of habitat quality-water conservation showed a decreasing trend; the area of habitat quality-soil conservation showed an increasing trend; the area of water conservation-soil conservation service synergistic relationship showed a decreasing and then increasing trend; while the area of carbon sequestration service and In most of the regions, carbon sequestration, soil conservation and habitat quality services are not related to each other.

Plants, Cells, Algae, and Cyanobacteria In Vitro and Cryobank Collections at the Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences-A Platform for Research and Production Center.

Ex situ collections of algae, cyanobacteria, and plant materials (cell cultures, hairy and adventitious root cultures, shoots, etc.) maintained in vitro or in liquid nitrogen (-196 °C, LN) are valuable sources of strains with unique ecological and biotechnological traits. Such collections play a vital role in bioresource conservation, science, and industry development but are rarely covered in publications. Here, we provide an overview of five genetic collections maintained at the Institute of Plant Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPPRAS) since the 1950-1970s using in vitro and cryopreservation approaches. These collections represent different levels of plant organization, from individual cells (cell culture collection) to organs (hairy and adventitious root cultures, shoot apices) to in vitro plants. The total collection holdings comprise more than 430 strains of algae and cyanobacteria, over 200 potato clones, 117 cell cultures, and 50 strains of hairy and adventitious root cultures of medicinal and model plant species. The IPPRAS plant cryobank preserves in LN over 1000 specimens of in vitro cultures and seeds of wild and cultivated plants belonging to 457 species and 74 families. Several algae and plant cell culture strains have been adapted for cultivation in bioreactors from laboratory (5-20-L) to pilot (75-L) to semi-industrial (150-630-L) scale for the production of biomass with high nutritive or pharmacological value. Some of the strains with proven biological activities are currently used to produce cosmetics and food supplements. Here, we provide an overview of the current collections' composition and major activities, their use in research, biotechnology, and commercial application. We also highlight the most interesting studies performed with collection strains and discuss strategies for the collections' future development and exploitation in view of current trends in biotechnology and genetic resources conservation.

‘This Country is Done’: Fair Housing Discourse in Suburban Westchester

This article examines attitudes toward property, government, access to housing, integration, and community identity as expressed in the discourse surrounding the struggle over fair housing in Westchester, New York surrounding the 2009 court-ordered settlement. Building on the ‘new suburban history’, this article argues that opposition to fair housing drew on long-term conservative trends in the national political culture after 1968, but also reflected the specific dynamics of the early Obama years. Fair housing opponents contend that housing ‘choices,’ rooted in the values of ‘hard work,’ meritocracy, private property, and the free market, exemplify the patriotic tradition of American individualism. But, in doing so, they ignore decades of state-sponsored housing discrimination that contradicted free market principles. Drawing heavily on what one scholar has called ‘race-based neighborhood stereotyping’, these ideas constitute an important starting point for understanding the crippling resistance to fair housing initiatives, since this discourse has proven remarkably durable and politically galvanizing.

Multifunctional PVB nanocomposite wood coating by cellulose nanocrystal/ZnO nanofiller: Hydrophobic, water uptake, and UV-resistance properties

There has been a recent trend in wood conservation, involves studying new materials that are more efficient, as well as improving existing materials that have interesting features such as being less toxic, eco-friendly, reversible, and highly compatible with wood. One area of research has focused on the use of a new PVB nanocomposite wood coating with nanocrystalline cellulose/ZnO nanofibers. This coating has been found to provide protection against moisture and UV light.SEM images confirmed the presence of a homogeneous nanocomposite layer that adhered well to the wood surface and penetrated the inner surface. Comparison of wood treated with neat PVB and the new nanocomposites PVB/CNCs/ZnO after UV light aging revealed a significant reduction in ΔE by increasing the amount of ZnO. Additionally, adding content of CNCs nanoparticles in the nanocomposite matrix led to improvements in color changes. However, these changes were not noticeable when compared to the uncoated sample. ATR-FTIR spectrum analysis showed that samples with a high amount of ZnO and CNCs performed better against photochemical degradation. The findings suggest that the addition of nanocrystalline cellulose to ZnO and polymer composites is promising for the protection of wood against the destructive effects of UV light and humidity.

Integrative Conservation for the Reconstruction of the Historic Urban ‎Fabric: The Riverfront of Mosul Old City as a Case Study

Due to the historical cumulative layers that were formed from the succession of construction, demolition, and sequential reconstruction, cities have become the essence of diversity, by evoking new urban forms that contribute to the creation and formulation of their urban heritage. Globally, redevelopment of the riverfront remains popular and is part of the urban planning agenda. However, this process is still often constrained by a set of strategic issues and difficulties in the cities of developing countries. The relationship between the urban fabric of the city of Mosul and its river frontage is a major criterion in evaluating the approaches and approaches to preserving the main features of the urban landscape of the city. The current research aims to discuss the integrative preservation as a working methodology for a long-term plan based on previous global experiences and the basic guidelines approved by international laws to submit proposals for the reconstruction of the river front of ancient Mosul. It also aims to discuss the relationship between the historical urban fabric and the water environment and highlight the various methods that can be adopted to develop this essential part of the urban fabric of the city. The research adopts the methodology of comparative analysis of conservation trends and intervention mechanisms, including integrative conservation, analysis of a number of relevant international studies, analysis of international conventions concerned with conservation, and obtaining qualitative data from a group of experts specialized in both aspects of urban preservation and urban renewal. This is in addition to obtaining quantitative data using the questionnaire method by designing a set of questions following Likert's Five-point Scale method and analyzing them using Microsoft Excel 2010, and applying them to the case study represented by the riverfront of the old city of Mosul.

From homonationalism to shame in the Israeli documentary Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of the affective experience of shame in Tomer Heymann’s documentary Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life (2018) about internationally successful Israeli gay porn star Jonathan Agassi. It argues that by emphasizing shame as constitutive of Agassi’s queer identity, the film subverts the hypermasculine, Israeli, militarized image of his star persona. The film thus refuses to support the conservative trend of Israel’s LGBT community that aims to remove stigmas from gay identities within a logic of homonormative and homonational sexual politics of ‘pride.’ In this film, shame becomes a refuge, a site of solidarity and belonging for Agassi as well as for Heymann, the filmmaker. Both resist mainstream Israeli gay politics and refuse to adopt the sexual and national identity that this normative logic demands. The question of queer identity in the film is organized around the formative experience of shame and based on the relation to others. Thus, the film, in effect, produces a queer sociability and ethics in shame.

Trends in Seagrass Research and Conservation in Malaysian Waters

The seagrass ecosystems found in the marine and coastal areas, with substantial eco-nomic and ecological services and span all over the globe excluding the Antarctic region. The Coral Triangle and Southeast Asia are recognized as a worldwide hotspot of seagrass species and habitats, encompassing 10-21 species of seagrass in every na-tion, although the study, understanding, and quantity of publications on seagrass eco-systems are rather limited in the region, including Malaysia. Malaysia contains 18 seagrass species from three families, which occupy 16.8 km2of coastal area, where the study and discovery of seagrass species and meadows began in 1904 with the re-port of Beccari. All of the published papers reviewed reported on Malaysian seagrass-related research, which was divided into nine topic groups: biology and distribution, carbon sequestration, fauna, remote sensing, impact and pollution genetic study, res-toration, microbiological investigation, and others. The extensive study of the seagrass ecosystem began in 1993, and we have identified 183 published papers from Scopus, 141 publications from Web of Science, and 42 from Google Scholar. However, the average trend of the number of publications from 1993 to 1999 was 0.71 ± 0.36, while from 2000 to 2022 was 7.70 ± 1.16 followed by the average trend of the yearly number of publications was 6.78 ± 1.08. The highest number of publications was found on faunal categories (43.17%), followed by biology and distribution (21.85%). The num-ber of articles that were published on Malaysian seagrass meadows each year has been discovered to be rising, which indicates that the trends in seagrass study and publish-ing were progressively garnering the attention of researchers, academics, and the gov-ernment. However, to better understand the sustainable ecology and ecosystem ser-vices provided by seagrass habitats, an emphasis on certain research niches, such as the genetic study of flora and fauna in seagrass meadows, microbial ecology, and res-toration as well as conservation of seagrass species might be helpful.

Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought and Civilizations as an actor in the process of Islamization in modern Indonesia

The presented article analyzes the features of development and the main vectors of transformation of conservative Islam in modern Indonesia in contexts of the activities of the organization known as the Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought and Civilizations (INSISTS). INSISTS is supposed to be the intellectual center of contemporary Islamic traditionalism in Indonesia. The article analyzes the problems of the intellectual agenda of conservatives, including the ideas of the Islamization of science, the rejection of liberal Islam and the criticism of feminism. The article considers the main directions of Muslim conservatives activity as a reaction to the modernization of the Ummah and the temporary success of liberal Islam, although its influence on Muslims was extremely limited. It is believed that INSISTS appeared as an attempt to institutionalize and legitimize conservative and traditionalist trends in modern Indonesian Islam in the form of their expansion into the space of scientific knowledge and political criticism. It is shown that INSISTS, as a formally conservative institution, actually uses liberal discourse, trying to actualize the contemporary problems related to gender and feminism in the political agenda of traditionalists. Therefore, it is assumed that the conservative trends in the modern history of the Indonesian Ummah actualize the significant adaptive potential of the traditionalists.

Narrative Strategies of Soviet Historians of Antiquity at the Beginning of the Second Discussion about the Asiatic Mode of Production

At the beginning of the article, the author defines the significance of the discussions about the Asian mode of production for the Soviet historiography of antiquity, and also talks about the special characteristics of the second discussion, the main phase of which dates back to the second half of the 1960s. If the first discussion established the rules for understanding the historical process among Soviet historians, then during the second one some historians tried to revise these rules. At the same time, those historians formed themselves as authors of texts already under unified rules for constructing a narrative. The author of the article consistently examines the principles of constructing statements pro et contra the revision of the unified terminology for historians of the ancient world. It turns out that, in fact, both supporters and opponents of the Asian mode of production used the same arguments, and their texts were built from the same components, only the vector of thought and the volume of concrete textual parts differed. Thus, in the early 1960s the unified narrative still dominated even in the face of diverging points of view. At the same time, another difference between the positions consisted in different vectors of understanding the general theory, and from this angle, the conservative trend, which essentially called for abandoning any significant changes in the Soviet approach to understanding history, looked the most unattractive.

Trends in Soil Resources Conservation and Restoration for Sustainable Horticulture, A Review.

Trends in Soil Resources Conservation and Restoration for Sustainable Horticulture, A Review.

The urgent issues of land conservation in Ukraine

The article addresses the issue of land conservation at war and post-war reconstruction. The complex understanding of land conservation issues at the current conditions is an important stage of their resolving in the future. The attention is paid to the examination of the issues of the degradation of land as the result of fighting within the scope of the general land degradation factors system. The research is aimed at the structural factor analysis which cause the disturbance, contamination and degradation of land and the determination of the rationalization trends of land use and conservation considering the fighting in Ukraine. The legislation on the disturbed, contaminated and degraded land from the perspective of their utilization has been analyzed. The key processes causing land contamination, reasons for land degradation, measures on land degradation prevention and reducing its consequences have been singled out. The results can be implemented at the planning of measures on land use and conservation at the current stage and post-war reconstruction, as well as in the future research.

Collective payments for ecosystem services: a counterpart of commodification and privatization trends in nature conservation?

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) gained an increasing importance in science and politics within the last decades. Although the enthusiasm about PES is particularly high in Environmental Economics, opponents criticize the market-based character of PES and the associated commodification as well as privatization trends. By means of a systematic literature review we aim at shedding light on the complex and controversial debate about how to define commodification and related privatization processes and how they are linked to PES outcomes. We do so by setting a particular focus on the potentials and challenges of community-based and collective PES (C-PES), also in contrast to PES targeting land under private land tenure (P-PES). Our results reveal that C-PES show promising results when targeting local communities with a high level of social capital. However, there is a lack of studies that systematically assess the relations between different degrees of commodification and the ecological and social outcome of PES programs. For this reason, we provide a new conceptual framework of commodification by highlighting two interrelated spheres, where PES-related commodification processes take place: The first sphere relates to the commodification of ES-providing land, which greatly depends on the land tenure regime in place. The second sphere addresses the commodification of ecosystem services (ES). Our review indicates that C-PES show rather low degrees of commodification in the first sphere because the ES-providing land is often less embedded into private land markets. This is due to often missing alienation rights, more complex decision-making processes, and a potentially lower profit-orientation of the landowners. Empirical long-term studies are needed to investigate changes in both spheres of commodification over time, their potential interactions, and how they affect the outcome of C-PES and P-PES programs.