Suicide: the spatial and social components of despair in Britain 1980–2000

In this paper we show that, by accounting for the varying influence of just three area indicators of social isolation, it is possible to predict the number of deaths due to suicide and undetermined injuries (most of which are suicides) across a great many areas remarkably closely. The exceptions to this model suggest that in a few unique areas of the country other local, often historical and cultural or intrinsically geographical factors matter also. These findings of the general predictability of suicide matter because suicide is such a common cause of death, particularly for the young. Between 1 January 1981 and 31 December 2000, the underlying cause of the deaths of 130 000 people in Britain were recorded as being directly due to suicide, or in all probability being due to suicide. Collectively, these thousands of personal stories are brought together here to show how a pattern of despair in Britain over this period was spread across the country, affecting different places and different groups in society to differing extents over changing times. The changing geography of despair can be shown to be largely the product of changing economic, social and demographic geographies. This paper is concerned with determining the extent to which the stories of suicide in Britain were more than the sum of thousands of individual acts of misery and the extent to which they reflected the changing social structure of the country. Quantitative analysis is used to identify possible key trends with a more qualitative set of interpretations placed on the possible meanings of these findings. The paper concludes by speculating on how current social trends may influence the future map of the extremes of despair in Britain.     

江南水利、河网与市镇——以菱湖镇及周边地区为中心(9—20世纪)

本文以菱湖镇为中心讨论了江南水乡市镇大型聚落在千年历史进程中形态演化的空间过程。菱湖镇的发展依托于唐末在此修筑的凌波塘;宋元时期,菱湖镇处于江南运河河网的枢纽,移民逐渐增多;明代以来,菱湖地区的水系逐渐被分割,形成局部河网;清初杨树坝修筑之后,菱湖镇的河网向死水化方向发展,民国时期在此河网基础上形成镇中固定的街市;明清时期菱湖镇及周边地区的农业经营以桑基鱼塘模式为主,形成了高度破碎化的河网,周边地区桑基鱼塘农业经济的发展依托菱湖镇供应粮食、肥料等生产资料和蚕丝集中交易市场。     

Effects of Autonomy, Performance Contracting, and Competition on the Performance of a Public Agency: A Case Study

What effects do new control mechanisms have that governments use to monitor the performance of quasi‐autonomous public agencies? The control mechanisms under review are managerial autonomy, performance contracts, financial incentives, and competition. Using principal‐agent theory, a theoretical model is developed. In order to assess its value for further empirical research this model is then confronted with evidence of an in‐depth case study of a Flemish public agency, which encompasses two embedded cases. In this case, the four control mechanisms seem to induce the public agency to performance‐enhancing behavior through ways assumed in the theoretical model, but only under very specific conditions. The case study points to another and seemingly more fundamental motivation for such behavior, that is, the need of the public agency to strengthen or restore its legitimacy toward its customers and especially toward its political principals, when it is confronted with certain threats to legitimacy.     

旅游形象感知模型及其应用研究——以长三角居民对韩国旅游形象感知为例

本项研究调查了近千名长三角地区潜在游客对韩国旅游形象的感知,运用多元统计技术手段分析探讨了刺激因素、个体因素和形象感知三者之间的关系,研究表明,刺激因素(一手信源和二手信源)与个体因素(旅游动机和社会人口统计特征)差异会影响旅游形象的感知,是旅游形象的前因变量.     

抚河中游先秦聚落试析——以江西省金溪县为例

抚河中游先秦时期的聚落存在环壕与山岗两类形式.以江西省金溪县为例,抚河中游先秦时期的聚落发展分为4个时期:新石器时代晚期,环壕聚落作为重要的防御据点而产生;夏至早商时期,聚落规模呈现衰退的趋势;商代晚期至西周早期为聚落的大发展时期,山岗聚落急剧发展,呈聚集分布之势,而环壕聚落的防御功能不再具有显著地位;西周中晚至春秋早...     

Comments on Graf, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 2009 “ “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”: evaluating the radiocarbon chronology of the middle and late Upper Paleolithic in the Enisei River valley, south-central Siberia”

Here I present a critical evaluation of the analysis conducted by Graf [Graf, K.E., 2009. “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”: Evaluating the radiocarbon chronology of the middle and late Upper Paleolithic in the Enisei River valley, south-central Siberia. Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 694–707] of the Paleolithic radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dataset for the Upper Paleolithic sites in the Yenisei River basin of Central Siberia. Graf applied a rating system to the corpus of existing ¹⁴C data for the region, and announced some new ¹⁴C dates. The results obtained, however, are highly biased due to several factors, including prejudice concerning the higher accuracy of the AMS technique in ¹⁴C dating and that ¹⁴C dates from the same cultural component should overlap with plus–minus two sigmas; ambiguities with the subdivision of the Lateglacial period; artificially high sample selection criteria; incomplete factual material; and unjustifiable and misleading statements on the ¹⁴C dating of fossil bones and the issue of Last Glacial Maximum human presence in Siberia. As a result, the conclusions made by Graf [Graf, K.E., 2009. “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”: Evaluating the radiocarbon chronology of the middle and late Upper Paleolithic in the Enisei River valley, south-central Siberia. Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 694–707] are unconvincing. New analysis is necessary in order to improve the quality of treatment of the original data for the Upper Paleolithic ¹⁴C chronology in the Yenisei River basin.     

Narratives of Community and Change in a Contemporary Rural Setting: The Case of Duaringa,Queensland

Contemporary rural communities are being affected by a range of changes and processes in Australia, including major changes in demographic patterns; the organisation and performance of primary industries; levels of government support for economic and social infrastructure; and wider developments in technology and changing socio‐cultural values. The impact of these processes has been felt unequally and small communities which have had a traditionally close relationship with agricultural industries are particularly challenged. The current paper reports on one such community and provides the opportunity to analyse both the the substance and cultural understandings of such forms of rural change/uncoupling. The paper presents local narratives of community and change in Duaringa, Central Queensland and responds to recent international literature suggesting that the meanings and politics of rural change are as significant as the economic trends that are occurring. The Duaringa narratives demonstrate both the substance and dynamics of expressions of community (and loss). And the paper concludes that these meanings are also influenced by wider processes including consumption‐oriented lifestyles and national interests in South East Asian relations.     

Palaeolithic engravings and sedimentary environments in the Côa River Valley (Portugal): implications for the detection,interpretation and dating of open-air rock art

The pre-Magdalenian phase of the Côa River Valley open-air rock art is mostly distributed at the boundary between the rocky valley slopes and the floodplain that correspond to the most favourable geomorphological setting for the preservation of pecked and deeply superposed engravings of the most famous artistic phase of the area. The natural vertical panels of the engraved art located at this geomorphological interface have suffered weathering during two cold events of the Lateglacial. They were buried by several colluvial and alluvial deposits. The reconstruction of the sedimentary and archaeological context of the CôaRiver Valley engraving permits a better assessment of the preservation processes and interpretation of Palaeolithic open-air rock art.     

By‐Elections and Political Change in a Local Context: The Case of the 1973 Dundee East By‐Election and the SNP

With their unpredictability and occurrence in between nationwide elections, by‐elections have attracted a degree of scholarly interest. However, this has focused almost exclusively on how the contests have affected, or failed to affect, the direction of national politics. This article seeks to, instead, explore their influence upon the locality in which they are fought. It will achieve this through an analysis of the 1973 Dundee East by‐election and its consequences for the development of the local Scottish National Party (SNP). Prior to the by‐election, the party had not been particularly strong in Dundee. Yet the contest provided a setting in which it was able to transform itself into one of the most effective Nationalist organisations in Scotland, capable of cementing an SNP MP in the constituency from 1974 until 1987, holding firm against the collapse in the party's support across the country in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The article will examine the extent to which this resistance to the national swing was facilitated by the legacies of the by‐election and the extent to which its wider footprint contributed towards the development of an enduring party tradition that has persisted for decades.     

旅游企业知识创新管理的认知与实践——以珠江三角洲地区为例

知识创新已成为旅游企业参与更高层次竞争的重要战略行为,但研究者发现旅游企业的创新知识转化率极低。本文通过对珠江三角洲地区近80家旅游企业知识创新管理活动现状的调查发现,对知识创新的需求日益增长与知识管理技术手段相对滞后是旅游企业内部的一对突出矛盾,而对隐性知识的高度依赖和标准化管理模式的盛行是造成旅游企业创新知识低转化率困境的根本原因。     

“长于姜水”、“都陈”与“葬于长沙”——炎帝传说流衍途径考察

在炎帝传说流衍的过程中,逐渐形成其长于姜水、都陈与葬于长沙的说法。诸说之间似乎缺乏必然的联系,但均有历史与文化的渊源。早在先秦时期,炎帝传说在东、西方流传之时,亦有缘起于南方说流行。随着东汉后期三皇五帝系统整合工作的完成,以及魏晋时期以现实生活中的帝王为标准,对传说中古帝王的生平事迹、都城、陵墓所在等关键环节的再次整合,尽管依旧保留着相当浓郁的传说色彩,然而炎帝的人格化倾向却日益凸现,这是古代帝王传说演变过程中一个值得关注的历史文化现象。姜水、陈与长沙,似乎可以被理解为炎帝传说流衍过程中三个重要的地理标志,各地不同的炎帝传说借此得以整合,最终形成一个与黄帝并称的华夏民族始祖形象。     

高层管理团队组成特征与饭店绩效关系的实证研究——以湖南、广东省中高档星级饭店为例

高层管理者作为企业的重要资源之一,备受研究者们的关注。国内关于饭店企业高层管理者方面的研究非常少见。本文在高层梯队理论的指导下,提出高层管理团队组成特征与饭店绩效关系的一系列理论假设,并以我国广东和湖南的114家星级饭店作为样本进行验证。研究结果表明,我国星级饭店企业高层管理团队的组成特征均值对企业绩效有影响,高层管理团队的平均受教育程度越高、平均团队任期越长,饭店企业的绩效越好;高层管理团队组成特征异质性对饭店绩效没有显著影响。     

解说志工制度与志工特性之探讨--以台湾阳明山旅游区为例

本研究的目的是探讨台湾旅游区游客解说服务的经验与制度。研究首先指出解说服务对于旅游区管理的各种功能,介绍正职解说员与解说志工的角色及特性,并整理目前旅游解说志工制度的特色。其次,讨论志愿服务的3个理论,以及志工绩效评估的意义、流程及重要性。再透过实证的量化问卷调查,分析阳明山旅游区解说志工的个人背景、参与特性、环境素养、组织满意度以及带队解说表现情形。研究最后归纳解说志工制度的经验与推展流程,为相关保护区或风景区管理单位提供参考。     

华北乡村的堡寨与明清边镇的社会变迁——以河北蔚县为中心的考察

堡寨是中国乡村社会一种常见的防御性聚落形态,明清华北乡村修筑过大量的堡寨,它们浓缩了华北边地数百年间的历史变迁。本文以河北蔚县作为华北乡村堡寨的个案,通过对它的研究,细致展现伴随着明清边镇战和局势、卫所制度、地方社会的变迁,乡村堡寨的修建、类型、功能、组织管理以及象征意义发生了怎样的变化,与此同时,也可考察乡绅力量的介入以及乡民观念的转变。     

Sentinel Butte: neutron activation analysis of White River Group chert from a primary source and artifacts from a Clovis cache in North Dakota,USA

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was used to characterize the chemical composition of chert from a primary source in western North Dakota. Known as Sentinel Butte, this source is part of the Eocene-age White River Group (WRG), a widespread geological formation on the central and northern Plains. INAA results demonstrate that it is chemically distinct from other known chert-bearing WRG. Further, analysis of three bifaces from the nearby Beach Clovis cache site demonstrates that they are made of chert from Sentinel Butte, and most likely the other 55 White River Group Silicate (WRGS) bifaces in the cache are as well. Although Clovis caches typically are dominated by materials transported hundreds of kilometers, it is argued that the advance manufacture and caching of bifaces even a short distance from a source may be a highly effective tactic to reduce gearing up time and hence search costs associated with the pursuit of mobile game at the close of the Pleistocene.