Invasion science, ecology and economics : seeking roads not taken

As members of the editorial board of Neobiota who, for various reasons, didn’t get our names on the original editorial (Kühn et al. 2011), we would like to add a coda to it. Even though there were 38 bullet points listing areas in invasion science where more work is needed, we would like to mention additional areas that we hope would be addressed in future issues of Neobiota. Like the other editors, we would like this innovative and exciting new journal to lead the way in all areas of invasion science. As the graphs in Gurevitch et al. (2011) and Kühn et al. (2011) show, the literature on invasions has been increasing almost exponentially since the early 1980s and so we cannot expect any list of areas of interest to stay complete and up to date for very long. Three areas that we would like to stress are the interaction between invasion science and economics and the role that invasion science should play in advancing pure ecology in two areas, population dynamics and ecosystem ecology. Neither ecology nor economics appears as a word in the original bullet list, but many of the topics are obviously ecological while none are obviously economic. For economics, we want to point out its relevance to invasion science and the feedback between the two disciplines, particularly in a rapidly changing world with powerful new emerging economies. For ecology, we want to emphasise not what ecology tells us about invasions but what invasions reveal about ecology and evolution at two scales

Agua subterránea, deterioro de calidad y reserva

El agua en general y la subterránea en particular es un recurso limitado en nuestro planeta, donde más del 97% es salada y se concentra en mares y océanos. Del resto, alrededor del 2% constituye los casquetes polares en forma de hielo. Le sigue en magnitud el agua subterránea, cuya reserva hasta 1.000 m de profundidad se estima en el 0,5% del total, mientras que el volumen instantáneo de agua superficial llega a sólo el 0,02% y entre el agua del suelo y la atmosférica, componen algo más del 0,01% de la total (1.383 x 106km3). El incremento en la demanda y la disminución en la disponibilidad, particularmente por deterioro en su calidad, han generado y generan problemas cada vez más graves para el abastecimiento tanto a nivel local como regional y continental. Esta problemática, que se ha manifestado en forma creciente durante el siglo 20, es previsible que mantenga su tendencia en el presente, especialmente debido al crecimiento poblacional mundial que dará lugar a un aumento en la demanda de alimentos, bienes y servicios. Por ello, considero apropiado calificar al 21 como el Siglo del Agua.Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA

An Equitable and Culturally Responsive Examination of the Identification Practices of English Learners for Special Education in a Suburban East Metro District

This study examined the complex dynamic that exists between language difference and language disability for English learners in an east metro suburban school district. Understanding the learning profile of these learners and matching them to programming is an enormous challenge for schools throughout the United States. Understanding the limit of traditional metrics and supplementing them with culturally and linguistically responsive supports is essential when making programming decisions for English learners. An understanding of supports and metrics designed to elicit the more enigmatic aspects of these learners’ profiles is crucial when considering English learners for special eduction programming. This thesis explores the gap in current identification practices in an east metro school district and provides four supports to augment the identification process for these complex learners

Silent Sentinels: Archaeology, Magic, and the Gendered Control of Domestic Boundaries in New England, 1620-1725

The following dissertation is an historical archaeological study of the material culture of gendered protective magic used by Anglo-Europeans in seventeenth-century New England as a tactic to construct boundaries that mitigated perceived personal, social, spiritual, and environmental dangers. Such boundary construction was paramount in the seventeenth-century battle between good and evil epitomized by the belief in and struggle against witchcraft. This dissertation sought to answer three interrelated research questions: 1) What constitutes protective magical material culture in seventeenth-century contexts and how is it recognizable in the archaeological record? 2) What signifies gender specific protective magical practices and what can these differences relate about gender roles, identity, and social relationships? and 3) In what way and to what degree is the recourse to traditional beliefs significant in coping or risk management contexts? Synthesizing data from historical and folkloristic sources, and reviewing all accessible archaeological site reports and inventories from State Historic Preservation offices and principal site investigators for domestic structures in New England ca. 1620-1725 provided data to catalog and develop a typology of potential magical items. Analyzing these data then allowed the assessment of domestic and gendered patterns of magical risk management strategies. Magical content was frequently embedded within or symbolically encoded in architectural or artifactual details, whose gendered association tended to correspond with gender role activities or responsibilities; however, the general omission of magical interpretations in historical archaeology limits the visibility of potentially magical objects in site reports and inventories, so it is likely a wider range of materials and contexts exist. The final result of this dissertation was the construction of a criterion model for the identification and interpretation of magic in historical archaeological contexts, which extends the notion of ritual from specialized places and materials, and communal behaviors to include quotidian objects and settings, and individual practices. Ultimately, the results of this dissertation extend the field of the archaeology of ritual and magic in particular, and the broader field of archaeology more generally by providing theoretical and methodological tools for understanding and recognizing how magical belief contributes to physical and metaphoric boundary construction and maintenance