Glacial to paraglacial history and forest recovery in the Oglio glacier system (Italian Alps) between 26 and 15 ka cal BP

The integrated stratigraphic, radiocarbon and palynological record from an end-moraine system of the Oglio valley glacier (Italian Alps), propagating a lobe upstream in a lateral reach, provided evidence for a complete cycle of glacial advance, culmination and withdrawal during the Last Glacial Maximum and early Lateglacial. The glacier culminated in the end moraine shortly after 25.8 +/- 0.8 ka cal BP, and cleared the valley floor 18.3-17.2 +/- 0.3 ka cal BP. A primary paraglacial phase is then recorded by fast progradation of the valley floor.

As early as 16.7 +/- 0.3 ka cal BP, early stabilization of alluvial fans and lake filling promoted expansion of cembran pine. This is an unprecedented evidence of direct tree response to depletion of paraglacial activity during the early Lateglacial, and also documents the cembran pine survival in the mountain belt of the Italian Alps during the last glaciation. Between 16.1 and 14.6 +/- 0.5 ka cal BP, debris cones emplacement points to a moisture increase favouring tree Betula and Pinus sylvestris-mugo. A climate perturbation renewed paraglacial activity. According to cosmogenic ages on glacial deposits and AMS radiocarbon ages from lake records in South-Eastern Alps such phase compares favourably with the Gschnitz stadial and with the oscillations recorded at lakes Ragogna. Langsee and Jeserzersee, most probably forced by the latest freshening phases of the Heinrich Event 1.

A further sharp pine rise marks the subsequent onset of Bolling interstadial. The chronology of the Oglio glacier compares closely with major piedmont glaciers on the Central and Eastern Alpine forelands. On the other hand, the results of the present study imply a chronostratigraphic re-assessment of the recent geological mapping of the Central Italian Alps. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Political Economy of Swift's Satires and other Prose Works

Jonathan Swift wrote perceptively about the emerging commercial society
in Britain in the early eighteenth century. His particular focus was on the
financial revolution and its implications for economic and political stability
as well as for shifts of power between the landed and commercial
classes. Following his return to Ireland Swift’s focus shifted to the developmental
problems of his native country. In several pamphlets he advocated
consumption of domestic products, challenged existing political
structures and made trenchant criticisms of absenteeism and other dysfunctional
aspects of the land tenure system. Swift’s politico-economic
concerns are fully reflected in his best known work, Gulliver’s Travels but
his most pointed criticism of the emerging commercial system is contained
in A Modest Proposal. Written in the form of an economic pamphlet, A
Modest Proposal is ostensibly designed to address the problem of poverty
in Ireland. In addition to its implicit criticism of economic policy in Ireland,
the pamphlet challenges the separation of economics and morality as
evidenced in the writings of William Petty and Bernard Mandeville. Swift
parodies Petty’s political arithmetic but it is suggested here that he also
had in his sights the consequentialist reasoning present in the work of
both authors but explicitly so in Mandeville.
Keywords: financial revolution, public debt, paper credit, rationality, political
arithmetic, consequentialism, Petty (William), Mandeville (Bernard)

Biostratigraphic Evidence Relating to the Age-Old Question of Hannibal's Invasion of Italy, I: History and Geological Reconstruction

Controversy over the alpine route that Hannibal of Carthage followed from the Rhône Basin into Italia has raged amongst classicists and ancient historians for over two millennia. The motivation for identifying the route taken by the Punic Army through the Alps lies in its potential for identifying sites of historical archaeological significance and for the resolution of one of history's most enduring quandaries. Here, we present stratigraphic, geochemical and microbiological evidence recovered from an alluvial floodplain mire located below the Col de la Traversette (~3000 m asl-above sea level) on the French/Italian border that potentially identifies the invasion route as the one originally proposed by Sir Gavin de Beer (de Beer 1974). The dated layer is termed the MAD bed (mass animal deposition) based on disrupted bedding, greatly increased organic carbon and key/specialized biological components/compounds, the latter reported in Part II of this paper. We propose that the highly abnormal churned up (bioturbated) bed was contaminated by the passage of Hannibal's animals, possibly thousands, feeding and watering at the site, during the early stage of Hannibal's invasion of Italia (218 bc).

CaII K interstellar observations towards early-type disc and halo stars - distances to intermediate- and high-velocity clouds

We compare existing high spectral resolution (R = lambda/Deltalambda similar to 40 000) Ca II Kobservations (lambda(air) = 3933.66 Angstrom) towards 88 mainly B-type stars, and new observations taken using the Intermediate dispersion Spectrograph and Imaging System (ISIS) on the William Herschel Telescope at R similar to 10 000 towards three stars taken from the Palomar-Green Survey, with 21-cm HI emission-line profiles, in order to search for optical absorption towards known intermediate- and high-velocity cloud complexes. Given certain assumptions, limits to the gas phase abundance of Ca II are estimated for the cloud components. We use the data to derive the following distances from the Galactic plane (z). (i) Tentative lower z-height limits of 2800 and 4100 pc towards complex C using lack of absorption in the spectra of HD341617 and PG 0855 + 294, respectively. (ii) A weak lower z-height of 1400 pc towards complex WA-WB using lack of absorption in EC 09470-1433 and a weak lower limit of 2470 pc using lack of absorption in EC 09452-1403. (iii) An upper z- height of 2470 pc towards a southern intermediate- velocity cloud (IVC) with v(LSR) = -55 km s(-1) using PG 2351 + 198. (iv) Detection of a possible IVC in Ca II absorption at v(LSR) = +52 km s(-1) using EC 20104-2944. No associated HI in emission is detected. At this position, normal Galactic rotation predicts velocities of up to similar to+ 25 km s(-1). The detection puts an upper z-height of 1860 pc to the cloud. (v) Tentative HI and Ca II K detections towards an IVC at similar to+70 km s(-1) in the direction of high-velocity cloud (HVC) complex WE, sightline EC 06387-8045, indicating that the IVC may be at a z-height lower than 1770 pc. (vi) Detection of Ca II K absorption in the spectrum of PG 0855 + 294 in the direction of IV20, indicating that this IVC has a z-height smaller than 4100 pc. (vii) A weak lower z-height of 4300 pc towards a small HVC with v(LSR) = +115 km s(-1) at l, b = 200degrees, + 52degrees, using lack of absorption in the Ca II K spectrum of PG 0955 + 291.

Distance and Proximity in Service to the Empire: Ulster and New Zealand between the Wars

This essay uses the concepts of ‘distance’ and ‘proximity’ to investigate and assess perceptions of community, nation and empire in inter-war New Zealand and Ulster (as well as Ireland and Northern Ireland) within a British imperial context, and explores the extent to which service of the empire (for example in the First World War) promoted both notions of imperial unity and local autonomy. It focuses on how these perceptions were articulated in the inter-war years during visits to Northern Ireland by three New Zealand premiers – Massey, Forbes and Coates – and to New Zealand by the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Craigavon. It discusses the significant ways in which distance from their ‘home base’ and proximity to expatriate communities (in Craigavon's case) and Irish unionists and nationalists (in the case of the New Zealand premiers) inflected public statements during their visits. By examining these inter-war visits and investigating the rhetoric used and the cultural demonstrations associated with them, the factors of both distance and proximity can be used to evaluate similarities and difference across two parts of the empire. Thus, we can throw some light on the nature and dynamics of British imperial identity in the early twentieth century.

Effect of plane of nutrition of 1-and 2-year-old ewes in early and mid-pregnancy on ewe reproduction and offspring performance up to weaning

The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of plane of nutrition in early pregnancy (EP) and mid-pregnancy (W), on the productive performance of 1- and 2-year-old ewes and their offspring. Over 2 successive years, between days 0 and 39 after synchronized mating (EP), 1- (n=117) and 2- (n=52) year-old ewes were allowed 60% (low, L-EP), 100% (medium, M-EP) or 200% (high, H-EP) of requirements for maintenance (M). Between days 40 and 90 (MP), 1-year-old ewes were allowed 140% (M-MP) or 200% (H-MP), while 2-year-old ewes were allowed 80% (M-MP) or 140% (H-MP) of their M requirement. After day 90, all ewes were fed to meet requirements for late pregnancy. Increasing the plane of nutrition between days 0 and 39 resulted in increases in live weight (LW) (PM-EP>LEP), differences that in 1-year-old ewes were sustained to lambing (P0.05). These ewes exhibited more positive maternal behaviours (e.g. increased grooming frequency and duration, P

Risk: A Study of Its Origins, History and Politics

Over a period of several centuries, the academic study of risk has evolved as a distinct body of thought, which continues to influence conceptual developments in fields such as economics, management, politics and sociology. However, few scholarly works have given a chronological account of cultural and intellectual trends relating to the understanding and analysis of risks. Risk: A Study of its Origins, History and Politics aims to fill this gap by providing a detailed study of key turning points in the evolution of society's understanding of risk. Using a wide range of primary and secondary materials, Matthias Beck and Beth Kewell map the political origins and moral reach of some of the most influential ideas associated with risk and uncertainty at specific periods of time. The historical focus of the book makes it an excellent introduction for readers who wish to go beyond specific risk management techniques and their theoretical underpinnings, to gain an understanding of the history and politics of risk.

Range expansion in an invasive small mammal: influence of life-history and habitat quality.

Invasive species pose a major threat to biodiversity but provide an opportunity to describe the processes that lead to changes in a species’ range. The bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is an invasive rodent that was introduced to Ireland in the early twentieth century. Given its continuing range expansion, the substantial empirical data on its spread thus far, and the absence of any eradication program, the bank vole in Ireland represents a unique model system for studying the mechanisms influencing the rate of range expansion in invasive small mammals. We described the invasion using a reaction–diffusion model informed by empirical data on life history traits and demographic parameters. We subsequently modelled the processes involved in its range expansion using a rule-based spatially explicit simulation. Habitat suitability interacted with density-dependent parameters to influence dispersal, most notably the density at which local populations started to donate emigrating individuals, the number of dispersing individuals and the direction of dispersal. Whilst local habitat variability influenced the rate of spread, on a larger scale the invasion resembled a simple reaction–diffusion process. Our results suggest a Type 1 range expansion where the rate of expansion is generally constant over time, but with some evidence for a lag period following introduction. We demonstrate that a two-parameter empirical model and a rule-based spatially explicit simulation are sufficient to accurately describe the invasion history of a species that exhibits a complex, density-dependent pattern of dispersal.