Accumulation rates for western Dronning Maud Land from firn cores and snow pits

As a result of intensive field activities carried out by several nations over the past 15 years, a set of accumulation measurements for western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, was collected, based on firn-core drilling and snow-pit sampling. This new information was supplemented by earlier data taken from the literature, resulting in 111 accumulation values. Using Geographical Information Systems software, a first region-wide mean annual snow-accumulation field was derived. In order to define suitable interpolation criteria, the accumulation records were analyzed with respect to their spatial autocorrelation and statistical properties. The resulting accumulation pattern resembles well known characteristics such as a relatively wet coastal area with a sharp transition to the dry interior, but also reveals complex topographic effects. Furthermore, this work identifies new high-return shallow drilling sites by uncovering areas of insufficient sampling density.

De cada labrador un soldado y de cada agricultor un propietario : Economía, sociedad y política en el ejido de la Guardia de Luján (Mercedes), 1810-1870

En la siguiente investigación analizamos uno de los aspectos menos conocidos de la historia rural bonaerense: los ejidos de los pueblos de campaña. Estos espacios se conformaron a medida que la colonización avanzaba, primero de manera espontánea y luego por iniciativa estatal, con el objetivo de asentar a los pobladores alrededor de los centros poblados y fomentar el cultivo. Así, a diferencia de otros espacios de colonización española, los ejidos constituyeron las áreas donde se establecieron los solares, las quintas y las chacras. La historiografía tradicional reparó muy poco en ellos y cuando lo hizo, fue desde una óptica que contraponía la primera parte del siglo XIX con la expansión posterior a Pavón. Dentro de esta lógica, los pueblos rurales fueron descriptos como espacios rudimentarios y sus habitantes casi no fueron tenidos en cuenta puesto que la mirada centrada en la "estancia" opacó cualquier interés sobre los labradores y pastores que habitaban en estos espacios. En contrapartida, el período posterior fue caracterizado como de despegue de la economía exportadora y desarrollo de las instituciones. Desde ese momento los poblados habrían cobrado nueva vida convirtiéndose en importantes núcleos de población incentivados por la llegada de la inmigración. Para desandar estos supuestos, estudiamos específicamente la historia del ejido de la Guardia de Luján (Mercedes) desde el momento en que se creó el fuerte hasta 1870. Cada uno de los capítulos se estructuró en torno a núcleos problemáticos generales que fueron abordados desde lo local: la propiedad, los labradores, el mercado de tierras, la estructura productiva y la construcción del estado. El estudio demuestra la imposibilidad de definir la estructura productiva de un partido completamente sin tener en cuenta a los ejidos puesto que se puede incurrir en generalizaciones erróneas. Además, el período abarcado y los temas seleccionados permitieron reconocer los cambios y continuidades que se produjeron en estos espacios durante la transición a la Argentina Moderna.

Entre la democracia, el liberalismo, el clientelismo y el populismo : Dilemas del peronismo en la Argentina 'democrática'

El presente articulo analiza las principales transformaciones experimentadas por la identidad política peronista desde los años iniciales de la 'transición a la democracia' hasta la actualidad. En la primera parte reconstruye, a través de las páginas de la revista Unidos, los debates suscitados al interior del peronismo en la década del 80 alrededor de las relaciones y tensiones entre la tradición nacional-popular, el socialismo y la democracia. En la segunda sección se pregunta por las continuidades y rupturas experimentadas por la identidad peronista en los 90, apuntando a captar bajo qué formas seguía presente esta identidad en un contexto marcado por el neoliberalismo y el clientelismo. Finalmente, en la última sección se aventuran algunas hipótesis sobre la recomposición del peronismo bajo el liderazgo kirchnerista en el periodo posterior a la crisis social y política de 2001

De cada labrador un soldado y de cada agricultor un propietario : Economía, sociedad y política en el ejido de la Guardia de Luján (Mercedes), 1810-1870

En la siguiente investigación analizamos uno de los aspectos menos conocidos de la historia rural bonaerense: los ejidos de los pueblos de campaña. Estos espacios se conformaron a medida que la colonización avanzaba, primero de manera espontánea y luego por iniciativa estatal, con el objetivo de asentar a los pobladores alrededor de los centros poblados y fomentar el cultivo. Así, a diferencia de otros espacios de colonización española, los ejidos constituyeron las áreas donde se establecieron los solares, las quintas y las chacras. La historiografía tradicional reparó muy poco en ellos y cuando lo hizo, fue desde una óptica que contraponía la primera parte del siglo XIX con la expansión posterior a Pavón. Dentro de esta lógica, los pueblos rurales fueron descriptos como espacios rudimentarios y sus habitantes casi no fueron tenidos en cuenta puesto que la mirada centrada en la "estancia" opacó cualquier interés sobre los labradores y pastores que habitaban en estos espacios. En contrapartida, el período posterior fue caracterizado como de despegue de la economía exportadora y desarrollo de las instituciones. Desde ese momento los poblados habrían cobrado nueva vida convirtiéndose en importantes núcleos de población incentivados por la llegada de la inmigración. Para desandar estos supuestos, estudiamos específicamente la historia del ejido de la Guardia de Luján (Mercedes) desde el momento en que se creó el fuerte hasta 1870. Cada uno de los capítulos se estructuró en torno a núcleos problemáticos generales que fueron abordados desde lo local: la propiedad, los labradores, el mercado de tierras, la estructura productiva y la construcción del estado. El estudio demuestra la imposibilidad de definir la estructura productiva de un partido completamente sin tener en cuenta a los ejidos puesto que se puede incurrir en generalizaciones erróneas. Además, el período abarcado y los temas seleccionados permitieron reconocer los cambios y continuidades que se produjeron en estos espacios durante la transición a la Argentina Moderna.

Entre la democracia, el liberalismo, el clientelismo y el populismo : Dilemas del peronismo en la Argentina 'democrática'

El presente articulo analiza las principales transformaciones experimentadas por la identidad política peronista desde los años iniciales de la 'transición a la democracia' hasta la actualidad. En la primera parte reconstruye, a través de las páginas de la revista Unidos, los debates suscitados al interior del peronismo en la década del 80 alrededor de las relaciones y tensiones entre la tradición nacional-popular, el socialismo y la democracia. En la segunda sección se pregunta por las continuidades y rupturas experimentadas por la identidad peronista en los 90, apuntando a captar bajo qué formas seguía presente esta identidad en un contexto marcado por el neoliberalismo y el clientelismo. Finalmente, en la última sección se aventuran algunas hipótesis sobre la recomposición del peronismo bajo el liderazgo kirchnerista en el periodo posterior a la crisis social y política de 2001

Entre la democracia, el liberalismo, el clientelismo y el populismo : Dilemas del peronismo en la Argentina 'democrática'

El presente articulo analiza las principales transformaciones experimentadas por la identidad política peronista desde los años iniciales de la 'transición a la democracia' hasta la actualidad. En la primera parte reconstruye, a través de las páginas de la revista Unidos, los debates suscitados al interior del peronismo en la década del 80 alrededor de las relaciones y tensiones entre la tradición nacional-popular, el socialismo y la democracia. En la segunda sección se pregunta por las continuidades y rupturas experimentadas por la identidad peronista en los 90, apuntando a captar bajo qué formas seguía presente esta identidad en un contexto marcado por el neoliberalismo y el clientelismo. Finalmente, en la última sección se aventuran algunas hipótesis sobre la recomposición del peronismo bajo el liderazgo kirchnerista en el periodo posterior a la crisis social y política de 2001

Simulated agricultural subsistence, timing of transition, and percentage of immigrant farmers

Farming and herding were introduced to Europe from the Near East and Anatolia; there are, however, considerable arguments about the mechanisms of this transition. Were it the people who moved and either outplaced, or admixed with, the indigenous hunter-gatherer groups? Or was it material and information that moved---the Neolithic Package---consisting of domesticated plants and animals and the knowledge of their use? The latter process is commonly referred to as cultural diffusion and the former as demic diffusion. Despite continuous and partly combined efforts by archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists, palaeontologists and geneticists, a final resolution of the debate has not yet been reached. In the present contribution we interpret results from the Global Land Use and technological Evolution Simulator (GLUES). GLUES is a mathematical model for regional sociocultural development, embedded in the geoenvironmental context, during the Holocene. We demonstrate that the model is able to realistically hindcast the expansion speed and the inhomogeneous space-time evolution of the transition to agropastoralism in western Eurasia. In contrast to models that do not resolve endogenous sociocultural dynamics, our model describes and explains how and why the Neolithic advanced in stages. We uncouple the mechanisms of migration and information exchange and also of migration and the spread of agropastoralism. We find that: (1) An indigenous form of agropastoralism could well have arisen in certain Mediterranean landscapes, but not in Northern and Central Europe, where it depended on imported technology and material. (2) Both demic diffusion by migration and cultural diffusion by trade may explain the western European transition equally well. (3) Migrating farmers apparently contribute less than local adopters to the establishment of agropastoralism. Our study thus underlines the importance of adoption of introduced technologies and economies by resident foragers.

Sedimentation and mineral analysis on sediment cores from the Lena Delta

Core and outcrop analysis from Lena mouth deposits have been used to reconstruct the Late Quaternary sedimentation history of the Lena Delta. Sediment properties (heavy mineral composition, grain size characteristics, organic carbon content) and age determinations (14C AMS and IR-OSL) are applied to discriminate the main sedimentary units of the three major geomorphic terraces, which form the delta. The development of the terraces is controlled by complex interactions among the following four factors: (1) Channel migration. According to the distribution of 14C and IR-OSL age determinations of Lena mouth sediments, the major river runoff direction shifted from the west during marine isotope stages 5-3 (third terrace deposits) towards the northwest during marine isotope stage 2 and transition to stage 1 (second terrace), to the northeast and east during the Holocene (first terrace deposits). (2) Eustasy. Sea level rise from Last Glacial lowstand to the modern sea level position, reached at 6-5 ka BP, resulted in back-filling and flooding of the palaeovalleys. (3) Neotectonics. The extension of the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge into the Laptev Sea shelf acted as a halfgraben, showing dilatation movements with different subsidence rates. From the continent side, differential neotectonics with uplift and transpression in the Siberian coast ridges are active. Both likely have influenced river behavior by providing sites for preservation, with uplift, in particular, allowing accumulation of deposits in the second terrace in the western sector. The actual delta setting comprises only the eastern sector of the Lena Delta. (4) Peat formation. Polygenetic formation of ice-rich peaty sand (''Ice Complex'') was most extensive (7-11 m in thickness) in the southern part of the delta area between 43 and 14 ka BP (third terrace deposits). In recent times, alluvial peat (5-6 m in thickness) is accumulated on top of the deltaic sequences in the eastern sector (first terrace).

Geochemical analysis of nine sections from the Nama Group, Namibia

The first appearance of skeletal metazoans in the late Ediacaran (~550 million years ago; Ma) has been linked to the widespread development of oxygenated oceanic conditions, but a precise spatial and temporal reconstruction of their evolution has not been resolved. Here we consider the evolution of ocean chemistry from ~550 to ~541 Ma across shelf-to-basin transects in the Zaris and Witputs Sub-Basins of the Nama Group, Namibia. New carbon isotope data capture the final stages of the Shuram/Wonoka deep negative C-isotope excursion, and these are complemented with a reconstruction of water column redox dynamics utilising Fe-S-C systematics and the distribution of skeletal and soft-bodied metazoans. Combined, these inter-basinal datasets provide insight into the potential role of ocean redox chemistry during this pivotal interval of major biological innovation. The strongly negative d13C values in the lower parts of the sections reflect both a secular, global change in the C-isotopic composition of Ediacaran seawater, as well as the influence of 'local' basinal effects as shown by the most negative d13C values occurring in the transition from distal to proximal ramp settings. Critical, though, is that the transition to positive d13C values postdates the appearance of calcified metazoans, indicating that the onset of biomineralization did not occur under post-excursion conditions. Significantly, we find that anoxic and ferruginous deeper water column conditions were prevalent during and after the transition to positive d13C that marks the end of the Shuram/Wonoka excursion. Thus, if the C isotope trend reflects the transition to global-scale oxygenation in the aftermath of the oxidation of a large-scale, isotopically light organic carbon pool, it was not sufficient to fully oxygenate the deep ocean. Both sub-basins reveal highly dynamic redox structures, where shallow, inner ramp settings experienced transient oxygenation. Anoxic conditions were caused either by episodic upwelling of deeper anoxic waters or higher rates of productivity. These settings supported short-lived and monospecific skeletal metazoan communities. By contrast, microbial (thrombolite) reefs, found in deeper inner- and mid-ramp settings, supported more biodiverse communities with complex ecologies and large skeletal metazoans. These long-lived reef communities, as well as Ediacaran soft-bodied biotas, are found particularly within transgressive systems, where oxygenation was persistent. We suggest that a mid-ramp position enabled physical ventilation mechanisms for shallow water column oxygenation to operate during flooding and transgressive sea-level rise. Our data support a prominent role for oxygen, and for stable oxygenated conditions in particular, in controlling both the distribution and ecology of Ediacaran skeletal metazoan communities.

Sediments in arctic sea ice - entrainment, characterization and quantification

Sediments in Arctic sea ice are important for erosion and redistribution and consequently a factor for the sediment budget of the Arctic Ocean. The processes leading to the incorporation of sediments into the ice are not understood in detail yet. In the present study, experiments on the incorporation of sediments were therefore conducted in ice tanks of The Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) in winter 1996/1997, These experiments showed that on average 75 % of the artificial sea-ice sediments were located in the brine-channel system. The sediments were scavenged from the water column by frazil ice. Sediments functioning as a nucleus for the formation of frazil ice were less important for the incorporation. Filtration in grease ice during relatively calm hydrodynamic conditions was probably an effective process to enrich sediments in the ice. Wave fields did not play an important role for the incorporation of sediments into the artificial sea ice. During the expedition TRANSDRIFT III (TDIII, October 1995), different types of natural, newly-formed sea ice (grease ice, nilas and young ice) were sampled in the inner Laptev Sea at the time of freeze-up. The incorporation of sediments took place during calm meteorological conditions then. The characteristics of the clay mineral assemblages of these sedirnents served as references for sea-ice sediments which were sampled from first-year drift ice in the outer Laptev Sea and the adjacent Arctic Ocean during the POLARSTERN expedition ARK-XI/1 (July-September 1995). Based on the clay mineral assemblages, probable incorporation areas for the sedirnents in first-year drift ice could be statistically reconstructed in the inner Laptev Sea (eastern, central, and Western Laptev Sea) as well as in adjacent regions. Comparing the amounts of particulate organic carbon (POC) in sea-ice sediments and in surface sediments from the shelves of potential incorporation areas often reveals higher values in sea-ice sediments (TDIII: 3.6 %DM; ARK-XI/1: 2.3 %DM). This enrichment of POC is probably due to the incorporation process into the sea ice, as could be deducted from maceral analysis and Rock-Eval pyrolysis. Both methods were applied in the present study to particulate organic material (POM) from sea-ice sediments for the first time. It was shown that the POM of the sea-ice sediments from the Laptev Sea and the adjacent Arctic Ocean was dominated by reworked, strongly fragmented, allochthonous (terrigenous) material. This terrigenous component accounted for more than 75 % of all counted macerals. The autochthonous (marine) component was also strongly fragmented, and higher in the sediments from newly-formed sea ice (24 % of all counted macerals) as compared to first-year drift ice (17 % of all counted macerals). Average hydroge indices confirmed this pattern and were in the transition zone between kerogen types II and III (TDIII: 275 mg KW/g POC; ARK-XI/1: 200 mg KW/g POC). The sediment loads quantified in natural sea ice (TDIII: 33.6 mg/l, ARK-XI/1: 49.0 mg/l) indicated that sea-ice sediments are an important factor for the sediment budget in the Laptev Sea. In particular during the incorporation phase in autumn and early winter, about 12 % of the sediment load imported annually by rivers into the Laptev Sea can be incorporated into sea ice and redistributed during calm meteorological conditions. Single entrainment events can incorporate about 35 % of the river input into the sea ice (ca. 9 x 10**6 t) and export it via the Transpolar Drift from the Eurasian shelf to the Fram Strait.

Stunted and Distorted Industrialization in Myanmar

More than 15 years have passed since Myanmar embarked on its transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented one. The purpose of this paper is to provide a bird-eye's view of industrial changes from the 1990s up to 2005. The industrial sector showed a preliminary development in the first half of the 1990s due to an "open door" policy and liberalization measures. However, a brief period of growth failed to effect any changes in the economic fundamentals. The industrial sector still suffers from poor power supplies, limited access to imported raw materials and machinery, exchange rate instability, limited credit, and frequent changes of government regulation. Public ownership is still high in key infrastructure sectors, and has failed to provide sufficient services to private industries. What the government must do first is to get the fundamentals right.

An approach to stakeholders involvement in the preparedness for nuclear and radiological emergency response & recovery in Spain

The elaboration of a generic decision-making strategy to address the evolution of an emergency situation, from the stages of response to recovery, and including a planning stage, can facilitate timely, effective and consistent decision making by the response organisations at every level within the emergency management structure and between countries, helping to ensure optimal protection of health, environment, and society. The degree of involvement of stakeholders in this process is a key strategic element for strengthening the local preparedness and response and can help a successful countermeasures strategy. A significant progress was made with the multi-national European project EURANOS (2004-2009) which brought together best practice, knowledge and technology to enhance the preparedness for Europe's response to any radiation emergency and long term contamination. The subsequent establishment of a European Technology Platform and the recent launch of the research project NERIS-TP ("Towards a self sustaining European Technology Platform (NERIS-TP) on Preparedness for Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Response and Recovery") are aimed to continue with the remaining tasks for gaining appropriate levels of emergency preparedness at local level in most European countries. One of the objectives of the NERIS-TP project is: Strengthen the preparedness at the local/national level by setting up dedicated fora and developing new tools or adapting the tools developed within the EURANOS projects (such as the governance framework for preparedness, the handbooks on countermeasures, the RODOS system, and the MOIRA DSS for long term contamination in catchments) to meet the needs of local communities. CIEMAT and UPM in close interaction with the Nuclear Safety Council will explore, within this project, the use and application in Spain of such technical tools, including other national tools and information and communication strategies to foster cooperation between local, national and international stakeholders. The aim is identify and involve relevant stakeholders in emergency preparedness to improve the development and implementation of appropriate protection strategies as part of the consequence management and the transition to recovery. In this paper, an overview of the "state of the art" on this area in Spain and the methodology and work Plan proposed by the Spanish group within the project NERIS to grow the stakeholder involvement in the preparedness to emergency response and recovery is presented.

Evaluación ambiental de las tecnologías de recuperación de gas en formaciones no convencionales

Este proyecto pretende ofrecer una visión general de una de las tecnologías más actuales de recuperación de gas en formaciones no convencionales: fracturación hidráulica o “fracking”. El proyecto está motivado por la necesidad de responder a diferentes cuestiones sobre los efectos ambientales, sociales y en la salud humana derivados de la utilización de esa tecnología. Ofrece, además, una descripción del proceso y utilización de la tecnología haciendo especial mención de los riesgos inherentes de su uso, aunque también se intenta establecer una vía de aceptación para su desarrollo cuyo fin último, a parte de los beneficios económicos de quienes la usan, es el de posibilitar la transición hacia el uso de unos recursos (energías fósiles de extracción no convencional) que requieren de dichas técnicas para mantener, a lo largo del tiempo, el suministro de una energía que se supone más respetuosa con el medio ambiente: el gas natural. En primer lugar se expone, a modo introductorio, la necesidad de utilización de nuevas técnicas de estimulación de pozos y su utilización para satisfacer las necesidades energéticas mundiales en los próximos años. A continuación se hace una revisión del marco regulatorio aplicable al gas no convencional. Seguidamente, se hace una descripción de los recursos y fuentes no convencionales de gas y la descripción del proceso de fracturación hidráulica. Se analizan los incidentes relacionados con su desarrollo y las posibilidades y mecanismos que pueden adoptarse para reducirlos. Finalmente, se proponen vías alternativas basadas en las mejores técnicas aplicables al uso de la tecnología, cuya finalidad sea la mayor consideración ambiental posible y el menor riesgo posible en la salud de las personas. ABSTRACT This project aims to provide an overview of the latest technologies in gas recovery unconventional formations: hydraulic fracturing or "fracking". The project is motivated by the need to respond to various questions on the environmental, social and human health arising from the use of this technology. It also offers a description of the process and use of technology with special mention of the inherent risks of their use, but also tries to establish a path of acceptance for development whose ultimate goal, apart from the economic benefits of those who use is of enabling the transition to the use of certain resources (fossil energy extraction unconventional) which require such techniques to maintain, over time, of an energy supply which is more environmentally friendly: natural gas. First discussed the need to use new well stimulation techniques and their use to meet the world's energy needs in the coming years. Below is a review of the regulatory framework applicable to unconventional gas. Next, there is a description of resources and unconventional sources of gas, and the description of the process of hydraulic fracturing. We analyze the incidents related to its development and the possibilities and mechanisms that can be taken to reduce them. Finally, we suggest alternative routes based on the best techniques applicable to the use of technology, aiming at the highest possible environmental consideration and the least possible risk to the health of people.

Building lean thinking in a telecom software development organization: strengths and challenges.

The potential shown by Lean in different domains has aroused interest in the software industry. However, it remains unclear how Lean can be effectively applied in a domain such as software development that is fundamentally different from manufacturing. This study explores how Lean principles are implemented in software development companies and the challenges that arise when applying Lean Software Development. For that, a case study was conducted at Ericsson R&D Finland, which successfully adopted Scrum in 2009 and subsequently started a comprehensible transition to Lean in 2010. Focus groups were conducted with company representatives to help devise a questionnaire supporting the creation of a Lean mindset in the company (Team Amplifier). Afterwards, the questionnaire was used in 16 teams based in Finland, Hungary and China to evaluate the status of the transformation. By using Lean thinking, Ericsson R&D Finland has made important improvements to the quality of its products, customer satisfaction and transparency within the organization. Moreover, build times have been reduced over ten times and the number of commits per day has increased roughly five times.The study makes two main contributions to research. First, the main factors that have enabled Ericsson R&D?s achievements are analysed. Elements such as ?network of product owners?, ?continuous integration?, ?work in progress limits? and ?communities of practice? have been identified as being of fundamental importance. Second, three categories of challenges in using Lean Software Development were identified: ?achieving flow?, ?transparency? and ?creating a learning culture?

Assessing Creativity In Engineering Students: A Comparative Between Degrees and Sudents In First And Last Year

An online open access test (CREAX self-assessment) has been used in this work so that students from degrees in engineering in the Universidad Polite¿cnica of Madrid (UPM) could self-assess their creative competence after several classroom activities. Different groups from the first year course have been statistically compared using data from their assessment. These first year students had different professors in the subject ?Technical Drawing? and belonged to several degrees in the UPM. They were as well compared regarding sex and a group of first year students was also compared to another last year group of the degree so as to observe possible differences in the achievement of this competence. Only one difference was detected concerning sex in one of the degrees. Among degrees, the higher marks obtained by students who had done specific exercises for the development of creativity in class is highlighted. Finally, a significantly high mark was observed in students during their last year of degree with respect to first year students. The tool CREAX has become very useful in the assessment of this competence in the UPM degrees in which it has been implemented.