Vegetation and environmental changes in Northern Anatolia between 134 and 119ka recorded in Black Sea sediments

This multiproxy study on SE Black Sea sediments provides the first detailed reconstruction of vegetation and environmental history of Northern Anatolia between 134 and 119 ka. Here, the glacial–interglacial transition is characterized by several short-lived alternating cold and warm events preceding a meltwater pulse (~ 130.4–131.7 ka). The latter is reconstructed as a cold arid period correlated to Heinrich event 11. The initial warming is evidenced at ~ 130.4 ka by increased primary productivity in the Black Sea, disappearance of ice-rafted detritus, and spreading of oaks in Anatolia. A Younger Dryas-type event is not identifiable. The Eemian vegetation succession corresponds to the main climatic phases in Europe: i) the Quercus–Juniperus phase (128.7–126.4 ka) indicates a dry continental climate; ii) the Ostrya–Corylus–Quercus–Carpinus phase (126.4–122.9 ka) suggests warm summers, mild winters, and high year-round precipitation; iii) the Fagus–Carpinus phase (122.9–119.5 ka) indicates cooling and high precipitation; and iv) increasing Pinus at ~ 121 ka marks the onset of cooler/drier conditions. Generally, pollen reconstructions suggest altitudinal/latitudinal migrations of vegetation belts in Northern Anatolia during the Eemian caused by increased transport of moisture. The evidence for the wide distribution of Fagus around the Black Sea contrasts with the European records and is likely related to climatic and genetic factors

Demonstrating distinction at ‘the lowest edge of the black-coated class’: the family expenditures of Edwardian railway clerks

Families at the bottom end of the Edwardian white-collar income spectrum demonstrated middle-class status through observable consumption, at the cost of squeezing other expenditures, including ‘necessities’. This had negative economic impacts, lowering living standards due to inefficiently high budget shares for positional goods. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, we examine how railway clerks sought to demonstrate ‘distinction’ from manual workers through certain conspicuous expenditures and how this strategy was progressively undermined by falling real incomes over the Edwardian period.

Racial discrimination in Brazil: interviews with leaders of the black movement

Racism in Brazil has some specificities when compared to other countries, for, differently from, for instance, South Africa and the United States, Brazilian Constitutions, ever since the Independence (1822), have never distinguished the citizens according to race or color. Furthermore, since the mid-1900s, Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestations, such as, for example, samba and capoeira, started to be valued as a part of our “national identity”. These specificities make race relations in Brazilian society a much more complex issue. This paper is focused on selected parts of interviews that deal with the nature of racial discrimination in Brazil, extracted from interviews with leaders of the black movement produced within the scope of the project “The History of Black Movement in Brazil: organization of a collection of Oral History Interviews”, developed by CPDOC, Getulio Vargas Foundation (Rio de Janeiro). These “histories within history”, as told by our interviewees, may be transformed into images that will be able to condense a given reality, thus allowing us to evaluate the gains obtained by oral history methodology.

Fire History at the Eastern Great Plains Margin, Missouri River Loess Hills

The purpose of this paper is to provide quantitative fire history information for a geographically unique region, the Loess Hills of northwest Missouri. We sampled 33 bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa Michx.), chinkapin oak (Q. muehlenbergii Engelm.), and black oak (Q. velutina Lam.) trees from the Brickyard Hill Conservation Area in northwest Missouri. The period of tree-ring record ranged in calendar years from 1671 to 2004 and fire-scar dates (n = 97) ranged from 1672 to 1980. Fire intervals for individual trees ranged from 1 to 87 years. The mean fire interval was 6.6 years for the pre-Euro-American settlement period (1672-1820), and 5.2 years for the entire record (1672-1980). A period of more frequent fire (mean fire interval = 1.6 for 1825 to 1850) coincided with Euro-American settlement of the area. The average percentage of trees scarred at the site was 16.8%, or about 1 in 7 trees sampled per fire. No significant relationship between fire years and drought conditions was found; however, events prior to 1820 may have been associated with wet to dry mode transitions.

The History of the German-Russian Colony in Lincoln

Standing at the corner of Tenth and O streets in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, any week-day morning between 7:30 and 8 o'clock, you may see pass by you from ten to twenty women with little black woolen shawls on their heads. Ask any citizen who they are, and ninety-nine times in one hundred he will tell you they are "Russians" who live down on the bottoms, that they are going out into the offices and homes to wash and scrub and clean house, and that their husbands are street laborers or work for the railroad. He may then grow confidential and tell you that he "has no use for these people", that "they are only half human", and that he "would just as soon see the Chinese come here as those people". As a matter of fact the greater part of his information is incorrect, partly through race prejudice but chiefly through ignorance of their history. These people, of whom there are about 4,000 in the city (Including "beet fielders"), are Germans, not Russians: they are Teutons, not Slavs; they are Lutheran and Reformed, not Greek Catholics. To be sure they and their ancestors lived in Russia for over one hundred years and they came here directly from the realm of the Czar whoso bona fide citizens they were—but they never spoke the Russian language, never embraced the Greek religion, never intermarried with the Russians, and many of their children never saw a Russian until they left their native village for the new home in America. They despise being called "Russians" just as an Italian resents "Dago"; a Jew, "Sheeny"; and a German, "Dutchman". Ask them where they came from and most of the children and not a few of the grown people will say, "Germany". If you pursue your questioning as to what part of Germany, they will tell you "Saratov" or "Samara" - two governments in the eastern part of Russia on the lower course of the Volga river. The misconceptions concerning the desirability of these German-Russians as citizens arise from their unprogressiveness as compared with those Germans who come to us directly from the mother country. During their century's sojourn in Russia they have been out of the main current of civilization, a mere eddy in the stream of progress. They present a concrete example of arrested development, The characteristics which differentiate them from other Germans are not due to an inherent lack of capacity but to different environment. Notwithstanding this, the German- Russians have some admirable qualities. They bring us large stores of physical energy and an almost unlimited capacity for work. The majority of them are literate although the amount of their education is limited. They are thrifty and independent, almost never applying for public aid. They are law abiding, their chief offenses being those which are traceable to their communal life in Russia. They are extremely religious, all their social as well as spiritual life being bound up in the church which they support right royally. To be sure, the saloon gets their vote (the prohibition vote among them is increasing); but "was not the first miracle that Christ performed the turning of water into wine? If they would shut up the shows (theaters), they wouldn't need to shut up the saloons". The object of this paper is to give the historical setting in which the German-Russians have lived as one means to a better understanding and appreciation of them by our own citizens.

Modeling the cosmological co-evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies

In this Thesis, we investigate the cosmological co-evolution of supermassive black holes (BHs), Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and their hosting dark matter (DM) halos and galaxies, within the standard CDM scenario. We analyze both analytic, semi-analytic and hybrid techniques and use the most recent observational data available to constrain the assumptions underlying our models. First, we focus on very simple analytic models where the assembly of BHs is directly related to the merger history of DM haloes. For this purpose, we implement the two original analytic models of Wyithe & Loeb 2002 and Wyithe & Loeb 2003, compare their predictions to the AGN luminosity function and clustering data, and discuss possible modifications to the models that improve the match to the observation. Then we study more sophisticated semi-analytic models in which however the baryonic physics is neglected as well. Finally we improve the hybrid simulation of De Lucia & Blaizot 2007, adding new semi-analytical prescriptions to describe the BH mass accretion rate during each merger event and its conversion into radiation, and compare the derived BH scaling relations, fundamental plane and mass function, and the AGN luminosity function with observations. All our results support the following scenario: • The cosmological co-evolution of BHs, AGN and galaxies can be well described within the CDM model. • At redshifts z & 1, the evolution history of DM halo fully determines the overall properties of the BH and AGN populations. The AGN emission is triggered mainly by DM halo major mergers and, on average, AGN shine at their Eddington luminosity. • At redshifts z . 1, BH growth decouples from halo growth. Galaxy major mergers cannot constitute the only trigger to accretion episodes in this phase. • When a static hot halo has formed around a galaxy, a fraction of the hot gas continuously accretes onto the central BH, causing a low-energy “radio” activity at the galactic centre, which prevents significant gas cooling and thus limiting the mass of the central galaxies and quenching the star formation at late time. • The cold gas fraction accreted by BHs at high redshifts seems to be larger than at low redshifts.

Vegetation and environmental changes in Northern Anatolia between 134 and 119 ka recorded in Black Sea sediments

This multiproxy study on SE Black Sea sediments provides the first detailed reconstruction of vegetation and environmental history of Northern Anatolia between 134 and 119 ka. Here, the glacial–interglacial transition is characterized by several short-lived alternating cold and warm events preceding a meltwater pulse (~ 130.4–131.7 ka). The latter is reconstructed as a cold arid period correlated to Heinrich event 11. The initial warming is evidenced at ~ 130.4 ka by increased primary productivity in the Black Sea, disappearance of ice-rafted detritus, and spreading of oaks in Anatolia. A Younger Dryas-type event is not identifiable. The Eemian vegetation succession corresponds to the main climatic phases in Europe: i) the Quercus–Juniperus phase (128.7–126.4 ka) indicates a dry continental climate; ii) the Ostrya–Corylus–Quercus–Carpinus phase (126.4–122.9 ka) suggests warm summers, mild winters, and high year-round precipitation; iii) the Fagus–Carpinus phase (122.9–119.5 ka) indicates cooling and high precipitation; and iv) increasing Pinus at ~ 121 ka marks the onset of cooler/drier conditions. Generally, pollen reconstructions suggest altitudinal/latitudinal migrations of vegetation belts in Northern Anatolia during the Eemian caused by increased transport of moisture. The evidence for the wide distribution of Fagus around the Black Sea contrasts with the European records and is likely related to climatic and genetic factors.

Fire in ice: two millennia of boreal forest fire history from the Greenland NEEM ice core

Biomass burning is a major source of greenhouse gases and influences regional to global climate. Pre-industrial fire-history records from black carbon, charcoal and other proxies provide baseline estimates of biomass burning at local to global scales spanning millennia, and are thus useful to examine the role of fire in the carbon cycle and climate system. Here we use the specific biomarker levoglucosan together with black carbon and ammonium concentrations from the North Greenland Eemian (NEEM) ice cores (77.49° N, 51.2° W; 2480 m a.s.l) over the past 2000 years to infer changes in boreal fire activity. Increases in boreal fire activity over the periods 1000–1300 CE and decreases during 700–900 CE coincide with high-latitude NH temperature changes. Levoglucosan concentrations in the NEEM ice cores peak between 1500 and 1700 CE, and most levoglucosan spikes coincide with the most extensive central and northern Asian droughts of the past millennium. Many of these multi-annual droughts are caused by Asian monsoon failures, thus suggesting a connection between low- and high-latitude climate processes. North America is a primary source of biomass burning aerosols due to its relative proximity to the Greenland Ice Cap. During major fire events, however, isotopic analyses of dust, back trajectories and links with levoglucosan peaks and regional drought reconstructions suggest that Siberia is also an important source of pyrogenic aerosols to Greenland.

A critical history of the doctrine of a future life in Israel, in Judaism, and in Christianity or Hebrew, Jewish, and Christian eschatlology from pre-prophetic times till the close of the New Testament Canon, being the first Jowett lectures delivered in 1898-99

R. H. Charles

Comparison of telomere length in black and white teachers from South Africa: the sympathetic activity and ambulatory blood pressure in Africans study

OBJECTIVE Telomere length is a marker of biological aging that has been linked to cardiovascular disease risk. The black South African population is witnessing a tremendous increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, part of which might be explained through urbanization. We compared telomere length between black South Africans and white South Africans and examined which biological and psychosocial variables played a role in ethnic difference in telomere length. METHODS We measured leukocyte telomere length in 161 black South African teachers and 180 white South African teachers aged 23 to 66 years without a history of atherothrombotic vascular disease. Age, sex, years having lived in the area, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, hypertension, body mass index, dyslipidemia, hemoglobin A1c, C-reactive protein, smoking, physical activity, alcohol abuse, depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and work stress were considered as covariates. RESULTS Black participants had shorter (median, interquartile range) relative telomere length (0.79, 0.70-0.95) than did white participants (1.06, 0.87-1.21; p < .001), and this difference changed very little after adjusting for covariates. In fully adjusted models, age (p < .001), male sex (p = .011), and HIV positive status (p = .023) were associated with shorter telomere length. Ethnicity did not significantly interact with any covariates in determining telomere length, including psychosocial characteristics. CONCLUSIONS Black South Africans showed markedly shorter telomeres than did white South African counterparts. Age, male sex, and HIV status were associated with shorter telomere length. No interactions between ethnicity and biomedical or psychosocial factors were found. Ethnic difference in telomere length might primarily be explained by genetic factors.

Progression of cardiovascular risk factors in black Africans: 3 year follow up of the SABPA cohort study

Recent work identified a high prevalence of modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among urban black South Africans. The aim was to track the progression of CVD risk factors in a multi-ethnic sample of South Africans. Participants were 173 black (aged 47.5 ± 7.8 yrs) and 186 white teachers (aged 49.6 ± 9.9 yrs) that were examined at baseline and 3 years follow-up. Blacks demonstrated a substantially higher prevalence of composite CVD burden (defined as history of physician diagnosed heart disease, use of anti-hypertensives, anti-diabetic, or statin medications at either time point) compared to whites (49.1 vs. 32.0%, p = 0.012) respectively. After controlling for baseline, the black participants demonstrated greater increases in 24 h systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, fasting glucose, fibrinogen, D-dimer, and waist circumference in comparison with whites. In summary, an adverse progression of CVD risk factors was observed in the whole sample, although to a larger degree in black participants. Aggressive treatment strategies for controlling risk factors in black Africans are needed to reduce the increasing burden of CVD in South Africa.

The relationship between risk perception and ethnicity as an explanation for late stage skin cancer diagnosis in Black and Hispanic populations: An analysis using data from the 2005 Health Information and National Trends Survey

Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between ethnicity and skin cancer risk perception while controlling for other risk factors: education, gender, age, access to healthcare, family history of skin cancer, fear, and worry. ^ Methods. This study utilized the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) dataset, a nationally representative sample of 5,586 individuals 18 years of age or older. One third of the respondents were chosen at random and asked questions involving skin cancer. Analysis was based on questions that identified skin cancer risk perception, fear of finding skin cancer, and frequency of worry about skin cancer and a variety of sociodemographic factors. ^ Results. Ethnicity had a significant impact on risk perception scores while controlling for other risk factors. Other risk factors that also had a significant impact on risk perception scores included family history of skin cancer, age, and worry. ^

Lithology, biostratigraphy, and geochemistry of the Black Sea sediments, DSDP Leg 42 (pt. 2) data

The monograph presents results of deep-sea drilling in the Black Sea carried out in 1975. Detailed lithological, biostratigraphic and geochemical studies of Miocene-Holocene sediments have been carried out by specialists from institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow State University and other organizations. Drilling results are compared with geophysical data. Geological history of the Black Sea basin is considered as well.

Turbidite sedimentology and history at DSDP Site 89-585

At Site 585 in the East Mariana Basin, a 900-m section of Aptian-Albian to Recent sediments was recovered. The upper 590 m are pelagic components (carbonate, siliceous, and clay); small-scale graded sequences and laminations are common. The underlying sediments are volcaniclastic sandstones with a large proportion of shallow-water carbonate debris; sedimentary structures including complete Bouma sequences, cross-laminae, and scouring are common. These structures indicate that the entire section was deposited by turbidity currents. The change in lithology upward in the section reflects the evolution of the surrounding seamounts, from their growth stages during the middle of the Cretaceous to the later subsidence phases. Several black layers containing pyritized organic debris and associated turbidite structures were cored near the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary; this material has been transported from the flanks of the seamounts where it was deposited within a shallow anoxic zone. Seismic data extends the stratigraphy across the entire Basin, showing the reflectors onlapping the seamounts, and indicating at least 1200 m of sediment at Site 585. The crust is placed at 6900 m after correcting for sediment loading, and the subsidence curve indicates that the Basin has been deeper than 5500 m since before the Aptian.