Simple Transfers,Complex Outcomes: The Impacts of Pensions on Poor Households in Brazil

Drawing on quantitative survey data and in‐depth interviews, this article seeks to map out the potential direct and indirect effects of simple cash transfers on households in impoverished rural and urban settings. Brazil is shown to have an extensive system of old age pensions, which affords almost universal coverage to households containing older people. These benefits have a significant impact on levels of poverty and vulnerability in recipient households. They also facilitate access to essential healthcare items, such as drugs, which are seldom freely available through the state health system. The in‐depth interviews reveal that pensions can have important effects on intra‐household relations, but these effects were not generalizable nor easily captured by quantitative survey tools. There was clear evidence that pensions reduced the propensity of older people to remain economically active, but this must be understood in a context of limited employment opportunities for all age groups and a high prevalence of disability. Overall, the article demonstrates the complex effects of a relatively simple cash transfer, which policy makers need to take into account.     

SYNTHESIS AND ACID RESISTANCE OF MAYA BLUE PIGMENT*

Maya blue is an organo‐clay artificial pigment composed of indigo and palygorskite. It was invented and frequently used in Mesoamerica in ancient times (eighth to 16th centuries). We analyse in this paper one of the characteristics of Maya blue that has attracted the attention of scientists since its rediscovery in 1931: its high stability against chemical aggression (acids, alkalis, solvents, etc.) and biodegradation, which has permitted the survival of many works of art for centuries in hostile environments, such as the tropical forest. We have reproduced the different methods proposed to produce a synthetic pigment with the characteristics of the ancient Maya blue. The stability of the pigments produced using either palygorskite or sepiolite has been analysed by performing acid attacks of different intensities. The results are analysed in terms of pigment decolouration and destruction of the clay lattice, revealed by X‐ray diffraction. Palygorskite pigments are much more resistant than sepiolite pigments. It is shown that indigo does not protect the clay lattice against acid aggression. We show that Maya blue is an extremely resistant pigment, but it can be destroyed using very intense acid treatment under reflux.     

THE DISCOVERY OF ANOMALOUSLY HIGH SILVER ABUNDANCES IN POTTERY FROM EARLY ROMAN EXCAVATION CONTEXTS IN JERUSALEM*

This is the first study on the differential distribution and concentrations of silver in ceramics recovered from archaeological excavations. The chemical compositions of 1174 pottery vessels from 38 Roman‐period sites in Israel have been determined. Unusually high and variable abundances of silver were discovered in pottery samples of all vessel types and chemical compositions from four distinct archaeological contexts dating to late first century bce to 70 ce Jerusalem. The large majority of the Jerusalem vessels could be distinguished by their silver abundances from all analysed pottery pieces recovered at rural sites outside Jerusalem, even when the pottery types and chemical compositions, except for silver, of pottery found within and outside Jerusalem were indistinguishable. The evidence is suggestive of a human origin for the high and variable silver abundances, and dispersion of the silver by aqueous transport. The differential silver concentrations found in excavated pottery from Jerusalem and other urban and rural sites suggest that attention to the distribution of silver in pottery from excavated contexts may be helpful for evaluating the nature and function of archaeological remains and patterns of urban contamination.     

The Permeability of the Middle East: The Predicament of Regional and Global Forces: a Review Easy

Book reviewed in this article: Persistent Permeability? regionalism, localism, and globalization in the Middle East: by Bassel F. Salloukh and Rex Brynen, eds. A History of the Modern Middle East: by William L. Cleveland Middle East at the Crossroads: the Changing Political Dynamics and the Foreign Policy Challenges: by Manochehr Dorraj, ed. Conflict and Peace in the Middle East: National Perceptions and United States‐Jordan Relations: by Hatem Shareef Abu‐Lebdeh Nation‐Building: A Middle East Recovery Program: by Jerry M. Rosenberg     

Multiple Intelligence Styles in Relation to Improved Academic Performance in Kuwaiti Middle School Reading

Research was conducted with middle‐school Kuwaiti children to assess the effectiveness of student multiple intelligence styles in predicting students' improved reading skills through academic performance. A group of middle school students who had received first quarter grades and enrolled in an after‐school tutoring program were studied, with half of the students in a traditional tutoring program and the other half in a Gardner multiple intelligence style‐tutoring program. Results show that the students in the experimental group (mean = 48.99), whose multiple intelligence was applied to learning, performed better overall for the academic year than the students in the control group (mean = 45.30) who studied using traditional teaching methodology. Gender, school type, and residential living area were all analyzed within the experimental group. The experimental group results show that, with regards to grades during each quarter period, female students attending private institutions living in suburban areas had greater reading improvement.     

Spatially Disaggregated Modelling of Voting Outcomes and Socio‐Economic Characteristics at the 2001 Australian Federal Election

This study uses GIS and spatial modelling to relate voting outcomes at the 2001 federal election for polling booths across Australia with the socio‐economic characteristics of polling booth catchment areas. The data and analysis used are more detailed and comprehensive than previous studies. It is conducted at a fine level of spatial disaggregation across the whole nation to examine voting outcomes for both major and minor political parties. Because the aim of the paper is to distinguish voting outcomes between political parties rather than to predict voting outcomes for particular political parties, a discriminant analysis is used rather than regression analysis. The statistical discriminant analysis identifies two main socio‐economic dimensions that are able to predict polling booth outcomes with a relatively high degree of accuracy. That analysis shows how, at the 2001 federal election, the middle ground, in terms of socio‐economic characteristics, was being claimed by the Liberal Party, Country Liberal Party, The Greens, and, to a lesser extent, by the Australian Labor Party. However, the Australian Democrats, National Party and One Nation had more distinctive constituencies, with the National Party and One Nation Party competing for areas with similar socio‐economic characteristics. Using GIS mapping tools, examples of actual and predicted polling booth voting outcomes are given, along with selected socio‐economic characteristics of booth catchments.     

LAND USE IN THE EASTERN ALPS DURING THE BRONZE AGE—AN ARCHAEOBOTANICAL CASE STUDY OF A HILLTOP SETTLEMENT IN THE MONTAFON (WESTERN AUSTRIA)*

Investigations of the oldest prehistoric settlement in the western Austrian county of the Vorarlberg reveal a deeper insight into the colonization of the Alps. The human presence is recorded from the Late Neolithic (c. 3000 cal. bc ) onwards, reflecting farming and possible mining activities. Three distinct settlement phases are recognized palynologically: (1) in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (c. 1700 cal. bc ), (2) during the Iron Age (c. 500 cal. bc ) and (3) at the beginning of the medieval era (c. cal. ad 800). In addition plant macrofossil analyses of soil samples from the archaeological excavation of the Bronze Age settlement of Friaga indicate a complex subsistence strategy of the Middle Bronze Age settlers, whereby cereals and pulses reveal a balanced diet.