Albian to Turonian agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages of the Lower Saxony Cretaceous sub-basins – implications for sequence stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental interpretation

Albian to Turonian carbonate deposits at three different locations of the Lower Saxony Cretaceous and thereby of the European mid-Cretaceous epeiric shelf sea were investigated for their fossil agglutinated foraminiferal fauna. In this study, 71 samples from two quarries and three drill cores were treated with formic acid, which enabled the study of agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages even in highly lithified limestones. In total, 114 species were determined and classified as belonging to nine morphogroups. In general, four agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages are distinguished: (1) an uppermost Albian–lowermost Cenomanian assemblage from the Wunstorf drill cores, with the dominant taxa Bathysiphon spp., Nothia spp., Psammosphaera fusca, Reophax subfusiformis, Bulbobaculites problematicus, Tritaxia tricarinata, Flourensina intermedia, Vialovella frankei, Arenobulimina truncata, and Voloshinoides advenus; (2) a Cenomanian assemblage from the Baddeckenstedt quarry and Wunstorf drill cores, with Ammolagena clavata, Tritaxia tricarinata, Vialovella frankei, Arenobulimina truncata, and Voloshinoides advenus; (3) an assemblage related to the Cenomanian–Turonian Boundary Event in Wunstorf and Söhlde dominated by Bulbobaculites problematicus; and (4) a Turonian assemblage in the Wunstorf and Söhlde sections with high numbers of Ammolagena contorta, Repmanina charoides, Bulbobaculites problematicus, Gerochammina stanislawi, and Spiroplectammina navarroana. The latest Albian–earliest Cenomanian assemblage consists of tubular, globular, and elongate foraminiferal morphogroups which are typical for the low- to mid-latitude slope biofacies. All other assemblages are composed of elongate foraminiferal morphogroups with additionally globular forms in the proximal settings of Baddeckenstedt and Söhlde or flattened planispiral and streptospiral forms in more distal settings of Wunstorf. For these assemblages, a new agglutinated foraminiferal biofacies named “mid-latitude shelf biofacies” is proposed herein. Changes in the relative abundance of different morphogroups can often be referred to single features of depositional sequences. Furthermore, classical macro-bioevents, which are often depositional-related, of the Lower Saxony Cretaceous seem to have a micro-bioevent or acme equivalent of the agglutinated foraminiferal fauna.</p

O Trabalho de Assistência Pedagógica na Universidade: a Experiência da UNISUL

Este trabalho consiste em um relato da experiência da Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (UNISUL) na implantação do serviço de assistência pedagógica nos cursos de graduação. Atualmente, os cursos de graduação da universidade estão agrupados por Unidades Acadêmicas (UnAs), de acordo com as áreas de conhecimento a que se relacionam, com estudantes matriculados, resultados econômico-financeiros apresentados e com localização geográfica das atividades de ensino. Cada UnA conta com o serviço de Assistência Pedagógica cuja função é dar suporte às decisões didático-pedagógicas, contribuindo com o processo de implementação dos Projetos Pedagógicos dos Cursos. O objetivo central deste texto é apresentar o caminho percorrido pelo grupo de assistentes pedagógicas contratadas em 2004, 2005 e 2006. Desde o período de capacitação para exercício da função, de imersão nas UnAs, até a fase de constituição do plano de intervenção pedagógica nos respectivos cursos de graduação.. A capacitação para o exercício da função foi planejada e desenvolvida pela Diretoria de Graduação da UNISUL e consistiu-se no estudo dirigido de documentos que regem a gestão pedagógica da universidade, na discussão de casos e na construção coletiva de um plano de trabalho para a imersão das assistentes pedagógicas na realidade dos cursos. Esse plano de trabalho previu uma metodologia para a coleta de dados junto aos coordenadores, docentes e acadêmicos dos cursos, com vistas à leitura do contexto e produção de um plano de intervenção pedagógica. Ao final deste texto , são apresentadas, resumidamente, as práticas pedagógicas identificadas em cada UnA, bem como as propostas de intervenção da assistência pedagógica, ora em implementação

Increasing Dominance - the Role of Advertising, Pricing and Product Design

Despite the empirical relevance of advertising strategies in concentrated markets, the economics literature is largely silent on the effect of persuasive advertising strategies on pricing, market structure and increasing (or decreasing) dominance. In a simple model of persuasive advertising and pricing with differentiated goods, we analyze the interdependencies between ex-ante asymmetries in consumer appeal, advertising and prices. Products with larger initial appeal to consumers will be advertised more heavily but priced at a higher level - that is, advertising and price discounts are strategic substitutes for products with asymmetric initial appeal. We find that the escalating effect of advertising dominates the moderating effect of pricing so that post-competition market shares are more asymmetric than pre-competition differences in consumer appeal. We further find that collusive advertising (but competitive pricing) generates the same market outcomes, and that network effects lead to even more extreme market outcomes, both directly and via the effect on advertising

Mecanismos de accountability en la gestión de residuos sólidos, en Colombia y Brasil

Las ciudades de Bogotá y Sao Paulo comparten importantes retos dentro de lo que se conoce internacionalmente como la gestión integral de residuos sólidos; en particular, los asociados con salud, ambientales y de participación ciudadana. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo la comparación de los mecanismos formales de accountability participativo (MA), sobre la gestión de residuos sólidos, en ambas ciudades; y por esta vía, pretende contribuir a cubrir el vacío que existe en torno al problema de la gobernanza y en particular, el accountability en la gestión ambiental en América Latina. (Apartes del texto)Fundamentos teóricos y conceptuales del estudio comparativo / Diana María Cuadros De Vílchez -- Estudio comparativo de los desarrollos legislativos de Brasil y Colombia / José Gerardo Candamil Pinzón -- Gestión integral de residuos sólidos en Bogotá, D. C. / Marlybell Ochoa Miranda, Diana María Cuadros De Vílchez -- Política e accountability da gestão de resíduos sólidos no município de São Paulo / Pedro Roberto Jacobi, Gina Rizpah Besen -- Mecanismos formales de accountability participativo: un análisis comparativo / Diana María Cuadros De Vílchez, Pedro Roberto Jacobi, Gina Rizpah Besen.Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadore

Separation versus affiliation with partial vertical ownership in network industries

The separation of integrated monopolies and new market entrants have changed vertical interactions between suppliers and dealers. Firms have substituted full integration with vertical restraints leading to collusive behaviour harmful to competition. We examine how a partial vertical ownership (an affiliation) of one of the competing downstream retailers by the upstream monopoly could help internalise the production decision after a complete divestiture. Our results in a Cournot framework confirm the positive role of partial integration on firms' profits and consumer surplus in increasing social welfare. These results are consistent with empirical studies of economies after vertical separation in network industries

Cultural Capital and Attitudes Toward Homosexuals: Exploring the Relation Between Lifestyles and Homonegativity

This article explores the potential of cultural capital as explanatory factor in understanding homonegativity. Building on recent findings suggesting the need for a cultural component in understanding homonegativity, this article explores the relation between lifestyles (the measurable expression of cultural capital) and homonegativity. Using the “Social-Cultural Changes in Flanders 2006” survey (a population-wide survey in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium), we observed that homonegativity is lowest in lifestyle clusters where cultural capital is higher. This effect, furthermore, is maintained even after controlling for other homonegativity correlates. These results suggest that cultural capital, expressed by lifestyles, is a valuable addition to the understanding of homonegativity