The relationship between digitalization, CO 2 emissions, and financial development

This paper first examines the relationship between digitalization and CO 2 emissions to test the inverted U-shaped relationship predicted by the Environmental Kuznets Hypothesis. The results using the fixed effects, two-stage least squares, and generalized method of moments estimation coincide with this inverted U-shaped relationship suggesting that increases in digitalization increase CO 2 emissions up to a certain threshold of digitalization and then decrease it. An interaction term with financial development was then included in the model to determine the role that it plays in this inverted U-shaped relationship. Overall, results indicated that there is no strong evidence that financial development plays a role in the relationship between digitalization and CO 2 emissions. Since the nature of the relationship depends on the level of digital development of a country, this suggests that countries should have different policies when attempting to reduce emissions as they continue to digitalize

Little Italy, Set in Stone. A walking tour

Bluestone Heights and HEART of Little Italy host, Little Italy, Set in Stone, a walking tour of the historic district. The walk, about a mile in length, covers Murray Hill and intersecting side streets. We explore a Little Italy that most tourists don\u27t see. The tour departs, rain or shine, from HEART of Little Italy, 2092 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland. The walking tour expands on the unveiling of the Portage Periplus Journal (October 23, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm). For the unveiling, the journal\u27s six narrative paper panels illuminate the periplus from Doan to Gully Brooks. For the viewer, the voyages of 1852 and 1912 play out simultaneously along the panels. In shifting between upper and lower registers, one takes in 60 years of landscape change. Surrounding graphics and text help identify the wilderness of early settler times and the fast pace of early twentieth century cultural development. With the Portage Periplus Journal, Bluestone Heights and the Morgan Conservatory engage Clevelanders with the Portage Escarpment. Gateway to “the Heights,” the escarpment is a major natural feature and carries more than 200 years of Cleveland cultural history. Bluestone Heights explores escarpment nature and culture with online mapping and onsite walking tours. We use the literary device of periplus, a narration of voyage along a shoreline. The Portage Periplus navigates the escarpment front to tell its deep history. For Octavofest 2013, the Morgan Conservatory adds paper art to the project. On handmade Morgan papers, the Portage Periplus Journal relates conceptual voyages of cartographers Blackmore (1852) and Hopkins (1912) along Euclid Ave, from Doans Corners to Wickliffe

Portage Periplus Journal

With the Portage Periplus Journal, Bluestone Heights and the Morgan Conservatory engage Clevelanders with the Portage Escarpment. Gateway to “the Heights,” the escarpment is a major natural feature and carries more than 200 years of Cleveland cultural history. Bluestone Heights explores escarpment nature and culture with online mapping and onsite walking tours. We use the literary device of periplus, a narration of voyage along a shoreline. The Portage Periplus navigates the escarpment front to tell its deep history. For Octavofest 2013, the Morgan Conservatory adds paper art to the project. On handmade Morgan papers, the Portage Periplus Journal relates conceptual voyages of cartographers Blackmore (1852) and Hopkins (1912) along Euclid Ave, from Doans Corners to Wickliffe. Oct 23: Journal Unveiling On Wednesday, October 23, 7-9 pm, the Morgan Conservatory unveils the journal on premises (1754 E 47th St, Cleveland, OH 44103). Project summaries by Roy Larick, Bluestone Heights; William C. Barrow, Cleveland Memory Project; and Tom Balbo, Morgan Conservatory. Oct 26: Walking Tour On Saturday, October 26, 4-5:30 pm, Bluestone Heights and HEART of Little Italy host, Murray Hill, Set in Stone, a walking tour of Little Italy side streets. Murray Hill is part of the journal\u27s Doan Brook escarpment area. The tour departs from HEART headquarters, 2094 Murray Hill Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106

Variability in the contents of pork meat nutrients and how it may affect food composition databases

Pork meat is generally recognised as a food with relevant nutritional properties because of its content in high biological value proteins, group B vitamins, minerals especially heme iron, trace elements and other bioactive compounds. But pork meat also contributes to the intake of fat, saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and other substances that, in inappropriate amounts, may result in negative physiologically effects. However, there are relevant factors affecting the content of many of these substances and somehow such variability should be taken into consideration. So, genetics, age and even type of muscle have a relevant influence on the amount of fat and the contents in heme iron. Also the composition in fatty acids of triacylglycerols is very sensitive to the contents of cereals in the feed; for instance, polyunsaturated fatty acids may range from 10% to 22% in pork meat. The content of other nutrients, like vitamins E and A, are also depending on the type of feed. Some bioactive substances like coenzyme Q10, taurine, glutamine, creatine, creatinine, carnosine and anserine show a large dependence on the type of muscle. This manuscript describes the main factors affecting the composition of pork meat nutrients and how these changes may affect the general food composition databases. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Grant AGL2010-16305 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Madrid, Spain) and FEDER Funds and collaboration of Vaquero Foundation for R+D on Pork Meat (Madrid, Spain) are acknowledged. Grant PROMETEO/2012/001 from Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) is also acknowldeged. Work prepared within the Unidad Asociada IAD (UPV)-IATA (CSIC) framework.Reig Riera, MM.; Aristoy, M.; Toldra, F. (2013). Variability in the contents of pork meat nutrients and how it may affect food composition databases. Food Chemistry. 140(3):478-482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.11.085S478482140

Existence of benefit finding and posttraumatic growth in people treated for head and neck cancer: A systematic review

Background. The impact of head and neck cancer (HNC) in long-term survivors differs widely among individuals, and a significant number of them suffer from the negative effects of disease, whereas others report significant positive effect. This systematic review investigated the evidence the implications of treatment for HNC and subsequent development of Benefit Finding (BF) or Posttraumatic Growth (PTG). Purpose. To understand how differing medical, psychological and social characteristics of HNC may lead to BF/PTG and ubsequently inform post-treatment interventions to encourage positive outcomes.Method. In February 2012, five databases including Pubmed, and Psych Info, were searched, for peer-reviewed English language publications. Search strings included key words pertaining to HNC, BF, and PTG. One thousand three hundred and sixty three publications were identified, reviewed, and reduced following Cochrane guidelines and inclusion/exclusion criteria specified by a group of maxillofacial consul- tants and psychologists. Publications were then quality assessed using the CASP Cohort Critical Appraisal tool.Findings. Five manuscripts met the search and selection criteria, and were sourced for review. All studies were identified as being level IIb evidence which is a medium level of quality. The majority of studies investigated benefit finding (80%) and were split between recruiting participant via cancer clinics and postal survey. They focused on the medical, psychological and social characteristics of the patient following completion of treatment for HNC.Conclusion. Demographic factors across the papers showed similar patterns of relationships across BF and PTG; that higher education/qualification and cohabitation/marriage are associated with increased BF/PTG. Similarly, overlap with disease characteristics and psychosocial factors where hope and optimism were both positively correlated with increased reported BF/PTG

Confrontational scavenging as a possible source for language and cooperation

The emergence of language and the high degree of cooperation found among humans seems to require more than a straightforward enhancement of primate traits. Some triggering episode unique to human ancestors was likely necessary. Here it is argued that confrontational scavenging was such an episode. Arguments for and against an established confrontational scavenging niche are discussed, as well as the probable effects of such a niche on language and co-operation. Finally, several possible directions for future research are suggested

The origins and persistence of Homo floresiensis on Flores: biogeographical and ecological perspectives

The finding of archaeological evidence predating 1 Ma and a small hominin species (Homo floresiensis) on Flores, Indonesia, has stimulated much research on its origins and ancestry. Here we take a different approach and examine two key questions – 1) how did the ancestors of H. floresiensis reach Flores and 2) what are the prospects and difficulties of estimating the likelihood of hominin persistence for over 1 million years on a small island? With regard to the first question, on the basis of the biogeography we conclude that the mammalian, avian, and reptilian fauna on Flores arrived from a number of sources including Java, Sulawesi and Sahul. Many of the terrestrial taxa were able to float or swim (e.g. stegodons, giant tortoises and the Komodo dragon), while the rodents and hominins probably accidentally rafted from Sulawesi, following the prevailing currents. The precise route by which hominins arrived on Flores cannot at present be determined, although a route from South Asia through Indochina, Sulawesi and hence Flores is tentatively supported on the basis of zoogeography. With regards to the second question, we find the archaeological record equivocal. A basic energetics model shows that a greater number of small-bodied hominins could persist on Flores than larger-bodied hominins (whether H. floresiensis is a dwarfed species or a descendent of an early small-bodied ancestor is immaterial here), which may in part explain their apparent long-term success. Yet the frequent tsunamis and volcanic eruptions in the region would certainly have affected all the taxa on the island, and at least one turnover event is recorded, when Stegodon sondaari became extinct. The question of the likelihood of persistence may be unanswerable until we know much more about the biology of H. floresiensis

The Age of the 20 Meter Solo River Terrace, Java, Indonesia and the Survival of Homo erectus in Asia

Homo erectus was the first human lineage to disperse widely throughout the Old World, the only hominin in Asia through much of the Pleistocene, and was likely ancestral to H. sapiens. The demise of this taxon remains obscure because of uncertainties regarding the geological age of its youngest populations. In 1996, some of us co-published electron spin resonance (ESR) and uranium series (U-series) results indicating an age as young as 35–50 ka for the late H. erectus sites of Ngandong and Sambungmacan and the faunal site of Jigar (Indonesia). If correct, these ages favor an African origin for recent humans who would overlap with H. erectus in time and space. Here, we report 40Ar/39Ar incremental heating analyses and new ESR/U-series age estimates from the “20 m terrace" at Ngandong and Jigar. Both data sets are internally consistent and provide no evidence for reworking, yet they are inconsistent with one another. The 40Ar/39Ar analyses give an average age of 546±12 ka (sd±5 se) for both sites, the first reliable radiometric indications of a middle Pleistocene component for the terrace. Given the technical accuracy and consistency of the analyses, the argon ages represent either the actual age or the maximum age for the terrace and are significantly older than previous estimates. Most of the ESR/U-series results are older as well, but the oldest that meets all modeling criteria is 143 ka+20/−17. Most samples indicated leaching of uranium and likely represent either the actual or the minimum age of the terrace. Given known sources of error, the U-series results could be consistent with a middle Pleistocene age. However, the ESR and 40Ar/39Ar ages preclude one another. Regardless, the age of the sites and hominins is at least bracketed between these estimates and is older than currently accepted

Tropical forests and the genus Homo

Tropical forests constitute some of the most diverse and complex terrestrial ecosystems on the planet. From the Miocene onward, they have acted as a backdrop to the ongoing evolution of our closest living relatives, the great apes, and provided the cradle for the emergence of early hominins, who retained arboreal physiological adaptations at least into the Late Pliocene. There also now exists growing evidence, from the Late Pleistocene onward, for tool-assisted intensification of tropical forest occupation and resource extraction by our own species, Homo sapiens. However, between the Late Pliocene and Late Pleistocene there is an apparent gap in clear and convincing evidence for the use of tropical forests by hominins, including early members of our own genus. In discussions of Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene hominin evolution, including the emergence and later expansion of Homo species across the globe, tropical forest adaptations tend to be eclipsed by open, savanna environments. Thus far, it is not clear whether this Early-Middle Pleistocene lacuna in Homo-rainforest interaction is real and representative of an adaptive shift with the emergence of our species or if it is simply reflective of preservation bias.For financial support, we acknowledge the Natural Environmental 314 ARTICLE Research Council (no. 1322282 to PR), the Boise Fund (to PR), the European Research Council (no. 206148 to NB, no. 617627 to JS, no. 295719 to MP), and the Leakey Foundation (to JLT)