Food geographies I: relational foodscapes and the busy-ness of being more-than-food

The study of foodscapes has spread throughout geography at the same time as food scholarship has spearheaded post-disciplinary research. This report argues that geographers have taken to post-disciplinarity to explore the ways that food is ‘more-than-food’ through analyses of the visceral nature of eating and politics and the vital (re)materializations of food’s cultural geographies. Visceral food geographies illuminate what I call the ‘contingent relationalities’ of food in the critical evaluation of the indeterminate, situated politics of ‘feeling food’ and those of the embodied collectivities of obesity. Questions remain, however, about how a visceral framework might be deployed for broader critiques within foodscapes and the study of human geography. The study of food’s vital materialisms opens up investigation into the practices of the ‘makings’ of meat, food waste and eating networks. Analysis of affect, embodiment and cultural practices is central to these theorizations and suggests consideration of the multiple materialisms of food, space and eating. There is, I contend, in the more radical, ‘post-relational’ approaches to food, the need for a note of caution. Exuberant claims for the ontological, vital agency of food should be tempered by, or at least run parallel to, critical questions of the real politik of political and practical agency in light of recent struggles over austerity, food poverty and food justice.

Environmentalities of urban climate governance in Maputo, Mozambique

Interest in the role that cities can play in climate change as sites of transformation has increased but research has been limited in its practical applications and there has been limited consideration of how policies and technologies play out. These challenges necessitate a re-thinking of existing notions of urban governance in order to account for the practices that emerge from governments and a plethora of other actors in the context of uncertainty. We understand these practices to constitute adaptive governance, underpinned by social learning guiding the actions of the multiplicity of actors. The aim here is to unpack how social learning for adaptive governance requires attention to competing understandings of risk and identity, and the multiplicity of mechanisms in which change occurs or is blocked in urban climate governance. We adopt a novel lens of 'environmentalities' which allows us to assess the historical and institutional context and power relations in the informal settlements of Maputo, Mozambique. Our findings highlight how environmental identities around urban adaptation to climate change are constituted in the social and physical divisions between the formal and informal settlements, whilst existing knowledge models prioritise dominant economic and political interests and lead to the construction of new environmental subjects. While the findings of this study are contextually distinct, the generalizable lessons are that governance of urban adaptation occurs and is solidified within a complex multiplicity of socioecological relations.

Fast and slow responses of Southern Ocean sea surface temperature to SAM in coupled climate models

We investigate how sea surface temperatures (SSTs) around Antarctica respond to the Southern An- nular Mode (SAM) on multiple timescales. To that end we examine the relationship between SAM and SST within unperturbed preindustrial control simulations of coupled general circulation models (GCMs) included in the Climate Modeling Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). We develop a technique to extract the re- sponse of the Southern Ocean SST (55◦S−70◦S) to a hypothetical step increase in the SAM index. We demonstrate that in many GCMs, the expected SST step re- sponse function is nonmonotonic in time. Following a shift to a positive SAM anomaly, an initial cooling regime can transition into surface warming around Antarctica. However, there are large differences across the CMIP5 ensemble. In some models the step response function never changes sign and cooling persists, while in other GCMs the SST anomaly crosses over from negative to positive values only three years after a step increase in the SAM. This intermodel diversity can be related to differences in the models’ climatological thermal ocean stratification in the region of seasonal sea ice around Antarctica. Exploiting this relationship, we use obser- vational data for the time-mean meridional and vertical temperature gradients to constrain the real Southern Ocean response to SAM on fast and slow timescales.

Arrest of root formation in a permanent maxillary central incisor subsequent to trauma and pulp necrosis to the primary predecessor

This paper reports a case in which a previous traumatic injury at the age of 2 and pulp necrosis to a primary incisor resulted in a rare injury to the permanent successor tooth. The radiographic examination at the age of 9 showed the arrest of root formation of the permanent maxillary right central incisor, which did not erupt. Tooth 11 was extracted and a functional removable space maintainer was prepared. At the age of 17, the patient received an anterior fixed prosthesis for re-establishment of the esthetics, phonetics and deglutition.

Comparison of agar gel immunodiffusion test, rapid slide agglutination test, microbiological culture and PCR for the diagnosis of canine brucellosis

The performance of the rapid slide agglutination test, with and without 2-mercaptoethanol (RSAT and 2ME-RSAT) and agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGID) was evaluated for the diagnosis of brucellosis in naturally infected dogs. The microbiological culture, PCR and clinical parameters were used as reference. A total of 167 dogs were clinically examined and tested by blood culture, culture of semen/vaginal swab and PCR in blood and semen/vaginal swab. According to the results observed the 167 dogs were divided into three groups: Brucella canis infected dogs (Group 1). B. canis non-infected dogs (Group 2) and dogs with suspected brucellosis (Group 3). The dogs were then tested by RSAT, 2ME-RSAT and AGID. Groups 1 and 2 were used to calculate the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the serological tests and the results observed in Group 3 were also discussed. The diagnostic sensitivity of RSAT, 2ME-RSAT and AGID was respectively 70.58%, 31.76%, and 52.94%. The diagnostic specificity of RSAT, 2ME-RSAT and AGID was respectively 83.34%, 100%, and 100%. In dogs with suspected brucellosis 15% were RSAT positive, none was 2ME-RSAT positive and 5% were AGID positive. Although the serological tests are the most commonly used methods for brucellosis diagnosis, a significant proportion of false-negative results were observed highlighting the importance of the direct methods of diagnosis, like blood culture and PCR to improve the diagnosis of canine brucellosis. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surface properties of eucalyptus pulp fibres as reinforcement of cement-based composites

The objective of the present work is to evaluate the effects of the surface properties of unrefined eucalyptus pulp fibres concerning their performance in cement-based composites. The influence of the fibre surface on the microstructure of fibre-cement composites was evaluated after accelerated ageing cycles, which simulate natural weathering. The surface of unbleached pulp is a thin layer that is rich in cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses, and extractives. Such a layer acts as a physical and chemical barrier to the penetration of low molecular components of cement. The unbleached fibres are less hydrophilic than the bleached ones. Bleaching removes the amorphous lignin and extractives from the surface and renders it more permeable to liquids. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) helps in understanding the fibre-cement interface. Bleaching improved the fibre- cement interfacial bonding, whereas fibres in the unbleached pulp were less susceptible to the re-precipitation of cement hydration products into the fibre cavities (lumens). Therefore, unbleached fibres can improve the long-term performance of the fibre-cement composite owing to their delayed mineralization.

Dark-induced hormone changes coincide with the resumption of light-inhibited shoot growth in Catasetum fimbriatum (Orchidaceae)

Catasetum fimbriatum plants cultivated in the absence of light exhibit continuous shoot growth leading to the formation of nodes and internodes. On the other hand, when these plants are incubated in the presence of light, shoot longitudinal growth is inhibited and pseudobulbs develop just below the shoot apical meristem. These facts provide evidence of a possible influence of light on mitotic cell division in the shoot apex as well as on pseudobulb initiation. The effects of light and dark on the interruption and/or maintenance of shoot apex mitotic activity and the subsequent formation of pseudobulbs in the sub-meristematic regions were investigated by means of histological and hormonal studies. The interruption of shoot apex development occurred around the 150th d of light incubation and seems to have resulted from the establishment of a strong storage sink in the region of the future pseudobulb, in detriment to the continuous activity of the shoot apical meristem. The reduced total cytokinins/IAA ratio in the apex, mainly due to high levels of IAA, could be a key factor in the interruption of cell divisions. Transfer to the dark brings about the resumption of shoot apex development of plants through the re-entrance of cells in the cell cycle which coincides with a significant increase in the total cytokinins/IAA ratio. (C) 2009 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Vivipary in the cactus family: A reply to Ortega-Baes` et al. evaluation of 25 species from northwestern Argentina

This is a reply to Ortega-Baes` et al. (2010) survey of 25 Argentinean species of cacti evaluated for vivipary. We argue that the sample size and geographic area of the species investigated is insufficient to totally exclude the putative commonness of this condition in the Cactaceae. We indicate possible reasons why they did not find viviparous fruits in their survey. Failure to detect vivipary in cacti of NW Argentina may be correlated with limited taxonomic sampling and geographic region in addition to intrinsic and extrinsic plant factors, including different stages of fruit and seed development and genetic, ecological, and edaphic aspects, which, individually or in concert, control precocious germination. We uphold that viviparity is putatively frequent in this family and list 16 new cases for a total of 53 viviparous cacti, which make up ca. 4% incidence of viviparism in the Cactaceae, a substantially higher percentage than most angiosperm families exhibiting this condition. The Cactaceae ranks fourth in frequency of viviparity after the aquatic families of mangroves and seagrasses. We suggest the re-evaluation of cactus vivipary, primarily as a reproductive adaptation to changing environments and physiological stress with a secondary role as a reproductive strategy with limited offspring dispersal/survival and fitness advantages. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of endurance training upon lipid metabolism in the liver of cachectic tumour-bearing rats

The syndrome of cancer cachexia is accompanied by several alterations in lipid metabolism, and the liver is markedly affected. Previous Studies showed that moderate exercise training may prevent liver fill accumulation through diminished delivery of lipids to the liver, increased hepatic oxidation and increased incorporation of triacylglycerol (TAG) into very low density lipoprotein (VLDL). Our aim was to examine the influence of moderate intensity training (8 weeks) upon TAG content, VLDL assembly and secretion, apolipoprotein B (apoB) and microsomal transfer protein (MTP) gene expression in the liver of cachectic tumour-bearing rats. Animals were randomly assigned to a sedentary control (SC), sedentary tumour-bearing (ST) or exercise-trained control (EC) or to all exercise trained tumour-bearing (ET) group. Trained rats ran on a treadmill (60% VO2max) for 60 min day(-1), 5 day week(-1), for 8 weeks. TAG content and the rate of VLDL secretion (followed for 3 h), its well its mRNA expression of apoB and MTP, and total cholesterol, VLDL-TAG, VLDL-cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) and tumor weight were evaluated. VLDL-cholesterol showed a decrease in ST (p < 0.05) in relation to SC. Serum TAG, VLDL-TAG and tissue TAG content were all increased in ST (p < 0.01), when compared with SC. ST showed a lower rate of VLDL secretion (p < 0.05) and reduced expression of apoB (p < 0.001) and MTP (p < 0.001), when compared with SC. These parameters were restored to control values (p < 0.05) when the animals were submitted to the exercise training protocol. Tumour weight decreased 10-fold after training (p < 0.001). It is possible to affirm, therefore, that endurance training promoted the re-establishment of lipid metabolism in cachectic tumour-bearing animals, especially in relation to VLDL secretion and assembly. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Classical simulation of deposition of thiophene oligomers on TiO(2)-anatase: Relevance of long-range electrostatic interactions

We performed classical molecular dynamics simulations of the vapor-deposition of alpha-T4 oligomers on the TiO(2)-anatase (101) surface, comparing different sets of charges associated with the atoms of the model. The potential energy surfaces for alpha-T4 and TiO(2) were described by re-parametrizations of the Universal force field with charges given by the charge equilibration (QEq) scheme, or with fixed charges obtained by an ab initio method using the Hirshfeld partition. The two sets of charges lead to completely different results for the interface formation, and for the characteristics of the organic film, with a clearly defined alpha-T4 contact layer in the QEq case, and a more homogeneous molecular distribution when using Hirshfeld charges. The main reason for the discrepancy was found to be the incorrect charge assignment given by QEq to the sulfur and alpha-carbon atoms in thiophenes, and highlight the relevance of long-range interactions in the organization of molecular films. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Proposal of a Brazilian accreditation program for personal dosimetry using OSL

After the development of the highly sensitive material Al(2)O(3):C, personal dosimetry using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has been continuously adopted in place of thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) by different countries (e.g. USA and Japan). In order to use a dosimetric system in Brazil it is necessary to develop a protocol and to fulfill performance and type tests in accordance with the accreditation program approved by the responsible governmental committee. This paper presents a proposal for an accreditation program for OSL personal dosimetry using a commercial dosimetric system, including tests that follow the same rules as applied to TLD and film dosimetry. The experimental results are within the reliability interval and in accordance to the expected behavior. A new test concerning re-analysis of exposed badges is also proposed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Red Colour Segmentation Algorithms in Traffic Signs Detection

Colour segmentation is the most commonly used method in road signs detection. Road sign contains several basic colours such as red, yellow, blue and white which depends on countries.The objective of this thesis is to do an evaluation of the four colour segmentation algorithms. Dynamic Threshold Algorithm, A Modification of de la Escalera’s Algorithm, the Fuzzy Colour Segmentation Algorithm and Shadow and Highlight Invariant Algorithm. The processing time and segmentation success rate as criteria are used to compare the performance of the four algorithms. And red colour is selected as the target colour to complete the comparison. All the testing images are selected from the Traffic Signs Database of Dalarna University [1] randomly according to the category. These road sign images are taken from a digital camera mounted in a moving car in Sweden.Experiments show that the Fuzzy Colour Segmentation Algorithm and Shadow and Highlight Invariant Algorithm are more accurate and stable to detect red colour of road signs. And the method could also be used in other colours analysis research. The yellow colour which is chosen to evaluate the performance of the four algorithms can reference Master Thesis of Yumei Liu.

The effects of Ikea and external shopping centers on regional trade and retail growth : A comparative analysis of Ikea’s establishment in Kalmar and Karlstad

This paper examines the effects of Ikea store establishment in Kalmar and Karlstad on the trade and retail inside the two cities, and as well on the trade and retail in the close neighboring municipalities and in further peripheral municipalities in both regions. After the establishment of Ikea store, Kalmar and Karlstad have experienced significant growth in trade and retail. The question, however, is how big this growth is in both cities? And how different locations on different distances from Ikea have been affected? What impact there was on different segments of the retail? How different business branches have been affected? How large the catchment area for the emerging new large-scale retail locations is? These questions, in addition to few others, are investigated in this paper. The thesis starts with an introduction chapter containing a background of the topic, problem description, the investigated questions, the purpose, and the outline of the paper. The next chapter includes the frame of reference which consists of literature review and theoretical framework about the external shopping centers and their impact on retail and regional trade development. It includes also information gathered from previous studies technical reports and other available sources about the subject. The third chapter includes description for the methods used to collect the primary and secondary data needed for the purpose of this study. Then the empirical framework which demonstrates the results of the conducted research followed by analysis and concluded in discussion and conclusion. Mixed methods are used as research strategy in this thesis, and the method to conduct the research is based on telephone interviews for the primary (qualitative) data, and documents and desk research for the secondary (quantitative) data. The gathered data is analyzed and designed in a way that allows the usage of comparative analysis technique to present the findings and draw conclusions. The results showed that new established Ikea retail store outside the city boundaries results with many effects on the city center and on the neighboring municipalities as well. The city center seems not to be affected negatively, but on the contrary positive effects were witnessed in both regions, these positive effects are linked to the increase inflow of customers from the external retail area which is known as spillover effect. III On the other hand, the neighboring towns and municipalities are more negatively affected especially with the trade of con-convenience goods as the consumers in these towns and municipalities start to go to the area of Ikea and the large external retail center to do their purchasing, the substitution effect is then said to be occurred. Moreover, the further far municipalities do not seem to be significantly affected by the establishment of Ikea. These effects whether positive or negative could be monitored by looking to few trade parameters such as the turnover, the sales index, and the consumers’ expenditure, these parameters can be very useful to measure the developments and changes in the trade and retail in a given place. 

Dialectics of Diaspora Space: a Study of Contemporary, Diasporic, South Asian Fiction

In light of these continuing debates concerning immigration, national identity and belonging, re-examinations of immigrant and ethnic communities, often referred to as ‘diaspora,’ have become increasingly popular and prudent. Khachig Tololian, editor of Diaspora magazine, calls diaspora “exemplary communities of the transnational moment.”5 In an increasingly globalized world, where labor, capital, and resources are passed fluidly from continent to continent, diaspora are created by relocation or displacement of immigrant workers and their descendents.6 For these unskilled, immigrant laborers, middle class immigrants, and the children of both groups, adaptation to the culture, society, and life in a new ‘host’ country can be difficult, to say the least. So, in response to a new cultural landscape and a tenuous sense belonging, as well as to maintain a connection with a shared past, citizens of the world’s numerous diaspora replicate linguistic, cultural, and social norms, creating their own “cultural space[s]” that mirror and often replace a past relationship to their land of origin, or ‘home’.