The Index of Economic Disparity: Measuring trends in economic disparity across Canadian Census Subdivisions and rural and urban communities

Territorial inequalities have long been a subject of study and concern in Canada. In the face of large structural changes such as industrial shifts and the decarbonization of our economies, there is an urgency to understand such inequalities and design effective policy interventions for those places facing persistent economic decline. This paper shares a novel composite index that measures economic disparity across Canadian Census Subdivisions (CSDs) using Census data from 2001 through 2016 and the 2011 National Household Survey. Named the “Index of Economic Disparity,” it is comprised of an equally weighted average of four sub-indices that assign percentile rankings for all CSDs based on whether they experience persistent and substantial decline in key economic areas: population, labour force outcomes, working-age share of population, and industrial diversity. The variation of outcomes across geographies—urban and rural—highlights the importance of place-based policies.     

Element localization in archaeological bone using synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence: identification of biogenic uptake

Trace element analysis related to archaeological bone is viewed as one way to determine levels of element exposure in past populations. This area of research is complex because there is the potential for the incorporation of trace elements from the burial environment into archaeological bone. We tested the hypothesis that matching the spatial distribution of trace elements within cortical bone with the biological structures would provide evidence of biogenic uptake. We examined samples from a non-segregated Royal British Naval cemetery (1793–1822) in Antigua, West Indies. A key historical question related to this population was the extent of exposure to lead and the resulting health effects. Images from conventional light microscopy (histological) analysis of the bone samples were matched with elemental maps of calcium, strontium, and lead that were created through the use of synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF). Biogenic uptake of both strontium and lead was indicated based on the localization of these trace elements within discreet microstructural elements. The successful integration of histological information with XRF data is a powerful technique for the interpretation of past biological events through trace elements.     

Ruptures and continuities in nationhood narratives: reconstructing the nation through history textbooks in Serbia and Croatia

While the (mis) use of history to fuel particular constructions of the nation is well‐documented in the literature, the ways in which nationhood narratives and national ideologies evolve and transform over time are rarely explored. When ruptures – such as state failure or civil war – occur, interpretations of history and nationhood narratives cannot be completely rewritten. Rather, they need to follow up upon previous, established versions, relying on anchoring motives that offer a minimum level of continuity. Relying on a systematic analysis of over forty years of history revisionism in Serbia and Croatia (1974 to 2017), I demonstrate the discursive ways in which nationhood narratives evolved over time and space: from the dismantling of the former common Socialist narrative, replacement with new ethno‐national narratives, the bumpy transformations through the democratic transitions, to the gradual consolidation into the ‘new’ reconstructed nationhood narratives prevailing in the two countries today.     

Probable oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida) tunnels and faecal pellets in silicified conifer wood from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Turonian) portion of the Winton Formation,central-western Queensland,Australia

Fletcher, T.L. & Salisbury, S.W., XX.XX. 2014. Probable oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida) tunnels and faecal pellets in silicified conifer wood from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Turonian) portion of the Winton Formation, central-western Queensland, Australia. Alcheringa 38, 541–545. ISSN 0311-5518.

Tunnels and faecal pellets likely made by oribatid mites have been found in silicified conifer wood from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Turonian) portion of the Winton Formation, central-western Queensland, Australia. Although this is the first identified and described record of oribatid mites in the Mesozoic of Australia, other published, but unassigned material may also be referable to Oribatida. Current understanding of the climatic significance of mite distribution is limited, but the presence of oribatids and absence of xylophagus insects in the upper portion of the Winton Formation are consistent with indications that the environment in which this unit was deposited was relatively warm and wet for its palaeolatitude. Such traces may provide useful and durable proxy evidence of palaeoclimate, but more detailed investigation of modern taxa and their relationship to climate is still needed.

Tamara L. Fletcher [t.fletcher1@uq.edu.au] and Steven. W. Salisbury, [s.salisbury@uq.edu.au] School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Australia, 4072. Received 28.1.2014; revised 1.4.2014; accepted 3.4.2014.