Analysing spatio-temporal change by use of national historical Geographical Information Systems: Population change during and after the Great Irish Famine

Several countries have made large investments in building historical Geographical Information Systems (GIS) databases containing census and other quantitative statistics over long periods of time. Making good use of these databases requires approaches that explore spatial and temporal change.

Urban transportation planning in the U.S.: an historical overview. Final report.

Mode of access: Internet.

Historical financial data--domestic automobile manufacturers. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Corporate strategies of automotive manufacturers. Volume III: an historical perspective on the automotive industry. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Urban transportation planning in the United States: an historical overview. Third edition.

Mode of access: Internet.

An historical review of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's field accident investigation activities. NHTSA technical report.

Mode of access: Internet.

Historical performance of different auto manufacturers in the New Car Assessment Program tests. Report.

Mode of access: Internet.

Of plants and pikas: evidence for a climate-mediated decline in forage and cache quality

Background: Animals that hoard food to mediate seasonal deficits in resource availability might be particularly vulnerable to climate-mediated reductions in the quality and accessibility of food during the caching season. Central-place foragers might be additionally impacted by climatic constraints on their already restricted foraging range. Aims: We sought evidence for these patterns in a study of the American pika (Ochotona princeps), a territorial, central-place forager sensitive to climate. Methods: Pika food caches and available forage were re-sampled using historical methods at two long-term study sites, to quantify changes over two decades. Taxa that changed in availability or use were analysed for primary and secondary metabolites. Results: Both sites trended towards warmer summers, and snowmelt trended earlier at the lower latitude site. Graminoid cover increased at each site, and caching trends appeared to reflect available forage rather than primary metabolites. Pikas at the lower latitude site preferred species higher in secondary metabolites, known to provide higher-nutrient winter forage. However, caching of lower-nutrient graminoids increased in proportion with graminoid availability at that site. Conclusions: If our results represent trends in climate, cache quality and available forage, we predict that pikas at the lower latitude site will soon face nutritional deficiencies.

Cultural and Genetic Influences on the “Biological Standard of Living”

This study suggests an improvement of a popular measure of living standards, namely the biological standard of living. One influence on it is a population's consumption pattern. Since there are different dietary patterns all over the world, researchers estimate the influences of national diets on final average male height. These habits are predominantly related to income, but also to genetics, cultural history, and decisions regarding whether to trade or consume high-quality foodstuffs. Systematic differences are found when analyzing protein-consumption habits among 51 countries between the 1960s and the 1980s. The author calculates metric correction values which can facilitate international comparisons of male average height. While the proposed correction values make a little difference on average, they can be valuable in a comparison of countries with markedly different dietary patterns.

'Leptorapide' - a one-step assay for rapid diagnosis of human leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is a globally important zoonotic infection caused by spirochaetes of the genus Leptospira. It is transmitted to humans by direct contact with infected animals or indirectly via contaminated water. It is mainly a problem of the resource-poor developing countries of the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world but outbreaks due to an increase in travel and recreational activities have been reported in developed and more industrialized areas of the world. Current methods of diagnosis are costly, time-consuming and require the use of specialized laboratory equipment and personnel. The purpose of this paper is to report the validation of the 'Leptorapide®' test (Linnodee Ltd, Northern Ireland) for the diagnosis of human leptospirosis. It is a simple one-step latex agglutination assay performed using equal volumes of serum sample and antigen-bound latex beads. Evidence of leptospiral antibodies is determined within minutes. Agglutination is scored on a scale of 1-5 and the results interpreted using a score card provided with the kit. Validation has been performed with a large sample size obtained from individuals originating from various parts of the world including Brazil and India. The test has shown sensitivity and specificity values of 97·1% and 94·0%, respectively, relative to the microscopic agglutination test. The results demonstrate that Leptorapide offers a cost-effective and accurate alternative to the more historical methods of antibody detection.

A realidade-ficção do discurso televisivo

Pós-graduação em Estudos Linguísticos - IBILCE

Historisches Grabenreißen im Wassereinzugsgebiet der Aar zwischen Wiesbaden und Limburg

Im Wassereinzugsgebiet der Aar zwischen Taunuskamm und Limburger Becken wurden 242 Erosionsschluchten, so genannte Runsen kartiert. Die vorgefundenen geomorphologischen Formen sind zum Teil mehr als 15 Meter tief, kerben- oder kastenförmig. Einige führen ein zeitweise oder ständig fließendes Gerinne. Die Untersuchung acht verschiedener Einzelbeispiele mit geomorphologischen, bodenkundlichen und kulturhistorischen Methoden ergab, dass die Erosionsschluchten in geschichtlicher Zeit entstanden sind. Damit wurden die Ergebnisse von BORK 1988, 1985, BORK et al. 1998, BAUER 1995, 1993, SEMMEL 1963, HEMPEL 1954, 1954 und HARD 1970 weitgehend bestätigt. Die Runsen an der Aar und ihrer Nebenbäche sind das Ergebnis exzessiver Erosionsprozesse, die in Folge einer erheblichen Übernutzung der Landschaft durch Köhlerei, Eisenerzverhüttung und Landwirtschaft hauptsächlich im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert ausgelöst wurden. Dabei kommt der seit 1656 betriebenen Michelbacher Hütte als landesherrliches Eisenwerk eine besondere Rolle zu. Ein weiterer Einfluss geht auf die spezifische Geofaktorenkonstellation im Untertaunus zurück. Die dort verbreiteten stark tonig verwitterten Schiefer und erodierten Parabraunerden fördern den Oberflächenabfluss, der während zeitweise auftretender Starkregenereignisse an den Hängen zum Einreißen von Erosionsschluchten führen kann . Zur Untersuchung des Phänomens wurden sowohl geomorphologische und bodenkundliche als auch historisch-kulturlandschaftgenetische Methoden herangezogen. Neben der bodenkundlichen Beprobung zahlreicher Aufschlüsse wurden auch Analysen mittels der Radiokarbonmethode, Schwermineralanalysen, Kohlholzspektren historischer Meilerplätze und die Auswertung von Archivunterlagen als Methoden herangezogen. Als grundlegendes Ergebnis liefert die vorliegende Arbeit einen umfassenden Abriss der Nutzungsgeschichte im Wassereinzugsgebiet der Aar von vorgeschichtlicher Zeit bis zum heutigen Tage. Zudem werden die naturräumlichen Einflussfaktoren, die die Entstehung von Erosionsschluchten erst ermöglichen, auf umfassende Weise dargestellt. Zwei Exkurse behandeln die Bedeutung der spätmittelalterlichen Landwehr bei Hennethal, die während der Geländearbeiten entdeckt wurde sowie die Entstehung und zeitliche Einordnung der Auelehme im Aartal.