The charophyte Lamprothamnium succinctum as an environmental indicator: a Holocene example from Tom Thumbs Lagoon,eastern Australia

The palaeobiota from a middle to late Holocene succession in Tom Thumbs Lagoon, N.S.W., Australia, reflects a range of environmental conditions caused by sea-level changes and active estuarine sedimentation. At the base of the succession (～ ?0.4 m AHD) a thin bed, containing molluscs dated at 6.7 ka B.P. by radiocarbon and amino acid racemisation, and foraminifers is indicative of open estuarine conditions. From +0.35 m AHD towards the top of the sequence the charophyte Lamprothamnium succinctum occurs in subrecent deposits. This species is characterised here by statistical measurements, and new characters are described and illustrated. The charophytes record a drop in sea level and the establishment of a lower salinity artificial wetland. The investigation has also established that decalcification in charophytes can be related to acidification produced by the release of organic acids, aggravated after 1928 by anthropogenic pollution.     

THE IMPACT OF CRIME ON APARTMENT PRICES: EVIDENCE FROM STOCKHOLM,SWEDEN

This study uses data of about 9,000 apartment sales in Stockholm, Sweden, to assess the impact of crime on property prices. The study employs hedonic pricing modelling to estimate the impact of crime controlling for other factors (property and neighbourhood characteristics). Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to combine apartment sales by coordinates with offences, land use characteristics and demographic data of the population. The novelty of this research is threefold. First, it explores a set of land use attributes created by spatial techniques in GIS in combination with detailed geographical data in hedonic pricing modelling. Second, the effect of crime in neighbouring zones at one place can be measured by incorporating spatial lagged variables of offence rates into the model. Third, the study provides evidence of the impact of crime on housing prices in a capital city of a traditional welfare state, information otherwise lacking in the international literature. Our results indicate that apartment prices in a specific area are strongly affected by crime in its neighbouring zones, regardless of crime type. When offences were broken down by types, residential burglary, theft, vandalism, assault and robbery individually had a significant negative effect on property values. However, for residential burglary such an effect is not homogenous across space, and apartment prices in central areas are often less discounted by being exposed to crime than those in the city's outskirts.     

Maps in Italian atlases of the sixteenth century,being a comparative list of the Italian maps issued by Lafreri,Forlani, Duchetti,Bertelli and others,found in atlases

ABSTRACT

In 1771, Daniel Paterson entered into a publishing agreement with the bookseller Thomas Carnan to print and publish a travel itinerary known as Paterson’s Roads. This book was to become the most enduringly popular practical road book of the period. However, Paterson and Carnan were soon embroiled in litigation. This article examines the legal cases that arose when the geographical information contained in Paterson’s Roads was re-used, and improved upon, in a subsequent publication. It explores the background to the cases, focusing on what they reveal about the inner workings of the book and map trade of the period, as well as considering some of the broader historical ramifications. The article also demonstrates that these cases are of ongoing legal significance because they played an important role in developing some of the doctrines and principles of copyright law that continue to be controversial today.     

Reviews

Brccngaard, Carsten, Muren om Israels hus. Regnum og sacerdotium i Danmark 1050—1170 (The wall round the house of Israel. Regnum and sacerdotium in Denmark 1050‐1170). (København, 1982). ISBN 87‐12‐09300‐9.341 pp. English summary.

Næss, Hans Eyvind, Trolldomsprosessene i Norge pa 1500‐, 1600‐tallet (Trials of witches in Norway in the 16th and 17th centuries). (Oslo, 1982). ISBN 82‐00‐06386‐0 IX, 582 pp.

Seppo, Juha, Uskovien yhteisö vai valtionkirkko. Uskonnolliset vähemmistöyhteisöt ja evank‐elis‐luterilaisesta kirkosta eroaminen Suomessa vuosina 1923—1930 (A community of the faithful or the State Church. Religious minority communities and withdrawals from the Lutheran Church in Finland in 1923—1930). (Suomen kirkkohistoriallisen seuran toimituksia, vol. 127, Helsinki, 1983). ISBN 951‐9021‐50‐7. 492 pp. German summary.

Seppinen, Ilkka, Suomen ulkomaankaupan ehdot 1939—1944 (The terms of Finnish foreign trade in 1939—1944). (Societas Historica Fennica. Historiallisia tutkimuksia, vol. 14, Helsinki, 1983). ISBN 951‐9254‐49‐8. 268 pp. German summary.     

Namilamadeta snideri,a new diprotodontan (Marsupialia,Vombatoidea) from the medial Miocene of South Australia

Namilamadeta snideri new genus and species, from the medial Miocene Namba Formation, was found on the western side of Lake Tarkarooloo, South Australia. It is tentatively assigned to the Wynyardiidae and may be the plesiomorphous sister group of the Vombatidae.