Recent environmental change and trace metal pollution in World Heritage Bathurst Harbour, southwest Tasmania, Australia

Bathurst Harbour in World Heritage southwest Tasmania, Australia, is one of the world’s most pristine estuarine systems. At present there is a lack of data on pollution impacts or long-term natural variability in the harbor. A ca. 350-year-old 210Pb-dated sediment core was analysed for trace metals to track pollution impacts from local and long-range sources. Lead and antimony increased from AD 1870 onwards, which likely reflects remote (i.e. mainland Australian and global) atmospheric pollution sources. Variability in the concentrations of copper and zinc closely followed the history of mining activities in western Tasmania, which began in the AD 1880s. Tin was generally low throughout the core, except for a large peak in AD 1989 ± 0.5 years, which may be a consequence of input from a local small-scale alluvial tin mine. Changes in diatom assemblages were also investigated. The diatom flora was composed mostly of planktonic freshwater and benthic brackish-marine species, consistent with stratified estuarine conditions. Since mining began, however, an overall decrease in the proportion of planktonic to benthic taxa occurred, with the exception of two distinct peaks in the twentieth century that coincided with periods of high rainfall. Despite the region’s remoteness, trace metal analyses revealed evidence of atmospheric pollution from Tasmanian and possibly longer-range mining activities. This, together with recent low rainfall, appears to have contributed to altering the diatom assemblages in one of the most pristine temperate estuaries in the world.

The Han Minzu, Fragmented Identities, and Ethnicity

This paper focuses on the majority population in the People’s Republic of China—the Han—and their various collective identities. The Han play a pivotal role in consolidating the Chinese territory and the multiethnic Chinese nation. Therefore, the governments in the twentieth century have invested substantial efforts in promoting a unitary Han identity. In spite of that, powerful local identities related to native place, occupation, and family histories persist. This essay traces these identities and analyzes their intertwinement. Further, it discusses the question of ethnicity of both the Han and local identity categories, and concludes that while Han enact ethnicity in their relations to other minzu, local identity categories are more social than ethnic. It further posits that moments of confrontation, “degree” of ethnicity, scales of categorization, and relationality of identities are notions that should be given particular attention in the studies of ethnicity in China and elsewhere.

Transnational Migration and Cross-border Mobility in the Serbian-Hungarian Border Region

The study is aiming to present migrant groups in the Serbian-Hungarian border region which are playing a role in forming transnational migration, ransnational networks and transnational spaces. Transnational migrants are using material, cultural, social and symbolical capital in various forms. The everyday activities of the people as well as their mobility, emotional attachments, and economic relationships have contributed to a transnational region the cross-border contacts in the last century were always present, even in spite of political and historical changes, only their intensity, political charge and tension has been changing. The asymmetries defining the border region has been reflected in different directions, places, time and in different volume. In this specially built and constantly reorganising scope, people who were living their everyday life have tried to use the differences for their benefit, and to improve their possibilities. With their transnational lifestyles and cross-border networks, they substantially contribute to the stability and prosperity of the cross-border region.

Increasing intercultural competence and tolerance in multicultural schools: A Training Program and its effectiveness

This study reports the implementation of a Training of Intercultural Competence and Tolerance (TICT) for upper-secondary school students and the empirical evaluation of its effectiveness. The TICT program was developed to counteract increasing interethnic conflicts in the North Caucasus Federal District of Russia. It is based on the theoretical and empirical framework of social psychology and cross-cultural psychology. The training effectiveness was assessed by conducting pre- and post-surveys among the training participants. The results indicate that TICT contributes to the development of a positive ethnic identity and the formation of a civic identity among the participating youth. It also increases their optimism regarding the future of interethnic relations in Russia and the subjective level of intercultural competence of majority group youth towards minority cultures. Thus, the evaluation of the training effectiveness of the TICT has shown that the aims of the training have been achieved to a large extent and that the Training of Intercultural Competence and Tolerance can be effectively used to prevent interethnic conflicts and promote interethnic relations in multicultural schools. Suggestions for the practical implementation of the TICT as well as for future research on the training's effectiveness are discussed.

The diabetic child in the emergency room

The WHO announced diabetes mellitus as one of the main threats to human health in the 21st century. In children and adolescents the prevalence of both the autoimmune type 1 and the obesity-related type 2 diabetes is increasing. Common to all types of diabetes is an absolute or relative lack of insulin to keep glucose homeostasis under control. Thus children and adolescents with newly diagnosed diabetes present with hyperglycemia which is often accompanied by ketoacidosis bearing the risk of cerebral edema. Children and adolescents with known diabetes treated with insulin or orale antidiabetic agents may also suffer from hyperglycemia or even ketoacidosis during times of non-compliance with diet and drugs or during concomitant illnesses. Hyperglycemia with ketoacidosis is an emergency situation for which patients need to be admitted to the next hospital for administration of insulin, fluids and potassium. In contrast, insulin treatment in diabetic patients may also lead to a hypoglycemia, the sudden drop in blood glucose, at any moment. Thus recognition and correction of mild hypoglycemia should be familiar to every diabetic child and their caretaker. Severe hypoglycemia with or without seizures may bring the diabetic child in a sudden emergency situation for which the administration of glucagon intramuscularly or glucose intravenously is mandatory. After every severe hypoglycemia the insulin and diet regimen of the diabetic child or adolescent must be reviewed with the diabetes specialist. For unexplained hypoglycemia or major treatment adjustments the diabetic child or adolescent may need to be readmitted to the diabetic ward of a hospital to avoid repeat, potentially life-threatening hypoglycemia.

Contrasts, Contacts, and Interconnections — Tel Kinrot as an Early Iron Age Key Site in the Northern Jordan Rift Valley at the Dawn of the 1st Millennium BCE

Ancient Kinneret (Tēl Kinrōt [Hebrew]; Tell el-ʿOrēme [Arabic]) is located on a steep limestone hill on the northwestern shores of the Sea of Galilee (2508.7529 [NIG]). The site, whose settlement history began sometime during the Pottery-Neolithic or the early Chalcolithic period, is emerging as one of the major sites for the study of urban life in the Southern Levant during the Early Iron Age (c. 1130–950 BCE). Its size, accessibility by major trade routes, and strategic location between different spheres of cultural and political influence make Tēl Kinrōt an ideal place for studying the interaction of various cultures on urban sites, as well as to approach questions of ethnicity and regionalism during one of the most debated periods in the history of the ancient Levant. The paper will briefly discuss the settlement history of the site during the Early Iron Age. However, the main focus will lie on the material culture of the late Iron Age IB city that rapidly evolved to a regional center during the transition from the 11th to the 10th century BCE. During this period, ancient Kinneret features a multitude of cultural influences that reach from Egypt via the Central Hill Country until the Northern parts of Syria and the Amuq region. While there are indisputably close ties with the ‘Aramaean’ realm, there are also strong indications that there were – at the same time – vivid socio-economic links with the West, i.e. the Southern and Northern Mediterranean coasts and their hinterland. It will be argued that the resulting ‘cultural blend’ is a typical characteristic of the material culture of the Northern Jordan Rift Valley in the advent of the emerging regional powers of the Iron Age II.

The largest floods in the High Rhine basin since 1268 assessed from documentary and instrumental evidence

The magnitudes of the largest known floods of the River Rhine in Basel since 1268 were assessed using a hydraulic model drawing on a set of pre-instrumental evidence and daily hydrological measurements from 1808. The pre-instrumental evidence, consisting of flood marks and documentary data describing extreme events with the customary reference to specific landmarks, was “calibrated” by comparing it with the instrumental series for the overlapping period between the two categories of evidence (1808–1900). Summer (JJA) floods were particularly frequent in the century between 1651–1750, when precipitation was also high. Severe winter (DJF) floods have not occurred since the late 19th century despite a significant increase in winter precipitation. Six catastrophic events involving a runoff greater than 6000 m 3 s-1 are documented prior to 1700. They were initiated by spells of torrential rainfall of up to 72 h (1480 event) and preceded by long periods of substantial precipitation that saturated the soils, and/or by abundant snowmelt. All except two (1999 and 2007) of the 43 identified severe events (SEs: defined as having runoff > 5000 and < 6000 m 3 s -1) occurred prior to 1877. Not a single SE is documented from 1877 to 1998. The intermediate 121-year-long “flood disaster gap” is unique over the period since 1268. The effect of river regulations (1714 for the River Kander; 1877 for the River Aare) and the building of reservoirs in the 20th century upon peak runoff were investigated using a one-dimensional hydraulic flood-routing model. Results show that anthropogenic effects only partially account for the “flood disaster gap” suggesting that variations in climate should also be taken into account in explaining these features.

Holocene vegetation development in the catchment of Sagistalsee (1935 m asl), a small lake in the Swiss Alps

Pollen and plant macrofossils were analysed at Sägistalsee (1935 m asl), a small lake near timber-line in the Swiss Northern Alps. Open forests with Pinus cembra and Abies alba covered the catchment during the early Holocene (9000–6300 cal. BP), suggesting subcontinental climate conditions. After the expansion of Picea abies between 6300 and 6000 cal. BP the subalpine forest became denser and the tree-line reached its maximum elevation at around 2260 m asl. Charcoal fragments in the macrofossil record indicate the beginning of Late-Neolithic human impact at ca. 4400 cal. BP, followed by a extensive deforestation and lowering of the forest-limit in the catchment of Sägistalsee at 3700 cal. BP (Bronze Age). Continuous human activity, combined with a more oceanic climate during the later Holocene, led to the local extinction of Pinus cembra and Abies alba and favoured the mass expansion of Picea and Alnus viridis in the subalpine area of the Northern Alps. The periods before 6300 and after 3700 cal. BP are characterised by high erosion activity in the lake's catchment, whereas during the phase of dense Picea-Pinus cembra-Abies forests (6300–3700 cal. BP) soils were stable and sediment-accumulation rates in the lake were low. Due to decreasing land-use at higher altitudes during the Roman occupation and the Migration period, forests spread beween ca. 2000 and 1500 cal. BP, before human impact increased again in the early Middle Ages. Recent reforestation due to land-use changes in the 20th century is recorded in the top sediments. Pollen-inferred July temperature and annual precipitation suggest a trend to cooler and more oceanic climate starting at about 5500 cal. BP.

The Role of the European Imperial Powers throughout the Armenian Schism in the 1870s

The Bull "Reversurus" (1867) and its dogmatic legitimization at the First Vatican Council in 1870 caused not only ecclesiastical controversy and Schism in the Armenian Catholic Church, but it had also wide political consequences for the Armenian Catholics in the Ottoman Empire. The conflict originally between the Armenian Catholics and Rome attracted very soon the attention of the European imperial Powers. France, the British Empire, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Russia were the main political powers who were involved in the Armenian affair. A full picture of the role of all these powers for the course of the Armenian Schism is missing. Mostly the role of France is foregrounded in the printed sources, as the main power, which supported the papacy to win during the Armenian affair. The role and the motives of the other imperial powers is almost missing. This article will try to describe as completely as possible the historical and political background, which brought to the escalation of the Armenian conflict beyond the national frontiers and led to number of conflicts at the international and transnational level. It will be shown that the imperial policy in Europe in the 19th century have played an enormous role throughout the Armenian Schism. It will be explained that several historical circumstances in Europe, especially the relation of the European imperial powers to each other as well as their expectations from the Ottoman Empire and its Armenian subjects were decisive for the duration and conclusion of the Armenian Schism.

Fricciones entre pedagogía y sociología en el Uruguay : Una (re)lectura desde el magisterio de Emile Durkheim

En el siguiente artículo pretendemos dar cuenta de algunos aspectos que contribuyen a pensar la forma de constitución de un campo pedagógico. Proponemos hacer esto mediante un recorrido que permita explicitar las diferentes formas de relación entre dos disciplinas que toman a la educación como objeto: la sociología y la pedagogía. Para esto vamos a realizar un análisis histórico que va a tomar como referencia tres momentos en el desarrollo de las investigaciones en educación a lo largo del siglo XX. En cada uno de estos momentos podremos ver formas de articulación diferente entre las disciplinas. Posteriormente, la idea es avanzar en el análisis de cómo se produjo este proceso en el caso del Uruguay, analizando finalmente cómo esta articulación se trasunta en el diseño de dos políticas educativas: Las Escuelas de Tiempo Completo (ETC) y el Programa de Maestros Comunitarios (PMC).

Fricciones entre pedagogía y sociología en el Uruguay : Una (re)lectura desde el magisterio de Emile Durkheim

En el siguiente artículo pretendemos dar cuenta de algunos aspectos que contribuyen a pensar la forma de constitución de un campo pedagógico. Proponemos hacer esto mediante un recorrido que permita explicitar las diferentes formas de relación entre dos disciplinas que toman a la educación como objeto: la sociología y la pedagogía. Para esto vamos a realizar un análisis histórico que va a tomar como referencia tres momentos en el desarrollo de las investigaciones en educación a lo largo del siglo XX. En cada uno de estos momentos podremos ver formas de articulación diferente entre las disciplinas. Posteriormente, la idea es avanzar en el análisis de cómo se produjo este proceso en el caso del Uruguay, analizando finalmente cómo esta articulación se trasunta en el diseño de dos políticas educativas: Las Escuelas de Tiempo Completo (ETC) y el Programa de Maestros Comunitarios (PMC).

Fricciones entre pedagogía y sociología en el Uruguay : Una (re)lectura desde el magisterio de Emile Durkheim

En el siguiente artículo pretendemos dar cuenta de algunos aspectos que contribuyen a pensar la forma de constitución de un campo pedagógico. Proponemos hacer esto mediante un recorrido que permita explicitar las diferentes formas de relación entre dos disciplinas que toman a la educación como objeto: la sociología y la pedagogía. Para esto vamos a realizar un análisis histórico que va a tomar como referencia tres momentos en el desarrollo de las investigaciones en educación a lo largo del siglo XX. En cada uno de estos momentos podremos ver formas de articulación diferente entre las disciplinas. Posteriormente, la idea es avanzar en el análisis de cómo se produjo este proceso en el caso del Uruguay, analizando finalmente cómo esta articulación se trasunta en el diseño de dos políticas educativas: Las Escuelas de Tiempo Completo (ETC) y el Programa de Maestros Comunitarios (PMC).

Documentation of Vernagtferner from the 17th century

Five paintings and sketches of the advances of the Vernagtferner in the 17th century are presented, four of which have recently been re-discovered in the Tyrolean archives. The view of the glacier in the year 1601 is the oldest known picture of an alpine glacier up to now. The pictures are discussed together with the written informations with regard to the extent of the glacier advances and the out bursts of the ice dammed lakes.