O pivô geográfico da história

En la era poscolombina nos hallamos con un sistema político cerrado y, sin embargo, de alcance mundial, y por primera vez en condiciones de intentar la determinación más o menos completa, de la correlación que existe entre las más amplias generalizaciones geográficas e históricas. La “región pivote” (pivot area) de la política mundial es esa extensa zona de Eurasia que es inaccesible a los buques, pero que antiguamente estaba abierta a los jinetes nómadas, y está hoy a punto de ser cubierta por una red de ferrocarriles; en ella han existido y existen las condiciones de una movilidad de poder militar y económico de gran alcance y, sin embargo, limitado. Rusia ha remplazado al Imperio mongol. Fuera de la región pivote, en un gran “cinturón interior” (inner crescent), se hallan Alemania, Austria, Turquía, India y China, y en un “cinturón exterior” (outer crescent), Inglaterra, Sudáfrica, Australia, los Estados Unidos, Canadá y el Japón. Desde este punto de vista, la verdadera división entre el Oriente y el Occidente debe buscarse en el océano Atlántico. El vuelco del equilibrio de poder en favor del Estado pivote, como resultado de su expansión por las tierras marginales de Eurasia, permitiría la utilización de los amplios recursos continentales para la construcción de una flota, y un imperio de alcance mundial estaría a la vista.In the post-Columbian age, we have to deal with a closed political system, and none the less that it will be one of worldwide scope, and we are for the first time in a position to attempt, with some degree of completeness, a correlation between the larger geographical and the larger historical generalizations. The pivot region of the world’s politics is that vast area of Euro-Asia which is inaccessible to ships, but in antiquity lay open to the horse-riding nomads, and is to-day about to be covered with a network of railways. There have been and are here the conditions of a mobility of military and economic power of a far-reaching and yet limited character. Russia has replaced the Mongol Empire. Outside the pivot area, in a great inner crescent, are Germany, Austria, Turkey, India, and China, and in an outer crescent, Britain, South Africa, Australia, the United States, Canada, and Japan. From this point of view the real divide between east and west is to be found in the Atlantic Ocean. The oversetting of the balance of power in favour of the pivot state, resulting in its expansion over the marginal lands of Euro-Asia, would permit of the use of vast continental resources for fleet-building, and the empire of the world would then be in sight.Encontramo-nos, na era pós-colombina, com um sistema político fechado e de alcance mundial, e por primeira vez em condições de provar a determinação mais ou menos completa da correlação existente entre as generalizações geográficas e históricas mais amplas. A “região pivô” (pivot area) da política mundial é esta extensa zona da Eurásia que é inacessível aos buques, mas que antigamente estava aberta aos cavaleiros nômades, e está hoje a ponto de ser coberta por uma rede ferroviária; nela existiram e existem as condições de uma mobilidade do poder militar e econômico de grande alcance e, ao mesmo tempo, limitado. Rússia substituiu o Império mongol. Fora da região pivô, no interior de uma grande “cinturão interior” (inner crescent), encontram-se Alemanha, Áustria, Turquia, Índia e China; e, no “cinturão exterior” (outer crescent), Inglaterra, África do Sul, Austrália, os Estados Unidos, Canadá e o Japão. Desde este ponto de vista, a verdadeira divisão entre Oriente e Ocidente deve ser buscada no Oceano Atlântico. A inclinação do equilíbrio de poder em favor do Estado pivô, como resultado de sua expansão em terras marginais da Eurásia, permitiria a utilização dos amplos recursos continentais para a construção de uma frota, e um império de alcance mundial estaria à vista

Geospatial Analysis of Construction Labor Wage Rates in the United States of America

The United States government spends millions of dollars on construction every year. Each construction project paid for by the government is subject to the requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). The DBA is a federal law that sets minimum wages, called prevailing wages, for construction workers. This research used the geographic information system ArcGISTM to compare wages based on DBA requirements to wages earned by construction workers on non-federal projects not subject to DBA requirements. The research studied wages of eight different construction trades at all active military installations in the United States and compared the two wages to determine if there was a significant difference, and if so, what it was. It also determined the existence of any spatial relationships between the wage differences. The research also applied its findings to the U.S. Air Force\u27s construction budget for Fiscal Year 2012 to determine the amount spend based on DBA requirements. The research found that DBA wages are statistically higher for seven of the eight trades, which differs based on the trade, and confirmed the existence of several spatial relationships. The research concluded that the Air Force spent over $60 million in Fiscal Year 2012 based solely on DBA requirements

Clarifying the generic limits of Talbotiella and Hymenostegia (Detarieae, Caesalpinioideae, Leguminosae)

The formal description of four species of Cameroonian forest legume trees new to science has been hampered by uncertainty as to whether their correct generic placement is within Hymenostegia Harms or Talbotiella Baker f. As there has been doubt as to whether these two genera differ from one another, an investigation was undertaken so that the new species could be correctly assigned to genus. Using morphological, molecular and pollen data, our study supports the recognition of Hymenostegia and Talbotiella as distinct genera, consequently the new species are correctly placed in Talbotiella. In addition, our data reveal the extensive heterogeneous nature of Hymenostegia as currently circumscribed and the need to transfer H. breteleri to Talbotiella

Social protection and fragile states: An historical and ideational institutionalist analysis of agenda development in the World Bank

Over the past three decades a new paradigm has emerged within international development that seeks to address the issues of fragility and conflict. This new paradigm for engagement brings the state and its ‘capacity’ into the centre of international interventions, and is built around notions of security, economic liberalisation, democratisation and the rule of law. Concurrent with this new approach a concern with poverty emerged, as demonstrated by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the subsequent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Poverty within fragile and conflict-affected states is a particularly acute problem, as 60% of the world’s extreme poor are projected to be within fragile states by 2030. However, poverty-reduction mechanisms such as social protection suffer from a lack of ‘capacity’ in fragile states, undermining the efficacy of usual processes and policies that are used in non-fragile development contexts. This study therefore seeks to explore the extent to which social protection is considered within the fragile states agenda, to establish whether and how the building of coherent and sophisticated social protection systems is included within the broader ambition of ‘state-building’. Specifically, it looks at the development of – and the interaction between – the fragile states and social protection agendas in the World Bank, the leading and most influential development organisation. The study therefore draws attention to the significance of the World Bank’s institutional architecture as the forum within which the ideas surrounding fragility and social protection develop. Drawing on 43 elite interviews with influential World Bank staffers and a complementary documentary analysis, it employs an historical and ideational institutionalist framework to capture the interplay between the institution, the ideas around fragility and social protection, and the interests of the actors involved in the discourse, to identify the constraining and facilitating influences within the Bank that shape the agendas and their interaction. It finds that not only is the social protection agenda stronger than the fragile states agenda within the Bank, but that the institutional architecture of the organisation has restricted the potential for the two agendas to interact, meaning that the issues around building coherent, sophisticated and effective social protection mechanisms in fragile and conflict-affected states have been neglected until relatively recently

The Mechanisms of Calcification in Coccolithophores - The molecular basis of calcium and inorganic carbon transport in Emiliania huxleyi

Coccolithophores are calcifying marine phytoplankton that through the fixation of inorganic carbon into calcite and particulate organic carbon play a fundamental role in global carbon cycles. As the CO2 concentration of the surface ocean increases through the anthropogenic release of CO2 by burning fossil fuels both a decrease in pH (ocean acidification) and a increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (ocean carbonation) are taking place. To understand the impact of these ocean changes on coccolithophores it is essential that we rapidly increase our knowledge of the cellular processes underlying coccolithophore physiology. This doctoral thesis focuses on the cellular and molecular processes involved in the transport of Ca2+, inorganic carbon and H+ in relation to calcification and photosynthesis in the coccolithophore species Emiliania huxleyi. The thesis comprises 7 chapters: Chapter 1 is a general introduction to coccolithophore cellular biology and global carbon cycling; Chapters 2-6 are a combination of publications and data chapters; Chapter 7 provides a synthesis of the results placing the presented data into context of coccolithophores in a changing ocean, highlighting future research areas. Chapter 2 is a published review of the current literature on the molecular aspects of calcification in coccolithophores. It identifies key gaps in our knowledge of coccolithophore cellular biology and presents new hypotheses for the transport of substrates to the site of calcification. Chapter 3 investigates some of the proposed hypotheses by examining the role of several candidate Ca2+, H+ and inorganic carbon transport genes in calcifying and non-calcifying cells of E. huxleyi, using quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. The data provides strong evidence that a putative HCO3- transporter (AEL1), a Ca2+/H+ exchanger (CAX3), a vacuolar H+-ATPase pump (ATPVc/c’) and a gene encoding for a coccolith-associated protein, GPA, play key roles in E. huxleyi biomineralization. CAX3 and AEL1 were chosen for further analysis and were successfully cloned and expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Human Embryonic Kidney cells (HEK293) respectively (Chapter 6). However complete characterization of CAX3 and AEL1 was unsuccessful. CAX3 failed to complement the Ca2+ sensitive phenotype of a S. cerevisiae mutant, with further expression in a Ca2+ sensitive Escherichia coli mutant resulting in a lethal phenotype. The investigation of HCO3- transport in HEK293 cells expressing AEL1 gave negative results, potentially due to the poor localization of AEL1 to the plasma membrane. The data highlights the importance of developing genetic transformation techniques in coccolithophores to reduce the dependency of using foreign expression systems for the characterization of genes. The influence of the individual carbonate system components (CO2, HCO3-, CO32- and H+) on coccolithophore physiology and genetic response is relatively unknown. Chapter 4 disentangles the individual carbonate system components investigating their influence on calcification, particulate organic carbon fixation and gene expression in E. huxleyi. It identifies, for the first time, the genetic basis of a carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM) in coccolithophores, with the transcription of multiple CCM associated genes up-regulated at low concentrations of HCO3- and CO2. Physiological data combined with expression data indicates that calcification does not function as a CCM under carbon limitation and is instead reduced to allow the redistribution of inorganic carbon from calcification to photosynthesis. Furthermore, the data confirms previous studies that the substrate for calcification is HCO3- and that growth and organic carbon fixation rates are primarily influenced by CO2. The recent sequencing of the E. huxleyi genome has provided vast quantities of genetic data that requires detailed analysis to realise its full potential. Chapter 5 analyses the genome for calcification and photosynthesis related transport genes discovering that E. huxleyi has a diverse range of inorganic carbon, Ca2+ and H+ transporters, from classical plant, animal and bacterial families. The presence of multiple Na+/Ca2+ exchangers, a family of almost exclusively animal transporters indicates that coccolithophores have the potential to use both H+ and Na+ electrochemical gradients to drive secondary transport. Furthermore the identification of green algal CCM genes may provide a strong basis for investigating the evolution of CCMs in eukaryotic algae. The data presented in this thesis provides a significant step in our understanding of coccolithophore physiology at a cellular and molecular level. It offers a solid platform for future research in coccolithophore cell biology an area of research that is essential to comprehend the role of coccolithophores in gobal carbon cycling and how they will respond and adapt to future ocean changes

eBooks Speed Dating: Who’s in the Driver Seat Going Forward?

Probably more than any technology, digital formats have changed the nature of libraries, expanding opportunities for technology advancements and affecting user behaviors. Many lessons have been learned with how eBooks are acquired, licensed by libraries and used worldwide. Libraries are shifting their focus on collections and management, becoming more aware of their community’s mobility, opportunity to read and seek information from many locales, modes and devices. A known and growing commodity, eBooks will only increase their presence and availability

Taxonomic Revision of Daniellia (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae)

[EN] Daniellia (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) is a genus of ten species of medium to large trees from tropical and subtropical Africa. In contrast to earlier accounts, D. mortehanii is treated here as a synonym of D. pynaertii , and D. oblonga , which previously has been treated by some authors as a synonym of D. thurifera , is accepted. In addition, we describe as new Daniellia glandulosa . Quantitative characters such as receptacle length, petiole width, sepal length, and largest leaflet length have been used to aid species differentiation following the results of recent morphometric studies that revealed their taxonomic utility. Micromorphological features such as pollen surface and leaf glands were studied in all species, many for the first time, and the number, position, and shape of the glands present in the leaves are shown to be taxonomically useful in distinguishing species. A dichotomous key and a table of key characters is provided, as well as detailed descriptions and distribution maps for each species. All species are illustrated, D. oblonga and D. glandulosa for the first time. Three lectotypes and a neotype are designated.Peer reviewe

O pivô geográfico da história

Quando historiadores no futuro remoto vierem a olhar novamente sobre o grupo de séculos pelos quais estamos passando agora, e enxergando-nos em perspectiva, como hoje vemos as dinastias egípcias, pode muito bem ser que descrevam os últimos 400 anos como a época Colombina e digam que ela acabou logo após o ano 1900. Ultimamente, tem sido lugar comum falar sobre a exploração geográfica como quase encerrada, e se reconhece que a geografia deva ser direcionada para o propósito da investigação intensiva e da síntese filosófica. Em 400 anos o contorno do mapa do mundo foi completado com aproximada precisão, e mesmo nas regiões polares as viagens de Nansen e de Scott reduziram muitíssimo a última possibilidade de descobertas dramáticas. Mas a abertura do vigésimo século é tomada como o fim de uma grande época histórica, não apenas em decorrência desse feito, por mais importante que possa ser. O missionário, o conquistador, o fazendeiro, o mineiro e, recentemente, o engenheiro, seguiram tão de perto os passos dos viajantes que o mundo, nas suas fronteiras mais remotas, mal fora descoberto quando já podemos fazer a crônica de sua apropriação política virtualmente completa. Na Europa, América do Norte, América do Sul, África e Australásia, mal restou alguma região para ser alvo de reivindicação de propriedade, exceto como resultado de uma guerra entre poderes civilizados e semicivilizados. Mesmo na Ásia, estamos provavelmente presenciando os últimos movimentos do jogo iniciado pelos cavaleiros de Yermak, o Cossaco, e pelos marinheiros de Vasco da Gama. Genericamente falando, podemos contrastar a época Colombina com a idade que a precedeu ao descrever as características essenciais da primeira como a expansão da Europa contra resistências quase insignificantes, enquanto a Cristandade medieval estava encurralada em uma região estreita e ameaçada pelo barbarismo externo. De hoje em diante, na idade pós-Colombina, devemos novamente ter de lidar com um sistema político fechado, e no entanto será um de escopo mundial. Toda explosão de forças sociais, no lugar de ser dissipada em um circuito ao redor, de espaço desconhecido e caos bárbaro, será fortemente reecoada desde as longínquas partes do globo, e por isso os fracos elementos no organismo político e econômico do mundo serão em consequência destroçados. Há uma ampla diferença do efeito causado pela queda de uma granada em uma terraplanagem e sua queda em meio aos espaços fechados e às rígidas estruturas de uma grande construção ou embarcação. Provavelmente alguma semiconsciência desse fato é que está finalmente desviando grande parte da atenção de estadistas em todas as partes do mundo da expansão territorial para a luta pela relativa eficiência