The effect of congestion and agglomeration on multifactor productivity growth in Dutch regions

It is well known that labour productivity growth in Europe isslowing down, against an increasing growth rate in the US. TheNetherlands is one of the countries in Europe with the lowestgrowth rates of productivity. This article looks at this phenomenonfrom a regional perspective and presents the results of a growthaccounting exercise applied to regional industry data of TheNetherlands between 1995 and 2002. We find that slow productivitygrowth in The Netherlands is particularly situated in the economiccore regions and is caused by slow multifactor productivity(mfp) growth. A substantial part of this slow mfp-growth canbe explained by the fact that positive agglomeration advantagesare overruled by negative congestion effects caused by trafficjams.     

Between rocks and a hard place: prehistoric funerary practices at Wādī Ḍebayʿān,northern Qatar

Archaeological survey by the Qatar National Historic Environment Record Project (QNHER) in 2009, led to the discovery of a Neolithic flint scatter, a settlement and an ancient, raised shoreline associated with higher, mid‐Holocene sea levels at Wādī ?ebay?ān, north‐western Qatar (Al‐Naimi et al. 2010, 2011; Cuttler, Tetlow & Al‐Naimi 2011). The QNHER project is a collaboration between Qatar Museums and the University of Birmingham, which over the past five years has developed a national geospatial database for the recording of archaeological sites and historic monuments in Qatar. A significant aspect of the project involved archaeological survey and excavation in advance of major construction projects. Between 2012 and 2014 excavations at Wādī ?ebay?ān revealed a burial of a typology previously unknown in Qatar, the unmarked graves (Cuttler, Al‐Naimi & Tetlow 2013).     

From Democratization to Securitization: Post‐Arab Spring Political Order in the Middle East

This article examines the question: why and how the wave of democratization in the Middle East has receded, giving way to the prioritization of security in the post‐Arab Spring by conducting analyses at three levels: societal, state, and international. By applying the main concepts and theories found in the literature on democratization and securitization and by analyzing the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Democracy Status Index, the Arab Barometers Survey, and the Arab Opinion Survey, the article concludes that: at the societal level, the tragic unfolding of events after the Arab Spring prohibits the public from pushing a reform agenda; at the state level, the post‐Arab political environment raises doubts among the ruling elite about how far political reforms should be extended; and at the international level, with the rise of new security threats, international pressure on Middle East countries to democratize has been restrained, giving way to security cooperation as the top priority.     

The Negative Effects of Insufficient Support Systems on Kuwaiti Mothers of Children with Disabilities

Parents raising a child with a physical or cognitive disability are often faced with the negative stigma against disabilities that exist in several Arab countries. This puts extra pressure on the parents and can lead to negative outcomes for the children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of parenting stress and varying levels of support for mothers of children with disabilities and the effects of these pressures on their relationship with their disabled child. We surveyed 85 Kuwaiti mothers of children with disabilities. The participants filled out an online survey with questions regarding parenting related stress, perceived social support, feelings of social isolation, self‐efficacy, and attachment to their child. Results indicate that mothers who feel unsupported by their families, community, and government experience more parenting stress and greater social isolation. These in turn lead them to feel less competent in their parenting abilities, and ultimately they feel less emotionally connected to their child. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Well preserved non‐collagenous extracellular matrix proteins in ancient human bone and teeth

Ancient bones in a good preservation state, ascertained by microscopic techniques, conserve extracellular matrix proteins over thousands of years. With new techniques, intact extracellular matrix proteins from ancient bones and teeth are extracted and separated by one‐dimensional and two‐dimensional electrophoresis. Proteins were identified in Western blots by special antibodies against different human extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules of bone. We have confirmed different types of ECM human bone molecules such as osteonectin, osteopontin, and alkaline phosphatase with specific antibodies in human bone samples from different age groups. Additionally, we selected bone samples from different cultural time periods, such as the Middle Ages, the Bronze Age and the Late Pre‐Pottery Neolithic Phase (PPNB), and teeth from individuals from the Early Middle Ages and from the Late PPNB. The survival of intact extracellular matrix proteins in ancient bones and teeth dating from recent times to the Late PPNB, and reliable techniques to identify these proteins, present a great challenge to further research. A Match Set with PD‐Quest 7.2 shows that only 16% of protein spots in the teeth are also found in the bone of the same individual. In combination with the results of macro‐ and microscopic investigation, biochemical techniques will help us in obtaining a better understanding of bone and teeth in health and disease. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

深圳铁仔山古墓群出土铜器腐蚀情况研究

受深圳地区海洋气候及土壤环境影响,铁仔山古墓群出土铜器锈蚀情况严重。为了给后续的保护修复处理提供科学依据,需研究出土铜器锈蚀情况。为此,通过硝酸银定性分析、X射线荧光能谱分析、拉曼光谱分析等手段,对其表面锈蚀物进行综合分析。结果表明,该批铜器矿化严重,其锈蚀成分以孔雀石为主。其中一件铜器表面锈蚀物中含有氯磷钠铜矿,这在潮湿地区土壤环境出土的铜器中较为少见。此外,在另一件铜器表面锈蚀物中还发现疑似纳米SnO2成分。实验结果可对该批铜器的保护修复处理提供有力的理论依据和数据支持,并为深圳地区出土的其他青铜类文物的保护提供参考。     

石质文物表面墨迹的保护作用

在许多不可移动石质文物,尤其是石刻文字表面,因历代文人墨客的拓片留下了大量墨迹。这些墨迹是否对文物本体岩石有害?一直是保护工作者希望了解的问题之一。为此本研究开展了一系列调研和实验研究。通过对各地保存较完好的石刻表面的观察,可以发现石刻表面残留的墨迹具有某种保护作用;对模拟样块的SO2腐蚀实验结果表明,岩石表面的墨迹具有一定的阻止空气中腐蚀性气体侵蚀岩石的作用;盐迁移破坏实验也发现墨迹在某种程度上具有减小可溶盐结晶破坏岩石的作用。吸水率实验和电镜观察等结果显示,墨迹缓解岩石风化的机理主要是墨迹对岩石微裂隙具有填充和加固作用,使岩石的吸水系数降低,部分阻挡了可溶盐的入侵和聚集结晶。     

中国及周边国家出境旅游市场互动格局动态研究

研究国家间出境旅游市场作用关系是经略周边的重要手段,对国家战略的落实具有重要意义.本研究选取位于亚太地区的22个国家,以联合国世界旅游组织公布的1995年、2005年、2017年数据为基础,采用社会网络分析法,对各国在出境旅游市场互动中的特征变迁进行刻画.结果显示:23年来,中国及周边国家的整体互动水平不断提升.时间截...