Italian Fertility, 1864 to 1951: An Analysis of Regional Trends

Below replacement level fertility rates in Italy have received much attention, with varying explanations offered for the protracted decline in fertility rates since the early 1970s. For a more complete understanding of Italian fertility, an analysis of historical fertility trends is useful. This paper employs Italian regional fertility data generated by the Princeton European Fertility Project to evaluate regional patterns of Italian fertility from 1864 to 1951. Regional fertility trends, both temporal and spatial, are described and basic regional convergence methods are applied. The results show that the regional fertility variation seen in Italy since World War II was well established in the 19th century and that a lack of convergence of regional fertility rates during the years of the demographic transition in Italy (late 1800s) helped emphasize regional differences. The impacts of experiences such as political unification, industrialization, the completion of the demographic transition, and mass emigration are cited as important clues to the change and persistence of regional fertility identities during this time period. This use of a rich historical data set placed in a geographic context not only helps illuminate the past, but also assists in the explanation of patterns of regional fertility seen in today?s Italy.

Studies on some Australian pottiaceous mosses

Chionoloma bombayense (Müll. Hal.) P. Sollm. [syn. Pseudosymblepharis bombayensis (Müll. Hal.) P. Sollm.] and Syntrichia serrata (Dixon) R.H. Zander are reported new for Australia. Barbula hampeana Paris is identical with Barbula hornschuchiana Schultz. Pottia tasmanica Broth. and Pottia brevicaulis (Taylor) Müll. Hal. are considered new synonyms of Microbryum starkeanum (Hedw.) R.H. Zander. Comments on a nomen nudum, Tortula brachytheca Burchard, are given

Первый казначей православного Палестинского общества

В статье представлена организаторская деятельность члена-учредителя, члена Совета и казначея Императорского Православного Палестинского общества с первых дней его существования Николая Фёдоровича Фан дер Флита (1840–1896), близкого соратника Василия Николаевича Хитрово, основателя Общества. Особое внимание обращено на роль Русского общества пароходства и торговли, директором которого в 1884–1894 гг. был Н. Ф. Фан дер Флит, в деле организации поездок русских паломников морским путем в Святую землю. Источники показывают, что заложенные им традиции поддержки паломничества сохранялись этой компанией и в последующем. Автор показывает широкую и успешную благотворительную деятельность Н. Ф. Фан дер Флита, его работу в земских учреждениях Псковской губернии, а также родственные связи с тверскими дворянами, особенно с семейством Пистолькорсов, из которого происходила его жен

A History of John W. Young\u27s Utah Railroads, 1884-1894

The purpose of this paper is to recount how, under the entrepreneural guidance of John Willard Young, three narrow gauge, shortline railroads were established in and near Salt Lake City, Utah between 1884 and 1894. Once justification for these projects was ascertained, the problems created by local and national politics, construction, and financing were met in a satisfactory manner. The results were two operating railroads and roadbed established for a third line. Operations continued under the control of John W. Young until the depression of 1893 when these railroads went into receivership

Efficacy of Educomp Smart Class

Explosion of knowledge is opening new branches of knowledge. Nowadays we have entered into wisdom society from knowledge society. ICT has changed the all aspects of human being. Way of living is being changed and thus role of society as well as school is also is shifting from conventional class room to ICT oriented smart classroom further more to virtual classroom. Innovative apparatus, devices are mushrooming, hence being a teacher we cannot live isolated. If we do not make ourselves ICT- friendly we cannot perform our duty accordingly. Smart class is today’s demand; it does not completely do away with the traditional method of teaching. Rather it seeks to club the use of technology with conventional methods of teaching. The consequential merchandise is a harmonious blend of the modern and the traditional. For instance, the teacher while teaching a lesson on tsunami will supplement the information given in books by showing a video of how a tsunami erupts. All of us know that if we teach by doing or playing and with audio visual aid, learning occurs perfectively. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.16043

Length correction for larval and early-juvenile Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) after preservation in alcohol

Body length measurement is an important part of growth, condition, and mortality analyses of larval and juvenile fish. If the measurements are not accurate (i.e., do not reflect real fish length), results of subsequent analyses may be affected considerably (McGurk, 1985; Fey, 1999; Porter et al., 2001). The primary cause of error in fish length measurement is shrinkage related to collection and preservation (Theilacker, 1980; Hay, 1981; Butler, 1992; Fey, 1999). The magnitude of shrinkage depends on many factors, namely the duration and speed of the collection tow, abundance of other planktonic organisms in the sample (Theilacker, 1980; Hay, 1981; Jennings, 1991), the type and strength of the preservative (Hay, 1982), and the species of fish (Jennings, 1991; Fey, 1999). Further, fish size affects shrinkage (Fowler and Smith, 1983; Fey, 1999, 2001), indicating that live length should be modeled as a function of preserved length (Pepin et al., 1998; Fey, 1999)

Application of remote sensing and geographical information systems in flood management : a review

Floods are one of the most widely distributed hazards around the world and their management is an important issue of concern among all the stakeholders. The aim of this review is to synthesize the state of art literature in the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques in all the flood management stages (pre-flood, during flood and post-flood stages). Flood types and common concepts in flood management are precisely explained. Case studies of flood management using GIS and RS are summarized. Current challenges in using GIS and RS techniques for flood management are also given. One lesson we learn from this review is that flood management is very diverse and it requires multidisciplinary involvement. It can also be deduced that RS techniques offer cheaper and faster options of accessing spatial data about the flood event even in the physically inaccessible areas. GIS techniques on the other hand facilitate hydrological models in data collection, analysis, querying and presentation of information in a more simplified format. The present review is expected to contribute to an improved understanding of the potential applications of RS and GIS techniques in flood management, especially among scientists in the developing countries where the use of these techniques particularly in flood management has generally been limited