A Micro Model of Problem Definition and Policy Choice: Issue Image,Issue Association,and Policy Support of Power Plants

Past research on problem definition and public policy primarily focuses on the macro-system level. In this study, we propose a micro model of problem definition and policy choice at the individual level. We argue that while individual citizens' problem definitions and policy preferences are rooted in and filtered through their predisposition characteristics (such as socioeconomic status, political orientation, and informational base), their policy choices also strongly depend on how they define public issues, particularly how they perceive the image of an issue at hand and how they associate the issue with other public issues. Our empirical analyses, based on data from a national public survey on energy and power plant issues, support the key propositions derived from our theoretical model. Key contributions to and implications for policy studies are discussed in conclusion.     

Assessing the impact of mid-to-late Holocene ENSO-driven climate change on toxic Macrozamia seed use: a 5000 year record from eastern Australia

Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic data indicate that during the mid-to-late Holocene eastern Australia became significantly drier and experienced more intense and more frequent droughts. These changes, driven by the re-emergence and intensification of the ENSO climate phenomena, have been argued to have had considerable impact on Aboriginal societies, although there is uncertainty as to the exact nature, timing and magnitude of this impact. This paper analyses changes in the utilisation of toxic Macrozamia (cycad) seeds at seven archaeological sites in eastern Australia, identifying an extremely close correlation between the intensity of seed use and two proxy ENSO datasets, and a weaker correlation with a third ENSO dataset. Given the ecological attributes and resource potential of these plants, it is argued that these correlations are best explained as an intensified exploitation of a lower-ranked resource in direct response to the increased subsistence risks and lower productivity created by ENSO-driven climatic conditions. It also suggests that by 3000 BP the intensification of the ENSO system was driving changes in human subsistence behaviour on a sufficient scale to have considerable impact on other aspects of the wider cultural systems.     

The origins of agriculture in North-West Africa: macro-botanical remains from Epipalaeolithic and Early Neolithic levels of Ifri Oudadane (Morocco)

This research aims to shed light on the early stages of agricultural development in Northern Africa through the analysis of the rich macro-botanical assemblages obtained from Ifri Oudadane, an Epipalaeolithic–Early Neolithic site from North-East Morocco. Results indicate the presence of domesticated plants, cereals (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum monococcum/dicoccum, Triticum durum and Triticum aestivum/durum) and pulses (Lens culinaris and Pisum sativum) in the Early Neolithic. One lentil has been dated to 7611 ± 37 cal BP representing the oldest direct date of a domesticated plant seed in Morocco and, by extension, in North Africa. Similarities in both radiocarbon dates and crop assemblages from Early Neolithic sites in Northern Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula suggest a simultaneous East to West maritime spread of agriculture along the shores of the Western Mediterranean. Wild plants were abundantly collected in both the Epipalaeolithic and the Early Neolithic periods pointing to the important role of these resources during the two periods. In addition to fruits and seeds that could have been consumed by both humans and domesticated animals, fragments of esparto grass (Stipa tenacissima) rhizomes have been identified. This is a western Mediterranean native plant that may have been used as a source of fibres for basketry.     

Insect and clitellate annelid traces in mesofossil assemblages from the Cretaceous of Australasia

Mesofossil assemblages from several Cretaceous and Cenozoic units across Australia and New Zealand provide new evidence of insect and annelid behaviour. The earliest scale insects (Diaspididae, Coccoidea) from Australasia are described and represented by three scale morphotypes. The mesofossil assemblages also reveal clitellate annelid cocoon morphotypes, three morphotypes of arthropod coprolites and several insect piercement structures on gymnosperm leaf or stem fragments, possibly related to feeding or more likely oviposition. This research offers a new avenue for detecting cryptic terrestrial invertebrate groups and their interactions, particularly with plants, in the fossil record. The fossils demonstrate that insect/invertebrate activity can be preserved and identified in mesofossil suites, that such traces and exoskeleton fragments are relatively common in acid-extracted mesofossil suites, and that recognizable categories occur on multiple landmasses and at various ages.     

Holocene paleoshorelines,water levels and submerged prehistoric site potential of Rice Lake (Ontario,Canada)

Rice Lake, located in the eastern Great Lakes of North America, has a high density of prehistoric (11–0.5 ka BP) terrestrial archaeological sites. It has been speculated that a large number of sites are submerged on the lakebed, as lake levels have risen >9 m since the arrival of Early Paleoindian peoples (∼11 ka BP). In order to better understand the submerged landscape and its archaeological potential, a detailed bathymetric survey and sediment-coring program was conducted across a 30-km² area of northeastern Rice Lake. Changes in Holocene water levels and shoreline positions were reconstructed by integrating core data with a digital elevation and bathymetric model (DEBM) that accounted for differential isostatic uplift and basin sedimentation. The DEBM was used to generate a series of maps showing changes in the lake paleobathmetry and paleogeography and areas of prehistoric archaeological potential.     

Next generation sequencing of DNA in 3300-year-old charred cereal grains

We investigated whether ‘next generation’ methods can be used to sequence ancient DNA molecules in charred cereal grains. We prepared a DNA extract from a mixed sample of barley, einkorn, emmer and broomcorn millet, taken from a 3300-year-old assemblage of charred cereal grains from Assiros Toumba, Greece. Using the SOLiD 5500 system, we obtained 21,112,844 unique sequence reads. Of these, 178,779 had a 75% or greater nucleotide sequence similarity with one or more entries in the full nucleotide sequence database; 496 of these matches were to previously reported sequences from barley, einkorn, emmer, broomcorn millet or related species such as hexaploid wheat. The unique reads were also compared with a database comprising only wheat sequences. This analysis identified 1658 charred grain sequences that had 90% or greater similarity with segments of the wheat genome. The presence of barley, wheat and millet sequences in the next generation dataset confirms the presence of ancient DNA in this charred grain assemblage. Enrichment of extracts by hybridization capture or equivalent methods is likely to enable sequences to be obtained for entire genes and other genomic regions of interest.     

Mesolithic plant exploitation at the Roc del Migdia, Catalonia

Charred plant remains from the mesolithic site of Roc del Migdia have been analysed in detail. Hazel shell and endocarp fragments of sloe (Prunus spinosa L.) have been identified by incident light microscopy and an attempt has been made at the identification of quantities of parenchymatous plant remains through the use of the scanning electron microscope. A number of different classes of tissue are described and the implications of the results discussed.     

2003～2004年连云港藤花落遗址发掘收获

连云港藤花落遗址第四次考古发掘,首次发现了大型红烧土堆积、偶踢类动物足迹和稻作遗迹等,对研究北辛化时期黄淮地区古代聚落居民从事农业生产活动提供了新的资料。     

Following America into the second industrial revolution: new rules of competition and Ontario's farm machinery industry, 1850–1930

Despite the hiatus in farm expansion from 1880 to 1900, Canadian‐owned Massey‐Harris became a competitive multinational corporation as American branch plants arrived in Ontario. This equivocal performance in Canada's agricultural implements industry poses problems for explanations of Canada's branch plant economy. Most commentators blame an ill‐conceived National Policy for promoting and protecting inefficient industry and frustrating industrial development. In reviewing their explanations, I use systematic comparisons among plants as well as between the Ontario, New York, Ohio, and Illinois industries. I argue that Canada's National Policy was an effective industrial policy that promoted competitive implement manufacture under the constraints of Victorian era technology. Problems emerged in the 1880s, however, as Chicago firms developed mass production in harvesting machinery, and these became entrenched as gasoline tractor development swept the industry after 1900. Ontario firms struggled, but they outperformed competitors in New York and Ohio, who had been industry leaders in] 880. Canada's branch plant economy in the farm machinery industry was made in Chicago and by mechanical engineers, not in Ottawa and by politicians. En dépit de l'hiatus dans l'expansion du pare agricole entre 1880 et 1900, la société canadienne Massey‐Harris est devenue une grande société multinational compétitive lorsque des usines‐succursales américaines ont fait leur arrivée en l'Ontario. Cette baisse de performance de I'Industrie canadienne de fabrication d'outils et d'engins agricoles pose des problèmes sur le plan de l'explication de l'économie des usines‐succursales canadiennes. Pour la plupart des analystes, cette situation serait due à une politique nationals mal‐conçue. Celle‐ci aurait favorisé et protégé une Industrie inefficace, et ainsi frustré le développement industriel. En passant en revue ces analyses, je procède à une série de comparisons systématiques, d'une part des usines entre elles et, d'autre part, entre les industries de New York, de l'Ohio et de l'lllinois. J'avance que la Politique nationale canadienne etait une politique industrielle efficace qui a su promouvoir une Industrie de fabrication d'outils et d'engins agricoles compétitive dans le cadre de la technologie de l'époque victorienne et de ses contraintes. Des problèmes, qui ont fait leur apparition au cours des années 1880, suite à l'adoption par les sociétés de Chicago de la production de masse des moissonneuses, ont perduré suite à l'arrivée en masse des tracteurs à essence après 1900. Ce fut un moment très difficile pour les sociétés de l'Ontario mais elles réussirent à battre leurs concurrents de New York et de l'Ohio qui étaient leaders de l'industrie en 1880. Dans l'industrie des engins agricoles, le sort de l'économie des usines‐succursales était décidéà Chicago, par des ingénieurs en mécanique agricole, non à Ottawa, par des hommes politiques.     

明清时期河南省部分经济作物的种植与分布

明清时期河南省油料作物主要有花生和芝麻两种,花生明中期传入中国,清代在河南广泛种植。芝麻汉代从西域传入,明清时期在河南广为分布。这两者今日在河南省的经济作物种植中仍占重要地位。染料作物中蓝草和红花均为传统作物,种植历史悠久,分布广泛。从明至清,种植之风方兴未艾。两者在清末均由于受到外来染料的冲击而中落,此后再也未能恢复到原来的水平。嗜食作物中的罂粟,清咸丰年间开始在河南省广泛栽种,后因国人的抗议,在民国年间禁种。烟草和茶叶的种植不惟明清时期就有一定的规模,且一直持续发展,为今日河南省以许昌为中心的烤烟基地和以信阳为中心的茶叶基地的建设和发展创造了条件、奠定了基础。