The Pace of Indian Urbanization

In contrast with conventional formulations of urban growth, Tolley proposed a simple, supply-driven model relying upon the intersectoral differential in nonlabor productivity growth as the prime motivator of urbanization in developing countries. In the present paper, we apply Tolley's model to India over the period 1951–1981 and attempt to explain its mixed performance in tracking the pace of urbanization in that country. A modified version, adjusted for inter-regional migration, is then simulated for individual Indian states; the exercise confirms actual urban growth during 1971–81 to have been generally below that predicted by Tolley's model. Tolley's assumptions then are tested through an examination of the relationship between urban growth rates and translog indexes of intertemporal productivity growth. Finally, exploratory analysis of Tolley-model deviations in the various states is used to suggest directions for extending urban growth formulations for India. We conclude with a normative examination of policy implications.     

DETERMINANTS OF ADULT MORTALITY IN INDIA

This study attempts to evaluate the factors affecting adult mortality with special emphasis on the lifestyle factors using the 1998–1999 National Family Health Survey (NFHS). The sample size, N, in this analysis is 330,267. It includes those aged 15–59 of which 2.6 per cent died during adulthood. In the Poisson regression model, the independent variables used are age, sex, place of residence, lifestyle factors of other members of the family, standard of living, literacy composition, caste, religion, mass media exposure, household type, fuel for cooking and region of residence. This analysis has been adjusted for the clustering of deaths at the family level. The findings suggest that there is a strong positive relationship between lifestyle factors and premature mortality, even after controlling for other background characteristics of the deceased person. Further, age, standard of living index (SLI), literacy composition, religion, household type and region of residence are some important determinants of adult mortality in India.     

Petroleum infiltration of high-grade basement, South Norway: Pressure-Temperature-time-composition (P–T–t–X) constraints

Fluid inclusion data provide pressure–temperature–time–composition (P–T–t–X) constraints for an episode of petroleum infiltration of the crystalline basement in South Norway. Petroleum inclusions associated with pyrobitumen occur in postmetamorphic quartz veins in the Modum Complex. Three groups of fluid compositions have been shown, ranging from CH₄ ± CO₂ to condensates with alkanes up to C₁₅. The range in fluid composition is a result of petroleum decomposition at high temperature. Globular and massive pyrobitumen occurs in the quartz veins or in associated vein systems. Reflectance (%Rm) measurements of 3.20–3.35 correspond to a maximum temperature of 207–214°C for the pyrobitumen associated with group II and III inclusions. Geothermometry of chlorites included in the quartz show results of 226–231°C. Pressure conditions of trapping for all three groups of inclusion fluids have been estimated to 520–985 bar at 220°C. The pressure range is probably a result of fluctuations caused by repeated fracture opening and sealing due to seismic activity coupled with mineral growth. A lack of systematic textural relationships between the three groups of inclusions and similar pressure–temperature estimates for all fluid types indicate trapping at similar times and a process of rapid change. Fluid migration in fractures from an overlying, overpressured sedimentary basin into a dry, crystalline basement best explains the observed P–T–t–X constraints.     

Geopolitics of landlocked states in South Asia: a comparative analysis of Afghanistan and Nepal

ABSTRACT

Foreign policies of landlocked states have been a topic of interest for scholarship on international relations but the landlocked states in South Asia have received negligible attention. Due to their geographical realities, South Asian landlocked states that include Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal, depend on their neighbours for trade with the outside world. A range of factors place landlocked states in an unequal relationship with their coastal neighbours. While these factors include the superiority of coastal neighbours in terms of economy, population size, and military strength, we argue that their landlockedness plays a crucial role. To further investigate the role of landlockedness, this study compares the foreign policy decisions that guide India-Nepal and Afghanistan–Pakistan relations. Based on the assessment of historical, economic and geopolitical factors, we argue that India and Pakistan exploit their landlocked neighbours to achieve their national interests. Frustrated by the treatment of their coastal neighbours and the presence of new trade opportunities have compelled Afghanistan to use its closeness with India to counter over-dependence on Pakistan and Nepal has enhanced cooperation with China to overcome its reliance on India, thereby creating a new geopolitical dynamic within South Asia.     

An African-Type Healer/Diviner and His Grave Goods: A Burial from a Plantation Slave Cemetery in Barbados, West Indies

An adult male buried in the late 1600s or early 1700s and excavated from a plantation slave cemetery in Barbados had the cemetery's richest assortment of grave goods: an iron knife, several types of metal jewelry, an earthenware pipe, and a necklace of money cowries, fish vertebrae, dog canine teeth, European glass beads, and a large carnelian bead probably from India. Most of these artifacts are unique to New World African descendant sites. The individual was probably an African-type diviner/healer whose high status in the slave community is reflected in his relatively elaborate artifact inventory.     

Molecular transport of methane, ethane and nitrogen and the influence of diffusion on the chemical and isotopic composition of natural gas accumulations

Laboratory experiments have been performed to determine diffusion coefficients of natural gas components (methane, ethane and nitrogen) and isotope fractionation effects under simulated in situ pressure (up to 45 MPa effective stress) and temperature conditions (50–200°C) in water‐saturated pelitic and coarse‐grained rocks. Effective diffusion coefficients of molecular nitrogen (0.39 × 10^?11 to 21.6 × 10^?11 m² sec^?1 at 90°C) are higher than those for methane (0.18 × 10^?11 to 18.2 × 10^?11 m² sec^?1 at 90°C). Diffusive flux rates expressed in mass units are generally higher for N₂ than for CH₄. Both methane and (to a lesser extent) nitrogen diffusion coefficients decrease with increasing total organic carbon (TOC) content of the rock samples because of sorption processes on the organic matter. This effect decreases with increasing temperature. Effective diffusion coefficients increase upon a temperature increase from 50 to 200°C by a factor of four. Effective diffusion coefficients and steady‐state diffusive flux decrease with effective stress. Stationary diffusive fluxes drop by 50–70% for methane and 45–62% for nitrogen while effective diffusion coefficients are reduced by 38% (CH₄) and 32–48% (N₂), respectively. Isotope fractionation coefficients of diffusive transport are higher for methane (?1.56 and ?2.77‰) than for ethane (?0.84 and ?1.62‰). Application of the experimental results to geological systems show that diffusive transport has only a low transport efficiency. Significant depletion of natural gas reservoirs by molecular diffusion is only expected in cases of very poor caprock qualities (in terms of thickness and/or porosity) and over extended periods of geological time. Under these circumstances, the chemical and isotopic composition of a gas reservoir will change and maturity estimates based on these parameters may be deceptive. To account for these potential effects, nomograms have been developed to estimate diffusive losses and apply maturity corrections.     

Modeling social interaction: Marital miscegenation in colonial Spanish America

Abstract

In this article, the author constructs new life tables for the white population of the United States in each decade between 1790 and 1900. Drawing from several recent studies, he suggests best estimates of life expectancy at age 20 for each decade. These estimates are fitted to new standards derived from the 1900–1902 rural and 1900–1902 overall death registration area life tables using a two-parameter logit model with fixed slope. The resulting decennial life tables more accurately represent sex- and age-specific mortality rates while capturing known mortality trends.     

Syntectonic infiltration by meteoric waters along the Sevier thrust front,southwest Montana

Structural, petrographic, and isotopic data for calcite veins and carbonate host‐rocks from the Sevier thrust front of SW Montana record syntectonic infiltration by H₂O‐rich fluids with meteoric oxygen isotope compositions. Multiple generations of calcite veins record protracted fluid flow associated with regional Cretaceous contraction and subsequent Eocene extension. Vein mineralization occurred during single and multiple mineralization events, at times under elevated fluid pressures. Low salinity (T_m = ?0.6°C to +3.6°C, as NaCl equivalent salinities) and low temperature (estimated 50–80°C for Cretaceous veins, 60–80°C for Eocene veins) fluids interacted with wall‐rock carbonates at shallow depths (3–4 km in the Cretaceous, 2–3 km in the Eocene) during deformation. Shear and extensional veins of all ages show significant intra‐ and inter‐vein variation in δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C. Carbonate host‐rocks have a mean δ¹⁸O_V‐SMOW value of +22.2 ± 3‰ (1σ), and both the Cretaceous veins and Eocene veins have δ¹⁸O ranging from values similar to those of the host‐rocks to as low as +5 to +6‰. The variation in vein δ¹³C_V‐PDB of ?1 to approximately +6‰ is attributed to original stratigraphic variation and C isotope exchange with hydrocarbons. Using the estimated temperature ranges for vein formation, fluid (as H₂O) δ¹⁸O calculated from Cretaceous vein compositions for the Tendoy and Four Eyes Canyon thrust sheets are ?18.5 to ?12.5‰. For the Eocene veins within the Four Eyes Canyon thrust sheet, calculated H₂O δ¹⁸O values are ?16.3 to ?13.5‰. Fluid–rock exchange was localized along fractures and was likely coincident with hydrocarbon migration. Paleotemperature determinations and stable isotope data for veins are consistent with the infiltration of the foreland thrust sheets by meteoric waters, throughout both Sevier orogenesis and subsequent orogenic collapse. The cessation of the Sevier orogeny was coincident with an evolving paleogeographic landscape associated with the retreat of the Western Interior Seaway and the emergence of the thrust front and foreland basin. Meteoric waters penetrated the foreland carbonate thrust sheets of the Sevier orogeny utilizing an evolving mesoscopic fracture network, which was kinematically related to regional thrust structures. The uncertainty in the temperature estimates for the Cretaceous and Eocene vein formation prevents a more detailed assessment of the temporal evolution in meteoric water δ¹⁸O related to changing paleogeography. Meteoric water‐influenced δ¹⁸O values calculated here for Cretaceous to Eocene vein‐forming fluids are similar to those previously proposed for surface waters in the Eocene, and those observed for modern‐day precipitation, in this part of the Idaho‐Montana thrust belt.     

Between Principles and Pragmatism: India and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime in the Post-PNE Era, 1974–1980

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that even when India had posited its peaceful nuclear explosion (PNE) of May 1974 as a mark of resistance against a prejudiced nuclear order based upon the NPT, India's policies in the post-PNE period confirmed with many aspects of the emerging non-proliferation consensus. India's response was guided by two major factors. On one hand, were its long-held principles such as the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy (including PNE's) and the right to nuclear technology cooperation for peaceful purposes. On the other hand, were the pragmatic policy choices it had to make as advanced nuclear states worked towards a stricter non-proliferation regime. In this struggle between India's principles and its necessities, India's nuclear behavior was guided much more by pragmatism rather than by its normative preferences. Yet, even when India made major compromises on its nuclear principles in private, in public India stuck to the rhetoric of its principled opposition to the NPT regime. These tensions between India's actual practice and its public policy are evident on three major non-proliferation issues: nuclear safeguards, export controls and the danger of nuclear proliferation in its neighborhood.     

Quantifying the Family Frailty Effect in Infant and Child Mortality by Using Median Hazard Ratio (MHR)

Abstract

Most microlevel studies in the social sciences have focused on the impact of different measured variables. While some studies have also dealt with unobserved variation, it has usually only been controlled for to perfect the estimates of the observables. In this article, the authors applied a modified version of a recently developed method designed to quantify the effect of unobserved variation in continuous time multilevel models, called a median hazard ratio. It allows a direct comparison of the effect of unobserved heterogeneity with standard relative risks. The method is used in an analysis of infant and child mortality in southern Sweden during the period 1766–1895. The empirical findings indicate that unmeasured differences between families were more important than either socioeconomic status or gender throughout this period.     

Neonatal Mortality,Young Calf Slaughter and Milk Production during the Early Neolithic of North Western Mediterranean

The North‐Western Mediterranean witnessed a rapid expansion of farmers and their livestock during the Early Neolithic period. Depending on the region, cattle played a more or less important role in these communities; however how these animals were exploited for their milk is not clear. Here we investigate calf mortality to determine indirectly whether cattle dairying was practised by Early Neolithic stock herders. Age‐at‐death (AtD) frequencies for calves from two sites: Trasano (Italy, Impressa culture: 7–6^th millennium BC) and La Draga (Spain, Cardial culture: 6^th millennium BC) were estimated from dental eruption and development stages, and measurements of un‐fused post‐cranial material. Adult age classes are well represented in the dental AtD frequencies and were interpreted as the result of the slaughter of prime beef and retired lactating females. For calves aged less than 12 months, there was no statistical difference in the AtD frequencies based on dental and post‐cranial material indicating that the data is a good representation of the mortality patterns of calves, either natural or deliberate. At both sites there was a strong mortality peak at 3–6 months in all AtD profiles. At La Draga, this peak was clearly differentiated from a peak at 0–1 month, which can be interpreted neonatal mortality possible a consequence of the birthing season coinciding with the end of winter during more humid climatic conditions that at present. The deliberate slaughter peak around 3–6 months is discussed, and we propose that stock herders controlled the mortality of infant classes, possibly in response to variable external environment pressures while maintaining animal productivity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The 4.8 and 9.6 μm O3 band emissions in the middle atmosphere

For the 40–115 km atmospheric layer, the populations of 19 vibrational states of the O₃ molecule have been calculated for sets of vertical profiles of temperature and concentration of O and O₃. A peculiar feature of the day and night time vertical profiles of the vibrational temperature of the states is at its maximum in the height range 75–90 km which is due to the formation of vibrationally excited molecules of O₃ in the recombination: O₂ + O + M → O₃ + M. On the basis of the calculated populations of the states, the limb and downward atmospheric emissions in the 4.8 and 9.6 μm O₃ bands have been estimated, as well as the contributions of the constituents of the band of vibrational transitions.     

Mahishi's rage: Communitas and protest at Sabarimala,Kerala

In September 2018, the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban on females of menstrual age entering the sacred site to Lord Ayyappan at Sabarimala in the Indian state of Kerala. Violent protests, for and against, engulfed Kerala throughout the main festival and pilgrimage season of 2018–19. This article explores the major sociopolitical and cultural forces that underpinned the violent protests at one of India’s (and also the world’s) major centres of religious pilgrimage. The central argument extends Victor Turner’s thesis in The ritual process to show how the dynamics of liminality and communitas created an intense vortex of crisis of potentially sociocultural transformational effect.     

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater: Estimating fertility from subadult skeletons

Recent research interest has focused on the bioarchaeology of children. Although paleodemography is essential for accurate reconstructions of lifestyle and health in past populations, currently there is no published technique for estimating fertility and life expectancy at birth for skeletal populations in which adults are under‐enumerated. This paper provides a formula to predict Gross Reproductive Rate (GRR) from the proportion of young infants to subadults in a skeletal population. The formula was developed from 98 of Coale and Demeny's Female Model West Life Tables, which represented diverse fertility and mortality rates. The formula's accuracy was examined using independent samples from historical and archaeological cemeteries. Estimates of GRR from the subadult fertility formula were compared with estimates from Bocquet‐Appel and Masset's juvenile:adult ratio. Results indicate that the subadult fertility formula predicts GRR with consistent accuracy (R² = 0.98) and precision (± 1 offspring) in the model life tables, across diverse subadult age structures and demographic characteristics. The formula is useful for subadult populations with a proportion of perinates:subadults between 0.12 and 0.45. The adult component of the sample is not included in the analysis and thus the formula is similarly useful in cases where adults are under‐enumerated, or not. When applied to historical and archaeological populations, estimates for GRR are similar to previous estimates from the juvenile:adult ratio. Because crude birth rate and life expectancy at birth can be calculated from GRR using established fertility centred approaches to demography, the subadult fertility formula allows skeletal populations of diverse composition to be included in demographic research, essential for understanding of how mortality and fertility are affecting the morbidity profiles of subadult samples and for comparative bioarchaeological analyses. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrothermal palaeofluid circulation in the fracture network of the Baksa Gneiss Complex of SW Pannonian Basin,Hungary

A well‐developed fracture‐filling network is filled by dominantly Ca‐Al‐silicate minerals that can be found in the polymetamorphic rock body of the Baksa Gneiss Complex (SW Hungary). Detailed investigation of this vein network revealed a characteristic diopside→epidote→sphalerite→albite ± kfeldspar→chlorite1 ± prehnite ± adularia→chlorite2→chlorite3→pyrite→calcite1→calcite2→calcite3 fracture‐filling mineral succession. Thermobarometric calculations (two feldspar: 230–336°C; chlorites: approximately 130–300°C) indicate low‐temperature vein formation conditions. The relative succession of chlorites in the mineral sequence combined with the calculated formation temperatures reveals a cooling trend during precipitation of the different chlorite phases (T_chlorite1: 260 ± 32°C →T_chlorite2: 222 ± 20°C →T_chlorite3: 154 ± 13°C). This cooling trend can be supported by the microthermometry data of primary fluid inclusions in diopside (T_h: 276–362°C) and epidote (T_h: 181–359°C) phases. The identical chemical character (0.2–1.5 eq. wt% NaCl) of these inclusions mean that vein mineralization occurred in a same fluid environment. The high trace element content (e.g. As, Cu, Zn, Mn) and Co/Ni ratio approximately 1–5 of pyrite grains support the postmagmatic hydrothermal origin of the veins. The vein microstructure and identical fluid composition indicate that vein mineralization occurred in an interconnected fracture system where crystals grew in fluid filled cracks. Vein system formed at approximately <200 MPa pressure conditions during cooling from approximately 480°C to around 150°C. The rather different fluid characteristics (T_h: 75–124°C; 17.5–22.6 eq. wt% CaCl₂) of primary inclusions of calcite1 combining with the special δ¹⁸O signature of fluid from which this mineral phase precipitated refer to hydrological connection between the crystalline basement and the sedimentary cover.     

MINERALOGY OF MEDIEVAL SLAGS FROM LEAD AND SILVER SMELTING (BOHUTÍN,PŘÍBRAM DISTRICT,CZECH REPUBLIC): TOWARDS ESTIMATION OF HISTORICAL SMELTING CONDITIONS*

Slags from the Pb/Ag medieval (14th century) smelting plant located at Bohutín, P?íbram district, Czech Republic, were studied from the mineralogical and geochemical points of view. Two types of slags were distinguished: (i) quenched slags formed mainly by Pb‐rich glass and unmelted residual grains of SiO₂ and feldspars, and (ii) crystallized slags mainly composed of Fe‐rich olivine (fayalite) and glass. The mean log viscosity value of the slags calculated for 1200°C was 2.119 Pa s. The morphology of olivine crystals was used to estimate the cooling rates of the melt, for some slags indicating rates > 1450°C/h. The projection of the bulk composition of slags onto the SiO₂–PbO–FeO ternary system was used for rough temperature estimates of slag formation, lying probably between 800 and 1200°C.     

NDVI Variability in North East India

Abstract

The variability of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in north east India in response to rainfall and temperature was analysed using twice-monthly NOAA/AVHRR satellite imagery acquired during 1982–2002 from the GIMMS (Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies) data-set. Corresponding rainfall and temperature estimates were extracted from the Climate Research Unit's CR TS 2.1 data-set for 34 study sites, chosen using the GLC 2000 land use categories. The selected sites represent nine land use categories under differing institutional frameworks. Results showed a weak linear relationship between the growing season rainfall and NDVI range when plotted in a scatter diagram. The negative correlation between NDVI and rainfall and temperature and NDVI in the study area was accentuated during the growing season and a one- and two-month lag for rainfall and temperature respectively was operating. A gain coefficient image to determine the temporal change in NDVI during the 21-year period indicated a consistent decline for much of the study area. Among the study sites those under state protection fared better than sites under other institutional frameworks. Along with rainfall and temperature, land use and institutional frameworks emerged as causative factors in the dynamics of vegetation greenness in north east India.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article: Contemporary European History, Vol. 10 (3), November 2001, Theme Issue: Gender and War in Europe c. 1918–1949 Claire Duchen and Irene Bandhauer–Schoffman (eds), When the War Was Over: Women, War and Peace in Europe, 1940–1956 Bonnie S. Anderson, Joyous Greetings: The First International Women's Movement 1830–1860 Jo Fox, Filming Women in the Third Reich Elizabeth Abbott, A History of Celibacy Jocelyn Wogan–Browne, Saints’ Lives and Women's Literary Culture c. 1150–1300: Virginity and its Authorisations Susan Migden Socolow, The Women of Colonial Latin America Federico Garza Carvajal, Vir: Perceptions of Manliness in Andalucía and México, 1561–1699 Tanika Sarkar, Hindu Wife, Hindu Nation: Gender, Religion and the Prehistory of Indian Nationalism Marion W. Gray, Productive Men, Reproductive Women: The Agrarian Household and the Emergence of Separate Spheres during the German Enlightenment Jean H. Quataert, Staging Philanthropy: Patriotic Women and the National Imagination in Dynastic Germany, 1813–1916 Judith M. Bennett and Amy M. Froide (eds), Singlewomen in the European Past 1250–1800 Leonore Davidoff, Megan Doolittle, Janet Fink, Katherine Holden, The Family Story: Blood, Contract and Intimacy, 1830–1960 Georges Vigarello, A History of Rape: Sexual Violence in France from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century Mary A. Procida, Married to the Empire: Gender, Politics and Imperialism in India, 1883–1947 Joy Dixon, Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England Catriona M. Parratt, ‘More Than Mere Amusement’: Working–Class Women's Leisure in England, 1750–1914 Nancy A. Hewitt, Southern Discomfort: Women‘s Activism in Tampa, Florida, 1880s–1920s Emily K. Abel, Hearts of Wisdom: American Women Caring for Kin, 1850–1940 Sandra Lee Barney, Authorized to Heal: Gender, Class, and the Transformation of Medicine in Appalachia, 1880–1930 Margarete Sandelowski, Devices and Desires: Gender, Technology, and American Nursing     

Lagostomus maximus (Desmarest) (Rodentia,Chinchillidae), the extant plains vizcacha in the Late Pleistocene of Uruguay

Ubilla, M. & Rinderknecht, A., April 2016. Lagostomus maximus (Desmarest) (Rodentia, Chinchillidae), the extant plains vizcacha in the Late Pleistocene of Uruguay. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

The extant plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus, is described from the Late Pleistocene (Dolores Formation) of Uruguay based on an almost complete articulated skeleton. It is compared with the nominally extinct Pleistocene species of the genus. An AMS ¹⁴C taxon-age is determined for L. maximus at 11 879 ± 95 years BP (cal. BP 13 898–13 941). Lagostomus maximus is absent from modern mammal communities in Uruguay, and no Holocene evidence is available. Because L. maximus exhibits remarkable sexual and ontogenetic dimorphism, we examined a range of juvenile, sub-adult and adult male and female specimens. It is not possible to differentiate the articulated Pleistocene fossil from sub-adult specimens of L. maximus based on this sample. Moreover, the skull characteristics, including a broad vertical ramus of the zygomatic arch, semi-circular temporal crest and short robust sagittal crest, most closely resemble extant female individuals. Molar size is non-predictive for ontogenetic stage or body mass because it reaches stability during early adulthood. Other fragmentary skull remains are herein assigned to L. sp. cf. L. maximus. Lagostomus cavifrons from the Pleistocene of Argentina is considered synonymous with L. maximus. Its character states concur with the range of intraspecific variability and it has been established on a young adult or adult male individual. Likewise, the other Argentinean Pleistocene species based on incomplete mandibles, L. angustidens, L. striatus, L. heterogenidens, L. egenus, L. minimus and L. debilis, concur with ontogenetic morphs and are here assigned to Lagostomus sp. The ecological preferences of extant L. maximus infer open arid or semi-arid landscapes for the latest Pleistocene of southern Uruguay. This hypothesis is reinforced by the coeval presence of Microcavia, Galea and small camelids in the same strata. The Last Glacial Maximum likely promoted this environmental setting. Latest Pleistocene or early Holocene climatic change might have facilitated local extinctions and/or range shifts among this mammal fauna.

Martín Ubilla [martinubilla@gmail.com], Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la Republica, Iguá 4225, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay; Andrés Rinderknecht [apaleorinder@yahoo.com], Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Paleontología, 11000, Montevideo, Uruguay.