Spatial Dimensions of the Easterlin Hypothesis: Fertility Variations in Italy

The paper re–evaluates the Easterlin hypothesis in a multiregional context by conceptually and methodologically accounting for two processes of spatial interdependence in an open subnational demo–economic system: diffusion of fertility norms and values across space, and movements between labor markets. The empirical analysis estimates pooled cross–sectional, time–series models using data for 18 Italian regions from 1952 to 1995. The results suggest that accounting for spatial interdependencies is necessary to avoid model misspecifications. Moreover, the models lead to space–time landscapes of fertility elasticities that suggest, for the majority of space–time units, an inverse Easterlin effect for the diffusion component but support of the Easterlin hypothesis due to labor movements across space.     

Extracting Value from the City: Neoliberalism and Urban Redevelopment

How do states make the built environment more flexible and responsive to the investment criteria of real estate capital? Spatial policies, such as urban renewal funding for slum clearance or contemporary financial incentives, depend on discursive practices that stigmatize properties targeted for demolition and redevelopment. These policies and practices have become increasingly neoliberalized. They have further distanced themselves from those “long turnover” parts of the city where redevelopment needs are great but where the probability of private investment and value extraction is slight. They have become more entwined in global financial markets seeking short–term returns from subsidized property investments. They have shifted their emphasis from compromised use values (embodied in the paternalistic notion of “blight”) to diminished exchange values (embodied in the notion of “obsolescence”). I argue that obsolescence has become a neoliberal alibi for creative destruction and, therefore, an important component in contemporary processes of spatialized capital accumulation.     

Improved methodology for extraction and amplification of DNA from single grains of charred wheat

Comparisons were made between two commonly used methods for the extraction of ancient DNA from charred plant remains. Using artificially charred wheat seeds, we show that silica-binding is the most efficient method for extraction of DNA. We describe a improved silica-binding procedure, including pre-incubation with N-phenacylthiazolium bromide and increased washing of bound DNA, which yields amplifiable DNA from seeds heated at 200 °C for up to 8 h, conditions which promote the formation of Maillard products which often copurify with aDNA and inhibit subsequent PCRs. We believe that this method will be effective in ancient DNA extraction with most types of charred archaeobotanical material. Both cold- and hot-start PCR procedures gave good amplicon yields with extracts prepared in this way, but cold-start PCRs also resulted in synthesis of short artefact products. Addition of bovine serum albumin to PCRs, an inert carrier substance thought to enhance amplification efficiency by binding contaminants, had no advantageous effect and in fact reduced amplicon synthesis.     

Satellite image analysis of changes in glacier cover in Canada's northern Mackenzie Mountain Range (1987–2017)

The state of a group of glaciers in the northern Mackenzie Mountains across the Yukon‐Northwest Territories border was investigated over a period of three decades, using Landsat TM and OLI imagery from 1987, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2013, and 2017 to examine changes in glacier extents. A thresholded red/shortwave infrared band ratio image was used to delineate glacier boundaries. The total area of 74 glaciers in the study area decreased from 52.78 ± 1.32 km² in 1987 to 24.89 ± 0.62 km² in 2017, a loss of 27.89 ± 1.39 km² or 52.8 ± 2.6%, with a mean rate of reduction of 1.8% · a^?1. Smaller glaciers experienced larger relative changes in area. In this study, the rates of reduction are high compared to decreases reported for other glaciers in the region in the late 20^th century. Based on linear extrapolation of the trend in values of total glacier area, it is predicted—subject to uncertainties in how glaciers diminish in size and eventually disappear—that the study area could be free of visible glacier cover within three decades.     

Hematite sources and archaeological ochres from Hohokam and O’odham sites in central Arizona: an experiment in type identification and characterization

The use of ochre is a defining characteristic of populations living in the Sonoran Desert of the American Southwest. Red pigments and paints were used for craft production, bodily adornment, rock art, and in mortuary contexts. Hematite and other iron-oxides are common components of this pigment that frequently appear in the archaeological record in a variety of forms and in various stages of production. Beyond this, very little is known about these materials. This paper describes the collection of potential geological sources of ochre in the Phoenix Basin and presents a methodology for the identification of processed paints. Geological sources samples are characterized using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and compared to raw materials recovered archaeologically from the Gila River Indian Community reservation. This preliminary study indicates that iron-oxide sources can be distinguished from each other and that artifacts can be matched to these sources, revealing local procurement along the Gila River by Hohokam and O’odham artisans and continuity in use of one source from the prehistoric period to the present.     

Organic Public Geographies: “Making the Connection”

Abstract: A new field of “public geographies” is taking shape ( Fuller 2008 ) in geography's mainstream journals. While much is “traditional”, with intellectuals disseminating academic research via non‐ academic outlets ( Castree 2006 ; Mitchell 2008 ; Oslender 2007 ), less visible is the “organic” work and its “more involved intellectualizing, pursued through working with area‐based or single‐interest groups, in which the process itself may be the outcome” ( Ward 2006 :499; see Fuller and Askins 2010 ). A number of well‐known projects exist where research has been “done not merely for the people we write about but with them” ( Gregory 2005 :188; see also Cahill 2004 ; Johnston and Pratt 2010 ). However, collaborative writing of academic publications which gives research participants authorial credit is unusual ( mrs kinpainsby 2008 ; although see Sangtin Writers and Nagar 2006 ). This paper is about an organic public geographies project called “Making the connection”. It is written by a diverse collection of (non‐)academic participants who contributed to the project before it had started, as it was undertaken, and/or after it had finished. This is a “messy”, process‐oriented text ( Cook et al. 2007 ) working through the threads (partially) connecting the activities of its main collaborators, including a referee who helped get the paper to publication.