Wildflower areas within revitalized agricultural matrices boost small mammal populations but not breeding Barn Owls

Agro-ecosystems have recently experienced dramatic losses of biodiversity due to more intensive production methods. In order to increase species diversity, agri-environment schemes provide subsidies to farmers who devote a fraction of their land to ecological compensation areas (ECA). Several studies have shown that invertebrate biodiversity is actually higher in ECA than in nearby intensively cultivated farmland. It remains poorly understood, however, to what extent ECA also favour vertebrates, such as small mammals and their predators, which would contribute to restore functioning food chains within revitalized agricultural matrices. We studied small mammal populations among eight habitat types - including wildflower areas, a specific ECA in Switzerland - and habitat selection (radiotracking) by the barn owl Tyto alba, one of their principal predators. Our prediction was that habitats with higher abundances of small mammals would be more visited by foraging Barn owls during the period of chicks' provisioning. Small mammal abundance tended to be higher in wildflower areas than in any other habitat type. Barn owls, however, preferred to forage in cereal fields and grassland. They avoided all types of crops other than cereals, as well as wildflower areas, which suggests that they do not select their hunting habitat primarily with respect to prey density. Instead of prey abundance, prey accessibility may play a more crucial role: wildflower areas have a dense vegetation cover, which may impede access to prey for foraging owls. The exploitation of wildflower areas by the owls might be enhanced by creating open foraging corridors within or around wildflower areas. Wildflower areas managed in that way might contribute to restore functioning food chains within agro-ecosystems.

Changes in patterns of practice for prostate cancer radiotherapy in Italy 1995-2003. A survey of the Prostate Cancer Study Group of the Italian Radiation Oncology Society.

Aims and background. In 2002, a survey including 1759 patients treated from 1980 to 1998 established a "benchmark" Italian data source for prostate cancer radiotherapy. This report updates the previous one. Methods. Data on clinical management and outcomes of 3001 patients treated in 15 centers from 1999 through 2003 were analyzed and compared with those of the previous survey. Results. Significant differences in clinical management (-10% had abdominal ma-gnetic resonance imaging; +26% received ≥70 Gy, +48% conformal radiotherapy, -20% pelvic radiotherapy) and in G3-4 toxicity rates (-3.8%) were recorded. Actuarial 5-year overall, disease-specific, clinical relapse-free, and biochemical relapse-free survival rates were 88%, 96%, 96% and 88%, respectively. At multivariate analysis, D'Amico risk categories significantly impacted on all the outcomes; higher radiotherapy doses were significantly related with better overall survival rates, and a similar trend was evident for disease-specific and biochemical relapse-free survival; cumulative probability of 5-year late G1-4 toxicity was 24.8% and was significantly related to higher radiotherapy doses (P <0.001). Conclusions. The changing patterns of practice described seem related to an improvement in efficacy and safety of radiotherapy for prostate cancer. However, the impact of the new radiotherapy techniques should be prospectively evaluated.

Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area in Waterloo Iowa, December 31, 2001 (Audit report on America's Agricultural Industrial Heritage Landscape Inc.)

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Audit report on America's Agricultural Industrial Heritage Landscape Inc. D/B/A Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area in Waterloo Iowa, December 31, 2002

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Time-Delayed Theory of the Neolithic Transition in Europe

The classical wave-of-advance model of the neolithic transition (i.e., the shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural economies) is based on Fisher's reaction-diffusion equation. Here we present an extension of Einstein's approach to Fickian diffusion, incorporating reaction terms. On this basis we show that second-order terms in the reaction-diffusion equation, which have been neglected up to now, are not in fact negligible but can lead to important corrections. The resulting time-delayed model agrees quite well with observations

Audit report on America's Agricultural Industrial Heritage Landscape Inc. D/B/A Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, December 31, 2003

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The “Death of environmentalism” debates: forging links between SEA and civil society discourses

Social and environmental accounting (SEA) is currently going through a period of critical selfanalysis.Challenging questions are being raised about how SEA should be defined, who should be doing the defining, and what the agenda should be. We attempt to engage and enrich these debates from both a process and content perspective by drawing on the political philosophy of agonistic pluralism and a set of debates within the environmental movement – “the death of environmentalism” debates. The contribution of the paper is twofold: to set forth the death of environmentalism debates in the accounting literature and, in doing so, to contextualize and theorize the contested nature of SEA using agonistic pluralism. In contrast to consensually oriented approaches to SEA, the desired outcome is not necessarily resolution of ideological differences but to imagine, develop, and support democratic processes wherein these differences can be recognized and engaged. We construe the “Death” debates as illustrative of the contestable practical and political issues facing both SEA and progressive social movements generally, demonstrating the context and content of the deliberations necessary in contemplating effective programs of engagement. The SEA community, and civil society groups, can benefit from the more overtly political perspective provided by agonistic pluralism. By surfacing and engaging with various antagonisms in this wider contested civic sphere, SEA can more effectively respond to, and move beyond, traditional politically conservative, managerialist approaches to sustainability.

Designation of Co-benefits and Its Implication for Policy: Water Quality versus Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils, March 2005

Designation of Co-benefits and Its Implication for Policy: Water Quality versus Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils, The

Meeting highlights of the 8th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society For Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, January 21 to 23, 2005.

Parallel tracks for clinical scientists, basic scientists, and pediatric imagers was the novel approach taken for the highly successful 8th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, held in San Francisco, California, January 21 to 23, 2005. Attendees were immersed in information on the latest scientific advances in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) from mice to man and technological advances from systems with field strengths from 0.5 T to 11.7 T. State-of-the-art applications were reviewed, spanning a wide range from molecular imaging to predicting outcome with CMR in large patient populations.

Audit report on America's Agricultural Industrial Heritage Landscape Inc. d/b/a Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, Independent Auditor's Reports, Financial Statements and Supplementary Information, Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs, December 31st, 2003 & 2004

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Swiss Democracy on the Web 2010 : Society and Politics in a Connected Age

The rapid adoption of online media like Facebook, Twitter or Wikileaks leaves us with little time to think. Where is information technology taking us, our society and our democratic institutions ? Is the Web replicating social divides that already exist offline or does collaborative technology pave the way for a more equal society ? How do we find the right balance between openness and privacy ? Can social media improve civic participation or do they breed superficial exchange and the promotion of false information ? These and lots of other questions arise when one starts to look at the Internet, society and politics. The first part of this paper gives an overview of the social changes that occur with the rise of the Web. The second part serves as an overview on how the Web is being used for political participation in Switzerland and abroad. Le développement rapide de nouveaux médias comme Facebook, Twitter ou Wikileaks ne laisse que peu de temps à la réflexion. Quels sont les changements que ces technologies de l'information impliquent pour nous, notre société et nos institutions démocratiques ? Internet ne fait-il que reproduire des divisions sociales qui lui préexistent ou constitue-t-il un moyen de lisser et d'égaliser ces mêmes divisions ? Comment trouver le bon équilibre entre transparence et respect de la vie privée ? Les médias sociaux permettent-ils de stimuler la participation politique ou ne sont-ils que le vecteur d'échanges superficiels et de fausses informations ? Ces questions, parmi d'autres, émergent rapidement lorsque l'on s'intéresse à la question des liens entre Internet, la société et la politique. La première partie de ce cahier est consacrée aux changements sociaux générés par l'émergence et le développement d'Internet. La seconde fait l'état des lieux de la manière dont Internet est utilisé pour stimuler la participation politique en Suisse et à l'étranger.

Multilateral Trade and Agricultural Policy Reforms in Sugar Markets, September 2005

We analyze the impact of trade liberalization, removal of production subsidies, and elimination of consumption distortions in world sugar markets using a partial-equilibrium international sugar model calibrated on 2002 market data and current policies. The removal of trade distortions alone induces a 27% price increase while the removal of all trade and production distortions induces a 48% increase by 2011/12 relative to the baseline. Aggregate trade expands moderately, but location of production and trade patterns change substantially. Protectionist OECD countries (the EU, Japan, the US) experience an import expansion or export reduction and significant contraction in production in unfettered markets. Competitive producers in both OECD countries (Australia) and non-OECD countries (Brazil, Cuba), and even some protected producers (Indonesia, Turkey), expand production when all distortions are removed. Consumption distortions have marginal impacts on world markets and location of production. We discuss the significance of these results in the context of mounting pressures to increase market access in highly protected OECD countries and the impact on non-OECD countries.

Society, politcs and nuclear energy in Switzerland

After the Fukushima accident, the Swiss Federal Council opted for withdrawal from nuclear energy in the horizon 2035. Considering that this decision cannot be studied in historical isolation, this article describes the evolution of the relationship between nuclear energy and the Swiss society by highlighting four distinctive periods: the social mobilisation of the seventies and eighties, the turning point of the nineties, the nuclear revival in the late 2000s and the Fukushima accident. To describe this relationship, we will analyse social mobilisation and the results of initiatives and empirical studies related to nuclear energy in Switzerland.

Education as a mirror of Spanish society: challenges and policies towards multiple diversity

The ways in which the dominant cultural majority frames the educationalsystem determine perceptions of its own identity and understandings ofthe ‘other.’ In this article I take a political approach, by examining themanagement of cultural diversity within Spanish education policies, treating“education as the mirror of society”. This article analyzes Spanish challengesand policies approaches towards the management of immigrationrelated diversity in education. The main finding is that there is not one approach,but several, due to both the decentralized character of the educationsystem and the multiplicity of diversity that is at stake (i.e. language,religion, culture etc.)