W Function: A New Distance‐Based Measure of Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities

Distance‐based methods are applied in various fields of research. In this paper, a new relative distance‐based method, the W function, is introduced. This method contributes to the assessment of spatial patterns of economic activities using the stochastic Monte Carlo simulation, and supplements the typology of distance‐based methods recently drawn up by Marcon and Puech. The capability of the W function is compared with results from the Kd and the recently defined m function methods, which are widely used for monitoring the spatial distribution of economic activities by considering several theoretical and empirical examples. The W function appears to provide more precise estimations of the density of economic activities compared to the m and Kd functions, particularly in cases of complex patterns such as double clustered distribution. It also appears to provide a more accurate evaluation of dispersion.     

Ruy Cinatti,the French–Portuguese mission and the construct of East Timor as an ethnographic site*

The French–Portuguese Ethnological Mission to Portuguese Timor (1966/1969) financed by French and Portuguese research bodies and initially directed by Louis Berthe was the first mission that conducted lengthy and thorough ethnographic research in East Timor vernaculars and with East Timorese communities. Using personal and scientific archives, printed and oral sources, this article analyses the mission’s background, the role of Ruy Cinatti (a Portuguese poet, former colonial official in Timor and anthropologist trained in Oxford) in its launch, and its political and scientific context. The mission, undertaken during the Portuguese late colonial period and subject to the Portuguese authorities’ approval and surveillance, marked East Timor as a site of anthropological inquiry into the Anthropology of European tradition produced in Southeast Asia, affiliated to post-war structuralism. This case study throws light on individual agency, Portugal’s shortcomings in modern anthropology training, the international competition for Portuguese Timor as part of the Indonesian “field of ethnological study” and the transnational connections in its construction in the era of decolonization.     

Reduction Factors for Seismic Design Spectra for Structures with Viscous Energy Dampers

A simple mathematical expression is proposed to estimate spectra reduction damping factors for seismic design of systems with viscous dampers. The expression is obtained from the ratios between ordinates of uniform hazard spectra associated with two different return intervals (50 and 125 years), corresponding to sites with different types of soil within the Valley of Mexico. The expression proposed depends on the dominant period of the soil, and on both the vibration period and damping ratio of the structural system. Values of the damping factors proposed here are comparable to those recommended by different authors and seismic design building codes.     

Polyphasic hydrothermal and meteoric fluid regimes during the growth of a segmented fault involving crystalline and carbonate rocks (Barcelona Plain,NE Spain)

A polyphasic tectonic‐fluid system of a fault that involves crystalline and carbonate rocks (Hospital fault, Barcelona Plain) has been inferred from regional to thin section scale observations combined with geochemical analyses. Cathodoluminescence, microprobe analyses and stable isotopy in fracture‐related cements record the circulation of successive alternations of hydrothermal and low‐temperature meteoric fluids linked with three main regional tectonic events. The first event corresponds to the Mesozoic extension, which had two rifting stages, and it is characterized by the independent tectonic activity of two fault segments, namely southern and northern Hospital fault segments. During the Late Permian‐Middle Jurassic rifting, these segments controlled the thickness and distribution of the Triassic sediments. Also, dolomitization was produced in an early stage by Triassic seawater at shallow conditions. During increasing burial, formation of fractures and their dolomite‐related cements took place. Fault activity during the Middle Jurassic–Late Cretaceous rifting was localized in the southern segment, and it was characterized by hydrothermal brines, with temperatures over 180°C, which ascended through this fault segment precipitating quartz, chlorite, and calcite. The second event corresponds to the Paleogene compression (Chattian), which produced exhumation, folding and erosion, favouring the percolation of low‐temperature meteoric fluids which produced the calcitization of the dolostones and of the dolomite cements. The third event is linked with the Neogene extension, where three stages have been identified. During the syn‐rift stage, the southern segment of the Hospital fault grew by tip propagation. In the relay zone, hydrothermal brines with temperature around 140°C upflowed. During the late postrift, the Hospital fault acted as a unique segment and deformation occurred at shallow conditions and under a low‐temperature meteoric regime. Finally, and possibly during the Messinian compression, NW‐SE strike‐slip faults offset the Hospital fault to its current configuration.     

Isotopic Composition of Lead in Copper Ores and a Copper Artefact from the La Profunda Mine (León,Spain)

This paper continues the characterization of the lead isotopic fingerprint of ancient copper mines in the north‐west of Spain. In this work, the lead isotopic compositions found in copper ores from the La Profunda mine are presented. Azurites and malachites sampled from this deposit were subjected to lead isotope analysis by multicollector ICP–MS. The results showed a clear radiogenic lead signature compatible with the presence of uranium‐rich minerals (such as zeunerite) in the same mining complex. Moreover, a rare copper artefact, found in the galleries of the mine during its modern exploitation, was also analysed and showed that local mineral was used for its manufacturing.     

The Malleability of Participation: The Politics of Agricultural Research under Neoliberalism in Bolivia

This article analyses how neoliberal restructuring encouraged the use of participatory methods in agricultural research in Bolivia and how, at a later stage, participatory development initiatives had to be adapted to prevent conflicts with the post‐neoliberal views of farmer organizations. The article contributes to the debate on the normalization of participatory methods in agrarian development. Engaging with Foucault's work on governmentality and neoliberalism, our analysis goes beyond interpretations of participation which conceptualize it exclusively as a technology of power to discipline subjects. Drawing on a distinction between a liberal and a neoliberal moment in the restructuring of agricultural research, we study the case of PROINPA (Foundation for the Promotion and Research of Andean Products), a national NGO that was once part of the state system for agricultural research but was then privatized. Although PROINPA employed participation mainly to enhance managerial effectiveness, it also facilitated moments of participation from below. We argue that participation designed by this type of NGO is not just ‘technical’ as PROINPA professionals would like to perceive it, nor is it simply ‘political’ as critical views on participation hold. Instead it is malleable in the sense that each actor is involved in finding a new balance between technical, economic and political considerations.