Worldwide Expansion Research Articles

Getting to Know You

Getting to Know You Annette Kühlem Click for larger view View full resolution Q. How did you get into archaeology, and specifically Rapa Nui archaeology? What triggered your interest? A. I was always fascinated by archaeology as a science. How we can reconstruct a former situation from physical pieces of evidence we find. What especially intrigued me are human migrations and the settling of this planet we live on. The peopling of the Pacific is the last step in that worldwide expansion and the most awe-inspiring one. The courage and impetus it took to set out and find new islands in this seemingly endless ocean is hard to imagine. Part of this fascination is how humans were able to adapt to any kind of environment…first adapt and then gradually transform it. Rapa Nui for me is such an interesting study area because of the degree of adaptation and landscape transformation that took place over the centuries since it was settled. Q. Who or what do you consider as your most significant influence (scientific or otherwise) either as a person or a particular work (or series of works)? A. My parents. My father, who as a geologist was the first one to take me along while he was doing surveys and taught me the importance of correct field work as a basis for any scientific research. And my mother in the sense of making the best out of any situation you find yourself in; to be open, positive, and cheerful. Concerning literature about Rapa Nui, for me the work by Jan Boersema is very important. His reviews and evaluation of the earliest accounts about Rapa Nui show what the situation on the island was like by the time of the arrival of European expeditions. This historical information paints a very different picture from that of a failed society living on a deprived island. Instead, Rapa Nui is described as a prosperous place with healthy people who worship still standing moai. Burkhard Vogt, who has given me the possibility to work on Easter Island, has of course been a significant influence as well. Q. What theory or project of yours turned out differently from what you had expected as, for example, a complete surprise? A. The excavations of the German Archaeological Institute that I work for in Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau. Over the course of the years, many initial interpretations had to be changed due to new results from the excavations – and it only got more interesting. What surprised me was the degree of landscape transformation that had taken place at the site; the immense amounts of time, labor, and creative energy that had been invested in creating this elaborate succession of cultural layers and hydraulic architecture. Q. What would you have done if you had not pursued your current line(s) of research and interests? [End Page 57] A. I started out doing archaeology of the Americas. I worked on very interesting projects in Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru. Had I not gotten captured by Polynesian archaeology, especially that of Rapa Nui, I would probably still be doing work on “el conti”. Or I would have gone with Plan B, which is working as a horse trainer and riding coach. Looking back, I consider it one of the best decisions and lucky turns of fate that I started working on Rapa Nui at the site of Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau. Q. What was your best Eureka moment? A. Hans-Rudolf Bork and Andreas Mieth were the first ones to show me the distinctive palm root channels of the now-extinct Jubaea sp. palm tree in the trench that I am excavating in Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau. Since that moment I knew what to look for and we have found numerous planting pits for palm trees right inside the paved areas in the center of the site. The first time I found those small holes inside a circular stone rim was one of these Eureka moments. For many, this may only be a small thing, but for me it was amazing to find proof that the palm trees were at one point a part...

ГЛОБАЛЬНЫЕ СУДЬБЫ РЕЛИГИЙ: ИСТОРИЯ И СОВРЕМЕННОСТЬ

The paper presents an analytical review of the conference held in the All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature in December 2015. The participants of the conference – Orientalists, specialists in religion studies, historians, philosophers, theologians – considered problems of coexistence between the Western and the Eastern civilization, religious dynamics of different regions, spiritual life of a modern man and his religious experience in current conditions of inter-religious conflicts aggravation, escalation of violence, and dangers of aggressive ideology forms. Of special interest were historical preconditions for the present-day global religious situation as well as changes in the very content of modern religious conceptions and practices. A particular subject of interest for the participants were also religious problems in present-day Russia and India. Today, the religious sphere as a whole has to experience the pressure of three conflicting tendencies: the pressure of contemporary socio-economic, technological and information imperatives; the counter-pressure of traditional local psychological and socio-cultural patterns; the immanent pressure of “big” religious traditions, with their specific and unavoidable theological and philosophical implications. This triple conflict is experienced presently by Oriental religions (Hinduism, Islam, etc.) as well as by Christianity. At the same time, this triple challenge seems to be a precondition for the world-wide development and expansion of Neo-Protestant beliefs and denominations. A thorough study of the world religions heritage, the experience of European values (humanism, rationalism) is intrinsically important for critical analysis of contemporary, often dramatic events in our world.

The Role of Internal Audit in Continuous Improvement of Quality Management Systems at Private HE Institutions: A Case Study of Eurasia International University (Armenia)

The recent worldwide expansion of higher education and increase of the enrolment number, emergence of diverse educational providers, as well as various delivery modes continuously provokes the need for development of appropriate internal and external quality assurance mechanisms for different types of higher education providers. Private higher education is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing segments of postsecondary education at the turn of 21st century and, lacking traditions of quality provisions, the private tertiary institutions are challenged to build appropriate mechanisms from scratches. These institutions are urged in developing internal quality assurance systems to address the external controls and external accreditation requirements, as well as to face an increasing competition. The internal quality assurance systems set up by universities vary in scope, employed models (in case if used formal quality models at all), objectives, implementation methods etc. Implementing internal quality management systems for the sake of meeting the requirements of accreditation bodies, inherits the risk of symbolic adaptation of quality management rather than an embedded quality improvement system. Continues improvement is agreed by many experts on quality in education as a central element in achieving improvement. Yet, continuous improvement is observed as lacking in many HEIs. This research is aimed at exploring and examining the importance of internal audit for sustaining the implemented quality management systems and continuous improvement of private higher education institutions. It examines the emerging role of internal audit function (IAF) for quality and the importance of the internal audit for ensuring the continuous improvement of the private higher education institutions.

Salt-affected soils, reclamation, carbon dynamics, and biochar: a review

This paper reviews chemical, physical, and biological problems of salt-affected soils and different reclamation methods applied to rehabilitate these soils. Methods to increase C stocks in these lands are discussed with a focus on biochar application as a potential new approach to not only to increase the C content but also to improve soil properties. Gaps in research knowledge in this field are then identified. Given the concern on the continued worldwide expansion of salt-affected lands and the focus on C sequestration processes, this review has evaluated current knowledge on salt-affected soils and their remediation with organic materials and plants. The review of the published literature has highlighted important gaps in knowledge, which limit our current understanding of rehabilitation of salt-affected soils with organic amendments specially biochar and the associated carbon dynamic. Knowledge about application of biochar in salt-affected soils is scant, and to date, most studies have evaluated biochar use only in nonsalt-affected soils.

Will There Be a Vast Worldwide Expansion Of Mediation for International Disputes?

From February at Turtle Bay in Manhattan, the site of the United Nations, to July in Vienna, Austria, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law has been considering a tectonic shift in the treatment of mediated and conciliated settlements for international or cross‐border commercial disputes.

Nitric oxide based strategies for applications of biomedical devices

Since the first report describing nitric oxide (NO) in the mid-1980s, research efforts have been devoted to elucidating the pathway of NO generation and the mechanism of NO function in vivo. The worldwide expansion of NO investigations have helped advance progress in biomedical device applications of NO-based strategies for cardiovascular devices, wound healing and antimicrobial agents, including recent in vivo investigations. Here we describe the general concepts of NO discovery, mechanisms of NO synthesis in vivo and NO producing materials. Both design strategies and results are discussed and compared in release kinetics, NO dose and biological effects, with the aim of providing foundations for the development of new NO-based therapeutics.

Flourishing ocean drives the end-Permian marine mass extinction

The end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biotic crisis in the Phanerozoic, was accompanied by climate change and expansion of oceanic anoxic zones. The partitioning of sulfur among different exogenic reservoirs by biological and physical processes was of importance for this biodiversity crisis, but the exact role of bioessential sulfur in the mass extinction is still unclear. Here we show that globally increased production of organic matter affected the seawater sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope signature that has been recorded in carbonate rock spanning the Permian-Triassic boundary. A bifurcating temporal trend is observed for the strata spanning the marine mass extinction with carbonate-associated sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope excursions toward decreased and increased values, respectively. By coupling these results to a box model, we show that increased marine productivity and successive enhanced microbial sulfate reduction is the most likely scenario to explain these temporal trends. The new data demonstrate that worldwide expansion of euxinic and anoxic zones are symptoms of increased biological carbon recycling in the marine realm initiated by global warming. The spatial distribution of sulfidic water column conditions in shallow seafloor environments is dictated by the severity and geographic patterns of nutrient fluxes and serves as an adequate model to explain the scale of the marine biodiversity crisis. Our results provide evidence that the major biodiversity crises in Earth's history do not necessarily implicate an ocean stripped of (most) life but rather the demise of certain eukaryotic organisms, leading to a decline in species richness.

Ovarian cortex transplantation: 60 reported live births brings the success and worldwide expansion of the technique towards routine clinical practice.

This paper describes the success and expansion of ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation as a fertility restoration procedure, with the largest series of 60 live births worldwide reported. By repeating the procedure, ovarian activity can be restored for more than 11 years.

Bioestimulante para la producción de lechuga. Lactuca sativa l

Según el Plan Hortícola Nacional de Colombia (2010), la lechuga ha presentado una expansión a nivel mundial frente al área sembrada, principalmente por su importancia socioeconómica. Por lo anteriormente descrito, se presenta la necesidad de realizar una investigación cuantitativa con la finalidad de evaluar un bioestimulante de Urtica dioica L. para estimular la producción de esta hortaliza de hoja. Los bioestimulantes son sustancias de origen vegetal que tienen la finalidad de activar diferentes procesos fisiológicos, como el incremento de la fotosíntesis y la producción de diferentes hormonas que actúan sobre la elongación de las células de la planta (Montano et ál. 2008).Para la presente investigación se extrajo por destilación de barrido de alcohol el bioestimulante de ortiga. Lo anterior con la finalidad de obtener los principios activos de esta urticaceae. De manera simultánea, se implementó en campo un sistema productivo de lechuga con 2 tratamientos: To = Testigo absoluto y T1 = Bioestimulante, junto con 3 repeticiones en un diseño de bloques. Las variables evaluadas fueron: peso fresco a la cosecha, peso seco y porcentaje de materia seca. Con los datos arrojados se calculó: media, moda, mediana y desviación estándar, además se realizó un análisis por cuartiles y rango intercuartílico con la finalidad de observar la normalidad de los datos. Como resultado, se obtuvo una media superior de un 14 % en peso seco y fresco con el bioestimulante, pero no se presenta diferencia estadísticamente significativa frente al porcentaje de materia seca.

Breeding system evolution influenced the geographic expansion and diversification of the core Corvoidea (Aves: Passeriformes).

Birds vary greatly in their life-history strategies, including their breeding systems, which range from brood parasitism to a system with multiple nonbreeding helpers at the nest. By far the most common arrangement, however, is where both parents participate in raising the young. The traits associated with parental care have been suggested to affect dispersal propensity and lineage diversification, but to date tests of this potential relationship at broad temporal and spatial scales have been limited. Here, using data from a globally distributed group of corvoid birds in concordance with state-dependent speciation and extinction models, we suggest that pair breeding is associated with elevated speciation rates. Estimates of transition between breeding systems imply that cooperative lineages frequently evolve biparental care, whereas pair breeders rarely become cooperative. We further highlight that these groups have differences in their spatial distributions, with pair breeders overrepresented on islands, and cooperative breeders mainly found on continents. Finally, we find that speciation rates appear to be significantly higher on islands compared to continents. These results imply that the transition from cooperative breeding to pair breeding was likely a significant contributing factor facilitating dispersal across tropical archipelagos, and subsequent world-wide phylogenetic expansion among the core Corvoidea.

Wasmannia Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Argentina: Systematics and Distribution

The ant genus Wasmannia is endemic to the Neotropics, with 10 species occurring within the presumptive native range for the genus from Mexico to Argentina. Only the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata is widely distributed being present from central-eastern Argentina to Bermuda, and has become infamous due to its recent worldwide expansion and status as an invasive pest. The objective of this work was to study the systematics and distribution of Wasmannia in its southern limit of distribution in Argentina. Out of the three species reported so far for Argentina, only W. auropunctata was found to be widely distributed, but abundant only in disturbed habitats mostly in the Northeast. Herein, the distribution of Wasmannia auropunctata is extended and its queen and male castes are redescribed, along with descriptions of gynandromorphs (specimens with left side of the head similar to a male and right side similar to a queen). Wasmannia sulcaticeps and W. williamsoni are much less common and widespread. W. sulcaticeps is mostly found in mountain forests in northwestern Argentina, whereas W. williamsoni is only found in shrublands and grasslands in central eastern Argentina, and most frequently in mountain grasslands. Both species overlap with W. auropunctata , which is more common in the lowlands, between approximately 400 and 1000 m elevation. The queen of W. williamsoni is described and queen and male of W. sulcaticeps are redescribed. A new species, Wasmannia longiseta n. sp. Cuezzo and Calcaterra, recently found in northeastern Argentina is described based on worker morphology. Wasmannia rochai is recorded for the first time in Misiones, extending its distribution range from Sao Paulo (Brazil) to Misiones in northeastern Argentina. A key to the worker caste is provided. A cladistic analysis based on discrete and continuous morphological characters is presented as a first attempt to clarify the phylogenetic relationships between the known species of Wasmannia.

Towards an international payments system in China: An overview of progress and remaining challenges

China is in the process of turning the Renminbi (RMB) into a fully fledged global currency. The goal is to make the RMB among the top three currencies in the world. In spite of the rapid worldwide expansion of the RMB, its internationalisation still faces many challenges. China therefore announced ambitious plans in April 2012 to build a new system for international payments. This system, called Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), should further facilitate cross-border RMB clearance among market players. Though the international RMB clearing platform will take several years to develop, the basic functionality is expected to markedly improve access for foreign corporates. International clearing and settlement of RMB payments will be easier. International banks and corporates will certainly benefit from this new system, as they will be able to use RMB directly in their financial transactions. The planned rollout of this new interbank payment system, originally planned for 2014, has been delayed to at least 2016, owing to the complexity of integrating RMB into the global system and the long-term sustainability of the system itself.

The Worldwide Expansion of Education since the Middle of the Twentieth Century: Reconstruction and Assessment

This paper has a dual purpose, namely to reconstruct the defining moments in the global history of developments in education, and to assess the outcomes and consequences of the expansion of educati...

Molecular markers for analyses of intraspecific genetic diversity in the Asian Tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus.

BackgroundThe dramatic worldwide expansion of Aedes albopictus (the Asian tiger mosquito) and its vector competence for numerous arboviruses represent a growing threat to public health security. Molecular markers are crucially needed for tracking the rapid spread of this mosquito and to obtain a deeper knowledge of population structure. This is a fundamental requirement for the development of strict monitoring protocols and for the improvement of sustainable control measures.MethodsWild population samples from putative source areas and from newly colonised regions were analysed for variability at the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2). Moreover, a new set of 23 microsatellite markers (SSR) was developed. Sixteen of these SSRs were tested in an ancestral (Thailand) and two adventive Italian populations.ResultsSeventy-six ITS2 sequences representing 52 unique haplotypes were identified, and AMOVA indicated that most of their variation occurred within individuals (74.36%), while only about 8% was detected among populations. Spatial analyses of molecular variance revealed that haplotype genetic similarity was not related to the geographic proximity of populations and the haplotype phylogeny clearly indicated that highly related sequences were distributed across populations from different geographical regions. The SSR markers displayed a high level of polymorphism both in the ancestral and in adventive populations, and FST estimates suggested the absence of great differentiation. The ancestral nature of the Thai population was corroborated by its higher level of variability.ConclusionsThe two types of genetic markers here implemented revealed the distribution of genetic diversity within and between populations and provide clues on the dispersion dynamics of this species. It appears that the diffusion of this mosquito does not conform to a progressive expansion from the native Asian source area, but to a relatively recent and chaotic propagule distribution mediated by human activities. Under this scenario, multiple introductions and admixture events probably play an important role in maintaining the genetic diversity and in avoiding bottleneck effects. The polymorphic SSR markers here implemented will provide an important tool for reconstructing the routes of invasion followed by this mosquito.

The origin and worldwide expansion of the plague agent Yersinia pestis: The isolation factor

Two consecutive stages of complete isolation were identified in the speciation of the plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis: (1) primary spatial ecological isolation was responsible for one-way migration of bacterial cells from the ancestor Yersinia pseudotuberculosis O:1b population into a transitional recurring pseudopopulation (group, clone), which gave rise to the new Yersinia pestis species in the host-parasite system of the Mongolian tarbagan marmot (Marmota sibirica) and the Oropsylla silantiewi flea; (2) pesticin synthesis and antagonistic pleiotropy effects resulted in genetic and biochemical isolation within the transient population. These two stages of complete isolation had a macroevolutionary effect: the formerly saprozoonotic microbe adopted a new lifestyle (adaptive zone) of an obligate blood parasite transmitted by fleas. Three further stages of intraspecies isolation included (1) isolation in the course of natural Yersinia pestis spread from Mongolian tarbagan marmot populations into other Asian populations of rodents and pikas, (2) isolation in the course of worldwide expansion of the plague agent during pandemics with subsequent formation of synanthropic (rat) foci, and (3) isolation in secondary natural plague foci derived from synanthropic rat foci in Africa and Americas. The last three stages of incomplete isolation had a microevolutionary effect of intraspeci? cradiation into different rodent (pika)-flea host-parasite systems.

Recent worldwide expansion of Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) in Apis mellifera populations inferred from multilocus patterns of genetic variation

Nosema ceranae has been found infecting Apismellifera colonies with increasing frequency and it now represents a major threat to the health and long-term survival of these honeybees worldwide. However, so far little is known about the population genetics of this parasite. Here, we describe the patterns of genetic variation at three genomic loci in a collection of isolates from all over the world. Our main findings are: (i) the levels of genetic polymorphism (πS≈1%) do not vary significantly across its distribution range, (ii) there is substantial evidence for recombination among haplotypes, (iii) the best part of the observed genetic variance corresponds to differences within bee colonies (up to 88% of the total variance), (iv) parasites collected from Asian honeybees (Apis cerana and Apis florea) display significant differentiation from those obtained from Apismellifera (8–16% of the total variance, p<0.01) and (v) there is a significant excess of low frequency variants over neutral expectations among samples obtained from A. mellifera, but not from Asian honeybees. Overall these results are consistent with a recent colonization and rapid expansion of N. ceranae throughout A. mellifera colonies.

Profesionalne kompetencije budućih pedagoga

The worldwide expansion of higher education introduced the problem of quality of knowledge that graduate students possess, as well as question whether they are competent to fulfill the requirements of their future profession. Education and training for professional work, in our educational system, is realized in various ways: through lectures, exercise classes, seminar paper writing, research projects, consultative work and practice in educational methodology. These are only some of the key themes concerning university education of pedagogues-to-be that should be considered if we are to train them to perform a high-quality educational work. The purpose of this research is to construct an evaluation scale that will examine the importance of competencies the future pedagogues are acquiring during studying. It is constructed on the basis of different classifications of competencies of a pedagogue. The research has shown that the students highly value professional knowledge that is necessary for a high-quality educational work, and that they are familiar with the area of work and the requirements of their future profession. They also acknowledge the importance of acquisition of competencies in scientific and professional research. All of the statistical parameters give quite encouraging and affirmative data, since the purpose of university education, after all, is to train the future pedagogues for high-quality educational work and to develop their personalities so that they can manage a variety of situations. Particular significance of this paper resides in the fact that the research performed was conceptualized in such a manner as to emphasize the analysis of the pedagogy studies program from the students' point of view. Timely information regarding the profession's requirements and encouraging interest in research of educational practice can encourage further development of young pedagogues' professional competencies as well.

Natural and sun-induced aging of human skin.

With worldwide expansion of the aging population, research on age-related pathologies is receiving growing interest. In this review, we discuss current knowledge regarding the decline of skin structure and function induced by the passage of time (chronological aging) and chronic exposure to solar UV irradiation (photoaging). Nearly every aspect of skin biology is affected by aging. The self-renewing capability of the epidermis, which provides vital barrier function, is diminished with age. Vital thermoregulation function of eccrine sweat glands is also altered with age. The dermal collagenous extracellular matrix, which comprises the bulk of skin and confers strength and resiliency, undergoes gradual fragmentation, which deleteriously impacts skin mechanical properties and dermal cell functions. Aging also affects wound repair, pigmentation, innervation, immunity, vasculature, and subcutaneous fat homeostasis. Altogether, age-related alterations of skin lead to age-related skin fragility and diseases.

Ethno-Religious Differences in Israeli Higher Education: Vertical and Horizontal Dimensions

The worldwide expansion and diversification of higher education systems has sparked growing interest in the stratification of students according to higher education institution and field of study. This article focuses on Israel, where higher education has experienced significant expansion and diversification during the past two decades. Using generalized ordered logistic regression models, the study analyses vertical and horizontal ethno-religious inequality. The findings indicate that Ashkenazim, the privileged Jewish group, remain the most advantaged regarding enrollment in higher education, but their advantage over other veteran Jewish groups is mainly owing to areas of specialization in high school and achievement on the tests that serve as admission criteria to the higher education institutions. Among the enrollees, controlling for high school history reveals that the disadvantaged Jewish groups, Mizrachim and new immigrants, have higher odds than Ashkenazim of enrolling in lucrative programmes. Muslim, Druze, and Christian Arabs are disadvantaged regarding both the vertical (access) and horizontal (fields of study) dimensions, regardless of high school history and previous achievements.

A natural life: neo-rurals and the power of everyday practices in protected areas

The worldwide expansion of nature conservation initiatives has attracted a great deal of attention among political ecologists. Concerned about the effects on people and the environment, critical scholars have attempted to identify the drivers of conservation, and how power operates. Conservation policies, practices and conflicts have generated a large literature about the role of states, expert bureaucracies, private corporations, NGOs and technologies of government. In this article I aim to extend this literature by paying attention to a largely neglected field of power relations, defined by the efforts made by new inhabitants of natural protected areas, who have moved to these new locations and have strived to construct and maintain an idyll wherein they can enjoy a new, 'natural life.' Using Bourdieu's notions of cultural capital and habitus, I demonstrate that, in certain places, it is in the everyday practices of making a natural protected area a new home where power relations unfold more subtly, although no less intensely. I illustrate this empirically with a particular case study: the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park in southeastern Spain. I examine the role played by neo-rurals in the establishment of this protected area, present an ethnographic account of their everyday practices, and link them to the conflicts that have emerged with other social groups, with whom they compete for the right to use and access local resources.Key words: Conservation, political ecology, protected areas, neo-rurals, power, Europe