New records of Praethecacineta halacari (Schulz) (Suctorea: Ciliophora) from Taiwan, Tanzania and Canada

The present study reports on a range extension of the suctorian species Praethecacineta halacari to the region of He-Ping-Dao, north-east of Taiwan (West Pacific Ocean), Matemwe, the east coast of Unguja, Zanzibar, Tanzania (West Indian Ocean) and Nova Scotia, Canada (West Atlantic Ocean). Praethecacineta halacari is reported here for the first time from Taiwan, Tanzania and Canada. Earlier records include the Caspian Sea, Western Australia, Brazil, India, and various coastal sites in Europe

Everyday cosmopolitanism in representations of Europe among young Romanians in Britain

The paper presents an analysis of everyday cosmopolitanism in constructions of Europe among young Romanian nationals living in Britain. Adopting a social representations approach, cosmopolitanism is understood as a cultural symbolic resource that is part of everyday knowledge. Through a discursively-oriented analysis of focus group data, we explore the ways in which notions of cosmopolitanism intersect with images of Europeanness in the accounts of participants. We show that, for our participants, representations of Europe are anchored in an Orientalist schema of West-vs.-East, whereby the West is seen as epitomising European values of modernity and progress, while the East is seen as backward and traditional. Our findings further show that representations of cosmopolitanism reinforce this East/West dichotomy, within a discourse of ‘Occidental cosmopolitanism’. The paper concludes with a critical discussion of the diverse and complex ideological foundations of these constructions of European cosmopolitanism and their implications

Former East, Former West:Post-Socialist Nostalgia and Feminist Genealogies in Today's Europe

This paper connects current studies of post-socialist nostalgia to the issue of feminist genealogies in the contemporary European context. Studies of post-socialist nostalgia can prove significant not only for the former socialist East - to which they have traditionally been limited - but also for the “former West”, that is post-Cold War Western Europe. In the first part of my paper I draw a connection between feminist genealogies and post-socialist nostalgia in the former East, looking in particular at the phenomenon of Yugonostalgia from a gendered and feminist perspective, and taking my research on the 1978 Belgrade feminist conference Drugarica Zena/Comrade Woman as a point of departure. The narrative about Yugoslavia being closer to Western Europe and to Western European feminist movements in the 1970s, in comparison to today’s marginalization of post-Yugoslav successor states, indicates that changes in gender regimes are deeply connected to shifts in ideological and geopolitical relations, including the shifting boundaries of Europe after 1989. In the second part of this essay I transpose the study of post-socialist nostalgia to the former West. When looking more closely at Western European countries, particularly at those who had significant communist parties such as Italy and France, it is clear that even in the West certain articulations of post-socialist nostalgia for radical pasts have emerged, helping us to unravel women’s and feminist movements’ genealogies that have been made invisible. I take the case of the recent Italian movie Cosmonauta as a symptom of post-socialist nostalgia in the former West

Secondary contact and admixture between independently invading populations of the Western corn rootworm, diabrotica virgifera virgifera in Europe

The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is one of the most destructive pests of corn in North America and is currently invading Europe. The two major invasive outbreaks of rootworm in Europe have occurred, in North-West Italy and in Central and South-Eastern Europe. These two outbreaks originated from independent introductions from North America. Secondary contact probably occurred in North Italy between these two outbreaks, in 2008. We used 13 microsatellite markers to conduct a population genetics study, to demonstrate that this geographic contact resulted in a zone of admixture in the Italian region of Veneto. We show that i) genetic variation is greater in the contact zone than in the parental outbreaks; ii) several signs of admixture were detected in some Venetian samples, in a Bayesian analysis of the population structure and in an approximate Bayesian computation analysis of historical scenarios and, finally, iii) allelic frequency clines were observed at microsatellite loci. The contact between the invasive outbreaks in North-West Italy and Central and South-Eastern Europe resulted in a zone of admixture, with particular characteristics. The evolutionary implications of the existence of a zone of admixture in Northern Italy and their possible impact on the invasion success of the western corn rootworm are discussed

Peter Pekins, Professor, Department of Natural Resources & the Environment, travels to Poland

Professor Peter Pekins travelled to the 7th International Moose Conference in Poland to discuss research and management issues concerning moose that range west from Eastern Europe through North America.The Bialowieza National Park and Forest in western Poland was the site of the 7th International Moose Conference where 150 biologists gathered to discuss research and management issues concerning moose that range west from Eastern Europe through North America. My travel to Poland was focused on: 1) moose research/management and serving as Chief Editor of ALCES a scientific journal dedicated to moose research and management, 2) learning about the special history of the wisent, or European bison, that was saved from extinction in the Bialowieza National Park and Forest in the early 1900s 3) reconnecting with close Norwegian colleagues who have supported a previous sabbatical as well as a number of IROP students from the Hamel Center

East & west : textiles and fashion in early modern Europe

What is the origin and essence of fashion? This question has engaged scholars of various disciplines over the past decades, most of whom approach this subject with a Western or European focus. This paper argues instead that Asia was also pivotal in the articulation of the fashion system in Europe. The long interaction between these regions of the world initiated profound changes that included the iteration of the early modem fashion system. Silk and later printed cotton textiles are uniquely important in world history as agents of new consumer tastes, and the embodiment of fashion in Europe. Particular attention is given to the process of the Europeanization of Asian textiles, and the consideration of the intellectual, commercial and aesthetic relationship between Europe and Asia, as the European printed industry developed. Fashion was not just created through the adoption and use of Asian goods, but it was also shaped by a culture in which print was central; and it was the printing of information-visual, as well as literate-along with printing as a productive process, which produced a type of fashionability that could be "read"

The world economy [December 2003]

The world economy is now picking up with strong growth in the US and the Far East economies. Europe remains relatively weak and since the last quarter has worsened slightly. It is not expected to improve until next year with a return to trend growth forecast for 2005. The forecasts for world growth and trade have both improved since the last quarter. The outlook for the world economy remains good. The downside risks are the uncertainty over terrorist attacks in the west, the size of the US deficit, and the continued weakness in Europe

In Print

- The Coming of the Frontier Press: How the West Was Really Won, by Barbara Cloud - We Were All Like Migrant Workers Here: Work, Community, and Memory on California’s Round Valley Reservation, by William J. Bauer, Jr. - Europe as a Political Project in the CDU: Precedents and Programs, by Daniel Villanuev

The space laboratory: A European-American cooperative effort

A review of the history of the European participation in the American space shuttle project is presented. Some early work carried out in West Germany on the rocket-powered second state of a reusable launch vehicle system is cited, in particular wind tunnel studies of the aerodynamic and flight-mechanical behavior of various lifting body configurations in the subsonic range. The offer made by the U.S. to Europe of participating in the space shuttle program by developing a reusable launch vehicle is discussed, noting West Germany's good preparation in this area, as well as the ultimate decision of the U.S. to exclude Europe from participation in the design of the Orbiter and the booster stage of the shuttle