An American controversy about the localization of cutaneous sensory regions and their relation to motor regions

Three American neurologists (C. K. Mills, C. L. Dana, and M. A. Starr) explored the anatomical limits of the motor and tactile systems in the brain from 1884 to 1895. Their papers and critiques of one another show contemporary knowledge, limits of their thinking, and difficulties deciding between alternatives. The issue for them was whether there were separate sensory and motor regions or whether there was a combined sensory-motor region. They based their localization arguments on clinical and laboratory findings and on the conclusions of H. Munk and D. Ferrier. There is a discussion about why differences were unresolved.     

Could Cities in De-Industrialized Regions Become Hot Spots for Attracting Cultural Businesses? The Case of Media Industry in Halle an der Saale (Germany)

Policy-makers from many regions where old industrial structures in the field of manufacturing have collapsed are trying to stimulate entrepreneurial activities of businesses in the cultural industry. The question is whether this strategy could be successful. This article examines the strategy of supporting the sector of media industry (“MI”) by policy-makers in the region of Halle in East Germany, where a strong de-industrialization has taken place after the German reunification. Stimulated by the policy-makers' support measures, there actually was a remarkable development of MI. However, the number of MI firms and their employees did not further increase in recent years, after having reached a certain level. This illustrates the limits of political measures for turning a city's path of industrial development voluntarily.     

The Foramina Transversaria of The Sunghir 2 and 3 Cervical Vertebrae

The Mid Upper Paleolithic immature Sunghir 2 and 3 skeletal remains exhibit non-closure and doubling of several of their cervical vertebral foramina transversaria. Both exhibit non-closure of the atlas (C1) foramina. Sunghir 3 also exhibits foraminal non-closure in her C4 to C5. Sunghir 2 has doubling of the foramen on C4 and C6, whereas Sunghir 3 has it on C4 to C6. The anatomical distribution of these variants places Sunghir 2 and 3 at the limits of recent human cervical vertebral morphological variation. The correspondence between these variants and vascular pathways is unclear, and therefore their implications remain uncertain.     

The Effect of Public Infrastructure on the Private Productive Sector of Spanish Regions

In this paper we analyze the effect of infrastructure on the cost and productivity performance of the private productive sector of Spanish regions over the period 1980–1993. We use a dual approach based on cost functions that allows us to recover the usual parameters estimated with production functions. In addition, we obtain rates of return and cost elasticities of production factors at the regional level. Our framework explicitly considers that some factors are quasi-fixed and their volume can differ from their optimal endowment levels. Our results indicate that the public sector has contributed significantly to enhance productivity and reduce costs in the private sector of almost every Spanish region. Nevertheless, there is still scope for the government to continue its investment efforts, given that there remains an appreciable gap between observed and optimal public capital, and we find that in the long run, public capital promotes private investment.     

A Quantitative Approach to Designing a System of Economic Regions of the USSR

The authors state the rationale and describe the technique used to devise a system of seven economic macroregions of the USSR for long-term planning purposes. Since broad resource groups determine the specialization of regional complexes and their specialization in the geographical division of labor, the macroregions were constructed on the basis of homogeneity in key resources, such as manpower, fuels, land, water and transport geography. The new regional system preserves the basic division of the USSR into western and eastern economic zones, and reflects the lower labor and transport costs in the west, and the lower natural-resource costs in the east. The seven-region system, which is already being used in the 15-year plan 1975–1990, is expected to help determine optimal directions of regional development depending on whether regions have surpluses or are short of fuels, electric power, land, water or manpower. The new macroregions were designed by consolidating existing basic economic regions and union republics into larger entities, but the republics may be set apart as subzones for more detailed planning purposes.     

Limits to climate action - Narratives of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage

In recent years, bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has been awarded a key role in climate mitigation scenarios explored by integrated assessment models and referenced in reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Because a majority of scenarios limiting global warming to 2 °C or 1,5 °C include vast deployment of BECCS, a critical discussion has emerged among experts about the moral implications of thus introducing an unproven technology into the policy realm.In this paper, we analyse this discussion as it has played out between 2013 and 2019, with a focus on how expert narratives are constructed in the mass media about the possibilities for decarbonisation within the current political-economic order. We find there are almost no narratives that support massive deployment of BECCS, and that all narratives presuppose limits to decarbonisation imposed by the current political-economic system. The perception of such limits lead some to argue, through deterministic and apolitical narratives, for the necessity of negative emissions technologies, while others argue instead that “degrowth” is the only solution. Thus, there is a distinct lack of positive narratives about how capitalism can bring about decarbonisation.     

“北胡”“西域”盐色与丝路交通地理

汉代以来盐史记忆中已经可以看到中原人对远方奇异盐产的印象。多处盐产地盐的异样色彩,与内地以往经济生产与饮食生活中的观察体会及消费经验有所不同。关于宿沙氏“煮海”传说盐色“五样”的情节,学者以为“异闻”。许多文献资料可见所谓“紫盐”“青盐”“黄盐”“赤盐”“黑盐”等记录。这些对于远方盐色的体会,是以长途交通实践为发现条件的。而早期丝绸之路史的记录,与相关盐史迹象存在某种关联。这一情形,值得交通地理与文化交流史研究者关注。     

Ethical consumption? There's an app for that. Digital technologies and everyday consumption practices

Ethical consumption mobile phone apps are increasingly popular. These apps allow consumers to scan the barcodes of products they are considering purchasing and determine whether or not they align with their ethics. App technologies are often applauded for their potential to provide consumers with targeted, crowd-sourced information about products while shopping and to foster more political, and less individualistic, consumption practices by connecting users to one another and to campaigns. There is a growing field of scholarship conceptually examining the role of information and digital technologies in ethical consumption. However, there is little empirical research on how consumers engage with ethical consumption apps in everyday ways. Drawing on an in-depth study with 21 participants, this paper explores how app use mediates people's experiences of ethical consumption. We contend that the app design structures and limits how individuals engage in ethically motivated consumption and influences their conceptualizations of ethical consumption as a political practice. We conclude by illustrating that critically examining what it means to be “ethical” in a digital world is a crucial area of research for geographers, particularly as these ethics play out through the everyday use of mobile technologies.     

Counterterrorism policy in liberal-democratic societies: locating the ethical limits of national security

This article considers the moral limits to national security policies. While it may seem self-evident that there are, and ought to be, limits to counterterrorism policies, there is an increasingly widespread public opinion that political leaders can, and must, do everything they can to protect against terrorist acts. Liberal-democratic societies are facing the threat of domestic terrorism, and for a political leader to say that ‘we cannot stop all terrorist acts and, indeed, neither should we’ would sound the death knell for their career. This article seeks to specify the limiting conditions around counterterrorism policy by reference to policymakers’ public justifications offered for counterterrorism policy. This article presents three normative elements that underpin counterterrorism policy to show that there are important reasons to limit counterterrorism policy, and to suggest that these limits ought to be recognised by political leaders and citizens alike in liberal-democratic societies. Having set out three limiting factors on counterterrorism policy, the article then shows that these factors do indeed play a role in UK counterterrorism policy development—that is, in recognising the justificatory apparatus for national security policies, limiting conditions ought to be found that are sensible to, and accepted by, the proponents of such policies.     

The Personal or the Partisan? The Politics of House Appropriations Amendments, 1985-2016

Offering amendments represents an important tool for individual members to engage in behaviors that help them pursue reelection, like position-taking and credit claiming. When the House leadership limits the opportunities for rank-and-file members to offer amendments on most measures debated on the floor but leaves spending bills relatively open to amendment, we might expect that individual members will respond by redirecting their amendments to the appropriations process. In this article, I explore whether members use these opportunities to pursue personal goals and to enhance their party's collective reputation.     

对民族地区图书馆现代化建设的思考

民族地区图书馆的现代化建设,是促进民族地区文化建设的重要方面。本文立足于民族地区实际,着眼于当代科技发展趋势,从注重科学管理、设施建设、人才培养、扩大交流以及开展有益的文化活动等方面,就如何实现图书馆现代化建设的目标进行了探讨。     

This Land is My Land: Oklahoma's Changing Vernacular Regions

Over 1000 long-term local residents responded to a survey of Oklahoma's vernacular regions. They indicated that their local regions had changed names over time. A majority of respondents in more than 40 of Oklahoma's 77 counties recall that their localities were called "Indian Territory" or some more specific variation on that theme in the past. Because "Indian Territory" was a term produced by the Federal government, this suggests that the central government exercised substantial control over the toponymy of that time. Other institutions currently dominate the state's toponymic process. Respondents in almost one-half of Oklahoma's counties refer to their local regions with names generated by the state's Department of Tourism and Recreation. Residents in a small number of multi-county regions employ terms derived from their local cultural and economic histories, and others inagroup of single-county regions use extremely localized terms. As a result, it appears that Oklahoma's state bureaucracy has become the dominant toponymic force among local residents, displacing the once-powerful Federal government. Interestingly, Oklahomans now recognize more locally-defined regions than they did in the past as well.     

Debates over Palaeolithic chronology – the reliability of C is confirmed

The debate about the complex issues of human development during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition period (45–35 ka BP) has been hampered by concerns about the reliability of the radiocarbon dating method. Large ¹⁴C anomalies were postulated and radiocarbon dating was considered flawed. We show here that these issues are no longer relevant, because the large anomalies are artefacts beyond plausible physical limits for their magnitude. Previous inconsistencies between ¹⁴C radiocarbon datasets have been resolved, and a new radiocarbon calibration curve, IntCal09 (Reimer et al., 2009), was created. Improved procedures for bone collagen extraction and charcoal pre-treatment generally result in older ages, consistent with independently dated time markers.     

Hardwood ash nixtamalization may lead to false negatives for the presence of maize by depleting bulk δC in carbonized residues

Among the multiple proxies for detecting maize in precontact economies is the use of δ¹³C analysis of carbonized residues from ceramic cooking vessels. Although maize horticulture was widely established in Eastern North America (ENA) by A.D. 1000, there are carbonized residues from ceramic assemblages after this date that lack the elevated δ¹³C values indicative of the presence of maize. This may be due to the true absence of maize, or other factors including the masking of maize. Prior experimental research by Hart et al. demonstrated that the addition of C₃ plants or consumers to two part mixes with maize can mask maize presence even when maize is the dominant ingredient. Here we investigate the effect of alkali processing of maize (nixtamalization) on δ¹³C using the widespread ENA process of boiling maize kernels with wood ash, a C₃ product, to create hominy. Our experiments test whether or not the process of hardwood ash nixtamalization can mask the presence of maize in adhering carbonized residues by depleting δ¹³C values, and whether there is a reciprocal δ¹³C enrichment effect on the hardwood ash employed in nixtamalization. Overall, there is substantial δ¹³C depletion of residues when maize is cooked with hardwood ash, and hardwood ash cooked with maize shows the reciprocal enrichment. Therefore, the depleted values after the adoption of maize may be false negatives due to the nixtamalization process.     

Developing Capabilities: An Analysis of Biotechnology in two Regions in Australia and Sweden

This article analyses whether regions develop capabilities in terms of scientific, technological and business activities within specific biotechnology areas. We take a broad definition of biotechnology, and identify four industry areas: (1) core biotechnology; (2) drugs; (3) medical technologies; (4) agriculture. Capabilities and specialization-diversification are analysed for the regions of Gothenburg in western Sweden, and Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, for the period 1997–2001. These regions are relatively ordinary, and not well-studied, biotech mega-centres. The results suggest there are positive feedback mechanisms that occur in co-located activities developing regional capabilities. Regional success within biotechnology, then, is related to the existence of all or most of the different value adding activities within a sector, as well as being reasonably diversified within related sectors. This is true for all measured industry areas, although regional capability development within core biotechnology shows signs of a relatively more disruptive pattern.     

Obsidian hydration dating: accuracy and resolution limitations imposed by intrinsic water variability

Obsidian hydration dating typically yields a range of ages for a single chronometric measurement, even after controlling for source chemistry and effective hydration temperature. Previously published data suggest that this range is due to hydration rate variations caused by variability in the concentration of intrinsic water, and specifically hydroxyl ions, in the obsidian. Such variability exists within any given obsidian source, and even within any particular specimen. This paper analyzes the effect on age estimates of intrinsic water variability and concludes that if a controlled sample of obsidian yields a range of ages, there is no way to tell whether the range is due to long site use or to variations in hydroxyl concentration. At present there is no robust and cost-effective protocol for measuring hydroxyl concentration. Suggested guidelines for obsidian hydration dating are developed using a case study. These findings do not invalidate obsidian hydration as a chronometric technique, but they do suggest limits to the temporal resolution achievable.     

The incommensurability of psychoanalysis and history

This article argues that, although psychoanalysis and history have different conceptions of time and causality, there can be a productive relationship between them. Psychoanalysis can force historians to question their certainty about facts, narrative, and cause; it introduces disturbing notions about unconscious motivation and the effects of fantasy on the making of history. This was not the case with the movement for psychohistory that began in the 1970s. Then the influence of American ego-psychology on history-writing promoted the idea of compatibility between the two disciplines in ways that undercut the critical possibilities of their interaction. The work of the French historian Michel de Certeau provides theoretical insight into the uses of incommensurability, while that of Lyndal Roper demonstrates both its limits and its value for enriching historical understanding.     

Archaeological Site or Natural Marine Community? Excavation of a Submerged Shell Mound in Ninigret Pond,Rhode Island

ABSTRACT

Submerged shell midden sites and natural shell deposits can have similar characteristics and can be difficult to distinguish archaeologically. We excavated two test units from a large (at least 35 m×70 m) submerged shell mound in Fort Neck Cove in southern Rhode Island to assess whether it was natural or cultural in origin. This mound had been recognized as a potential archaeological feature as early as the 1970s. Excavation, radiocarbon dating, and subsequent laboratory analysis of excavated materials suggest that the mound was a natural oyster reef rather than a submerged archaeological site. No artifacts were found; there was no clear evidence for human modification of any shells; small species that would not have been targeted as food were present; and δ¹³C values of oyster shells from the mound were consistent with freshwater input into their growth environment, suggesting that they grew in an estuarine environment that did not exist prior to the inundation of the ponds. The stratigraphically oldest radiocarbon date we could obtain (430–190 cal BP, 2σ range), from 70 cm below the pond floor, placed deposition of shells at least 3,000 years after the inundation of the pond. The excavation methods that we used and the process of testing, irrespective of whether the feature is cultural, are valuable contributions to the methodological literature on submerged site archaeology and help provide insight for other researchers working to discern natural from cultural shell midden sites.     

Modern Location Factors in Dynamic Regions

Globalization has had an enormous impact on traditional industrial structures. It almost seems that everything is everywhere the same. And yet, in reality, some regions in a single industrialized country enjoy rapid economic growth while others are downsizing or stagnating. Thus there must be some remaining regional competitive advantages—even in the “Age of Globalization”. This paper engages in a quest to discover what these modern location factors might be and how and why they are necessary in creating dynamics and regional growth. In doing so, we link the driving forces behind these modern location factors with regional performance and eventually arrive at a concept of a regional lifecycle and its key dynamics. Using data that paint a comprehensive picture of industry and regional development in Germany we try to find empirical evidence for our approach.     

Diffusion of Electrical Current in the Experiments of Fritsch and Hitzig and Ferrier Failed to Negate Their Conclusion of the Existence of Cerebral Motor Centers

This paper explores the implications of an early criticism of the stimulation studies of Fritsch and Hitzig and Ferrier for localized brain functions. Fritsch and Hitzig and Ferrier concluded that motor centers reside in the cortices of the hemispheres. Their studies were replicated, but their conclusions were not generally accepted initially. The most salient, laboratory-based criticism was that the electrical current used for stimulation diffused well beyond the cortex making their conclusion of cerebral motor centers unacceptable. The diffusion argument was essentially a French suggestion. Ferrier's and American research and interpretations provided data and arguments against it.